Good news, Mercs!

Update 0.4.3.0 update is available for your playing pleasure! For this balance update, we worked on weapon and armor balance, improving time-to-kill, and bridging the power gap between new and seasoned players.

Time-to-Kill

We want to improve the possibility to play both tactically and reactively in Nine to Five. When a player dies too easily, it is hard to make innovative gameplay, as mistakes are punished easily.
With a longer TTK, we want to provide players with access to more options in any scenario, thus promoting a more tactical approach. To achieve this, we are adjusting the time to kill through weapon, item, and armor balance changes.

Weapons

Weapon feel
Previously, not every weapon had a unique purpose and feeling to them, and some weapons were more of a “can do it all”. This resulted in a couple of weapons being left alone in their lockers, while others were getting worn out on the field.
With this patch, we want to give each weapon a more personal and niche feeling, where each weapon will shine in its area of expertise and provide a fun and unique playstyle.

Hip fire
Close quarters combat should feel exciting, fun, and snappy. But currently, we feel that situations where you were reliant on hip fire often resulted in most of the bullets going randomly. Therefore, we improved the general hip fire accuracy of our weapons. This way, you can reliantly fire away from the hip in close combat scenarios.

Weapon balance changes

All the weapons have received a hip fire accuracy buff.
All the weapon changes listed are based on the default weapons, as we have made significant changes to the weapon codes and their impact, the maximum weapon stats will be different. (More on this in the next section)

Weapons

Assault Rifles

	ML-CR Damage reduced from 42 to 37 Headshot multiplier reduced from 1.6 to x1.35
	Old Patchy Rate of fire reduced from 340 to 300 Damage reduced from 67 to 54
	The Preacher Improved crosshair recovery Rate of fire reduced from 300 to 250 Damage reduced from 75 to 67 Minimum damage reduced from 45 to 40 Optimal range increased from 40m to 42m Maximum range reduced from 57m to 56m

SMG’s

SMG’s received additional accuracy buffs on top of the weapon wide hip fire accuracy buff.

	Lead lover Significant hip fire accuracy improvement Significant accuracy while moving improvement Rate of fire reduced from 1020 to 800 Damage reduced from 33 to 27 Minimum damage increased from 13 to 16 Optimal range reduced from 15m to 13m Maximum range reduced from 35m to 22m
	ML-PDW9 Significant hip fire accuracy improvement Significant accuracy while moving improvement Rate of fire reduced from 861 to 640 Damage reduced from 36 to 30 Minimum damage increased from 14 to 19 Range reduced by 10% Optimal range reduced from 17m to 15m Maximum range reduced from 37m to 25m
	Lurker Improved hip fire accuracy Improved accuracy while crouching Rate of fire reduced from 660 to 540 Damage reduced from 46 to 40 Minimum damage increased from 19 to 25 Optimal range reduced from 22m to 15m Maximum range reduced from 42m to 24m Magazine capacity increased from 16 to 22
	The Canary Improved hip fire accuracy Improved accuracy while crouching Rate of fire decreased from 650 to 400 Damage reduced from 47 to 45 Minimum damage increased from 17 to 25 Optimal range reduced from 18m to 15m Maximum range increased from 38m to 24m
	ML-SMG 40 Slightly improved hip fire accuracy Improved accuracy while crouching Rate of fire reduced from 720 to 585 Damage reduced from 38 to 34 Minimum damage increased from 15 to 20 Maximum range reduced from 30m to 27m
	Mad Dog Improved accuracy while crouching Rate of fire reduced from 744 to 520 Damage reduced from 43 to 38 Minimum damage increased from 16.5 to 27 Optimal range reduced from 20m to 17m Maximum range reduced from 40m to 26m

Shotguns

	ML-TACSG Improved accuracy while moving Improved pellet spread Rate of fire reduced from 85 to 80 Damage per pellet increased from 14 to 16 Minimum damage per pellet reduced from 9 to 7 Optimal range increased from 12m to 18m Maximum range from 19m to 26m Magazine capacity increased from 4 to 5
	The Chancellor Improved accuracy while moving Improved pellet spread Rate of fire increased from 85 to 150 Damage per pellet reduced from 18 to 13 Minimum damage decreased from 11 to 9 Optimal range increased from 16m to 25m Maximum range increased from 23m to 27m Magazine capacity increased from 5 to 8
	The Gambler Improved pellet spread Rate of fire increased from 70 to 90 Pellet per shot increased from 10 to 11 Headshot multiplier increased form x1 to x1.1 Damage per pellet reduced from 25 to 21 Optimal range increased from 20m to 32m Maximum range increased from 30m to 35m Magazine capacity increased from 5 to 7

Sniper rifles

	ML-BA308 Headshot multiplier increased from x1.35 to x1.4 Slightly reduced sway recovery Minimum damage reduced from 140 to 130
	Mile High Rate of fire reduced from 60m to 50m Damage reduced from 127 to 125 Minimum damage reduced from 89 to 70 Headshot multiplier reduced from x1.35 to x1.1 Damage to objects reduced from 150 to 125 Optimal range increased from 50m to 55m
	The Viceroy Rate of fire increased from 45 to 72 Headshot multiplier increased from x1.15 to x1.35 Improved hip fire Damage reduced from 143 to 109 Minimum damage reduced from 85 to 70 Optimal range reduced from 55m to 15m Maximum range reduced from 75m to 37m

LMG

ML-LMG Rate of fire reduced from 624 to 510 Recoil reduced while crouching Damage reduced from 55 to 41 Minimum damage reduced from 27 to 25 Optimal range reduced from 30m to 20m Maximum range reduced from 60m to 40m

Secondary

	ML-9CP Rate of Fire increased from 204 to 280 Damage increased from 38 to 40 Maximum range reduced from 38m to 33m
	Mister Nine Rate of fire increased from 320 to 325 Damage reduced from 40 to 38 Maximum range reduced from 38.5m to 27m
	ML-TAC SK heavy Improved hip fire accuracy Rate of fire reduced from 450 to 390 Minimum damage reduced from 40 to 33
	Tiny Tim Rate of fire reduced from 340 to 300 Optimal range reduced from 16m to 15m Maximum range reduced from 36m to 24m
	The Butler Rate of fire reduced from 700 to 600 Minimum damage reduced from 25 to 19 Maximum range reduced from 39m to 26m
	The Cardinal Improved pellet spread Rate of fire decreased from 65 to 55 Pellets per shot increased from 8 to 9 Damage to Objects reduced from 20 to 15
	The Imperator Rate of fire reduced from 130 to 120 Minimum damage increased from 52 to 57 Maximum range decreased from 50m to 35m
	Old Salty Rate of fire increased from 70 to 90 Damage per pellet reduced from 16 to 10 Minimum damage reduced from 9.6 to 5 Optimal range increased from 7.5m to 8m Maximum range reduced from 20.5m to 13m

Old vs New players

When testing out new weapons or when you're simply a new player, your weapons will be fairly basic and have little upgrades available. Meanwhile, you’re potentially opposing very decked out weapons. This can result in situations where the more default weapons don’t stand much of a chance.

We want to keep weapon progression, both with attachments and weapon codes in the game as a means of, well, progression! But the way that the codes will affect the weapons will be changed.
Currently, weapon codes heavily alter a variety of stats that directly impact the TTK, for example the rate of fire and the minimum damage per bullet. We want to minimize the gap affecting power of the weapons during 1v1 (TTK) situation, but still give you an opportunity to improve your weapon which will help you perform better in prolonged fights and further down the round. The weapon codes will now focus less on rate of fire and damage numbers but more on the Quality-of-life stats and making the weapons easier to use, for example by faster aim speed, better hip stability, increased magazine capacity, reload speed etc.

Armors

The armor values were not always as important, and therefore it was common for players to pick an armor that would suit their general playstyle based on the available items, disregarding if they are attacking or defending, nor think about the effectiveness of the armor value.
Our goal is to make sure that there is a reason to choose which armor to use, with different scenarios preferring different armor sets. Sometimes you might want to opt for a light armor with more items, while at other times you might want to opt for pure, raw armor values.

Armor Balance

	Junkyard Dog "Sheet Metal" Armor 105 -> 85 A.S.S. slots 1 -> 2
	Junkyard Dog "Full Metal" Armor 125 -> 120
	Junkyard Dog "Steel Your Face" Armor 145 -> 160
	Level IIIA ML1 Armor 95 -> 120 A.S.S. slots 2 -> 3
	Level IIIA ML2 Armor 105 -> 145
	Level IIIA ML3 Armor 120 -> 160
	Sneak and Peek "Trapper" Armor 100 -> 120 A.S.S. slots 2 -> 3
	Tac 10 Fitz Roy Armor 100 -> 120
	Tac 10 Cerro Torre Armor 125 -> 160
	The Mohave "Death Adder" Armor 100 -> 120 A.S.S. slots 2 -> 3
	Hellspawn "The Shadow" Armor 75 -> 120 A.S.S. slots 3 -> 2
	Hellspawn "The Revenant" Armor 90 -> 145 A.S.S. slots 3 -> 2
	Hellspawn "The Wraith" Armor 105 -> 160 A.S.S. slots 2 -> 1
	Mr. Mayhem "Casual" Armor 75 -> 120 A.S.S. slots 3 -> 2
	Mr. Mayhem "Smart Casual" Armor 90 -> 145 A.S.S. slots 3 -> 2
	Mr. Mayhem "Business" Armor 105 -> 145
	Santa's Helper "Vixen" Armor 80 -> 120 A.S.S. slots 3 -> 2
	Santa's Helper "Blitzen" Armor 105 -> 145
	Santa's Helper "Rudolph" Armor 115 -> 160
	Downforcer Armor 110 -> 145
	Dr. Delirium "Kook" Armor 100 -> 145
	Dr. Delirium "Psycho" Armor 120 -> 200 A.S.S. slots 1 -> 0
	Aphelion "Ceres" Armor 105 -> 85 A.S.S. slots 1 -> 2
	Aphelion "Juno" Armor 125 -> 120
	Aphelion "Vesta" Armor 145 -> 160 A.S.S. slots 1 -> 0

Items

We want to make it fun to both defend and siege objectives. Certain items can sometimes tilt the favor towards one or the other. With these changes we want to encourage and empower the attacking side.
A laser trip mine killing you from full health, isn’t always a fun experience. And thermal pulse detectors tracking you wherever you go can feel a bit harsh, therefore we are easing up on them.

We’re making some adjustments to 2 of our popular items,

Laser trip mine

• Explosion damage reduced from 250 to 120
  
• Explosion radius slightly reduced
  
• Laser detection range slightly reduced
  

Thermal pulse detector

• Detection range reduced by 20%
  
• Quantity carried reduced from 3 to 2
  

Misc. Changes and bug fixes

• Change: Winter hub reverted back to the normal hub
  
• Fixed: Description of deployable shield
  
• Fixed: ML-SMG40 Firing and reloading not heard properly by others
  
• Fixed: ML-SMG40 silencer not playing audio correctly