Patch #32 (Experimental) - Flak overhaul, memory leak fix

The memory leak

This is one we've been looking forward to posting for months: this patch finally includes the memory leak fix we've been working on since the end of last year. Once we started digging in, we uncovered a lot of cascading issues, which led us to revamp the entire Addressables system. Long story short, this fix should get rid of the slowdowns many of you ran into during longer play sessions, and eliminate the crashes caused by the game running out of memory.

The Flak revamp

We've also got a chunky content update. We've overhauled the Flak weapons, giving each subtype a clearer identity through a trimmed-down drafting library, and added a brand-new Flak weapon to the family. This is part of our shift to pull some focus away from the drafting phase and make your ship loadout matter more. Let's break the Flak subtypes down:

Quad-Flak

The multi-barrel workhorse.

Lots of small attacks plus utility

Suppression, missile interception, and tricks like Double Tap (your next Flak attack resolves twice) and Lock and Load (fills your hand with cheap Flak Shells). It builds Shred slowly, but it's flexible and always has something to do.

Card list

• Light Barrage — 2O 1M, CD 4 — Deal 4 damage, Shred 2. Add 1 Flak Shell to your hand.

• Suppressive Fire — 2O 1M, CD 5 — Deal 4 damage. Apply 2 Suppression.

• Spread Shot — 2O 1M, CD 5 — Deal 4 damage, Shred 2. If an enemy missile is in flight: destroy the closest enemy missile.

• Lock and Load — 3M, CD 5 — Add 3 Flak Shell cards to your hand. Deplete.

• Charged Shot — 2O 1M, CD 5 — Deal 4 damage. If the enemy is Shielded, deal +4 damage.

• Mark — 2O 2M, CD 5 — Deal 5 damage, Shred 3. If the enemy is Suppressed: your next Kinetic attack this turn deals +3 damage.

• Double Tap — 3M 1E, CD 5 — This turn, the next Flak attack you play resolves twice (pay its costs once). Each extra copy affects +1 attack.

• Broadside (Mk.II only) — 3O 2M, CD 6 — Deal 6 damage, Shred 3. This turn, each Kinetic attack you play gives your Kinetic attacks +1 damage.

• Flak Shell (token) — Free, CD 4 — Deal 2 damage. Deplete.

Shredder

The setup engine. It applies high Shred fast and stacks tools that amplify it. Shaped Charge, Probing Shot and Titanium Shells all crank your Shred numbers turn over turn. On its own its raw damage is modest; its job is to get Brittle online quickly so a payoff weapon can take over. Card list:

• Shredding Barrage — 2O 1M, CD 4 — Deal 4 damage, Shred 2. Your next attack this turn gains +2 Shred.

• Opening Shot — 2O 1M, CD 4 — Deal 4 damage, Shred 2. Double the Shred this attack applies. Deplete.

• Chain Shot — 2O 2M, CD 5 — Deal 4 damage, Shred 3. If this attack applies Brittle: your next Flak attack this turn has its Ordnance cost set to 0.

• Twin Barrel — 3O 1M, CD 5 — Deal 3 damage, Shred 1, twice.

• Probing Shot — 2O 1M, CD 5 — Deal 4 damage, Shred 2. Your attacks gain +1 Shred this turn (stacks up to 2).

• Titanium Shells — 4O, CD 5 — Deal 5 damage, Shred 5. When this card's Shred is increased, increase its damage by the same amount.

• Shaped Charge — 2M, CD 5 — This turn, double the Shred value of your next attack.

• Hull Ripper — 3O 1M, CD 5 — Deal 4 damage, Shred 4. If this attack deals Hull damage: the enemy needs 1 less Shred to become Brittle this combat. Deplete.

Bruiser

The payoff weapon that cashes in everything your Shred has been building. Its cards hit hard and scale off the Brittle already on the enemy, but it can't comfortably build that Brittle on its own. Bruiser is at its best as the finisher on top of a setup weapon. Card list:

• Hullbreaker — 3O, CD 5 — Deal 7 damage. If the enemy is Shielded, deal -3 damage.

• Sunder — 3O, CD 6 — Deal 5 damage, Shred 2. If the enemy has Brittle, deal +2 damage.

• Honed Shot — 4O, CD 6 — Deal 7 damage, Shred 2. For every 2 Brittle on the enemy: costs 1 less O (min 2O) and 1 less Cooldown (min 4).

• Rending Salvo — 3O, CD 6 — Deal 4 damage, Shred 4.

• Overwhelming Barrage — 4O, CD 6 — Deal 12 damage, Shred 4. Remove 2 random cards from your hand for the rest of the fight. Must have at least 2 other cards in hand to play.

• Concussive Shells — 4O, CD 5 — Deal 4 damage. This attack gains double the bonus damage from Brittle.

• Predictive Aim — 3M, CD 5 — Your next Flak attack deals +50% damage.

• Reckless Assault — CD 5 — Lose 4 Hull. Return 2 random attacks from this equipment's cooldown to your hand.

Pyroclast

The risk-for-power weapon. The Pyroclast always had a clear niche, so it's mostly unchanged. Cards like Blazing Barrage and Firestrike scale their Shred and damage off your current Heat, while Igniter hits hard but pushes you toward overheating. Heated Shells are now free to play. Card list:

• Heat Shift — 2O 1M, CD 5 — Deal 4 damage, Shred 2. If Overheated: dissipate 2 Heat.

• Blazing Barrage — 3O, CD 5 — Deal 6 damage. Shred equal to 2 + half your Heat (rounded down). Gain 2 Heat.

• Firestrike — 3O, CD 5 — Deal 6 damage. Deal +1 damage for every 2 Heat on your ship.

• Igniter — 2O, CD 4 — Deal 6 damage, Shred 2. Gain 2 Heat. If Overheated, increase this card's cooldown by +2.

• Melting Clip — 2O, CD 4 — Deal 4 damage. If Overheated: apply 1 Heat to the enemy for every 2 Hull damage dealt.

• Redline — 3M, CD 8 — On turn start: gain 2 Heat. On turn end: fire 1 Heated Shell. Upgrade.

• Hotswap — 2M, CD 5 — Shuffle up to 3 random cards from your hand into your draw pile. Add 1 Heated Shell to your hand for each card shuffled this way.

• Heated Shell (token) — Free, CD 4 — Deal 2 damage. If Overheated: dissipate 1 Heat. Deplete.

You might notice some cards didn't make the cut, some of the more powerful upgrades like Quad-Fire, Immolation, Hellfire and Firestorm. They'll make a comeback next week as subsystems, so you can add them to any Flak weapon for greater build variety.

Subsystem images

We've started giving the game's subsystems their own images, to make each one easier to recognize and give it a bit more character. We have about 50 subsystem images in so far, and use a placeholder for the rest until we've made their art.

Area damage changes

As a balance pass, we've also reduced the equipment damage dealt by Missiles and Flak to 50% of the hull damage dealt. Both Missiles and Flak are meant for rushing your opponent down while taking their hits; precision weapons are the slower, more control-focused option. But when they dealt full hull damage to equipment, Flak and Missiles were knocking out enemy equipment far too easily. The design intent for Area damage is to soften equipment up so you can finish it off with a couple of well-placed precision attacks, and that just wasn't happening when Area damage hit equipment at full value.

What's Next

• We'll be watching balance and stability closely, especially on the Flak weapons and the Area damage change, and for any crashes or slowdowns still persisting after the memory leak fix.

• In the next few patches we'll be focusing on enemy balance and variety. We have a lot of new enemies planned, with a focus on making them interesting and varied challenges.

• We'll post an updated roadmap in the next couple of weeks, covering Breachway's development from now until full launch.

• Controller support will roll out sometime in July.

• The final sector has started production.

As always, your Steam reviews, bug reports, and feedback on Discord are what point us in the right direction. If you take the new Flak lineup for a spin, we'd love to hear which subtype pairings are working for you and which feel off. Expect this patch to hit the main branch as soon as we've squashed any new bugs, especially the ones tied to the memory leak rework, which was a massive undertaking that touched a lot of the project.

Thanks for playing and supporting us. o7 The Breachway Team