A new Far Far West update slices its grind in half, and stamps out Joker hoarding

High-octane team shooter Far Far West has immediately become one of my friend group's staple co-op games, and developer Evil Raptor has a couple of big changes for its first proper update. Blending slick shooting with an open-map mission structure that's instantly familiar to Helldivers 2 enjoyers, and a powerful elemental combo system that satisfies my Mass Effect 3 multiplayer cravings, it's easy to pick up and already packed with reasons to grind away in its early access incarnation. If that progression has felt a bit too slow, however, Evil Raptor has your back, and it's also got an answer to Joker hoarders.

The developer says it's been reading all player feedback to help create the first Far Far West update (outside of bug fixes). Its biggest change is to the Prestige system, which lets you gradually continue upgrading your hero and weapons with incremental upgrades. That progression is far too slow, however, so it's being sliced in half. "We're in our first days of early access," Evil Raptor notes, "but we believe that it's not an excuse to have an extremely grindy system that takes out all the fun of leveling up."

This has largely been achieved through boosting experience gains, with adjustments to when Joker and upgrade slots unlock to keep the rate that you acquire these the same. You're now able to prestige both your hero and their weapons up to level 15 (from ten previously), and can unlock one more bonus upgrade slot for a total of six. "We're confident we'll have more content and features for you in the coming months to play and discover, so let's enjoy what's already here to the fullest."

The other big target is mischievous players snatching up all the Jokers for themselves the moment they spawned. It's intended to be a co-operative experience, after all. "We were a bit reluctant to change the current system," Evil Raptor admits, "because doing so makes it harder to cooperate and share Jokers." However, it acknowledges that hoarders make runs "unbalanced and just not fun," and also notes that players who split up across the map can lead to awkward moments of having to run all the way back just to grab a card.

With the new update, Jokers are now instanced per player. You'll only see yours, and each drop will have the same rarity for everyone. If you want to share it with someone else, however, you can open your minimap and click on it to drop it for anyone else to pick up. These won't apply heals or trigger the effect of the 'Hoarder' Joker, to stop any infinite exploits. The drop rate of Jokers has also been changed, scaling down as more players join from a base level in solo play to half that frequency with a group of four.

The update also brings balance changes: the Bow gets more base and backup ammo, and its Bend Speed upgrade now applies a 10% bonus per level, with half as many needed to max it out. The Dual Revolvers gain a base damage buff, and the Minigun's Fire Rate upgrade is likewise doubled per level but with half as many to unlock. The price of main weapons has also been dropped from 500 gold down to 300.

On the Joker side, Overblast gets a big nerf; Evil Raptor acknowledges the shotgun modifier as "an incredibly powerful Joker that initially slipped under the radar, trivializing higher difficulties." It now takes four missing shots in the magazine for each extra pellet added, instead of just one. Two enemies have been nerfed. Only two Cryptic Deadeyes can now target a single player at once, although their stagger duration is a little higher to compensate. Cryptic Deathrattles will now glow slightly to make them more visible, and a cooldown has been added to slow their attack rate.

Alongside this comes more bug fixes, smaller balance tweaks, and some welcome quality of life changes. You can now carry both pigs and chickens in the lobby, "and do more." The Wishing Well has the ability to award Jokers, and you can play the piano emote. The gambling machine has been made "even more addictive," there's the option to ban players from joining your session in the menu, mission unlock conditions have been made more explicit, and you can stack the Shine Bright buff all the way up to eight.

The first Far Far West update is live now. Evil Raptor thanks players for their support so far, and encourages continued feedback, "as it helps us make decisions on what to prioritize first." It recommends using the game's official Discord as the best option for technical help, corrupted save issues, bug reports, and other thoughts, noting, "We are also monitoring Steam discussions, but at a much slower rate."