Wind Of Luck: Arena 0.8.6 Brings Flotillas, Matchmaking Changes
Wind of Luck: Arena was just updated to patch 0.8.6. This patch introduced Steam Achievements, Flotillas, three new ship improvements, an "improved battle UI," and matchmaking changes. Additionally, ships received a major balance overhaul, the details of which have not been shared.
Flotillas are Wind of Luck: Arena's implementation of the standard grouping mechanism used by vehicular arena combat games. They compare directly to World of Tanks' platoons and can hold up to three players. These three players can be of any tier and they will all always play in the same battle.
The battle UI revamp includes a redesign of the way that in-match players are displayed. Your flotilla and an easy-to-read number of how many enemies are sunk are now included. Should you not want the player list to show, the ability to hide it has been added.
Three new improvements have arrived with fairly large bonuses. The Spare Sails improvement adds 25% sail toughness. The Spare Oars improvement adds the same 25% toughness to oars. The Enlarged Ammo Hold improvement adds a staggering 50% ammo capacity.
The changes made to matchmaking concern me quite a bit. They have "added more variety in ship tiers" for each match. What this means is that a Tier 3 could be matched up with anyone from Tier 1 to Tier 5. What I am hearing, however, is that matches will be more imbalanced than ever. Combined with the ability to form a flotilla that contains both a Tier 1 and a Tier 5, the potential to be blatantly overpowered has never been greater.
What do you think about these updates?
