Wingmates are here, and they're free

So this is the big one. You don't have to fly alone anymore. Wingmates are Helion Combine war machines in pilot armour that fly with you, fight with you and work the field with you. You pick them up in the Outfitter like items, they never take a weapon slot, and up to 6 can fly with you at once. Free for everyone who owns Gunmetal Orbit.

Six units to start

• Mule. A freight walker that grabs the ore your magnet can't reach or your full cargo can't hold, then hauls it to the Uplink and banks it for you.
• Bastion. Parks itself between you and the nearest gunner, blocks enemy bolts with its shield, and every 10 seconds throws up a cyan Brace barrier.
• Breaker. Rams anything that gets close and Breach Slams the whole crowd around it.
• Sentry and Torch. They shoot alongside you.
• Patch. Repairs your hull while you're hurt.

The Mule and the Bastion are wearing their real armour already. Breaker, Sentry, Torch and Patch are flying on drone frames for now, and their own bodies are coming in a later update.

How they work

• You're guaranteed a Wingmate card by the wave 3 Outfitter. After that they show up in the shop like any other item.
• They rank up to III. Buying a unit you already own ranks it up, and each one also ranks up on its own by working: kills, hauls, blocks and repairs. The Mule and the Bastion bolt on new armour as they rank up.
• They get knocked out, never destroyed. Elite slams, boss volleys and EMP bolts knock a Wingmate offline. Fly over it for a second and a half to reboot it. A Mule knocked out mid-haul spills its ore where it falls.
• A WINGMATES list in the top-right corner shows each unit's rank, its signature charge, and when it's offline.

New field event: Lost Unit

From wave 4 a downed Combine unit sometimes turns up in the field. Hold over it for 4 seconds while enemies close in and it joins your squad on the spot, or ranks up a unit you already have.

Fixes

• The Foreman's escort list in the top-right corner no longer covers event cards like Survey Beacon or Distress Call. The cards line up underneath it now.
• Your whole Wingmate squad now launches alongside drone-heavy builds. Drone weapons keep their full damage while sharing fewer flying bodies.
• Bastion holds its spot between you and incoming fire through its whole Brace.
• Bastion's cyan visor, shield strips and lift-pod lights stay attached to its moving armour.

Let me know what you think of them and which ones you end up running with. Thanks for playing everyone.

Found a bug or have feedback? Post in the Steam Discussions. I read every thread.