We've gotten a lot of feedback from players that essentially boils down to the feeling that the game opens up too slowly at the beginning. And you know what? That's fair! Also there are some things from the original game that players are bummed about not having in Crashlands 2 (the Compendium in particular). And, well, that's ALSO fair!

We just released Patch 1.0.9, which helps out with a bunch of stuff people were running into in the early game, and we're also ready to announce our plans for the next couple of major patches 👀

Patch 1.0.9

✅ Available now!

Gameplay & Progression

• Rayblade Shanker is now part of the Rascal set, applies bleeds, and has had its overall damage increased. That should make early combat a lot more fun!
• Baarli's letter will no longer end up in your DED dummy when you die. WHOOPS.
• Butterpads insight has been sped up a bit. Don't waste the 20 seconds of your life we gave back to you!
• Removed Impaala's Staff as a component of the Stalking Stick, so if you never found it, THAT'S OKAY! (This was the only weapon you found on the map instead of crafting, but since it was previously required to craft the next staff then players could only play with staffs if they found the first one.)
• Added an additional dock to the abandoned Haarlipol cabin to make it easier to get in from the back.

User Interface

• Added a 6th loadout slot, for those who really like to experiment with equipment
• Buddies will now show an icon over their head if they have available Insights but aren't researching them. Previously there was no way to know they had unresearched Insights unless you opened that menu, so people would sometimes go a long time without pushing their research forwards.
• If you open the home UI and there are buddies who aren't researching, the home UI will default to the Insights tab. This also helps keep your research flowing!
• The low-health fullscreen effect will now show more visibly as soon as you drop below 40% health. Early players often didn't notice this, so they wouldn't realize they needed to heal to STAY SAFE.
• Fixed an issue where placing a nest would sometimes show items in your build mode selector that you normally wouldn't be able to use in Build Mode.

Map Improvements

• Jems on the world map are now represented by a Jem icon instead of a yellow circle. A point for THEMATIC CONSISTENCY!
• A Space Wok map marker will now show up once you've placed Graal's floors, and it will go away when you pick up the Wok. That should help the newcomers realize it's there in the first place.
• There is now a marker on the world map to direct you where to find Jak in the first JEF once you've spoken with Snak. If that sentence made sense to you then you're ON YOUR GAME.
• Juicebox is now marked on the map after getting the Raychete until freed. A lot of people forgot why they were supposed to make the Raychete in the first place and wandered off. Poor Juicebox. Trapped in the bushes forever.
• Eenid and Meervyn are now shown on the map before you've made your choice of whom to apprentice with.
• A map marker for the cabin has been added for placing Graal's floors. Some new players were just sorta wandering off, so this should get them back on track.
• Emblaa is now map marked if Matt tells you about her. What, you don't want to just RANDOMLY SEARCH the ENTIRE WORLD? Back in my day we didn't even have maps! Kids these days, I tell ya.
• Additional map markers for the cabin have been added after freeing Juicebox. Again with the wandering off.
• Soon's planters are now map marked in Threshold.
• Oowee is now marked on the map as soon as you enter Haarlipol. Did I mentioned the wandering?

Quests

• Moved Oowee's Hearth quest to start after giving Emblaa overpowering stinkbait instead of after fishing up the box.
• Emblaa should no longer leave Maarla's Mantle until after you've completed her 'Fishing up the Box' quest, and should fire her Mantle quests only within the mantle.

Roadmap (1.1 and 1.2)

Whew, 1.0.9 had a bunch of things! But those were all just to make improvements with what is already in the game. We've got some big plans for upcoming patches that we're starting work on RIGHT NOW! We don't have an ETA on these, but we'll keep you informed as we progress.

Patch 1.1: The Enslickening!

🚀 In progress!

We've heard you that some stuff in the game is just too hard, or slow, or annoying, or confusing... So we're making some big improvements!

The Compendium

Back by popular demand, we will be adding a new tab to the in-game menu that shows you a list of all the creatures, critters, robots, and resources you've encountered on your adventures. With the power of THE COMPENDIUM, you'll go from being confused and lost to just lost!

Cozy Mode

Some of our players want an EVEN MORE chill experience than what Chill Mode offers. We'll be adding another difficulty mode that is designed to tone down combat encounters dramatically, allowing you to just vibe and never feel a sense of impending doom.

Earlier Versatility

We got a variety of feedback that all pointed to one thing: early game combat doesn't have enough variety. Once you get into the end of Act 1 and beyond you have tons of ways to mix and match items for different playstyles, but at the beginning there's really just one. So, to open up more build variety earlier in the game and give more choices right off the hop, we'll be backfilling some weapons and items so players can access them much sooner.

Nighttime Visibility Boost

A bunch of people noted that nighttime is AWFULLY DARK, especially in Withered areas and in the darker parts of Marlaa's Mantle. Depending on a person's device it could be a lot darker than we even intended, and depending on a person's eyeballs what we intended was often just too dark anyway! So we'll be tweaking some things to make that less of a problem.

Controller Tweaks

We'll be looking at ways to allow more flexibility in controller keybinds so people can finally use the exalted and holy "A" button instead of the disgusting and evil Right Trigger, for certain interfaces.

Patch 1.2: FLEX!

❌ Not yet started. After 1.1!

Patch 1.2 will add a CUSTOM GAME MODE that allows for customizable difficulty by playing with a whole bunch of different aspects of game balance. Turn knobs, flip dials, and curate your perfect Crashlands 2 experience!

Also other stuff, probably. But we don't want to commit to anything specific until 1.1 goes out.

FIN

Thanks so much for you feedback and patience as we get these final coats of paint slapped onto the game. Keep it coming!

💖 Happy Gaming!

P.S. The Discord is poppin' off with people helping each other out, sharing tips on loadouts, sharing their fancy home bases, etc. It's a great place to hang out!