Rage, guardians triggered by kills, keys only from guardians. Benni’s observation: the key halves came far too quickly — one from a hatchery, one for 45 ore from the vault, both without ever having fought for them. And guardians showed up on a timer, no matter what you did.
- Rage per enemy type. Every type tracks its own losses. Rage makes them tougher (up to +60% hull), faster (up to +35%) and more trigger-happy (fire pauses up to half as long) — and visibly redder. Never shown as a number, only in behavior. It fades if you leave a type alone: one kill’s worth wears off every 25 seconds. Enraged enemies drop more loot.
- Guardians now arrive after kills, not on a timer. A hidden counter: the first at 60, then 95, 130 … The guardian markers are gone from the timeline. Guardians are tougher across the board (×1.4) and also carry the rage of whichever type you’ve hunted most (up to ×2.3).
- Only guardians carry key halves now: the first drops key I, the second key II. Hatcheries and the vault no longer give them; the vault is gone from the shop. The target arrow reads “KEY I · CARRIED BY THE NEXT GUARDIAN · KEEP HUNTING”, and points at the guardian as soon as one appears.
- The Core still opens after 30 minutes as a safety net.