Alan "Dutch" Schaefer has finally arrived in Predator: Hunting Grounds, and with the highly anticipated DLC, a beefy set of changes with the unexpected patch 1.08. For those keeping track, patch 1.07 seems to have been skipped over, and is not hiding somewhere with additional secret notes, at least that we know of.
Paid DLC And Early Access
With the patch now live, players can purchase the first paid DLC pack to unlock the Dutch 2025 skin, modeled 38 years after his first encounter with the Predator, battle-hardened and ready to hunt. Purchasing the DLC also provides early access to his new unlockable weapon, the QR5 Hammerhead, as well as Dutch’s Knife. These weapons will become available to all on June 12 with no purchase necessary.
Daily And Weekly Challenges
While most players will be excited to see Dutch, the addition of Daily and Weekly challenges is going to have a greater impact on the long-term viability of maintaining a healthy player base. Until now, players who reached level 100 had no progression available in terms of cosmetics, and the rate at which Veratanium was awarded remained low.
The addition of both types of challenges will give players specific tasks to complete and will award Veratanium. There is still much to be desired from a long-term progression system, such a additional cosmetics, but this is still a reasonable start. However, as Illfonic does not seem adept at communicating with the community of players, we have no way of knowing if this is the first of many great additions to aiding the long-term engagement of players, or the only one.
Fireteam Ammo Nerfs – Aim Carefully
It appears that Illfonic considered the Fireteam to have an overabundance of ammunition, as all guns have had their maximum amount reduced. For the most part, this should not cause any major problems, as the AI is still easily dispatched with headshots, and there are ammunition stores found throughout each map, on top of the top up offered as gear.
On the other hand, knowing that the Fireteam has less ammunition overall means that Predators can more safely engage in guerrilla warfare, striking from afar, diving in for a brief attack, and rushing off to heal or consume a pig to restore health. This attrition style of hunting is sure to be a hit as the Fireteam now has fewer resources.
Class Changes – Assault And Scout
The Assault and Scout classes have had two of their attributes swapped to better fit the theme of each. Assault players have lost the Teammate Revive Speed attribute but gained the Secondary Weapon Damage attribute. The Scout has seen the opposite, no longer having the extra damage attribute but now able to revive more efficiently, which feels appropriate for a class that has such high mobility.
Predator Updates
Illfonic is still looking for find that sweet spot for the Predator and has made several changes across the board. For starters, both the Impenetrable and Height Advantage perks now cost more to equip, which should help the Fireteam and push build diversity for hunters.
Next come the melee weapons, with the Elder Sword, Smart Disc, and War Club seeing improvements in things like damage, range, and their animations. This should provide some competition to the Combistick, which remains powerful thanks to its high damage output and broad arc of attack. So far the animations feel better, especially when attempting to complete 3 and 5 hit combos, with less of a locked in animation sequence that leaves players open to an onslaught of bullets. On the subject of melee range, the Berserker class has seen a small nerf to its passive melee damage, hopefully pushing greater Predator build diversity.
As a ranged weapon, the Smart Disc is also seeing a buff in its thrown damage and an increase in projectile health, making it more difficult to destroy. This feature is already an oddity as the only Predator weapon that can be destroyed by the Fireteam. In addition, both the Yautja Bow and Net Gun’s audio has been updated and seem to be less obtrusive and toned down.
Leap Slam Exploit Fix
Fireteams rejoice! Predators can no longer leap while ADSing, which was never intended to be how the Leap Slam ability worked, as there was never an animation cancelation built in on purpose. Now Predators should perform the full landing animation, preventing the abuse of a surprise Area of Effect attack without any real risk and getting away.
Plenty Of Bug Fixes
There are far too many bug fixes to go over here, and readers can click here for a complete list of what has arrived today with patch 1.08. Overall, the changes look to make the game far better in terms of balance and bugs, but it must be said that clear and frequent communication with Illfonic would be a vast improvement over what we have now, which is mostly radio silence except for right before a paid DLC drops. Players will support a game financially that they enjoy, but far less so if kept in the dark about what lies ahead.
Source: forum.predator.illfonic.com