Mortal Kombat 1 Sept 24 patch notes: Khaos Reigns, online Practice Mode

Mortal Kombat 1’s September 24 update has gone live adding Khaos Reigns, free content, balance changes, and more.

Khaos Reigns marks Mortal Kombat 1’s first story expansion, which dives deeper into the new era crafted by Liu Kang. Familiar faces have returned for the DLC, including the likes of beloved cyborgs Cyrax and Sektor.

But Khaos Reigns support isn’t all that developer NeatherRealm added in the new update. The latest patch further introduces a long-awaited online Practice Mode, plus free content in the form of new Arenas, additional Arena Variants, and Animalities.

Invasions mode has received a few noteworthy changes as well, chief among them a map that will display key locations and pathways.

The major update, which weighs a whopping 72GB on PS5, also adds a whole host of balance adjustments for main fighters and Kameo characters.

Patch notes for Mortal Kombat 1 September 24 update

WB Games

Here are the full release notes for MK1’s latest patch (via WB Games):

PC Steam & Epic Games Store

• Various fixes to improve game stability
• Added a new [High] value for the existing Motion Blur setting, with the previous [ON] setting now being noted as [Medium]
• Added AMD FSR 3 Image Reconstruction as an additional Upscaling option available
• Added a new graphical setting to disable the Film Grain effect
• Updated Nvidia DLSS Image Reconstruction plugin to version 3.7.1 and changed the Upscaling Preset used to C
• Implemented first pass of Razer RGB peripheral support for certain in-game sequences
• Reworked file structure to optimize future Patch download & install sizes (Note that additional optimization to reduce Patch install & download size is unlikely to be possible)
• Various UI fixes and improvements
• Various Mouse & Keyboard input device-related fixes
• Resolved issues that occurred when using Low graphics settings
• Further optimized the PSO Shader Cache boot flow for certain hardware set-ups
• Updated PC Hardware System Spec information to reference more recent hardware and provide additional context for target Resolution & Settings

Khaos Reigns Content Update

• Additional Story Content has been added – Part 2: Khaos Reigns

Free Content Update

• Additionally, all Mortal Kombat 1 owners will have access to new Arenas, new Arena Variants, & Animalities, the fan-favorite finishing moves that haven’t been seen since the ‘90s, allowing fighters to channel their inner animals. These features will be available on September 24 as a FREE content update in conjunction with the Mortal Kombat 1: Khaos Reigns release.

General Fixes & Adjustments

• Title updated to Khaos Reigns
• Implemented file compression to reduce game size for future patch releases (Note that this will require a larger download than usual for this Patch)
• Move list corrections & Localization fixes
• AI adjustments & improvements
• Improvements to Screen Reader functionality
• Added Cyrax Fighter to Roster
• Added Sektor Fighter to Roster
• Added Noob Saibot Fighter to Roster
• Added Wedding skin for Scorpion, Empress skin for Mileena & UMK3 skin for Sub-Zero
• Added several new Brutalities for players to discover
• Fixed several visual issues during brutalities
• Added Kameo ease of use information shown during Kameo Selection
• Fixed rare situations where a successful Up Block against a vulnerable attack would result in the defender still receiving block pushback
• Adjusted distance that Fighters move when performing a buffered backdash after an attack
• Fixed issue with offline consoles sometimes not retaining hotfix data that has been previously downloaded
• Fixed issue that could cause players in Invasions to not use the latest hotfix data

Invasions

• Added Towers of Time which now resides where the Gateway Mesa was
• You can now also enter Towers of Time from the Main Menu > Towers
• Added Towers of Time Challenges & Leaderboard with placement rewards
• Added Map to Mesa Pause Menu which shows pathways & key locations

Online

• Added Warrior Shrine
• Added Online Practice Mode

Character-Specific Adjustments

Main Fighters

Ashrah

• Fixed Enhanced Light Ascension causing camera to become misaligned in certain situations
• Fixed Dark debuff lingering after Ashrah is defeated during an Endurance fight

Baraka

• (Air) Death Spin final hit now only auto-corrects if one of the previous hits connected

General Shao

• Fixed Reverse Treechopper damage scaling when interrupted using default interrupted damage scaling instead of command grab damage scaling
• Fixed sound effects missing in certain situations when hitting with Haymaker (Away + Front Kick, Back Punch)

Geras

• Factual Force (Towards + Front Kick) now causes a bounce hit reaction instead of a splat knockdown & recovers 8 frames faster on hit
• History Lesson now recovers 17 frames faster on miss

Havik

• Added new Move Nether Snatcher & Enhanced Nether Snatcher
• Added new Move (Air) Nether Stomp & (Air) Enhanced Nether Stomp
• Added new Move Enhanced Corpse Taunt
• Helping Hand & Enhanced Helping Hand now startup in 45 frames (down from 59)
• Helping Hand armor now starts on frame 6 (was frame 10)
• Enhanced Helping Hand now has a different hit reaction if used more than once in a combo
• Crucial Strike (Jump Back Punch, Back Kick) now has a different hit reaction
• Fixed issue with Enhanced Blood Bath visual effects displaying improperly in certain situations where gameplay is paused
• Fixed missing sound effects on Neoplasm when the projectile is parried

Johnny Cage

• Fixed issue with Wowing Out special move limit not being reset if a Kameo Summon is used as a cancel

Kitana

• Fixed visual issue with Fancy Flick causing ground impact effects after it has been parried

Kung Lao

• Added new Move (Air) Buzzsaw & Enhanced (Air) Buzzsaw
• Shaolin Spin can now move forward or backward while holding Front Kick button
• Enhanced Shaolin Spin has increased movement speed forward or backward when holding Front Kick button
• Enhanced Shaolin Shimmy no longer automatically performs follow-up attack on block
• Enhanced Shaolin Shimmy when blocked can perform follow-up attack for 1 bar of meter with Back Kick + Block

Li Mei

• Fixed rare issue with opponent facing incorrect direction briefly if Lion’s Pounce (Cancel) (Towards + Front Kick, Hold Front Kick) is performed while they are knocked down
• Fixed issue with Sky Lantern moving to an incorrect location if used immediately before Fatal Blow

Liu Kang

• Added new Kombo Attack Volcanic Palm (Away + Back Punch, Front Punch)

Raiden

• Enhanced Lightning Port has less damage scaling and on hit disables the opponent’s ability to Breaker or use a Kameo until they land
• Fixed Enhanced Lightning Port having a stricter input window compared to other special move cancels
• Fixed specific input sequence to execute Uppercut Jump Cancel causing Lightning Port to be performed instead

Scorpion

• Blazing Charge hit animation adjusted, now has 19 more frames of advantage on hit

Sindel

• Fixed incorrect attack coming out when performing a buffered attack after Bodied (Jump Back Punch, Back Kick)
• Fixed Kartwheel having incorrect frame data shown in Practice Mode

Smoke

• Increased hit region on Smoked Out (Up + Front Punch, Front Punch, Back Punch)
• Spin Kicks (Jump Front Kick, Back Kick) and Airing Out (Jump Front Kick, Back Kick, Back Kick) now will auto face
• Invisibility now goes away when hit by a parry attack
• Fixed Vicious Vapors having incorrect frame data generated in Practice Mode
• Fixed issue that could cause the camera to become misaligned if Smoke is interrupted during Everywhere (Back Punch, Front Punch, Back Punch) at certain timing

Shang Tsung

• Added new move Kameo Kopy & Enhanced Kameo Kopy
• Added new Kombo Attack Orthopedic Takedown (Away + Front Punch, Back Kick) (Old Form)
• Pulse Check (Front Punch, Back Punch, Back Kick) recovers 2 frames faster and can be 2in1 canceled
• Snake Oil (Away + Back Punch in Young Form) starts up 2 frames slower and recovers 1 frame slower
• Operation (Away + Back Punch in Old Form) starts up 2 frames faster and has an adjusted hit reaction
• Bed of Spikes & Enhanced Bed of Spikes now appear faster
• Bed of Spikes recovers 1 frame faster on hit and 3 frames faster on block & miss
• Enhanced Bed of Spikes recovers 4 frames faster on hit and 5 frames faster on block & miss

Tanya

• Spinning Splits Kicks now has a different animation when it is blocked and no longer does follow-up attacks
• Divine Protection now parries projectiles and allows for follow-ups with max charge
• Deity Push now has a different hit reaction with increased damage scaling
• Seeking Guidance now takes 5 frames longer to charge each Guidance level (Enhanced Seeking Guidance is unchanged)
• During Heavenly Hand, holding Front Punch allows you to spend Guidance charge to increase projectile speed and damage
• During Spinning Split Kicks, holding Back Kick allows you to spend Guidance charge to become projectile invulnerable and perform all attacks on block
• During Drill Kick hit reaction, holding Away + Back Kick allows you to spend Guidance charge to perform Deity Push
• During Drill Kick hit reaction, holding Towards + Back Kick allows you to spend Guidance charge to perform Umgadi Evade
• Fixed issues with Guidance lingering in certain situations

Omni-Man

• Around The World (Towards + Back Punch) now causes a bounce hit reaction instead of a splat knockdown

Quan Chi

• Best Foot Backward (Down + Towards + Back Kick) tracking timing adjusted by 8 frames
• Fixed incorrect projectile being used by Psycho Skull after exiting Zone of Power
• Fixed visual issue with Psycho Skull causing ground impact effects after it has been parried
• Fixed visual issue with Zone of Waste lingering during brutalities

Homelander

• Fixed Diabolical Dash > The Seven Slam damage scaling when interrupted using default interrupted damage scaling instead of command grab damage scaling
• Fixed Diabolical Dash > The Seven Slam not doing additional damage against an opponent performing Up Block
• Fixed being able to move outside of the arena constraints briefly after hitting with (Air) Diabolical Dash > Vought Drop
• Fixed (Air) Delay God Complex not being possible when (Air) God Complex is performed at the lowest possible height
• Fixed issue with Flight speed being reduced after performing (Air) God Complex
• Fixed issue with endurance fights being delayed if (Air) Diabolical Dash > Vought Drop is used as the final hit on an opponent
• Fixed camera becoming misaligned during Blast Off when playing online and experiencing connection issues

Takeda

• Twisting Blades (Front Punch, Back Punch) first & second hit do 10 more damage
• Ogre Slayer (Front Punch, Back Punch, Back Punch + Back Kick) does 20 more damage
• Rising Suns (Towards + Front Punch, Back Punch) first hit does 10 more damage
• Ryujin (Towards + Front Punch, Back Punch, Back Punch + Back Kick) does 20 more damage
• Falling Moon (Towards + Front Punch, Back Kick) second hit does 20 more damage
• Gate Splitter (Away + Back Punch) has 1 more active frame and had its hitbox adjusted
• Temple Razer (Away + Back Punch, Front Punch) has 1 more active frame and had its hitbox adjusted
• Serpent’s Tail (Towards + Back Punch) has a different hit reaction and can now be special canceled
• Sparrow Strike (Jump + Back Punch, Back Kick) does 40 less damage
• Shooting Star does 10 more damage
• Smart Shuriken explosion does 10 more damage
• (Air) Rushing Nimbus Attack first attack does no damage scaling
• (Air) Enhanced Rushing Nimbus Attack does 30 more damage
• If an allied Kameo interrupts Takeda after Smart Shuriken has touched the ground, the Shuriken will no longer disappear
• Fixed clipping issues when Enhanced Rushing Nimbus Attack is performed near Frost (Kameo) Ice Wall
• Fixed missing visual effects when more than six Smart Shurikens are used in rapid succession

Kameo Fighters

Cyrax

• Self-Destruct no longer lingers when the round ends
• Fixed Horizontal Kopter Chopper chosen hit direction not working in certain circumstances during juggles

Darrius

• Ground Invitational and Army of Two can now be performed after Volleyballistic
• Fixed Army of Two attack going in the wrong direction under certain circumstances
• Fixed Heelturn being possible for an extended period of time if the opponent remains idle after being knocked down
• Fixed several situations where Darrius would not take damage or cause recharge delay when he is interrupted
• Fixed situation that could cause Volleyballistic to be possible from very far distance from his partner

Frost

• Fixed Ice Krash & Frosty’s Revenge not being possible as a reversal
• Fixed visual issues that could occur with Ice Krash when performed on The Pyramid Arena Top Variant

Goro

• Fixed Punch Walk cancelled into Shokan Stomp causing slight damage to Goro’s Partner
• Punch Walk can no longer be canceled into other Kameo moves while Kameos are disabled

Jax

• Added new move Gotcha Grab

Kano

• Eye Laser now has multiple hits when blocked & has a longer recharge delay

Kung Lao

• Added new moves Orbiting Hat & Wobbly Hat
• Spin can no longer sometimes auto-face during the first few frames
• Buzz Saw can no longer sometimes auto-face during the first few frames

Motaro (Kameo)

• Fixed issue when Reflect parries a non-reflectable projectile that allowed the opponent to block punishes during their recovery
• Fixed rare instances of missing visual & sound effects when Motaro is hit by certain attacks

Sektor

• Added alternate Fatal Blow attack by pressing R1 during startup
• Activate Homing is now performed by holding R1
• Tele-Punch starts up 2 frames faster
• Fixed visual issue with Up Rocket causing ground impact effects after it has been parried

Shujinko

• Added new move Kingdoms Krumble
• Added new move Waterfall Chop
• Fixed interrupting Shujinko during Death’s Embrace (Ermac) causing an excessively long recovery for his partner

Sonya

• Added new moves (Air) Ricochet Dive Kick & (Air) Bicycle Kick follow-up attack
• Sonya is now vulnerable for 17 more frames after Leg Grab misses

Sub-Zero

• Added new moves Deep Freeze & Iceball Special
• Fixed visual effects issues when partner misses with their Fatal Blow

Stryker

• Low Grenade Toss & High Grenade Toss have different hit reactions and less damage scaling

Tremor

• Crystal Wall Punch is now mid (was high)

Khameleon

• Added new move Alternate Disguises
• If either of the first two hits during Roll are Up Blocked, the final hit will not come out
• Fan Toss can no longer sometimes auto-face during the first few frames
• Fixed issue with Glaive return attack not using correct hit reaction facing if the opponent jumped over

Mavado

• Fixed animation issue with Nomad’s Touch when performed near corner while roster fighter has their back to the screen

Ferra

• Torr Stance: Slide! has 2 more recovery frames on block
• Ferra is now considered airborne during Yo-Yo Throw, Swings!, & Potato Sack Toss

In addition to the Khaos Reigns launch and new update, September 24 also marks the start of Mortal Kombat 1’s Kombat Pack 2 releases.

Players can now purchase Cyrax, Sektor, and Noob Saibot. The pack’s other fighters, Ghostface, Conan, and T-1000, have no launch date as of yet.