Greetings MechWarriors,

The Night Gyr has arrived, and is now en-route to the MechBays of eligible MechWarriors. The Night Gyr is a powerful Heavy OmniMech. Trading out the speed of the seminal Timber Wolf for more firepower - making it somewhat slow for its weight class - the primary configuration, with its twin extended-range PPCs and Ultra-class Autocannon 10 and a brace of Medium Pulse Lasers, packs the punch of a light Assault ’Mech.

Stock 'Mech Mode has been added for use in Private Matches. This has been a long-requested feature, and brings with it the ability to independently toggle the use of Quirks and Efficiencies.

An array of improvements have been added for Unit Management, including the removal of the Invite Ticket system and a transition to a much simpler 'direct-withdrawal' method for issuing Unit Invites.

Derived from Loadouts built by and voted for by members of the MechWarrior community, 4 new Inner Sphere Champion 'Mechs and 4 new Clan Champion 'Mechs are now available for purchase with MC.

The Art team are continuing to work on Pattern retrofits for the remaining 'Mechs without full Pattern support. In this patch all variants of the Cataphract, Cicada, Raven, Spider, Stalker, and Trebuchet 'Mechs now have full Pattern support.

Rounding out the patch we have an array of map and 'Mech fixes, including some gameplay adjustments to the Emerald Taiga Faction Play map, the addition of 77 new Decals with which to customize your 'Mechs, the addition of a distinct 'Blocked' menu to the Social window, minor performance improvements, improvements to the Command Wheel, fixes for issues related to the loss of 'Mech Favorites, and much more.

Read on for all the details, and we'll see you on the battlefield!

- The MechWarrior Team

The Night Gyr is a powerful Heavy OmniMech. Trading out the speed of the seminal Timber Wolf for more firepower - making it somewhat slow for its weight class - the primary configuration, with its twin extended-range PPCs and Ultra-class Autocannon 10 and a brace of Medium Pulse Lasers, packs the punch of a light Assault ’Mech.

To account for their use of Laser Heat Sinks in BattleTech lore, all Night Gyr variants possess a -100% External Heat Transfer quirk. This causes the Night Gyr to ignore all environmental Heat effects that would normally affect the Heat state of other 'Mechs. Whereas a normal 'Mech dropping on a hot map such as Terra Therma would run at a higher base Heat depending on the number of Heat Sinks it has equipped, the Night Gyr always runs at a base Heat of 0%. Further, the Night Gyr can trudge through environmental hot spots with no penalty to its base Heat.
On the other hand, the Night Gyr receives no boost to its Heat Sink efficiency on cold maps.

The External Heat Transfer Quirk does not rely on the Set-of-8 OmniPod system.
All other NTG Quirks rely on the Set-of-8 OmniPod system.

Release Date for MC: December 6th 2016
Release Date for C-Bills: January 3rd 2017

Night Gyr Module Slots (all variants)

• 'Mech Module Slot(s): 1
• Weapon Module Slot(s): 2
• Consumable Slot(s): 2
• 'Mech/Weapon Slot(s): 1 (only available after unlocking that variant's Mastery Skill tier)

Night Gyr Variants

• NTG-Prime [S]
The NTG-Prime [S] is a Special version of the NTG-Prime, featuring a unique Pattern and a 30% boost to C-Bill earnings. The NTG-Prime [S] is only available through the Collector Night Gyr Pack, and will not be made available for purchase in-game.

• NTG-Prime
The NTG-Prime is the standard version of the NTG-Prime [S]. It does not possess the 30% C-Bill boost or the unique Pattern of its [S] counterpart. Until its release date for in-game purchase the standard NTG-Prime is only available through the Standard Night Gyr Pack.

• NTG-A
Until its release date for in-game purchase the NTG-A is only available through the Standard or Collector Night Gyr Pack.

• NTG-B
Until its release date for in-game purchase the NTG-B is only available through the Standard or Collector Night Gyr Pack.

• NTG-C (Reinforcements Add-On)
Until its release date for in-game purchase the NTG-C is only available as a Reinforcement Add-On to an existing Standard or Collector Night Gyr Pack.

• NTG-D (Reinforcements Add-On)
Until its release date for in-game purchase the NTG-D is only available as a Reinforcement Add-On to an existing Standard or Collector Night Gyr Pack.

• NTG-JK "Jade Kite" (Hero Add-On)
The NTG-JK is the Hero variant of the Night Gyr, featuring a unique Hero Pattern and a 30% boost to C-Bill earnings. Until its release date for in-game purchase the NTG-JK is only available as a Hero Add-On to an existing Standard or Collector Night Gyr Pack.

Private Match Lobbies now have three new 'Tier 1' Premium Options in place, through which players can choose to run their Private Matches with 'Stock Loadouts', 'Ignore Quirks', and 'Ignore 'Mech Skill Tree Efficiencies' modifiers.
As these are 'Tier 1' Premium Options, at least one player in the Lobby must have Active Premium Time in order to access these Options.

Each of these three options can be toggled independently, in any combination. For example, you could choose to run a Stock Loadout match with Quirks disabled, or a regular (custom) Loadout match with Quirks and 'Mech Skills disabled.

Stock Loadouts

This will force all 'Mechs into their Stock Loadout for the duration of the match. Setting this option will not affect your Loadout outside of the match.

With Stock Loadouts enabled the following aspects of every participating 'Mech will be reset to their stock configuration for the duration of the match:

• Weapons and Equipment
• OmniPods
• Modules (as 'Mechs do not equip any Modules in their Stock Loadout, no Modules will be used)
• Weapon Groups (Weapon Groups can be changed in-match; those changes will only be in place for the duration of the match)

The following items will not be affected by the Stock Loadout option:

• Patterns
• Colors
• Decals (Decal placement may appear slightly odd if the Decal was originally placed onto Weapon geometry not present in the Stock Loadout).

Ignore Quirks

This will force the match to ignore all Quirks of every 'Mech for the duration of the match. This includes any Quirks applied directly to the 'Mech, along with any Quirks applied to OmniPods or derived from OmniPod Sets.

Ignore Efficiencies

This will force the match to ignore any 'Mech Skill Tree unlocks for every 'Mech for the duration of the match (excluding the Master Module Slot, if it is unlocked).
This does not prohibit the use of Modules upgraded through the Pilot Skill Tree. If you wish to prohibit the use of Modules (upgraded or otherwise) you must activate the Stock Loadout option.

This patch features an array of improvements to Unit management, providing leaders and members alike with more insight into their Unit activities.

Replacement of the Invite Ticket System

The Unit Invite Ticket system introduced with the April 19th patch has been replaced with more direct methods for managing Unit Invites.

Inviting a player to your Unit still follows the same basic Unit Recruitment Cost system introduced in the April 19th patch. However, the system no longer operates on an Invite Ticket system. Invites are now instead tied directly to withdrawals and deposits from Unit Coffers as needed.

When an Invite is sent you will be prompted to confirm that you wish to spend whichever amount of C-Bills from your Unit Coffers is necessary in order to send the invite. The C-Bill cost of an invite is still determined by the number of players already in that Unit, multiplied by 50,000 C-Bills.

If a player rejects the Invite, or if the Invite is retracted before they accept it, the C-Bills spent to send the invite are refunded directly back to your Unit Coffers.

For example:

What Happens to Units who currently own Invite Tickets?

If your Unit currently owns any number of Invite Tickets 'in-hand' from pending Invites, previous Invite rejections, or previous Invite revocations, the following adjustments will be made to your Unit automatically with this patch:

• Any Pending Invites will be cancelled.
• Any Invite Tickets currently held by your Unit, including Tickets which have been acquired from the cancellation of Pending Invites, will be removed.
• The cumulative total value of all Invite Tickets either 'in-hand' or in a Pending Invite state will then be combined and deposited into your Unit Coffers as a single deposit of C-Bills as compensation.
• Given the scaling nature of Unit Recruitment Costs, and to ensure that no Unit receives less than what they are due, the assumption will be made that the amount of C-Bills that your Unit spent to acquire its pending or in-hand Invite Tickets - at the time the system initiates the refund of those Tickets - is equal to the maximum potential Invite Cost of those Invites.

For example: A Unit has four Pending Invite Tickets sent out. Those four Tickets were bought at a value of 50,000, 100,000, 150,000, and 200,000 C-Bills respectively. Invite Ticket #3 - the Ticket valued at 150,000 C-Bills - was accepted. The other three were not, and were still Pending. When the system processes the refund of those Pending Invite Tickets during this patch, it will do so according to the highest collection of potential values: 100,000, 150,000, and 200,000 C-Bills will thus be refunded, as opposed to 50,000, 100,000, and 200,000 C-Bills.

Changes to Rank Management Screen

The Rank Management Screen now more clearly differentiates between Unit Leader-specific Privileges and Privileges that are assignable to other Members within the Unit.

• 'Privileges Reserved Only for Unit Leader' are actions that can only be performed by Unit Leaders. They cannot be assigned to any other Rank.
• 'Assignable Rank Privileges' are Unit Privileges that can be assigned to specific Ranks in the Unit, either by the Unit Leader or any other member with the Assign Rank Privilege.
• A 'View Last Online Time' Rank Privilege has been added to the 'Assignable Rank Privileges' section. Any member within a Rank that has been assigned this Rank Privilege will be able to see the last time each member was online, through the Member Management screen.

Pending Invitations Screen

A 'Pending Invitations' screen has been added to the Unit menu. From here you will be able to monitor your Unit's pending invites, including the following details for each pending invite:

• Pilot Name
• Invited By
• Date of Invite
• Cost of Invite

If you have sufficient Rank Privileges you will be able to Retract a Pending Invite by clicking the Retract button for that Invite.

With the removal of the Invite Ticket system in this patch, retracting a Unit Invite will restore the C-Bills spent to send the invite directly back into your Unit Coffers.

Changes to Coffer Management Screen

The Coffer Management screen now tracks your Units Coffer activities more accurately.

Each transaction entry now displays the Pilot Name of the Pilot who performed the associated Coffer action, along with more specific information as to the nature of the transaction.

This patch features eight new Champion 'Mechs, built and voted on by members of the MechWarrior Online Community in our Champion 'Mech Builds sub-forum.

Inner Sphere

• Crab CRB-27b [C], built by GMan129 - 2,125 MC
• Grasshopper GHR-5H [C], built by Weagles - 2,960 MC
• Panther PNT-10K [C], built by Gman129 - 1,445 MC
• Zeus ZEU-6T [C], built by NightStalker97 - 3,560 MC

Clan

• Highlander IIC HGN-IIC-C [C], built by BlackhawkSC - 6,335 MC
• Hunchback IIC HBK-IIC [C], built by BlackhawkSC - 3,760 MC
• Jenner JR7-IIC [C], built by GMan129 - 3,465 MC
• Orion ON1-IIC-A [C], built by GMan129 - 3,925 MC

The base variants that comprised the stable of 2015 Loyalty 'Mechs are now available for purchase in-game with C-Bills.
The Loadouts of these 'Mechs are identical to their 2015 Loyalty Variants, but they do not possess the +30% C-Bill Boost or the special Loyalty Armor Pattern of their 2015 Loyalty 'Mech counterparts.

• Cicada CDA-3F: 7,733,836 C-Bills
• Executioner EXE-C: 17,799,162 C-Bills
• Nova NVA-D: 9,090,617 C-Bills
• Wolverine WVR-7D: 7,916,335 C-Bills
• Zeus ZEU-9S2: 11,278,322 C-Bills

Along with their complimentary delivery to eligible Night Gyr owners, the following Cockpit Items are also now available for purchase in-game:

Maltese Gyrfalcon (Night Gyr Standing Item): 750 MC

Steel Talons (Night Gyr Hanging Item): 750 MC

Night Gyr Warhorn (Night Gyr Warhorn): 500 MC

Falcon Feathers (Night Gyr Early Adopter Hanging Item): 500 MC

Night Gyr Standard Pack (and Collector Pack)

"The Sickle"

Night Gyr Collector Pack

"The Nocturnal"

These Titles and Badges are only available through their associated Night Gyr Pack. The Collector Pack comes with both.

77 new Decals have been added in this patch, spread across the Basic (180 MC) and Special (500 MC) categories. This patch also brings the addition of three new Categories inside the Decal Category Dropdown to accommodate some of these new Decals.

Some of these new Decals appear in more than one Category, and thus may appear more than once in the list below. For example, the 'Circle' Decal appears in both the existing Celestial Category and the new Shapes Category.

New (New Category): This Category will only display whichever Decals were newly added in the latest patch. Once the next patch arrives the New Category will then be re-populated with any New Decals, if applicable. If no new Decals are present in a future patch the New Category will not appear in the Category dropdown for that patch cycle.

Factions

• 12th Star Guards
• 12th Vegan Rangers
• 1st Federated Suns Armored Cavalry
• 22nd Skye Rangers
• Able's Aces
• Albion Military Academy
• Allison MechWarrior Institute
• AMA Training Cadre
• Bandit Kingdoms
• Blackjack School of Conflict
• Blackwind Lancers
• Canopian Highlanders
• Capella War College
• Capellan Hussars
• Fighting Urakhai
• Genyosha
• Gray Death Legion
• Hansen's Roughriders
• Hero Training Institute
• Illician Lancers
• Knights of the Inner Sphere
• Lone Wolves
• Military Academy of Somerset
• Miller's Marauders
• Minoru University
• NAIS Cadre
• NAIS College of Military Science
• Northwind Highlanders
• Orloff Military Academy
• Pagoda for Luthien Officers
• Princefield Military Academy
• Robinson Battle Academy
• Sanglamore on Skye
• Sarna Military Academy
• Seventh Kommando
• SIAMS
• Sian University
• Sun Zhang Academy
• The Nagelring
• The Warrior's Hall
• University of Proserpina
• Waco Rangers
• Wolf's Dragoons

Celestial

• Circle
• Compass

Combat & Military

• Grenade

Creatures

• Elk

Heraldry

• Banner - Arms
• Banner - Exter Stepped
• Banner - Flame Dag
• Banner - Pronger
• Banner - Sinister Stepped
• Banner - Square Dag
• Banner - Stepped In
• Banner - Stepped Out
• Banner - Swallow Tail
• Banner - Winged
• Flag - Burgee
• Flag - Descate
• Flag - Double Descate
• Flag - Double Pavon
• Flag - Fanion
• Flag - Hussar Cut
• Flag - Lanceolate
• Flag - Pennant
• Flag - Square
• Flag - Streamer
• Flag - Swallowtail and Tongue
• Flag - Swallowtail
• Flag - Umajirushi

Miscellaneous

• Cherry
• Compass

Shapes

• Circle
• Cross
• Pentagon
• Rhombus
• Trefoil
• Triangle
• Triquetra

• Center Legs/Arm Lock: Fixed an issue where holding down the Center Legs command while slowly adjusting your aim, with Arm Lock Off, could cause the 'Mech to jitter.

• Compass: The Compass now uses the new BattleGrid/Command icons introduced in a previous patch.

Command Wheel Changes

• Command Wheel options can now cycled through by using your Mouse Scroll Wheel. Using the mouse wheel, in combination with releasing the Command Wheel key to confirm your highlighted option, will help to improve the speed with which the Command Wheel can be used.

• A visual 'dead-zone' element has been added to the center of the Command Wheel to improve navigation of the options when using the cursor to select your intended Command. This element expands to accommodate the greater number of Commands available when assuming Lance or Company Command.

• The Command Wheel will no longer highlight or execute the next available option when attempting to highlight or execute an unavailable Command. This should help to reduce the occurrence of unintended Commands.

• Alpine Peaks: G4/G5 - Fixed a shadowing issue.
• Alpine Peaks: H4 - Fixed an shadowing issue.
• Canyon Network: B5 - Fixed a flickering terrain issue.
• Canyon Network: C2 - Fixed an issue where the water edge could disappear at certain angles.
• Caustic Valley: C4 - Fixed an issue where 'Mechs could get stuck on pipes.
• Crimson Strait: D3/D4/C3/C4 - Fixed an issue where an antenna was floating above the building.
• Crimson Strait: D4 - Fixed an issue where an antenna was floating above the building.
• Crimson Strait: D4 - Fixed a rendering issue with the hanging cables.
• Crimson Strait: E6 - Additional fixes for the mountain collision and clipping issues.
• Crimson Strait: F5 - Fixed an issue where a bulldozer was clipping through a radio tower. All of your favorite hits from the 60s and 70s are now broadcasting again.
• Emerald Taiga: D3/D4: Fixed some LOD issues with buildings in this area.
• Forest Colony: F8 - Fixed an issue where a number of rocks along the stream were clipping.
• Forest Colony: G8 - Fixed an issue where a Scouting Beacon was clipping into the ground.
• Frozen City: E7 - Fixed an issue where wildlings 'Mechs could get on top of the ice wall.
• Frozen City: H3 - Fixed an issue where 'Mechs could get stuck.
• Grim Portico: D3 - Fixed an issue where 'Mechs could get stuck.
• Grim Plexus: E8 - Fixed an issue where certain 'Mechs could get stuck.
• Grim Portico: D3/D4 - Fixed an issue where 'Mechs could sink slightly into the ice.
• Grim Portico: D8 - Fixed an issue where 'Mechs could clip through a large crystal.
• Grim Portico: F5 - Improved the distinction of an out of bound area.
• Tourmaline Desert: F4 - Fixed an issue where 'Mechs could get stuck.

Changes to Emerald Taiga

Emerald Taiga has received a gameplay-oriented pass for various elements of the map in this patch.

• Attacker spawn points have been moved closer toward the Gates
• Attacker spawn points have been moved closer together
• Rotated O-Gen 2 to prevent sniping from F6
• Lowered the hill in F6 to further prevent sniping
• Raised mountain in G6, in front of Generators, to prevent Jump Jet sniping
• Raised mountain in F3, in front of Defenders spawn, to prevent spawn camping
• Improved the collision around the Omega Cannon
• Defined clear pathways between Attacker spawn points and the Gates
• Defined clear pathways between Defender spawn points and the Omega Cannon
• Moved buildings from the front of Omega Cannon to create a clear pathway

• Adder (all variants): Fixed an issue where Mounted Lights were attached to the Cockpit Glass, rather than the Cockpit structure.
• Arctic Cheetah (all variants): Fixed an issue where Warhorns were obscured by menu elements in the Cockpit Item screen.
• Atlas (all variants): Fixed an issue with bio-luminescence behavior when agitating water.
• Black Knight (all variants): Fixed an issue with bio-luminescence behavior when agitating water.
• Centurion (all variants): Fixed an issue where the layout of color channels for the Default Pattern scheme had been changed in a previous patch.
• Crab (all variants): Fixed an issue with bio-luminescence behavior when agitating water.
• Cyclops (all variants): Fixed an issue with bio-luminescence behavior when agitating water.
• Dragon (all variants): Fixed an issue where Warhorns were obscured by menu elements in the Cockpit Item screen.
• Grasshopper (all variants): Fixed an issue with bio-luminescence behavior when agitating water.
• Grasshopper (all variants): Improved the visibility of Hanging Items.
• King Crab (all variants): Fixed an issue with bio-luminescence behavior when agitating water.
• Kodiak (all variants): Fixed an issue with bio-luminescence behavior when agitating water.
• Mauler (all variants): Fixed an issue with bio-luminescence behavior when agitating water.
• Panther (all variants): Fixed an issue with bio-luminescence behavior when agitating water.
• Shadowhawk (all variants): Improved the visibility of Hanging Items.
• Shadow Cat (all variants): Fixed an issue where Warhorns were obscured by menu elements in the Cockpit Item screen.
• UrbanMech (all variants): Fixed an issue where Warhorns were obscured by menu elements in the Cockpit Item screen.
• Wolfhound  (all variants): Fixed an issue with bio-luminescence behavior when agitating water.

• Cataphract (all variants): Can now equip all Inner Sphere Faction Camo Patterns.
• Cataphract CTF-IM (Hero): Can now equip all Standard Patterns.
• Cicada (all variants): Can now equip all Inner Sphere Faction Camo Patterns.
• Cicada CDA-X5 (Hero): Can now equip all Standard Patterns.
• Raven (all variants): Can now equip all Inner Sphere Faction Camo Patterns.
• Raven RVN-H (Hero): Can now equip all Standard Patterns.
• Spider (all variants): Can now equip all Inner Sphere Faction Camo Patterns.
• Spider SDA-A (Hero): Can now equip all Standard Patterns.
• Stalker (all variants): Can now equip all Inner Sphere Faction Camo Patterns.
• Stalker STK-M (Hero): Can now equip all Standard Patterns.
• Trebuchet (all variants): Can now equip all Inner Sphere Faction Camo Patterns.
• Trebuchet TBT-LG (Hero): Can now equip all Standard Patterns.

• Cockpit Item Screen: Any bonuses provided by Cockpit Items, such as Loyalty Medallions, are now displayed in their description.
• Cockpit Item Screen: Clicking the large hex for Standing, Hanging, and Mounted categories will now take you to the associated Category in the Warehouse.
• Crash Fix: Fixed an issue where the client could crash if an Ethernet cable was unplugged and the player attempted to access Faction Play.
• Decals: Fixed an issue where Decal names could be cut off in the Warehouse and Decal windows.
• Faction Play: Fixed an issue where Lance and Company Commander Status from the Faction Play Lobby would not carry over to the match.
• Faction Play: Fixed an issue where a player who was logged out while their Unit changed allegiance could prevent that player from accepting the new allegiance correctly.
• Faction Play: Fixed an issue where selecting multiple planets in a row would cause the Planet Finder window to shift side to side.
• Group (Quick Play and Faction Play): Fixed an issue where repeatedly clicking the Leave Group button could cause an error.
• MechLab: Fixed an issue where Loadout warnings and errors could be hidden if viewing in Column Mode.
• 'Mech Favorites: Un-favoriting a 'Mech will now immediately remove it from the Favorites list.
• 'Mech Favorites: Fixed three instances of UI paths that could cause the Favorites list to be cleared out.
• 'Mech Stats Window: Fixed an issue where the Firepower stat would appear off by .1 if the 'Mech had Clan Ultra AC/10's equipped.
• 'Mech Stats Window: Fixed an issue where Pitch was labeled as Yaw.
• Performance: Compass and BattleGrid updates have been merged into a single call to improve performance.
• Video Settings: Fixed an issue where resetting your Video Settings would cause the Direct X Version to revert to DX9.
• Video Settings (Advanced): Tooltips have been added for each Advanced Video element.
• Social Window: Fixed an issue where declining a Friend Request from a player who is already your Friend (by accepting your own request first) would cause both players to be removed from each others Friends list.
• Social Window: A 'Blocked' tab has been added to the Social Window. Players you have Blocked from within your Social Window will now be placed into this list, rather than appearing in your standard Friends list.
• Supply Caches: Added a 'Skip' button to the spinner animation.
• VoIP Settings: Tooltips have been added for each VoIP element.

Patch Files (Direct Download)

To make the patching process easier for players with limited download caps, we'll be providing direct download links for the patch file(s) that comprise this patch. This will allow you to download the patch file(s) elsewhere, for manual injection into the MWO patcher through a Patch Cache folder.

Aside from allowing you to download the patch file(s) elsewhere, on another connection, there are no additional benefits to performing the patch this way; the patching process itself will be the same.

This direct patch download process will only work for players running the standalone client. It does not apply to players running MWO through Steam.

Patch File(s): http://patcher.mwomercs.com/patch/Production/frontend/FrontendPatch_280.zip

How to use these patch files

• Download the above file(s)
• For sake of ease we recommend creating a dedicated folder for the patch file(s), such as 'MWO Patch Cache'
• You do not need to unzip or unpack the patch file(s)
• Launch the standard MWO launcher
• Click the gear icon in the top right of the launcher window
• Choose the 'Specify Patch File Cache' option
• In the field that appears, paste or enter the location in which you saved the patch file(s) and hit OK
• For example, C:\Users\<username>\Documents\MWO Patch Cache
• Click the blue Patch button
• The launcher will now check the Patch Cache folder you defined. If it locates the required patch files, it will unpack and use those files to apply the patch.
• Once the patch is complete, launch the game!