Nintendo’s Switch fighting game, Arms, has received a new update, and version 2.1 adds new training exercises and changes a bunch of fighters. There are also lots of balance changes not specific to any one fighter, such as the rush gauge filling slower when your attacks miss.
In terms of specific tweaks, plenty of fighters and Arms have been buffed. Master Mummy and Mechanica now have faster movement, as do the Boomerang and Coolerang Arms. There also a few Arms that have been nerfed to some extent, such as Bubb and (ironically, given the name) Buff–they now extend slower. Take a look at the full list of changes, via Nintendo, at the bottom of this article.
Arms launched in June to a positive critical reception. Nintendo has continued to support the fighting game since, with multiple updates and free DLC. The company also revealed recently that the game had sold over 1 million copies by the end of June, while the Switch itself had shifted nearly 5 million units.
In our Arms verdict, critic Kallie Plagge called the title a “strong, substantial fighting game,” but one that “takes a while to really hit its stride.” Read more in our full Arms review.
In other Nintendo Switch news, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has also been updated, adding a new Zelda-specific news channel on Switch called Tips from the Wild. The news channel, which goes live today, allows players to obtain in-game items, though it’s currently unclear what those items might be. In addition, Nintendo Switch online services undergo maintenance today.
Arms Update 2.1 Patch Notes
General
- Moved Training to the top menu.
- Added five exercises to Training and added difficulty level indications.
- Adjusted the way the rush gauge fills, decreasing the amount gained for punches that do not connect with the opponent.
- When 3-4 players start a battle, instructions on how to switch targets will now be displayed. A cursor will also be displayed above the current target for a set time.
- Adjusted hitbox sizes for fighters, improving issues where hits were not registered despite looking like hits.
- Changed the pause, results, and replay menus in Training to be more convenient.
- For Best Stage in Stats, made it harder for less frequently played stages to be selected, even if you have a high win ration on them.
- Corrected issue that caused the game to hang-up when the ending was skipped at a particular time.
Fighter/Arms-Specific Tweaks
| Master Mummy | Increased dash speed. Increased movement speed when jumping. |
| Mechanica | Increased movement speed when jumping. |
| Kid Cobra | Adjusted floatation when performing a jump attack. |
| Byte & Barq | Trained Barq to get up quicker. |
| Boomerang | Increased speed when throwing in a wide curve. Increased extension speed. Increased homing. |
| Coolerang | Increased extension speed. Increased homing. |
| Revolver | Increased extension speed. Improved curving performance. Increased retraction speed. Shortened the time needed from starting a rush to firing the first shot. |
| Retorcher | Improved curving performance. Increased retraction speed. Increased expansion rate when extending. |
| Parasol | Increased expansion rate when extending. Increased retraction speed. Decreased expansion rate for charge attacks. |
| Megawatt | Improved curving performance. Increased retraction speed. |
| Slamamander | Increased homing. |
| Tribolt | Increased extension speed. Decreased rush damage. |
| Triblast | Increased speed of charge attacks. |
| Homie | Increased rush damage. |
| Guardian | Made it so the electric shock when a charge attack connects lasts longer. Corrected odd behavior that occurred when a rush attack connected with a wall or platform. |
| Blorb | Corrected odd behavior that occurred when a rush attack connected with an opponent that was not targeted. |
| Seekie | Increased retraction speed. Made it so the electric shock when a charge attack connects doesn’t last as long. |
| Ramram | Increased retraction speed. Decreased expansion rate for charge attacks. Decreased speed of charge attacks. |
| Cracker, Popper, Hydra | Increased retraction speed. |
| Bubb, Buff | Decreased extension speed. Decreased expansion rate when extending. |