V2.2
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 memorizing 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)
CruisersMasochistThe Masochist was too strong for its cost and is getting its pricing fixed.
AvengerThe Avenger had an underlying design problem where it was very powerful against other Cruisers and even Dreadnaughts, instead of just the Frigates like it is supposed to. Most players under estimated how potent the Avenger is because of how quickly they die, but they are so cheap and with so much damage that armies of Avengers would take out anything (apart from buildings.) One of the reasons causing them to over perform vs Cruisers and Dreads was its high damage but low projectile speed, resulting in it overshooting and wasting shells on Frigates, which wouldn’t happen vs Cruisers due to the higher health pool. In order to make the Avenger perform the role of anti-frigate more consistently, it needed more movement speed, less damage in exchange for less health, but it also needed to get less damage in exchange for faster projectile speed. The 75% damage reduction may seem extreme, but the projectile speed buff increases DPS. It is also being properly priced for a Cruiser and losing its rapid shield regeneration compared to other cruisers.
ArtemisThe Artemis is too fragile for a Cruiser, it was destroyed far too easily and this weakness was visually unintuitive for a unit the same size as other Cruisers. We are increasing its health in exchange for a cost increase, as well as increasing its missile attack cooldown to prevent it from overperforming against Frigates. Despite this, the missiles had the wrong priorities for what they are most effective against.
ApolloThe Apollo was underperforming, and like the Artemis, it was too fragile for its size. It’s receiving an increase to its health and damage in exchange for a cost increase, while gaining some armor piercing so it scales better against heavy PHC Air craft.
AthenaThe Mauler and Athena were dominating the meta far too much and we are nerfing them to allow more different unit compositions. They are receiving a small damage reduction to the main weapon so they take longer to destroy other cruisers, as well as large damage reduction on their secondary weapons so they are much weaker against Frigates.
MaulerThe Mauler will still cost slightly more than the Athena to compensate for the incredible bonus of the Assembly producing all basic units and not costing any Radioactives.
HeraThe Hera had little health but high armor, which left it too vulnerable to armor piercing attacks. To buff the Hera as well as giving it more consistent survivability, it’s losing some armor in exchange for health.
EradicatorThe role of the Eradicator was incredibly unintuitive; it is a big slow heavy Cruiser yet it filled the role of a glass cannon, with insanely high damage but low survivability. To make the Eradicator more visually intuitive and fill a role unique to Substrate, it's get armor in exchange for losing some of its damage. The Eradicator also took too long to build and costed too little Logistics.
DestructorThe damage output of the Destructor was much less than the Artemis so it's receiving a damage buff to equalize their performance. The secondary weapon is being reduced as it was too powerful against Frigates.
CaregiverThe Caregiver healed pitiful amounts compared to even the Medic despite its area heal. It needed a huge buff to its heal rate for it to be viable, and it costed far too much logistics and took too long to build. The Caregiver will now help sustain Substrate against the AOE damage of the artillery post.
NemesisThe nemesis suffered from its chance to miss which was quite frustrating when combined with its long reload. We are increasing its accuracy so it no longer can miss and fixing its under priced logistics.
Mobile NullifierThe Mobile Nullifiers were overpriced at five times the cost of the Orbital Nullifier structure. The Mobile Nullifiers were neglected in favour of the orbital and structure jamming.
CharonThe Charon was extremely over priced and as a result was never used. It also suffered from inconsistent survivability due to low health and high armor.
DreadnoughtsDreadnoughts were rarely seen as amassing cruisers was more cost efficient on top of the investment of a Dreadnought resulted in too much lost momentum. We are globally lowering the cost of Dreadnoughts to make them more viable and increase strategic diversity. The Substrate Dreadnoughts were underperforming with no armor compared to the 90% damage reduction of the PHC Dreadnoughts, while the Overmind and Retributor had too low damage.
OvermindThe Overmind was not only the weakest Dreadnought, it also costed too much Radioactives. The Overmind now has incredibly high damage output with all the Drones, but it is still countered by mixing in anti-drone units.
RetributorThe Retributor is receiving a large damage buff to put its performance in line with the Hyperion.
PrometheusWith the addition of armor to Substrate Dreadnoughts, the Prometheus needed to get armor piercing to compensate. The Overloaded Quad Pulse Cannon ability is receiving a damage reduction as it was able to destroy some Dreadnoughts in a single volley.
SavagerSince the Substrate Dreadnoughts now have 40% armor by default, the Impenetrable Armor bonus needed to be reduced to not stack too highly.
CronusThe Damage of the Cronus against heavy base defenses was far too low, yet it was difficult to destroy with units as it would automatically back away from enemy units while firing.
Air UnitsAir rushing had become a frustrating and unfair part of the meta, so we've made a few changes to prevent air rushing from being so overwhelming.
Furies and DominatorThe Fury and Dominator are losing their ground attack as they were filling too many roles by being so potent at harassment. The Fury and Dominator now only fill the role of air superiority fighters, which will become more valued as Bombers and the newly buffed Gunships will now be required for harassment. They are also gaining some armor piercing to help their scaling against heavy PHC aircraft.
DominatorThe Dominator underperformed for its cost compared to the Fury.
PunisherThe lethality of the Punisher was too high with huge damage but low health. This meant it over performed when rushed early but once the opponent has a critical mass of anti-air it gets shot down immediately. In order for it to perform more consistently, it is losing damage in exchange for survivability. The Punisher was also too potent to be rushed out early, so it is now locked behind gateway to prevent frustrating air rushes.
HadesThe Hades was too expensive for what it offers, especially compared to Punisher.
Strategic BomberThe Strategic Bomber was too durable against anti-air without armor piercing, so we're trading some of its armor in exchange for health. We are also increasing its sight range to allow for easier target acquisition. We plan on opening up the utility of Heavy Air Bombers by allowing by allowing them to target units, but this will require a significant rebalance. In the mean time, they can now target Dreadnoughts.
Air HarbingerThe Harbinger was still suffering from too little survivability, yet it had a very high lethality. In order for proper counters to remain consistent among PHC and Substrate, the air Harbinger is receiving some armor. The Harbinger is also losing some armor piercing to make it consistent among Substrate and PHC Dreadnoughts.
Pan, Searcher & InstigatorThe air scouts were far too weak, they were shot down before they could provide any proper scouting and they didn't have enough of a sight range advantage over Air Interceptors for them to be viable. Their weapons were also completely unnecessary as they did almost no damage. Air Scouts are losing their weaponry to make their role more intuitive to new players.
Pan
InstigatorThe Instigator had issues capturing territory without flying out of the capturing radius. It’s losing some movement speed and its weak weapon is being removed so it doesn’t try engage targets.
Searcher
Air MarauderDespite being locked behind a late game structure, the Air Marauder and Air Rampager were underperforming and needed some buffs to make them viable. They are also receiving also a movement speed increase to make them feel more like air units instead of flying land units. The Air Marauder is trading some armor in exchange for health to make its survivability more consistent.
Air RampagerOn top of the Rampager having far too little health, it suffered from a bug making its main weapon ineffective. It now has a modified version of the Air Marauder's weapon with the original Rampager visuals.
BuildingsNexusWe are allowing players to build the scout planes from the Nexus to allow for more scouting early on. Players can see their opponents strategies and react instead of the “Build order Poker” where players blindly counter each other without knowing.
PHC NexusThe durability of the PHC Nexus was inconsistent compared to Substrate. It was practically immune to all damage apart from things with heavy armor piercing such as artillery and Harbinger. Increasing its health in exchange for losing armor will also make it more resistant against Air Harbinger base snipes.
AssemblyThe Substrate Assembly is a massive advantage not only because it shares all basic production, but also because it costs no radioactives. To mitigate this, we are reducing the radioactives cost of the Assembly.
Advanced Assembly & Dread LaunchThe Dreadnought production structures are getting a build time decrease to help make Dreadnoughts more viable.
Metal & Radioactives ExtractorsExtractors were too fragile and were too easily destroyed in an attack. We are increasing the health of extractors in order to make harassing them require a bit more consideration
Aviary & Advanced Sky FactoryThe Aviary and Advanced Sky Factory did not need to be locked behind the Dreadnaught production structures as they produced weaker units. We are opening up heavy air units to create more strategic diversity and counters.
Aviary
Advanced Sky Factory
Sensor Array and Listening PostThe radar towers were often neglected due to only providing minimal detection range. We are increasing the performance of the radar range makes them desirable, as well as increasing their cost and lowering health to make Radar Towers a strategic investment which form as a contention for the players and incentivise bombing runs.
Sensor Array
Listening Post
Technology Buildings (Orbitals)The pricing for tech buildings was extremely inconsistent and did not reflect their value. This resulted in little player decision making, a lack of strategic diversity and the late game tech tree being too inaccessible. Some buildings had negligible costs and were built with no consideration, while the higher tier Orbital Structures cost an hefty amount and were mostly neglected as a result. There was also a discrepancy between the costs for PHC and Substrate, where Substrate suffer due to a far higher Radioactives cost but less Metal. Tech buildings are being properly priced for their value.
Orbital Fabricator
Power Regulator
Energy Projector
Weapons Lab
Orbital Command
Energy Modulator
Gateway
Orbital Drone Relay
Subspace Streamer
Base Defenses
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