Predator: Hunting Grounds update 1.06 tries to even the odds

Don’t forget to use your ‘leap slam’ as the Predator

Recommended Videos

Going into Predator: Hunting Grounds, you might expect the fireteam soldiers – the de facto prey – to be at a distinct disadvantage. They should be no match for a cloaked, heat-tracking, trap-laying Predator unless they really stay in a well-coordinated formation, act fast, and don’t deviate from their objectives.

That hasn’t necessarily been the case since the game launched last Friday. The humans are cleaning up.

When the four fireteam players can form a hit squad that actively pursues the lone Predator player and their gambit prevails more often than not, you know something is up, balance-wise. I want to be afraid again. I want to second-guess every second I waste searching for glowing currency in the jungle.

IllFonic is trying to balance out both sides of Predator: Hunting Grounds with update 1.06. It’s a good start, and while some changes might go too far (a max-charge Plasma Caster blast can no longer take down a fireteam member with full health), other tweaks (like toning down the 2XL, ABR-Z, and 7EN damage at close range) were sorely needed. Those weapons had some insane stopping power.

Another big one: the fireteam can’t wildly slash their knives to parry the Predator’s physical attacks – they’ll run out of stamina. On the Predator side, we should see less mindless Combistick builds.

There’s no doubt in my mind that players will find new ways to obliterate each other even with these balance changes, but at a glance, I like where IllFonic’s head is at with this patch. Keep it up.

I’ll probably stick with Hunting Grounds for a few more weeks before I need new content.

Patch Notes 1.06 [IllFonic]

General
- Reduced amount of Veritanium received when obtaining a duplicate item from opening a field locker
- Made some improvements to AI pathing
- Reduced boar health and run speed
- Fixed some issues that were occurring with new item notifications
- Stability improvements regarding loading screens and various gameplay interactions
- Players will now be kicked from the match if they are inactive for over 2 minutes
- Field locker reveal will now wait until objects are fully loaded before appearing
- [PC] Friends list now only shows friends that are currently online on Predator: Hunting Grounds
Maps/Missions
- General
  - Reduced amount of Medical Stations and Ammo Crates in each map
  - Reduced amount of AI spawned on missions and defense points
  - Fixed an issue where the defense timer missions would sometimes display the incorrect countdown timer
  - Reduced defense timer countdowns on several missions
  - Fixed collision on some trees that were blocking bullets and projectiles in its leaves
  - Increased Health of Destructible Branches
  - Fixed an issue where map collectibles that were not being awarded correctly
  - Fixed an issue where the collectible interact would get stuck on screen
  - Fixed an issue where weapon lockers would prevent weapon switching if an empty weapon was replaced in the locker
  - Fixed an issue where weapon crates were not showing the correct weapon on the weapon swap widget
Fireteam
- General
  - Increased amount of time to wait for reinforcements to spawn after radio has been activated
  - Can no longer toggle sprinting while mid jump
  - Increased stamina required to parry
  - Parrying without enough stamina will now cause you to enter an exhausted state
  - Jumping without enough stamina will now cause you to enter an exhausted state
  - Large Veritanium pickups are now instantly added to your currency instead of taking up an inventory slot
  - Fixed an issue where jumping did not cost any stamina
  - Fixed an issue where the Fireteam fall damage was not calculating correctly
  - Fixed an issue where Fireteam members were not able to move immediately after being downed
  - Fixed an issue where certain XP events would not be calculated during Exfil
  - Fixed an issue where Fireteam members would see their ammo as a negative amount
  - Added line of sight requirement for downed Fireteam widget to appear
- Weapons
  - 2XL
    - Reduced close range damage
  - ABR-Z
    - Reduced close range damage
  - D34-D
    - Removed impact grenade firing mode
    - Reduced explosion timer on timed grenades
  - RP-103
    - Fixed an issue where the RP-103 would receive ammo too early in its reload animation
  - 7EN
    - Reduced firing rate
    - Reduced close range damage
- Gear
  - Reduced the amount of Medical Kits and Ammo Bags you can carry to 2 (down from 3)
  - Increased gear weight cost of Medical Kits and Ammo Bags
  - Reduced Grenade inner damage radius
  - Increased Grenade damage falloff speed
  - Fixed an issue where Medical Kits and Ammo Bags would sometimes stick to objects when thrown
Predator
- General
  - Increased Predator damage resistance to knives
  - Reduced the amount of damage that the Predator receives from taking headshot damage
  - Leap Slam now causes nearby Fireteam members to experience a blinding effect
  - Second Wind now causes nearby Fireteam members to experience a blinding effect
  - Increased health gained from feasting on boars
  - Boars will now show up during Target Isolation
  - Made changes to the visuals of target isolation markers
  - Fixed an issue where some of the Predator weapon reticles were incorrect
- Classes
  - Hunter/Jungle Hunter ‘87
    - Fixed an issue where the Jungle Hunter ‘87 class did not have the same stats as the Hunter class
    - Increased damage resistance to all Fireteam firearms other than the shotgun
  - Scout
    - Increased damage resistance to all Fireteam firearms other than the shotgun
    - Increased Gear weight limit
- Weapons
  - Combistick
    - Reduced melee swing damage
    - Reduced melee swing speed
  - Net Gun
    - Increased firing rate
    - Net Gun net can no longer be shot out of the air
  - Plasma Caster
    - Increased damage to uncharged plasma caster shots
    - Reduced damage at maximum charge to prevent downing a full health Fireteam member
  - Smart Disc
    - Fixed an issue that caused the Smart Disc UI to stay on screen if the Predator is damaged while controlling the Smart Disc
  - Yautja Bow
    - Increased velocity of arrows
    - Added ability to hold bow at full charge for an extra 10 seconds before auto release
Audio
- Fixed flare sounds not triggering when placing flare during exfil
Matchmaking/Parties
- Fixed an issue where other player pings would appear higher than they should
- Fixed mission planning screen not waiting for the last person to completely finish loading the level before starting the timer
- Removed the P2P Fallback for players after a long period of time when dedicated servers are available, prevents Predator players from creating P2P lobbies that no one can find
- Fixed an issue where matchmaking would reset your position to the end of the line after waiting
- Fixed an issue so that the Predator queue estimates will be more accurate

About The Author

Jordan Devore

Jordan is a founding member of Destructoid and poster of seemingly random pictures. They are anything but random.