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Greetings MechWarriors,
It's time again for a look into the coming months of content currently planned for MechWarrior Online. You can check out our previous January Roadmap and Beyond post here.
April and May see two significant releases, with the Incursion Game Mode arriving April 18th and the Skill Tree revamp planned to arrive May 16th. Work is currently underway on a number of Faction Play improvements and features set for release later this year, while the Civil War quickly approaches release this July, bringing with it new 'Mechs, new tech, and new weaponry.
There's much more on the way, so without further delay let's take a look at what’s to come for MechWarrior Online in the months of April, May, June, and beyond.
Patch Date: April 18th
Roughneck (Store)
Pictured variant: Roughneck RGH-1A [S]
Incursion Game Mode
The brand new Incursion Game Mode is set for release this April! You can get a rundown on the Game Mode in our recent Public Test announcement post here, along with a list of changes made as a result of your testing and feedback here. While Incursion is currently only supported for Quick Play, our level designers are currently working to integrate Incursion into Faction Play for a future patch.
Global/Floating Chat
Improvements to the in-game chat systems are set for release this April, providing new levels of persistence and refinement to the frontend chat systems.
Alpine Peaks Domination Beacon Relocation
Our initial adjustment to the Domination Game Mode for Alpine back in December didn't quite hit the mark. In this patch we are making further terrain adjustments for line of sight to the Beacon, along with a change to the Beacon location to improve balance between Team spawns.
Command Wheel & BattleGrid Command Improvements
Commands issued through the Command Wheel and BattleGrid will now provide coordinate information to your teammates along with the alerts.
New Loading Screens
Skill Tree Public Test #2
A second Public Test Session of the upcoming Skill Tree revamp is planned for this April, prior to a full release of the feature currently planned for the May patch.
Patch Date: May 16th
Skill Tree, Engine Desync, and Balance Adjustments
Pending another phase of Public Test in April the new Skill Tree is planned for release in the May patch.
We know there has been some concern expressed regarding the transfer of progress and Modules over to the new system since the previous Skill Tree Public Test, and we want to assure everyone that we have taken great care in ensuring your Skill progress will be retained in the new system; we think you'll be pleased with the solutions.
A complete rundown on all the changes you'll see with the new Skill Tree compared to the previous testing phase is well outside the scope of this Roadmap, but you can expect all the details in the associated Public Test post later in April.
Turret Performance Optimization (Minor impact)
Turret objects will be receiving some model optimizations in May; these adjustments will hopefully lead to some minor performance gains for Game Modes in which Turrets are utilized.
Quickdraw and Victor Weapon Retrofits
The Quickdraw and Victor will be receiving a weapon retrofit pass this May, primarily aimed at improving the display of Missile weaponry to more accurately reflect the loadout.
Patch Date: June 20th
8v8 Competitive/Ranked Mode
Competitive play is set to receive an official presence in MechWarrior Online this June with the release of an ELO-Ranked 8v8 mode, featuring competitive leaderboards, team registration and management features, competitive play lobbies, detailed statistics and standings, and more. We are also planning to release an API intended to provide community-run leagues and tournaments with the ability to draw match data for use in their own bracket and match result systems.
Civil War Technology and Timeline Advancement: New Weapons and Equipment
2017 Tournament Supporter Pack
Improved Spectator Tools
‘Mech IK (apologies for the moving delays on this one)
Faction Play Special Event System
Faction Play Improvements, integrating suggestions and feedback from Faction Play Roundtables
Incursion Game Mode in Faction Play
New Maps!
2017 Annual Rewards Program
Upcoming 'Mechs
• Civil War 'Mechs (Store)
• Clan Hero 'Mechs (Store)
• New standard (C-Bill) variants for Clan Wave 2 & 3 'Mechs, featuring distinct Loadouts.
• Clan IIC Hero 'Mechs
Mech_Con 2017 and the 2017 MechWarrior Online World Championships
And more...
