Shaun Rivera from the 2XKO development team shared a message to the community. It highlights important aspects of the game, including the nature of Caitlyn as a fighting game character and the plans on re-balancing combos.
While still in early access, 2XKO amazes with the level of open communication. Before heading out on winter break, the developers from Riot Games shared a short video message.
It has some general information, like another reminder of the console release and a throwback to the First Impact competitive season. However, Shaun Rivera also addressed common worries in the community.
Caitlyn joins 2XKO, and she is not a hitscan character
Another League of Legends champion was confirmed as a 2XKO character. It’s Caitlyn Kiramman, a great Marksman Attack Damage Carry (ADC) in the original MOBA. People even beyond League of Legends know her thanks to the animation series Arcane.
As the next 2XKO character, Caitlyn was first shown during the Games Awards 2025 event.
In fact, the trailer is just another confirmation that 2XKO is coming to the consoles, PlayStation 5 and Xbox, in January. However, the final part reveals Caitlyn as she steps on Jinx's wanted poster and gets ready to shoot from her sniper rifle.
The biggest concern in the 2XKO community was that Caitlyn is planned as a hitscan character. If so, it would be super difficult to avoid her damage and generally deal with this shooter. Thankfully, Caitlyn is not a hitscan character, and Shaun Rivera has clearly confirmed this.
“[Caitlyn] is going to be our next champ early next year. I can’t wait for you all to play her. [...]
I think you all will be really surprised when you get your hands on her, honestly. I will share that she’s not a hitscan character. I’m very curious to see who can take up the Caitlyn mantle and really make sure you hit your headshot.”
So Jinx and the others can rest assured they will have a fair fight against Caitlyn.
Hitscan characters in fighting games explained
It sounds like the developers are going to make Caitlyn a pretty complicated tech character, but we need to experience this in the game first.
As for other characters with firearms in fighting games, Happy Chaos spreads bullet damage in Guilty Gear Strive. He follows the hitscan archetype: this means his shots don’t take time to travel in space but hit immediately after confirming the crosshair is on the opponent.
Another example of hitscan moves is Triglav of JP in Street Fighter 6. It’s not a shot, but the attack hits immediately with no time spent on traveling across the screen.
Long combos are getting a big rebalance in 2XKO
Following the open communication of the balancing philosophy, the 2XKO addressed the issue of extremely long combos. You may love to be on the attacking side, but it’s frustrating to eat all that damage and see your chances in a match evaporating.
We don’t know how this aspect will be addressed yet, as it’s a long, gradual process.
“Combo length is far too long in our game. This is something we feel pretty strongly about, and we’re actually actively working on addressing today.
I want to be clear that it isn’t something you’re going to see immediately addressed in our first patch of our first season next year. This is something we’re going to have to take multiple stabs at over time.
And the main reason here is that there are many knobs we can turn that will have many downstream effects.”
This message from the 2XKO developers was another opportunity to remind us about the esports scene. It’s really impressive that Jo'siah "Hikari" Miller won five events of First Impact.
It will be awesome to witness what he and other top players can achieve in the game at the first 2XKO Major at Frosty Faustings XVIII, from Jan. 29 to Feb. 1.
