Update 1.1 is here - Rewards, Combat Strength, Unlocking and much more

Update 1.1 is here, and it’s a fairly big one! Since launch you shared a lot of feedback with me, and this update aims at tackling many of the pain points you had. Difficulty and learning curve as well as mission rewards should feel much smoother now. But as there are many different build combinations and play styles please keep the feedback coming! Of course I also haven't forgotten about the other wishes that didn’t make it into this update.

I hope you enjoy these changes and have fun with the game!

And if you have a moment, please consider leaving a review - Steam's algorithm loves reviews, it helps others to discover the game and means a lot to me!

Changed: Unlocking items

Keeping your run gear permanently unlocked was fairly hard and I understand the frustration. Securing items happened way too rarely or was too limited. These changes change the whole system and should make the system much fairer.

• Securing items for credits to unlock them has been removed

• Any Rescue mission ("Protect the XYZ") unlocks items upon successful completion

• Visiting a shipyard automatically unlocks items now

• Beating a hub still unlocks too

• New type of Rescue mission (Intel Beacon) has been added to later hubs

• Adding distinct rescue mission visuals to the hub map

• Codex explanation for unlocking has been updated

• Showing an indicator on the hub map if a location unlocks items

• Showing info popup on hub map when items have been permanently unlocked

• Showing item unlocking status in the loadout view in the hub map

Reworked: Reward generation

The rewarding mechanism was doing its job, but the result still felt somewhat chaotic at times and often unreliable, or could easily be exploited. There were also too many occasions when no item was granted. The system has been extensively adjusted now.

• New items from mission rewards will always start at Level 1

• Upgrades for items can now only be obtained for the immediate next level of the item

• The maximum item level rewarded from missions now differs per hub and reward level

• The Upgrade Bias for items in your inventory has an increased overall impact

• The Upgrade Bias is only applied to the immediate next level variant of an item

• The Upgrade Bias is fully applied when the item is equipped to an active slot, and half when the item is not currently equipped but only in cargo

• Upgrade Bias for Substantial and High reward levels has been increased

• A new Discovery Bias has been added, which will increase the odds of finding previously undiscovered items depending on the reward level of a mission (“undiscovered" defined as: item class not permanently unlocked yet)

• Discovery Bias is affected by the “Luck” upgrade (like the Upgrade Bias)

• Both the Upgrade and Discovery Bias impact are shown in the mission briefing in the hub map

• Increased the maximum reward item amount in high reward level missions to 4 (except for Saturn)

• Showing warnings on the mission briefing panel when no new items (cargo full case) and when no upgrades (location max item level < current items’ levels) can be obtained

• Adjusted overall reward item pool calculations

• Increased likeliness of rare items being rewarded for high reward level missions

• Added "Refabrication Kit" relic item (raises minimum item level found to 3) to support usage of newly discovered items when equipped

• Applying counter of missions without offered upgrade rewards across sessions to increase upgrade reward chances

• Showing item quality (= max level) and item variety (different types of weapons and modules) in hub selection screen per hub

• Preventing another level 1 variant of a weapon being rewarded when the highest owned variant also is level 1

New system: Encounter Opening Phase

The beginning of a mission always carried the risk of getting heavily damaged or destroyed right away if you did not evade or dodge. This was understandably disliked especially by new players und players unfamiliar with the genre. These changes significantly reduce the risk of first second obliteration and make mission feel much smoother.

• Missions have an opening phase (< 1 minute)

• During this phase, enemy accuracy, damage and aggressiveness is balanced differently

• Opening phase characteristics depend on the current hub and mission risk level

• Enemy strength will gradually increase towards the end of the opening phase to normal levels

New system: Combat Strength

The final encounter in each mission could be quite hard. At the same time, a mission’s risk level didn’t do much but define the difficulty. This new system solves both and incentivizes playing harder missions during your run - ultimately providing a better situation in the Array battle of each hub and enabling a smoother learning curve.

• The resistance in the final Array mission of a hub is now determined by the Remnant’s "Combat Strength"

• Combat strength falls in 4 categories, each getting applied when a threshold is crossed: Full, Impacted, Strained, Degraded

• Every mission you fly will reduce the enemy’s combat strength in the current run

• Combat strength decrease is determined by the risk level of a mission - the higher the risk, the bigger the impact

• Current strength is visible on the hub map

• A codex entry gives an overview of this mechanic

Other changes

• Limiting the maximum amount of enemy space fighters that can engage players simultaneously to introduce a better difficulty curve. Amount differs per hub and mission risk level and is unlimited in later hubs with high risk levels.

• Making Saturn hub grant more credits but have a smaller chance of finding undiscovered items and less items for substantial and high reward level missions

• Showing stability and combat strength directly at the Array on the hub map

• "In vain" missions now give up to one item reward

• Increased credit reward for "In vain" missions

• Removed unused "Ammo Refill" ship upgrade

• Capital ships will now show a slightly different and bigger target indicator

• Reduced the opacity of objective markers

• Showing module classification in loadout configuration at Hamilton Station ("Defensive", "Offensive", …)

• Added the ability to view the current loadout from the mission rewards selection screen

• Reduced enemy Shredder damage

• Reducing enemy turret tracking accuracy

• Removed lights from most fast-moving projectiles to improve performance - they were barely visible anyways

• Increasing stability penalty in all hubs to match Neptune

• Reducing obstacle avoidance sensitivity of capital ships

• Making most boss capital ships move slightly faster

• Slightly reducing amount of turrets on Baba Yaga

• Adjusted Behemoth turret placement

• Increased costs for “Better Prices” upgrade

• Increased costs for “Active Slot” upgrade

Bugfixes

• Fixed an issue where the hub map loadout view did not show the most recent changes, e.g. after mission rewards selection

• Fixing one of the Jupiter shipyards not decreasing stability correctly

• Fixing reloading indicator on HUD cursor being stuck after first reload

• Fixing objectives text width in missions to prevent line breaking

• Fixing text width in mission results panel when no items were found

• Fixing “Exit” and “Restart journey” on death screen both going to hub selection

• Fixing “Heavy Materials” experimental item showing speed impact twice

• Fixing shot audio being replayed when cycled into the active slot again

• Fixed a double-click issue on the hub selection map

• Fixed an issue where the hub selection got stuck when trying to start a new run after completing another