60 new boons, station missions from a big pool, boon balancing with its own test stand.
The new boons are meant for wild combinations. Chain Shot plus Fork plus Boomerang is exactly the idea. Boons that deal damage themselves scale with your current ship DPS, so they don’t turn into a footnote late in a flight.
- Weapon (15):
- Chain Shot: hits jump on as a copy, evolving into Chain Reaction.
- Fork (evolves into Trident), Boomerang, Gravity Core, Impact Core (more damage and knockback, without bigger graphics).
- Ember Rounds (evolves into Wildfire), Spark Charge, Twin Barrel, Accelerator, Muzzle Blast.
- Echo, Precision Beat (evolves into Clockwork), Sticky Charge, Death Blow, Critical Mass.
- Manoeuvre (15):
- Jump Fire, Jump Blade (evolves into Shadow Blade), Slingshot, Phase Armour.
- Spark Graze, Graze Streak, Tailwind.
- Adrenaline, Evasion Routine, Gun Emplacement, Slipstream, Focus Edge, Lightweight Frame, Ram Spur, Comet Tail.
- Ability (15):
- Nova Splinters, Nova Magnet, Aftershock, Nova Charger, Overload, Emergency Reserve.
- Reprise Chain, Frost Reprise, Resonance Fire, Chamber Armour, Final Chord, Chamber Interest.
- Amplifier, Lucky Break, Ion Fever.
- Relic (15, Orbit only):
- Signal Booster, Relic Reader, Scrap Magnet, Warp Coil, Heat Shield.
- Sky Resonance amplifies the planet’s secret effect, including its drawbacks.
- Core Probe, Guardian’s Bane, Drill Sparks, Ore Fever, Nebula Walker, Deep Orbit, Station Friend, Zone Lore, Deflector Field.
- Balancing: The new
scripts/gaben-messstand.mjsmeasures every boon on its own (strength 3, about two common picks) on a level 10 weapon in the seven situations of the DPS test stand. Extra damage after tuning: Critical Burst +60 % (was +118 %), Chain Shot +57 % (almost only against groups), Twin Barrel about +35 %, Sticky Charge +34 %, Fork +27 %, Impact Core +21 %, Accelerator +17 %, Spark Charge +10 %, Spiral Fire ±0 (was −26 %). Tuned:- Sticky Charge only hits neighbours with a third. Before, it did six times the damage in a cluster.
- Twin Barrel adds less damage (20 + 5 % per strength, at most 55 %).
- Fork spreads tighter and hits single targets.
- Accelerator and Spark Charge are stronger.
- The old Spiral Fire swings less and pierces one enemy instead. Before, it cost up to 80 % damage against a single target.
- The old Critical Burst explodes smaller (40 + 20 px per strength) and with a third of the crit damage instead of half.
- Station missions: Every station now has its own board with three missions from a pool of 21 types, rolled fresh every game. A finished mission is replaced right away, so missions can be repeated. Each zone’s main mission stays alongside.
- Types:
- Hunting: bounties on named bandits (“VASK ‘Rustfang’”), gang hunts with up to seven escorts, purges of one enemy type, elite hunts, mine clearing, guardian hunts and Sharpshooter (kills in focus).
- Trade and cargo: raids (crack a freighter, salvage its crates), courier runs and rush jobs with a deadline.
- Exploration: infiltration (plant a probe at a hive), surveys, nebula surveys, distress calls, signal chains and relic hunts.
- Other: salvage (components), scrap trade (wreck parts), sieges (the station comes under attack), stunt runs (grazes for a sponsor) and ore deliveries.
- Tiers ★ to ★★★: Higher tiers mean bigger targets and up to 2.6 times the pay. From ★★ on, you also get components. Later, the tier will also decide item quality.
- The board shows each mission’s tier and reward. The target arrow knows all new types.
- A zone’s plague still recedes with its main mission and the first two finished missions.
- Types:
- Fixed (found while measuring): Hit boons would have stayed silent on freshly spawned enemies. Spiral Fire with piercing would have crashed on rockets without a hit list.