Experimental branch update: Resource Bays, Railguns, and Reactor Lock

It's been almost three months since our last update, and all the while we've been heads-down reworking some of the game's core equipment systems. We've completely revamped Resource Bays and Railgun cards, added the Mass Driver Railgun subtype back, introduced 14 new subsystems, and made an important change to the reactor heat system. Let's get into it. (For now, it’s available only on the Experimental branch while we continue tuning and polishing it.)

Each shield equipment now has its own model

Resource Bay Overhaul

Resource Bays have been redesigned from the ground up. Previously, they all felt similar, they generated resources in roughly the same ways, and there wasn't a strong reason to prefer one over another beyond raw numbers. We wanted each bay to feel like a genuine build decision that changes how you play, not just how many resources you get. Since Resource bays play a major role in defining a run's playstyle, on most ships you now start without one, receiving a random resource bay as the first equipment drop. There are now three distinct Resource Bay types, each with its own identity and 7-8 unique cards:

• Supply Depot: The starting resource bay. Reliable, straightforward, and designed to teach the fundamentals. Its cards show you how Mass works as an investment currency and how reactor specialization pays off. Cards like Inventory Scan (gain resources based on card types in your hand) and Tactical Requisition (draw a card and gain matching resources) reinforce the resource system's rules . Lower variance than the other bays, it fills gaps while you figure out your build.

• Centrifuge: The Centrifuge rewards high card volume per turn. The more cards you play, the more resources it generates. Signature cards like Adrenaline Rush (gain 1 of each resource for every 2 cards played this turn) and Discount Rack (reduce card costs by type) create turns where you're chaining card after card, fueling the next one with the last. Pairs naturally with Flak, and other Equipment with plenty of cheap cards.

• Smelter: The Smelter generates resources by pushing your ship's Heat to the limit. Cards like Thermal Harvest (gain resources by filling up to your Heat Tolerance) and Danger Pay (gain 2 of your lowest resource or 2 of each resource if you're Overheated) turn Heat into fuel. Pair it with a Radiator and Cerberus Shield for a "Heat economy" build where overheating is a feature.

There are a couple more Resource bays designed, and waiting to be implemented.

Railgun Overhaul

Almost all Railgun have been redesigned. The Coil-gun now plays totally different than before, being centered around the Overload mechanic We've also added the Mass Driver back, the perfect weapon for mass-centered support-heavy decks.

• Railgun: The classic precision weapon. Specializes in targeting and destroying enemy equipment, then rewards you with tempo and card recursion.

• AddedCoil-gunAn energy-hungry railgun that fires in devastating bursts using the new Overload mechanic. Playing Coil-gun cards temporarily disables some of your Energy production, creating a push-pull rhythm: fire everything in a burst window, then recover.

• Mass Driver: An industrial-grade railgun that converts your Mass economy into crushing payload shots. Less surgical than the Military Railgun, it trades bonus equipment damage for raw hull power and Mass scaling. The signature card Mass Driver deals damage equal to all the Mass you've spent on cards that turn. Reinforced Accelerant is a persistent Upgrade that makes your first Railgun or Flak attack each turn deal +50% damage, increasing by +10% every turn you maintain it. Build up your economy, then slam.

Mass driver cards (work in progress)

New Subsystems

The subsystem mechanic is in the process of being greatly expanded. We've added 14 new subsystems, aimed at letting you further specialize your build.

General weapon subsystems open up new cross-equipment strategies. Thermal Residue turns any weapon into a Heat applicator (3 Heat to the enemy on first hull damage each turn). Deterrent Module and Pressure Doctrine form a Suppression combo, the first generates Suppression from attack volume, the second converts those stacks into bonus damage. Alpha Strike was totally revamped (+3 damage with no attacks in cooldown) and Omega Strike (+2 damage with no attacks in draw pile) reward opposite ends of your combat tempo. Repeater recycles attack cards from cooldown every 3 attacks, and Breach Scanner snowballs damage as you destroy more enemy equipment.

The Lancer now starts with Rangefinder, which adds 2 Ranging Shots to your draw pile at the start of combat for early precision pressure, and to make sure there are enough attacks to play in the early game.

Missiles get three new options: Blast Core (+25% missile damage), Thermal Foundry (generates Heat-seeker missiles as you apply Heat to the enemy), and Cluster Munitions (missiles and torpedoes now apply Shred based on hull damage).

We are going to add a lot more subsystems in the future, our aim is to double the amount of subsystems we have in the game at present. To increase run variety, and to be able to balance these subsystems better, you will now only come across each subsystem once, be it in the store, dropped by enemies or received through events.

Reactor Lock on overheat

This is a relatively minor but important mechanical change. Your reactor resource distribution is now locked while you are overheated. Previously, overheating only dealt hull damage at the start of your turn. Now, it also prevents you from reallocating reactor power until your heat drops back to or below your Heat Tolerance. Overheat now means hull damage and loss of reactor flexibility. You need to plan your reactor allocation before you push into dangerous heat territory. This makes Heat management tools more valuable than ever. Radiators and dissipation cards don't just prevent hull damage anymore, but they also unlock your reactor's power distribution. And for Smelter and Pyroclast builds that deliberately run hot, there's a new layer of tension: the resource payoffs are powerful, but pushing past your tolerance now means committing to your current reactor setup until you cool down. The reactor interface will be visibly locked when overheated, so the state is always clear.

Bug Fixes

We've addressed a multitude of minor bugs, but we're still grappling with the memory leak bug, which hopefully will solve a lot of the crash issues reported once we get that branch stable.

Controller support

It's been a long time coming, and we finally got started on controller support. This will be a pretty lengthy process as there's a lot of UI in the game. Hopefully we'll have a first working prototype in about 3-4 weeks for you to test, and then full steam compatibility is next!

What's Next

Our main focus will be improving run variety further, by introducing special boss-specific subsystems aimed at changing up the playstyle, and creating new connections between equipment families that don't usually interact. We are also looking at continued balance passes across the new equipment, doing another pass on the missile and flak equipment, expanding the subsystem catalog further, and working on additional content based on your feedback.

We'll be on the lookout for any new bug and balance reports related to this build, and once things stabilize, we'll be pushing this update to the main branch.

As always, your Steam reviews, bug reports, and feedback on Discord are what keep us pointed in the right direction. If you've been playing the new update, we'd love to hear how the new bays and railguns feel in practice, especially which builds are working for you and which ones feel off. Thanks for sticking with us.

— The Breachway Team