Hey, everyone,

Lex here, the head of Doghowl studio.

Just wanted to say a huge "Thank you" to all of you for your support during these first days. We know they are crucial—we are working very hard to address your feedback, and we really appreciate all of the ideas, kind words, and constructive criticism.

We are rolling out a big hotfix today; check out the full patch notes below. We are increasing the max stash size, improving merc movement, increasing stamina and sprint speeds, reducing hostile drones’ visibility range, nerfing AI mutants, and much more. Also, we’re issuing daily ban waves to battle cheaters. If you encounter any, don't hesitate to report them to us on this subforum.

🛠️ HOTFIX 2 🛠️

Merc Changes

• Increased stash size provided by stash upgrades by 50% total; [Developer’s note: any upgrades you purchased previously (through upgrades or supporter pack) are retroactive and will increase your stash size right away]
• Doubled the stack size of all bullet types (e.g., 60 9mm ammo can now stack as 120);
• Reduced character’s inertia so movement feels a bit more predictable;
• Increased mercenary’s sprint speed by 10%;
• Increased mercenary’s stamina by an additional 15%;
• Reduced jump cost from 12.5 to 10 stamina;
• Reduced the landing sound volume;
• Reduced the stamina recovery cooldown from 3 seconds 1,5 seconds; [Developer’s note: once you’re out of stamina, it will start regenerating faster]

Alien Changes

• Reduced glowstick damage from 50 to 40;
• Reduced damage of flashlight, UV lamp, and flashlight in close range by 10%;
• Increased alien’s stamina by an additional 15%;
• Increased melee attack sound volume so it’s better heard by mercs during gunfights;
• Removed merc’s helmet flashlight damage; [Developer’s note: flashlight damage, even though it was small, triggered attack speed reduction for aliens—this should only happen from items and main lights now]

The Caves of Turion Map

• Reduced AI Hostile Drones’ visibility range from 25m to 15m;
• Increased sound radius of big gates and warehouse gates;
• Changes spawn points on Caves of Turion so Mercs spawn a bit further away from each other and can’t instantly see the lights in other mercs’ squad spawn;
• Reduced the number of mines per sector from 15 to 10;
• Increased the amount of AI Hostile Drones in the warehouse to 3;

Other Changes

• Reduced mutants HP from 100 to 80;
• Improved camera shake from mutant attacks and shots slightly for better feedback;
• Bug Fixes
• Fixed an issue where the player's mouse would suddenly twitch after shooting.
• Fixed an issue where mutants and environmental damage did not trigger visual attack feedback on mercs;
• Fixed an issue where players could see their eyes when they spawned;
• Fixed an issue that caused dead bodies to drop through the elevator’s floor;
• Fixed an issue that caused weapons that players dropped through the elevator’s floor;

Here are some of the changes & additions we will introduce early next week with the next hotfix:

• One-click in-game cheater report system to speed up bans;
• Aliens will start getting additional credits for killing mercs - by getting a cut of their inventory value;
• New firearm: SKAR-7 Assault Rifle with 7.62x51mm caliber;
• UX Improvements that will highlight ammo/modules for selected guns in stash and trade;
• More cosmetic items available for in-game currency;
• More bug fixes and ongoing balancing.

If you want to support us right now, please leave a review on Steam—we read all of them, constructive feedback is invaluable for us, and every ‘Thumbs up’ on Steam helps the game more than you can imagine.

📝We’re also working on the following changes that are high on our priority list but will be coming a bit later in the upcoming weeks:

• Matchmaking region selection - so you’re never taken to a different region unwillingly;
• Experimental solo queue mode (for solo players only);
• Increasing rewards for solo players that queue into regular trio matches;
• Tackling ‘clunky’ feel: Animation improvements for merc;
• Tackling ‘clunky’ feel: Snappier quick slot item swapping with clearer feedback;
• Improvement of server response for alien skills usage, such as EMP, to remove a short lag between skill usage and an actual effect;
• Reworking alien egg trap placement. We’ll improve basic egg placement, and aliens will also be able to set egg traps near mercs - but those eggs will take a bit more time to activate, giving mercs time to react.

📝Last but not least, we want to set the record straight regarding monetization.

There is a Supporter Pack, which is a great way for you to further support our studio. The items from that pack provide some temporary quality-of-life head start at the beginning of each wipe but do not provide any substantial advantage over other players. And it will stay that way. We believe in a fair playing field, and that is impossible when you can get high-level armor or weapons every time you swipe your credit card. Level Zero: Extraction will never have P2W mechanics, you will not be able to purchase in-game currency or gear with real money.

Our Early Access journey has just begun, and we are determined to evolve LZE into one of the best extraction titles on Steam.

Kind regards,
Lex & the Doghowl Team