Hello Mercs!

I'm excited to bring you the second major content update to Dead Grid! This update includes some new features, many quality of life changes, a new game mode, a new Enforcer merc, new music tracks, many small visual upgrades and bug fixes.

Here is a quick overview with the full patch notes at the bottom of the post.

NEW FEATURE - REGION NOISE

All generated or reduced noise during a mission is now tracked and consolidated at the end to spawn a random game modifier. These modifiers are similar to the event cards drawn in combat but last the entire span of your next mission instead of a single turn.


Active modifiers can be seen on the right side of the play board during a combat encounter. In addition to the modifiers created by your noise tactics, different locations have permanent modifiers associated with them. An enclosed area can result in less noise, while an open area can produce an echo to increase the noise.

NEW FEATURE - SURVIVOR ASSIGNMENTS

The design of the region has always been to provide a set of themed mission locations, offering different environments, enemy types and varied loot. To expand on this further, I've added a new system called Assignments. You can think of assignments as jobs given by the survivors to collect items, kill specific enemies and interact with unique area objects.

This feature acts as a foundation for allowing me to introduce objectives that span across multiple region locations, eventually leading to a victory condition.

During this initial phase, I've limited the selection of assignments to simple tasks so the feature can be tested. I will be balancing and adding new assignments with unique rewards which cannot be found from random drops or the vendor.

NEW GAME MODE - EASY

I'm aware of reviews, forum posts and Discord suggestions related to the balance issues and I've been reviewing all the feedback. I plan to keep revisiting this with every update, but keep in mind the game balance is frequently changing with new features, items, abilities, etc. This makes fine-tuning all the balance tricky with all the changes, especially at this stage of Early Access. For the time being I've added a new EASY game mode as an optional way to reduce the difficulty.

If you're having problems playing on NORMAL, you can try switching to the EASY mode in Game Settings (between missions). As long as you're playing on NORMAL, you do not need to start a new game to try the EASY mode.

I have not forgotten the HARD mode players and plan to add a new mode with harder challenges and permadeath to mercs. This mode needs more development time, so probably in 1-2 updates.

MERCS

Due to the popular request, mercs can now be removed from the mission squad while keeping their equipped gear. This is enabled by default and is a toggle in squad management. In addition, equipped accessories and gadgets are now always shown on the merc cards.


A new fully voiced Enforcer merc added to the game, named Tim. There are now a total of 3 Enforcers available to the player.

NEW TACTICIAN PASSIVE ABILITY

Having at least one Tactician merc in play increases your maximum hand size from 6 to 7 cards, allowing you to keep more cards in your hand every turn. This activates as soon as any Tactician gets played on board (into combat).

Note, I do plan to spend more time on revamping Tactician skills, specifically on their first skill tree in a future update.

DUPLICATE CARD STACKING IN GEAR MANAGEMENT

Duplicate cards now stack which should help reduce some of the clutter in your arsenal. Keep in mind, weapons must be the same name and item level to stack otherwise it would be difficult to manage when equipping or selling.

NEW HORDE MECHANIC

I've been working on an overhaul to the hordes. While the full feature needs more development time, I'm including a small change in this update. Active hordes now affect nearby region locations. When playing a mission affected by a nearby horde, extra enemies can be alerted to join your imminent threat. These enemies are not pulled from the distant enemy pile. You can combat this by trying to kill the enemies on board quicker or go after the roaming hordes.

CONSUMABLE UPGRADES

Many consumable items such as ammo and healing cards can now be upgraded into more beneficial variants. Not all consumables have been migrated yet and the trade values will need more balance.

ACHIEVEMENTS

15 new achievements added to the game for a total of 155. This update adds 55 in-game achievements to Steam and all your previously unlocked achievement should sync up when you load a saved game.

AUDIO

- 5 new music tracks to keep your blood flowing while slaying the restless undead.
- Tactician character Aiden has been fully voiced replacing her computer generated voice.




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

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FULL PATCH NOTES - EA 0.2.24

MAJOR CHANGES

• New feature Region Noise, available at the bottom of the Region Map.
  
• New feature Survivor Assignments, available on the right side of the Region Map (replacing Region Control).
  
• Both Region Noise and Assignments features are hidden until completing mission Meet Slade at least once on a new save.
  
• New horde mechanic enabling active hordes to affect nearby region locations.
  
• Duplicate weapons, accessories, gadgets and consumable cards now stack in gear management.
  
• Tactician passive skill has been changed to also allow max cards in hand from 6 yo 7. Max hand size changes as soon as any Tactician merc gets played on board.
  
• Mercs removed from missions squad now keep their equipped gear. This is also a toggle at the top of mission squad in gear management.
  
• Easy Mode, can be selected when starting a new game. Easy and Normal modes can be toggled in game settings while in camp, but not during a mission. Hard mode cannot be changed to Normal or Easy.
  
• Completely reworked combat stats UI (bottom left corner) with new art and improved tools tips. The new combat event log can be disabled in Game Settings - Cobmat.
  
• New fully voiced Enforcer merc Tim.
  

GENERAL CHANGES

• Equipped gadgets and accessories are now shown on merc cards in gear management.
  
• Survivor Brie has been reworked wth consistent reward chance and a limited time she can be used on a mission. Intel upgrades increase this limit. This is a balance change to her ability combined with skills Multiple Solutions and Quick Learner.
  
• Some consumable items can now be upgraded to better quality variants with more items to be added soon.
  
• Absorbed damage by items like armor accessories is now indicated in the card log when taking damage.
  
• Dropped ammo is now kept as loot or stashed away from the hand zone. This was a common request in player feedback.
  
• Hovering over Loot Haul cards now shows details of items collected on a mission.
  
• New Gear tab has been added to show collected valuable items, so they are no longer mixed with consumables.
  
• Gadget Spare Parts now offers additional draw chances if equipped on an Enforcer merc.
  
• New artwork for card frame AP stat icons.
  
• New artwork for the area cleared pending loot dialog.
  
• New artwork for the Find Ammo/Food/Drink/Accessory/Weapon cards that appear at the start of every turn.
  
• New artwork for Gear management left nav tabs.
  
• New artwork for all ammo cards.
  
• New artwork for all weapon mastery icons.
  
• New merc in-combat rank up animation.
  
• Neutral skill Surprise Attack now also removes an additional 25 noise on use.
  
• Neutral skills Stay Alert and Quick Break now remove 50 noise on use.
  
• Removing dead enemy bodies now also reduces 15 noise.
  
• Accessory Knife Tool can now remove locks in addition to repairs.
  
• Lock Picks gadget renamed to Lock Picks Kit.
  
• Small Toolkit no longer removes locks (replaced by a new card).
  
• Improved many tool tips throughout the game.
  
• All available mercs can now be selected when starting a new game.
  
• Region location lore (text) changes to coincide with the new assignements system.
  

NEW CARDS

• Rusty Lock Pics, cheap consumable to unlock locks, 30% chance to not consume on use.
  
• Advanced Repair Kit, new repair tool consumable.
  
• Added 10+ ranged and melee weapons offered as rewards for completing assignments.
  
• 10 new junk item cards, dropped in combat when looting objects.
  

ACHIEVEMENTS

• Added 15 new achievements to the game.
  
• All 155 in-game achievements are now on Steam (previously 100).
  
• Previously unlocked achievements not on Steam should sync up after loading a saved game.
  

AUDIO

• Merc character Aiden is now properly voiced (replacing her generated voice).
  
• 1 new camp music track
  
• 3 new combat music tracks
  
• 1 new mission complete music track (played 50% of the time).
  
• Remastered explosion sounds to slightly reduce their volume.
  

BUG FIXES

• Bunker intro animation sequence has been reworked to remove the broken walking animation.
  
• Slade's Custom shows incorrect formatting in card details.
  
• Cannot target merc with Small Toolkit to repair durability.
  
• Lock pick consumable equipped on a merc is not removed from the board UI after being auto-used.
  
• Achievements Sniper's Aim and Born to Snipe are not being tracked.
  
• Achievement Mall Rat is tracking the wrong mission location, PVPD, should be the Supermarket.
  
• Achievement Circus Acrobat indicates a 500 dodge requirement in game, but 300 on Steam.
  
• Undead take no damage from Barbed Wire or Spike Traps when attacking area objects.
  
• Fallen enemies spawn on the first tutorial mission if a new game was started after playing another save.
  
• Player is able to toggle melee/ranged weapons during an in-progress merc attack sequence.
  
• Gas Looters surviving explosions remain standing without a torso.
  
• Exploding Gas Looters frequently trigger the explosion effect multiple times, resulting in extra noise and sound clipping.
  

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

Dead Grid Discord