Vampire Bloodhunt Summer Update Patch Notes - All Gameplay Features, Fixes, More

Sharkmob's super-popular battle royale Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodhunt just received a massive Summer content update, featuring a brand-new "explosive" 8v8 game mode, new melee weapons, map changes, a complete overhaul to bodies and rigs, addressing a range of bugs and performance issues, and more.

The Bloodhunt Summer Update is rather chunky, with loads of new exciting changes for bloodthirsty players to sink their fangs into; so, with that said, here's everything you need to know about the latest patch update.

Vampire Bloodhunt Summer Update Patch Notes

Below you'll find all the major updates and changes coming to Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodhunt per the official Summer Update patch notes.

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Team Deathmatch Beta

Team Deathmatch (TDM) is a brand-new explosive 8v8 game mode that sees duos "fight for dominance" across five arenas (or levels) in Prague. TDM will feature unlimited respawns, timed universal ammo and loot spawns, and max resonance at the start of the game; the first team to reach 50 kills wins.

Summer Pass

Players can unlock new vanity items and rewards with the Summer Pass, including new tattoos, masks, tokens, multiple XP-boosts, eyewear, makeup, hairstyles, and beards. You can learn more about the Bloodhunt Summer Pass in a previous article.

New Bodies and Rigs

There are an array of new cosmetics and outfits to customize vampires in the Summer Pass. As a result, the developers needed to "painstakingly sculpt" new bodies, remake vanity items, and completely revamp the rig system of vampires in Bloodhunt.

Bug Fixes and QOL Improvements

There are loads of bug fixes and quality-of-life improvements. The developers noted that the number of stutters should decrease when playing on DirectX 12 mode. However, they also stated that the new features might impact performance. Still, they will continue to improve on this in future updates.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug where weapons get reloaded before the reload bar finishes loading completely and can be canceled mid-reload.
• Fixed a bug causing some Powers not to interrupt reloads. All powers will now interrupt reloading.
• Traversal has been smoothened out, so players will be less inclined to get stuck.
• Fixed a bug involving multiple traversal-related desyncs.

Quality of Life Improvements

• The controller has been updated with many settings for players to customize their appearance, aim and turn.
  • The Deadzone has been changed from axial to radial and is now fully customizable.
• There are multiple changes to the Vampire rig, which not only speeds up the vanity item creation process but also slightly improves the visual quality of the vampires.
• A key is required to open Camarilla Caches; these can be found in Prague, adding a bit of challenge in finding the rarer weapons.
• Ranked Mode rewards are now unlocked immediately after reaching the next rank. The required Ranked Points have been reduced by 1000 points (more details to follow)
• The user interface has been updated to make the Archetype perks more prominent and easier to find.
  • Each time a new Archetype perk is unlocked will display a new pop-up in the Elysium.
• The challenges screen has been overhauled, featuring new icons, better category separation, in-depth progression, expiration dates, and times.
• The quests screen has been overhauled to be more user-friendly.
• PS5 now features a VSYNC option/
• Melee hitboxes have been improved; it should now be easier to hit targets below you on slanted surfaces.

New Map Areas and Changes

The latest Vampire Bloodhunt Summer Update brings major changes to Elysium and Prague.

Elysium

• The Nosferatu clan space has expanded.
• The Ventrue area has a new elevator.
• The Elysium has many new secrets, including a new interactable character.

Prague

• The attic space of the Rudolfinum has been opened.
• A train has arrived at the train station.

Balance Changes

Sharkmob deployed various general, weapon, and Archetype balance changes.

Weapons

• Axe - Damage increased from 70 to 80.
• Spiked Bat - Damage increased from  55 to 60

General

• Regenerate/revive HP has been increased from 50 to 100.
• Diablerie no longer breaks the Masquerade.

Archetypes

• Flesh of Marble now has a brief transition animation during which the Enforcer cannot attack; this makes it more of a defensive skill.
  • You can't perform any other actions except reloading or switching weapons under the effect of Flesh of Marble, including committing diablerie and using consumables.
• Sirens’ Blinding Beaty - Damage increased from 20 to 50
• Vandals’ Earthshock - Damage decreased from 20-60 to 10-30
• Sewer Bomb - No longer causes the thrower to be slowed down during the throw, and the throw velocity has increased by 33%. Also, the time stuck in the animation is reduced from 0.4s to 0.3s.

New Quests and Melee Weapons

The Vampire Bloodhunt: Summer Update features several new quests for players to complete, with a newly improved restructured UI. This change includes better challenge descriptors, expiry dates, and progress bars; additionally, players will see "quest indicator badges, progress pips, and clearer viewable rewards for completing quests."

Separately, Knife and Crowbar melee weapons have been added to the game. These will spawn across the map and offer greater weapon variety. Furthermore, their spawn chances lower the probability of encountering the other melee weapons.

All Known Issues

The developers detail multiple known issues, which they are currently working on; these are indicated below per the official patch notes.

• The camera sways while feeding on NPCs.
• The Revive prompt doesn't animate properly; it shows as full.
• Players can respawn in the red gas, especially when the Windy variant is active.
• When queuing for Trios and Duos, players might end up in Prague missing team members.
• Teammate map markers may not be present after respawning in Prague.
• NPCs jitter and rotate when you feed on them (side effect of the Big Rig).
• Looping sounds for Camarilla and Entity containers don’t cut off when opened.
• Players may get stuck at the “Your Coterie” screen after selecting an archetype and entering Prague.
• Low vault sometimes pops you up a bit higher than expected; this is a side effect of a fix to low vault desyncs and, therefore, an overall improvement, but still not ideal.
• Some character assets may flicker or appear odd (side effect of Big Rig).
• Sometimes, NPCs may clip into walls or the ground while you're feeding on them.

Likewise, the developers noted the following known issues regarding the new TDM Beta.

• There’s no join-in-progress or auto-balancing to handle players leaving during a match.
• It's difficult to differentiate teammates from enemies.
• Respawning still needs work to improve spawning near teammates and squad mates and away from enemies.
• Distant characters can show animation compression artifacts (i.e., look like they are in slow motion), especially with many characters in view.
• Assists are credited as kills on the main scoreboard but will be replaced with a future score-based approach.
• It’s not yet possible to switch Archetypes between lives.
• The current approach to picking up weapons is experimental and may change in the future based on feedback. This easy-to-implement solution can encourage players to try different weapons, but it can feel too luck-based.
• Map layouts are preliminary and will be refined based on feedback and telemetry.
• The scoreboard is currently bound to the same key as the Map (V or M). This was easier/safer in the short term, but it will eventually replace the inventory screen (Tab).
• Healing isn’t super tenable at the moment due to the fast pace of matches.
• A better solution is being playtested internally and should be released in the future if the feedback is positive.

If you can't be bothered to read through all these changes, check out the official video below, highlighting some of the more noteworthy features.

Sharkmob noted that they would accept players' feedback per social media poll on 15th July 2022, which they hope will help shape the next update.

And that's all. For more related content, check out our section dedicated to Vampire Bloodhunt news, updates, guides, leaks, and more.

All featured images are courtesy of Sharkmob.