Marvel Powers United VR, the latest Rift-exclusive title from Oculus Studios, got its fourth update this week which introduces a new objective and enemy, along with a slew of tweaks including a “significant tuning pass” to hero abilities to reduce ability spam and increase hero versatility.
Developed by Sanzaru Games and published by Oculus Studios, Marvel Powers United VR launched in July 2018, representing one of Oculus’ biggest content investments to date. The game launched to mixed reviews (ours review here), though the company has made good on its promise of post-launch support with a series of updates aimed at adding variety and challenge to the wave-based gameplay.
The fourth update to Marvel Powers United VR launched this week and introduced a ‘Nuke Defense’ objective, ‘Data Runner’ enemy, a series of tweaks to hero abilities, as well as boss and difficulty tuning.
Prior updates also focused on new enemies and objectives. Patch 2 added an A.I.M. Signal Jammer objective which blocked heroes from using their Ultimate abilities, reviving other players, and picking up Power Cells until all Signal Jammers are destroyed. The same patch also introduced two new enemy types. Patch 3 added a Planetary Assault objective where A.I.M. Frigates poised above the battlefield begin charging their weapons for a planetary barrage, only prevented by players activating S.H.I.E.L.D. cannons to take out the Frigates before the bombardment.
In prior patch notes for Marvel VR, Oculus offered a preview of what was coming in the next patch. Patch 4 is the first to not include a preview, which may signify that Patch 4 will be the game’s final update. We’ve reached out to Oculus for details on the game’s roadmap.
The full changelog of Patch 4 is available below:
MARVEL POWERS UNITED VR PATCH 4 RELEASE NOTES
NEW CONTENT
New Objective Phase – Nuke Defense
- A new objective phase added to the mix and can appear on any map.
- Work together to locate and deactivate deployed A.I.M. Nuke Titans.
- Each device must be carefully deactivated by using the correct sequenced code displayed on the nuke’s terminal and pulling the corresponding cable.
- If the wrong cable is pulled, the nuke will detonate and KO the active player while damaging other players in its radius.
- There may be multiple devices to deactivate at one time so move quickly.
- Any nukes left active while time expires will result in mission failure.
- The mission will also end in failure if you allow too many nukes to detonate.
New Enemy Type – Data Runner
- A new enemy type that collects battle data for A.I.M. and the Masters of Evil. Track and eliminate this unit before it can transmit vital intel to the Super Villains.
- The player that eliminates this unit gets their ultimate meter filled and a significant amount of bonus points.
- The Data Runner is a super-elite unit highlighted in an orange glow. The unit can spawn as a soldier of the associated faction currently spawned in level: Kree, Hydra, or Ultron Drone.
- The soldier does higher than normal damage, has higher HP and will track and target players.
UPDATES/TUNING
Beginner Mode – Default
- We have adjusted the game setting for default play to be set with Beginner mode enabled to alleviate issues with players being challenged with enemies and conditions that are too difficult before players being accustomed with characters or gameplay objectives.
- An Advanced Mode option has been added to the Map Select screen for the host to toggle. When Advanced Mode is set to active it will enable the harder game play conditions.
Character Tuning
We have done a significant tuning pass on the following characters to address spamming exploits as well as under performing attacks:
- Thor
- Fixed an issue with Mjolnir (Hammer) targeting enemies. It should now target multiple enemies when thrown if enemies are within targeting radius.
- Increased damage of Lightning Bolts attack from Mjolnir
- Hulk
- Adjusted Thunderclap ability and increased cool-down timer to reduce exploit spamming of the attack.
- Hawkeye
- Fixed an issue with Ice Shot arrows not correctly freezing enemies as intended due to targeting and collision conflicts. Freezing should be more consistent now.
- Black Bolt
- Concussive Shot damage slightly increased.
- Captain Marvel
- Damage increased for Photon Blast to make it more reliable fallback attack.
- Crystal
- Fire Bolt and Water Bolt damage increased to improve character’s overall performance in match play.
- Doctor Strange
- Flames of Faltine damage improved to allow more ranged options for the character.
- Iceman
- Ice Shards damage and freeze adjusted for more consistent freezing of enemies to build support role for character.
- Storm
- Increased damage of Lightning to provide more versatility in attack for character.
- Gamora
- Increased Guardian Enforcers damage for both standard and charged shot.
- Godslayer charge time reduced.
- Captain America
- Fixed an issue with Captain’s shield not completing ricochet of close enemies in close proximity.
- Star-Lord
- Increased Elemental Guns base shot damage to be in-line with other characters’ base damage.
Boss AI Tuning
- Bosses will now prioritize live players and aggressively pursue them. This will reduce bosses staying focused on objective items such as Generators or Relays.
- Boss Ultimate timing has been adjusted to reduce the frequency of a boss triggering their ultimate consecutively.
Scenario Balancing
- Adjusted and tuned boss spawning parameters per difficulty scaling.
- Adjusted overall difficulty scaling. Player count is now a factor on the highest difficulty that can be reached.
- 1 Player: Easy–Hard
- 2 or more players: Easy–Pro
Training Room
- The Training Room is now the default map on the Map Select screen to ensure players are aware this is available.
A.I.M. Turrets
- Total population count that can spawn has been reduced.
Missile Soldiers – All Factions
- Missile damage per second has been reduced and is now uniform across all factions.
Signal Jammers
- We have added an X-Ray material to the Signal Jammers so they are more visible in level when blocked by objects and geometry.
Fail Condition Messaging
- Mission Fail condition messaging has been updated to reflect more accurately the failure of a specific objective.
Result Cards
- New Results Objective Cards have been added for SHIELD Cannons and A.I.M. Nuke objectives. These will be shown correctly now in the end match wrap up.
Localization
- Localized language options are now available via Game Settings: German/French/Spanish/Japanese/Korean/Chinese
Language Setting
- Language setting can only be done in Ops now to prevent issues with game text not updating correctly.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed an issue with Captain Marvel’s hands being on fire or glowing in Operations.