Hi-Rez Studios is at it again. The company announced late yesterday that Global Agenda servers will be taken offline at 11:00 AM EST to apply the latest phase of the global overhaul that is the Sandstorm expansion. The application of Patch 1.36, which does not include Player Achievements, so it is not the Phase III patch detailed by Todd Harris, will be completed by 3:00 PM EST.
Don’t scoff at the short timeframe. Hi-Rez is surprisingly good at estimating downtime.
Before we head to the jump and patch notes, I have a completely non-news related issue to mention. Even though I’ve been subscribing to Global Agenda since February, I really love the fact that the game goes on sale every time there’s a patch. This week it’s 25% off. What a terrific way to suck those vaguely interested or constantly harassed friends into trying the game out. Three of my friends have succumbed to date. Have any of your pals?
Below the jump you’ll find some highlights for Patch v1.36, including more AvA changes, weapon balancing and defensive raid restrictions. Click here for the full report straight from Hi-Rez Studios.
- PvP Matchmaking: Matchmaking on Mercenary PvP matches has been modified to ensure better class balance, both at start of match and when backfills occur.
- Raid Matchmaking: Raids now require at least one of each class. (Note: If you are making a pre-made team for a Raid, you must take this into account).
- Defense Raids: Team leaders may now not join the Raid queue if any member of their team is under Level 30. Raids now require at least one of each class on a team.
- Hornet Drone: Health reduced by 25%. Damage reduced by 30%.
- Level fixes: A large number of cleanups, bug fixes and map changes have been made to various levels in the game, especially the Sonoran Desert Open Zone, Special Ops PvE and Raid.
- Rewards for AvA changed: XP and Credits will be rewarded under the same formula as Mercenary PvP. Players in a Strikeforce that successfully win an AvA mission will receive tokens for the win. The # of Tokens will be based on the level of facility that was attacked.
- Alliances no longer impact AvA: Alliances are removed from the AvA gameplay. You can still form alliances and use alliance chat, but there is no other impact on AvA.
- Soft Cap on Production: Production declines as your agency owns more hexes. Most agencies will find that their production is maximized by staying between 9 and 15 hexes.