Hi Everyone,

In this update I want to address one of the areas where I've received a lot of feedback. Many of you are asking for some flexibility to change the starting Mechs, as well as some control over which parts can drop in a run. In 0.7 you get both.

Decks

While I completely understand the desire to choose which parts you get during a run, there has to be some variability, or the gameplay will become stale. The solution? Decks.

After you reach 1,000 keys (get keys by winning battles) you can choose which parts are available to drop during a run, and which ones won't. You still don't know exactly which ones you'll get, but if there are some you really don't like you can completely avoid them. You can save up to 4 different decks, and switching between them is very easy.

Starting Mechs and Parts

Even before 0.1 I knew I wanted to add some options for you to configure the Mechs you start with (unlike in games like Slay the Spire, where you always start with the same cards). The only question was how to do that without compromising the variety of the runs: if you always have the same parts, runs will start to feel the same.

The solution has been to attach a credit cost to switching parts. Then there's a strategy to the starting pars. You can select a few parts you really like and rely on basic parts for the rest, or make do with whatever drops randomly (based on the deck you set up) or even start with very few parts and get a bigger random collection. The current costs are susceptible to change based on feedback.

Other Changes

A couple more changes that are interesting to discuss:

• Halloween event has ended, for now. Expect parts of it to come back in the future in some form.
  
• The energy cap has been raised (after improvements). The new maximum is now 40 (used to be 20). You should get the new increased value based on how many improvements you've got.
  
• Sandbox is now accessible from the Main Menu, and you can have a sandbox run and a regular run at the same time.
  
• Beating the final boss will now award you an extra 200 keys.
  
• Running the tutorial will force you to use the original Mech team, otherwise "bad things" can happen.
  
• Added Frame Rate Limit in Graphics Settings
  
• Bunch of small fixes
  

Balance Tweaks

As you saw in the post about data, I've been analyzing the game to find balance issues. This has resulted in a few tweaks, mostly along these lines:

• Lower the damage done by the Swarm at basic difficulty. This should result in fewer one-hit-kills and make the health economy more viable (relying on surviving hits and healing).
  
• Reduce the buff stacking somewhat, in particular for guns with buffs that lasted 2 turns. Because this was so over-powered, people were feeling frustrated when they couldn't get these combinations.
  
• Increase the toughness of the Swarm at higher difficulty. Some really good players have been showing me the game is not challenging enough for them...
  

Here's the detailed list of changes:

Swarm Damage

• Deathstalker, Snapper, Rhinotaur, Arthropod, Toad, Hopper, Carapace, Moth, Sandworm Larva damage reduced
  
• Hound, Centipede damage reduced in challenge 0, increased in challenge 9+
  
• Wrecker, Tetrapod, Basilisk, Blob do more damage in challenge 3+
  
• Pincer damage adjusted
  
• Reaper damage increased
  
• Tyrant, Scourge Larva, Wimp damage increased in challenge 9+
  

Swarm Health

• Crawler, Wrecker, Deathstalker, Hornet, Arachnid, Pincer, Scourge, Tetrapod, Centipede, Arthropod, Basilisk, Bullhead, Carapace, Reaper, Wimp, Moth and Sandworm Larva gain more health in challenge 2+
  

Swarm Other

• Hopper can't dodge Neutralizer anymore
  
• Tetrapod can only move 2 tiles in challenge 2, still 3 in challenge 8+
  

Mech Parts

• Gatling gun energy cost raised to 8
  
• Fighter Drone energy cost raised to 6
  
• Medic Drone energy cost raised to 5
  
• Drone 2.0 damage nerfed to 3-4
  
• Bullseye damage bonus is now 3 (4 after upgrade)
  
• Armor Gun 2.0 gives 7 armor for 1 turn
  
• Damage Gun gives 2 damage, Damage Gun 2.0 gives 3 damage for 1 turn
  
• Missile Pod and Mega Missile Pod now have 1-turn cooldown
  
• Chain Reaction only gets an extra action after a kill once
  
• Commando, Eagle Eye and Protector have cross-shaped adjacency until upgraded
  
• Eagle Eye upgrade no longer grants extra range to the Mech itself
  

And as usual a reminder to join our Discord if you want to get these changes before anyone else, and if you're enjoying the game I'd really appreciate it if you could leave a positive review if you haven't already.

/Sergio