Jupiter Hell Classic 0.8 - Arsenal!

Jupiter Hell Classic 0.8 "Arsenal" brings a ton of new toys for your enjoyment, among them ADV items, relics and existing item improvements as well as improving mechanical transparency and balance! Read patch notes below!

This patch is a result of a significant refactor introducing a new general perk system - that in the long run will replace all systems that are based on callbacks. Less tech talk - not only do we have the features listed below, some more features related to this are in the pipeline :D. Let's get to the traditional sectioned patch notes.

== Item perks ==

GHJ#175 [new] -- Game - Item perks! Exotic and Unique items now have perks! GHJ#263 [new] -- Game - ADV weapons, armor and boots with a random perk! GHJ#228 [mod] -- Game - removed niche reload-single from double shotguns GHJ#228 [mod] -- Game - dual-reload will always work when dual wielding if primary weapon has no alt-reload

Jupiter Hell players will recognize this system - special properties of items are now represented by perks! This offers a lot more clarity and flexibility. All existing exotic and unique items have been updated to have their special propeties represented by perks, some of them have actual new perks too! More importantly however, a brand new class of items has been added - ADV (Advanced) items. These are regular weapons, armor and boots that spawn with a random special perk. Just like regular items they can be modded or used as bases for assemblies, opening up a lot of powerful combos!

== Relics ==

GHJ#270 [new] -- Game - Relics added! They're rare, but some say they've been seen in the Anomaly

If that is not enough, there's a new rare class of items - Relics! They function diffently from regular items - treated as a power up that imbues the user with a special perk that has both a boon and a downside. They cannot be dropped, and if a different relic is picked up it will replace the existing one. I'm slowly considering to make them into an item slot, akin to Jupiter Hell, which would allow the player to drop them, but as for now they're a set boon - please give feedback on the forums or Discord! The anomaly got a slight glowup to celebrate :P.

== UI/Status changes ==

GHJ#259 [new] -- UI - self-target info shows affecting statuses with description and timers GHJ#263 [new] -- UI - assemblies now state what they're doing - both when applying as well as in list GHJ#259 [mod] -- UI - items have a "more" screen too! Access using m or RTrigger+A from inventory GHJ#259 [mod] -- UI - use SHIFT-m to force target info on self (also RTrigger+LTrigger-A) GHJ#245 [mod] -- UI - turn counter on Character info screen GHJ#228 [mod] -- Game - affects timing now are based on ticks not turns GHJ#228 [mod] -- Game - berserk effect times halved to balance out the tick change GHJ#263 [mod] -- Game - all assemblies have been revisited and made mod order independent

Further improving mechanical transparency we have a new item "more" screen, accessible from both inventory and equipment screens ("m" or RTrigger+A) that lists the details of the items perks among a more complete set of item statistics. The player more screen (which now has a shortcut SHIFT-m or RTrigger+LTrigger-A) on the other hand shows all the perks and effects affecting the player (along with a timer for timed statuses!).

Speaking of statuses - there's a gameplay change here, that also affects DRL - timings of status effects are now measured in game ticks instead of player turns. This is both a benefit to the player (powerups last longer if you're fast) as well as sometimes a downside.

Finally also assemblies got a balance/cleanup pass - no longer the esoteric feature they were before, now they state exactly what they do both on the assembly screen as well as in the known assemblies list. Their effects have been made fully mod order independent, and the strength and effects have been given a balance pass.

== Balance changes ==

GHJ#274 [mod] -- Game - Adjusted difficulty curve and spawn rate - easier early game, harder late game GHJ#273 [mod] -- Game - boosted the freeze effect to affect general speed GHJ#273 [mod] -- Game - reduced the Deep Freeze enemy count by 1 GHJ#273 [mod] -- Game - reduced Cryomancer speed by 20, reduced cryomancer freeze status by 2s GHJ#273 [mod] -- Game - assault rifle damage 1d7x3 -> 1d8x3 GHJ#272 [mod] -- Game - Blademaster flow refreshes insted of accumulating GHJ#273 [mod] -- Game - plasma shotgun halved ammo/cost, hellish sergeants can carry it, shotguns no longer gib corpses GHJ#260 [mod] -- Game - Ancient's teleport/hologram takes a full second of time to activate GHJ#256 [mod] -- Game - increased Harbinger nova charges amount

Speaking of balance passes - several smaller things were adjusted, as well as a major buff to the freezing status effect and a new difficulty curve. The freezing effect is now much stronger reducing not only movement speed, but speed in general. This was added later in the beta cycle so be on the lookout for possible balance issues! Deep Freeze and Cryomancer have been nerfed to compensate but Europa might be a bit more dangerous now. Feedback is welcome!

The difficulty curve changes aim for an easier Callisto, similar Europa but harder late game across all difficulties (but mostly affecting Hard+). Do provide feedback on how this feels, and whether the effect is as intended!

== Bug fixes ==

GHJ#000 [fix] -- exotics that were missing the exotic flag have been fixed GHJ#258 [fix] -- picking up power ups mistakenly costed extra time on top of the move - now is free GHJ#261 [fix] -- Love will no longer remove overheal GHJ#000 [fix] -- fixed Inquisitor and Masochist Diamond not being awarded properly

The regular bug fixes - the one one of note is the fact that up till now picking up power ups actually costed extra time - this has now been fixed!

== Full Changelog ==

GHJ#175 [new] -- Game - Item perks! Exotic and Unique items now have perks! (some are new!) GHJ#263 [new] -- Game - ADV weapons, armor and boots with a random perk! GHJ#270 [new] -- Game - Relics added! They're rare, but some say they've been seen in the Anomaly GHJ#263 [new] -- UI - assemblies now state what they're doing - both when applying as well as in list GHJ#259 [new] -- UI - self-target info shows affecting statuses with description and timers GHJ#259 [mod] -- UI - items have a "more" screen too! Access using m or RTrigger+A from inventory GHJ#259 [mod] -- UI - use SHIFT-m to force target info on self (also RTrigger+LTrigger-A) GHJ#245 [mod] -- UI - turn counter on Character info screen GHJ#274 [mod] -- Game - Adjusted difficulty curve and spawn rate - easier early game, harder late game GHJ#263 [mod] -- Game - all assemblies have been revisited and made mod order independent GHJ#228 [mod] -- Game - affects timing now are based on ticks not turns GHJ#228 [mod] -- Game - berserk effect times halved to balance out the tick change GHJ#273 [mod] -- Game - boosted the freeze effect to affect general speed GHJ#273 [mod] -- Game - reduced the Deep Freeze enemy count by 1 GHJ#273 [mod] -- Game - reduced Cryomancer speed by 20, reduced cryomancer freeze status by 2s GHJ#273 [mod] -- Game - assault rifle damage 1d7x3 -> 1d8x3 GHJ#272 [mod] -- Game - Blademaster flow refreshes insted of accumulating GHJ#273 [mod] -- Game - plasma shotgun halved ammo/cost, hellish sergeants can carry it, shotguns no longer gib corpses GHJ#228 [mod] -- Game - removed niche reload-single from double shotguns GHJ#228 [mod] -- Game - dual-reload will always work when dual wielding if primary weapon has no alt-reload GHJ#260 [mod] -- Game - Ancient's teleport/hologram takes a full second of time to activate GHJ#256 [mod] -- Game - increased Harbinger nova charges amount GHJ#000 [fix] -- exotics that were missing the exotic flag have been fixed GHJ#258 [fix] -- picking up power ups mistakenly costed extra time on top of the move - now is free GHJ#261 [fix] -- Love will no longer remove overheal GHJ#000 [fix] -- fixed Inquisitor and Masochist Diamond not being awarded properly

== What's next? ==

The general perk system opens up a lot more possibilities. We'll use it to improve enemy special abilities, possibly exalted traits, revamp level events and improve other "special" effects. These will slowly roll out with future version. That said, the next version will focus on melee combat - 0.9 "Melee" should be out at the end of January, so stay tuned!

Have fun, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Yours truly,