Shrouded Sky — Patch Notes 1.17.0

Patch 1.17.0 brings the Hurricane map condition and two new ARC types to the Rust Belt, alongside semi-automatic weapon rebalancing, item and crafting cost changes, and a Dam Battlegrounds update. Violent storms now sweep topside, forcing new strategies around low visibility, strong gales, and hurtling debris.

What’s New?

• Hurricane Map Condition
• Two New ARC Enemies
• The Weather Monitoring System — Seasonal Player Project
• Free Raider Deck
• Dam Battlegrounds Map Update
• Expedition Window
• Facial Hair Customization

Patch Highlights

• Weapon balancing for Stitcher, Kettle, Venator, Jupiter and Aphelion.
• Added a piano as an interactable object in the world.
• Prevented enabling all NVIDIA Freestyle filters simultaneously to remove an unfair visual advantage.
• Feats can now be rerolled three times per day for free.
• Removed PvP Feats, updated a few existing Feats and added a few new ones.
• Ziplines can no longer be placed on carryable objects.
• Mines, traps, or remote flares can no longer be placed on other deployables.

Balance Changes

Weapons

In 1.13 an optimization fix for weapons unintentionally lowered the total fire rate of semi-automatic weapons. That fix was reverted in 1.13.1, but the same update inadvertently changed weapon input buffers. The result was a “shadow buff”: where players previously had to time inputs to a weapon’s intended cadence to reach its full potential, spam-clicking could now bypass that skill requirement. Embark has added per-gun levers to control the input buffering window and adjusted the semi-automatic weapons accordingly. Weapons should feel responsive when spam-clicking, while players who pace their shots see better results.

Embark is also addressing low-tier versus high-tier weapon balance, since some low-tier weapons outperform higher-tier ones at much lower cost. This patch reduces the overall TTK of the Stitcher and Kettle, increases the maneuverability of the Aphelion and Jupiter, and takes another pass at the Venator, which continues to dominate PvP encounters.

Stitcher

Dev note: The Stitcher’s fast TTK can lead to situations where you are ambushed and killed before you have time to react, with high headshot damage a large contributor. These changes bring headshot TTK closer to body-shot TTK by reducing full-spray accuracy and the headshot multiplier.

• Reduced Headshot Multiplier from 2.5 to 1.75
• Reduced Base Damage from 7 to 6.5
• Increased Per Shot Dispersion by around 50% (making it bloom faster)

Kettle

Dev note: The Kettle’s high damage was intended for medium range at a deliberate pace, but many players use it in close quarters like an SMG. Reducing base damage brings its TTK into line while keeping the high headshot multiplier to encourage going for headshots.

• Reduced Base Damage from 10 to 8.5

Venator

Dev note: Since the last Venator nerfs in 1.3.0, data shows it remains one of the highest performing weapons in the game. For a weapon of this tier it should perform well, but not this well. This is an overall damage nerf to bring down its TTK; if that is not enough, ammo consumption and cost efficiency may be revisited.

• Reduced Headshot Multiplier from 2.5 to 2
• Reduced Base Damage from 9 to 8

Jupiter

Dev note: The Jupiter does the most headshot damage in PvP but is hard to land at longer ranges, and missing a shot leaves you vulnerable at close range. Increasing ADS zoom gives a better view of targets, and reduced equip and unequip times make it easier to swap to a secondary to follow up.

• Improved ADS Magnification from ~1.9x to ~2.2x
• Improved Equip Time from 1.2s to 1.05s
• Improved Unequip Time from 0.9s to 0.75s

Aphelion

Dev note: The Aphelion was intended as a PvP-focused legendary but could not keep pace with other PvP weapons. These changes make it feel less bulky and more nimble to use, and more viable in PvP.

• Reduced Base Reload Time from 4.5s to 3.5s
• Reduced Time Between Shots from 0.9s to 0.7s
• Reduced Vertical Recoil by ca 50%
• Improved ADS Settle Speed by ca 35%

Item and Crafting

Energy Clip

• Now available by default in the Workbench.

Item Value and Cost Changes

The following item values and costs have been adjusted, with appropriate recycle and salvaging adjustments:

• Deadline
  • Value increased from 5,000 to 6,000.
  • Trader price increased from 15,000 to 18,000.
  • Added a new ARC part as a crafting cost.
• Trailblazer
  • Value increased from 1,600 to 2,200.
  • Trader price increased from 4,800 to 6,600.
  • Added a new ARC part as a crafting cost.
• Wolfpack
  • Value increased from 5,000 to 6,000.
  • Added Rocketeer Driver as a crafting cost.
  • Reduced Refined Explosive cost.
• Vita Spray
  • Value increased from 3,000 to 3,400.
  • Added Tick Pod as a crafting cost.
• Showstopper
  • Value decreased from 2,200 to 2,100.
  • Added Hornet Driver as a crafting cost.
  • Changed crafting component from Advanced Electrical Components to Electrical Components.
• ARC Parts sell value has been reduced to better reflect their crafting and progression uses.

Content and Bug Fixes

Achievements

• Fixed an issue where the “Blindsided” achievement sometimes did not trigger as intended on the first attempt.

Animation

• Fixed various animation issues while vaulting.
• Fixed an issue where some weapons didn’t drop magazines during reloads.
• Fixed an issue where reattaching to a ladder after jumping could distort the climbing animation.
• Polished equip animations for pistols and hand cannon to better match timing and reduce visual popping when switching from unarmed.
• Improved arm and weapon positioning when swapping shoulders to prevent visual popping during the transition.
• Fixed an issue where fall damage wouldn’t get applied if the player was in a knockback animation.
• Polished low-health reaction animations for improved clarity.
• Fixed weapon-shake animation incorrectly triggering indoors during freezing weather; it now only occurs outdoors.

ARC

• Fixed an issue where Surveyors and Fireballs could open prematurely before stabilizing.
• Reduced erratic movement of ARC parts when they are stuck to a looted item.
• Hornets now keep their upper armor after being destroyed, making the lootable piece easier to distinguish from Wasps.
• Fixed an issue where the Rocketeer sometimes would not shoot despite having a clear view of its target.
• Reduced cases where the Sentinel’s shots could pass through geometry when its weapon clips into walls at very close range.

Audio

• Limited bullet sound effects per trigger pull on burst weapons to the burst size to prevent extra shots from playing.
• Reduced audio stuttering on lower-spec PCs for smoother, more consistent sound during gameplay.
• Lowered non-radio voice volumes: in-game dialogue.
• Fixed an issue where sliding on stairs or debris could cause audio stutters.
• Scrappy has received your feedback about being too noisy; he will now try to cluck less frequently.
• Reduced overall volume and rebalanced the menu SFX and music mix for a more comfortable Speranza experience.
• Shortened one tube deployment music track that lingered for too long in session.
• Birds perched on ziplines now screech with correct positional audio when startled.
• Decreased audio occlusion / obstruction slightly across the board and especially for players.
• Updated acoustic guitar music tracks.

Cosmetics

• The Volare Set.
• The Surgeon Set.
• The Devotee Set coming soon.
• Added a new facial hair customization option.
• Fixed incorrect visor glass material on the Marco outfit’s green color variant.
• Fixed various instances of clipping on certain outfits.

Gameplay

• Added a piano as an interactable object in the world.
• Fixed an issue where interactions could be triggered from too far away, allowing players to open doors, start hatches, or loot items without being nearby.
• Hold and continuous interactions now cancel when equipping another item or weapon.
• Fixed an issue where players could become unable to move after being revived with a defib.
• Prevented players from standing on or being carried by thrown grenades and other non-walkable items.
• Added missing gamepad aim assist for Sentinels, Turrets, Shredders and Surveyors.
• Disabled queuing for Practice Range while in a party to prevent matchmaking errors.
• Fixed an issue where a downed raider’s body could block hatch extraction by triggering a search prompt.
• Prevented enabling all NVIDIA Freestyle filters simultaneously to remove an unfair visual advantage.
• You can now make purchases with seeds and free loadout augments even if your stash is overflowing.

General

• General performance improvements.
• Fixed some popping issues.
• Fixed a crash when launching the game with DirectX 11.
• Fixed a crash that could happen when traversing ziplines.

Maps

General:

• Fixed broken interactions near the top of certain ladders.
• Fixed missing collision on several environment props to reduce clipping and unintended traversal.
• General lighting fixes across different maps.

Buried City:

• The chance of finding rare loot in chimneys has been lowered slightly during the Bird City map condition.

Stella Montis:

• Fixed multiple collision issues on Stella Montis (Lobby, Atrium, Loading Bay, Train Station tunnels, Seed Vault) to prevent players from reaching out-of-bounds areas using the ‘Unstuck’ function and to address shots coming from the Lobby ceiling.
• Adjusted night lighting on Stella Montis to improve visibility in darker areas.
• Improved night-time visibility at the Seed Vault extraction by adding local lighting.
• Fixed an issue where lowered Spillway bridges still displayed an interaction prompt; interaction is now correctly disabled when the bridge is down.
• Fixed an issue that allowed players to get on top of metro trains.

Blue Gate:

• Improved thunderstorm lighting for better visual clarity.
• Fixed an issue where players could go out of bounds in the Blue Gate tunnels.

Movement

• Adjusted ladder jump-off to match vault jump-off behavior, smoothing movement and preventing unintended momentum from rapid inputs.
• Fixed an issue where sliding could clip through stairs and escalators.

Progression

• You can now reroll Feats three times per day for free.
• Removed PvP Feats, updated a few existing Feats and added a few new ones.
• Added an Expedition catch-up system to earn missed Skill Points from previous runs, with an updated UI to track your progress.
• Fixed an issue where players occasionally did not receive a skill point as indicated in the result screen.
• Candleberries in Blue Gate now count toward the Harvest Plants trial.

Quests

• Added clearer ping labels for quest-related world objects to improve readability.
• Fixed an issue where the next objective pop-up in multi-step quests could be missing or show a completed step. It now consistently displays the correct upcoming objective.
• Fixed an issue where a quest item could appear as world loot without the related quest being active.

Social

• When playing in a party, map selection now shows all locations unlocked by the member with the most rounds played.
• Fixed an issue where previous teammates could appear in the Social tab’s In Proximity list after starting a new session.
• Added clearer error messages when friend requests fail due to too many outgoing requests or rate limiting.
• Fixed friends appearing offline when they have more than one platform linked.
• Added the ability to hide friend requests.

UI

• Item pings for items in containers now appear above the container’s interaction point and no longer appear at the wrong location in certain containers.
• Added a ready-up warning when deploying with Raider Hatch keys into a map with no active hatches.
• Added icons to inventory tooltips to show recycle/salvage outputs.
• Fixed an issue where squad colors could display incorrectly after squad changes.
• Fixed a bug where adding a secondary keybind would overwrite the primary keybind in the next round.
• Updated localization for unique loot from new enemy variants to improve in-game naming and clarity.
• Improved matchmaking messaging when some party members are still topside.
• Fixed an issue where end-of-round health was not correctly shown for all players.
• It is now clearer when you join a party which party member is topside while you’re in Speranza.
• You can now use the mouse scroll wheel to switch between pages in the Raider Deck.
• Polished UI text and updated translations across supported languages.
• Added additional ping labels for various quest objects to improve clarity.
• Fixed an issue where mouse smoothing could remain enabled despite being turned off, ensuring the setting is correctly applied at round start.
• Improved the red zipline preview when the zipline cannot be placed.
• Updated login message to clearly explain when access is restricted because the shared account owner has been banned.
• Fixed an issue in Expeditions where the timer could go negative after the departure countdown and the Sign Up button stayed active; the screen now updates correctly and the button is disabled.
• Fixed an issue where the repair preview wasn’t displayed correctly when repairing items.
• Crafting and recycling screens now display item costs and rewards in a consistent order for easier reading.
• The VoIP icon in the HUD now better represents whether the microphone will transmit when using Push To Talk or Toggle To Talk.

Utility

• Pop Triggers and Spotter Relays can now be used in quick slots.
  • The Spotter Relay can now be deployed as a trap that lures nearby ARC.
  • The Pop Trigger can now be deployed to roll forward briefly before exploding.
• Added a new Field craft item: Shaker instrument.
• Adjusted Vita Spray so healing applies continuously while in use to prevent exploit cases.
• Fixed an unintended behaviour with the Snaphook causing it to pull players after it had been cancelled.
• Ziplines can no longer be placed on carryable objects.
• Fixed Zipline placement on ARC remnants that could consume the item or leave it partially placed.
• Mines, traps, and remote flares can no longer be placed on ziplines, or on other small deployables.
• The T3 Tactical (Healing) Augment now correctly states that healing is applied instantly.

VFX

• Fixed an issue where Jupiter’s windup visual could face sideways, making the beam appear misaligned.
• Fixed an issue where Trailblazer’s gas effect could persist indefinitely if interrupted by the Matriarch’s shield.

Known Issues

• The ‘Purchase Raider Tokens’ page may appear in front of the inbox and profile page when switching between them.
• Player animations may appear broken when interrupting a search of the Baron Husk.
• Certain containers may be unavailable to be interacted with.
• Ziplines placed onto destroyed ARC parts will not appear correctly.
• The Scrappy ‘Batting Helmet’ and the ‘Slugger’ outfit might not appear correctly in the event preview.
• The ‘Comparative Study’ achievement sometimes does not progress correctly after damaging the hanging drone dummies.
• The ‘Unyielding’ achievement/trophy fails to progress on console when knocking out raiders using the associated prompt.
• Some unintended VFX can appear occasionally.
• One of the new ARC enemies has an unusable interaction occasionally when destroyed.
• Flying ARC may sometimes appear stuck in idle.
• The Embark ID Discriminator sometimes fails to show.
• Pressing LMB outside of the item select area closes the item select window in the Expeditions menu.

Anti-Cheat

Embark expanded on its approach to tackling unfair play. Cheat detection operates on multiple levels: some checks are simple and definitive, while others are behavioral and data-driven and evolve over time. Embark also uses broad gameplay telemetry and machine learning to spot patterns that are not obvious at first glance.

Enforcement is being tightened. Strong detections now receive permanent bans immediately, while others receive a temporary suspension and a single chance to correct the behavior. Recent updates to Family Sharing have strengthened Embark’s ability to remove bad actors. A systematic manual review of ban appeals is being prepared so every case is handled with care.