#MachineLog #4 — Potions, Tesla Buffs, Slingshot Rebalance & Final Economy Pass
Hey Survivors! Zombiestein's been suspiciously quiet, which usually means the crew on the Machine is fixing things before the next attack.
In this update5
Full notes
Full Survival Machine update
Read the full published notes in a cleaner layout. The original post stays linked below.
What changed
1 fix0 additions3 changes0 removals
UI and audio
Balance
Performance
changedSteam post image Health Potions join the Machine's medicine cabinetThree Health Potions are now craftable for the first time — Small (restores 20 HP), Standard (30 HP), and Large (40 HP). Each shares a 10-second cooldown, so you can't chug through a zombie wave. Hotbar slot 0 is now the dedicated potion slot. All 16 launch languages have potion descriptions ready.
fixedSteam post image Tesla weapons: calibrated, then buffedWith the radius fixed, base damage was recalibrated upward: Tesla Rifle went 7→10, and the Tesla Revolver picked up two extra rounds (clip 4→6) plus a small damage bump (17→18).
changedSteam post image Slingshot: fewer shots, each one mattersAll slingshot tiers shed one burst shot (Tier I: 3→2, Tier III: 5→4, Tier V: 7→6) while lower-tier base damage went up to compensate (T1: 3→4, T3: 5→6). Headshot and crit multipliers settled at 1.5× from 2.0× — tighter variance, stronger baseline. Tier V took a deliberate damage nerf (8→6) to keep it in range of the newly buffed mid-tiers.
changedSteam post image Kills that read correctlyZombie deaths now show damage-type visuals — normal hits, crits, and headshots each look different on screen. Tombstones spawn with random rotation instead of uniform rows. A Chain Lightning HUD bug is also gone: enemy HP bars were flickering every time lightning hopped between targets, which got confusing in big waves.
Tesla Rifle went7→10↑Tesla Rifle went increased, buffAll slingshot tiers shed one burst shot (Tier I:3→2↓All slingshot tiers shed one burst shot (Tier I: decreased, nerfAll slingshot tiers shed one burst shot (Tier I: 3→2, Tier III:5→4↓All slingshot tiers shed one burst shot (Tier I: 3→2, Tier III: decreased, nerfTier V took a deliberate damage nerf (8→6↓Tier V took a deliberate damage nerf ( decreased, nerf
Survival Machine changes
changedThree Health Potions are now craftable for the first time — Small (restores 20 HP), Standard (30 HP), and Large (40 HP). Each shares a 10-second cooldown, so you can't chug through a zombie wave. Hotbar slot 0 is now the dedicated potion slot. All 16 launch languages have potion descriptions ready.
fixedWith the radius fixed, base damage was recalibrated upward: Tesla Rifle went 7→10, and the Tesla Revolver picked up two extra rounds (clip 4→6) plus a small damage bump (17→18).
changedAll slingshot tiers shed one burst shot (Tier I: 3→2, Tier III: 5→4, Tier V: 7→6) while lower-tier base damage went up to compensate (T1: 3→4, T3: 5→6). Headshot and crit multipliers settled at 1.5× from 2.0× — tighter variance, stronger baseline. Tier V took a deliberate damage nerf (8→6) to keep it in range of the newly buffed mid-tiers.
changedZombie deaths now show damage-type visuals — normal hits, crits, and headshots each look different on screen. Tombstones spawn with random rotation instead of uniform rows. A Chain Lightning HUD bug is also gone: enemy HP bars were flickering every time lightning hopped between targets, which got confusing in big waves.
Hey Survivors!
Zombiestein's been suspiciously quiet, which usually means the crew on the Machine is fixing things before the next attack.
Steam post image Health Potions join the Machine's medicine cabinet
Three Health Potions are now craftable for the first time — Small (restores 20 HP), Standard (30 HP), and Large (40 HP). Each shares a 10-second cooldown, so you can't chug through a zombie wave. Hotbar slot 0 is now the dedicated potion slot. All 16 launch languages have potion descriptions ready.
Steam post image Tesla weapons: calibrated, then buffed
The Tesla electric weapons — the Chain Lightning line that arcs voltage between zombie groups — had a sphere cast radius locked at 1.0 when it should have been 0.3. Roughly an 11× volume difference. Shots were connecting with geometry they shouldn't, skipping enemies they should have tagged.
With the radius fixed, base damage was recalibrated upward: Tesla Rifle went 7→10, and the Tesla Revolver picked up two extra rounds (clip 4→6) plus a small damage bump (17→18).
Steam post image Slingshot: fewer shots, each one matters
All slingshot tiers shed one burst shot (Tier I: 3→2, Tier III: 5→4, Tier V: 7→6) while lower-tier base damage went up to compensate (T1: 3→4, T3: 5→6). Headshot and crit multipliers settled at 1.5× from 2.0× — tighter variance, stronger baseline. Tier V took a deliberate damage nerf (8→6) to keep it in range of the newly buffed mid-tiers.
Steam post image Kills that read correctly
Zombie deaths now show damage-type visuals — normal hits, crits, and headshots each look different on screen. Tombstones spawn with random rotation instead of uniform rows. A Chain Lightning HUD bug is also gone: enemy HP bars were flickering every time lightning hopped between targets, which got confusing in big waves.
Steam post image Recipe costs: compressed
49 food and gear recipes went through a pass — more food variety (Fortitude, Sprint, Strength, TempHP buffs are now craftable), ingredient costs reviewed. A second pass raised prices on the cheapest items slightly and dropped the most expensive, narrowing the early-to-endgame cost gap.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
18 days out. What's the one thing you'd still change before 1.0? Drop it in Discord or Steam discussions — we're still in the pass.
