Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation v2.8 Update Improves Visual Clarity and Brings Extensive Balance Updates
We're launching an update today that improves the game's visual quality and balance. By making colors more vibrant and scaling up the size of many units and buildings, we hope to help distinguish and communicate each unit's functionality for new players. We’ve also made additional minor visual tweaks and slightly adjusted the camera angle so it’s less top-down and more tilted.
v2.8 has many balance changes to make dreadnoughts more viable and better equalize the power of each faction's orbital abilities. See the full change log below!
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v2.8 Change Log
Gameplay
We’re scaling up the size of many units and buildings to help distinguish and communicate the unit's functionality to those who are new to the title. We’ve also slightly adjusted the camera angle so it’s less top-down and more titled. It’s minor, but helps distinguish unit silhouettes by making things look more 3D.
- Unit and building sizes increased
To compensate for size increases:
- Units are created with more distance between them.
- Unit spacing increased
- Updated Collision boxes and collision avoidance behavior.
Visuals
We’ve slightly adjusted the camera angle so it’s less top-down and more titled. It’s minor, but helps distinguish unit silhouettes by making things look more 3D.
- Modified camera angle at medium to close zoom levels.
- Increased size of explosions.
- Unit hover pods are no longer affected by player color.
- Improved Terran morning lighting.
- Improved deformable terrain around buildings.
- Improved the colors on buildings.
- Reduced emissives intensity
Balance
This update has many balance changes, in particular aimed at making dreadnaughts more viable and better equalizing the power of each faction's orbital abilities. Balance is overall in a good spot so these are mostly small changes.
Atlas
- Damage increased from 15 to 16
Archer
- Health reduced from 90 to 80
Tormentor
The Tormentor was too lacking in a role and will now be an excellent way of dealing with Archer spam. Previously Substrate could have issues dealing with mass frigates.
- Damage increased from 75 to 80
Reaper
This should see Reaper blobs clump up less to dive after a cruiser and make it less vulnerable to splash damage.
- Targeting priorities changed to engage all targets equally
Drone Hive
Drones will no longer get one-shot by the Atlas frigate as it was too easy to shut down.
- Radioactives cost reduced from 90 to 80
- Drone health increased from 15 to 20
Apollo
- Metal cost from 310 to 350
- Radioactives cost from 46 to 66
Destructor
- Plasma Rain Launcher damage increased from 13 to 14
Caregiver
The Caregiver and Regenerator are receiving a small performance boost to give Substrate more of a chance to withstand Artillery Post bombardment as well as mitigate Plasma Storm and EMP Pulse.
- Regeneration increased from 40 to 45
Avatar
PHC have two engineer spawn abilities, so they naturally will ramp up less by mixing it between both of them. Also a QoL change for the Avatar as it would often engage enemies and move out of build range as a result.
- Leash removed - It will no longer move to engage
- Quanta cost ramp up reduced from 0.25 to 0.20
Dreadnoughts
Typically players cruiser spam into air and juggernauts while skipping dreads. We want to make dreads tougher to have them see more use.
- Retributor, Cronus, Hyperion and Overmind health increased from 14,000 to 15,000
- Savager and Prometheus health increased from 16,000 to 17,500
Eye of Darkness
This change was supposed to be in 2.76 but was accidentally not included. This will make turtling up and rushing the Eye while skipping dreadnought production much riskier.
- Metal cost increased from 22,000 to 24,000
- Radioactives cost increased from 22,000 to 23,000
- Quanta cost increased from 12,000 to 13,000
- Logistics cost increased from 300 to 325
- Build time cost increased from 900 to 1000
Instigator
The Instigator was underperforming and will now be able to clear creeps with its weapon.
- Now has a weak laser
- Acceleration increased from 600 to 800
- Cost reduced from 350/80 to 250/60
- Logistics reduced from 10 to 6
- Build time reduced from 40 to 35
Hades
The Hades Bomber was the only non-fighter that came in a squadron of 3. This created balance problems where Hades flocks would shrug off Air Eliminators but then get deleted by splash such as the Falcon. We are reducing the squadron size to 1 and tweaking it to compensate so that it is more consistent against other anti-air types. Reducing the squadron size will also fix the targeting issue of the Hades sometimes not dropping its bombs.
- Squad size reduced from 3 to 1
- Hades will no longer pass without dropping bombs
- Damage increased from 60 to 75
- Health increased from 625 to 1200
- Metal cost reduced from 270 to 220
- Radioactives cost reduced from 190 to 150
- Logistics cost reduced from 9 to 7
- Build time reduced from 45 to 40
Artillery Post
The Artillery Post was too spammable in certain maps, especially team games.
- Minimum range increased from 200 to 500
- Maximum range reduced from 3000 to 2800
Regenerator
- Regeneration increased from 30 to 35
Carving Turret
PHC had too many Orbital Abilities that could influence cruiser engagements while Substrate only had Drone Swarm. Carving Turret is now only able to engage Dreadnaughts and Juggernauts to even out PHC’s orbital advantage.
- Can no longer target frigates, cruisers and buildings
Drone Swarm
Drone Swarm was shut down too easily by armies that had modest amounts of anti-air.
- Drone health increased from 15 to 30
- Health per second increased from -0.5 to -1 (To retains its 30 second life)
Nanite Assassination
While expensive and limited to only a single target, players may wish to use this ability to snipe a Hera, Engineer or other crucial units like a sieging Artemis.
- Can now target cruisers
- Damage type changed to direct for instant killing.
Plasma Storm
Plasma Storm was too impactful so we have reduced its damage per second and slightly increased its duration so players have more opportunity to escape from it or sustain through with Caregivers and Regenerators.
- Damage reduced from 15 to 10
- Duration increased from 30 to 35
Tooltips
- Updated Carving Turret & Nanite Assassination tooltips to reflect changes
- Removed obsolete “Armor piercing” and “Area Damage” tooltips from Artemis and Destructor main weapon.
- Removed obsolete “Targets radar contacts” from 8 weapons. (Everything can now target radar contacts)
Bugs
- Fixed Shader corruption bugFixed a hang when starting the Benchmark
- Fixed Saboteur targeting issue causing it to stop firing
- Fixed a bug where Nanite Assassination would sometimes miss moving dreadnoughts.