Upcoming Patch - Tuesday, October 6th @ 10AM – 1PM PDT
Patch Number:   1.4.13.0
Patch Size: ~330 MB

Greetings MechWarriors,

The third Resistance 2 'Mech is now being delivered to all eligible pilots. Originally designed for the Star League Defense Force, the Crab has been a relatively rare sight throughout the Inner Sphere since the collapse of the Star League. However, despite the loss of their primary facility on Northwind to Clan Wolf, Cosara Weaponries has been able resume construction of the Crab 'Mech for a new era of MechWarriors.
The Crab is releasing with full standard Pattern functionality. For release date regarding the final Resistance 2 'Mech, other Collection items such as Badges, Titles, and Premium Time, along with Early Adopter Rewards release dates and Faction Content selections, check out the release schedule in the Resistance 2 FAQ.

This patch features the release of the newly-updated Caustic Valley, our third map so far to receive a full gameplay and beautification overhaul. While the design of Caustic Valley remains very similar to its original form, experienced pilots dropping onto the new Caustic Valley will notice an array of changes to its layout, geometry, and aesthetics.

The 2015 Customer Appreciation Rewards are rolling out in this patch, but you still have until October 20th to qualify for the Top-Tier Inner Sphere and Top-Tier Clan Rewards. The Loyalty 'Mechs provided in this year’s Appreciation Program feature a brand new underlying armor style, over which any standard Patterns can be applied.

Rounding out this patch we have a large number of fixes and general changes, including the addition of Equipped and Engine Heat Sinks to the 'Mech Stats window, the ability to use the leg orientation indicator introduced in our Tutorial throughout the rest of the game modes, a fix for the long-standing Consumable Module auto-refill functionality issue, a subtle (but awesome) change to the opening Tutorial cinematic, and much more.

Read on for all the details, and we'll see you on the battlefield!

- The MechWarrior Team

Change Log

Updated Map (Standard Queue)

Caustic Valley (new)

Caustic Valley is the third map to receive a gameplay and beautification overhaul. Along with changes to its layout and visual quality, Caustic Valley now features dynamic time of day, breakable objects, and DropShip spawn points.

Compared to the layout changes seen with Forest Colony players will notice that the number of changes to the general layout of Caustic Valley are not as drastic. While the caldera and its surrounding area have undergone a number of significant changes, and additional cover has been provided throughout the map, the re-designed Caustic Valley should still feel very familiar. Unlike River City and Forest Colony, Caustic Valley has not increased in size.

Dynamic Time of Day

Time of Day on the new Caustic Valley is divided into four quadrants:

• Dawn - 20% change of selection

• Day - 50% chance of selection

• Dusk - 20% chance of selection

• Night - 10% chance of selection

For public matches, each quadrant condenses its 6-hour duration into 15 minutes (the maximum match time for Standard Queue matches).
For private matches, the 6-hour quadrant duration will be condensed over whichever match duration is set in the Lobby.
When accessed through Testing Grounds the new Caustic Valley will cycle through all of the above cycles. 

Breakable Objects

The new Caustic Valley features the following breakable objects:

• Small and medium trees and tree stumps
• Stalagmites and small rock formations

Single-spawn DropShip drop zones (3 drop zones per team)

Players will now drop onto the new Caustic Valley from one of the three DropShip drop zones for their side. The DropShips will leave the battlefield once they have unloaded their 'Mechs.

New 'Mechs:

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

Crab (Medium)

Originally designed in the twilight era of the Star League, the Crab distinguished itself as an extremely reliable 'Mech capable of operating with relatively minimal maintenance. This degree of reliability, combined with its speed and lack of reliance on ammo, allowed the Crab to be utilized most effectively behind enemy lines where it could put its highly advanced communications system to good use. After the collapse of the Star League the complexity of that communications system proved to be a liability; the knowledge behind its construction and maintenance soon dwindled, and was eventually lost.

Unconventional appearance aside, as a low-profile 50-ton Medium 'Mech comprised almost entirely of Energy hardpoints the Crab possesses sufficient speed, power, and resilience to excel as a skirmisher over long-term engagements.

Release date for MC: December 1st 2015
Release date for C-Bills: January 5th 2016

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

'Mechs Now Available for Purchase In-Game

Shadow Cat

• SHC-Prime: 9,614,177 C-Bills

• SHC-A: 9,838,177 C-Bills

• SHC-B: 10,514,657 C-Bills

• SHC-P: 8,957,177 C-Bills

Loadout details for the Shadow Cat can be found in a dedicated post here.

2015 Customer Appreciation Rewards

The 2015 Customer Appreciation Rewards are being delivered to eligible players in this patch. You still have until October 20th to qualify for the Top-Tier Inner Sphere and Top-Tier Clan Rewards!

Active Player Reward

• 2,000,000 C-Bills

• 1 MechBay

• Year 2 Anniversary Cupcake Cockpit Item

MechWarrior Credits Reward

• Cicada CDA-3F Loyalty Variant (featuring a brand new Armor Style and 30% C-Bill Boost) + 1 MechBay

Inner Sphere Reward

• Wolverine WVR-7D Loyalty Variant (featuring a brand new Armor Style and 30% C-Bill Boost) + 1 MechBay

Clan Reward

• Nova NVA-D Loyalty Variant (featuring a brand new Armor Style and 30% C-Bill Boost) + 1 MechBay

Loadout information for all Loyalty 'Mechs can be found here.

Gameplay Fixes and Changes

• The leg orientation arrow from the Tutorial has been integrated into the rest of the game. This is on by default, and can be toggled through your game settings.

• 3PV is now off by default.
  

Map Fixes and Changes

• Forest Colony: Restored the missing water sound effects.
  

'Mech Fixes and Changes

• Black Knight: Hitboxes have been adjusted. A greater portion of the left and right side-facing areas of the head, neck, and back have been moved from the CT hitbox to the respective RT/LT hitboxes.

• Black Knight: Minor animation tweaks.

• Hellbringer: Leg texture fix.

MechLab Fixes and Changes

• The 'Mech Stats window will now display the number of user-equipped Heat Sinks and the number of Engine Heat Sinks.

• The pop-up window that appears when hovering over a 'Mech portrait will also display the number of user-equipped Heat Sinks and Engine Heat Sinks.

• Standard Engines now display as 'STD ###' in the 'Mech Stats and pop-up windows.

• The pop-up window that appears when hovering over a 'Mech portrait is no longer considered a tooltip, and will not be disabled if you have selected 'Disable tooltips' in your game settings.

• The Engine slot will now appear grayed out if no Engine is equipped.

• Restored missing tooltips to the 'Mech Stats window.

• Fixed an issue where Heat Sinks could have the 'swap' icon in the Warehouse even if there were available Heat Sink slots in the Engine.

• Fixed an issue where switching to a new 'Mech after selecting an item in the Cockpit menu would carry that item text over.

• Fixed an issue where unlocking the Master Efficiency for a 'Mech would not immediately unlock the extra Module slot until the screen is refreshed.

• Fixed an issue where the selected button tab in the Warehouse could be slightly cut off.

• Fixed an issue where item tooltips could be offset after selecting the Modules tab in Column view.

• Fixed an issue where the 'Mech portrait would not immediately update when changes were saved in the Select 'Mech screen.
  

MechWarrior Academy/Tutorial Fixes and Changes

• Opening cinematic now features 'Mechs engaged in ground combat during the drop sequence.

• Improved sound delay and synchronization during the opening cinematic.

• Fixed an issue with Alpha Strike registration during the Target Practice Challenge.

• Fixed an issue where the HUD could disappear after changing 'Mechs.

• Fixes to the default Keyboard image (F1).

• Fixes and additions to the Field Manual (ESC).

• Fixed an issue with damage registration during the Rapid Fire Challenge.

• Fixed an issue where the Bronze medal was not being awarded during Pilot Challenge 1.
  

Other Fixes and Changes

• New MC, C-Bill, and GXP icons have been added.

• Screenshot file-names will now use the following format: 'MWO month.day.year-hour.minute.second.'

• Testing Grounds: Fixed an issue where several maps only spawned the RVN-2X.

• Fixed an issue where the auto-refill toggle for Consumables would sometimes not work.

• Fixed an issue where selecting MSAA would prompt a warning about TXAA functionality.

• Fixed an issue where the 'Mech filter buttons could be slightly cut off in the Select 'Mech screen.

• Fixed an issue where Invalid banners would sometimes not immediately appear over Invalid 'Mechs when first accessing the Select 'Mech screen.

• Fixed an issue where stripping and saving your current 'Mech within the Select 'Mech screen would not update the portrait with the Invalid banner.

• Fixed an issue where the player would receive a Trial 'Mech edit warning when selecting a Trial 'Mech from the Home screen.

• Fixed an issue where the CL. ERL Laser Cooldown Module text could be cut off in the Skills menu.

• After reaching the Elite Efficiency for a 'Mech chassis, the Variants Unlocked value in the 'Mech Skill Tree menu will now only display the number of variants for that specific chassis that have reached full Elite status (instead of showing the total number of 'Mechs you have Elited in that weight class). Unlocking the Master Efficiency for a variant still only requires that you unlock full Elite Efficiency for three variants within the same weight class.

• Removed the drop-down arrows from tabs in the Faction menu that do not have sub-tabs.

• Fixed an issue where players were unable to see certain geometry in the main menu or during gameplay when using TXAA on a 3D-enabled monitor.

• Fixed a Community Warfare match loading crash.

Known Issues

• Crab 'Mech: Hanging Cockpit Lights do not display correctly.

• MechWarrior Academy: Damage to turrets does not register correctly.

• MechWarrior Academy: Issues with non-North American keyboards.

• MechWarrior Academy: Changing window focus during the opening cinematic causes sound sync problems

• Caustic Valley: Wireframe is visible on the caldera lava when running MSAA or TXAA