We’re rolling out a fairly large patch this week. We’re introducing online Free For All battles, a new way to earn Spectra, and doing some much-needed adjustments to various game mechanics and characters to improve the balance in Icons.

• Online Free For All is here! Our FFA matchmaking queue provides matches with 3 total players, while players can head to the custom lobby system to participate in 4-player matches with their friends.
  
• Players are now granted Spectra upon earning their First Win of the Day.
  
• We’ve done some revisions to the matchmaking logic for new players. They should be more quickly finding players similar to their skill level than before.
  
• Updated UX for custom lobbies. They should now be more difficult to leave on accident.
  
• First iteration of an AI system. AI should be significantly improved from their previous state
  
• Fixed a bug where earning a character progression reward in a custom lobby and viewing it could break your client state.

Spike bounces have felt a bit lacking in meaningful interaction from the victim, so we’re making a few changes here and fixing a nasty bug that has been around for a while. First things first, grabs/throws no longer reset the untechable state. This isn’t a voluntary means of becoming grounded, so it shouldn’t be doing that. Next, we’re testing out a new way for the victim to have a say in their fate by allowing them to perform Directional Influence when they bounce. This DI is half as strong as DIing a regular attack, since they already have the opportunity to DI the attack that caused them to bounce. Lastly, a victim being bounced will travel further than previously, while sustaining the same amount of hitstun, making it a bit tougher for an opponent to follow up, though players may find that spikes can allow followups at earlier percents than before. We’ll be closely monitoring how spike bounces play out in the coming weeks and determining if further tuning is necessarily. We’re confident that these changes are a strong first step to retaining what makes spike bounces unique and fun to use while introducing options for the victim to feel like the interaction is fair.

Also in this patch, we’re loosening the reins on when players can perform Strike attacks in certain actions. Previously in Icons, eligibility of performing a Strike during Dash or Run depended on which Strike you wanted to do, and was sometimes not possible in Dash, instead resulting in a Dash Attack. To do so during a Run, you would need to enter a run turnaround or Crouch. That is no longer the case.

• Spike bounces
  
  • Untechable spikes are no longer reset when a victim is grabbed
• [NEW] Players may now DI (influence the direction of the knockback trajectory) a spike bounce. This instance of DI is half as strong as DIing regular attacks.
  Knockback reduction on a bounce: 25% >>> 20%
  
  
• Performing Strikes during Dash and Run
  
  • Using the right stick will now always result in the desired Strike at any time in Dash or Run.

Around Launch time, Afi & Galu received landing hitboxes on their multi-hit aerials. The primary point of these landing hitboxes is to prevent Afi & Galu from being punished for landing during the move despite hitting an opponent; if the final hitbox of the attack has come out, the purpose of the landing hitbox is no longer being met, and thus not needed. To that end, we’ve tuned the timings for when these hitboxes occur to line up with the active frames of those aerials, so if the last hit of an aerial comes out, a landing hitbox won’t.

• Back-Aerial
  • The landing hitbox should no longer occur when they land if the final hit of Back-Air has already been active. Also, Afi & Galu will now play VFX when the landing hitbox occurs.
  
  
• Down-Aerial
  • The landing hitbox should no longer occur when they land if the final hit of Down-Air has already been active.

A few minor buffs to Ashani are found here to try to help her out. Up-Aerial no longer reverses which previously prevented players from hitting opponents particularly deep with the hitboxes which is more favorable for comboing. Also, the KB stats have been tweaked to make comboing a bit more reliable, while also preventing the move from KOing until later percents. Up-Special gets a minor KB buff, and we’ve done some minor housekeeping on her Ledge Attack data to prevent some unfavorable behavior. Kidd and Raymer also receive the same change in this patch.

• Ledge Attack
  • Knockback no longer reverses in trajectory if the opponent is behind Ashani
  
  
• Up-Aerial
  • Base Knockback:: 30 >>> 40
    
  • Knockback Scaling:: 115 >>> 90
    
  • Knockback no longer reverses in trajectory if the opponent is behind Ashani
  
  
• Up-Special (Electric Arc)
  • Knockback Scaling: 50 >>> 60

Kidd’s power has been strongly tied to a select few of his moves for a good while, and we’re taking a look at dialing those down in this patch. Firstly his Dash Attack has quite high damage output and combo potential, so we’re reducing its damage and giving it more recovery frames. On top of making it more tight to combo out of, this also makes it more reasonable for an opponent to punish a whiffed or blocked Dash Attack. Kidd’s Back-Aerial has been infamous for its reverse hits; we’ve changed the active frames of the strong hit to more or less always prevent it from reversing. Players may find that they can use the reverse weak hit for combos. Kidd’s Down-Special now does less damage, has a smaller hitbox, and has a bit more hitlag so the opponent has more time to DI the move correctly. This may change the timing to jump out of it, but we’re hoping that the universal input buffer will account for most cases here. Lastly, Kidd’s Side-Special has been way too powerful for its associated risk. It now does less damage (which makes it weaker knockback-wise) and we’ve tweaked the active frames of the strong hit to last for a shorter amount of time, requiring Kidd to be closer when he begins his headbutt to land the strong hit. The weak hit’s hitboxes have been adjusted in size and positioning to make it more reasonable for an opponent to beat it out with hitboxes of their own, which should aid players hoping to edgeguard Kidd or deal with the move on stage.

• Dash Attack
  • First hit damage:: 5 >>> 3
    
  • Animation duration:: 38 >>> 41
  
  
• Ledge Attack
  • Knockback no longer reverses in trajectory if the opponent is behind Kidd.
  
  
• Back-Aerial
  • Strong hit’s active frames:: 9-12 >> 10-12
  
  
• Down-Special (Overload)
  • Damage:: 7 >>> 5
    
  • Hitbox size:: Reduced by 12.5%
    
  • Hitlag multiplier: 0.5 >>> 1x (changes from 4 -> 6 frames of hitlag when fresh when accounting for the damage reduction)
  
  
• Side-Special (Jetpack Headbutt)
  • Strong Hit Damage: 15 >>> 14
    
  • Strong hit duration: 10 frames -> 5 frames
    
  • Weak hit duration increased & starts earlier to match.
    
  • Weak hit hitbox:: Reduced in size by ~10% and moved backward slightly

Raymer has been notorious for his close-quarters combat since his release. We still want Raymer to be a competent foe up close, but we’re reining in some of the more confusing and offputting behavior, and toning down some of his egregious options. Raymer’s Jabs see an additional frame of startup, this both changes his attack speed and makes it much less likely he hit someone who is behind him with these jabs. Raymer’s Side-Tilt sees some significant changes here as well. The move has been a catch-all tool for Raymer, granting him tons of range, coverage behind him, low endlag, and setting up for edgeguards or outright kills. We’ve adjusted the animation so that his foot isn’t behind him on the first active frame, which should help a lot on its own. We’ve also reduced the BKB of this move significantly, since it shouldn’t really be that strong for how much range it has. We also added another couple frames of recovery, enabling precise foes to punish poorly placed Side-Tilts with more confidence. We also took some time to clean up interactions with his Neutral-Air. The data changes listed have the primary goal of preventing double hits when Raymer hits with the move. The attack should still feel potent when used on shields, or when hitting with only the first hit. Lastly on the nerf front, we’ve reduced the knockback of an unbounced Side-Special (Ricochet Shot) significantly. We really want to ask more of an edgeguarding Raymer player than to simply aim an unbounced shot at a foe to send them to their doom; this change leaves the option there to snipe out a double jump, but not so much to outright secure kills as reliably as before. In other news, we’re doing some changes to his nSpecial (Gunslinger) to make it feel better to use, reducing the time it takes to use by quite a few frames. It should now line up more with the thematics of Raymer quickly firing off a volley of bullets. The damage and knockback has been reduced to compensate for the new frame data, they should now induce a short flinch duration rather than sending the victim launching backward. This move is now suitable for racking up damage quickly, rather than just being a worse Side-Special in capable hands.

• Jab 1
  • Active Frames:: 4-6 >>> 5-6
  
  
• Jab 2
  • Active Frames:: 4-7 >>> 5-7
  
  
• Side-Tilt
  • Base Knockback:: 30 >>> 10
    
  • Total Duration:: 35 >>> 37 frames
    
  • Animation adjusted so Raymer’s foot is in front of him on the first active frame, rather than behind him.
    
  • Knockback no longer reverses in trajectory if the opponent is behind Raymer
  
  
• Ledge Attack
  • Knockback no longer reverses in trajectory if the opponent is behind Raymer
  
  
• Neutral-Aerial (First Hit):
  • Hitbox duration:: 6-8 >> 7-8
    
  • Base Knockback 0 -> 20
    
  • Knockback Scaling:: 100 >>> 80
    
  • Removed a hitbox that was on Raymer’s upper thigh
  
  
• Neutral-Special (Gunslinger)
  • Startup frames:: 18 >>> 14
    
  • Looping frames:: 22 >>> 17
    
  • Damage per bullet:: 5 >>> 4
    
  • Base Knockback:: 50 >>> 20
    
  • Knockback Scaling:: 25 >>> 0
  
  
• Side-Special (Ricochet Shot)
  • Un-bounced bullet Knockback Scaling:: 100 >>> 50

Weishan has had some egregious aspects of certain moves since his release in May, and this time around we’re looking to clean those up. His Side-Strike hitbox active frames are being cleaned up to line up with when Weishan’s Guandao is at least somewhat in front of him, rather than behind his head. We cleaned up the glow and textures on his Guandao to match the new active frames as well. Regarding Weishan’s Side-Tilt, the first active frame was capable of hitting below the ledge. We’ve pushed the first active frame back by a frame, so the hitboxes are active after his guandao has ended up above the stage in his swing. Weishan’s U-Throw has lower KB scaling to prevent KOs off the top; it may be a bit more reliable for lower percent strings now. Weishan’s Down-Special is an armored charge move that can KO if charged up enough; we’ve added an additional 8 frames of startup to require a more direct read on the part of Weishan to utilize it effectively. Additionally, nSpecial’s projectile hitbox lingered far too long, and hit below the stage, making it rather difficult to recover against. We’ve cleaned these up a bit. Lastly, we’ve made the hitbox coverage on Weishan’s uSpecial a bit weaker. While it’s still well protected compared to where his body hurtboxes are, players may find it a bit more plausible to hit him during this move, and otherwise position themselves closer to a recovering Wesihan without getting hit. It’s not all bad news for the Dragon though, as we’ve give him a few buffs in this patch as well. We’re giving his jab 3 a minor QoL to try to curb cases where Weishan gets punished on hit. The KB stats on Weishan’s Side-Special have also been changed to facilitate combos should a player land this vicious attack.

• Jab 3
  • Base Knockback:: 40 >>> 50
  
  
• S Strike 1
  • Active Frames:: 12-17 >>> 14-16
    
  • Total Duration:: 46 >>> 52
  
  
• S Strike 2
  • Active Frames:: 11-18 >>> 15-17
  
  
• Side-Tilt
  • First active frame:: 11 >>> 12
  
  
• Up-Throw
  • Knockback Scaling:: 90 >>> 75
  
  
• Down-Special (Dragon’s Breath)
  • First Charge Frame:: 8 >>> 16
  
  
• Neutral-Special (Dragon’s Tail)
  • Active Hit Frames on Projectile:: 15 >>> 8
    
  • Lowest Hitbox raised slightly above floor level
  
  
• Side-Special (Dragon’s Bite)
  • Base Knockback:: 55 >>> 80
    
  • Knockback Scaling:: 50 >>> 35
  
  
• Up-Special (Dragon’s Ascent)
  • Outermost Guandao hitbox removed
    
  • Late Hitbox sizes reduced by 10%

Xana is one of the stronger characters in the arena, and we wanted to take a look at a few of her more egregious options when we were cleaning up the cast in this patch. Her Jab 1 can be seen used repeatedly or linked into a grab, so we’ve added some additional endlag to it to curb this use. Additionally, we’ve pushed the hitboxes on her torso on Jab 1 & 2 forward a bit to prevent her from hitting foes that are behind her as often. Her Up-Tilt’s data was based heavily around its prior animation and didn’t account for the large arcing front to back swipe she has now. We’ve added a few frames of recovery and increased the KB on it to prevent repeated Up-Tilts, but players hoping to combo an Up-Tilt into another move will find this strategy to still be quite potent. Xana’s D-Strike has had a bit too much power since its rework for reliability, and Side-Strike has been a bit underwhelming to land. We’ve reduced the power and damage of D-Strike and given S-Strike a bit of a buff, hoping that this balances out the use cases of each instead of D-Strike always being the correct play. We also did some data cleanup on her U-Throw. The move has always been interruptible very early on in the animation to facilitate her potent throw followup game, but a bug existed where the last 6 frames of the move weren’t interruptible, which could leave the move feeling unresponsive. We’ve cleaned this up for this patch.

Lastly, the animation revisions we discussed on Reddit are being deployed to you all this week! We’ve done some improvements to her Side-Tilt and Up-Aerial animations. They see minor data changes to facilitate the new animations; while Up-Aerial seems like a nerf, she swipes the attack area more quickly than before, so in most cases this should feel better.

• Jab
  • Jab 1 total duration:: 18 >>> 21 frames
    
  • Jab 1 & 2:: Torso hitboxes moved forward slightly.
  
  
• Side-Tilt
  • Has a new animation!
    
  • Knockback no longer reverses in trajectory if the opponent is behind Xana
    
  • Hit duration:: 8-12 >>> 9-12
  
  
• Up-Tilt
  • Interruptible on frame: 31 >>> 34
    
  • Knockback Scaling:: 60 >>> 70
  
  
• Up-Aerial
  • Has a new animation!
    
  • Active frames:: 8-16 >>> 8-14
  
  
• Down-Strike
  • First hit damage:: 6 >>> 5
    
  • Second hit damage:: 16 >>> 15
  
  
• Side-Strike
  • Knockback Scaling:: 85 >>> 90
  
  
• Up-Throw
  • Interruptibile on frames::: 26-39 >>> 26-45

Pretty minor changes for the empress here. A hitbox cleanup on her U-air primarily to prevent it from hitting opponents below the ledge as she uses it close to the ground. Her specials also mostly see some cleanup in terms of bugs. Zhurong’s Side-Special allows her to drift early on, granting her some more mixups on recovery.

• Up-Aerial
  • Hitbox active frames:: 5-10 >>> 5-9
    
  • Weapon trail lifetime edited accordingly.
  
  
• Down-Special (Phoenix Guard)
  • Transitions into the grounded version on land (to prevent traveling off of ledges)
    
  • Aerial version now has a max fall speed override so she doesn't fall as far during a successful aerial counter
  
  
• Side-Special (Phoenix Rush):
  • Aerial version now allows Zhurong to drift starting on frame 36 (of 60).
  
  
• Up-Special (Phoenix Flight)
  • Fixed a bug where Zhurong could land with 4 frames of landlag (instead of the intended 30) when landing on specific frames.

Dear Icons community,
You asked, and we listened. We’re happy to announce that a highly requested game mode, Free For All, is coming on August 22 to Icons Early Access -- (up to) 4-player FFA for custom matches and 3-player FFA for matchmaking queue games.

We’ll get into more detail on Wednesday, including an additional new player progression feature, but until then, get excited!

Sincerely,
The Icons Development Team

• Removed the non-functional requeue button from the Victory GUI. It remains on the progression screen.
  
• HItting a shield now plays a unique sound effect.
  
• In Portal Pack unboxing, portals now display a category type in addition to the name of the item earned.
  
• Fixing a bug where player progression could become messed up after level 11. This caused the progression bar to not line up well with the actual level progression that was taking place.
  
• When going to the purchase screen for a character, the Gallery notifies players that they can try all Icons for free in Training Mode.
  
• Fixed a bug where transitioning from air to ground during a chargeable move would transition to the incorrect frame. Notably, this caused Zhurong to be able to achieve a full charge Neutral Special (Phoenix Wing) without fully charging.
  
• Fixing an issue with animation duration on Zhurong where they were off by one. Hitbox frame data remains unchanged; this change makes it more likely for hitboxes to line up with player expectation.

Also we've made some changes so players earn more Spectra and we're adding character unlock tokens!

We’re pleased with the way things are going in Icons: Combat Arena’s Early Access phase, and today we’ve released an update that tweaks some aspects of the game’s economy and progression systems, including spectra in Portal Packs and guaranteed Character Unlock Tokens. Here’s a full breakdown of the changes:

• Spectra (Icons’ in-game currency) will now appear as a drop item in Portal Packs. The amount of spectra per item slot will vary:
  - Common: 25 spectra
  - Uncommon: 50 spectra
  - Legendary: 125 spectra
  - Iconic: 250 spectra
  
• Character Unlock Tokens:
  - The Character Unlock Token allows players to unlock a character of their choosing in the gallery for use in all modes.
  - Players will receive a guaranteed Character Unlock Token in the Portal Packs they earn upon reaching Level 2 and Level 15 (one Token per Pack).
  - Note that all characters may be used in Training Mode for testing purposes regardless of account level.
  
• Existing players who are already past Level 15 receive 1 free Character Unlock Token.

• Account level progression now proceeds at a faster rate for all levels.

• Player accounts that have purchased the Founder’s Pack or the Pro Account receive an additional 200 spectra.

With these new changes, we look forward to seeing you all unlock new characters and kit them out with skins, holograms, and other fun items. As always, we appreciate you giving us your thoughts through the in-game feedback form, and and starting thoughtful discussion on Twitter, Facebook[facebook.com], Reddit, and Discord[discord.gg].

Icons is about more than pure combat on the battlefield -- it’s also about growing as a player, expressing yourself, and unlocking cool new stuff as you level up! That’s why Icons has account-focused and character-focused progression systems, so that everyone who invests time and energy into playing the game can see their own development reflected in the game itself.

You earn two kinds of XP by playing Quick Match: one for your account, and one for the specific character you are playing. When you level up your account, you receive a free Portal Pack with cosmetic and other items that might be relevant to any character. When you level up a character, say from Novice to Beginner, then you receive a prize specific to that character.
The more you play Icons and earn XP, the more personalized and unique your account and experience will be.

Want to learn more? We’ve made some illustrations featuring each Icons character and the rewards players earn for leveling up that character. But first, a breakdown of the kinds of items given as rewards:

• Emotes are expressive, non-combat actions characters can perform during gameplay.
  
• Skins are used to change the appearance of the character during gameplay.
  
• Portraits are used to customize the icon that represents a player account.
  
• Tokens are visible at the character select screen when players are hovering the cursor over different characters.
  
• Charms are decoration items that appear at the score screen after a match.

Afi & Galu are two mysterious entities who share a single, elemental life force. Their connection to nature is reflected in the Flower token, Tree Pose emote, and the Cinders & Sea skin. Meanwhile, their connection to each other shows up in their Imposing portrait and High Five charm. But where does their tremendous power come from? Perhaps the Mystic skin lends a clue.


Ashani is the brilliant CEO, entrepreneur, and inventor who’s all about highlighting Earth tech. Her Powering Up emote, Visor portrait, and Copper skin emphasize her hi-tech power suit, while the Uppercut token and Ready charm remind opponents that her duds aren’t just for show. The Avenger skin gives Ashani a sleek, upgraded aesthetic to fight in the spotlight.


Kidd, the playful bounty hunter, is as light on his feet as they come, aided in no small part by the jetpack on his back (hence the Jetpack charm). While his Gruff emote, Nebula skin, and Gold token have a serious vibe, his true colors shine through in his dashing portrait. The rare Specter skin shows he’s just as comfortable in deep space as he is planetside.


Raymer, the enigmatic “freelancer,” is a study in contrasts. While not much is known about him personally, you can spot his signature hair and jacket a mile away, as evidenced by the Hair portrait, Gold token, and Jacket charm. His Bullseye emote and Azure skin radiate cool confidence, while the rare Dropkick skin shows he’s not afraid to mix it up for a job.


Weishan, prince of the Cloud Empire and general of its armies, wears his rebelliousness on his sleeve. His Proud emote and Happy portrait demonstrate his fearlessness, while his Dragon token and Outsider charm reflect his royal heritage. The Thicket and Bitter Tundra skins are a nod to his tenacity in battle, no matter the environment.


Xana, the reigning champion of the intergalactic Icons Fighting League, knows she’s the best and isn’t afraid to show it. Her Provoke emote and Gauntlets charm get in her opponent’s face, and her Silhouette portrait and Gold token tell us she’s a household name. Her Ruby and Garnet skins let her brawl in style.


Zhurong, the ruthless heir to the Cloud Empire, is the wielder of the imperial family’s sacred blade. Her Snapdragon skin, Profile portrait, and Imperial Dream token signal her regal heritage, while the Swipes emote and Queen’s Privilege charm show off her lethality. The Hidden Ember skin proves she’s not above a little disguise to get what she wants.

The character progression system in Icons is our way of rewarding players who take the time to develop their skill in the game with items that reveal a little more each character’s personality. As always, feel free to let us know what you think of this part of the game through Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, and Discord.

We've added optimization to the Icons startup process. Players that were experiencing Icons crashing on startup or long load times should see significant improvements.

We're committed to making Icons accessible on a wide array of PCs, and we'll be working with optimization in mind with each patch.

For the most recent patch notes:
https://steamproxy.net/gid/103582791462361854/announcements/detail/1725327263071112870

This patch includes application startup time optimizations, a new Kidd character select screen animation and various bug fixes.

• Directional Influence potency is now impacted by input magnitude.
  
  This is a small quality-of-life change to help players who are used to performing slight variations in DI by gently tilting their stick. Previously, the system only cared about the direction the player was inputting.
  
  
• Any input device can now pause the game in local games with only CPU players remaining.
  
  
• Added extra messaging to custom lobby errors instructing the player on how to be able to play the game again.
  
  
• Icons startup time is now faster.

• Fixed an issue where certain particles would disappear very early.
  
  This was most notably seen on Afi and Galu.
  
  
• Fixed an issue where shields appeared larger than they actually were when the camera was zoomed in.
  
  
• Fixed an issue where lower graphical settings weren’t using any anti-aliasing.
  
  
• Fixed an issue where the button display for stage striking in local matches displayed the wrong button.
  
  
• Fixed an issue where players using a controller couldn’t equip charms if their gallery’s character tab was on an unowned character.

• New character select screen animation added.

We love the feedback from our Early Access players, and we’re testing important adjustments that affect the character unlocking system in response. Here’s what’s changed and what’s coming down the pipeline.


Here at Wavedash Games, we’re super happy to see Icons: Combat Arena finally out on Steam Early Access and very pleased about all of the thoughtful feedback we’ve received from players so far. We knew there were great expectations from the community regarding the game as a whole, and we are committed to holding ourselves to the highest standard during Early Access so that Icons is as fun and vibrant as possible when we go into the official release. Here’s a rundown of the changes we’ve made so far and a preview of a big update coming up in August.

First, after reading all of the comments about the game on Steam, Reddit, and other community spaces, we’ve concluded that the most pressing issue is the rate at which players can unlock and play characters without paying money. While it is important to make sure unlocking characters feels like a true achievement, it is also important for players to be able to try out all of the different playstyles to find the main that suits them the best. We are now developing and testing approaches to improve this part of the game as we try to see what works before the full release. The following changes are already live:

• All characters are now playable in Training Mode.
  
• All players receive 1,100 spectra (in-game currency) when they start the game, enough to immediately unlock an additional character.

While this is a good starting point, there are additional changes we are working on right now to improve economic balance and the player progression experience. Here’s what we have in store for the August update:

• Portal Packs will contain more spectra (this will roll out gradually as we adjust balance).
  
• Players will unlock new characters at a faster rate through Quick Match.
  
• The mechanics of player progression will be clearer and more visible.
  
• Players will be able to choose the characters they want to unlock using a new Character Unlock Token from Portal Packs earned via Quick Match gameplay.

Please note that these changes are not necessarily going to be in the game permanently, as Early Access is an important time for testing and iteration on fundamental systems in Icons. We’ll continue to read all of the reviews and comments our players are contributing, and there will be many more updates and announcements to come. We sincerely appreciate all of the encouragement and support from our community, and we can’t wait to continue this adventure with you all.