We’ve received a lot of community feedback about balance issues in multiplayer. We have improved the overall experience based on that feedback and our own testing.
Powers and weapons were underperforming at higher difficulties—particularly power combos and assault rifles. As a result, players relied heavily on the Vanquisher sniper rifle and melee-focused classes.
We found current damage levels significantly slowed the pace of games on Gold and Silver difficulties. To fix this, we started to overhaul the balance in multiplayer. Today’s changes are the first step in that process.
For general Patch 1.06 notes, click here.
For patch notes in other languages, click here.
Powers
We determined that the base damage of powers were too low, which caused them to be underpowered in the late stages. We’ve now increased the base damage of powers and improved some of the bonuses granted by additional skill points. We’ve also improved damage from passive skill trees.
Combo detonations on Gold and Silver difficulties also received a buff because they inflicted less damage than intended.
Weapons
Mass Effect multiplayer is more fun when it’s fast-paced, but low weapon damage limited that pace on Gold and Silver difficulties. There was also a noticeable imbalance between weapon classes, particularly for shotguns and assault rifles.
We’ve boosted the base damage for several underperforming assault rifles, pistols, and shotguns to make them more effective. In particular, we wanted shotguns to become better skirmish weapons, so we boosted their damage and accuracy outside of cover, while reducing the extra accuracy bonus when firing from cover.
Finally, we reduced the damage of the Vanquisher sniper rifle to make it comparable with other weapons. Its overwhelming damage far outclassed other weapons and made this particular sniper rifle a must-have. We’ve now evened the playing field so players feel more comfortable bringing something besides the Vanquisher to a Gold-level game.
We’ll continue to consider potential adjustments for some weapons.
Enemy Factions
We’ve also changed how difficult some enemy factions are to fight.
Due to their individual survivability, the kett were the most difficult faction. To combat this, we reduced their health and defenses. We also lessened the chance the Fiend will sync-attack on Silver and Gold difficulties. We’re investigating latency issues that cause the Fiend to appear like it teleports when it jumps.
We wanted to make the Outlaws more challenging, so we improved the ability of Sharpshooters and Hydras to push players into cover. We also made the Berserker easier to fight from cover and the Hydra is now stronger and more dangerous.
We left the Remnant untouched and continue to monitor their performance.
*Changes apply to both single player [SP] and multiplayer [MP] unless otherwise specified
Player:
Fixed a bug that made Silver and Gold difficulties use normal stats for Shield Gate and Health Gate
Fixed a bug that made Silver and Gold difficulties use normal stats for damage reduction due to armor. Enemy armor now reduces 15 damage per hit on Silver and 20 damage per hit on Gold, to a minimum of 10 damage per hit
Powers:
All Damage Powers
[MP] Raw damage upgrades increased by a cumulative 25-35% per power
All Offensive Passive Lines
[MP] Power damage upgrades increased by a cumulative 20% per line
Power Combos
[MP] Fixed an issue that caused combos in Gold and Silver difficulties to inflict incorrect base damage
[MP] Increased base combo damage by approximately 60% in Bronze, 140% in Silver, and 200% in Gold.
[MP] Increased the value of combo damage upgrades in all passives from +30% to +50%
Combat Powers:
Barricade
Increased base duration from 12s to 13s
Decreased Rank 4 duration bonus from 40% to 35%, although the end duration is still greater than before
Increased Rank 5 buff from 20% to 30% power damage bonus
Flak Cannon
[MP] Increased base primary damage from 180 to 250
[MP] Increased base power cell count from 2 to 4
Tech Powers:
Assault Turret
Increased the Rank 5 flamethrower’s damage per second from 45 to 150, and burn damage over time from 22 to 35 damage per second
Increased the Rank 2 health upgrade from +30% to +50%, and the Rank 4 health upgrade from +50% to +75%
The power’s cooldown now triggers when the turret spawns, instead of when it is destroyed.
Increased base bullet damage from 20 to 36 for [MP], and from 20 to 23 for [SP]
[MP] The cooldown is now 30s, but can be reduced to 10s with the Rank 4 cooldown upgrade.
[MP] Fixed a bug causing the Rank 6 cryo ammo to inflict no damage
Incinerate
[MP] Increased the base damage from 120 to 350
[MP] Decreased the damage over time from 50 to 45 damage per second
Overload
[MP] Increased base uncharged damage from 150 to 200, and charged damage from 200 to 300
Flamethrower
Increased base damage from 220 to 240 damage per second for [MP], and from 220 to 225 dps for [SP]
Cryo Beam
[MP] Increased base damage per second from 135 to 150
Energy Drain
[MP] Increased base damage from 160 to 175
Shield Boost
Increased base radius from 6m to 8m
[MP] Increased support score generated by successfully giving another player shields from 10 to 20
Invasion
Improved Rank 4 infection radius and Rank 5 spread radius
Remnant VI
Increased base health from 500 to 800
Increased Rank 2 health upgrade from 15% to 65%
Improved Rank 4 health regeneration rate and delay
Increased Rank 5 close-combat health upgrade from 120% to 200%
Increased the Rank 6 missile damage from 90 to 450
Decreased the Rank 6 missile cooldown from 10s to 5s
[MP] Increased base beam damage from 70 to 100 damage per second
[MP] Fixed issue where VI would occasionally get stuck
[MP] VI will now teleport to player if its path is too complex
Biotic Powers:
Pull
[MP] Increased Rank 5’s crushing grip damage over time from 35 to 60 damage per second
Throw
Increased base damage from 225 to 240
Shockwave
Increased base damage from 225 to 245 for [MP], and from 225 to 260 for [SP]
Singularity
Decreased base cooldown from 24s to 20s
Increased Rank 5 recharge rate bonus from +25% to +40%
Backlash
[MP] Increased base aegis health from 350 to 400
[MP] Increased base reflection damage bonus from +180% to +200%
[MP] Increased Rank 4 and Rank 5 bonuses
Charge
Increased base damage from 250 to 275
Nova
Increased base damage from 400 to 420 for [MP], and from 400 to 450 for [SP]
Annihilation
Increased the base cooldown penalty from 60% to 75%
Decreased the Rank 4 radius bonus from 50% to 35%
Damage and bonuses from different users will now stack on the same target
Lance
Slightly improved aim assist at longer ranges
Passive Powers:
Barrier
[MP] Barrier Drain: shield regeneration value from melee attacks decreased from 20% to 15%
[MP] Biotic Link: can now only apply its effect once every 5s
[MP] Saving Barrier: cooldown on the automatic shield regeneration increased from 10s to 15s
Biotic Ascension
[MP] Improved the bonuses for Rank 6 evolutions
Character Stats:
Asari Adept
[MP] Decreased base shields from 250 to 200
Krogan Vanguard
[MP] Decreased base shields from 180 to 150
Weapons
Assault Rifles
Avenger
Increased damage from 35–47 to 39–50
Mattock
Increased damage from 50–63 to 90–113
Increased magazine size from 16 to 20
Zalkin
Increased damage from 60–76 to 79–99
Valkyrie
Increased damage from 86–99 to 164–190
Increased magazine size from 16 to 20
Increased total spare ammo from 128–160 to 140–175
Soned
Increased damage from 51–59 to 70–81
Improved rate-of-fire charge time from 1s to 0.5s
Improved accuracy when firing from the hip or firing blindly over barriers
Maximum accuracy while aiming down sights was slightly decreased; the accuracy penalty for firing was reduced.
PAW
Increased damage from 35–40 to 58–67
Halberd
Increased damage from 90–113 to 150–180
Pistols
Carnifex
Increased damage from 175–220 to 255–321
Hornet
Increased damage from 46–55 to 101–121
Sidewinder
Increased damage from 150–180 to 167–200
Hurricane
Increased damage from 49–57 to 65–75
Eagle
Increased damage from 69–80 to 96–111
Improved accuracy
Rozerad
Increased damage from 48–56 to 73-84
Increased rate of fire from 420–525 to 490–613
Improved rate-of-fire charge time from 2s to 1s
Improved accuracy
Ushior
Increased damage from 463–535 to 775–896
Increased magazine size from 1 to 2
Increased total ammo from 18–23 to 20–25
Reduced weight from 0.25–0.13 to 0.2–0.1
Charger
Accuracy slightly reduced
Shotguns
Katana
Increased damage per pellet from 46–61 to 64–85
Piranha
Increased damage per pellet from 54–62 to 59–68
Disciple
Increased damage per pellet from 60–76 to 79–99
Ruzad
Increased damage per pellet from 98–123 to 171–215
Crusader
Increased damage from 382–442 to 699–808
Bullet trails added to the slug
Hesh
Increased damage per pellet from 55–66 to 66–79
Scattershot
Increased damage per pellet from 46–55 to 66–79
Dhan
Increased damage from 595–688 to 850–983
Increased magazine size from 2 to 3
Increased total spare ammo from 20–25 to 21–26
Deals extra weak point damage
Venom
Increased damage from 290–348 to 352–422
The initial round will now explode on contact with a target and the fragments will travel faster and longer before they explode
Sniper Rifles
Vanquisher
Reduced damage from 675–810 to 600–720
Shadow
Increased damage from 38–46 to 85–102
Increased damage as the Shadow gets closer to overheating; weapon will overheat faster
Valiant
Increased damage from 463–535 to 550–636
Total spare ammo increased from 35–44 to 45–56
Naladen
Increased damage from 496–574 to 650–752
Enemies
Kett
Wraith
Reduced health by 20%
Chosen
Reduced health by 5%
Anointed
Reduced shields by 47%
Destined
Reduced shields by 67%
Fiend
Decreased the chance that a Fiend initiates a sync attack on Hardcore and Insanity difficulties in single-player and Silver and Gold difficulties in multiplayer
Ascendant
Cobra RPG can now damage the Ascendant after its Orb is destroyed; on Normal or Bronze difficulty, the Cobra RPG can kill the Ascendant in one shot
Increased effectiveness of powers and weapons that lack extra weak point damage against the Orb
Outlaws
Angaran Saboteur
Increased armor by 33%
Turian Anarchist
Increased armor by 33%
Increased weapon damage by 20%
Salarian Agent
Increased armor by 33%
Now fires more frequently
Asari Pariah
Increased armor by 33%
Increased weapon damage by 20%
Sharpshooter
Increased shields by 60%
Increased frequency of firing at targets in cover
Decreased aiming time against out-of-cover targets at higher difficulties
Decreased sniper rifle damage by 18%
[SP] Fixed a bug that caused Roekaar Sharpshooters to deal 75% more sniper rifle damage than intended
Krogan Berserker
Reduced armor by 20%
Hydra
Increased armor by 38%
Weak point health now scales per difficulty in proportion to base health, effectively making it harder to break the weak point on Hardcore and Insanity difficulties in single-player and on Silver and Gold difficulties in multiplayer
Bonus damage from destroying the weak point now also scales with health
Increased normal shot damage by 67%
Normal shot projectile speed doubled
Bug Fixes
The Destroyer and Hydra’s remains will properly disappear after being defeated
Matches / Missions
Match Medals
Score required to achieve a Support Medal for Bronze, Silver, and Gold difficulties increased from 400/800/1,200 to 800/1,600/2,000
Store
Item Store
Added Experience Boosters to the Item Store
Equipment
Adaptive War Amp
Increased damage bonus from 15% to 30%
Engineering Kit
Increased damage bonus from 15% to 30%
Enhanced Munitions
Increased damage bonus from 15% to 30%