Co-op shooter FBC: Firebreak debuted to a tepid reaction last week with a “Mixed” rating on Steam and less than 2,000 peak concurrent players. Nevertheless, Remedy Entertainment is working to address issues, including speeding up the progression.
Its first major update, patch 1.2, is now available and effectively separates gear from cosmetics, so now you don’t need to purchase the latter with Lost Assets to get to the former. Lost Assets are also earned at a “healthier pace,” which means smoother unlocks for gear, and all unlockable costs have been rebalanced.
Players can also begin at Clearance Level 3 starting from Hotfix, no longer requiring you to play through Levels 1 and 2 first. Completing Jobs at Level 3 will also unlock Corruptions, which means no longer having to hit a specific player level (meaning faster access to Research Samples).
Check out the full list of patch notes below. FBC: Firebreak is available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. You can read our review here.
Patch Notes v1.2
Economy Changes
- Upgrade currencies (Lost Assets and Research Samples) are now visually highlighted in the Jobs to make them easier to spot.
- All unlockable costs have been rebalanced to better match actual player currency earnings.
- Players will now earn and spend Lost Assets at a healthier pace, enabling smoother progression and gear unlocks.
Job Progression & Clearance Levels
- New players now start at Clearance Level 3 (CL3) for the first Job, Hot Fix.
- Players can still choose to play at CL1 or CL2, but it’s no longer a requirement
- To unlock the next Job, you must complete a full three-zone run at CL3.
- Completing a Job at CL3 also unlocks the Corruption modifier for that Job.
- These changes provide faster access to full Job experiences and improve matchmaking and onboarding.
Requisitions
- The Operational Requisition has been split into two categories:
- Essentials: Weapons, gear, Improvised Devices, Altered Augments.
- Expressions: Cosmetic unlocks, like sprays and armor sets.
- You no longer need to unlock unrelated items (e.g., gloves) to access key gear like weapons or augments.
- Overall, gear progression is now significantly faster and more focused.
Balancing
- Decreased the time it takes to build the BOOMbox and Swivel Cannon
- Increased Hiss Trooper health and stagger threshold
- The Fix Kit’s Wrench now does damage at every Tier
- Increased the health pool of Powerful Enemies (the ones with names)
- The Stapler Corrupted Item is now less elusive and easier to follow
Audio
- Fixed missing third-person perspective sound effects for Shock enemies that were not being played properly
- Fixed music transition issues when moving from the Main Menu to gameplay
- Shield recharge sound effects are now properly audible, with a new implementation for out-of-range scenarios
- Fixed a bug preventing harmful condition sounds from other players (such as fire effects) from being heard properly
- Added a sound effect when exiting weapon or grenade selection in Loadout menu, and added transition sounds for lobby Quick Kit selection
User Interface
- Fixed Crisis Kit XP level indicators in the Results screen display
- Fixed player reputation overlapping XP progress in the post-match results screen
- Fixed a crash issue when inspecting weapons in the Loadout menu
- Fixed a misleading error message shown when the host leaves or disbands a party. It now correctly indicates that the party was disbanded
- You can now ping ziplines
Temporary change: Removing the active Perks list from the top right of the in-game HUD due to performance issues (We will fix this urgently and bring the Perk list back)
Gameplay & Performance
- Fixed an issue with the Humidifier where the water level changing was only visible to the player who placed the Humidifier
- Enhanced DualSense haptic feedback in different parts of the Main and other Menus
- Jump Kit Impactor Tool can now be charged while sprinting.
Visuals and Rendering
Performance improvements
- Entering or exiting a teammate’s Resonance Shield range no longer triggers blue screen flashes.
- Added a glowing highlight to Lost Assets and Research Samples to make them more attractive
- Improved blood visual effects
- Implemented distance fade for distortion effects inside fans
- Freezer Duty – Added a ramp to the top of one of the buildings in Zone 2 so that Hiss can now get there. Sorry.
- Ground Control – Fixed a wall in Zone 2 so players can no longer see through it
- Updated various props and environmental elements