Mjolnir Squad is ready for you. You better bring your own thunder...

Hey everyone, Thunderflux here! Thanks for all the great feedback on the new abilities and changes in Tipsy Tarantula - there's two big things coming soon, so let’s get right to it:

• On April 3rd I’ll be announcing the launch date for StarCrawlers 1.0. The launch date is set and I’m working with a video producer to get a trailer and some other cool things in place for the announcement. It won't be long after the announce until launch, so hang in there :D
  
  
• The next (and final final) update for Early Access will add one big feature before launch: Boss Mode. All missions will have a chance to spawn a Boss mob with new abilities, rare loot, and boosted power. At higher difficulty levels, you might face teams of Bosses (like Mjolnir Squad above) and have a chance to loot Named Legendary gear with unique effects. I’ll be talking more about Boss Mode as we get closer to the next patch!

On a personal note, I’m really excited to be nearing launch after such a great EA experience. I firmly believe that the great community around StarCrawlers has improved the game immensely and that is what EA is meant to be about! Many of you have been following the game and playing it since very early in production and have been regulars on the forums with feedback, bug reports (few of those :D) and discussions about mechanics and features you’d like to see - your involvement has added so much to the game. Thank you.

As always, I can’t respond to every post, but I read everything, and I appreciate anyone who takes the time to report a bug, toss me some feedback, or gripe about a mechanic. To that end, here’s a preview of a few things that are changing based on your feedback:

• Crits are fun. Abilities that build charges with crits and obliterate the enemy are also fun!
  Shields block crits. This is not fun. Shields will no longer block crits in the next patch. Note that this also applies to mobs critting you through shields, so they think this is fun too.
  
  
• Armor will once again block elemental damage in addition to physical damage, making armor type a more meaningful choice. This also applies to mobs, so they ask that you don’t bring any armor destroying attacks or weapons.
  
  
• Less credit drops from mobs, more gear. Common mobs will drop slightly less loot overall, but what they do drop will always be a piece of gear.
  
  
• More environment lootables. All environment types will have more loot plucked right out of the environment and new item types.
  
  
• More random events in all environment types. No more looting just nude pics!
  
  
• Expanded stash size on STIX so you can horde all the medkits.
  
  
• Mobs of all types have received new abilities.
  
  
• Lots of other improvements and tweaks!

Mjolnir Squad is ready for you. You better bring your own thunder...

Hey everyone, Thunderflux here! Thanks for all the great feedback on the new abilities and changes in Tipsy Tarantula - there's two big things coming soon, so let’s get right to it:

• On April 3rd I’ll be announcing the launch date for StarCrawlers 1.0. The launch date is set and I’m working with a video producer to get a trailer and some other cool things in place for the announcement. It won't be long after the announce until launch, so hang in there :D
  
  
• The next (and final final) update for Early Access will add one big feature before launch: Boss Mode. All missions will have a chance to spawn a Boss mob with new abilities, rare loot, and boosted power. At higher difficulty levels, you might face teams of Bosses (like Mjolnir Squad above) and have a chance to loot Named Legendary gear with unique effects. I’ll be talking more about Boss Mode as we get closer to the next patch!

On a personal note, I’m really excited to be nearing launch after such a great EA experience. I firmly believe that the great community around StarCrawlers has improved the game immensely and that is what EA is meant to be about! Many of you have been following the game and playing it since very early in production and have been regulars on the forums with feedback, bug reports (few of those :D) and discussions about mechanics and features you’d like to see - your involvement has added so much to the game. Thank you.

As always, I can’t respond to every post, but I read everything, and I appreciate anyone who takes the time to report a bug, toss me some feedback, or gripe about a mechanic. To that end, here’s a preview of a few things that are changing based on your feedback:

• Crits are fun. Abilities that build charges with crits and obliterate the enemy are also fun!
  Shields block crits. This is not fun. Shields will no longer block crits in the next patch. Note that this also applies to mobs critting you through shields, so they think this is fun too.
  
  
• Armor will once again block elemental damage in addition to physical damage, making armor type a more meaningful choice. This also applies to mobs, so they ask that you don’t bring any armor destroying attacks or weapons.
  
  
• Less credit drops from mobs, more gear. Common mobs will drop slightly less loot overall, but what they do drop will always be a piece of gear.
  
  
• More environment lootables. All environment types will have more loot plucked right out of the environment and new item types.
  
  
• More random events in all environment types. No more looting just nude pics!
  
  
• Expanded stash size on STIX so you can horde all the medkits.
  
  
• Mobs of all types have received new abilities.
  
  
• Lots of other improvements and tweaks!

Barraki tripped the tripbeam running for the exit. Don't be like Barraki.

Force Psyker, Engineer, Prototype and Smuggler abilities!

Force Energy
• Now regenerates at a set rate of 5 per turn. Abilities and passives can accelerate regen.
  
  
• Guardian
  
• The Guardian tree has received a damage boost and improved power to defend allies.
  
• Aegis Strike damage increased and removes shields from each target (Rank 2).
  
• Mirror Prism damages all enemies when it shatters.
  
• Spirit Armor (Rank 3) now regenerates Force Psyker health when it is low.
  
• Inner Peace (Rank 3) now provides a powerful heal if struck by a deathblow.
  
• Condemn now grants Force Energy when purging enemy buffs and smites a for at Rank 3.
  
• Purity Prism deals damage to enemies each time it absorbs a debuff and can direct debuffs to enemies at Rank 3.
  
• Manifest Spirit now gains charges when you generate Force Energy.
  
  
• Sentinel
  
• Barriers now draw strength from the current health of the Force Psyker and decay in strength each turn. Healthier Force Psyker = healthier barriers.
  
• Inner Balance now boosts your damage when Force Energy is high, and regenerates Force Energy faster when it is low.
  
• Barrier Prison deals damage on attack, damage each turn (Rank 2) and AoE damage when it shatters (Rank 3).
  
• Manifest Destiny is now charged by creating barriers on allies, passively strengthens all barriers (Rank 2) and grants an infusion of Force Energy (Rank 3).
  
  
• Berserker
  
• Force Hammer critical hits Shock the target.
  
• Fists of Fury (Rank 2) has chance to Shock the target and critical hits against Shocked targets deals damage to adjacent enemies (Rank 3).
  
• Mind Bullets no longer drains all Force Energy but fires a set amount of bullets. Spreads Shock to other targets (Rank 2) and deals bonus damage to Shocked targets (Rank 3). Pewpew!
  
• Inner Turmoil now boosts damage when your health is low, boosting higher as health drops.
  
• Shattering Blow now gains bonuses if the target is Vulnerable and crits make targets Vulnerable (Rank 3).
  
• Spirit Onslaught boosts crit until a crit occurs and can heal the Force Psyker (Rank 3).
  
• Manifest Rage is now charges by scoring crits on fools and deals increased damage.

Jigawatz
• Junk has been replaced with Jigawatz generated by the Engineer’s mechsuit. Engineers everywhere have found this more practical than carrying junk around.
  
  
• Constructor
  
• Constructor summons have all gained some capacity to apply Blind, Shock, Burn and Stun effects to enemies.
  
• Special Delivery now also applies a random debuff to damaged enemies.
  
• Twofer now provides damage boosts to the cloned construct and the original.
  
• Master Builder now provides elemental resistance to constructs.
  
  
• Rigger
  
• Rigger abilities now power down and refund their Jigawatz if unused on your turn.
  
• Base malfunction chance for all Rigger abilities reduced.
  
• Rumble Pack builds damage and malfunction chance slower.
  
• Railgun deals increased damage.
  
• Ornery now grants a small amount of healing each turn and can heal the team at Rank 2.
  
• Overshield now gain charges when you generate Jigawatz and provides superior elemental resistance to all allies without redirecting damage to the Engineer.
  
• Upgrade now gains charges as you generate Jigawatz and provides a stacking permanent damage boost and damage reduction for the duration of combat.
  
  
• Bolty
  
• Bolty max health and threat reduced and gains dodge at Rank 2.
  
• Rocket Elbow now Shocks the target on impact.
  
• Strafe crits Blind targets.
  
• Shotblocker (Rank 3) now heals Bolty each turn while intercepting attacks.
  
• Built Real Good now provides passive healing for Bolty at Rank 3.

• Dirty Moves
  
• Explosive Trap is now Volatile Trap, deals increased damage and can Burn enemies.
  
• Flash Bang now applies stacks of Blind and can no longer hit allies.
  
• Timed Mine damage boosted and can Stun (Rank 2) and instantly kill common enemies (Rank 3).
  
• Bag of Wonders artifacts have gained new powers and Stun all enemies on use (Rank 3).
  
  
• Gunslinger
  
• Akimbo now grants a 2nd attack for 50% weapon damage when using a Weapon Ability with a pistol instead of doubling attacks. Gunslinger abilities have had damage boosted to compensate.
  
• Trick Shot base damage increased, number of bounces decreased, but bounces extra times after a critical hit (Rank 3).
  
• Fan the Hammers now grants dodge in addition to damage bonuses (Rank 3).
  
• Buddy Shield (Rank 3) now grants a large damage reduction to you and your meatshie- er, ‘buddy’.
  
• Showdown (Rank 3) grants a large damage boost for several turns. If it ain’t dead, it will be.
  
  
• Cheap Tricks
  
• Damage maximums for all Cheap Tricks abilities increased.
  
• Coin Toss damage boosted, stacks Bad Luck (Rank 2) and terrible things occur (Rank 3).
  
• Mug damage reduced, chance to steal items reduced until Rank 3, then greatly increased.
  
• Bounty now makes the target Vulnerable and heals the bounty killer (Rank 3).
  
• Roulette heals the Smuggler for damage dealt (Rank 2).
  
• Double Down grants Regeneration at Rank 3.
  
• Slot Machine damage boosted and debuffs with Blind, Fire, and Vulnerability.

• Annihilation
  
• Arm Cannon gains bonus hit at Rank 2.
  
• Thunderclap inflicts Shock when purging a buff at Rank 3.
  
• Haiku.exe grants allies Regeneration at Rank 3.
  
• Target Lock now causes your obsession to deal less damage to you (Rank 2) and if they survive, the damage buff persists without nerfing damage to other targets (Rank 3).
  
• Safety Protocols now heals each turn at Rank 3 and has a reduced malfunction rate.
  
• Hunter Killer has been redesigned and now writes enemies you encounter to memory. Gain a stacking crit and damage buff each time you encounter an enemy in memory.
  
• R.A.M (Rank 3) grants debuff immunity while active.
  
  
• Termination
  
• Get Down now Blinds the enemy at Rank 3.
  
• Adaptive Armor now allows Armor to block elemental damage at Rank 3.
  
• Aegis Mode provides damage reduction to allies while it lasts.
  
• Reason (Rank 2) has a chance to Confuse enemies.
  
• Relentless (Rank 3) passively heals the Prototype each turn.
  
• Termination (Rank 2) clears all debuffs from the Prototype.
  
  
• Mutation
  
• Chaotic Shot (Rank 2) crits will Blind, Shock, or Corrupt the target and deal bonus damage if the target is already afflicted by all of these effects (Rank 3).
  
• Assault base damage and number of attacks reduced.
  
• Core Dump (Rank 2) will Blind, Shock or Corrupt foes and heals for each charge (Rank 3).
  
• Mut.exe grants Haste (Rank 2) and heals (Rank 3) for each replaced malfunction.
  
• Chaos Model (Rank 2) has a random chance to randomly clear a random debuff from you and deal increased damage when you shutdown (Rank 3).
  
• H.A.M damage and attack count reduced. Still does a ridiculous amount of damage

• New abilities and buffs for enemies.
  
• Info Log improvements and lore info for factions.
  
• Hotfixes! Woohoo!
  
• More cool stuff!

Barraki tripped the tripbeam running for the exit. Don't be like Barraki.

Force Psyker, Engineer, Prototype and Smuggler abilities!

Force Energy
• Now regenerates at a set rate of 5 per turn. Abilities and passives can accelerate regen.
  
  
• Guardian
  
• The Guardian tree has received a damage boost and improved power to defend allies.
  
• Aegis Strike damage increased and removes shields from each target (Rank 2).
  
• Mirror Prism damages all enemies when it shatters.
  
• Spirit Armor (Rank 3) now regenerates Force Psyker health when it is low.
  
• Inner Peace (Rank 3) now provides a powerful heal if struck by a deathblow.
  
• Condemn now grants Force Energy when purging enemy buffs and smites a for at Rank 3.
  
• Purity Prism deals damage to enemies each time it absorbs a debuff and can direct debuffs to enemies at Rank 3.
  
• Manifest Spirit now gains charges when you generate Force Energy.
  
  
• Sentinel
  
• Barriers now draw strength from the current health of the Force Psyker and decay in strength each turn. Healthier Force Psyker = healthier barriers.
  
• Inner Balance now boosts your damage when Force Energy is high, and regenerates Force Energy faster when it is low.
  
• Barrier Prison deals damage on attack, damage each turn (Rank 2) and AoE damage when it shatters (Rank 3).
  
• Manifest Destiny is now charged by creating barriers on allies, passively strengthens all barriers (Rank 2) and grants an infusion of Force Energy (Rank 3).
  
  
• Berserker
  
• Force Hammer critical hits Shock the target.
  
• Fists of Fury (Rank 2) has chance to Shock the target and critical hits against Shocked targets deals damage to adjacent enemies (Rank 3).
  
• Mind Bullets no longer drains all Force Energy but fires a set amount of bullets. Spreads Shock to other targets (Rank 2) and deals bonus damage to Shocked targets (Rank 3). Pewpew!
  
• Inner Turmoil now boosts damage when your health is low, boosting higher as health drops.
  
• Shattering Blow now gains bonuses if the target is Vulnerable and crits make targets Vulnerable (Rank 3).
  
• Spirit Onslaught boosts crit until a crit occurs and can heal the Force Psyker (Rank 3).
  
• Manifest Rage is now charges by scoring crits on fools and deals increased damage.

Jigawatz
• Junk has been replaced with Jigawatz generated by the Engineer’s mechsuit. Engineers everywhere have found this more practical than carrying junk around.
  
  
• Constructor
  
• Constructor summons have all gained some capacity to apply Blind, Shock, Burn and Stun effects to enemies.
  
• Special Delivery now also applies a random debuff to damaged enemies.
  
• Twofer now provides damage boosts to the cloned construct and the original.
  
• Master Builder now provides elemental resistance to constructs.
  
  
• Rigger
  
• Rigger abilities now power down and refund their Jigawatz if unused on your turn.
  
• Base malfunction chance for all Rigger abilities reduced.
  
• Rumble Pack builds damage and malfunction chance slower.
  
• Railgun deals increased damage.
  
• Ornery now grants a small amount of healing each turn and can heal the team at Rank 2.
  
• Overshield now gain charges when you generate Jigawatz and provides superior elemental resistance to all allies without redirecting damage to the Engineer.
  
• Upgrade now gains charges as you generate Jigawatz and provides a stacking permanent damage boost and damage reduction for the duration of combat.
  
  
• Bolty
  
• Bolty max health and threat reduced and gains dodge at Rank 2.
  
• Rocket Elbow now Shocks the target on impact.
  
• Strafe crits Blind targets.
  
• Shotblocker (Rank 3) now heals Bolty each turn while intercepting attacks.
  
• Built Real Good now provides passive healing for Bolty at Rank 3.

• Dirty Moves
  
• Explosive Trap is now Volatile Trap, deals increased damage and can Burn enemies.
  
• Flash Bang now applies stacks of Blind and can no longer hit allies.
  
• Timed Mine damage boosted and can Stun (Rank 2) and instantly kill common enemies (Rank 3).
  
• Bag of Wonders artifacts have gained new powers and Stun all enemies on use (Rank 3).
  
  
• Gunslinger
  
• Akimbo now grants a 2nd attack for 50% weapon damage when using a Weapon Ability with a pistol instead of doubling attacks. Gunslinger abilities have had damage boosted to compensate.
  
• Trick Shot base damage increased, number of bounces decreased, but bounces extra times after a critical hit (Rank 3).
  
• Fan the Hammers now grants dodge in addition to damage bonuses (Rank 3).
  
• Buddy Shield (Rank 3) now grants a large damage reduction to you and your meatshie- er, ‘buddy’.
  
• Showdown (Rank 3) grants a large damage boost for several turns. If it ain’t dead, it will be.
  
  
• Cheap Tricks
  
• Damage maximums for all Cheap Tricks abilities increased.
  
• Coin Toss damage boosted, stacks Bad Luck (Rank 2) and terrible things occur (Rank 3).
  
• Mug damage reduced, chance to steal items reduced until Rank 3, then greatly increased.
  
• Bounty now makes the target Vulnerable and heals the bounty killer (Rank 3).
  
• Roulette heals the Smuggler for damage dealt (Rank 2).
  
• Double Down grants Regeneration at Rank 3.
  
• Slot Machine damage boosted and debuffs with Blind, Fire, and Vulnerability.

• Annihilation
  
• Arm Cannon gains bonus hit at Rank 2.
  
• Thunderclap inflicts Shock when purging a buff at Rank 3.
  
• Haiku.exe grants allies Regeneration at Rank 3.
  
• Target Lock now causes your obsession to deal less damage to you (Rank 2) and if they survive, the damage buff persists without nerfing damage to other targets (Rank 3).
  
• Safety Protocols now heals each turn at Rank 3 and has a reduced malfunction rate.
  
• Hunter Killer has been redesigned and now writes enemies you encounter to memory. Gain a stacking crit and damage buff each time you encounter an enemy in memory.
  
• R.A.M (Rank 3) grants debuff immunity while active.
  
  
• Termination
  
• Get Down now Blinds the enemy at Rank 3.
  
• Adaptive Armor now allows Armor to block elemental damage at Rank 3.
  
• Aegis Mode provides damage reduction to allies while it lasts.
  
• Reason (Rank 2) has a chance to Confuse enemies.
  
• Relentless (Rank 3) passively heals the Prototype each turn.
  
• Termination (Rank 2) clears all debuffs from the Prototype.
  
  
• Mutation
  
• Chaotic Shot (Rank 2) crits will Blind, Shock, or Corrupt the target and deal bonus damage if the target is already afflicted by all of these effects (Rank 3).
  
• Assault base damage and number of attacks reduced.
  
• Core Dump (Rank 2) will Blind, Shock or Corrupt foes and heals for each charge (Rank 3).
  
• Mut.exe grants Haste (Rank 2) and heals (Rank 3) for each replaced malfunction.
  
• Chaos Model (Rank 2) has a random chance to randomly clear a random debuff from you and deal increased damage when you shutdown (Rank 3).
  
• H.A.M damage and attack count reduced. Still does a ridiculous amount of damage

• New abilities and buffs for enemies.
  
• Info Log improvements and lore info for factions.
  
• Hotfixes! Woohoo!
  
• More cool stuff!

Due to the massive amount of changes, patch notes will be split into two parts. Get comfy...

We’ve been taking in an enormous amount of feedback and suggestions on combat, and this patch is all about it! Thank you to everyone submitting feedback and bug reports, we hope everything will find something they like in the Tipsy Tarantula patch. After experiencing the patch, let us know what you think about the changes in this handy feedback thread: http://steamcommunity.com/app/318970/discussions/2/133258593396281495/

• Health has been recalculated to lower the cap for players. When loading a save from a previous build, your team may have current health that exceeds the new maximum. This will be addressed in a future patch, but enjoy the excess health while it lasts! :D

• Combat speed and damage for both mobs and players has been revised. You should find combat at lower levels to be quicker and deadlier overall, with difficulty ramping more smoothly as you advance towards level 30.
  
  
• Many classes have picked up Regeneration and healing abilities in their support trees. These become more important at higher levels to sustain your team against tougher enemies and reduce reliance on using medkits.
  
  
• Regeneration heals at the start of a character’s turn. A character can only have 1 active Regeneration effect on them, with stronger effects overriding weaker ones.
  
  
• Several of the more deadly abilities have had their damage caps adjusted and require building charges to use them at full potential. This creates more opportunities to build power over the course of a run instead of just popping your nukes each battle. Looking at you, Hellfire Salvo.
  
  
• Several debuffs have been standardized to make them easier to recognize in action: Blind reduces hit chance, Burn deals damage over time, Shock reduces Energy resistance, Corruption converts buffs into damage, and Vulnerability increases damage taken by the target.
  
  
• Mobs will be updated in the next patch with new abilities and buffs.

• Heavy Armor no longer has a Time Unit penalty, but a dodge penalty.
  
• Light melee weapons and pistols provide a bonus to dodge.
  
• Heavy melee weapons and heavy weapons have a penalty to dodge.
  
• Medkits can once again be used by the Prototype. The mechanic of having a separate healing item just for the Proto sounded fun, but in play was found to be less so.
  
• The damage reduction for shields and armor has been reduced and damage ranges across all three types brought slightly closer together.
  
• These changes do not affect gear generated in previous builds, but you will experience unbalanced play if you choose to use legacy gear.

Tactician
• Meat Shield no longer provides a flat amount of damage reduction but grants a meaty barrier to absorb incoming damage based on average weapon damage.
  
• Defiance (Rank 3) no longer boosts Threat but instead allows the Soldier to cheat death.
  
• Best Defense (Rank 3)now reduces enemy damage dealt.
  
• Bloodthirst is now a passive ability that heals the Soldier when they deal critical damage, taunts targets that are critically hit, and boosts crit chance when combat begins.
  
• Juggernaut and As One have switched places in the ability tree.
  
• As One now begins combat with an 8 turn cooldown that is reduced each time the Soldier taunts and has gained boosted hit and critical hit bonuses.
  
• Juggernaut now gains charges as the Soldier taunts and can be used for an emergency damage reduction, heal, and retaliation attack.
  
  Demolition
  
• The Soldier has taken their relationship with explosions and fire to the next level.
  
• Frag Grenade (Rank 2) now Burns the primary target for bonus damage when it crits.
  
• Rocket Strike (Rank 2) now gains boosted accuracy
  
• Bouncing Betty (Rank 2) now Burns the primary target for bonus damage when it crits.
  
• Magnetronc Bomb (Rank 2) now causes Bomblets it detonates to Burn targets for bonus damage when they deal critical damage.
  
• Hellfire Salvo now gains charges as the Soldier applies Burn to enemies and boosts the duration and damage of Burn effects on targets in damages. Charges persist between combats.
  
• Removed UXO ability.
  
• NEW ABILITY : This Is Fine (Passive) Boost damage and crit when you set things on fire. Learn to love fire so much that it heals you while you’re on fire.
  
• Boom King (Rank 2) tosses a bomblet when you crit a target afflicted by Burn.
  
  Marksman
  
• Crack Shot (Rank 2) now also Dazes the target on a critical hit.
  
• Custom Armor now grants a buff and small heal at the start of combat if the Soldier has positive rep with the manufacturer of their armor. This effect is boosted as rep increases.
  
• Flare now deals Fire damage on impact and can Blind and Burn the target.
  
• Kill Count now boosts the Soldier every 5 points and has added bonuses at higher ranks.
  
• Hot Streak (Rank 2) now Burns the target for bonus damage when it crits.
  
• The Specialist now requires 10 charges to activate. Score critical hits to charge!

Root Hack
• Overheat now has a 30/60/100% chance to Stun immediately, deals a portion of its damage immediately, and deals increased damage over time.
  
• Scramble now deals damage immediately and bonus damage if the target is Stunned.
  
• Root Hack now deals damage on impact and Charms for 1 turn maximum, but cannot miss and has a high success chance vs. normal mobs on the first use.
  
• Exploit now persists for 1 turn, cannot miss, and no longer consumes Stun on the target.
  
• Cripple cannot miss and no longer consumes Stun on the target.
  
• Snowcrash now requires 10 charges to activate and builds charges by Stunning enemies.
  
  Malware
  
• Mindmelt deals damage immediately in addition to each turn.
  
• Shareware now has increased chance to spread viruses, boosted by your crit chance, and has a chance to immediately spread upon infection (Rank 3).
  
• Corruption is now Decay and can apply the Corrupt effect.
  
• Logic Bomb (Rank 3) has a chance to instantly kill common enemies.
  
• Black Ice (Rank 3) has a chance to instantly kill common enemies.
  
  Optimization
  
• Hotlink now deals damage immediately in addition to each turn.
  
• Time Release now grants your weakest ally Regeneration.
  
• Multi Core now also heals allies for each Hacker buff they have.
  
• Ex Machina now requires charges of Optimization to activate, but is only slightly less OP than you remember. Plus it heals everyone. :O

Summoner
• Shadowcoil attack speed increased.
  
• Misery has been redesigned and now gives your summons a chance to apply Blind, Corrupt or Vulnerable to foes when scoring a critical hit. Higher ranks can spread these afflictions or deal bonus damage.
  
• Void Psykers will no longer constantly be driven to madness after using Eldritch Horror. The chance will now properly reset each time you go insane.
  
• Eldritch Horror now demands tributes by applying Blind, Corrupt and Vulnerable to enemies and summons a different entity depending on the whims of the Void. Don’t use this ability.

Assassination
• Abilities that consume Combo Points to deal damage now deal nonlinear increased damage.
  
• New Mechanic : Death Notes. Critical hits from Assassin abilities can add Death Notes, granting a chance to instantly kill common enemies.
  
• Expose Weakness now applies Vulnerable to the target and lasts until the end of their turn.
  
• Flurry strikes reduced and hit harder.
  
• Removed Phase Binder ability.
  
• NEW ABILITY : Marked for Death. Double the number of Death Notes on the target and boost damage and crit vs. the target. Teleport in front of target in the timeline.
  
• Assassinate has been redesigned and receives bonuses based on Death Notes on the target.
  
  Deception
  
• Deception abilities now make use of Shock and Blind mechanics to deal additional damage.
  
• Added several rank abilities that can apply Shock or Blind.
  
• Concealing Mists now reduces dodge bonus for all allies, not just the ally that dodges, and can heal allies at Rank 3.
  
  Combination
  
• Combination abilities gains bonus effects and damage when the target is suffering from Blind, Burn, Vulnerability, or Shock.

• Removed common mechanic descriptions from ability tooltips. These will be relocated to the Codex in a future update.
  
• The Prototype will only recite a malfunction haiku on the 1st occurrence in combat.
  
• Fixed ESC menu in Combat sometimes becoming unresponsive.
  
• Fixed randomized options in certain events always choosing the same result, resulting in non-randomization.
  
• Fixed several combat hangs / crashes related to player and mob abilities.
  
• Introduced new and exotic bugs to perplex and torment players.

Force Psyker, Engineer, Prototype and Smuggler abilities
Preview of new mob abilities

Due to the massive amount of changes, patch notes will be split into two parts. Get comfy...

We’ve been taking in an enormous amount of feedback and suggestions on combat, and this patch is all about it! Thank you to everyone submitting feedback and bug reports, we hope everything will find something they like in the Tipsy Tarantula patch. After experiencing the patch, let us know what you think about the changes in this handy feedback thread: http://steamcommunity.com/app/318970/discussions/2/133258593396281495/

• Health has been recalculated to lower the cap for players. When loading a save from a previous build, your team may have current health that exceeds the new maximum. This will be addressed in a future patch, but enjoy the excess health while it lasts! :D

• Combat speed and damage for both mobs and players has been revised. You should find combat at lower levels to be quicker and deadlier overall, with difficulty ramping more smoothly as you advance towards level 30.
  
  
• Many classes have picked up Regeneration and healing abilities in their support trees. These become more important at higher levels to sustain your team against tougher enemies and reduce reliance on using medkits.
  
  
• Regeneration heals at the start of a character’s turn. A character can only have 1 active Regeneration effect on them, with stronger effects overriding weaker ones.
  
  
• Several of the more deadly abilities have had their damage caps adjusted and require building charges to use them at full potential. This creates more opportunities to build power over the course of a run instead of just popping your nukes each battle. Looking at you, Hellfire Salvo.
  
  
• Several debuffs have been standardized to make them easier to recognize in action: Blind reduces hit chance, Burn deals damage over time, Shock reduces Energy resistance, Corruption converts buffs into damage, and Vulnerability increases damage taken by the target.
  
  
• Mobs will be updated in the next patch with new abilities and buffs.

• Heavy Armor no longer has a Time Unit penalty, but a dodge penalty.
  
• Light melee weapons and pistols provide a bonus to dodge.
  
• Heavy melee weapons and heavy weapons have a penalty to dodge.
  
• Medkits can once again be used by the Prototype. The mechanic of having a separate healing item just for the Proto sounded fun, but in play was found to be less so.
  
• The damage reduction for shields and armor has been reduced and damage ranges across all three types brought slightly closer together.
  
• These changes do not affect gear generated in previous builds, but you will experience unbalanced play if you choose to use legacy gear.

Tactician
• Meat Shield no longer provides a flat amount of damage reduction but grants a meaty barrier to absorb incoming damage based on average weapon damage.
  
• Defiance (Rank 3) no longer boosts Threat but instead allows the Soldier to cheat death.
  
• Best Defense (Rank 3)now reduces enemy damage dealt.
  
• Bloodthirst is now a passive ability that heals the Soldier when they deal critical damage, taunts targets that are critically hit, and boosts crit chance when combat begins.
  
• Juggernaut and As One have switched places in the ability tree.
  
• As One now begins combat with an 8 turn cooldown that is reduced each time the Soldier taunts and has gained boosted hit and critical hit bonuses.
  
• Juggernaut now gains charges as the Soldier taunts and can be used for an emergency damage reduction, heal, and retaliation attack.
  
  Demolition
  
• The Soldier has taken their relationship with explosions and fire to the next level.
  
• Frag Grenade (Rank 2) now Burns the primary target for bonus damage when it crits.
  
• Rocket Strike (Rank 2) now gains boosted accuracy
  
• Bouncing Betty (Rank 2) now Burns the primary target for bonus damage when it crits.
  
• Magnetronc Bomb (Rank 2) now causes Bomblets it detonates to Burn targets for bonus damage when they deal critical damage.
  
• Hellfire Salvo now gains charges as the Soldier applies Burn to enemies and boosts the duration and damage of Burn effects on targets in damages. Charges persist between combats.
  
• Removed UXO ability.
  
• NEW ABILITY : This Is Fine (Passive) Boost damage and crit when you set things on fire. Learn to love fire so much that it heals you while you’re on fire.
  
• Boom King (Rank 2) tosses a bomblet when you crit a target afflicted by Burn.
  
  Marksman
  
• Crack Shot (Rank 2) now also Dazes the target on a critical hit.
  
• Custom Armor now grants a buff and small heal at the start of combat if the Soldier has positive rep with the manufacturer of their armor. This effect is boosted as rep increases.
  
• Flare now deals Fire damage on impact and can Blind and Burn the target.
  
• Kill Count now boosts the Soldier every 5 points and has added bonuses at higher ranks.
  
• Hot Streak (Rank 2) now Burns the target for bonus damage when it crits.
  
• The Specialist now requires 10 charges to activate. Score critical hits to charge!

Root Hack
• Overheat now has a 30/60/100% chance to Stun immediately, deals a portion of its damage immediately, and deals increased damage over time.
  
• Scramble now deals damage immediately and bonus damage if the target is Stunned.
  
• Root Hack now deals damage on impact and Charms for 1 turn maximum, but cannot miss and has a high success chance vs. normal mobs on the first use.
  
• Exploit now persists for 1 turn, cannot miss, and no longer consumes Stun on the target.
  
• Cripple cannot miss and no longer consumes Stun on the target.
  
• Snowcrash now requires 10 charges to activate and builds charges by Stunning enemies.
  
  Malware
  
• Mindmelt deals damage immediately in addition to each turn.
  
• Shareware now has increased chance to spread viruses, boosted by your crit chance, and has a chance to immediately spread upon infection (Rank 3).
  
• Corruption is now Decay and can apply the Corrupt effect.
  
• Logic Bomb (Rank 3) has a chance to instantly kill common enemies.
  
• Black Ice (Rank 3) has a chance to instantly kill common enemies.
  
  Optimization
  
• Hotlink now deals damage immediately in addition to each turn.
  
• Time Release now grants your weakest ally Regeneration.
  
• Multi Core now also heals allies for each Hacker buff they have.
  
• Ex Machina now requires charges of Optimization to activate, but is only slightly less OP than you remember. Plus it heals everyone. :O

Summoner
• Shadowcoil attack speed increased.
  
• Misery has been redesigned and now gives your summons a chance to apply Blind, Corrupt or Vulnerable to foes when scoring a critical hit. Higher ranks can spread these afflictions or deal bonus damage.
  
• Void Psykers will no longer constantly be driven to madness after using Eldritch Horror. The chance will now properly reset each time you go insane.
  
• Eldritch Horror now demands tributes by applying Blind, Corrupt and Vulnerable to enemies and summons a different entity depending on the whims of the Void. Don’t use this ability.

Assassination
• Abilities that consume Combo Points to deal damage now deal nonlinear increased damage.
  
• New Mechanic : Death Notes. Critical hits from Assassin abilities can add Death Notes, granting a chance to instantly kill common enemies.
  
• Expose Weakness now applies Vulnerable to the target and lasts until the end of their turn.
  
• Flurry strikes reduced and hit harder.
  
• Removed Phase Binder ability.
  
• NEW ABILITY : Marked for Death. Double the number of Death Notes on the target and boost damage and crit vs. the target. Teleport in front of target in the timeline.
  
• Assassinate has been redesigned and receives bonuses based on Death Notes on the target.
  
  Deception
  
• Deception abilities now make use of Shock and Blind mechanics to deal additional damage.
  
• Added several rank abilities that can apply Shock or Blind.
  
• Concealing Mists now reduces dodge bonus for all allies, not just the ally that dodges, and can heal allies at Rank 3.
  
  Combination
  
• Combination abilities gains bonus effects and damage when the target is suffering from Blind, Burn, Vulnerability, or Shock.

• Removed common mechanic descriptions from ability tooltips. These will be relocated to the Codex in a future update.
  
• The Prototype will only recite a malfunction haiku on the 1st occurrence in combat.
  
• Fixed ESC menu in Combat sometimes becoming unresponsive.
  
• Fixed randomized options in certain events always choosing the same result, resulting in non-randomization.
  
• Fixed several combat hangs / crashes related to player and mob abilities.
  
• Introduced new and exotic bugs to perplex and torment players.

Force Psyker, Engineer, Prototype and Smuggler abilities
Preview of new mob abilities

It’s been an intense two weeks of reworking large chunks of code, but it is now possible to Quicksave your progress midmission and reload it from the title screen.

Please note this feature is highly experimental in this build and may not behave as expected when reloading a game - you may lose progress or be unable to continue with your mission. If you do encounter an issue, please let me know the details and, if possible, email your autosave.sc file so I can attempt to reover your team. Creating a manual save in STIX is the most secure way to preserve your game.

Support and feedback threads have been set up in the Bug Reports and General Discussions forums and I’ll be back to work shortly after Christmas, so if you encounter an issue, don’t panic - just post and let me know :D

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

- Thunderflux

It’s been an intense two weeks of reworking large chunks of code, but it is now possible to Quicksave your progress midmission and reload it from the title screen.

Please note this feature is highly experimental in this build and may not behave as expected when reloading a game - you may lose progress or be unable to continue with your mission. If you do encounter an issue, please let me know the details and, if possible, email your autosave.sc file so I can attempt to reover your team. Creating a manual save in STIX is the most secure way to preserve your game.

Support and feedback threads have been set up in the Bug Reports and General Discussions forums and I’ll be back to work shortly after Christmas, so if you encounter an issue, don’t panic - just post and let me know :D

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

- Thunderflux

Bad news everyone! The freezon capacitors in STIX are acting up again and covering the station in ice, but at least the residents are getting in the spirit by cooking up winter treats and leaving festive gifts laying around with rare loot inside…

Last patch of the year as we enter the holiday season, but work continues for a big update in the New Year. Happy holidays from Juggernaut :D

• Fixed issue with using Rhyzohm Master Keys and Skeletonkeys in UFP territory locking the event. But seriously, don’t try it...
  
• Fixed an issue with the Aurora Wire contact event that could cause it to close unexpectedly.
  
• Fixed issue where faction ops could spawn in maps owned by other factions and subsequently cause rep loss with a faction not associated with the map.
  
• Fixed employees from some factions awkwardly wandering into enemy faction maps.
  
• Fixed issue where disposing of an faction employee causing rep loss with a different faction.

• Failing to hack / shoot down a camera no longer automatically summons security but still triggers any trap attached to the camera.
  
• Fixed room generation that could occur in Office maps that made small hallways impassable.
  
• Fixed additional instances of trash cans appearing lootable when they are in fact not.

• Aegis Strike no longer incorrectly displays a weapon attack particle on impact.

• The timeline in combat can now be scrolled manually with two handy buttons.
  
• Combat Inventory, Flee and End Turn options have been combined under the Options icon on the Ability Wheel.
  
• Combat Log and Crew Status buttons no longer become semi-transparent when battle begins.
  
• Combat UI more strongly displays that an ability is unavailable in its tooltip.
  
• Look Smoothing is now disabled by default and correctly factors Free Look Sensitivity settings into movement when enabled.
  
• Prototype Malfunction events now use any custom character image defined.
  
• Spyder Drones now correctly appear on the minimap as an objective marker when the room they are in is discovered.
  
• In combat, ability icons no longer incorrectly display as highlighted when their ability is on cooldown or unavailable.
  
• Fixed issue where entering blank text into an event input field could cause the event to fail.
  
• Fixed particles persisting on some enemies after they have been defeated.
  
• Fixed character portrait not displaying when resetting abilities in the Medbay.
  
• Fixed item tooltips persisting in some menus after the menu has been closed.
  
• Fixed gear restrictions showing in the Black Market when inspecting crated items.
  
• Fixed issue allowing terminal data transmission event to be repeatable.

• Added weapon skills for Void Psykers to use Heavy Melee and Rifles.
  
• Added weapon skills for Hackers to use Paired Melee, Rifles and Shotguns.
  
• Added weapon skill for Smugglers to use Paired Melee.
  
• Added weapon skill for Force Psykers to use Basic Melee.
  
• Added seasonal items appropriate for crawlers.

Coming Soon

• Final friendly faction contact event: Pink Abduction Ray
  
• More cool stuff!

Bad news everyone! The freezon capacitors in STIX are acting up again and covering the station in ice, but at least the residents are getting in the spirit by cooking up winter treats and leaving festive gifts laying around with rare loot inside…

Last patch of the year as we enter the holiday season, but work continues for a big update in the New Year. Happy holidays from Juggernaut :D

• Fixed issue with using Rhyzohm Master Keys and Skeletonkeys in UFP territory locking the event. But seriously, don’t try it...
  
• Fixed an issue with the Aurora Wire contact event that could cause it to close unexpectedly.
  
• Fixed issue where faction ops could spawn in maps owned by other factions and subsequently cause rep loss with a faction not associated with the map.
  
• Fixed employees from some factions awkwardly wandering into enemy faction maps.
  
• Fixed issue where disposing of an faction employee causing rep loss with a different faction.

• Failing to hack / shoot down a camera no longer automatically summons security but still triggers any trap attached to the camera.
  
• Fixed room generation that could occur in Office maps that made small hallways impassable.
  
• Fixed additional instances of trash cans appearing lootable when they are in fact not.

• Aegis Strike no longer incorrectly displays a weapon attack particle on impact.

• The timeline in combat can now be scrolled manually with two handy buttons.
  
• Combat Inventory, Flee and End Turn options have been combined under the Options icon on the Ability Wheel.
  
• Combat Log and Crew Status buttons no longer become semi-transparent when battle begins.
  
• Combat UI more strongly displays that an ability is unavailable in its tooltip.
  
• Look Smoothing is now disabled by default and correctly factors Free Look Sensitivity settings into movement when enabled.
  
• Prototype Malfunction events now use any custom character image defined.
  
• Spyder Drones now correctly appear on the minimap as an objective marker when the room they are in is discovered.
  
• In combat, ability icons no longer incorrectly display as highlighted when their ability is on cooldown or unavailable.
  
• Fixed issue where entering blank text into an event input field could cause the event to fail.
  
• Fixed particles persisting on some enemies after they have been defeated.
  
• Fixed character portrait not displaying when resetting abilities in the Medbay.
  
• Fixed item tooltips persisting in some menus after the menu has been closed.
  
• Fixed gear restrictions showing in the Black Market when inspecting crated items.
  
• Fixed issue allowing terminal data transmission event to be repeatable.

• Added weapon skills for Void Psykers to use Heavy Melee and Rifles.
  
• Added weapon skills for Hackers to use Paired Melee, Rifles and Shotguns.
  
• Added weapon skill for Smugglers to use Paired Melee.
  
• Added weapon skill for Force Psykers to use Basic Melee.
  
• Added seasonal items appropriate for crawlers.

Coming Soon

• Final friendly faction contact event: Pink Abduction Ray
  
• More cool stuff!