Marvel’s Avengers will bring Clint Barton’s Hawkeye to the roster on March 18th, and with the new character, it will also bring a host of changes and updates to the game. Crystal Dynamics gave some insight into two big changes coming with the March 18th update (including a full release on next-gen consoles) in a new blog post, which will involve an XP system reworking and a change to how cosmetics are unlocked and distributed. The XP system will be the biggest change, but both will take some getting used to for longtime players, though should provide a better experience for those just hopping in when Hawkeye launches.
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The XP system is getting a big change that will be felt immediately, as right now the XP needed to level never changes regardless of what level you are currently at. If you’re going from 30 to 31 or 1 to 2, it’s always the same, and that’s led to players rocketing through leveling and gaining abilities at an incredibly fast pace.
That’s being changed to a more typical roleplaying game curve, so the higher your level the more XP it takes to get to the next level. That means it will take longer to gain access to the mastery skill tree and some of those more advanced abilities, so each ability choice will matter more since it will be a bit before you unlock another one, especially at higher levels. There was also a bug that let players level up at a considerably faster rate with higher-level characters, and that will be patched with the new update as well.
On the cosmetics side, it is more about removing the randomness factor from unlocking certain cosmetics, so for those items that are only unlockable in strongboxes or Chastity’s store at random intervals, the goal is to have those purchasable with units so that you can decide what you want and have a clear path to get it or work towards it. That’s why those random cosmetic item drops will be temporarily disabled until they can fully integrate the changes, and Chastity’s store will have a specific lineup of items while those changes are made.
You can get all the specifics on both changes below.
XP Rework
Since we launched last September, our balance team has been evaluating the XP curve for leveling from 1-50 and we’ll be making some changes to address two core issues.
The current XP “curve” isn’t really a curve at all. In most RPGs, the amount of XP you need to level up increases as you gain levels in a curve, but our system is a straight line. This has led to pacing issues, such as skill points currently being rewarded too fast, which may be confusing and overwhelming to newer players. We want each decision to invest in a skill or Heroic to be more meaningful.
Based on these issues, we’ll be increasing the amount of XP needed to level up, starting from around level 25. This amount will increase the closer you get to level 50 so that it will take longer to reach higher levels, and will only affect character level, not power level. If you already have level 50 characters, which is the current maximum, this won’t affect you. If you have a character who isn’t level 50 and want to speed up their progress, take this time to do so before the update on March 18.
Note: Due to a bug we discovered, players could level characters at a blistering pace if they had multiple high-level characters. We intend to fix this issue once Clint arrives.
Cosmetic Rework
We’ll be reworking how players obtain certain cosmetic items with the goal of providing more player agency and clarity about how to obtain them by removing randomness from the process. Currently, many of these items are only obtainable through a random chance in strongboxes or in Chastity’s store (cosmetic vendor). We want to make sure that when you earn a cosmetic item, it is something you have had a choice in working towards.
The first step of this is to temporarily disable the random cosmetic items drops in preparation for the change. Players won’t lose anything they have already earned. These items will be available again in places such as the cosmetic vendor once her store is reworked in future updates and will be purchasable with Units. This will directly affect random chance cosmetic rewards from completing activities (Missions and Strongboxes) and character progression (Hero Level and Faction Level). Numerous patterns will also be temporarily disabled from dropping and in some cases replaced with additional Units that can be spent at the cosmetic vendor.
The cosmetic vendor will still be open while we work on updating her functionality. The following outfits and nameplates will remain in the cosmetic vendor while her store undergoes the rework:
Outfits:
Black Widow’s Dawn and Midnight
Captain America’s Covert Commando and Freedom Fighter
Hulk’s Shattered and Fractured
Iron Man’s Midas and Gunmetal
Ms. Marvel’s Detailed and Crafted
Thor’s Hard Hat
Kate Bishop’s Private Eye and 3
Nameplates:
Black Widow 6 and 14
Captain America 6 and 10
Hulk 14 and 27
Iron Man 7 and 14
Ms. Marvel 18 and 19
Thor 17 and 22
Kate Bishop 7 and 8
The following emotes, which were previously level-up rewards, will be added to the cosmetic vendor on March 18 to allow for more selection during her time of limited wares.
Black Widow Head Nod and Watch Me
Captain America Salute and Let’s Go
Hulk Hey and Follow
Iron Man Over Here and Beacon
Ms. Marvel Wave and Follow Me
Thor Hey There and You There
Kate Bishop’s Hey and Beckon
What do you think of the changes? Let us know in the comments or as always you can talk all things gaming with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!
