Tuesday, September 8th @ 10AM – 1PM PDT / 5PM - 8PM UTC
Patch Number: 1.4.4.0

Greetings MechWarriors,

As the war rages on, research and manufacturing facilities throughout the Inner Sphere have been working tirelessly to strengthen their resistance against the Clan invasion. The first 'Mech of Resistance 2 is now being delivered to all eligible pilots: the Mauler has arrived, and it aims to live up to its moniker.
Continuing the standard established with Wave 3, the Mauler is releasing with full Pattern functionality. For release dates regarding the remainder of the Resistance 2 'Mechs, other Collection items such as Badges, Titles, and Premium Time, along with Early Adopter rewards release dates, check out the release schedule in the Resistance 2 FAQ.

This patch includes an array of MechLab and Select 'Mech fixes, including optimizations to the portrait system and the restoration of Skill badges and Invalid 'Mech indicators to 'Mech portraits. Further improvements to front-end menu's are planned for future updates, including some additional tweaks to the 'Mech Stats window for improved information at-a-glance.

Community response to the brand new Forest Colony has been excellent so far, and further fixes and optimizations are rolling out in this patch for both Forest Colony and River City. We've also run a beautification pass on environmental light sources within Forest Colony to make the darker hours a little more enticing.

The Arctic Cheetah has been a beast on the battlefields of the Inner Sphere since its release on July 21st, but this patch sees the removal of some its quirks to tweak balance on the battlefield. The comprehensive 'Mech re-balance is on-track for a future patch, so keep an eye out for a Public Test Server announcement to garner community feedback on that system soon!

Rounding out the patch we have the removal of Community Warfare matches from PSR scoring, new sound and visual effects for ballistics, missiles, and PPC's when striking breakable objects, a fix for target-lock disengagement when obstructed by breakable objects, and a number of other general fixes.

Finally, we want to thank everyone who participated in the recent MechWarrior Academy PTS recently. We were extremely happy to see all the responses to the pre-release build, and we look forward to getting that onto the live client and into the hands of new pilots soon!

- The MechWarrior Team

Change Log

New 'Mechs

The first of the Resistance 2 'Mechs is now available in-game for eligible Resistance 2 owners:

Mauler (Assault)

Originally designed and manufactured by Luthien Armor Works in the year 3050, the evolution of the Mauler's basic design is a complicated one. Though it shares much in common with the Daboku, another Inner Sphere Assault 'Mech originally manufactured in the year 3038, Inner Sphere MechWarriors who are planning to pilot the Mauler will be relieved to know it does not share the same questionable design choices and manufacturing issues as its predecessor.

While engaging a vertical-propulsion pilot ejection system can sometimes be a thrill for pilots who appreciate a good birds-eye-view now and then, most pilots were less-than-thrilled at the Daboku's disposition towards auto-ejecting them into the bulkhead of their DropShip at the slightest hint of turbulence. Thankfully, continued research and development and a greater understanding of recovered Star League technologies has allowed for the Mauler to improve on all aspects of the Daboku's troublesome design.

As a 90-ton Assault 'Mech generally geared toward Ballistic or Missile-based loadouts, the Mauler excels as a long-range BattleMech with enough hardpoint diversity in its chassis variants to allow for a range of builds.

Release date for MC: January 5th 2016
Release date for C-Bills:  February 2nd 2016

Loadout details and discussion of these new 'Mechs can be found in a dedicated post here.

Gameplay Fixes and Changes

• Community Warfare matches will no longer contribute to player PSR
• Ballistics/PPC/Missiles will generate a new sound and visual effect when knocking down breakable objects
• Fixed an issue where breakable objects could block the line-of-sight check and cause targeting systems to behave erratically.

Stalker

• Cockpit grating will no longer flicker when Cockpit Glass is enabled

Panther and Executioner

• Cobra Pattern: Fixed an issue where black details on the back of these 'Mechs were not displaying correctly

Arctic Cheetah

The following Quirks have been removed from the Arctic Cheetah OmniPods:

ACH-Prime

• Left Arm: Additional Structure +8
• Left Torso: Additional Structure +7
• Right Torso: Additional Structure +7
• Right Arm: Additional Structure +8

• Set Bonus: Arm Movement Rate (Pitch) +5%
• Set Bonus: Arm Movement Rate (Yaw) +5%
• Left Torso: Arm Movement Rate (Pitch) +5%
• Left Torso: Arm Movement Rate (Yaw) +5%
• Right Arm: Additional Structure +8

• Left Arm: Additional Structure +8
• Left Arm: Energy Heat Generation -2.5%
• Right Arm: Additional Structure +8

• Left Arm: Additional Structure +8
• Left Arm: ER Laser Duration -2.5%
• Left Arm: Energy Duration -2.5%
• Left Torso: Pulse Laser Heat Generation -2.5%
• Left Torso: Energy Heat Generation -2.5%
• Right Torso: Pulse Laser Heat Generation -2.5%
• Right Torso: Energy Heat Generation -2.5%
• Right Arm: Additional Structure +8
• Right Arm: ER Laser Duration -2.5%
• Right Arm: Energy Duration -2.5%

All Maps

• Improved terrain occlusion
  

Forest Colony

• Added bio-luminescent lighting effects:
• Phytoplankton in ocean water
• Spore clouds from fungus collisions
• Fireflies around ponds
• Static Dropships no longer float in the sky
• Closed access to cave at river source
• Refined collisions on small rocks, boulders, and big trees to reduce stopping or slowing at low speeds
• Additional occluders inside stratified rocks
• Broken trees with red leafy tops now have breakable branches
• Fixed a cause of instancing not working properly
• Improved and bolstered LOD count
• Added collision meshes on the rocks in the H8 sector

• Modified VisDistance for low-spec (no more disappearing buildings)
• Improved and bolstered LOD count
• More buildings have had their collision boxes refined to reduce stuck bugs and invisible firing-line barriers
• Fixed an issue where 'Mechs could get stuck in C5 sector.

Mining Collective

• Fixed an issue where 'Mechs could get stuck between two buildings in E4 sector.

• Invalid 'Mechs will now display the proper warnings in 'MechLab and Select 'Mech screen
• 'Mech portraits will no longer flicker after refreshing data
• Selecting 'Mechs in Select 'Mech screen will no longer cause the tile to display 'Loading Image'
• Select 'Mech screens will now display the proper Skill tier symbol for all 'Mechs
• Artemis upgrade cost will be properly removed if player switches back to a non-missile component
• Removed the purchase prompt on the Select 'Mech > Modify Consumable screen
• Fixed an issue where a player may be unable to equip available armor if they are low on C-Bills
• Dragging an XL engine off a 'Mech will now show the proper 12 slot size instead of 6 slots
• Inventory 'Mech thumbnails will now reflect Camo changes
• Player will no longer able to spin their 'Mech in the background when using Expanded layout in the Loadout screen
• 'Mech XP digits now have proper comma separations in the Efficiency Level detail box in 'Mech Trees screen
• Various tool tip bug fixes

• Scrolling in the Camo Spec screen will no longer cause patterns to flicker
• Player badges will no longer flicker in Private lobby or Community Warfare lobby
• Map image will no longer flicker in the Private lobby
• Fixed an issue where 'Leaving Lobby' is displayed when a player clicks 'No' on leave lobby confirmation