Mass Effect: Andromeda Patch 1.05 Provides Massive Improvements to Eyes and Emotions

[Shawn Zipay]

As promised, BioWare released the 1.05 patch today for Mass Effect: Andromeda. The patch actually does quite a bit more than initially advertised, which is a good thing.

The full list of multiplayer changes is fairly substantial and is a good start to patching this game up. There are no additional changes for the game's single player from the patch notes provided the other day. The multiplayer changes are listed below.

Player Abilities

Melee

• To reduce the effectiveness of repeated melees against tougher enemies, player melee attacks can now be interrupted by enemy attacks.

Challenge Tracking

• Biotic, Tech, and Combat Detonation Challenges now update on the Challenges screen.
• Lance and Throw will now successfully increment the Biotic Detonation Combo challenge progress.

Stealth Grid

• Fixed an issue that caused Stealth Grid to deactivate immediately after being used.

Biotic Ascension

• Fixed an issue that prevented the Kineticist from gaining Biotic Ascension charges when not the host of the match.

Weapons

Generally, we’ve found that semiautomatic assault rifles and pistols are underperforming when compared to their automatic counterparts. We’ve increased the damage per round for most of these guns and fixed bugs that limited the rate of fire for semiautomatic weapons.

Assault Rifles

Mattock

• Fixed an issue that prevented the Mattock from reaching its designed rate of fire
• Lowered damage per round to partially offset increase in rate of fire
• Lowered damage per round from 71–89 to 50–63
• Increased spare ammo capacity from 112–140 to 160–200

Sandstorm

• Increased damage per round from 112–134 to 140–168

Sweeper

• Increased damage per round from 60–72 to 64–77

Valkyrie

• Increased damage per round from 80–93 to 86–99

Halberd

• Increased damage per round from 73–90 to 92–113

Pistols

Predator
The Predator also benefits from the rate of fire adjustment applied to the Mattock assault rifle.

• Increased damage per round from 38–51 to 54–72
• Decreased rate of fire from 500 to 450

Carnifex

• Increased damage per round from 155–195 to 175–220

Hornet

• Increased damage per round from 37–49 to 44–55

Phalanx

• Increased damage per round from 106–113 to 133–142

Scorpion

• Increased damage per round from 428–512 to 485–580

Shotguns

Hesh

• Ammo increased from 40–50 to 60–75

Sniper Rifles

Shadow

• Increased damage per round from 27–32 to 38–46

Indra

• Increased damage per round from 84–101 to 105–126

Vanquisher

• Fixed a bug that caused the Vanquisher to have an extra 100% headshot bonus

General

Weapon Reloads

• Fixed some timings of reload actions so they better match their animations

Boosters

Assault Rifle Amp III

• The Assault Rifle Amp III booster now properly states that it gives a 30% boost instead of a 35% boost. This was a text error only. The functionality was always 30%.

Enemies

Kett

Kett Anointed

• Players can no longer avoid damage by standing up against a firing anointed

Kett Ascendant

• Kett Ascendant’s Orb will now give 15 points when killed, instead of points equal to the Ascendant himself

Kett Behemoth (Boss objective)

• Behemoths are more likely to target nearby players

Outlaw

The Outlaws have generally been easier to fight than other factions, so we’ve closed the gap. While Remnant Observers and kett anointed are effective at pushing players into cover, sharpshooters needed improvements to get players to hide. Across the rest of the palette, changes to targeting and the hydra’s sync attack help keep the Outlaws competitive.
Outlaw Adhi

• Adhi no longer attempt to chain sync attacks

Outlaw Agent

• Outlaw agent’s holographic clone will no longer give points

Outlaw Sharpshooter

• Sharpshooters now fire more frequently, especially against targets out of cover
• Sniper rifle damage increased by 44%
• Sharpshooters sprint more often
• Aiming time is now shortened at shorter ranges
• Aiming and impact audio are now clearer
• No longer pursue melee targets over long distances

Outlaw Berserker

• Berserkers are more likely to target nearby players

Outlaw Hydra

• Sync attack is now lethal
• Hydra is more likely to target nearby players
• Hydra now lose their target—but no longer cancel firing—when their target cloaks while locking on
• Fixed situations where the hydra’s body would reappear after being destroyed

Remnant

We found that the Observer was a little too good at its job, often leaving players feeling totally pinned down. This could be frustrating when another Observer flanked the player or when a Nullifier attacked. At the same time, the Nullifier felt like a nuisance, but one that was easy to counter in many situations.
To address these issues, we reduced the damage Observers inflict and how long they fire for. We’ve reworked the Nullifier to make its main weapon more powerful, but less frequent against players in cover. The Nullifier is also more likely to stand its ground, helping it to control the space. Repeated melee should now be a less dominant strategy against Nullifiers.

Remnant Observer

• Observers can now lose their target while firing when the target cloaks
• Maximum beam duration decreased from 6s to 5s
• Beam damage decreased by 10%

Remnant Nullifier

• Rate of fire has been decreased against enemies in cover
• Projectile attacks now travel faster and hit harder
• Stays still and fires in more situations
• No longer flees in protracted melee situations
• [Single player only] Fires less frequently on lower difficulties

Remnant Destroyer

• Destroyers are more likely to target nearby players
• Fixed situations where the Destroyer’s body and turrets would reappear after being destroyed