Hello Mercs!

I'm excited to bring you the first content update to Dead Grid! This update includes a lot of new items, many of which are unique, a difficult new mission, improvements to the mid-game balance and more.

Here is a quick overview of the new content. Keep in mind, not everything is revealed in these screenshots. The full patch notes are at the bottom of this announcement.

As always, thanks for all the great feedback and bug reports!

NEW GADGETS AND ACCESSORIES

A number of new accessories/gadgets have been added to handle frequent weapon jams, improve the damage of pistols and a few new mechanics left for you to discover.

Lock Picks is now a gadget. The consumable card was a frequent complaint with players forgetting to restock between missions. The original item has been changed to repair durablity, but can also open locks, so the consumable is still an option if you're not willing to give up a gadget slot on 1 merc.

NEW UNIQUE WEAPONS

These are just some of the new unique weapons added to the game.

NEW MISSION - TUNNEL EAST

This is the continuation of the tunnel mission currently in the game. Both tunnel missions are still missing the lore and survivor support which is being worked on for a future update.

NEW FEATURE - THE FALLEN

A new feature allowing you to add custom zombies to randomly appear on a mission. These zombies are easy to tell apart from the regular enemies you'd expect to see. The feature is designed for streamer engagement, but can still be used during regular play to add a bit more challenge. It's completely optional.

LEADER SKILL CHANGES

This update focuses on bringing all remaining Leader skills to have more than 1 rank. Other classes to follow soon.

MISSION SCALING CHANGES

One of the most common complaints has been the scaling of enemy HP on frequently replayed missions, especially on 10+ repeats. As the enemy's hit points increase with repeats, players start to rely on traps and fire damage with their weapons never catching up.

The solution I'm rolling out in this update is to limit this scaling to 10 repeats on every mission. After the 10th repeat the scaling for that mission stops and the player has a chance to overpower the encounters through the use of melee, guns or explosions. Keep in mind, 10 repeats on some late game missions is still not an easy task, but this also caters to the more casual players wanting to replay the earlier missions without running into a wall (the source of many complaints).

In addition, completing most missions now slightly reduces the difficulty of ONE nearby location. When a mission can reduce the difficulty of another location, you will see it indicated on the region map while hovering over the mission icon (Polaroid).

I'll be gathering more feedback, so further tuning will naturally be pushed with patches.

CHANGE YOUR STARTING MERC

Your starting merc can now be changed. They must be the only merc in mission squad before you can remove and replace them with someone else.

MG WEAPON MASTERY

Due to the popular request, weapon mastery now includes training for MG.

Good luck out in the apocalypse, the survivors count on you!

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FULL PATCH NOTES - EA 0.1.37

BUG FIXES

• Mercs cannot progress past rank 31, displaying invalid XP. Mercs can now level to rank 100 where XP stops.
  
• Closing the GEAR UI with ESC does not reopen the Region Map, leaving a blank screen.
  
• Game errors triggered by 2 specific sharp weapon attack animations.
  
• Floor clipping on mission Tunnel East and improved fps on some of the encounters in the tunnel.
  
• Issues preventing mercs from sometimes using guns after breaking their melee weapon.
  
• Incorrect damage number displayed on undead about to explode from the Bloody Meal item effect.
  
• Duplicate Slade card spawning on the final encounter of mission PVS Express.
  
• Pressing an empty Gadget loadout slot redirects to the Accessories tab instead of Gadgets.
  

GENERAL CHANGES

• The first merc in mission squad can now be changed. The merc must be the only one in mission squad to be removed.
  
• Weapon mastery now includes training for MG weapon types.
  
• Option to start the game with a forced 30 fps by setting a custom launch option --30fps in Steam's game properties.
  
• Added a new tutorial for spending the first 5 skill points on a new game.
  
• Added Steam Cloud integration to saved games.
  

CARD CHANGES

• SKILL: Vulnerability has been converted from 1 to 5 ranks.
  
• SKILL: Quick Reflexes has been converted from 1 to 5 ranks.
  
• GADGET: Gas Can has been changed to draw Molotovs more frequently when equipped on Tacticians.
  
• GADGET: Walkie Talkie has been completely reworked with a new mechanic.
  
• ACCESSORY: Deep Pockets no longer applies the ammo boost on bows, crossbows and mg weapons.
  
• WEAPON: MG weapons now apply a Heavy Weapon status, causing additional stamina loss on melee attacks.
  
• CONSUMABLE: Lock Picks has been replaced by a new card, Small Toolkit which can repair durability.
  

CONTENT

• NEW GADGETS: Gun Cleaning Kit, Lock Picks
  
• NEW ACCESSORIES: Waste Disposal, Bandolier, Quiver
  
• NEW UNIQUES: 35+ new unique melee and ranged weapons, 10+ accessories and gadgets.
  
• NEW ENEMY ABILITY: Regenerate HP of adjacent undead.
  
• NEW ENEMY ABILITY: Chance (20-80%) return to combat after being eliminated and does not apply on bosses.
  
• NEW ENEMY: 10 new hospital themed enemy types.
  
• NEW ENEMY: 1 new boss enemy appearing at the end of Tunnel East.
  
• NEW EVENT: Hungry Paramedic, spawning one of the new enemy types.
  
• NEW FAME: 10 new achievements, raising the total to 140.
  
• NEW MERC ABILITY: Total Focus, a new combat status effect applied on mercs who skipped their attack turn. Grants a 30% damage buff on the next melee or ranged attack.
  
• NEW MISSION: Tunnel East, unlocks after completing Tunnel West.
  
• NEW FEATURE: The Fallen, customize and name 10 enemies to encounter during missions. This feature is available in camp, next to the Fame button.
  
• NEW FEATURE: Undead scaling on a mission has been reworked to have a limit. This is represented with a new 0-10 bar, visible in mission details. At full bar, undead no longer scale allowing the player to eventually overpower the difficulty if they continue to repeat their favorite mission.
  
• NEW FEATURE: In addition to the capped mission scaling, completing most missions now reduces the difficulty of a nearby mission. If a mission can reduce another mission's difficulty, it will be shown on the Region Map UI by hovering over a mission location.
  

Please post your issues and suggestions in Discord or the forums. Thank you!

Dead Grid Discord