V2.2
Features
Features
Bug Fixes
UI & Tooltip ImprovementsThere are various changes to the UI Panel and tooltips primarily aimed at making the game more intuitive and accessible for new players. Some of these changes will take a bit of getting used to for experienced players.
Chat Panel
Renamed Orbital Abilities
The old names are incredibly bland, this makes them sound more appealing and also suggests the role of the ability.
This is to avoid confusion with the similarly named Amplifier structure. “You have built an Amplifier but you haven’t Amplified the point”
These new names are a matter of consistency and allow new players to instantly identify what these abilities do. Avatar is an ambiguous name, but Call Avatar is obvious. Every summon ability now has “Call” in front of it (except for Deploy Incursion and Engineer Drop)
Grid LocationsThe grid layout of units and Orbital buildings has been rearranged in order to:
For example, Zeus and Avenger share the same tile, likewise for Orbital Fabricator and Gateway. This makes swapping between the factions and memorising the units and counter system easier, as well as finding the more common units and using hotkeys for them. Not everything can be aligned perfectly as some units are unique to that faction.
New Unit Panel
Renamed Building Panel
Economy structures sounds better grammatically and is a more recognisable RTS term.
A new player is going to have no idea what Orbitals means, whereas Technology (Tech) is a general RTS term which players will identify. Technology also more accurately describes the purpose of these buildings as they unlock new units as well as the orbital abilities. Naming them Orbital buildings was probably done before they unlocked new units. This also avoids the term “Orbitals” conflating the abilities and the structures.
New Building Panel
Tooltips
Weapon Tooltips
Orbital RearrangementIn order to make the grid layout of Orbitals more intuitive and easier to learn for new players, we are making the following adjustments:
Map OptionsThe maps options were incredibly unintuitive and confusing for new players. We have improved them to be more readable and easier for players to use. Changes made:
BalanceAside from obviously making the game more balanced and fair, these pillars served as the goal for this patch.
Remove Double CappingOne of the most significant changes is to Prevent double capping before creeps spawn. In high level games, players are able to capture two points at the start of the game before the creeps spawn by boosting the Nexus with the first Engineer or by calling down an Emergency/Serpentine Turret. This was not intentional, and we view double capping as a frustrating dynamic and we want to remove it for the following reasons:
This is being achieved by increasing Engineer build time and delaying some Orbital abilities. to compensate, Engineers will be receiving a cost reduction to allow for a much faster Factory to get into the action.
FactionsPHCThe starting storage of 500 was too punishing compared to Substrate who have unlimited storage, even at a high level it was difficult to avoid wasting resources by maxing out 500 storage. Increasing the starting resources of PHC gives new them a more breathing room where resources are not wasted.
Misc UnitsEngineers & ConstructorsThe Engineer and Constructor were extremely fragile for their cost of 400. Losing an Engineer in the early game was disastrous and it often happened instantaneously before the player had a chance to respond. This was frustrating, especially for new players, and it also made Dominator and Furies far too potent at harassment, overshadowing the Punisher and Hades.
Engineer
Constructor
HarvesterThe Harvester is incredibly fragile compared to the PHC Refinery. Not only does it have a pitiful amount of HP, it is also vulnerable to interceptors due to being an air unit. It’s still going to be weaker to compensate for its ability to move between points, but its health will be more fair.
FrigatesFrigates would lose relevancy after the first few minutes as they were easily countered by Cruisers. We want Frigates to fill a bigger role in the counter system and be more effective against Cruisers as there are so many other ways to counter them on top of their lack of scaling with upgrades.
HermesThe Hermes did not perform enough recon for its cost to provide enough value. We are increasing its recon abilities to make it more desirable.
BruteWith the nerfs to the Medic, the Brute and Archer need buffs in order for PHC frigates to be viable against Athena/Maulers as well as Reapers.
Archer
MedicThe Medic’s heal rate was too high, large numbers of Medics gave Cruisers and structures too much durability. It is also getting a movement speed reduction to prevent it from automatically running forward in front of other units.
MartyrThe Martyr was too weak compared to other Frigates and didn't fill any purpose compared to the Reaper. The Martyr is now very powerful but lacks the armor piercing and range of the Reaper.
ReaperThe Reaper had a very high desired attack range which made it kite backwards away from enemy units. This made the Zeus ineffective against Reapers since it would rarely be able to get within range to use its main weapon. This will make the counter system function better.
CapacitorThe Capacitor had a large energy storage, but once it depleted it took too long to regenerate. It also had far too much health which made it exploited as a cheap damage soak. We are Increasing its energy regeneration in exchange for lowering its health to make it perform its intended role as a support unit more reliably. It is also getting a movement speed reduction to prevent it from automatically running forward in front of other units.
Sky CleanserThe Sky Cleanser over performed with too much health and damage, yet it had inconsistent damage due to its low accuracy. It is getting an accuracy increase in exchange for less damage to provide more reliable damage output but also heavily nerfed overall. (Also affects neutral anti-air creeps)
Cruisers
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