Hi everyone!

We continue to release weekly updates, but unfortunately, the previous three weeks were difficult because our office was hit by corona. ːsteamfacepalmː

On the plus side, today marks the release of the first boss reworks update. ːsteamhappyː
To make sure that the bosses are sufficiently stable and balanced, we will revamp each boss individually and release them separately.

We will begin with the highest boss and work our way down to the first boss in order to reduce the amount of new players' confusion over the new mechanics.

Instead of being reworked like the other bosses, the final boss will be further polished and given a hardmode for those who want to challenge themselves.

Boss Modules

The addition of boss modules is a significant component of the boss reworks.
All linked modules of a boss module must be unlocked inside the Workshop before they can be used in the boss fights.

Depending on the boss tier and how well you did at defeating the boss throughout the fight, all equipped modules get combat experience at the end of a fight. This means that you will gain some experience even if you lose a battle, yet winning a battle will always be more rewarding.
The level of a module and the combat experience gained during boss battles influence its power.

In order to prevent unequipped modules from falling too far behind if you don't use them, there is a skill that grants them a tiny amount of experience after each fight.

Boss modules provide several advantages over upgrades, including the fact that they don't reset each tier and create a sense of overall progress.
The Statue Of Cubos' biggest problem was that the progression was entirely dependent on player skill and offered no other means to proceed, which absolutely did not fit the theme of an incremental game.

Boss Abilities

At tiers 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, and 21 (the Fibonacci sequence), bosses will get additional powers that add new game mechanics.
The stats of the bosses and the stats of their abilities will change between and after these tiers. Cast times might get shorter, damage might increase, the duration of negative effects might get longer, and so on.
The goal is to tie progression towards higher tiers to fight difficulty rather than fight duration in order to avoid a monotonous progression.

Boss 4

Even though it hasn't been completely reworked yet, Dodecai is the first boss that we're releasing in a revised state. Because the boss abilities for tiers 8, 12, and 21 are not yet completed, we are releasing it with a tier cap of 7.

This early release will also give us the chance to get your opinions on the new boss fight and the introduction of boss modules.
This allows us to include your feedback into the general balancing of the fight while we're working on those abilities.

Some cards are now added via boss modules, and the default deck is significantly smaller.
You may now develop new strategies and play styles because you have more control over the cards in your deck.

Different combinations of boss modules will be more practical at different tiers, even though progress towards higher tiers will still also be dependent on module stats.
Without using any boss modules, it is still possible to beat Dodecai tier 1.

Tower Testing Statistics

The advanced statistics tracking during tower testing is another feature we have been working on in the meantime.
Previously all values were simply a sum of a recorded total amount either presented directly or divided by the total runtime. A more intricate system that enables you to view specific information across preset periods of time has been added.

For instance, the newly added 'kills per second' statistic will be able to show you your average kills per second for the previous 10 seconds, 1 minute, 1 hour, etc. along with a visual representation in form of a graph to show the gradual change of that specific value over time.
The entire system also requires only a few KB of RAM at most per stat at most meaning it will not put a strain on memory usage which was our main concern when developing the underlying system to handle the data.

Technically speaking, this feature is prepared and operational in the current build, however from a UI perspective, it still requires work before it is ready for release.

TL;DR;

Bosses now have modules instead of upgrades and gain new abilities/mechanics with higher tiers instead of just stat increases.
Boss 4 allows for more variation since you have more control over cards in your deck.
More advanced statistic tracking and visualizing is being worked on.


Please let us know what you think of these changes in the comments! ːsteamhappyː

Changelog

Boss 4 Rework

• added card 'Void Breaker'
  
• added card 'Flying'
  
• added card 'Flying Tank'
  
• added card 'Toxic Ward'
  
• added card 'Heal Ward'
  
• added card 'Dummy Ward'
  
• added particle effect when units are destroyed
  
• added indicator when units are buffed
  
• added UI elements to show the current deck and discard card count
  
• added boss abilities for tier 2, 3 and 5
  
• slightly improved path logic so units don't get stuck
  
• increased max. tier to 7
  
• increased damage of card 'Fire Storm'
  
• increased damage of card 'Lightning'
  
• reduced costs of card 'Frost Nova'
  
• increased radius of card 'Frost Nova'
  
• rebalanced boss health
  
• rebalanced boss spell damage
  
• rebalanced boss unit health
  
• rebalanced boss unit damage
  

New Stuff

• added upgrade to 'thermal generator' in Power Plant
  
• added hints to 4 achievements
  
• added 'total kills' to the in-game statistics screen
  
• added skill 'Jack Of All Trades' to Statue Of Cubos
  
• added skill 'Public Training' to Statue Of Cubos
  
• added exotic skill 'Eternal Conflict' to Statue Of Cubos
  
• added module 'L.O.S.O. Drone System'
  

Changes

• changed max. module tier of '<element> Block' to 250
  
• changed max. module tier of 'Evasion' to 250
  
• changed max. module tier of 'Shelter' to 250
  
• changed max. module tier of 'Incineration' to 250
  
• changed max. module tier of 'Unholy Missile' to 250
  
• changed max. module tier of 'Lifesteal' to 250
  
• changed max. module tier of '<element> Subsistence' to 250
  
• started reworking in-game statistics screen
  
• Statue Of Cubos saves last selected boss
  
• era and infinity tabs are available right from the start if the highscore of the current region/difficulty exceeds era/infinity
  

Fixes

• fixed exotic producer and gem producer requiring 100 items instead of 5 in order to be scanned
  
• fixed assassins sometimes printing a debug message in the log when hovering over them
  
• attempted to fix boss 2 height issue
  
• fixed era health/damage dividers being upgradeable beyond their maximum using x5 or x25
  

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