XDefiant pulls a CoD and nerfs sweaty bunny-hoppers
Ubisoft's XDefiant has become a haven for the "sweats" that have rolled over from the Call of Duty community. It's where low aim assist opens up a skill gap for the sharpshooters, and the run-and-gunners have to deal with the cracked movement.
This skill gap has meant that one of the biggest gripes from the Call of Duty world has transferred over to XDefiant, as the bunnies are running wild. Nope, not the Rayman Raving Rabbids (yet), but bunny-hoppers.
But, it's a bad day for the furry hares thanks to Ubisoft pulling a CoD and nerfing bunny-hopping in XDefiant.
XDefiant nerfs bunny-hopping in pre-season patch notes
As XDefiant gears up for Season 1, which will include new game modes, weapons, and more, Ubisoft addressed a number of performance issues and problems in its pre-season update.
One of those is adding severe aiming penalties for anyone who abuses the jumping mechanics, admitting that it was "maddening".
"Added aiming penalties for players who go to town on the jump/crouch buttons, aka the nuanced tactic of jump spamming, aka the maddening exploit of jump spamming."
The last wave of playtests for XDefiant implemented a rather brutal penalty for repeated jumps, with your weapon swaying in a figure of eight a few yards on either side of where your reticle was pointed.
Nerfs have also come into play for strafe-jumping. Your first three hops will not be affected, while your fourth will activate the damaging penalty.
Bunny-hoppers will still get away with the first and second jumps, but hopping on the spot repeatedly, or even shortly after the last burst, will end the reign of the sweats. We'll have to wait and see how well this is implemented into XDefiant, but so far, it's sounding pretty positive.