One more update for a few overdue tasks that didn't make it into the last Major Update. Full details below, work continues behind the scenes on Sector 4 content.
Vanguard Class
One question I get asked quite regularly is whether you can play in smaller ships. The answer is yes, that is what the Vanguard class is designed for. This update sees some significant improvements for players wishing to play smaller ships.
The final upgrade of the Vanguard class no longer grants Max Speed, as it turns out, it was really hard to reach this maximum speed anyway. It now grants manoeuvrability, which basically means your ship drifts less and can turn more quickly. This bonus increases the smaller ship you are using.
In addition to this, it now also gives you the passive slots of your highest unlocked ship class, rather than your current ship class. So you can play a Frigate and still get all the passive slots of a larger ship.
Rocketeer Class
This class was designed by Zerul, one of our testers on Discord. It should accommodate anyone wanting to play heavy missile builds with various bonuses for missile-based weapons. In testing, it was really fun to play this with Vanguard and use hit-and-run tactics, but I'm sure you guys will find many uses for it.
Asteroids
I've doubled the size of asteroids but reduced their total quantity to 25% what it used to be. I've also added linear drag, meaning they'll float around less. This should make them significantly easier to see and avoid. They're supposed to be a fun terrain feature, not an annoyance, so if more work is needed in this regard, let me know.
Item Modifiers
This was by far the most requested quality of life feature so far. Whether playing with a mouse or a controller, you can now see tooltips on all item modifiers.
This should allow you to better gauge their value without having to return to the Assembler. The boxes in the ASCII bar are the increment steps, so in the above example, Maximum Hull can roll as either 5% or 10% as it increments in 5% steps.
Lots of other changes are listed below. I've slightly reduced the range of the Vortex Array as the thing is fast becoming a 'delete all enemies' button. There were also some important bug fixes. Enjoy!
Patch Notes
New Features / Content
• New secondary Rocketeer class has been added.
• Vanguard final upgrade now grants manoeuvrability and extra passive slots.
• Added new Turn Speed modifier for Seeking and Homing projectiles.
• Reduced the number of asteroids that spawn to 25% their current amount.
• Doubled the size of all asteroids and increased their health.
• Bigger ships now plough through asteroids more easily than smaller ships.
• Asteroids are now less bouncy and have linear drag when moving.
Balance Changes
• Doubled the health of Barrage Launcher missiles.
• Reduced the range of Vortex Array by 25%.
Quality of Life / Accessibility
• Added tooltips to item modifiers and vastly improved how informative they are.
• Added tooltips to weapon damage type stats.
• Active upgrade classes are now displayed at the top of the upgrade panel.
• Proton Torpedo Launcher and Tornado Launcher are now categorized as missile weapons.
• Hyperdrive jumps will now be cancelled by dialog to avoid missing it.
Bug Fixes
• Shift/right-clicking the target slot in the Assembler no longer loses / duplicates items.
• Item selection when replacing modifiers now includes all valid items.
• Item selection in the Assembler now correctly shows tooltips.
• Fixed bug where Thorn Launcher did not benefit from projectile upgrades.
• Fixed bug where Dreadnought's 5th passive slot could not be equipped with a controller.
• Fixed issue where slot linking would sometimes be lost when swapping weapons directly.
• Clicking busy slots in slot selection now plays an error sound and closes the overlay.