HAWKED | 3.0 Update Notes — Issue #3: Worlds Beyond

Look alive, Renegades! The following changes are available in HAWKED as of the latest update on Thursday, November 14, 2024. Update your game to play the latest version of HAWKED for free on your platform of choice.

This major content update will introduce the next exciting chapter of HAWKED — Issue #3: Worlds Beyond.

NEW CONTENT

Team up in swashbuckling co-op PvE Expeditions, continue your Renegade’s storyline, raise your Reputations across three faction tracks, craft your Loadout with Synthesis, and pit your wits against the Corrupted Heartlands map in the mega update for Issue #3: Worlds Beyond, out November 14.

ISSUE #3: WORLDS BEYOND

With the Heart of the Island unleashed, X-Isle has shattered into three Realities. It’s up to you Renegades to team up, venture across them all, and bring them back to the true timeline in the long-awaited PvE Expeditions Mode with three unique Realities: Disciple’s Kingdom, VEKTR’s Invasion, and Corrupted Heartlands.

CO-OP PVE EXPEDITIONS

Team up in the long-awaited [PvE Expeditions Mode], a swashbuckling co-op adventure for Squads of up to three players (with no PvP rivalry)!

  • In Expedition Mode, teams are friendly towards each other.
  • Treasuries now grant access to Vaults.
  • Extraction is only possible through the Vault.
  • The gym memberships have paid off, and all mob armies have undergone significant changes, becoming much stronger and more dangerous.
  • Disciple and VEKTR armies have expanded with new mob varieties.
  • Enemy logic placement has been reworked to include patrols, and some mob squads now respawn.
  • Enemies now appear in all Encounters.
  • Enemy reactions to melee attacks have been revamped.

CORRUPTED HEARTLAND

The all-new unique PvE Expeditions map! A manifestation of GRAIL’s own misplaced ambitions, the Corrupted Heartland is a dark and twisted Reality of greed left unchecked. The force unleashed by the Heart of the Island plagues X-Isle, corrupting everything its tendrils latch on to – weapons, Artifacts, even living beings.

Seeking to confront the consequences of GRAIL’s actions, Bjorn has set out to find a remedy for the corruption and soothe the powers of the Heart. A challenge even for the most experienced Renegades, The Corrupted Heartlands Reality features enemies never before confronted.

PvP TREASURE HUNT MODES

No longer the only game mode, the Squad and Solo Treasure Hunt Modes have been adapted to a format similar to PvE Expeditions, featuring Vaults.

  • Players from other teams are hostile.
  • Players must collect 3 Glyphs instead of 4 to unlock the Treasury and access the Vault
  • Players cannot respawn automatically—only through allies at Revive Points.
  • Increased PvE difficulty.
  • Increased loot value.
  • Extraction is only possible through the Vault.

Cursed Chests: a valuable find containing valuable loot – but also guarded by some serious dangers!

VAULTS

Treasuries no longer contain an Artifact, but a portal to a Vault. These dangerous dungeons are full of traps and enemies, and only the most skilled treasure hunters and adventurers can brave their corridors and rooms to seize the Artifacts from their final chambers.

What happens in the Treasury, stays in the Treasury. Once entered, players can only leave through the Extraction Point at its end.

REPUTATION SYSTEM

Rise up in the hearts and minds of GRAIL’s Finest by fostering friendships with your favorite characters. Follow the Story and complete Story Quests and Mastery Quests in three Reputation TracksNellie, Bjorn, and Tabytha — across the Expedition Realities they’re tied to.

  • Story Quests: Advance the storyline and delve into the character’s activities and motivations, revealing more of HAWKED’s overall storyline. They can only be completed once and grant a lot of Reputation.
  • Mastery Quests: These are mostly focused on quantitative gathering or mastery of something, with a narrative less impactful to the main story. They are repeatable but grant less Reputation than Story Quests.

Players gain a variety of rewards for increasing their Reputation levels with access to purchasing new Gear, Weapons, Mods, Reserves Slots, and Expendables from the GRAIL armory. Players at the maximum level of a Reputation Track can tackle Challenges, rewarding access to especially powerful weapons upon completion. 

Players are granted free access to Tabytha’s Reputation Track. Bjorn's and Nellie's Reputation Tracks are unlocked with the Realities Expansion Pass or Master of Realities Expansion Pass.

NOTE: Your Character Reputation levels will be persistent from Issue to Issue. GRAIL Loyalty will be removed in Issue #3: Worlds Beyond, and all previous progress will be transferred to Reputation.

SYNTHESIS SYSTEM

Find a purpose for each and every piece of loot you extract from X-Isle — including your hoard of duplicate Artifacts and Trinkets — through Synthesis! Experiment with their qualities, upgrade their abilities, and unleash the ultimate power of Affixes through three kinds of Charged Artifacts: Legendary, Masterwork, and Corrupted.

Masterwork and Corrupted Artifacts are unlocked with the Realities Expansion Pass or Master of Realities Expansion Pass.

BLACK MARKET

GE-0 has opened a Black Market where players can spend their hard-earned Hawks on a selection of Trinkets and Artifacts. The selection refreshes daily, though he won’t tell how he procures them.

CHARGED ARTIFACTS

Master the craft of Synthesis and charge your Artifacts with dangerous Affixes of Legendary, Masterwork, and Corrupted qualities.

  • Legendary Quality Affix: Grants an additional quality.
  • Masterwork Quality Affix: Grants an improvement to an Artifact’s existing attributes.
  • Corrupted Quality Affix: Kiss/Curse mechanic that grants an improvement alongside a Corruption that significantly alters the Artifact's use in gameplay.

Each Artifact has its own unique Affix for all three qualities, so get crafting and see what powers they hold once pushed to the limit. Affix charges are consumed each time a player enters a match, reverting to the Artifact’s Epic quality once full depleted. Artifacts can be charged up with Affixes again through Synthesis.

CORRUPTED WEAPONS

A new quality for weapons wrapped by eldritch tendrils and warped by unique Affixes, sure to be useful to whoever dares wield them!

  • Increased attack efficiency.
  • Each carried Corrupted weapon increases incoming damage.
  • Only found in-match, dropped by Hexed Renegades (enemy type).

LOOT CHANGES

It is now possible to extract Weapons, Mods, and Armaments to be used in a later match, or kept in storage. It is also possible to purchase these items before the match using in-game currency. New items become available and storage capacity increases based on Reputation levels or completion of Quests. NOTE: Some items can only be found in a match or purchased from the Shop.

  • Weapon chests now come in three qualities: Uncommon, Rare, and Epic.
  • Loadout now has additional slots for armament weapons and Mods.
  • Caravans now drop a loot dispenser, allowing all Renegades who participate in bringing the beasts of burden down a share of the spoils.

GLYPH CHANGES

The Heart Glyph has been removed — all players now can respawn from the start of the match.

GAMEPLAY CHANGES

  • Mutators: Match-altering effects randomly applied at the beginning of a session.
  • Solo Player Buffs: Players with an incomplete squad will now receive additional resurrections through Heart Glyphs. +1 to each player in a 2-player squad, +3 to solo players.
    • Players receive +25 Shield and +25 Health for each absent teammate.
    • Players receive a +50%/100% increase to their PvE damage for each absent teammate.
    • Players will receive a decrease of -1/-2 to their Shield recharge time.

NEW CREATURE VARIETIES

  • Knuckleheads: No longer needs a Shroudbasker rider to wreak havoc.
  • Slabscales: It’s a family reunion for the big fellas as distant cousins join the tribe; the poisonous Corroder, the fiery Scalder, and vicious Summoner.
  • Gamma Unit: Now occasionally yeets mines. 
  • Poison Croaker: Croaker but poison.

LOOT MORE ARTIFACTS

  • [Hunt Artifact] Wyvern’s Wail: When they think it’s over, make them think again.
    • Effect: Each time you discharge a firearm, gain one charge. When reloading the same firearm, or it overheats, release shrapnel shards for each stored charge, each dealing up to 5 damage.
      You lose all charges when swapping weapons. Store up to 7-10 charges.
    • Legendary Affix: Your Slingshot Traverser fires 6 shrapnel shards with every shot.
    • Corrupted Affix: Max charges increased to 14, but the spread is increased and shrapnel only fires when the maximum charge is reached.
    • Masterwork Affix: Shrapnel speed and critical multiplier are increased by 40%.
  • [Survival Artifact] Leatherneck: A treasure hunter’s gotta have thick skin.
    • Effect: When Shields are restored to maximum, gain an additional Shield boost for 6-9 seconds. The boost is equal to 100% of the Shield restored in the last 2 seconds. Cannot exceed 30 points.
    • Legendary Affix: Leatherneck grants 30 shield boost when a negative effect is applied to you. This boost is removed if you have no negative effects.
    • Corrupted Affix: Shield boosts grant 20% damage resistance, but Shield boosts also decay 2 points per second.
    • Masterwork Affix: Leatherneck’s Shield boost is no longer limited and is now equal to 125% of the Shield restored in the last 4 seconds.
  • [Survival Artifact] Limb Regrower: Live to fight another day.
    • Effect: Restore 45-60% of your missing Health 2.5 seconds after losing Health. Activation timer resets every time you take damage.
    • Legendary Affix: When Limb Regrower triggers, it also restores Stamina equal to 150% of applied healing.
    • Corrupted Affix: Activation timer resets after taking any damage (shield and health) but the timer is increased to 4 seconds.
    • Masterwork Affix: Limb Regrower can restore Health even when you are knocked down.
  • [Utility Artifact] Sea Shroud: When losing a fight, hide in plain sight.
    • Effect: Upon losing full Shield capacity, gain invisibility for 6.5-8 seconds.
    • Legendary Affix: Sea Shroud grants invisibility while in water and for 8 seconds after leaving water.
    • Corrupted Affix: Sea Shroud invisibility activates after taking any damage, but has a 12-second cooldown between activations.
    • Masterwork Affix: Sea Shroud invisibility duration is extended by 0.5 seconds for every 10 bonus points to your maximum Shield.

EQUIP NEW CLASS CARDS

  • Medusara, The Sea Shield: It pays to have friends in low places.
    • Effect: The Familiar’s Boon Gear and jellyfish clusters on X-isle grant you 50% more shields.
    • Loadout: Doomerang, Familiar’s Boon, Sea Shroud, Specter’s Gaze, Hermit’s Crown
  • Rita Redline, The Risk-taker: Risk it all for a good shot.
    • Effect: You gain 20% firearm critical chance for 3 seconds after taking damage.
    • Loadout: Kick-back Coin, Smoke Blast, Limb Regrower, Revenger’s Lamp, Powerglass. 
  • Malice Alice, The Tormentor: A master of misfortune, without mercy.
    • Effect: You deal 15% more direct damage to enemies suffering from negative effects.
    • Loadout: Devoider, Hit Flask, Wyvern’s Wail, Ballistic Bag, Pioneer’s Piton
  • Overload Ed, The Living Battery: Discharge your damage.
    • Effect: When your Shield boost is exhausted, deal 100% equal shock damage to the closest enemy.
    • Loadout: Blockade Ram, Snap-Track, Leatherneck, Shellblazer, Scallop Shield

TACKLE NEW ENCOUNTERS

  • Tina Colada: Bringing the party to X-Isle, find her in a match and join her for a dance to spark some fireworks that’ll call down a crate of consumables for you to restock on supplies!
  • Eclipse: A new Combat Class Card encounter.
  • Fortune Rifts:Special areas on the map where players can encounter more challenging trials, formidable foes, and valuable loot to match the risk. Fortune Rifts are marked on the map with orange circles, with challenges indicated by orange markers

BALANCE IMPROVEMENTS & ADJUSTMENTS

GEAR BALANCING & CHANGES

  • [Exo Gear] Blockade Ram
    • No longer has charges. Has a 7/8/9 active duration time and 12 seconds cooldown instead.
    • Now grants resistance against pulling and pushing abilities.
    • 40/70% of damage taken converts to Shield.
    • Enemies now consider players using a barrier a priority target.
  • [Exo Gear] Kick-back Coin
    • Every coin ricochet splits bullets in two.
    • Legendary quality decreases Gear cooldown from 20 to 15 seconds.
  • [Exo Gear] Doomerang
    • Can now ricochet from the same target more than once.
  • [Ward Gear] Shock Rocker
    • No longer converts damage dealt to your Shield.
  • [Gear] Cohort's Kite
    • Healing per second is decreased from 6/7/8 to 3/4/5.
  • [Gear] Flare Gun
    • Rare quality now reduces cooldown up to 50% depending on the amount of supplies in a player’s inventory.

BOOSTER BALANCING AND CHANGES

  • Boosters have been removed.
  • GRAIL+ now grants an equal amount of Hawks instead of a daily Booster.

CLASS CARD BALANCING AND CHANGES

  • Traverser damage bonus is increased from 25% to 40% if no Class Card is active.
  • [Class Card] Rowan Rocksteady, The Non-Stop Shredder
    • No longer allows players to play the Shock Rocker infinitely, but increases its duration from 3.5 to 5 seconds.
  • [Class Card] Kaia Shorebreak, The Hydro Maestro
    • Max Health bonus persists after leaving water for 20 seconds.
    • Max Health bonus decreased from 25 to 20.
  • Bush Masta', The Killer Guerrilla
    • New Mechanics: +25 Firearm damage to PvP targets out of combat, +100 to PvE enemies.
  • El Toro Loco, The Hardened Guardian
    • New Mechanics: Shield recharges 35% faster while a Gear is active.
  • Eclipsa, The High Grounder
    • Damage bonus is increased from 30% to 35%.
  • Far-Eyed Falcon, The All-Seeing
    • New Mechanics: 10% chance to deal critical damage when attacking scanned targets.
  • Wrath Raven, The Savage Scav
    • New Mechanics: Scorn Trophies drop 30% more often from defeated enemies. Performing a finisher on a rival Renegade pings the next closest one.

COMBAT CHANGES

  • Base and cap Shield/Health values have changed:
    • Base Shield: 50 to 20
    • Base Health: 125 to 150
    • Cap Shield: 125 to 100
    • Cap Health: 175 to 200
  • Melee attacks no longer deal damage through Shield.
  • Disguise changes:
    • Enemy detection radius has increased, while detection speed has been significantly reduced.
    • Reactivating disguise leads enemies to briefly lose sight of you.
    • If enemies detect a disguised player, they will see themselves outlined in red.
  • Scanning effects now increase critical damage (e.g. weak spot damage) instead of a random chance to deal damage.

GENERAL CHANGES & IMPROVEMENTS

ENEMY IMPROVEMENTS

  • Enemy stats have been rebalanced.
  • Enemies will now attack knocked-down players if there are no other potential targets within a certain radius.
  • Enemy distribution has changed across all maps.
  • Improved shooting impact against creatures.
  • Elite VEKTR units now spawn random drones instead of specifically assigned ones.
  • Theta units will now shoot while moving, increasing attack speed with each shot

GLYPH CHANGES

  • Feather: Max ammo bonus is decreased from 100 to 50.
  • Harvest: Ammo restoration is decreased from 100 to 50.
  • Sun: Bonus Shield value is decreased from 20 to 10.
  • Potion: Health restoration is decreased from 3 to 1 point per second.
  • Flower: Health restoration is decreased from 5 to 3 points per second.

TRINKET CHANGES

  • Legendary Trinkets no longer provide Stamina bonuses.
  • Carrying a VEKTR Epic Trinket now grants +5 to your maximum Shield.

WEAPON CHANGES

  • Anti-Shield Grenades have been redesigned for PvE.

UI IMPROVEMENTS

  • The Quest log has been reworked
    • Added menu with categories representing all Quest types.
    • Daily and Weekly Quests have been removed and are now displayed in a separate section on the Renegade Pass menu.
  • The Loot page has been reworked
    • Now also shows Mods, Shield, and Weapons alongside Treasures, Artifacts, and Currency.
    • Shows Affix depletion of Charged Artifacts (Legendary, Masterwork, and Corrupted)
    • PvP damage and PvP kill count columns have been removed from PvE Mode statistics menu.

ACHIEVEMENT CHANGES

Some achievements have been adjusted due to the introduction of new mechanics and the removal of old ones. All progress players have made in existing achievements will carry over to the updated ones.

  • (Previously) Agent of GRAIL: Reach GRAIL Loyalty Level 10.
    (New)Inner Circle: Reach maximum Reputation with any veteran Renegade.
  • Was Booster Shopper - Purchase 100 Boosters from the GRAIL shop.
    Now:Decked Out - Purchase 100 items for your Loadout.

MINOR CHANGES & IMPROVEMENTS

  • Ripclaws: Discovered hot sauce, now breathes fire.
  • Fanatics: Now throw fire whirlwinds while attempting to escape.
  • Added hit visuals for ranged creature attacks on players.
  • Added precast animation to Gamma’s Dash ability.
  • Added precast animation to Spitfire’s Rush ability.
  • Caravans don’t have time for traffic and now push creatures out of the way.
  • Changed color pallet of different creature classes, making them more distinct.
  • Croakers will now move less between each shot.
  • Improved caravan chest positioning on the ground.
  • Increased collision of VEKTR alarms Crystals, making them easier to hit
  • The Mass Heal ability of the Champion Fanatic now accounts for line of sight to heal targets.
  • Players attempting to complete puzzler Encounters are now ambushed by enemies.
  • Some enemies have been to a few drama classes. Slabscales and Delta units now feature new death animations with a flair for the dramatic. 
  • Improved visibility of VEKTR Drone weak points.
  • Weapon slots are now squared in line with other item slots.
  • AFK players can no longer revive allies at Resurrection Points.
  • The final section of the tutorial now has a Vault section, just like the main session.
  • Added cooldown on stagger from Traverser melee attacks.
  • Taking damage now shakes the crosshair/reticule.
  • Trinkets, stashes, and weapon chests no longer appear on the mini-map.
  • Fresh Ambition: new players, as well as players who have not logged into the game for over two weeks, receive the "Fresh Ambition" effect, reducing PvE damage taken and gradually diminishing across five matches.

BUG FIXES

  • Added localization for Class Card Encounter NPCs.
  • Fixed a rare issue where Slabscales couldn't be damaged.
  • Fixed an issue where totems wouldn’t properly apply invisibility on themselves.
  • Bodhi Illusions are no longer displayed as "REDACTED (Eclipsa) Illusion" when killed
  • Fixed an issue where the visual effect of the Bang-O-Matic Gear showed an incorrect radius.
  • Agent Kappa visually matches his Class Card now.
  • Fixed a bug where the Chosen’s Token Artifact didn’t appear with its characteristic glow and beam when on the ground.
  • Empower shot VFX no longer appears when you hit blue crystals.
  • Class Cards encounters now properly account for players' invisibility.
  • Fixed an issue causing Drones to get stuck in one place.
  • Fixed an issue causing Epsilon Units to switch between assist and mobility mode when shot.
  • Fixed an issue causing Shroudbasker Poison Grenade to last longer than its visuals.
  • Fixed an issue with players not losing their Hoverboard if their Wave Glyph wears off while in midair.
  • Fixed an issue where Spy Drone animations wouldn’t work properly.
  • Fixed a Bodhi movement animation where he would freeze in shock at the sight of an Artifact on the ground.
  • Fixed Totems from defying gravity and spawning in the air.
  • Improved enemy navigation in various Encounters.
  • Enemies have learned how to gracefully run upstairs in the Tutorial.
  • Fixed an issue where the client could freeze when using the Cohort's Kite Gear.
  • Fixed resurrection timer icon during revival.
  • Fixed fire visibility in a variation of the Pressure Pillar Encounter.
  • Fixed the Mysterious Tree Encounter becomes impassable after using Gear or explosives.
  • Fixed display of banner change in the profile window.
  • Fixed price display in the session store for PS4 and Xbox One players.
  • Fixed display of markers in the world for players on PS4.
  • Fixed visual effect of melee attacks with the Kabosu Traverser.
  • Fixed situations where a melee attack wouldn’t deal damage.
  • Fixed aim assist not working properly in the Tutorial and Shooting Range.
  • Removed Pietro Pop-Off infinite ammo. He will now properly reload and use his Provider Gear like the rest of us mere mortals.
  • All known Encounter bugs have been fixed, and various improvements have been made.