Overview
Did more demo playtesting and balancing. Getting very close now. :)
Demo Additions and Changes
- Populated more zone objects, artifacts, locked objects, and loot, including how-to mage guides, mana cells, data sticks with civilian profession boosts, weapons, consumables, armor, Dystopian safety posters, and more.
- Also populated discovered loot (which is loot you only get if you complete enough scavenges on a zone object).
World Mechanics Additions and Changes
- Looted resources go directly to faction storage, and provide a prestige award to looters based on value.
- Most discrete zone objects (like vehicles or machinery) are now studyable artifacts, requiring various civilian professions to study them. Rewards include max path levels and stat lore exp shop offerings.
- Discrete zone objects no longer add terrain difficulty; rubble piles do that instead. Discrete objects tend to add cover and concealment.
Ability Mechanics Additions and Changes
- Added a sniper rifle armor-piercing ability (and ammo).
- Combos now merge costs and cooldowns from all nested abilities. Cooldown is set to the longest.
- Users (including the player) can no longer use attacks that would result in friendly fire.
- Steal life should only work now if your health type is the same as the target’s health type (you can’t steal health from structures).
- Condition magnitude is no longer affected by zone ambience.
Path Additions and Changes
- Combat paths now include civilian skill boosts (this allows various combat NPCs to specialize in studying appropriate artifacts).
- The hammer path now has elemental hammer damage combos, that do both the basic weapon attack (with weapon stats) and an elemental attack.
- The primary magic paths now give you a choice per level among the four attack types: melee single, melee AoE, ranged single, and ranged AoE. Note that zone cover defends against both AoE and ranged, and zone concealment affects ranged single, generally making melee single the best chance to do damage.
Item Additions and Changes
- Weapons have stats again, and abilities that have equipment requirements check that equipment for any boosts. (This let me do the elemental hammer combo abilities, so that they leverage weapon level instead of ignoring it.)
- Added Dystopian serums, which increase the alchemical exp of a stat.
- Added scrap alloys resource, and a refining project to make alloys.
- Added new resist consumables, crafting projects, and source harvestable resources (aspected mushrooms, as well as hydroponics and terrarium resources).
- Added Boombadier Beetles and Death Centipedes harvestables to provide extracts used in making various kinds of ammo.
Character Additions and Changes
- Rats now decay into shadow bones (do ambient dark mana, not death).
- Monsters can now gain experience from ambient mana (based on affinity).
- Did some more specialization of monster orders, to vary their action patterns.
Stat Additions and Changes
- All stat exp ticks for users now check equipment to boost proficiency (unless it’s an equipment proficiency being ticked).
Interface Additions and Changes
- Improved ability result modal dialogs (especially damage). The information should be clearer.
- Did some color scheme tweaks.
- Added a zone log notification of day/night changes.