Tekken 8 Season 3 patch notes

It’s already been more than two years since Tekken 8 released, and the game is getting its second major overhaul now.

Bandai Namco has now released the official patch notes for the big Season 3 update coming tonight.

The update should be available to start downloading at 6 p.m. PT tonight, March 16, though players will need to wait until the server maintenance ends to take the action back online.

This update brings a long list of balance adjustments for all 40 characters in the game through the end of Season 2 including Alisa, Armor King, Anna, Asuka, Azucena, Bryan, Claudio, Clive, Devil Jin, Dragunov, Eddy, Fahkumram, Feng, Heihachi, Hwoarang, Jack-8, Jin, Jun, Kazuya, King, Kuma, Panda, Lars, Law, Lee, Leo, Leroy, Lidia, Lili, Miary Zo, Nina, Paul, Raven, Reina, Shaheen, Steve, Victor, Xiaoyu, Yoshimitsu and Zafina — though it seems they aren’t trying to reinvent the wheel through the cast now.

On top of that, they’re adding more content to the game through a new Tekken Fight Pass while expanding the number of character customization slots as well.

The developers are also overhauling the Ranked Match system quite a bit that you can find details for in the patch notes.

You can check out the full list of patch notes below, which can also be found on the official Tekken website.

Click images for larger versions

Application Schedule

• [CET] Tuesday, March 17th, 2:00 AM (applied sequentially)

• [PDT] Monday, March 16th, 6:00 PM (applied sequentially)

Maintenance Schedule

• [CET] Tuesday, March 17th, 1:30 AM – 5:00 AM

• [PDT] Monday, March 16th, 5:30 PM – 9:00 PM

Note:

• The schedule is subject to change without prior notice.

• During maintenance, all online content will be unavailable.

Impact of the Update

The following changes will apply to each mode and feature after the update:

DOWNLOADED REPLAYS / MY REPLAY & TIPS

• Replay data created before the update will no longer be playable.

ONLINE REPLAY

• All replay data created before the update will be deleted.

SUPER GHOST BATTLE / GHOST MATCH / Ghost vs Ghost

• The behavior and performance adjustments applied to each character after the update will be reflected in Ghost data.

• Existing Ghost data will be retained.

The details of the update are as follows:

TEKKEN SHOP

“TEKKEN FIGHT PASS -ROUND 9-” Added

Complete missions during the event period to level up and earn various items.

• “PREMIUM” offers more items than “FREE.”

• You can obtain up to 100 TEKKEN COINS via “FREE.”

• Additionally, “PREMIUM” allows you to earn an additional 600 coins for a total of 700 TEKKEN COINS.

“Leo Costume 01” Added

• Revival Costume for Playable Character “Leo”

• Leo Costume 01

“Bryan Costume 01 Set” Added

• Revival Costume Set for Playable Character “Bryan” containing the following items:

• Bryan Costume 01 (Overdrive A)

• Bryan Costume 01 (Overdrive B)

“TEKKEN SPECIAL DEAL” Event

• During the event period, selected items will be available at special prices.

• For more details, please refer to this article.

RANKED MATCH

Changes will be made to the rank reset and rank point increase/decrease system to create a fairer competitive environment.
Matching specifications will also be revised to improve matchmaking speed.

Rank Reset


• The starting rank for Season 3 will be determined based on the highest rank achieved at the end of Season 2.


• Main characters will be reset by up to four ranks, with “Brawler (6th Dan)” as the minimum.

• Sub characters will have their ranks determined individually for each character.

To commemorate the rank reset, two special title plates will be awarded.


• A title plate displaying the highest rank achieved in Season 2

• Season 2 Commemorative Plate

Rank Point Gain/Loss Adjustments

The rank point system will be updated as follows.


• The rank point thresholds required for promotion and demotion will be adjusted.

• The amount of rank points gained or lost per match will be adjusted accordingly.

• Promotion bonuses will now always be granted upon promotion.

• Promotion bonuses will apply up to the rank below God of Destruction.

• Rank point bonuses granted during win streaks will be adjusted.

• Win streak bonuses will apply up to the rank below Bushin.

• A Revenge Bonus will now grant additional rank points when winning a rematch after losing a match.

Demotion conditions will also be adjusted.


• Players will not be demoted unless they lose two consecutive matches, even if their rank points fall below the demotion threshold.

• In that case, rank points will remain at the minimum value for that rank without triggering demotion.

• Losing again from that state will decrease rank points and trigger demotion.

The rank point modification system introduced in Ver.2.02.00—
which applied under certain rematch conditions following a rank change — will be removed.

Sub Character Rank Adjustment Changes

The timing and target rank for automatic sub character rank increases will be revised to reduce mismatches in player skill levels.

Rank Match Matchmaking Changes

Matchmaking will now be based on the rank of the character currently being used.


• The previous system based on the highest rank among a player’s characters will be removed.

When matchmaking with characters ranked “God of Destruction (100th Dan)” or higher, rank differences within ±1 will be treated as the same rank to expand the matchmaking range.

Example:

• If matchmaking is performed with “God of Destruction I (101st Dan)” under the “Same Rank” restriction, matchmaking will include:

• God of Destruction (100th Dan)

• God of Destruction I (101st Dan)

• God of Destruction II (102nd Dan)

The default cursor position in the matchmaking search filter will be changed from “Rank Restriction” to “Confirm”.

Default Rank Restriction Setting Changed


• The default value for Rank Restriction will be changed to ±2.

Rank Point Change Details Displayed


• Detailed information regarding rank point increases or decreases will be displayed on the result screen after ranked matches.

QUICK MATCH

Quick Match Matchmaking Changes


• The default cursor position in the matchmaking search filter will be changed from “Rank Restriction” to “Confirm”.

Additional minor improvements will be made to matchmaking speed.

All Online Matches

The time required before menus become operable on the result screen after online matches will be reduced.

PRACTICE

Players will be able to restart Practice while switching character positions using:

• [Touchpad / View button / V] + [↓]


• The opening and closing speed of the Practice menu will be improved.

CHARACTER CUSTOMIZE

10 additional slots will be added to “SHARED CUSTOMIZE SLOT”. A total of 30 slots will be available.

AVATAR CUSTOMIZE

A “Swap” option will be added to slot operations.

PLAYER CUSTOMIZE

Multiple customizations can now be saved to slots. Saved PLAYER CUSTOMIZE settings can be switched during character select and quick select.

REPLAY / SPECTATE

The health gauge from each player’s Player Customize settings will be displayed during Replay and Spectate modes.


• This display can be turned OFF from “OPTIONS > Player Settings”.

LEADERBOARDS

Season 3 online ranking data will be collected and made available for viewing.

PLAY DATA

Season 3 match records will now be collected and available for viewing.

OTHER

• A “Sound Settings” option will be added to the Practice menu and the Online Ghost Battle waiting menu.

• The Character Select BGM will be changed. The BGM can be changed from the JUKEBOX.

PLAYABLE CHARACTERS

Character Move Behavior Fixes and Balance Adjustments

【Ver.3.00.00 BALANCE DIRECTION】

Based on TEKKEN 8’s core gameplay philosophy and the “Refined Balance” policy, the following balance adjustments have been made:

① Adjustments that respect each character’s concept, strengths, and weaknesses, while preventing excessive performance gaps between characters.

In Ver.3.00.00, the “strengths,” “weaknesses,” and “distinct advantages” of every character were reviewed. Adjustments were made with the goal of creating a battle experience in which each character’s individuality can be felt more clearly within neutral interactions and mind-games.

② Re-evaluation of risk and reward across game systems and character-unique mechanics.

During the Season 2 updates, gradual revisions were made to address excessive frame advantage situations and disproportionately high reward.

This direction has been continued in Ver.3.00.00, with adjustments focused particularly on the Heat system and character-specific powered‑up states (such as Claudio’s Starburst).

(1) Revision of the relationship between unique powered-up states and the Heat system

• It was changed so that when Heat ends, character-specific powered-up states are also removed at the same time.

• As a result, situations in which powered-up states could be maintained for an extended duration by using Heat as the starting point have been reduced.

(2) Revision of wall splat properties caused by Heat Smash

• For characters whose Heat Smash previously triggered wall splat, the behavior was unified so that wall splat is no longer triggered by Heat Smash.

• As a result, situations in which Heat Smash would lead to excessively advantageous post-wall scenarios have been reduced.

③ Improvements to air combos

• In Ver.3.00.00, the issue where air combos became excessively long when a Heat Engager was landed as a grounded hit and then followed by Heat Dash was addressed.

• The previous system—where the opponent’s airborne distance was reduced under these conditions—was removed, and the behavior was adjusted to match that of standard air combos.

• Additionally, the damage scaling for combos under these conditions was changed from the previous “60%” to “70%”, aiming to strike a balance between combo length and reward.