Patch 1.08

This patch was also rolled out with two different explanations of the changes made. As with patch 1.06, there is a patch and a combat balance update.

Improved Character Creator
We’ve expanded the options available in the character creator, giving you greater control over your Ryder’s appearance. Two new heads were added, one male and one female, as well as a new complexion option and a greater range of available skin tones. We also unlocked all hairstyles for both sexes, and added a new bald option.

For players wanting to adjust their look mid-game, we added the ability to change your character’s appearance onboard the Tempest.

And for fans of Alec Ryder’s iconic appearance, you can now choose to keep the default Alec, rather than having his appearance be based on your custom Ryder.

Expanded Male Romance Options for Scott Ryder
Scott Ryder can now pursue Jaal as a romance option. There are several important reasons for this change:

Scott Ryder did not have a same-sex squadmate available as a romance option, nor could the achievement for completing three romances be achieved with only male same-sex partners. And as the angara have expressed their fluidity in how they perceive gender, it seemed only natural that Scott could have a relationship with Jaal.

However, we understand that a character’s orientation is an important part of what makes them feel real. The relationships with your crew are some of the most loved and cherished parts of our games, so we wanted to make sure we got it right. We consulted with members of the LGBTQ community, both externally and within our own studios. After carefully considering all feedback, we decided this was an important change to make, and one that made sense for Jaal, Scott, and the angara.

Our writing, editing, and animation teams worked together to ensure this change made sense for Jaal’s character, and the result is a relationship we hope feels as fulfilling and memorable for Scott as it does for Sara.

Single player

 * Ryder’s appearance can now be changed onboard the Tempest
 * Expanded the range of options available in the character creator
 * Jaal can now be romanced by Scott Ryder
 * Dialogue for Hainly Abrams was adjusted to change the flow of personal information she discusses with Ryder.
 * Fixed issue with Nomad upgrades Shield Crafting quest
 * Nexus level and cryo pod points are retroactively granted
 * Vendors now carry weapon mods for Level 60-71 players
 * Vendors now sell weapon augmentations for automatic fire, burst fire, and single-shot fire
 * Improved clarity of descriptions for augmentations
 * Plasma Charge system now works properly for shotguns
 * Beam Emitter augmentation now causes guns to fire a constant beam with scaling damage based on the weapon’s damage per second
 * [PC] Added experimental support for Dolby Vision™ technology

Multiplayer

 * Stealth Grid challenge now increments properly
 * Fiend no longer sprints when within 10 meters of target, and will decelerate to base speed
 * Enabled movement correction during Fiend attacks to reduce incidence of players seeing Fiends attacking in the wrong direction
 * Improved movement prediction for some enemies in tight spaces to reduce appearance of teleportation
 * Fixed issue that prevented melee attacks if the revive icon was near center screen
 * Fixed issue where ammo pick-up audio incorrectly played
 * Fixed issue where Backlash could malfunction while moving
 * Using Stealth and Recon Visor together no longer increases duration of invisibility for Turian Agent
 * Fixed issue where weight reduction modifications wouldn’t reduce weight
 * The Revive Pack Transmitter now displays the revive radius in the loadout screen
 * Equipping the Cobra RPG now interrupts reloading
 * Player turns to Adhi when getting synced to avoid teleportation issue
 * Fixed issue where enemies would occasionally enter T-pose when hit
 * Improved visual and audio cues for player ready status in Multiplayer lobbies
 * Added “Lights” option to customization options

Patch 1.08 Combat Balance Update
We’re continuing to improve weapon and power balance based on player feedback and our own tests.

In particular, we’ve addressed weapon bloom and accuracy. We’ve halved the maximum reticle size for automatic weapons and decreased the speed at which it reaches maximum size. We’ve improved accuracy for these weapons across the board.

Melee balance has also been addressed. We wanted melee builds to be viable for some kits at all difficulty levels, and to reduce reliance on the Juggernaut Shield. We’ve buffed base damage of nearly all melee attacks and introduced more passive bonuses to skill trees. We’ve reduced the melee bonus on the Juggernaut Shield to make it less of a required factor for these builds.

We’re addressing issues with teleporting enemies and reducing unfair sync kills. We paid particular attention to the Fiend, reducing its speed and preventing sprinting once it gets within 10 meters of a target. We’ve prevented enemies from sync attacking for two seconds after they jump up to a different level.

We’ve also made improvements to our pack offerings. For those of you looking to round out your roster, we introduced the Reserves Pack, a premium pack focused on characters. And if what you’re hoping for is that gun you’ve been missing, there’s now the Arsenal Pack. To speed up your refreshes between rounds, we’ve added a Jumbo Supply pack that contains five times as many consumables as a regular supply pack. Finally, you’ll now be able to purchase a Mod Pack from the item store, which contains a random weapon mod.

New Fixes since 06/08/17

 * Fallback pools for Arsenal and Reserve packs now include items from other pools (weapons, characters, and mods)
 * Players who finish a match now receive full rewards, regardless of how many waves they participated in. Players who don’t complete a match now receive partial rewards.

Melee

 * Omni-blade
 * Increased base damage from 275 to 400
 * Cryo Gauntlet
 * Increased base damage from 200 to 400
 * Asari Sword
 * Increased base damage from 400 to 740
 * Krogan Hammer
 * Increased base damage from 400 to 650
 * Increased radius from 1m to 2m
 * Krogan Headbutt
 * Increased base damage from 330 to 740
 * Angaran Shiv
 * Increased base damage from 250 to 550

Powers

 * Salarian Infiltrator
 * Offensive Tech Rank 6: Technical Synergy upgrade will now trigger for all three powers, not just Energy Drain.
 * Energy Drain
 * Decreased Rank 6 Shields Restored bonus from 30% to 25%
 * Cryo Beam
 * Now grants 25% assist score instead of support score
 * Shockwave
 * Increased damage from 245 to 350
 * Overload
 * Increased the chaining damage when fully-charged from 100 to 300.
 * Rank 6: Maximum Charge now grants +30% to all Overload damage, not just chain damage.
 * Damage from Frag Grenade now bypasses enemy shield gates.
 * Damage from Sticky Grenade now bypasses enemy shield gates.
 * Damage from Trip Mine now bypasses enemy shield gates.
 * Fortify
 * Rank 6 Ramping Defense now increases damage resistance by 8 per second (max 40)
 * Rage
 * Now triggers off any kills player makes within 10m
 * Duration reduced from 30s to 15s
 * Rank 1 now grants 30% regeneration delay reduction and 250% health regeneration
 * Rank 5 evolution Regeneration replaced with Unstoppable, which grants 100 damage resistance for 2s after a kill
 * Rank 6 evolution Inspirational ally buff and rage trigger radius increased to 15m.

Combos

 * Increased the Tech Combo base damage from 225 to 257 on Bronze, from 350 to 400 on Silver, and from 432 to 494 on Gold. The damage over time was not affected.
 * Throw now does standard combo detonation damage (previous damage was -25%)

Weapons

 * Accuracy improved for automatic weapons
 * Reduced maximum reticle size and speed of reticle bloom for automatic weapons
 * Assault Rifles
 * Zalkin
 * Charge-up removed. Now only does burst-fire
 * Sweeper (changes made May 19 in server-side update)
 * Increased damage from 64–77 to 96–115
 * Reduced recoil
 * Changed hit reaction to a short interrupt
 * Thokin
 * Clip size increased from 20 to 24
 * Total ammo increased from 160–200 to 240–300
 * Cyclone (changes made May 19 in server-side update)
 * Increased damage from 37–47 to 59–74
 * Avenger S
 * Damage increased from 55–66 to 66–79
 * Pistols / SMGs
 * Talon
 * Damage increased from 76–91 to 84–101
 * Force decreased from 50 to 35
 * Weight increased from 28 to 30
 * Charger S
 * Damage increased from 47–56 to 57–68
 * Carnifex
 * Damage increased from 255-321 to 305-384
 * Clip size increased from 6 to 8
 * Total ammo increased from 36–45 to 56–70
 * Sniper Rifles
 * Vanquisher
 * Weight increased from 45 to 55
 * Widow
 * Weight decreased from 65 to 50
 * Indra
 * Removed large camera shake on the Indra’s first shot
 * Incisor
 * Reduced Incisor’s recoil per shot
 * Viper S
 * Damage increased from 460–552 to 610–732
 * Incisor
 * Muzzle flash no longer lingers

Enemies

 * Fiends, Hydra, Adhi, and Ascendants now wait at least two seconds to initiate a sync attack after jumping up from a lower level
 * Bronze enemies now do 5% more damage with all attacks
 * Silver enemies now do 10% more damage with all attacks
 * Gold enemies now do 10% more damage with all attacks
 * Decreased enemy shield gate duration from 0.25 seconds to 0.1 second
 * [SP] Increased enemy shield gate amount by 50%
 * [MP] Increased enemy shield gate amount on Bronze/Silver/Gold from 330/640/950 to 495/1152/1995
 * [MP] Enemies in cover take less time to attack targets that are in the open
 * Increased the distance enemies are willing to travel to execute a downed player from 9 meters to 12 meters
 * Reduced distance from which downed player can be executed
 * Kett
 * Slowed the wind-up for the Fiend and Ascendant’s sync attack by 20%
 * [MP] Fiend no longer sprints when within 10 meters of target, and will decelerate to base speed
 * Remnant
 * Increased Assembler weapon damage by 10%.
 * Changed Assembler firing pattern from 4–8 shots per salvo to 4–9.
 * Damage spike at the end of the Destroyer damage field now ignores player’s health gate.
 * Observers now have a short charge-up time before attacking.
 * Outlaws
 * Converted the Pariah’s armor bar evenly into health and shields
 * Hydra’s sync attack wind-up is 20% faster and kills the target if successful

General

 * Players now gain rewards for participating even if they are not present for the entire match. Rewards are proportional to the number of completed waves they are present for.
 * Consumption of boosts now occurs midway through matches, rather than at the start. XP boost only kicks in after the it is consumed.
 * Respec card count now shown in the skills menu
 * Host ping indicator added to the lobby
 * Match Modifier notification added to lobby
 * Changed the ready bar and added an audio cue to make it more obvious when player is the last one needed to ready