Patch 1.0.3

Patch Notes 1.0.3

It’s hard to believe that it’s already been two weeks since we welcomed players to Haddonfield with the official launch of Halloween: The Game. We are incredibly grateful to everyone who’s jumped into our asymmetrical horror sandbox so far, and our team continues to work tirelessly to refine the experience for our players.

As we discussed in our What’s Coming Next? post last week, thanks to your thoughtful feedback, our team has identified and prioritized a list of pain points to tackle. In today’s 1.0.3 patch, we are very excited to address many of these issues by introducing a host of bug and crash fixes, balance adjustments, and gameplay improvements. 

Balance Adjustments

As we continue to play, monitor, and gather feedback, we’ve identified some balance adjustments we felt were necessary for this patch. Many of these changes are being rolled out to minimize frustrating, overpowered, or unenjoyable situations. While we are happy to implement the following changes, we have also identified additional balance opportunities we plan to release with future updates. Your passionate feedback has been greatly beneficial to the team and we are eager to continue improving Halloween: The Game.

Civilian Melee Rebalance

We performed a Civilian-focused melee rebalance to eliminate easy one-shot Michael downs, especially when using Bob and Laurie or Perks that give a boost while Drunk. This also included buffing Michael’s Bloodthirst Damage Resistance to extend the duration of melee encounters. We want Civilians to be capable of fighting back against Michael, but we recognized that certain characters could inflict extremely high damage far too consistently. 

• Reduced effectiveness of Capability for Melee Damage at higher stat values
• Increased effectiveness of Capability for Melee Damage at lower stat values
• Reduced Fear Resistance granted by the Heavyweight trait
• Reduced Melee Damage granted by the Heavyweight trait
• Reduced effect of Civilian melee damage boost while Drunk
• Increased Michael’s damage resistance across all Bloodthirst levels

Downed Michael

While there were already mechanics in place to bolster Michael after he recovers from being Downed, we’re adding additional buffs in this patch to combat harassment and avoid instant follow-up downs. This, combined with the above melee rebalancing, addresses the ease in which these occurrences could happen and ensures Michael always has ample means of retaliation if he is being surrounded or consistently pressured by an aggressive squad.

• Michael now gains a short duration buff after getting up from a Downed state. This buff grants Michael Stagger immunity and an increase in Damage Resistance, Melee Damage, and Melee Attack Speed for the duration of the buff.
• Michael will also be empowered with increased Health Regeneration and Daze Resistance for a short period of time after getting up from a Downed state

Weapon Power Tuning

To provide more time for players to react to incoming hits we are introducing a small damage reduction and a small increase to time in between all attack combos for Wood Axes and Pickaxes. We don’t want to discourage melee combat and would prefer to provide players additional opportunities to counter. Civilians should now have more time to shove during melee combos to interrupt Michael and experience increased cooldown time between stumbles. We are also adjusting the available quantities of certain weapon types on maps to increase their rarity and further incentivize exploration. 

• Reduced Combo Attack Speed for the Wood Axe and Pick-Axe 
• Reduced light and heavy Attack Damage for the Wood Axe and Pick-Axe
• Lowered amount of heavy Melee Weapons, Rifles, and Shotguns spawns across all maps and locations
• Increased the Stagger cooldowns for Civilians
• Reduced overall Melee Weapon Durability

Scoring Adjustments

We are taking some steps to balance the value of Special Targets and Residents to ensure match scoring better represents the overall outcome and creates greater opportunities for mid-to-late game swings. We have lowered the score values for killing Special Targets, while increasing the score values for both saving and killing Residents. While we plan to improve Special Target spawning, tracking, and more with future updates, these changes will make every Resident, Civilian, and Special Target feel important to the final score.

• Made adjustments to scoring to balance Michael’s priority on normal Residents vs Special Targets

Grabs and Pocket Knives

We are continuing to monitor the balance of Grabs and Struggling. In previous patches, we made it easier for Civilians to struggle free from Grabs at lower Stalk Tiers. In today’s patch we have made adjustments to further reduce the difficulty of escaping Grabs. We also lowered the force caused by failed Grab attempts so Civilian players won't stumble as dramatically, allowing a better chance to slip away. Our team is having ongoing conversations about pocket knives and we plan to provide more substantial tuning in the future, but for now we have increased the pocket knife minigame difficulty to allow Michael players slightly more time to pull off Context Executions.

• Reduced impact force from failed Grab attempts on the Civilian player
• Civilians now have an easier time Struggling free from grabs at Stalk Tiers 0-2
• Reduced effectiveness of Capability for Grab Struggle at higher stat values
• Slight increase to the difficulty of the Pocket Knife break free minigame

Civilian Speed 

We’ve adjusted the effectiveness of Athleticism for movement and sprint speeds to reduce the speed of high Athleticism Civilians while also increasing the speed of low Athleticism Civilians. We noticed that certain Civilians were far too fast in their running and sprint speeds. 

• Reduced effectiveness of Athleticism for movement and sprint speeds at higher stat values
• Increased effectiveness of Athleticism for movement and sprint speeds at lower stat values

Challenge Adjustments

We understand that challenges and their associated rewards are extremely important to players. We have and will continue to address fundamental issues impacting challenge progression and tune challenge requirements. Our latest patch brings a handful of corrections to challenge tracking along with a sweeping balance pass on Progressive Challenge goals.

Players with progress exceeding the required goals for Progressive Challenges after our updates simply need to gain any progress toward that objective to complete the challenge.

The full list of Challenge adjustments can be found at the bottom of the Patch Notes

General

• Various Crash Fixes and Optimization Improvements
• All Passive Challenges will now continue to gain progress after Prestiging
• This is a temporary fix and we are working to fix the issue where Prestiging will cause your Passive Challenges to appear as locked

[/*][*]

Fixed an issue where the Host of the Private Match was unable to unlock trophies/achievements

[/*]

Civilians

• Reduced difficulty for completing any Challenges that require the player to knock Michael off his feet
• Reduced difficulty for completing any Challenges that require the player to blind, disorient, or stun Michael
• Increased damage of the Shotgun at close ranges
• Fixed several issues that were causing players to be executed even after appearing to have Struggling free from the Grab
• Fixed an issue where Bolt Cutters were not able to open containers if the Bolt Cutters had low durability
• Fixed an issue where using emotes could allow the player to cancel animations
• Fixed an issue where the player could lose the ability to move after breaking free from a grab
• Fixed an issue where the player could lose the ability to move after attempting to enter a vehicle/ride a bicycle while being grabbed
• Fixed an issue where the Wood Axe would lose way more durability than intended

Killer

• Made adjustments to the Shape Mine animation so that placing a mine no longer completely stops Michael’s movement
• Fixed an issue where Shape Jump could become stuck on cooldown for the rest of the match
• Fixed an issue where Killer Sense could become stuck on cooldown for the rest of the match
• Fixed an issue where the Michael could collide with the Police Wagon while in Shape Jump

Maps

• Fixed an issue that was preventing Michael from reaching Civilians on the merry-go-round in Orange Grove Estates 

Challenge Adjustments

Civilians

Eric

Handyman Special Remove chains, padlocks, or overgrowth from an escape route 45 30 times

Dead Center Fight back against Michael by successfully dealing a small amount of damage, equivalent to 5% to 20% of his total health, in a single encounter 30 20 times

Shop Class Alumni Successfully repair a car 15 10 times

Pop Can Precision Fight back against Michael by inflicting damage equal to 21% to 49% of his maximum health in a single encounter 30 25 times

Nichols Hardware Expertise Restore communications by successfully repairing a phone, CB radio, or phone box that has been destroyed by Michael 45 20 times

Midwestern Hospitality Provide medical aid to fellow Civilians by using a health spray or med kit to heal another Civilian 30 15 times

Topped Off Contribute to the getaway vehicle by fully gassing up the car 15 10 times

Bullseye Land the final blow that sends Michael into a downed state 45 30 times

Nichols' Best Employee Be the one responsible for fully filling the third police badge meter 15 10 times

Unbreakable Bond Escape with your life after saving at least 5 Residents 9 4 times

Steady Hands Complete a round of the spectator minigame 90 75 times

Big Game Hunter Inflicting damage on Michael equal to 50% or more of his maximum health in a single encounter 60 50 times

True Survivor Outlast the nightmare and successfully survive the night alive 30 15 times

Midwestern Hero Successfully knock a Resident, Special Target, or fellow Civilian from Michael's grasp 120 80 times

Tanya

Dark Humor Successfully calm a Resident who is currently in a terrified state 30 10 times

In the Know Perform a good skill check during a conversation or phone call 90 60 times

Entourage Escort 15 10 Residents to an escape by having them follow you

Trendsetter Successfully issue a command to Special Targets 60 50 times

Smooth Talker Achieve a perfect skill check while engaging in a conversation or placing a phone call 90 80 times

Cool Under Pressure Evade Michael long enough to trigger the removal of a Tier 1 Stalk Marker 75 35 times

Social Butterfly Locate and discover 63 30 Special Targets during the match

Life of the Party Calm a Special Target from a scared or terrified state 45 30 times

Real Talk Successfully convince 75 45 Special Targets of the danger

VIP Treatment Help a Special Target escape or survive the night after performing a calm, convince, or command action on them 45 25 times

Everyone's Best Friend Help a Resident escape or survive the night after performing a calm, convince, or command action on them 60 50 times

The More The Merrier Escape with your life after saving at least 5 Residents 9 4 times

Gift of Gab Successfully complete a very convincing call to dispatch 120 100 times

Unfazed Evade Michael long enough to trigger the removal of a Tier 3 Stalk Marker 30 25 times

Rachel

Nerves of Steel Evade Michael long enough to trigger the removal of a Tier 1 Stalk Marker 30 20 times

Superstitious Tools Utilize items such as firecrackers, flashlights, or other mysterious items to successfully blind, disorient, or stun Michael 30 15 times

Ward Off Evil Successfully defend yourself against a grab by utilizing a defensive item to break free from Michael's grasp 30 15 times

Not Afraid of the dark Evade Michael long enough to trigger the removal of a Tier 2 Stalk Marker 45 30 times

From the Shadows Exit a hiding spot and stumble Michael back 12 7 times

Socially Awkward Place an unconvincing call to dispatch 45 20 times

Not Afraid When caught in Michael's grasp, successfully complete the struggle minigame 60 40 times

Fearless Evade Michael long enough to trigger the removal of a Tier 3 Stalk Marker 30 20 times

Self-Preservation Escape with your life without saving anyone 30 15 times

Macabre Fascination Outlast the nightmare and successfully survive the night alive 30 15 times

Cursed Artifact Have a Resident or Special Target you gave your weapon to save someone grabbed or knock down Michael 45 20 times

Beyond the Grave Select a perk to give a spectated Civilian 120 100 times

Hexed Strike Contribute to downing Michael without landing the final blow 60 30 times

Through the Veil Successfully open an escape route for use 90 75 times

Marcus

Tinker Restore communications by successfully repairing a phone, CB radio, or phone box that has been destroyed by Michael 9 5 times

Lone Wolf Focus on your own survival by successfully restoring your health using a health spray 30 20 times

Bait and Switch Cover your tracks by having Michael destroy or turn off a noisemaker you activated 15 10 times

Gearhead Successfully repair a car 15 10 times

Ghosting Evade Michael long enough to trigger the removal of a Tier 1 Stalk Marker 60 30 times

Heavy Handed Inflict damage on Michael equal to 21% to 49% of his maximum health in a single encounter 45 30 times

Mysterious Stranger Approach 75 60 Residents and successfully convince them of the danger

Path Less Traveled Discover an alternate escape route 63 30 times

Untouchable Evade Michael long enough to trigger the removal of a Tier 3 Stalk Marker 30 20 times

Off the Grid Navigate to a breaker box that has been sabotaged by Michael and successfully restore power to the structure 45 25 times

Lethal Force Land the final blow that sends Michael into a downed state 45 30 times

Dark Charisma Successfully convince 90 45 Special Targets of the danger

Nomadic Instincts Outlast the nightmare and successfully survive the night alive 30 15 times

Looking Out for Number One Escape with your life without saving anyone 45 20 times

Jennifer

Wallflower Focus on your own survival by successfully restoring your health using a health spray 30 20 times

Exit Strategy Plan your departure by successfully finding and picking up any type of escape item 75 40 times

Flight Response When caught in Michael's grasp, successfully complete the struggle minigame 60 30 times

Phone Jitters Provide an account of the threat by successfully completing a convincing call to dispatch 90 50 times

Way Out Navigate the environment to discover an alternate escape route 63 40 times

Panic Mode Evade Michael long enough to trigger the removal of a Tier 2 Stalk Marker 45 25 times

Valedictorian Be the one responsible for fully filling the third police badge meter 60 20 times

Out of Sight Have Michael destroy or turn off a noisemaker you activated 90 40 times

Kind Heart Have a Resident or Special Target you gave your weapon to save someone grabbed or knock down Michael 45 30 times

Unexpected Courage Successfully knock a victim from Michael's grasp 60 45 times

Thomas

Linebacker Inflict an attack or act that knocks Michael off his feet 15 10 times

Walk the Walk Perform a good skill check during a conversation or phone call 75 50 times

Heavy Hitter Fight back against Michael by inflicting damage equal to 21% to 49% of his maximum health in a single encounter 45 30 times

Team Captain Approach 60 45 Residents and successfully convince them of the danger

Peel Back Block Successfully knock a Resident, Special Target, or fellow Civilian from Michael's grasp 90 50 times

Huddle Up Navigate the environment and discover 63 45 other Civilians during a match

Stiff Arm Utilize items such as firecrackers, flashlights, or other mysterious items to successfully blind, disorient, or stun Michael 45 30 times

MVP Land the final blow that sends Michael into a downed state 60 45 times

Leave No One Behind Secure an escape for yourself after coming to the aid of and saving at least 3 Residents in a single match 18 10 times

Setting the Tone Be the one responsible for fully filling the third police badge meter 15 10 times

Star Power Successfully convince 90 40 Special Targets of the danger

Arming the Roster Have a Resident or Special Target you gave your weapon to save someone grabbed or knock down Michael 45 30 times

Stand your ground Inflict damage on Michael equal to 50% or more of his maximum health in a single encounter 60 50 times

Second Wind Evade Michael long enough to trigger the removal of a Tier 3 Stalk Marker 45 30 times

Lynda

Pep Talk Successfully calm a Resident who is currently in a scared or terrified state 30 10 times

First Aid Provide medical aid to fellow Civilians by using a health spray or med kit to heal another Civilian 15 10 times

Going full out Evade Michael long enough to trigger the removal of a Tier 1 Stalk Marker 60 30 times

Social Circle Navigate the environment and discover 45 30 other Civilians during a match

Slippery When caught in Michael's grasp, successfully complete the struggle minigame 30 20 times

Follow My Lead Escort 60 40 Residents to an escape by having them follow you

Gossip Girl Perform a good skill check during a conversation or phone call 120 100 times

Quick On Your Feet Evade Michael during a chase long enough to trigger the removal of a Tier 2 Stalk Marker 30 20 times

Totally Not Happening Successfully defend yourself against a grab by utilizing a defensive item to break free from Michael's grasp 30 20 times

Direct Line Successfully complete a very convincing call to dispatch 120 75 times

Life of the Party Escape with your life after saving at least 3 Residents 18 10 times

Fan Club Help a Special Target escape or survive the night after performing a calm, convince, or command action on them 60 40 times

Lifesaver Provide medical aid to fellow Civilians by using a health spray or med kit to heal another Civilian 45 25 times

Like, Calm Down Successfully calm a Special Target who is currently in a terrified state 75 25 times

Bob

Batter Up Inflict an attack or act that knocks Michael off his feet 60 30 times

Base Runner Evade Michael long enough to trigger the removal of a Tier 1 Stalk Marker 45 30 times

Prank Caller Place an unconvincing call to dispatch 45 20 times

Designated Hitter Fight back against Michael by inflicting damage equal to 21% to 49% of his maximum health in a single encounter 75 40 times

Shake It Off When caught in Michael's grasp, successfully complete the struggle minigame 90 40 times

Stealing Bases Evade Michael long enough to trigger the removal of a Tier 2 Stalk Marker 30 25 times

Looking For Trouble Have Michael destroy or turn off a noisemaker you activated 60 30 times

Tough Guy Successfully defend yourself against a grab by utilizing a defensive item to break free from Michael's grasp 45 20 times

Home Run Inflict damage on Michael equal to 50% or more of his maximum health in a single encounter 60 50 times

Grand Slam Land the final blow that sends Michael into a downed state 45 30 times

Bailing Out Escape with your life without saving anyone 30 15 times

Blindside Successfully knock a Resident, Special Target, or fellow Civilian from Michael's grasp 120 80 times

Extra Innings Outlast the nightmare and successfully survive the night alive 45 15 times

Annie

Sheriff's Daughter Perform a good skill check during a conversation or phone call 75 50 times

Sharp Eye Navigate the environment and discover 30 15 other Civilians during a match

Assertive Approach 90 50 Residents and successfully convince them of the danger

Taking Charge Successfully issue a command to a Resident or Special Target 60 50 times

On the Lookout Locate and discover 63 35 Special Targets during the match

Unshaken Evade Michael long enough to trigger the removal of a Tier 2 Stalk Marker 30 25 times

Not a Victim When caught in Michael's grasp, successfully complete the struggle minigame 45 30 times

Priority Dispatch Successfully complete a very convincing call to dispatch 120 80 times

Law and Order Be the one responsible for fully filling the third police badge meter 15 10 times

Trusted Authority Successfully convince 90 40 Special Targets of the danger

Civic Duty Escape with your life after saving at least 5 Residents 9 4 times

Resourceful Successfully defend yourself against a grab by utilizing a defensive item to break free from Michael's grasp 45 25 times

No Keys Successfully repair a car 60 45 times

Laurie

Hidden in Plain Sight Evade Michael long enough to trigger the removal of a Tier 1 Stalk Marker 60 30 times

Resourceful Open and search 120 100 loot containers to scavenge for supplies

Honor Student Achieve a perfect skill check while engaging in a conversation or placing a phone call 90 75 times

Watching the Kids Escort 75 45 Residents to an escape by having them follow you

Desperate Struggle Successfully defend yourself against a grab by utilizing a defensive item to break free from Michael's grasp 45 25 times

Final Girl Outlast the nightmare and successfully survive the night alive 30 15 times

It Was the Boogeyman Land the final blow that sends Michael into a downed state 45 30 times

Protect the Innocent Help a Special Target escape or survive the night after performing a calm, convince, or command action on them 63 40 times

Not On My Watch Successfully knock a Resident, Special Target, or fellow Civilian from Michael's grasp 120 90 times

Sole Survivor's Duty Escape with your life after saving at least 5 Residents 9 5 times

Richard

Scrounger Rummage and find 60 40 items inside a hiding spot

Sweet Talker Achieve a perfect skill check while engaging in a conversation or placing a phone call 120 90 times

Bodyguard Successfully knock a victim from Michael's grasp 90 50 times

Escape Artist Successfully open an escape route for use 75 45 times

Therapist Calm a Special Target from a scared or terrified state 30 20 times

Heart Breaker Evade Michael long enough to trigger the removal of a Tier 2 Stalk Marker 45 30 times

Alley-Oop! Have a Resident or Special Target you gave your weapon to save someone grabbed or knock down Michael 30 20 times

Main Character Secure an escape for yourself after coming to the aid of and saving at least 3 Residents in a single match 63 25 times

Psychologist Successfully calm a Special Target who is currently in a terrified state 120 40 times

Snitch Successfully contribute the final progress required to fill the Third Police Badge meter 30 15 times

Born To Live Successfully survive the match as a Civilian 9 10 times

Alexis

Gossip Perform a good skill check during a conversation or phone call 60 50 times

Extrovert Navigate the environment and discover 120 30 other Civilians during a match

Club Crew Escort 75 40 Residents to an escape by having them follow you

Craftswoman Utilize items such as firecrackers, flashlights, or other mysterious items to successfully blind, disorient, or stun Michael 45 30 times

Hung Up Evade Michael long enough to trigger the removal of a Tier 2 Stalk Marker 30 25 times

Slippery Successfully defend yourself against a grab by utilizing a defensive item to break free from Michael's grasp 45 25 times

Haddonfield Girl Be the one responsible for fully filling the third police badge meter 30 10 times

Party Bus Successfully open an escape route for use 45 30 times

She's So Gone Escape with your life without saving anyone 63 15 times

Helping Hand Have a Resident or Special Target you gave your weapon to save someone grabbed or knock down Michael 120 80 times

Jeepers! Successfully knock a Resident, Special Target, or fellow Civilian from Michael's grasp 30 20 times

Silver Tongue Successfully complete a very convincing call to dispatch 9 50 times

Killer

1978 Michael

Lethal Efficiency Perform a standard grab weapon execution on 75 50 victims

Stalker Boy Successfully reach a Tier 2 Stalk Marker on 60 50 victims

Lethal Efficiency the Sequel Execute 90 50 victims that are stalked to tier 2

Weapons

Hatchet

Flight of the Axe Kill 90 75 victims with a thrown weapon

Splintered Terror Smash a window or door with your weapon that scares 105 75 victims

Pristine Slaughter Perform a Bloodthirsty execution while being undetected on a terrified victim 105 100 times