Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodhunt is currently in early access on Steam, working towards an official release and a PlayStation 5 launch sometime in late 2021 or early 2022. So far Bloodhunt has enjoyed a decent deal of praise and built a healthy install base, and the early release phase is all about ironing out any kinks that show up in playtesting. On Oct. 7 Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodhunt released the Act 2 update, which delivers a lot of improvements and balance changes to the game.

Nosferatu changes

The star of the Act 2 update is undoubtedly the nerf given to both Nosferatu archetypes in Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodhunt. The changes are based on community feedback corroborated by developer Sharkmob’s internal data, which both agree that Saboteurs and Prowlers have performed a bit too well since Bloodhunt’s launch.

  • Vanish: Decreased maximum movement speed during Vanish by 9.2%, and reduced the duration of Vanish from 1.4 to 1.25 seconds.Scouting Famulus: Base cooldown increased from 16 to 22 seconds, and area of effect decreased by 10%. The Revealed status effect now only lasts 1 second after leaving the area of effect (previously 5 seconds). Most importantly, Scouting Famulus clouds cast by enemy Prowlers are not indicated with a red tint, so you can tell them apart from your own.Unseen: Saboteurs now trigger Unseen after being crouched for 2 seconds; this is actually a tiny buff, since Unseen used to take 3 seconds.

Weapon balance

The Heavy Crossbow is getting nerfed across the board to reduce its burst damage and disruption potential. Its new headshot multiplier is x1.75 (down from x2), the impact area of effect damage is now 4 (down from 20), and the gas damage is reduced to 16 per second (down from 25). The gas cloud itself is roughly 11% smaller.

On the other hand, the Dual Crossbows are getting a nice buff in magazine sizes across all tiers: 4/6/8, up from 2/4/6. The area of effect in which the impact deals full damage is now larger as well, though overall damage is not increased.

Melee weapons are getting soft-buffed, with an increase in every melee weapon’s hitbox which should make it easier to hit targets who are slightly above or below you. It’s surprising to see melee weapons receive improvements of any sort, considering they are a bit of a sore point in the game’s current meta.

Map changes

Entity checkpoints around the map will now be guarded by slightly fewer Soldiers, making those high-tier loot stashes a more viable option. They will also feature better loot: Tier 3 and Tier 4 only.

Prague now has a new landmark: the Rudolfinum Concert Hall. This previously closed-off area is now accessible during matches, opening another indoor arena to players.

More lore and new Quest line

Elysium, the hub area of Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodhunt, was a bit bland at launch, and the developers are working to fill it out. Act 2 brings new details to the space, and it also adds more discoverable Journal entries for players to pick up around Prague. If you haven’t checked those out yet, we strongly recommend you do. These fascinating self-contained stories and descriptions shed some real light on the dark world of Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodhunt.

You will notice a new face in Elysium: Omnis, the Nosferatu Primogen whom we had only heard of in passing previously. There is also have a new Quest line, which is fittingly Halloween-themed. Interact with NPCs around Elysium to launch the new Quest.

Other changes

In addition to everything mentioned above, the Act 2 update features a slew of smaller changes for Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodhunt. Toreador Siren’s Blinding Beauty VFX is slightly more flashbang-like now, for some reason. Climbing controls now have an input option that can be toggled to make climbing simpler; this improvement will mostly be helpful for controller users. There are a number of quality of life and accessibility improvements, and more planned for future updates, including the much-needed VFX change for empty loot spawns.

Finally, a new set of icons can now be seen on your screen if you experience issues like high latency, packet loss, low FPS, ping fluctuations, and inadequate refresh rate.