This patch includes what we consider the “foundation” for rebalancing the difficulty gap between Choi Soon-ja and Im Seok-dae. We do not expect to solve everything in a single patch. We will continue correcting this balance through next week’s patch and the one after that.
In addition, Perks are being added. From now on, if you purchase every artifact shown on a single shop page, you will unlock a Perk, making future journeys permanently easier to enjoy. We expect this to both create stronger incentives to buy artifacts and help offset the issue of “polluting” the pool whenever you make a purchase.
Balance Patch
Conductors
Im Seok-dae’s win rate has been extremely polarized. Some players found him very difficult, while others found him too easy. According to the data, his win rate on Frost 3 was not very different from Choi Soon-ja’s, but his base difficulty was so much easier that there was effectively more than a twofold gap. Based on this, the dev team concluded that our first character, Choi Soon-ja, should become easier than she is now, while Im Seok-dae should become harder than he is now.
Choi Soon-ja
Choi Soon-ja will now have an easier time pushing through the late-game Contaminated Zone sections, and the strength of the Overpopulation debuff will be reduced.
Contamination Stage 3: -96/sec → -81/sec
Contamination Stage 4: -166/sec → -132/sec
Overcrowding: Move Speed -0%. This value increases by 2% for each passenger above 12 → Move Speed -0%. This value increases by 1% for each passenger above 12
Im Seok-dae
The main reason Im Seok-dae’s win rate is so polarized appears to be the effect of his trait, Strongman. We are reducing the variance caused by this trait while readjusting the relative difficulty of the Frost sections that become harder as a result.
Strongman: Whenever you level up, gain Supplies equal to your level → Whenever you level up, gain 3 Supplies
Great Famine (Frost Stage 2): Gain Supply Shortage x3 every 3 days → Gain Supply Shortage x3 every 4 days
Synergies
Academy
Academy has had high consistency, but struggled with low raw scaling. However, if a highly stable synergy also gains high raw power, the metrics may become dangerous, so we intend to buff it very gradually and monitor the results.
The overall raw power of Academy carriages has been increased by an average of 10%.
Shadow Traders Association
The Shadow Traders Association has the advantage of selectively securing a variety of artifacts, but its own raw scaling is low and its artifact supply is not stable, resulting in a poor win rate. We are improving its shop artifacts to compensate for this.
Cheap Liquor: Happiness output of Shadow Traders Association carriages +15% → +25%
Whiskey: Happiness output of Shadow Traders Association carriages +23% → +35%
Nectar: Happiness output of Shadow Traders Association carriages +30% → +45%
Clay Statue: Overperformance output of Shadow Traders Association carriages +3% → +5%
Marble Statue: Overperformance output of Shadow Traders Association carriages +6% → +7%
Coin Pouch: Mileage output of Shadow Traders Association carriages +1 → +20%
Coin Chest: Mileage output of Shadow Traders Association carriages +2 → +30%
Fuel and Hammer Brotherhood
The Brotherhood almost guaranteed a clear at very high rates if you managed to complete the 9-synergy setup, but was unusually weak otherwise. We are improving its lower-stage scaling to address this issue.
Fuel and Hammer Brotherhood (3): No longer loses Happiness → No longer loses Happiness. Whenever it produces Happiness, produce it 1 additional time
Fuel and Hammer Brotherhood (5): Whenever it produces Happiness, produce it 2 additional times → 3 additional times
Fuel and Hammer Brotherhood (7): Whenever it produces Happiness, produce it 5 additional times → 6 additional times
Culture
Culture (2): +5 → +4
Culture (4): +13 → +14
Culture (5): +20 → +22
Culture (6): +29 → +32
Culture (7): +40 → +44
Children of Engine
Children of Engine had shown “strong” performance for a very long time, but its win rate appeared to normalize somewhat in the previous patch. However, most of that win rate is concentrated in the 6-synergy threshold, so we want to ease that concentration slightly.
When receiving a gift, Faith requirement +40, and when declining, -10 → When receiving a gift, Faith requirement +30, and when declining, -10
Children of Engine (5): Faith requirement -40% → -30%
Knights of the Red Frost
Players widely use either the full 6-piece Knights of the Red Frost setup or a minimal setup using only two carriages, Control Center and Headquarters. This is not inherently bad, but the mid-tier synergy steps offer too little incentive. We want to address that.
The amount of Training gained overall has been reduced by 20%.
The maximum amount of Training that can be accumulated has been reduced by about 16%.
Knights of the Red Frost (4): Deployed Knights of the Red Frost carriages gain 300% additional Training → 400% additional Training
Train Power
Train Power has been... consistently strong for quite some time. We buffed it once in the previous patch, and it ended up showing completely broken metrics across all stages. We are correcting that again.
Train Power (3): Speeds up by 1% each cycle, up to 21% → Speeds up by 1% each cycle, up to 15%
Train Power (4): Speeds up by 3% each cycle, up to 42% → Speeds up by 3% each cycle, up to 35%
Train Power (5): Speeds up by 5% each cycle, up to 63% → Speeds up by 5% each cycle, up to 55%
Central Supply Bureau
The Central Supply Bureau has been consistently strong from the first game through now. We are making a slight adjustment.
Central Supply Bureau (6): Cycle time -5 seconds → -4 seconds
Security
Security is a simple but powerful synergy that performs well on the basis of raw stats alone. But... it looks a bit too powerful. We are lowering its performance slightly.
Security (3): Dept of Signal Interception: Happiness +28 → +22
Security (4): Central Intelligence Agency: Happiness +68 → +54
Security (5): Ministry of State Security: Happiness +164 → +136
Artifacts
Platinum
Tropical Globe: Happiness output of all carriages +30% → +40%
Billionaire: Happiness output of all carriages +0%. This value increases by 1% for every 2 Supplies you own → Happiness output of all carriages +0%. This value increases by 1% for every 1 Supply you own
Crown of Thorns: Reduce deployable carriage slots by 2. Quest: Survive for 300 seconds. Reward: Increase deployable carriage slots by 3 → Reduce deployable carriage slots by 2. Quest: Survive for 180 seconds. Reward: Increase deployable carriage slots by 3
Excavator: Gain 1 Artifact Drone Supply every 12 visits to unvisited nodes → Gain 1 Artifact Drone Supply every 10 visits to unvisited nodes
Residential Conversion: Lose 6 passengers. Increase deployable carriage slots by 1 → Lose 5 passengers. Increase deployable carriage slots by 1
Process Automation: Whenever 3 passengers enter a carriage, produce Happiness 1 additional time. Final Happiness output of all carriages -15% → Whenever 3 passengers enter a carriage, produce Happiness 1 additional time. Final Happiness output of all carriages -17%
Elitism: Platinum → Gold / Your base passenger count is halved. Happiness output of all carriages +100% → Your base passenger count is halved. Happiness output of all carriages +120%
Gold
Eyed Basket: Gain 1 random artifact whenever you obtain 14 Supplies → Gain 1 random artifact whenever you obtain 8 Supplies
Value Investing: After 10 days, Happiness output of all carriages +25% → After 10 days, Happiness output of all carriages +35%
Ominous Seed: 50% of stacked value is converted → 60% of stacked value is converted
Curious Spectacle: Happiness output of all carriages +12% → +15%
Buddy System: Happiness output of all carriages +0%. This value increases by 2% for every 3 passengers you have → Happiness output of all carriages +0%. This value increases by 5% for every 5 passengers you have
Ice Miner: Gain double Supplies from Frozen Supply Bases, Discontent +10% → Gain double Supplies from Frozen Supply Bases, Discontent +20%
Beta: Lose 2 passengers. Omega can now appear in Artifact Drone Supply → Lose 3 passengers. Omega can now appear in Artifact Drone Supply
Silver
Bronze Resolve: Quest: Obtain Bronze carriages 8 times. Reward: Happiness output of your Bronze carriages +30% → Quest: Obtain Bronze carriages 8 times. Reward: Happiness output of your Bronze carriages +45%
Bound Rope: Gain 2 passengers, Happiness -11/cycle, maximum hand size -1 → Gain 2 passengers, maximum hand size -2
Soft Pillow: Gain 2 passengers, Move Speed -4% → Gain 2 passengers, Move Speed -5%
Jury Rigged Engine: Move Speed +4%, Happiness output of all carriages -3% → Move Speed +4%, Happiness output of all carriages -6%
Donut: Gain 1 passenger, EXP +2, Move Speed -1% → Gain 2 passenger, Move Speed -4%
Decisions
Completion time for Im Seok-dae Transcendence-related Decisions has been increased.
Completion time for Im Seok-dae Dominion-related Decisions has been slightly reduced.
Two Heads Are Better Than One: If a carriage has 5 or more passengers, Overperformance always triggers → If a carriage has 4 or more passengers, Overperformance always triggers
Expanded Passenger Revival Plan: Gain 1 passenger for each deployed Poor Carriage → Gain 2 passengers for each deployed Poor Carriage
Domestic Market Reinforcement: Final Happiness output of all carriages +5% → +4%
Gameplay
Perks are being added. From now on, if you purchase every product on a single page of the unlock shop, you will gain the corresponding Perk. Perks are permanently applied to all runs and help make the game easier to enjoy.
“Decision” has been renamed to “Decision: Doctrine of the Train.”
Illustrations for 5 general events have been updated.
Unlock shop prices have been slightly discounted.
Bug Fixes
There were no reported bugs this time. If you find a bug, please contact the dev team through one of the following channels. We will do our best to fix it.
Thank you!