Dauntless Open Beta Patch v0.4.4, Upcoming Content Overview

A new open beta patch for Phoenix Labs’ co-op action-RPG Dauntless should be going live later today with plenty of quality of life improvements, bug fixes, and balancing adjustments. You can find the patch notes on the game’s website. At the same time, this developer post on the Dauntless subreddit tells us a bit about the team’s plans regarding new content. A bit on that:

Road Map

The Dauntless Road Map will be updated as we move past 0.4.4 and set our sites on what’s next. We know that the roadmap is a major touchstone for many of you, and we’ll do our best to keep it moving.

Content

The further we move into Open Beta, the more and more Slayers will have made their way through to the Maelstrom. We know that you want more — more ways to explore islands, more Behemoths to challenge you, more gear to craft, more options in combat, more, more more!

As developers, there is no finer compliment than hearing that you want more of our game. Every team is putting their all into not only creating new content, but also putting the tools and foundation in place to make even faster and better content possible.

Thermo Dynamics

Many of you have requested that we patch more frequently with smaller bursts of content. While this is something that we would like to do in the future, there is some groundwork that needs to be done in Open Beta first.

You’ve probably noticed that feature sets like cells, airship lobbies, daily/weekly challenges, and the Maelstrom can sometimes feel a little skeletal. We intend to flesh out these features and expand the nature of what it is to play Dauntless on a day-to-day and longer term basis.

While this will often mean adding more content by way of new Behemoths, new weapons, new challenges, etc. — this may not be the case in these early days of Open Beta. Large parts of the content that we are working on are being planned with fully established systems in place to support them. Introducing them now, outside of that context, wouldn’t make sense.

This is a building period wherein we are focused on getting the systems and content in place that will make future content deploys possible and impactful.

Interim Legends

That being said, we are always open to feedback and we take your suggestions to heart. We have gone back to the drawing board when it comes to how we’re thinking about content releases. This means that we are adjusting our plans going forward to try to push out more content that does well in stand-alone contexts.

We know that keeping the blood pumping through the veins of community members who give us feedback is important to the future of the game. And we are thankful that you are here. If you’re reading this, we appreciate it and we appreciate you <3

And here’s a snippet from the rather lengthy patch notes:

COMBAT & BALANCE

• Elemental status effects are now based on the number of hits rather than the damage. This means that weapons such as the chain blades and war pike that attack in rapid succession are far more proficient at inflicting elemental damage.
• Gear recipes have been made more straightforward for Nayzaga, Pangar, Hellion, Stormclaw, and Kharabak.
• Drop rates for rare part breaks have been slightly lowered for pre-Maelstrom Behemoths.
• Increased the number of upgrades available for Embermane, Skraev, Drask, Nayzaga, Pangar, Hellion, Stormclaw, and Kharabak gear.
• The damage required to break Rezakiri’s claws and legs has been reduced, allowing for Slayers to more reliably make a dent.
• Chain blades dash invulnerability now starts two frames earlier, better matching animation and VFX.
• The Tragic Echo bonus damage has been corrected from 300% to 100% thanks to a bug fix.
• The Drask lantern instant ability now grants increased bonus damage to Behemoth base health instead of just part damage. This bonus has decreased to 40% to compensate.
• Medic cell no longer triggers on self-revive.
• Rezakiri’s tail hitbox has been adjusted to improve the reliability of attacks.
• Jumping no longer costs stamina. Don’t be claiming that it’s mental.
• Stormhammer has a new passive ability and will now automatically reload one shell when Slayers execute a perfect dodge.
• Rezakiri will now heal if Slayers disengage from its encounter. The fromagers union has lodged an official complaint.
• Lifedrain tonic effects are now disabled while the special effects of the Feast are active.
• Pylons now deploy more quickly (0.8 seconds).
• The range for damage boost and defence boost pylons has been increased.
• Healing pylons now last 20 seconds; healing per second has been increased to keep the total healing the same.
• Pylons no longer have collision, allowing players to move through them.
• The visibility of pylon range rings and status icons has been improved.
• The stamina gained from reloading the Razorwing hammer has been reduced to 20.
• Executing a perfect dodge with Stormclaw chain blades will now boost special meter by 400%.
• Burning damage dealt by blaze elemental effects will no longer charge lanterns.
• Charrogg’s base health has been increased to better align with Slayer progression.
• Adjusted frequency of Pangar and Hellion non-attack animations so that they happen less predictably.
• Behemoths will now get stuck on islands less frequently. Goo Gone usage across the Shattered Isles has reached an all time high.
• Razorwing Kharabak will no longer attempt to dash through walls or past its targets when charging.
• Quillshot and Nayzaga will now reliably drop break parts thanks to a bug fix.
• Reworked the way that damage modifiers stack to reduce the likelihood of inaccurately high damage numbers.