The biggest update since horses were added to Chivalry 2 has been released. As with previous updates, Duel of the Fetes adds several new maps (three deathmatch maps this time) to my favorite first-person medieval war game, but most notable are two major new features: skill-based team balancing and unofficial server support.

Wherever the word "skill-based" appears, there is bound to be discourse, but in this instance, player feedback is more about it not working properly than an argument about its principles.

Unlike the controversial skill-based matchmaking in many multiplayer shooters, Chivalry 2's new system does not attempt to pigeonhole an entire match with players of similar skill. Instead, it attempts to assemble a team of similar talent, no matter what players a match ends up with.

According to developer Torn Banner, when players load into a match, the new system will shuffle teams while "taking into account the player's global rank and pre-created party. The system attempts to bring parties together and "does not solely aim to achieve a one-to-one balance by global rank." After the initial shuffling is complete, a player may only swap with the other team if the number of players on the other team is equal to or less than the number of players on his or her team.

This all sounds fine, but somehow the system apparently did the opposite of what it was supposed to do. Several players posted screenshots on Reddit showing that one team was completely solidified with highly ranked players:

"An unfortunate new issue with the skill-based team balancing introduced in update 2.10 not working as intended Due to the issue, we have temporarily turned off this feature while the team continues to investigate," Torn Banner's community manager wrote on Reddit today.

Once it starts working as intended, the skill-based team balancing system will not be enabled for all matches. This applies to matchmaking queues in 64-player versus and 40-player mixed modes, but not to standalone servers running these modes.

Speaking of servers, new unofficial servers can be rented from Nitrado for $13 to $79 per month, depending on the number of players supported. Hosts can customize map rotations, class limits, and other server settings. A quick peek in the server browser today showed several custom servers already up and running,

Chivalry 2's Duel of the Fetes update also adds matchmaking region selection options, new cosmetics, and various bug fixes

[18] [19] [20] [21] [22 Full patch notes can be found here. We will update this article whenever skill-based team balancing is restored.