Version 0.3 - Global Upgrades, New Techs & Maps, Balance

Version 0.3 has arrived, and with it, we have Global Upgrades, a ton of New Techs, more maps for Quickplay & Co-op, performance improvements, the ability to change Target Priority, QoL updates for Co-op, fixes, and more! Read on below for the full notes!

Features

• Fourth Meta Tech Tree added to Survival!
• 3 New Quickplay Maps: -- (Beginner) Vault 110 -- (Intermediate) Crow's Nest -- (Advanced) Obstruction
• 3 New Co-op Maps -- (2p) Twister -- (3p) Triforge -- (4p) Lanes
• Chaos Mode added for Quickplay & Co-op! -- Random can now be toggled between Off, On, and Chaos -- On randomizes your Loadout at the start of the game -- Chaos randomizes your Loadout *every single wave*. Enjoy!
• New Lava Mine biome, used in a few of the new maps

Improvements

• Performance has been drastically improved! -- While still far from perfect, it should no longer drop to 1 FPS in late-game Survival, especially when using Network and/or Missile Launcher towers
• You can now change the Target Priority on a tower. To do so, select the tower, then select any of the following from the Priority Menu: -- Default -- Near -- Far -- Front -- Back -- Strong -- Weak -- Note, Default is the only option with "Smart Targeting" considerations (like Axon Type, Armor, Shields, etc). All other options will override those considerations.
• Double-clicking a tower now selects all towers of that type
• Damage Chart now shows Armor Damage via an orange bar
• Co-op has received some love: -- Notifications are here! If you're in the menu or in-game, you can now receive Co-op Notifications when a lobby is open! You can, of course, turn this setting off. -- In Lobby, maps are now split between 2p, 3p, and 4p Categories -- Hovering over another Player in the Scoreboard will show their Loadout -- At the end of a Co-op game, you can now Add Friend
• Added a # of Axons Counter on-screen, just below Wave Number
• Improved VFX for numerous Towers including Blast Cannon U1, Missile Launcher U1, Radiation Vent, Plasmathrower U2, Gravity Driver, and Reaper
• Improved VFX for several Axons, including Purger and Mass Cloaker
• Dialed down overbearing light on Snow Canyon environment

Fixes

• Fixed a bug where you got extra rewards when playing with fewer players than intended
• Fixed being able to join a Co-op game while it's in countdown
• Fixed the same Tech being able to show up twice in two different choices in a wave
• Fixed "Oldest Defense on the Field" Meta Tech, it no longer treats Blockers as Defenses
• Fixed Fullscreen option in Settings being switched
• Fixed viewing a Survival Replay greying out your own Survival Checkpoint
• In Survival, if you placed an Add over the Next Wave Obstacle Marker, but then Recycled that same Add, it'd remove the marker proper, but the Obstacle would still spawn in next wave. It now properly blocks the Obstacle from spawning next wave.

Techs

Changed Meta Techs

• Scavenger: -- Old: +3 Recycles when you kill the first Boss. -- New: When killing a Boss, salvage it for scraps, granting a random resource reward from the following pool: -- +60 Credits | +30 Power | +3 ADDs | +3 Blockers | +1 Recycle and +1 ADD
• Life insurance: -- Old: Cannot lose more than 50 lives in a single wave. -- New: Once per game, prevents dying to leaks in any wave, start the next wave with 10 lives. Does not work on Bosses.
• Conservative: -- Old: +5% damage bonus while you have unused Expands. -- New: +1% damage bonus for every Blocker you have on the field, up to a cap of 5%.
• New Meta Tech: Gain the ability to remove 2 Techs permanently from the end of wave reward pool. This also rerolls the current reward selection.
• New Meta Tech: Gain the ability to remove 1 Defense permanently from the end of wave reward pool. This also rerolls the current reward selection.

Fourth Meta Tech Tree

• 1st Column (single reward) -- +2 Power if your first placement in a wave is a MegaCorp or Astrosys Defense. +4 Credits if your first placement is a Vex Industries or New Frontier Defense.
• 2nd Column -- +3 ADDs at the start of the game if your starting Loadout consists of 2 Defenses from the same manufacturer. -- +1 Recycle at the start of the game if your starting Loadout consists of 2 Defenses from different manufacturers.
• 3rd column: -- MegaCorp Defense kills increase their damage, up to 10%. Resets each wave. -- +2 Credits per wave per unupgraded New Frontier Defense on the field. Up to 10 per wave.
• 4th Column: -- +5% attack speed for isolated Vex Industries Defenses(isolated meaning Defenses with no other Defenses within a 3x3 radius. -- +6 Power if an Astrosys Defense was the highest damaging Defense in any given wave.
• 5th Column: -- When building a MegaCorp Defense, the next MegaCorp Defense placement within the same wave is discounted by 10 Credits. Can only trigger once per wave. -- When upgrading an Astrosys Defense, the next Astrosys Defense upgrade within the same wave is discounted by 5 Power. Can only trigger once per wave.
• 6th Column: -- Overloading a Vex Defense also applies a continuous 20% Slow in a 1.5 AoE around it for 4 seconds. -- Upgrading a New Frontier Defense gives it a temporary +10% Damage Bonus. Lasts until the end of the wave.

New Techs

• Axons get 4% slower per tile in the last 10 tiles before the exit.
• Using an Overload casts your other Overload on an adjacent Tower, if possible.
• Using an Overload on a Defense with no other Defenses within a 3x3 area doesn't trigger the Overload cooldown.
• +5% attack speed for all Defenses adjacent to an Obstacle.
• -15 Credit cost for the next Defense placement this wave when placing down an ADD adjacent to an Obstacle.
• Every 15 seconds, the newest Axon on the field gets hit with a 6s EMP.
• When you leak, Stun the frontmost Axon on the field for 5s.
• Placing a Tower on a Blocker gives it a 5% damage bonus. Consumes the Blocker.
• +1 ADD when placing a Tower on a Blocker. Consumes the Blocker.
• Axons within 1 range of a Blocker take 4 damage per second.
• Placing a Blocker on a Blocker consumes the Blocker and creates a mini-nuke.
• Recycles can now be used on Obstacles. Doing so does not grant an ADD.
• +3 Lives when spending 50 Credits or less in wave.
• +1 Recycle when hitting more than 15 Axons with one Overload. Can only Trigger once per wave. Doesn't work with Boost Range, Compound Rounds or Hypercharge.
• +10 Credits when selling a Defense that costs 50 Credits or less. Can only trigger once per wave.
• +2 Power per adjacent walkable tile when you place down a Defense. Can only trigger once per wave.
• +1 Recycle when connecting to a platform without a pre-placed Tower. Can only trigger once per wave.
• +8 Lives when clearing a wave you leaked.
• Axons take 5% extra damage while they are not under the effect of EMP.
• Defenses gain 3% damage per adjacent Defenses from the same manufacturer.
• +25 lives instantly.
• +4 ADDs, +2 Blockers, and +1 Recycle instantly.
• +1 Recycle for the next 5 subsequent waves.
• +6% bonus damage for all Defenses. Every 5 towers on the field reduces the bonus by 1%.
• +15% Credits from destroying Axons for the next 3 waves.
• +5% damage for all your Defenses for the next 5 waves.
• Reduce Tower damage by 10% for a wave, gain 50 Credits and 1 Recycle in return.
• Get all the resources from all the other options. You do not get the Defense, Defense Upgrades or Techs from the other choices.
• Sacrifice 10 lives, gain 50 Credits and 25 Power in return(has a max wave of 15).
• +5 lives, +1 Recycle and +3 ADDs if you get a Perfect wave for the next 3 waves.

Faction Techs

The following Techs only appear if you have Defenses from said manufacturer:

• MegaCorp Defenses reduce the Credit cost of adjacent MegaCorp Defenses by 3.
• +20 Credits per wave while your defense consists of 40% or more MegaCorp Defenses. These Techs you can hover over to show current %
• Any Vex Industries defenses placed within 4 range of the exit gain +1 Range or if it hasn't got an active range, +1 AoE.
• +10 Power per wave while your defense consists of 40% or more Vex Industries Defenses.
• Astrosys defenses can be placed on an empty tile, automatically placing an ADD tile under it, at the cost of 10 Power.
• +1 ADD per wave while your defense consists of 40% or more Astrosys Defenses.
• New Frontier Towers adjacent to a Blocker has their cooldown reduced by 15%.
• +1 Blocker per wave while your defense consists of 40% or more New Frontier Defenses.

Overload Techs

The following Techs only appear in Survival and only the Overloads you have can show up:

• Hypercharge attack rate increased from x3 to x4
• Boost Range also affects adjacent towers. Half range on adjacent towers.
• Compound Rounds also affects adjacent towers. Half duration on adjacent targets.
• Nuke HP Damage increased by 10%
• EMP Blast range increased by 1
• Stasis Wave range increased by 1
• Zeus Cannon HP Damage increased by 20%
• Amplify Wave amp increased to 75%

Balance

General

• Replaced Tower Techs with Global Upgrades: -- You will no longer encounter Tower Techs in the End of Wave Rewards -- New button added to the Tower Select UI called Global Upgrade -- Costs 75 Power in Survival, 50 Power in Quickplay and Co-op
• Survival HP Multiplier at Wave 31 reduced from x2.6 to x2.4 -- Everything after Wave 31 has also received an HP Multiplier drop of x0.2
• In Survival, the Techs based on improving Mines will no longer show up until you have a Mine in your Loadout

Axons

Avenger Squadron

-- Speed multiplier per killed Avenger increased from 25% to 30%.

Booster

-- Now boosts upon coming out of the portal. -- Speed boost duration increased from 0.25s to 0.6s. -- Speed boost multiplier reduced from 3 to 2.8.

Medivac

-- Increased healing from 40 + 1% to 40 + 1.5%.

Purger

-- Can no longer be EMP'd by EMP Gatling

Defenses

Arc Reactor

• Global Upgrade buffed, now gives +1 bounce in addition to its old effect.

Artillery

• U1 DoT reduced from 18 damage over 6s to 15 damage over 5s.

Blast Cannon

• Base damage increased from 12 to 14.
• U2 Slow duration increased from 1.5s to 2s.
• U3 damage bonus per Blast Cannon reduced from 15% to 10%.
• U3 damage bonus cap reduced from 120% to 100%.
• Global Upgrade buffed. The Armor ignore now also applies to the U1 explosives. Additionally, grants 35% attack speed. Blast Cannon was just a stright up much worse alternative than Artillery. Brought down U3 a bit to compensate. Might replace this upgrade in the future.

Command Link

• U3 adjusted to grant 3 Power per 2 adjacent Defenses, from 2 per 1.
• U3 is now capped at 18 Power per wave.

Cryo Beam

• Global upgrade bounce buff duration reduction removed.

EMP Gatling

• Global Upgrade buffed, now gives +1 Range in addition to its old effect.

EMP Mine

• Credit Cost increased from 50 to 75.
• U3 AoE increase removed.
• U3 Power cost reduced from 30 to 25.

Frag Hammer

• Base damage increased from 50 to 55.
• U3 damage increased from 30 to 35.
• Global Upgrade buffed, now gives +10 Damage in addition to its previous effect.

Gravity Driver

• Base slow increased from 25% to 30%.
• U3 Power cost increased from 25 to 30.
• Global Upgrade reworked: -- Old: Range increased by 1. -- New: +10% Slow against Axons above 80% HP.

Gravity Generator

• U1 EMP Cooldown increased from 8s to 9s.
• Global Upgrade damage per second increased from 2 to 4.

Gravity Trap

• U3 cooldown increased from 5s to 10s.
• Global Upgrade reworked: -- Old: Upgrade Costs reduced by 5. -- New: Passive slow increased to 40%. All upgrades retain the passive slow from the base trap.

Link Blaster

• Base damage increased from 10 to 12.
• U3 damage increased from 14 to 16.
• Global Upgrade buffed, now reduces upgrade costs by -1 for each adjacent Link Blaster in addition to the old effect.

Mass Driver

• Global Upgrade reworked: -- Old: When hitting 3 Axons or less, reduce the cooldown of the next attack by 25%. -- New: When hitting 5 Axons or less, apply a 20% slow for 3s.

Missile Launcher

• Base damage reduced to 20 to 18.
• U1 reworked: -- Old: Increased AoE the further away from the tower that the target is, up to a max of 3.5. -- New: Increases AoE from 1.5 to 2.5.
• U1 damage reduced from 15 to 14.
• U3 damage increased from 15 to 20.
• U3 AoE increased from 0.7 to 1.
• U3 cooldown increased from 1s to 2s.

Network

• Credit Cost increased from 100 to 125.
• U1 reworked: -- Old: Increases the damage output of all connected Network beams. -- New: Increases the damage cap of all connected Network beams by 2, up to a cap of 40.
• U2 rescaled: -- Slow per upgrade increased from 4% to 6% -- Slow cap reduced from 32% to 30%.
• U3 reworked: -- Old: Kills from any connected Network beam generates additional Credits. -- New: Kills from any connected Network beam generates additional Credits up to a Global Cap. Each connected Network U3 Tower increases the Global Cap by 6, up to a maximum of 30 per wave.
• Global Upgrade reworked: -- Old: Reduces the upgrade cost of adjacent Astrosys towers by 5. -- New: Reduces the upgrade cost of Astrosys towers under a Network beam by 5.
• In addition, the Network tower UI now lists all active Network caps. So if you have for example 3 Network U1's in one Network, it will list that the damage cap is 36 when clicking on any tower in that Network.

Nuclear

• Refreshing the U3 buff now extends its duration by 2s.

Orbital Cannon

• Global Upgrade damage bonus per adjacent tower increased from 5% to 6%.

Portable Generator

• Global Upgrade damage bonus to adjacent MegaCorp Defenses increased from 25% to 30%.

Plasmathrower

• U2 Debuff AoE increased from 0.5 to 1.

Plasma Vent

• Global Upgrade buffed, now also allows other Plasma Vents next to it for a damage bonus.

Proximity Mine

• Credit Cost increased from 25 to 30.
• All upgrade Power costs increased from 25 to 30.
• Base AoE reduced from 1.5 to 1.
• U1 aftershock damage multiplier reduced from 0.8 to 0.6.
• U3 damage reduced from 50 to 30.
• U3 AoE reduced from 2.5 to 2.
• U3 Slow reduced from 50% to 40%.
• Global Upgrade reworked: -- Old: Reduces cooldown by 5s. -- New: Killing blows reset the cooldown. Overall, Proximity Mine provided too much value for too little cost. In all the existing hard clears, U3 was used as low-cost spam slow.

Pulseray

• Global Upgrade reworked: -- Old: Attack speed increased by 25%. -- New: Every 3rd attack triggers a second instant attack. Mini-stun duration increased from 0.1s to 0.2s.

Radiation Vent

• Fixed an issue where Radiation Vent U2 and U3 weren't applying consistently to fast-moving Axons.
• Each of its Upgrades are now independent from one another and can be stacked, meaning the base trap will no longer override the Upgrades
• Global Upgrade reworked: -- Old: Applies a 10% damage amp whenever a Radiation Vent Debuff expires. -- New: Applies a 3% damage amp for each unique Radiation Vent debuff affecting an Axon.

Reaper

• U3 reworked: -- Old: Gain damage on each kill up to a cap. Resets each wave. -- New: Increased base damage from 7 to 20. No longer deals bonus damage the lower the target's HP is. Instead deals 25% bonus damage per Debuff type the target is affected by. -- Targeting adjusted from Weak to prioritize Debuffed targets and then Strong.
• Global Upgrade buffed, now applies a 3s EMP every 5th shot to Axons with abilities in addition to its old effect.

Seeker Drone

• U1 replaced and moved to U2: -- Old: Deals additional damage when the target is below 50% health. -- New: If the Axon the drone is attached to dies, a shockwave is released, stunning Axons within 2 AoE for 2s.
• U2 to moved to U1.
• Global Upgrade buffed, now gives +0.5 range in addition to its old effect.

Sniper

• Global Upgrade buffed. Gives +5 Damage in addition to its old effect.

Target Marker

• Target Marker has been completely reworked. Now applies a marker to an Axon that passes over it for 4s, then deals damage multiplied by 0.3 in 2 AoE based on the damage the target received while marked.
• Credit cost increased increased from 50 to 75.
• U1 increases the duration by 1s and slows the target by 40%.
• U2 increases the damage multiplier and the AoE but only hits up to 5 Axons.
• U3 causes the shockwave to instead buff Towers within range. AoE is reduced, but scales up with attacks. Duration increased to 6s.
• Global Upgrade: AoE increased by 1.

Temporal Mine

• Global Upgrade reworked: -- Old: Increases teleport distance for each adjacent empty walkable tile by 2. -- New: Deals 12 damage within 2 AoE of where each Axon is teleported.

World Engine

• U3 damage reduced from 11 to 9.

That's everything! Somehow, these notes ended up rivaling the ridiculous length of Version 0.2's Patch Notes. But, we hope all these changes are worthwhile. As usual, __Leaderboards have been reset__.

You may have noticed a lack of changes for Campaign despite all the updates recently. We're in the process of doing a big update on the Campaign, including a story rewrite, some mission reworks, overhauling its tech tree, a new chapter, and more. That will be coming in Version 0.4.

In the meantime, enjoy the new version!

Roadmap Tweaks

Lastly, we've updated our Roadmap. And a few things have moved around on there slightly.

Workshop may be coming sooner than originally expected...