In this update, we’re digging deep into quality-of-life improvements, new systems, and long-requested tweaks. From a full XP refund to a complete flora reset, this patch invites you to reimagine how you build, harvest, and collaborate. We’re introducing soft grouping for XP sharing, loot distribution improvements, and major overhauls to movement, flora systems, and crafting workflows. Whether you're pruning with your Xyloslicer, sliding down slopes, or setting thickets ablaze—there’s a lot to explore. Read on for the full details.
XP REFUND AND RESET
We’ve changed some skill nodes again, but rather than reset your characters, we’ve added an “XP Refund” system. When this update begins, all of your XP will be refunded to you, all your skill nodes will be unlearned, and you’ll be able to respend your XP any way you desire.
FLORA RESET
When you read the update notes below, you’ll see that we made a lot of changes to flora and how it behaves. We had to wipe all flora off the worlds and respawn it or else those changes wouldn’t be available for you to test. So if you made flora changes, those will be gone and you’ll need to redo them. We didn’t have to reset anything else though…only the flora.
SOFT GROUPING
When you have a tool equipped, and someone in the same area also has that tool equipped, you receive a small bonus of XP whenever you’re using that tool.
You don’t get an additional bonus for having more people beyond that first person (because the bonuses get silly really rapidly that way), but you are rewarded for harvesting, mining, crafting, etc., with other people around now.
NOTE: This does not apply for combat. Combat XP is a different system based on accumulated aggro and number of players is already included in those calculations.
LOOT SHARING
When you are in combat and a creature drops loot after being destroyed, that loot is shared with all the people that are currently on the creature’s aggro list.
Someone still has to pick up the loot where it dropped, but once they do, the loot is split based on participation in the combat, just like XP is split. You’ll see loot fly off to all the players that receive rewards.
Sometimes, this results in “partial” loot rewards, but we don’t do decimal points for loot. So instead, if (for example) you should have received 0.2 of loot, that equates to a 20% chance that you’ll receive one loot instead. 2.8 would result in two resources awarded with an 80% chance of a third. Etc.
PLAYER MOVEMENT
We’ve added sliding to the game. When you are on a steep slope and try to move, it’s quite likely that you will slide down the slope. This makes cliff climbing more interesting and it can be hard to find a place to stand on a cliffside because of it. Don’t forget your ability to cut niches or add ledges with the Terraformer!
Additionally:
- Running down slopes is much faster now.
- Running up slopes is harder now.
- Running on grassy surfaces (and sand) is slower than it was. (Bare surfaces are still the same movement speed you had previously.)
- Running on roads (any surfaces made with a Paver) is faster now!
- Gravel and silt are somewhat slippery now and you’ll shift around while moving on those surfaces.
HARVESTING UPDATES
Flowers and logs are still harvested just as they were previously. You hit them with the Harvester beam and they are cut completely, added to your backpack, and then they respawn elsewhere in the world.
However, other plants are “trimmed” when you harvest them. They shrink in size, the resources you harvest are put into your backpack, and you can’t harvest them again until they return to full size.
(If you want to get rid of a plant currently, you’ll need to burn it.)
XYLOSLICER UPDATES
The Xyloslicer now has three modes of use. The first two are familiar: Logging and Seed Planting. These still act as they did previously.
The third mode is new, and is called “Pruning”. When you’re in Pruning mode, you can:
- Toggle between Growing and Pruning using the “Q” button.
- When you Grow something, you actually grow the tree toward maturity. Use LMB to grow the tree after selecting this function.
- When you Prune something, you shink the tree back toward immaturity. Use LMB to grow the tree after selecting this function. NOTE: Pruning does not work outside of a Homestead.
- The “E” key stunts your currently selected tree. When something is stunted, it stops growing. You can return the tree to normal growth by just hitting it with the Grow or Prune beam again. NOTE: Stunting does not work outside of a Homestead.
NOTE: These Pruning functions are unlocked in the Forestry skill tree.
(Also, this tool has audio now!)
FORESTRY AND FARMING
Some new skill nodes have been added to the Forestry skill tree, and a few have been moved.
The Forestry skill nodes that affect Growth speed are now directly tied to the Xyloslicer’s Grow functionality. After you earn some of the Growth speedups, you can also unlock Stunting and Pruning functionalities.
The Growth Pod skill nodes have been moved from Forestry over to Farming, where they will be more useful and appropriate.
COOKING AND CRAFTING
Cooking and Crafting have been separated from one another. If you use the Stove to make items on the Cooking tree, it generates Cooking XP and that can’t be spent on other Crafting skills.
The “Artisan Crafting” skill tree is now just the “Crafting” skill tree and you unlock Architect, Civil Engineering, Refining, Toolmaking, and Weaponsmithing from it. When you start the game, you get a few basic recipes that apply to each of those trees so that you have something you can make in any of them (so that you’re not forced to make things you’ll never use).
NOTE: Oil and Plastic recipes are unlocked by default now.
OTHER UPDATES
- You can now earn Medical XP by using the Healix.
- NOTE: Healing your allies by beam, using your Mass Heal special AND using your Surge special will generate creature aggro! The more aggro you create, the more Medical XP you generate…but watch out for pulling too much aggro!
- When you discover a new resource, the XP callout is a light blue. This makes it easier to tell when you’re being rewarded for Discoveries.
- Crafting XP has been altered so that more complex recipes reward greater amounts of XP. (Jamming through one-resource recipes still works, but it’s not the only way to do things now. You get bonus XP for doing more complex recipes.)
- Anti-Gravium blocks are now available to create for the Instaformer (at the Lathe station). They don’t have their antigravity properties yet, but they’re a new look to experiment with! (They are unlocked as part of the “Metal Blocks” skill node.)
- We’ve added thickets to the game. These are very large bushes and they can’t be harvested. If you don’t like them, you’ll need to burn them out.
- All bushes have collision with players now. They’re going to get in your way and that’s intentional. Be warned! In combat, the tactic of just moving backward away from a creature while firing forward just got a bit trickier. (NOTE: Flowers and logs still don’t have collision for now.)
- You’ve been able to burn trees, bushes and flowers. Now logs, mushrooms and the new thickets are burnable also. Indulge your pyromaniac tendencies.
- Trees now naturally grow much more slowly. The new Xyloslicer Growth Beam and existing Growth Pod maturation abilities will be much more useful now.
- Flora harvesting (plants and trees) was extremely over-generous when being harvest due to a bug. The bug is fixed now. Sometimes you’ll get nothing for a harvest, but you will receive a message when that occurs. Other times, you’ll just get less than you did.
- You can now collect Antimatter Gas and convert it to Antimatter via the Refining station.
- Oil can now be created using ANY Sedimentary Rock (not just Shale).
- Clay recipes have been simplified. Clay Ore is removed from the game. You can change Chalky or Laterite soils to Clay. You can now make Ceramic directly from Clay.
- Until bosses and high-DR creatures are given more abilities to make them harder to cheese with terrain, we are temporarily reducing the XP you gain for defeating them. They’re still worth more than lower-DR creatures, of course.
- OmniBlaster audio has been improved
- The F1 help screens have been updated so they are current. (NOTE: The Metal Alloys are now added to the Resources screen.)
- The UI elements on the Crafting screen have been fixed so the PQRV stats are displayed properly.
- Survey Points now fade in when you get close to them rather than just blinking into existence. They are also not based on distance-to-player, so zooming in and out with the camera should no longer affect their visibility.
- The Healix no longer has the force-growth functionality. We will be adding more functionality to the Healix in the near future to replace that.