1.2 PATCH NOTES

1.2 PATCH NOTES

Hey there gamers! It's your best bud Bryan here, coming in with a quick update on the state of UNOVR.

So much has happened in the last few months that it's hard to keep up! I'll try to keep it short and sweet and hit all the highlights, tweaks, and upgrades we've made to the game in the last few months.

Noonlight Raid

WORLD EVENT: NOONLIGHT RAID. This was the big one. If you were there, you know. And if you weren't there, then you missed out on one hell of an event! But fear not, this was just a taster for what's happening in Asper.

So what happened? Well, we got to see what Corruption can really do when it takes hold of a Pokémon, we got to meet Moltres, and we met our third guild leader: Cygnus! We'll talk about guilds more in the next patch, but for now let's talk about balance and the systems present in the raid.

This raid was the first use of our Dynamic Threat Function, which is the system some of our BIG enemies use in large-scale battles. As many of you saw and felt, the Briar Beast assessed threats in real time, picking its next move based on the actions of everyone present in the raid. This function won't always be present, but you may see a revised version of it in future events featuring large bosses, so keep an eye out!

In the wake of the raid, the Settlement has officially been named! It will henceforth be referred to in game as the Briarbane Settlement. Incredibly fitting, and a super cool name.

Popping back to talk about Moltres some more, the great burning bird has retaken her rightful roost, and will now be visible at the Noonlight Shrine. If you drop in while she's there, be sure to give a quick prayer for war, as it's said that doing so can bring you luck in your next battle.

Paldea

Many of you have been making use of our Paldea Giveaway, claiming your favorite Pokémon from the handheld games and breathing new life into them in the VR world of UNOVR. It's great to see, and we'll be continuing this promotion for at least the next month.

As for catchable Paldean Pokémon on site? Well, there already are some! With the reopening of Beta Island via our purchasable Commuter Pass, you can now head back to where it all began! Beta Island is still covered in authentic battle damage from the clash between players, Kyogre, and the (at the time) rogue Primal Codie.

As many of you know, a large number of the catchable starter Pokemon were deleted during that fight, and it looks like some new faces have moved to the island to fill the ecological niches left behind! Each of the three routes on Beta Island (Canopy, Coastline, and Crater) has NINE spawns, and each location includes at least 1 Paldean Pokemon.

You will also be able to obtain Paldean Pokemon from the Rookery starting next year!

Skill Tree Changes

Now I know what you're thinking, and YES, we've nerfed Sweeper again. Just kidding! The changes today are very minimal, and I think you Tank mains out there are going to love them.

First, we've renamed Special Abilities to Core Abilities. We found that players were underutilizing these abilities, and so we wanted to emphasize the fact that they are a CORE part of your kit. The abilities are what really set the classes apart.

We've also been crunching the numbers post raid, as well as monitoring the socials, and it seems like some players were unhappy with the consistency of the damage reduction provided by Disrupt. That's valid, and we've gone ahead and tweaked our damage calculation system for Disrupt so that you will be much more likely to swing in and stop that enemy attack when it matters most. In a nutshell, any Disrupt roll you make going forward will be done with advantage (we roll two numbers and pick the highest)!

Regarding Pokemon learnsets, many Pokemon have new moves in the Gen 9 games we're sure you're eager to get your hands on! Moves gained from the LVL/MOVES tree on UNOVR will now be that Pokemon's most recent main-line game learnset.

Example? If they were in Scarlet and Violet, Pokemon will use their Generation 9 learnset. If they haven't been in a game since Sun and Moon, they'll use Gen 7! Of course, Hisui-exclusive Pokemon can use their learnset from Pokemon Legends: Arceus if necessary.

QoL Changes

Plenty of little things have been changed, either for clarity or to make things easier for the most important people in the game: our players!

Here's a quick rundown on the little things we've changed:

Trading must now be done in person. This is to promote player interaction and building your friend network within the game. So go out, meet some people, or use the wanted boards in the Briarbane settlement to find people who are looking for what you're wanting to trade away!

Arena rewards have been tweaked. Each tier now offers TWO REWARDS, each of which can only be claimed once. This means that after stomping on Easy Glaceon twice, you won't be able to keep coming back and farming rewards. It also means (more importantly) that to get every unique reward offered by these battles, you'll need to fight the Colossal Pokemon at EVERY DIFFICULTY LEVEL!

The Full Rarity List has also been released! This includes EVERY non-legendary or mythical Pokemon, in either their base form, or the form currently available in game. For example Mr. Mime is listed, as he is catchable in the Misty Timberlands, but we also have Mime Jr., who can be hatched from an egg in the Rookery.

Wurmple has also been removed from the Bethany's Trade Shop on Beta Island, as per the Kickstarter that was just funded (giving Wurmple access to a unique +50 Z-Move as well as the move Rain Dance). The little caterpillar has been replaced with Trubbish (Common)!

Safety and Player Security

The last thing I want to talk about is the safety of our players.

It is paramount that our players feel safe, secure, and protected at all times in-game. You opt-in to any dangerous content, you can always log out, and most importantly you will no longer be recorded in game. As the WorldScreen uses deep dive technology, recording game footage already required a third-party setup or heavy modifications to the console, but as of this patch going live, capturing game footage of UNOVR is now a bannable offense.

To put it bluntly, we don't want you recording, sharing, or streaming in-game footage, especially if it contains other players. As many players use their real face as a basis for their character model, there are real-world implications to sharing footage of others without their consent, and we've decided to nip this one in the bud.

I'll say it again. To promote the safety and security of our members it is NO LONGER LEGAL TO STREAM UNOVR.

What's next?

Now that we've got that out of the way it's time to get back to the good stuff, by which I mean playing UNOVR! There's always more to explore in game, and we've got an absolute boatload of great new content just around the corner. Our devs will be taking a bit of downtime over the coming weeks to focus on finalizing the Briarbane Settlement, as well as working on the next stage of the ASPER STORY QUEST, the first stage of which has just concluded!

It was amazing seeing everyone chip in to fill out the Asper Dex, and as many of you are aware Doctor Bunya will be taking over research in the settlement while Professor Ash establishes a forward lab out to the Surge Steppes. I'm sure you're all excited to help her out with her research into Steel Pokemon, so I won't keep you any longer.

See you all in game!