This update is now live on the Empyrean Defense Steam Playtest. Thanks to everyone who’s been testing and sending feedback, many of the updates below came directly from your reports.
✨ New Features
Added progress bars to Economy Sites to better visualize resource production
🔧 Improvements
Improved performance and stability during extended play sessions
Improved UI readability with larger fonts across the top navigation menu, buttons, credits and briefing panels
Improved controller navigation
Map mission panel objectives and medals are now focusable when using a controller
Tooltips behave more consistently when navigating with a controller
Introduced a new Main Menu layout with an integrated Briefing Panel
Added new UI button effect with a sticky selected option for controller navigation
Added Armory enhancements including ground, naval, and airborne scenes for improved presentation
Added higher resolution medal and tutorial icons
⚖️ Balance Changes
Repair Ability
Repair per tick reduced from 200 → 120
Firestorm (formerly Napalm Strike)
Damage per tick increased from 50 → 70
Wraith Turret
Damage per shot increased from 50 → 70
Rocket attacks
Blast radius increased slightly
Sidewinder Pass
Crystal objective reduced from 1000 → 800
Graywake Reach
Adjusted time requirements slightly for Silver and Gold medals
🐛 Bug Fixes
Fixed controller and mouse input conflicts causing unintended camera panning
Fixed multiple controller focus issues across pause menus, medal containers, and play menus
Fixed landmark selection not properly updating the info panel
Fixed supply crate indicators persisting after the crate expired
Fixed pause flow when losing a mission due to landmark destruction
Fixed several tooltip positioning and rendering issues
Fixed post game menu animation issues
Removed unused assets and improved memory cleanup during loading and pause screens
Development is now focused on the upcoming demo, with the tenth campaign mission, Breakpoint Reservoir, planned for the next release.
Full patch notes and development details are available on the Empyrean Defense wiki: