May Update! Balance Patch and QOL features! (Update 05/03)

* = Added in update on 05/03

This update brings a huge balance patch to the base game, as well as a few long-requested quality of life features! After this update, the quality of your life will be improved SO much while playing this game, it's CRAZY. You'll all be saying, "I can't believe how high quality my life is right now!"

Note: Most things we're working on are not in this patch. We've got a big update cooking, but big things take big time. Look forward to more updates soon!

New Features

• Custom tags for Beasties! After you have a couple extra recruits, you can set a Beastie's "tag," which is basically just a free text entry similar to a nickname. You can now also sort your Reserves by tag, so this gives you a tool to group your Beasties however your heart desires for easy searching. (Reserve sorting now also displays relevant text for each sorted Beastie, so if you're sorting by tag you'll see each Beastie's tag, or if sorting by level you'll see each Beastie's level, etc).
• You can now clap at online opponents! Press the clap button during an online match to show your opponent some pep! Claps are rate-limited to limit griefing. And of course, you can also disable seeing gestures from your opponent in the Settings menu.
• New hat shop added! You can now buy hats from Walter, the Jersey Weaver in Coquelicot Beach. These hats may look familiar to some players...
• New hats added to existing shops! Trat Can (in Geo City), Large Cap (in Chartreuse), Fedora (in Gamboge) and Paintbrush (in Jaspers)

Other Neat Changes

• Holding the "run" button during a sports match will now cause animations to speed up (equivalent to setting the Sport Speed to the fastest setting). This is a hidden feature for power-users.
• In Impossible Mode, any campsites/Railhouses/etc which have already been used to heal are now marked with a red ring on the map
• We made the timing window more lax for when the game client treats disconnects itself from an online lobby when no activity has been received. This should reduce the number of disconnects players experience in general.
• Bigmoon Bash: Reduced the rate of rank meter gain for players at higher ELO, with the goal of better standardizing how many matches players have to get through before they are awarded a Bash Score. We also improved analytics quality + will be tracking player winrates based on who has the first serve to see if there is any unwanted correlation.
• *Changed the visual indicator for throwing a ball so that the "aim line" is airborne. This makes it generally easier to target and also means it remains visible even when the player is standing in water.
• *Added a visual indicator when Reese's radar is active
• *Corrected issues with Bindiva pattern designs. Bindivas recruited in previous updates with certain patterns may change in appearance due to this update,

Balance Changes

Traits

• (NEW!) Stagecraft: When field has RALLY or DREAD, this Beastie never takes more than 66 damage from attacks
  • Given to Plumask in place of Performer

• Precise:
  • New effect: Non-SIDEWAYS attacks always go where they are targeted This updated effect keeps Precise effective as a tool against redirection, while allowing for more counter-play to its most annoying uses.

• Crafty:
  • New effect: Additional effects from this Beastie's attacks trigger twice

• Unflappable:
  • New effect: Damage from non-attack sources reduced by 20

• Musclebrain:
  • 1.2x damage (from 1.3x)

• Echo:
  • 1x damage (from 3/4x)

• Vampire:
  • Restores STAMINA equal to 1/4 of damage dealt (from 1/6)

• Welcoming:
  • Restores 35 STAMINA to an ally that TAGS IN for them (from 40 STAMINA)

• Stirring:
  • Reflects all FEELINGs onto BOTH opponents now (rather than just the original user)

• Goofy:
  • Updated text to read 1.3x rather than 1.5x Back in January we intended to buff this trait, but due to a version control mishap the math was never properly updated so the trait was always calculated at 1.3x. We only just discovered this issue now thanks to fan investigation. However, in the time since we falsely claimed this change had been made, Goofsder saw a lot more usage and optimization, to the point where it would now be overpowered if we actually gave it a 1.5x damage multiplier. It seems any Beastie can be strong if you simply believe in them...

Plays

• (NEW!) Demolish - Body attack, 70 POW. POW x1.5 if field has any effects. Clears all field effects.
  • Via level up
    • Millimine/Demolipede
    • Sprecko

  • Via friendship
    • Kassaleet, Deluja, Crabaret, Trat, Yamyth

  • *This attack clears field effects even when scoring a point, including when landing a free point
    
  
  
• Clear Field
  • Restores 10 STAMINA to entire team (from 8)

  Up until now, keeping the field clear has always been difficult and costly in terms of action economy. This has made it difficult to disrupt field-focused strategies including Rally, Rhythm and Trap. We're providing higher value and more convenient field-clearing tools to help mitigate the strength of these playstyles, as well as combo damage potential utilizing your own field effects.
  

• Dump
  • New effect: Mind attack, 60 POW. Used from net. Targets front row. POW x1.5 if user has 2+ ACTIONS.

  We're trying out something pretty different with one of the most-used and dominant attacks in the game. In true volleyball, a Dump is only effective when used as the 2nd touch instead of passing to a valid attacker. This new design simulates its iconic real-world counterpart. It means that Dump is still usable in all the ways it was before, but requires planning to unlock its full potential.
  

• Hyperspike
  • POW to 125 (from 135)

• Challenge
  • POW to 85 (from 90)

• Ego Blast
  • POW to 80 (from 85)

• Dive
  • POW to 55 (from 60)

  We're lowering the power level of a few plays whose strength can invalidate what should be good matchups, or offer too much consistency without enough risk
  

• Vigor Beam
  • New Effect: Body attack, 20 POW. Used at net. Add user's STAMINA to POW. This slightly flattens the curve on this attack's power, making it a little less exploitable at its best, while better clarifying how its power is calculated

• Heat Wave
  • New effect: Every non-SWEATY fielded players feels 1 SWEATY

  Combinations that utilize Heat Wave have been oppressively strong. Its capacity to add as many as 4 stacks of SWEATY to the field can make it game-warpingly powerful. This adjusted version makes the play far less valuable to use as the match wears on, and creates a distinct use case from plays like Heat Up which can continue stacking sweaty on opponents throughout the match. We have other ideas to mitigate this play's effectiveness, but we want to take the lightest touch to hopefully maintain its capacity to reward clever team building.
  

• Snipe
  • POW to 65 (from 60)

• Nerve Strike
  • POW to 55 (from 65)
  • POW x2 if target has a bad FEELING (from 1.5)

  These plays are cool but typically haven't been rewarding enough to be useful. We want to see players get more use out of these.
  

Beastie

• Debugly
  • Plays Added: Dispel, Telekinesis, Assess

• Illugus
  • Plays Added: Slice

• Magpike
  • Plays Added: Snipe
  • Plays Removed: Tracker

• Heliath/Lunaptra/Humflit
  • Plays Removed: Excited Pass

• Platypulse
  • Plays Removed: Demanding Set

• Noizard
  • 50 BDEF (from 55)
  • 85 MDEF (from 90)

• Mistic
  • 80 MDEF (from 70)

• Zefyre
  • 89 SPOW (from 92)
  • 85 MDEF (from 88)

• Hydrolm
  • 75 BPOW (from 70)

• Tortanchor
  • 70 BPOW (from 65)
  • 110 BDEF (from 115)

• Riplash
  • 55 BDEF (from 60)
  • 90 SDEF (from 95)

• Cherrily
  • 88 SDEF (from 90)
  • 57 MDEF (from 60)

• Squimage
  • 46 SDEF (from 38)
  • Plays Removed: Assess

• Plumask/Collarva/Wormask
  • Plays Removed: Assess

• Bildit/Handicoot/Bandicraft
  • Plays Removed: Assess
  • Plays Added: Meditate

  After Assess was changed to be a disruption play rather than a self-boosting one, we never properly re-examined its distribution and how it fit with different Beasties' kits.
  

• Grazada
  • Plays Added: Pep Shot

• Pladion
  • Plays Removed: Demanding Set
  • 40 BPOW (from 30)
  • 81 BDEF (from 86)
  • 70 SDEF (from 75)

• Maraptor
  • 87 BPOW (from 89)
  • 29 SPOW (from 19)
  • 85 MPOW (from 87)
  • 83 BDEF (from 85)
  • 88 MDEF (from 91)

• Mascurry
  • 97 BDEF (from 82)
  • 88 SDEF (from 91)
  • 54 MDEF (from 50)

• Diabloceras
  • 108 BDEF (from 111)
  • 83 SDEF (from 86)
  • 68 MDEF (from 71)
  • Plays Removed: Assess

Fixes and Other Changes

• Beasties are now immune to all additional feelings when they are WIPED
• Skulkapi's Stealthy trait will now fail to activate if the space they intend to move to is obstructed by a WALL
• Adjusted SP cost of field-clearing plays in the Academy shop
• Fixed a visual issue when scoring a point by hitting a WIPED Beastie through a wall
• Adjusted playbooks in the Tower Challenge
• Added a visual* delay to Scary Face (Grazada's trait) triggering such that the interaction between it and other movement effects like Stealthy is clearer
• Changed how effects that impact the target's ally trigger, such that single Beastie teams (aka ROWDY Beasties) don't get double-triggered effects
• Added much clearer/faster "start" and "end" effects for Dreadful Mist so that it's easier to tell when the effect is active
• Improved visual timing of field effect animations relative to when plays are used
• Fixed interactions between forced-switch attacks with Tornadoball with ally-triggered traits like Protector
• Changed Marlin's tutorial AI to not act as if the player has a sideways attack if their only sideways option can only target the front or back row
• Moving selection up/down on the main phone menu now loops from top to bottom and nice versa
• Beastie status icon now layers visually over Beastie art when viewing them in Reserves (more functional for Ironman)
• Slightly optimized/reduced load times for Begonia and an area of Garcinia Meadow
• Added better safety checks for recruiting new Beasties such that the number is never automatically set to be blank or over 999
• Changed damage preview so that Pressure shows boosted damage against Beasties that are not currently on the field
• Made it so that Beasties cannot sustain injuries during a critical endgame sequence during which the player can't travel
• Fixed bugs with desyncs on who has the first serve in Matchmaking Lobbies when one or more players previous played in a Private Lobby, causing some matches to never advance
• Fixed bugs with desyncs on the current ruleset during Bigmoon Bashes, causing some matches to never advance
• Added more robust logging for network activity so that we get better data when players report issues via feedback form
• Visual fixes to private online lobbies to always show the correct pose for opponents
• Made some changes to reduce unnecessary "The lobby rules have changed" messages
• Fixed a softlock that can occur when rapidly skipping cutscenes that include a scene change/level load. This impacted Speedrunners frequently!
• *Fixed a crash that occured when a team with a Stirring Plumask applied a feeling to an opposing Stirring Plumask
• *Fixed crashing issues with networked opponents using new clothing items
• *Added a visual pop-up for when Conjarr's Crpytic trait activates
• *Fixed an issue that made it impossible to erase tags on Beasties
• *Changed how smaller Beasties display on the map screen, ie. when viewing habitats or looking at a roaming encounter. This specifically was implemented to address an issue where a roaming raremorph Petula was so small it was nearly impossible to see on the map.
• *Tweaked the player foot position in one of the idle poses
• *Fixed weird colliders on a couple buildings
• *Fixed a gap in floor geometry I mistakenly added to Begonia
• *Color overlays (ie. fade to black) no longer layer over the feedback menu
• *Adjusted awkward collision on the Thousand Views Beastieball center so players cant accidentally clip into the building
• *Fixed an issue causing Marlin to be shown as interactable even when his dialogue is exhausted
• *Made it harder to abuse/clip into the weird collider on Campsite tents
• *Added invisible walls to a certain screen with wild Vultoxin to prevent raremorphs from flying out of bounds
• *Fixed an issue with the round count displayed to the player when resuming a Tower Tourney or raft Challenge streak from a save file load
• *Plugged a few collision holes in Gamboge
• *Fixed the door animation on Hyperlink Terminal
• *Added more safety/stability for the way Beasties are "pushed out" of the player after forfeiting an encounter, making it less likely (hopefully impossible, actually) to push a Beastie out of bounds this way.
• *Changed how Reese's radar state is stored in save data to make Beastie spawns more consistent when saving/loading. This addresses a specific possibility where a player finds a raremorph while a radar is active, then saves their game after the radar expires. Previously, loading from this state would yield inconsistent results, whereas now they should be consistent.
• *Fixed visual offset issues when high-fiving floating Beasties like Kaleidarn