# Paladins Wekono's Wake Update Notes

- Product: Paladins (https://whatsnew.fyi/product/paladins)
- Vendor: Evil Mojo Games
- Date: 2025-01-29
- Original notes: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/444090/view/523081237389115573
- Permalink: https://whatsnew.fyi/product/paladins/releases/2025-01-29-wekono-s-wake-update-notes

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Reuse: the summaries, labels and curation here are © What's New. Quote freely with attribution and a link back; wholesale republication of the corpus is not permitted — terms: https://whatsnew.fyi/terms. The vendors' own release notes remain their publishers'.

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- **added** — Introduce Experimental Queue: Subclasses, a role within your class that provides a powerful effect to a specific aspect of your gameplay, testable in their own Siege queue
- **added** — Add Predator Subclass for Damage role: on earning an Elimination, reduce the cooldown of your Movement ability by 40%, and Imani, Saati, and Strix gain 20 of their resources
- **added** — Add Shock Trooper Subclass for Damage role: while on the Objective, gain 10% Damage Reduction
- **added** — Add Triage Subclass for Damage role: on earning an Elimination, drop a healing deployable at your current location
- **added** — Add Duelist Subclass for Flank role: gain 10% Crowd Control resistance for 3s after dealing 1500 damage
- **added** — Add Rallyman Subclass for Flank role: on earning an Elimination, regenerate involved allies ammo by 10%
- **added** — Add Skirmisher Subclass for Flank role: heal for 4% every second while on the Objective
- **added** — Add Fireteam Leader Subclass for Frontline role: after using your Q ability, provide allies within 50 units 30% Slow resistance and 20% Movement Speed for 2s
- **added** — Add Dug In Subclass for Frontline role: while on the Objective, gain 15% Crowd Control resistance
- **added** — Add Wanderer Subclass for Frontline role: exit combat 1.5s faster and have 15% Movement Speed while out of combat
- **added** — Add Rabid Subclass for Support role: for every 2,000 damage you deal, gain 30% Reload Speed and 10% faster cooldowns for 3s
- **added** — Add Skulker Subclass for Support role: exit combat 1.5s faster and your Cooldowns are 10% faster while out of combat
- **added** — Add Spotter Subclass for Support role: you can no longer apply Anti-Heal, but damaged enemies take 20% more Headshot damage for 1.5s
- **changed** — Refresh Serpent Beach map with updated decorations, vegetation, and visual elements while maintaining identical sightlines and pathing
- **added** — Restore Serpent Beach (Classic) to represent the version from Open Beta with added flora and flame details
- **added** — Add Newcomer Queue, a Siege queue exclusively for accounts below Level 35 to provide new players a space to learn without frustration
- **added** — Add Custom Match settings to Enable/Disable Subclasses, Enable/Disable Beyond Store, Override Loadout Card Level, and Talent Selection
- **changed** — Launch Ranked Season 8 with systemic changes to make the mode more enjoyable to grind and more accessible to new players

Greetings Champions, and welcome to Year 8 of Paladins! We wanted to take a moment before we dive into our first update of the year, **Wekono's Wake**, to talk about where we are and our direction moving forward. Over the course of Year 7, we focused our small team's efforts more and more on improving the systems and features that make Paladins a standout in the genre: an emphasis on customization through Items, Talents and Cards, updating and deepening Champion kits, and bringing together older concepts and new features to enrich our Realm.

Headed into 2025, we plan to continue these types of efforts while also aiming to shift to smaller, more frequent updates and hotfixes to further improve our ability to adapt development to player feedback while ensuring our team can stay nimble. This will be most evident in our shift in cosmetic additions and a larger effort towards the aforementioned customization and gameplay focus. Without further ado, let's dive into our first update of Year 8: Wekono's Wake!

##### General Updates

##### Experimental Queue: Subclasses

Throughout the year, we want to test out various ideas we’ve had that are more drastic gameplay shifts than we usually release. These features are meant to be explorations of directions to take Paladins that could lead to new modes or enrichening existing experiences. The first of these we plan to tackle is **Subclasses**, a role within your class that provides a powerful effect to a specific aspect of your gameplay. You select these prior to selecting your Talent, and their effects stack with other customization options. We’ll be testing these in their own Siege queue for players to compare to normal Siege, as well as considering them for alternative modes like Arcade or Wave Defense. Here’s the list of Subclasses releasing this update:

##### Damage

**Predator**
On earning an Elimination, reduce the cooldown of your Movement ability by 40%. Imani, Saati, and Strix gain 20 of their resources.
**Shock Trooper**
While on the Objective, gain 10% Damage Reduction.
**Triage**
On earning an Elimination, drop a healing deployable at your current location.

> Note: Octavia does not select a Subclass, instead opting for her own Commander options.

>

##### Flank

**Duelist**
Gain 10% Crowd Control resistance for 3s after dealing 1500 damage.
**Rallyman**
On earning an Elimination, regenerate involved allies ammo by 10%.
**Skirmisher**
Heal for 4% every second while on the Objective.

##### Frontline

**Fireteam Leader**
After using your Q ability, provide allies within 50 units 30% Slow resistance and 20% Movement Speed for 2s.
**Dug In**
While on the Objective, gain 15% Crowd Control resistance.
**Wanderer**
You exit combat 1.5s faster and have 15% Movement Speed while out of combat.

##### Support

**Rabid**
For every 2,000 damage you deal, gain 30% Reload Speed and 10% faster cooldowns for 3s.
**Skulker**
You exit combat 1.5s faster and your Cooldowns are 10% faster while out of combat.
**Spotter**
You can no longer apply Anti-Heal, but damaged enemies take 20% more Headshot damage for 1.5s.

##### Map Refresh: Serpent Beach

Wekono has reawakened as her temple sees growth! This version of the map shares almost identical sightlines and pathing as the version most players are used to, which will remain in game as Serpent Beach (Classic). However, various aspects have been visually updated or adjusted to bring Serpent Beach into the modern era. Decorations have been added to adorn the walls with effigies to Wekono as well as her Champion, Mal'Damba. Sand is more prevalent, with walking trails connecting the temple structures and washing ashore the beaches. Vegetation has been updated to bring out the beach, with palm trees lining the skybox. Looking out into the sea will let players bask in the greatness of a new Serpent, whose body coils around the map to create archways. You'll also catch glimpses of Jaguar Falls and Frog Ilse outside the bounds of play!

##### Map Restor

_[Truncated at 4000 characters — full notes: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/444090/view/523081237389115573]_