Hello assistants,

We welcome you to your new hub!

We’ve properly set the base for your future explorations of the Deflector world and made some changes in the process.

For example, you don’t need any more Virus Samples to open new mutations. Apparently, DNA you’ve been collecting from the enemies has enough research material, so you don’t need to risk contaminating the new and shiny hub.

Thanks to all the materials you’ve procured so far, we’ve found a way to adapt more powerful cells into your build.
We call them "Mega Cells."

Please make sure you’re careful when trying to assimilate with them. Though Hunter will tell you more.

Additionally, we’re changing the directive of how to get a new bio shell, well, character. Previously, you had to interact with the locals and see if it helped combat the virus.

We don’t think this furthers our research, so instead we’ll be focusing on beating the giant virus clusters, or "bosses" of the zones.

Ah right, the bio suit of the Slasher will be available to you if you lose any other shell several times during your runs. After extensive testing, it seems it can increase your survival rates in hostile environments.

As for the locals, interact with them at your discretion.

I think you'll also be pleased to know that we decided to install a new interface so we can meet "face-to-face", so to speak.

Hello, I’m Deflector AI.

Printing a full list of changes:

What’s new

The HUB has been upgraded.
DNA unlock became Upgrades, available to purchase in the new HUB.
Virus samples were removed; now mutations are unlocked with DNA.
Added narrative.
Added Mega Cells.
New characters are now unlocked through challenges.
As a temporary solution, all variants are unlocked from the beginning for the characters. This will be changed in the next update.
The quests have been reworked with new rewards.
New traits and challenges have been added.
Oogles can now be found in the hub and you can pet her.

Bugs

Fixed an issue with glass material refractions.
Fixed an issue where it was not possible to speak with some NPCs more than once.
Fixed an issue where it was possible to fall from the boss room in the prologue.

Fixes

Reinforced effect of anomaly nodes in the maps.
Fixed an issue where volatile status was lasting longer than expected.
Before the run, you can select between 3 mutations.
Health shop now sells special skills.
Cost increased from 50% to 60% of max HP.
Characters’ collision box with obstacles increased to avoid getting stuck with the environment.
Root state has been temporarily disabled.
In-game user interface updated.
Currencies are now displayed under health bar
Active icon art updated.
Bosses now drop DNA.

Balance

Mutations

Spinning Dash:

Damage per tick increased (60 > 150)

Shield Bullets

Deflected amoun of bullets to activate reduced (5 > 4)

Overcharge

Maximum possible stored bullets increased(10 > 15)
Bullets gain per deflect increased (1 > 3)
When you have duplicate mutations - amount of bullets per stack increased. (2 > 3)

Disc

When you have duplicate mutations: amount of discs spawned increases.

Long Barrel

Damage increased (80 > 100)

Bones from above

Collision box increased

Instant shield

Bullets required reduced (8 > 5)
Duration increased (1,5s > 2s)

Laser Beam

Initial width increased (2 > 4)
When you have duplicate mutations: width increased (1 > 2)

Electric Storm

Damage increased (50 > 100)
Spawn rate increased (9s > 7s)

Electroshield

Duration increased (5s>8s)

Characters

Gunslinger

Laser turret fire rate increased (0.4s > 0.3s)
Laser turret duration increased (15s > 20s)
Laser deflect turret removed.

Alpha

Damage increased (45 > 60)

Beta

Damage reduced (80 > 70)

Gamma

Damage Per Second Increased (28 > 32)

Spark