Splatoon: new update (Ver. 1.3.0) available now, incl. game balance and SplatFest fixes

Update 2

The update is now available for download. Surprisingly, it’s quite small: it requires only 44MB of free space to dowload.

Update

Nintendo of America has posted the official changelog in English: you will find it below, just after the break. We also updated some tidbits in the post, such as the release date for the update.

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Today, Nintendo announced that a new Software update for Splatoon would be released on Wednesday (most likely Tuesday evening for North America). This new version (1.3.0) is bringing several game balance changes, but also some fixes regarding SplatFests (with the first one taking place on July 4th in Europe and North America).

Thanks to Reddit user kirbyfreek33, we now have a proper translation of the patchnotes, that you will find below!

SplatFest changes

During the first Japanese SplatFest, many players encountered connection issues, and had trouble finding a game to join (especially if they were on the Rice team). Therefore, Nintendo chose to delay the European and North American SplatFests, in order to fix the issue.

Their solution is actually pretty simple: when looking for a game, if no opponent team is found before the end of the time limit, the game will attempt to match your team with one from the opposite SplatFest team. For example, if you’re in the Dog team, but no Cat team is found before the end of the time limit, you may end up playing against players from the Dog team.

You will also be able to get SplatFest points even when you play against players from the same SplatFest team as you. However, this does not impact the overall results for the SplatFest, as only the points from games with two opposite SplatFest teams (for example: Dogs vs Cats) will be taken into account. With this system, players can keep on playing even, but the overall results won’t be impacted.

The developers also changed the time players can join the SplatFest. From now on, some random players will be able to join up to 5 minutes before the official start of the event, though the actual event itself will still start at the designated time. This system is there to prevent server congestion when too many players try to join at the exact same time.

Finally, the developers also increased the amount of Super Sea Snails that the players from the losing SplatFest team receive if they reached a specific ranks (most likely Champion and King/Queen).

Special attacks changes

– Inkstrike: in the current version of the game, there is a bug related to the Inkstrike. Depending on where the hit lands, the size of the area sprayed can vary. With this update, the area sprayed will be of the same size no matter where the Inkstrike lands;
– Kraken: with this new update, when you get hit by an enemy while using that attack, the knockback will be stronger than it is in the current version.

Gear abilities changes

– Ninja Squid: your speed when swimming in ink has been reduced;
– Stealth Jump: it now takes longer to charge up the Super Jump;
– Ink Resistance: this effects on this ability (amount of damage and speed when moving through enemy ink) has been adjusted.

Of course, this Software update includes the usual changes meant to improve the gameplay experience (though we don’t know what exactly). It will be released on Wednesday in Europe and Japan / Tuesday in North America (most likely at the same time as the weekly additional content unlocks). This post will be updated when the Software update goes live!

When the update is live, there is one easy way to check if you have the latest version: simply launch the game, and you should see “1.3.0” at the top right corner of the TV screen.

Here’s the official changelog:

Splatfest:

• When there are more members on one team than the other and the match-making process takes too long, members from the same team will be able to battle each other
  • Members will still receive Splatfest Points even when they battle against members of the same team
  • Note: Only the results from matches against the opposing team will be included in the overall Splatfest results
• Adjustments have been made to allow some players at random to participate as early as 5 minutes prior to the official start time of Splatfest in order to make for a more pleasant gaming experience (Note: All players will be able to participate once the event begins)
  • This adjustment was made to lighten the server load at the beginning of the Splatfest
• Adjustments have been made to the number of Super Sea Snails distributed to members of the losing team that have earned either of the top two Splatfest rank titles

Special Weapon Adjustments:

• Inkstrike: The amount of area covered will be more consistent regardless of where it lands
• Kraken: The amount of knockback is increased when taking damage from an opponent while using Kraken

Ability Adjustments:

• Ninja Squid: Swim speed will be lowered when using this ability
• Stealth Jump: The amount of time it takes to Super Jump will be longer when using this ability
• Ink Resistance Up: The effects with respect to the amount of damage and speed when moving through enemy ink will be adjusted

Other:

• Other adjustments will be made to make for a more pleasant gaming experience

Source: Nintendo
Via: kirbyfreek33