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Quake Champions March Patch Adds Instagib, 2v2 Deathmatch, & Custom Game No Abilities Modes

Quake Champions is still in Early Access and this latest patch certainly addresses some player feedback.

Asif Khan

March 14, 2018 5:45 PM

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Quake Champions has been puttering around Steam for the past year in Early Access, but the developers at id Software hope to add some pep back in the game's step with the latest patch which will be deployed on March 15. They posted this pretty amusing video on the official Quake Twitter account earlier today. How do you pronounce gib again? Maybe we should ask Steve Gibson.

Little Jimmy can't get frags in #Quake. What's he to do? Why, play Instagib, of course! It's for EVERYONE! pic.twitter.com/fqzp5vQWlc

— Quake Champions (@Quake) March 14, 2018

Joshua Boyle, Quake community manager, posted the extensive patch notes for the March patch to Quake Champions. The highlights are definitely the introduction of Ranked 2v2 Team Deathmatch, as well as the ability to remove Champion abilities in custom games. That's right, we can finally just play Quake again, Shackers. If you are UT-lover, you might be happy to hear that id Software has also added Instagib for your casual candy ass.

GAME MODE UPDATES

NEW GAME MODE: INSTAGIB

•  Instagib is a fun, casual mode
• In Instagib mode, every shot is a one-hit kill. Players start with the railgun and gauntlet, and there are no weapon, health, armor, or powerup pickups. Champions can use active and passive abilities, and cooldown hourglasses spawn on the map

NEW GAME MODE: RANKED 2V2 TEAM DEATHMATCH

• 2v2 TDM is a ranked mode where teams of two players face off
• First team to reach 50 kills or the team with the most kills after 15 minutes expires wins

NEW CUSTOM GAME SETTING:

• No Abilities

Ranked Play Updates

• SR is now displayed on Ranked Nameplate
• SR is now displayed in Profile/Main Menu
• Rank icon hidden in unranked matches
• Player level is hidden from other players in Quick Play

Play Incentives

• Players will earn additional XP for their first match in each mode daily

Shorter Warmup Sequence

• The warmup time before the match begins has been shortened. Additionally, players can now press the Escape key during the pre-warmup Champion screen to skip directly to the warmup

Weapon Stay

• Weapon pickups on the map no longer have a cooldown only in Unranked & Quick Play

SPRING CELEBRATION

The Spring Celebration comes with new content players can unlock during the season of Cthalha:

• Profile icons
• Nameplates
• Champion shaders – Pastels
• Weapon shaders – Pastels

Spring headwear:

• Unicorn Hat
• Flower Crown
• Eggshell Hat
• New Life Branches
• During the Spring Celebration, cherry blossom petals can be seen floating in the Main Menu
• Players can find—and break!—Easter Eggs hidden throughout Cthalha's domain: Ruins of Sarnath and Tempest Shrine. (Ruins of Sarnath also has a more spring-like feel to the map!)

CHAMPION BALANCE

ANARKI

• Max Armor 50 to 75
• Base Speed 310 to 300
• Max Strafe Speed 600 to 2000
• Air Acceleration 1.1 to 0.6
• Injection Speed Boost 1.25x to 1.20x

B.J. BLAZKOWICZ

• Base Speed 310 to 300
• Max Strafe Speed 560 to 2000
• Air Acceleration 1.0 to 0.8
• Bunny Hop removed
• Forward Acceleration removed

CLUTCH

• Scale 1.25 to 1.3 (Larger model & hitbox)
• Starting Health 150 to 125
• Starting Armor 100 to 150
• Max Armor 175 to 150
• Base Speed 290 to 300
• Max Strafe Speed 320 to 2000
• Air Acceleration 1.0 to 0.6
• Forward Acceleration Gear Shift Steps 400/440/550 to 380/440/550
• Forward Acceleration Gear Shift Time 0.5s to 1.0s
• Dodge Min Time Delay 0 to 125 (Cooldown after a dodge. Prevents stair-dodge abuse.)
• Dodge Min Cooldown 0 to 300 (Cooldown after landing. Prevents stair-dodge abuse.)
• Dodge Soft Speed Cap 0 to 690 (Prevents dodging when moving over 690 ups.)
• Dodge Forward/Strafe Power 10 to 8
• Dodge Up Power 0.3 to 0.2
• Mining Drill Rate of Fire 50ms to 58ms (Lowers DPS from 140 to 120)
• Mining Drill Range 8000u to 1200u
• Mining Drill Radius 0.10 to 0.15

DOOM SLAYER

• Base Speed 310 to 300
• Max Strafe Speed 520 to 2000
• Air Acceleration 1.0 to 0.8
• Forward Acceleration removed

GALENA

• Base Speed 310 to 300
• Max Strafe Speed 600 to 2000
• Air Acceleration 0.8 to 0.75
• Bunny Hop removed
• Forward Acceleration removed

KEEL

• Starting Health 175 to 150
• Max Strafe Speed 480 to 2000
• Forward Acceleration removed
• Air Acceleration 1.0 to 0.6

RANGER

• Base Speed 320 to 300
• Max Strafe Speed 640 to 2000
• Air Acceleration 1.0 to 0.8

NYX

• Base Speed 320 to 300
• Max Strafe Speed 600 to 2000
• Air Acceleration 1.0 to 0.8
• Wall Jump Forward Impulse 0.2 to 0.35
• Bunny Hop removed
• Forward Acceleration removed

SCALEBEARER

• Starting Health 175 to 150
• Starting Armor 25 to 50
• Base Speed 290 to 300
• Max Strafe Speed 480 to 2000
• Air Acceleration 0.8 to 0.6
• Forward Accel Max Strafe Speed 520 to 500
• Forward Acceleration 1.0 to 0.85
• Increased damage from Bull Rush o 25 to 50 dmg @ 300-399 ups o 50 to 75 dmg @ 400-499 ups

SLASH

• Starting Health 125 to 100
• Base Speed 310 to 300
• Max Strafe Speed 600 to 2000
• Air Acceleration 1.0 to 0.6
• Crouchslide Friction 0.8 to 1.5
• Plasma Trail Speed Boost 1.35x to 1.20x
• Forward Acceleration removed

SORLAG

• Starting Armor 50 to 25
• Base Speed 290 to 300
• Max Strafe Speed 520 to 2000
• Air Acceleration 1.1 to 0.6
• Crouch Jump enabled (jumppad ledge grab)
• Air Control Maximum Move Speed 35 to 25
• Air Control Circle Strafe Friction 5.5 to 1.0
• Bunny Hop Acceleration 0.1 to 0.02
• Bunny Hop Drag Speed added at 400u
• Forward Acceleration removed

VISOR

• Base Speed 310 to 300
• Max Strafe Speed (2400)
• Air Acceleration 1.2 to 1.0

CHAMPION ABILITY CHANGES

• Client side hit registration for Sorlag Spit
• Client side hit registration for Keel's Grenades
• Client side hit registration for Clutch's Mining Laser

CHAMPION FIXES

•  Fixed the issue where champion movement was affected by FPS for all champs
•  Fixed issues where all champions with bunny hop got speed increases when crouched while jumping
•  Fixed Champions Animations where Hitboxes became misaligned through problems with idle animation
• Fixed an issue where Sorlag could be attacked with hitscan weapons when she was behind the enemy player
• Fixed issues where Champions in the menu were loaded for a long time when switching between them
• Clutch's overall speed cap is 1000 ups (though he can still strafe jump over that) and his dodge speed cap is 690 ups
• Fixed a crash with B.J. Blazkowicz when swapping from Gauntlet to slow fire weapons near the end of his ability while shooting
• Fixed issue when Attacking while Berserking with DOOM Slayer might not work properly when enemies are close together
• Fixed issue where Slash would lose speed on Blood Covenant when Crouch-sliding through the blood pool

WEAPON BALANCE CHANGES

MACHINEGUN

• Damage 8 to 9

SHOTGUN

• Knockback 1 to 2

NAILGUN

• Reload 75ms to 100ms
• Knockback 13.5 to 5
• In-Air Knockback 15 to 5
• Self-Knockback 22.5 to 30

HEAVY MACHINEGUN ZOOMED

• Reload 200ms to 150ms

SUPER SHOTGUN

• Knockback 3 to 4

SUPER NAILGUN

• Knockback 12 to 5
• In-air Knockback 10 to 5
• Self-Knockback 22.5 to 30
• Splash Damage 14 to 15
• Splash Radius 0.3 to 0.5

TRI-BOLT

• Reload 1100ms to 1000ms
• Splash Damage 120 to 150 (40x3 to 50x3)

ROCKET LAUNCHER

• Splash Radius 3.3 to 3.2

LIGHTNING GUN

• Knockback 9 to 8

RAILGUN

• Zoomed Damage 90 to 100
• In-Air Knockback 68 to 80

POWER-UPS

Pentagram of Protection

• Previously absorbed 75% of damage received to carrier, now absorbs 60% of damage received

CLIENT PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENTS

• Fixed issue where exceeding 200+ fps caused Players keyboard/mouse input to be duplicated or repeated

MAP FIXES

• Fixed numerous issues with Ranger being able to reach 'out of bounds' areas by using the Dire Orb
• Fixed various corrupted Keep collision issues
• Fixed an issue in Ruins of Sarnath where the lighting at Heavy Armor section appeared too dark
• Fixed issue on Burial Chamber where invisible collision would stop Ranger's Dire Orb in midair

CHAT FIXES

•  Fixed the issue preventing Players to cycle Chat Channels at the end of the match
•  Fixed the issue causing chat at the end of the match to print in Global Chat
• Fixed the issue in Chat after the Party Host left, other party members weren't able to type in Party Chat
• Fixed incorrect notifications in chat when player was added in the ignore list

UI

• Driver check window added on launch
• Ranked and unranked modes separated in UI
• Battle report has been centered
• Scroll bar color changed to red
• Fixed issue for Keel Ability HUD not updating properly
• Death column has been removed from Unranked modes
• Fixed issue when Friends in Player’s list have Follow button next to Invite button
• Added 'Matches-left' by the Player in the Match Statistics
• Fixed an issue where Rank icons were not shown within matches
• Fixed issue after login when players had no DC checked
• Fixed issue where Spectator hint list was missing the Killer camera mode command key
• Fixed issue on Scoreboard where a flag might overlap the ping value
• Fixed issue in Tutorial where instructional text reverted when the Player picked up Heavy Machinegun while in the Firing Range
• Fixed various misspellings in the UI

SPAWN SYSTEM

• Fixed issues for Players spawning in the same location multiple times in a row
• Fixed issue when Player briefly spawns into the origin of all maps during JSIP
• Fixed issue in Burial Chamber for respawning too close to Heavy Machine Gun
• Fixed issue where champions could move while in respawn animation

TECH FIXES

• Fixed issue where Players became stuck on the "Connecting to server..." screen
• Fixed issue when Play button is greyed out when a Player attempts to join a session in progress multiple times into the same match
• Improved Nvidia driver crash logging
• Added client side hit detection updates

WEAPONS FIXES

• Added Client hitreg for Tri-bolt
• Added Client hitreg for shotgun
• Rocket launcher with low ammo now has proper unique animation
• Railgun Through-shot is now client hitreg
• Added Client hitreg for Machinegun
• Added Client hitreg for Gauntlet
• Lag compensated projectiles added with client hitreg for Nailgun
• Fixed Crash which occurred when swapping from Gauntlet to slow fire weapons near end of BJ's ability
• Fixed issue when Direct Rocket hit may deal no damage
• Fixed issue where Explosion effects, damage, and knock-back could be de-synced for Keel's Grenade Swarm or the Tri-bolt

CRASH FIXES

• Fix added for Crash to Desktop issue while loading into the game
• Fixed crash for when Player switched to RL on the end of BJB active ability
• Fixed other misc. crash issues
• Fixed a crash which occurred after Closing or force quitting the game
• Fixed crash after being Alt-tabbed for an extended period of time
• Fixed issue where Server may crash after extended play in sacrifice

MISC FIXES

• XP system updated to make earning levels significantly easier
• Fixed issue where Low health audio persisted on post-match lineup
• Fixed issue where Gore floats when a Player is killed on certain maps
• Fixed issue where Player Gore had weapon collision
• Fixed issue when Spectators will not load in until 1 minute has been reached in the match warmup
• Fixed issue when Players can become stuck on loading screen and crash after they quit a match
• Fixed issue when Spectator could get stuck in coordinates after loading into the game
• Fixed issue when Player has been spectator in lobby but loaded into the game as a player
• Fixed issue in Ranked where Players would receive a loss when teammates and enemy teams quits ranked match
• Fixed issue where Usernames or Passwords that included special characters were unable to link accounts
• Fixed issue for Bundle Codes where some Players didn’t receive all intended items after linking accounts
• Fixed issue where Medal progress was saved even when players quit mid-match
• Contacts are now sorted by Online and Offline status
• Fixed issue where Long Fall scream audio is faint or nonexistent for Ranger
• Fixed issue on Post-Match Sequence where not all teammates appear on the victory podium
• Fixed issues where Champion item previews had issues when using the zoom function

Quake Champions is in rough shape in an increasingly competitve landscape for arena shooters and in the face of an explosion of Battle Royale games that are vying for gamers' dollars and time. While we are reserving judgement on the game until it actually comes out of Steam Early Access, these updates in the latest patch are somewhat encouraging. 

If you are on the fence about Quake Champions, or you are a diehard fan in need of a longread, check out Rocket Jump: Quake and the Golden Age of First-Person Shooters. It is our definitive history of the franchise deep in the heart of Shacknews.

Asif Khan

CEO/EIC/EIEIO

Asif Khan is the CEO, EIC, and majority shareholder of Shacknews. He began his career in video game journalism as a freelancer in 2001 for Tendobox.com. Asif is a CPA and was formerly an investment adviser representative. After much success in his own personal investments, he retired from his day job in financial services and is currently focused on new private investments. His favorite PC game of all time is Duke Nukem 3D, and he is an unapologetic fan of most things Nintendo. Asif first frequented the Shack when it was sCary's Shugashack to find all things Quake. When he is not immersed in investments or gaming he is a purveyor of fine electronic music. Asif also has an irrational love of Cleveland sports.