The developers of Sker Ritual have been hard at work. Since launching 1.0 on April 18th, Wales Interactive has released several updates. Most recently, they released a hotfix on April 26th. Here are our biggest takeaways from the new update.
Sker Ritual April Hotfix Patch Notes
The April 26th patch notes include stability fixes, balance updates, and more. The key fixes are in relation to crossplay, crashes on console, and a fix to joining matches in progress unintentionally.
For crossplay improvements, the developers added a Party Code system on Steam and Xbox. Players can use this new system to easily join each other across both platforms. Unfortunately, crossplay isn’t available on PlayStation 5. Players on Sony’s platform can only play with other PS5 players. Matchmaking also got a fix, which will now prevent players from joining matches in progress or having others join theirs in online games.
Sker Ritual is also far more stable after the update. The patch addressed an issue where the game would run out of memory on Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5. This would result in crashes. I had three in my nearly dozen hours of play, which was frustrating as it ended my journey to high rounds or Easter Egg completion. Thankfully, the game plays much more stable now. I have yet to have any crashes since the hotfix went live.
New Graphics Settings
The update also added new Graphics options for console players. These options can help players fine-tune how the game looks and performs. This can be especially helpful when running the game on a less powerful Xbox Series S or when trying to maximize frames with the uncapped frame rate option toggled on. These new options include Volumetric Fog, Shadows, Micro Shadows, Contact Shadows, Subsurface Scattering, and Blur.
Balance Updates
Sker Ritual also received balance updates for certain Easter Egg steps. The amount of Abominations that spawn in “The Void” during the Hidden Story in The Ashes of Sker Hotel has been reduced. This should make this step easier. The Lamb Escort step in the Cursed Lands of Lavernock map has also been adjusted. Now, players won’t have to be as close to the Lamb for it to start moving.
This update also includes a weapon buff that could change the meta in Sker Ritual. Wales Interactive states that they “Increased Damage of the Joseph Heavy Automatic, from 45-30 to 75-45.” This is a massive increase, which makes this weapon far more viable.
This update also fixed the weapon’s obscured scope. This, in my opinion, was truly its biggest downside. Before the patch, the sight on the Joseph Heavy Automatic was nearly impossible to aim through. Now, it is much easier to stay on target. With the damage boost and increased visibility, this gun is a far more viable option.
Those are our biggest takeaways from the new update. For the full details, head to Wales Interactive’s website. I’m more excited than ever to jump back into Sker Ritual and try for high rounds with the newly buffed Joseph Heavy Automatic, especially since the game is more stable on those higher rounds. Some players were hoping that this update would include an increase to the FPS slider on PS5, as the maximum FOV is currently capped at 90. The developers confirmed there will be an increase to the FOV available on PS5 after stability updates.
Sker Ritual is available now on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.
