Patch Notes: Update 1.3.0

PATCH 1.3.1: THE SHIPYARD UPDATE

What is Progression 2.0?

Dreadnought’s new progression system puts you at the helm of your own destiny. Every vessel in the game belongs to a specific tier (from I to V) in one of three Manufacturer Trees, which you can research to gain access to higher-tier vessels. Each ship also has its own Tech Tree that you can progress through to acquire more advanced weapons, modules and officer briefings.

The new progression system will allow you to:

• Choose your own progression path
• Follow your own short-, mid- and long-term goals
• Feel ownership over the fleet of ships that you unlock and customize
• Explore a diversity of new ships
• Play in fair battles (tiers allow for more transparent, balanced matchmaking)

A New Progression System

Manufacturer Trees

Understanding the new progression system starts with taking a look at the three Manufacturer Trees. In each Manufacturer Tree:

• There are 17 ships that you can research and customize
• There is a variety of unique, preconfigured Hero Ships to choose from
• Ships are organized according to tiers (I-V)
• Higher tiers offer more powerful vessels and tactical choices as well as more complex, impactful visual designs

The manufacturers

The “Big Three” Megacorps are the dominant forces of the Solar System. Under the direct control of the Pan Colonial Commonwealth (PCC), they build ships, weapons and tech that are designed to destroy anyone who dares to challenge its power and influence.

Jupiter Arms

Jupiter Arms is based in the Jovian System and was the first Megacorp to consolidate its place in the military-industrial complex of the Pan Colonial Commonwealth. Run by unsophisticated, fearless and utilitarian warriors, it is the evolution of the Pan American Federation, which became a security corporation long before the Great Solar War. The most openly militant of the Megacorps, it was their veto that triggered the war.

Akula Vektor

Akula Vektor was the second of the “Big Three” Megacorps to rise to power in the PCC. Historically a Eurasian workers’ cooperative aiming to create a worldly utopia, it quickly became corrupt in the run-up to the Great Solar War, morphing from an idealistic developer of dual-use technology to a full-blown military defense contractor. Headquartered in the Cronian System, “sleek” is the keyword for Akula—both their political tactics and their ships are smooth on the surface and brutal in effect.

Oberon

Oberon was the last Megacorp to rise to a position of strong political influence in the PCC. A class of “warrior business monks,” they were originally a religious order that followed the Transhumans to the colonial frontiers. After the outbreak of the Great Solar War, they began attempts at reverse-engineering any Transhuman tech they could get their hands on. Unable to fully comprehend the tech, they transferred their spiritualism into a worship of technology. Their main temple and HQ is in the Uranian System.

Ship Tiers

The Shipyard Update introduces a new unlock system for ships, weapons, modules and officer briefings. Based on the new tier functionality and the Fleet System (more about that below), ship Tech Trees guide you through progression by granting power upgrades to existing items and unlocks for new items.

Each ship is unique and has its own Tech Tree as well as Ship-XP pool. Ships of higher tiers are more potent than their lower-tier counterparts. The tier of a ship affects its:

• Movement: speed and maneuverability
• Health: total health and repair rate
• Firepower: more weapons, higher projectile damage, more rapid fire rate
• Customization potential: increased number of available modules and access to specialized modules

The Three Starter Ships

Trader ships are no longer in the game. Instead, each of the three Manufacturer Trees has a starting ship that is available to every new player:

• The Agosta: medium Destroyer (Jupiter Arms)
• The Rurik: medium Artillery Cruiser (Akula Vektor)
• The Cerberus: medium Tactical Cruiser (Oberon)

Each of these starting ships has a streamlined Tech Tree that allows new players to get used to the Tech Tree system and become familiar with researching and using new modules. In the Tech Trees of higher-tier ships, you’ll be able to research and equip secondary weapons as well as officer briefings.

Hero Ships

Hero Ships are still an integral part of the game; each one has a place in a Manufacturer Tree. However, since these legendary vessels are fully researched, the XP they yield can be directly converted into Free XP, which you can use within any ship’s Tech Tree. Like other fully researched vessels, Hero Ships allow you to earn more Credits whenever you take them into battle (more about researching, XP and Credits below).

In addition, Hero Ships:

• Can be purchased with GP (Grey Box Points) at any time in-game
• Allow you to gain early access to a new tier
• Are part of a tier and are equipped according to the tier to which they belong
• Can be assigned to a fleet with the corresponding ship tier requirement
• Instantly unlock the fleet tier they are in (Veteran & Legendary Fleets)
• Cannot be customized
• Come with the Veteran Status, which means the XP you get by using them can be directly converted into Free XP

New Hero Ships for Founder’s Packs

Hero Ships that have been available prior to the Shipyard Update are now slotted into Tier 4. To give owners of Founder's Packs a chance to show off their covetous ships in lower tier matchmaking, two new Hero Ships have been created!

• Players that own the Hunter Pack will receive a tier-II version of the Morningstar.
• Players that own the Mercenary Pack will receive a tier-II version of the Morningstar and Silesia.
• Players that have received a Fleet Recruitment Pack will also get a tier-II version of the Morningstar.

Ship Research

Unlocking a new ship in a Manufacturer Tree gives you access to modifications and customizations that can be researched within that ship’s Tech Tree. The higher the ship tier that you reach, the more advanced and diverse these options become.

• Modules, weapons and officer briefings are used to outfit a ship for battle.
• These items are unlocked through an individual ship’s Tech Tree.
• Items have tiered power levels that correspond to the tier of the ship it is unlocked for.
• Item compatibility:
• Items are generally compatible with the ship they have been unlocked on.
• Items are compatible with ships that are one tier higher (but not vise versa).

To unlock new modules, weapons and briefings, you first need to research them in a ship’s Tech Tree. They can then be purchased with Credits and equipped on the ship for which they were researched.

• To obtain an item, you must research it before you can purchase it.
• Researching is done with XP.
• Purchasing is done with Credits.
• Items are obtained for each ship individually.
• Items cannot be bought with GP (Grey Box Points).
• Once purchased, an item will show up on its ship’s customization screen.

Veteran Status

Ships that have been 100% researched will get “Veteran Status.” A ship that has achieved Veteran Status has all of its customization options unlocked (but not necessarily purchased). A ship with Veteran Status can no longer use Ship XP (more about ship XP below). As a result, it will have the option to convert Ship XP into Free XP, which can be used on any customizable ship.

Currency System: Credits, GP and XP

We’ve mentioned Credits, GP (Grey Box Points) as well as Ship XP and Free XP quite a bit already. Below is an in-depth summary of what they are, and how to use them.

Overview

When playing a match with a ship, you earn Ship XP, Free XP and Credits. Ship XP can only be used to research new items on the specific ship they were earned with, while Free XP can be used to research items within any ship’s Tech Tree. Credits can be used globally to unlock new modules, weapons and officer briefings on any ship.

GP is used to buy vanity items for your ships or captains. Unlike the other currencies, you can only obtain GP by purchasing it in the in-game market for real money.

Ship XP:

• Is earned by playing a match with any ship
• Is used to research items in a specific ship’s Tech Tree
• Can only be used on the ship that it was earned with
• Can be converted into Free XP once a ship achieves Veteran Status

Free XP:

• Is earned by playing a match with any ship
• Is used to research items in any ship’s Tech Tree
• Can be used anywhere (it is not ship-specific)

Credits:

• Is earned by playing a match with any ship
• Are used to purchase researched items
• Are used to pay for fleet maintenance
• Can be used anywhere (they are not ship-specific)

GP:

• Is available for purchase in the in-game market
• Can be used to purchase vanity items, Elite Status and Hero Ships
• Can be used to convert Ship XP into Free XP

Ship and Fleet Management

An Introduction to Fleets

Fleets are collections of ships that you can assemble and take into battle. Each fleet has a Fleet Rating that represents its overall power. A fleet’s rating is used primarily to match players against one another in fair, balanced matches.

You can create up to three fleets with different power levels. Each Fleet Level has the following prerequisites:

• Recruit Fleet: None (available at the start of the game)
• Veteran Fleet: You must own two tier-II ships
• Legendary Fleet: You must own three tier-IV ships

What ships can be used in which fleets—and how do tiers factor in?

• Recruit Fleet: Tier-I and II ships
• Veteran Fleet: Tier-II, III and IV ships
• Legendary Fleet: Tier-IV and V ships

To give you a better overview of how this works, please refer to this table:

Addition information about fleets:

• A fleet has five ship slots. It can hold a maximum of five different ships.
• Ships can only be placed in an eligible fleet (see the chart above).
• A single ship cannot take up more than one slot in a fleet.
• Ships of tiers that overlap two fleets (tier II & IV) can be placed into either eligible fleet (or both at the same time).
• When a ship is not in a fleet, it is placed in storage.
• Storage provides an overview of all ships a player owns, whether they’re currently in a fleet or not.
• A ship’s progress and customization is persistent.
• If you customize a ship that is in two fleets at the same time (tier-II and IV ships), the ship will be updated in both places.
• When a customized ship is removed from a fleet and added again later, the previous customizations will remain in place.
• Progress made with a ship is saved on that ship, whether it is put into a fleet or not.
• When a ship is in two fleets at the same time (tier-II and IV ships), XP and Credits earned with either fleet goes toward the same ship.

Fleet Maintenance

Hard-fought battles take a toll on your ships. You’ll occasionally find that you need to have your vessels repaired. This can be done in Sinley Bay by the local engineers.

What is maintenance?

When your fleet requires maintenance, it can’t be used in battle (but you can continue to customize the ships in the fleet). To repair and use it again, you must spend Credits, which are earned by playing matches.

When is maintenance required?

Generally, your ships need to go into maintenance after you lose a battle or if you withdraw from a battle before it ends. The top three players of each game, no matter if their team wins or loses, will not have to go into maintenance.

To sum up, your fleet will not go into maintenance if:

• You win a match.
• You play any match with a Recruit Fleet.
• You play a training match.
• You are one of the top three players in a match (regardless of which teams wins).

Fleet maintenance and training matches

Note that playing a training match does not trigger fleet maintenance. You can also play in a training match with a fleet that is still in maintenance.

Maintenance for ships in more than one fleet

While your fleet is in maintenance, you are unable to use it in battle. However, if you have the same ship in two fleets at the same time (and one of those fleets is in maintenance), you can still use the ship in the fleet that is not in maintenance.

Skipping Fleet Maintenance

Skipping fleet maintenance automatically uses Credits to get your fleet ready again. You decide whether or not to skip maintenance every time it is required, or you can check the “Skip Maintenance” box for your Veteran and Legendary Fleets to automatically pay for and skip the maintenance after you exit battle. This feature: 

• Is not active by default
• Automatically pays for maintenance upon entering the menu (from match or game startup)
• Will not automatically be paid for if you don’t have enough Credits
• Will repair lower-level fleets first (if you have multiple fleets in maintenance)

Changes to Vanity Items in Market

With the introduction of the new tier system, the way customizations and vanity items are handled in the market has changed as well.

• Vanity items now correspond to a specific ship subclass.
• For example, if you purchase a vanity item for a Nav (which is a medium Dreadnought), it can only be applied to that ship and other medium Dreadnoughts.
• Prices for individual vanity items have been reduced to reflect this change.
• Vanity items that fit multiple ship subclasses may be sold in bundles. This would allow you to buy items that fit multiple ships with a single purchase.

Match Setup

We’ve recently identified a handful of issues with matchmaking. The changes that are being introduced with this patch and Progression 2.0 will greatly improve the quality of our matchmaking, while also reducing queue times for all players.

How does matchmaking work? The matchmaking algorithm tries to fulfill the following criteria:

• Both teams are balanced in terms of power, which is represented by their respective Fleet Ratings (more about this below). Each team has a 50% chance to win.
• Both teams are balanced in terms of skill, which is represented by MMR (matchmaking rating). Each team has a 50% chance to win.
• Each team contains about the same number of squads. For example, the matchmaker tries to avoid matching pre-made squads against individual players.
• The discrepancy in Fleet Ratings between the highest-rated and lowest-rated player in the match is minimal.
• The discrepancy in experience, measured by the number of games played, between the least-experienced player and the most-experienced player is minimal.
• The highest Fleet Rating of a player in team 1 should be close to the highest Fleet Rating of a player in team 2.
• Wait times shouldn’t be too long.

Since the algorithm is balancing match quality vs. waiting time, the match quality requirements such as skill and experience balance will automatically grow less stringent as a player waits longer.

Ship Rating: Each ship has a rating that reflects its strength in the overall balancing.

Fleet Rating (FR): Is an aggregate rating calculated for an entire fleet that is based on the ratings of the ships included in the fleet. Fleet Rating is used as the primary criterion in matchmaking. When calculating Fleet Rating, the best ship in the fleet is weighted more than the other ships. 

Squad Fleet Rating: When playing in a squad, each player is able to freely pick their fleet. This is not limited by fleet type. In order to find fair matches, the squad is assigned a collective squad Fleet Rating.

Rejoining Matches and Penalties for Leaving a Match

A running match is the period from warp into orbit (after loading screen) up to the victory / defeat message (before end of match).

The leaving match penalty is triggered when:

• You do not rejoin a running match within 3 minutes after a connection loss
• You quit to the outpost through the menu during a running match (or leave via any other means that can be considered intentional)

Penalties for leaving:

• You receive no rewards from the match you leave
• A loss is recorded for the match you leave
• The fleet you used in the match goes into maintenance

8v8

So far in Dreadnought's development, we have focused on 5v5 gameplay. However, after prototyping the new 8v8 Onslaught mode, we have reevaluated the team sizes and have decided to change it to 8v8. We've been playing countless matches and listening to community feedback, which has led us to the decision to make all current game modes 8v8. There are several reasons behind this change:

More intense battles

Destroying huge ships with massive weapons is a main part of what makes Dreadnought fun. Adding more players to a single battle allows us to emphasize this aspect of the game, while still keeping the core experience the same.

More tactical choices

With more ships, each team can more easily split into subgroups of 2 or 3. For example, instead of sticking together, a main attack group of 5 could be supported by a quicker flanking force of 3. However, even though 8v8 allows for more complex team tactics, there's even more room for lone wolves who want to occasionally go in alone.

Easier access for new players

The last thing we want new players to feel is that they're letting their team down. 8v8 reduces the focus on individuals and spreads responsibility across the larger team. When one player falls, there's a good chance a more experienced player will be there to help.

Future game modes may require other team sizes

While we made these changes to the currently available game modes, we are constantly thinking about and experimenting with new ones. For some of them, 5v5 might be the right choice. We simply don't know yet, and we're not ruling out anything at this point.

Squad Sizes

In addition to the switch to 8v8, we will also be changing squad sizes from 5 to 3. While we realize this splits up teams of 5 that want to stick together, we also know that matchmaking has been a frustrating experience for many players. We think that having smaller squads will greatly reduce queue times and create a better experience for everyone.

We are also investigating other options that give players more control over the setup of specific matches. However, we're still working them out and will provide more details at a later time.

Training Matches

We want to allow all players to go into training matches to test their ships and fleets. When playing a training match, your fleet does not have to go into maintenance afterwards (however, it does not reward you with XP or Credits). There are three difficulty modes to cater to the three Fleet Levels:

• Recruit training
• Veteran training
• Legendary training

Game Improvements

• The Dreadnought logo on the loading and login screen has been updated.
• Now logo has been added to executable icon and engine splash image.
• Profanity filter in chat is activated by default.
• Fleet Points (FP) are now called Credits.
• The three manufacturers, Jupiter Arms, Akula Vektor and Oberon have received their own individual logo designs.
• General improvements to the matchmaking process will reduce queue times.
• Outpost camera: new preview modes are available for the Tech Trees and the market
• The in-game HUD displays information about ship tiers.
• Adjustments to spawn points on the Dry Dock map
• New musical content was added to the to pre- and post-gameplay scenes.
• Sound effects added to the in-game HUD
• Loading screens will now display additional information about the game mode that is being played.
• Tooltips now display more numbers and overall better quality information. Note: ship power is still displayed as a bar but detailed stats are available here:
• Visual graphics quality has been improved for low-graphics settings.
• Visual FX for weapons now vary depending on power level to allow for better differentiation between tiers.
• Visual FX for modules now offer better performance, are more consistent and readable.
• General optimizations for improving performance on graphics card and CPU side
• HUD optimizations reduce CPU and GPU load in-game
• UI optimization for hangar
• Optimization of general gameplay performance
• Optimized ship performance
• Optimized map performance
• Optimization of overall particle performance
• Improvements to visual and sound FX of warping

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a problem that caused an error in the payment system when a user tried to purchase a GP pack.
• Fixed an issue that would cause the player / ship tiles in the pre-match orbit screen to overlap and be out of place.
• Fixed an issue that could freeze a PC that had the Windows Anniversary Update installed after closing Dreadnought.
• Fixed an issue with contracts that required the user to earn certain ribbons that were not available in game. 
• Fixed an issue that would cause massive framerate drops on non-space maps.
• Fixed a problem with the visual FX of the Tesla Turrets secondary weapon that would cause the beam to be displayed longer than the weapons was being fired.
• Fixed an issue with the “Win 3 games” contract that would cause lost games to be counted towards the goal as well, instead of won matches only.
• Fixed an issue with the “Destroy Destroyers with Corvette” contract that would cause it to not automatically complete upon meeting the requirements.
• Fixed an issue with the spelling of the Coup de Grace ribbon.
• Fixed an issue with the "Press Spacebar to skip"-Text that was cut off when player entered the opening cutscene in the onboarding process on selected resolutions.
• Fixed an issue that could cause the Gora to appear without textures on login.
• Fixed a mismatch with the Amplifying Weapons audio message and the displayed subtitles.
• Fixed a wrong audio message for the Stasis Missile that played the VO for the Anti-Missile Pulse.
• Fixed a mismatch in the spelling of the word Destroyer (upper and lower case “D”).
• Fixed description of the Thrust Amplifier ability that read "This module increases your corvette’s armor for a short time" when it should read "This module increases your corvette’s speed for a short time."
• Fixed a contract that required to earn the Second Hand ribbon although this ribbon is not available in game.
• Fixed an issue that could cause a short time “rubber band” effect in every multiplayer game for some players.
• Fixed several instances of misspellings and grammatical errors in the market descriptions and tooltips.
• Fixed a clipping issue that would occur when previewing secondary modules on corvettes.
• Fixed an issue that would occur after a player skipped the tutorial, resulting in them not being able to start multiplayer matches.
• Market has been reworked for Progression 2.0, which has eliminated some bugs regarding missing items in Market.
• Fixed an issue that would cause no message about Win / Loss / Draw to appear when a match ended due to time running out.
• Fixed an issue that would cause the Hero Ships and Champion set to not show up in the market for some players.
• Fixed an issue with the energy bar that would occur when a player joins a match in progress. The energy bar would display a “1” instead of “100” and not deplete gradually but instantly when all energy was used.
• Fixed an issue with the Bug Reporter that would cause the mouse cursor to disappear behind the Issue Type dropdown. 
• Fixed various causes of crashes and freezes in the game.