The Act 2 update for Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodhunt is live, adding a new indoor battle arena and rebalancing Archetypes, among other content additions. Sharkmob’s free-to-play battle royale set in the Vampire: The Masquerade universe is still in early access, but the developers have improved many facets of the game as it nears full launch on PC and PS5 before the end of the year.
The game is based on the Vampire: The Masquerade tabletop game, and pins groups of vampires against each other on the streets of Prague. Players can go it alone or team up in a group of vampires, similar to other games in the genre. Bloodhunt is set apart by the special abilities each vampire possesses, though during matches players must show restraint around mortals. Those who fail to follow The Masquerade, a code forbidding vampires from revealing their nature to the public, will be revealed to other players on the map. Bloodhunt also boasts no pay-to-win mechanics, only including skins and other cosmetic items as part of the monetization plan. The game’s community grew during Act 1 with a 20,572 all-time peak on Steam. Now the developers hope to garner more players with the Act 2 update.
According to the Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodhunt patch notes provided by Sharkmob, Act 2 brings many changes to the game including the opening of the Rudolfinum Concert Hall in Prague. The building functioned as a communal haven for the Toreador clan but is now a battleground for vampire bloodshed, as is the rest of the map. Act 2 also includes balance changes especially to the Nosferatu clan, which was deemed a little too powerful. The clan as a whole received decreased maximum speed during Vanish and a reduced Vanish duration. The Saboteur and Prowler Archetypes also received balance changes, as did the Toreador: Siren Archetype. The new content can be seen in the act 2 trailer, courtesy of the Bloodhunt YouTube channel.
Watch the Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt Act 2 trailer on YouTube here.
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodhunt Act 2 also brought balance changes to certain melee and ranged weapons, including a slight buff to the Pump Shotgun and a nerf to the Crossbow. The magazine size for the Dual Crossbows increased, and the explosion maximum damage now reaches 2m instead of 1m. The Sniper Rifle also got a slight buff, with reload being available sooner after firing a bullet. Act 2 includes plenty of Quality of Life changes as well, including performance indicators that will now appear when the game runs into unexpected problems. Certain bugs were crushed and the developers also improved on the climbing mechanic.
The Archetype and weapon balance changes to Bloodhunt seem like a step in the right direction for the battle royale, though the update is noticeably lacking any optimizations for players running into performance issues on their PCs. The developers did indicate that they are working on that issue; however, it is a big task that requires more time than the quality of life and balance changes made in this update.
A problem with adding special abilities to the battle royale genre is the increased difficulty of balancing those abilities. With different clans and Archetypes offering various advantages and disadvantages, it was likely that Bloodhunt would have issues with balancing. But it is a good sign that Sharkmob has already made necessary changes to nerf where necessary, starting with the Nosferatu clan. Hopefully this practice continues as Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt evolves.
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt is available now in Early Access on PC.
Source: Sharkmob, Bloodhunt/YouTube