XDefiant Season 1 adds tons of new content to the free-to-play shooter
It’s an exciting time for XDefiant players as the game receives its first round of free content since it launched last month. Season 1 adds the game’s first post-launch faction: GSK. These Rainbow Six operators use electrified barbed wire to defend areas, active defense systems to counter enemy devices, and the G52-Tactical Shield to stun their opponents.
Along with GSK, we’re also getting a new map called Clubhouse, which pits teams in mid-range clashes as they battle across two floors. New maps will arrive every month during Season 1 — we can expect Rockefeller and Daytona to arrive in the future. We’ll be able to enjoy the Clubhouse map while playing the new Capture the Flag game mode and ranked play (as well as many other modes).
As for new weapons to wield, Season 1 introduces the LVOA-C Assault Rifle, the L115 Sniper Rifle, and the Sawed-Off Shotgun secondary weapon. See the Season 1 patch notes below for a full list of new additions and changes.
XDefiant Season 1 patch notes
A game
- Changed the expiration time of activated boosters so that their lives only count during the match when you’re actually playing, not all the time like when you’re folding laundry or whatever.
- Lowered the XP threshold for each Battle Pass level to give Battle Pass progression a little more energy.
- Adjusted bonus XP match rewards: MVP and Victory went from 2000 to 1000 XP. Draw went from 1000 to 500. Completion doubled from 2000 to 4000 to encourage the player to stick with initiative.
- Responded to a community that asked to add a headshot icon to Killfeed because it feels good to rub.
Fractions
- Added the GSK faction and their no-nonsense spokesperson: HQ.
These elite Team Rainbow operators from Germany’s Border Protection Command specialize in crowd control and securing territory. They can deploy electrified barbed wire to deny an area, counter incoming enemy devices with their active defense system, and blind multiple enemies with lightning charges mounted on their G52-Tactical Shield ultra. Call them Grenzschutzkommando because it’s fun and also accurate.
- Increases Echelon’s Intel Suit cooldown from 30 to 40 seconds.
- Adjusted Mag Barrier cooldown on Phantoms from 30 to 40 seconds. Mag Barrier health has also been reduced from 500 to 400.
- Phantoms’ AEGIS now takes damage from EMP grenades (lob six to put it out of commission).
- DedSec Hijack cooldown reduced from 28 seconds (plus the remaining duration of the hacked skill) to 20 seconds (plus the remaining duration of the hacked skill).
For example, say Mag Barrier has 7 seconds left and is hacked: The cooldown becomes 20 plus 7 seconds. Failed Hijack’s cooldown, meanwhile, has been reduced from 8 seconds to 5 seconds.
- DedSec’s Spiderbot cooldown increased from 25 to 40 seconds.
- Fixed Spiderbot behavior so that multiple Spiderbots do not attempt to hug the same face, nor do Spiderbots continue to ignore faces that they have hugged multiple times recently. Some give and take from the Spiderbot kingdom.
- Reduced Libertad’s BioVida Boost cooldown from 25 to 20 seconds.
- Fixed Libertad’s Medico Supremo so it will no longer disappear after the deploying player respawns as a different faction.
Cards
- Added the new Clubhouse map, a two-story terrain popular with international operators. Ideal for short to medium range firefights. Start of game modes Domination, Occupy, Hot Shot and the new CTF.
Game modes
- Added Capture the Flag, hereafter referred to as CTF. For the uninitiated: You take the enemy’s flag from their base and bring it back to yours while protecting your team’s flag. CTF is available on a variety of cards.
weapons
- Improved flinch on impact penalty applied when shot with a sniper rifle.
These changes are intended to improve the jitter behavior on impact, prevent cases where the camera will move away from the target on the first hit and back to the target on the second, and improve the experience for players sensitive to wild camera movements. Here are the highlights:
- Camera transition speed on impact jitter increased by 25 percent.
- Now the camera will always kick up instead of up or down randomly.
- The amount the camera will kick left or right has been increased by 3x.
- Added the L115 Sniper Rifle, which is not as heavy as the TAC-50 and has faster handling, although it does slightly less damage and is not as effective at penetrating cover.
- Added LVOA-C, a fancy custom rifle similar to the M4A1. It has a much faster rate of fire than the M4A1, but with that comes more recoil and less range. It also has a slightly longer reload and equip time.
- Added Sawed Off secondary weapon. This close-range version of the double-barreled shotgun features a large arrow for its size. Imagine carrying a primary weapon in your secondary slot and that’s it.
- Added new mastery skins: Titanium Violet (unlocked at weapon level 300), Titanium Azure (unlocked at 350), and Titanium Prisma (unlocked at 400).
- Fixed weapons and optics shaking in first person view while using ADS.
devices
- Added a new and improved visual effect for the flash grenade (replacing the previous effect which was…intense). The new effect is less retina-searing, but still suitably disorienting.
- Removed an exploit where players could respawn with multiple devices after engaging in the “Copy Loadout” option in the lobby, so nice try.
Social
- Added the Creator Code program, which allows players to select a creator to receive commissions from their XCoin purchases at no additional cost. Select “Support a creator” from the store to see a list of eligible creators.
- Players were able to create a party with enemy players and voice chat during matches despite being on opposing teams, which seemed shady, so this has been fixed.
- Disabled text chat whisper.
audio
- Changed mix of in-game voices and sound effects for volume and clarity.
Various
- Players who participated in the Closed Beta got to keep Kersey’s Dungaree skin. They didn’t, but now they do.
- Fixed issues tracking challenges with Ubisoft Connect.
- Graphics and audio fixes, miscellaneous.
- Additional crash fixes.
Check out our list of the best first-person shooters on Xbox for more fantastic gun games.
