Servers will be going down at 9AM EST today, the 27th of February to apply the 15.1.1 patch. Expected downtime is 4-8 hours. This is our second patch of February, and features massive changes to the combat system.
The biggest changes this month center around the combat and skills systems. We went through every skill in the game doing a series of balance work and improvements. Melee received the largest amount of upgrades, with most melee special abilities being moved to a cone of attack system. The chance of buffs and debuffs to take effect were increased across the board to make them more reliable and reduce the amount of chance in an encounter. We also introduced five new stats, tweaked numerous opening types. The end result is that combat feels much better overall.
Another big change to the combat system was reworking how the Penetration and Resistance systems interact. These values have a larger effect in some cases than was previously the case. This is particularly the case when it comes to higher difficulty mobs, especially bosses and above. The result is that group encounters should be much more challenging than was previously the case. Meanwhile average and lower level mobs have had their difficulty levels slightly decreased.
The combat changes also included a number of visual improvements, most notably in the ranged weapon animations. Melee animations will be receiving a similar upgrade in the future. Many abilities also saw improvements to their FX. There were visual improvements to many other areas, as well. This includes more work on Plymouth City's textures, improved terrain textures, a new alternate head model for female models, many new props, and some NPC animation work. Cosmetic Stylists will also enjoy new Body Morphing Kits which can be applied to characters to change their body type.
We've also continued to refine our auction and work order systems. This includes things like the ability to search your bags for items which match active work orders, automated grade stacking, and improved searching and filtering options. There were also a number of email related improvements centering on the trading system, including the ability to select multiple emails at once, and to empty mails of items, as well as the ability to differentiate between Auction and Work Order emails.
The resource system received a massive overhaul in this patch. Manual (whack-a-node) harvesting and corpse extractions received a massive overhaul which provides a variable resource count based on the difficulty of the area you are in or the mob you are extracting. Triple hitter nodes are now a single hit but result in multiple results per hit. Harvesting tools will also be automatically switched without needing to manually equip them. Harvesters received similar improvements with several new types of harvesters being added into the game, and the output from harvested nodes being increased. There are also now static harvesting locations which will always be available, primarily for water.
Audio work continued with the improvement of weather and environmental based sounds. The variable footstep system has been improved, and a number of annoying audio bugs which were causing tracks to cut off abruptly or not blend properly have been repaired. New types of interface sounds have also been added for things like tells and purchasing items.
Other changes include improved mission marker support, NPC immunity timers, new boss abilities, batched crafting improvements, many tweaks to the User Interface, numerous pet improvements and new tamed pet types. You can read the full list of changes from the massive set of notes below. Before we get to them though let's take a look ahead to the 15.2.1 build, which focuses on getting rare recipes, and improved loot into the game, as well as a good number of housing and nation improvements. You can read a preview of the upcoming 15.2.1 changes (WIP) in this thread:
https://therepopulation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=9002Adversarial Camps
- Put a hard limit on the number of NPCs in a camp. This should prevent runaway camps.
- Added the new baby creatures to the respective Adversarial Camp spawn setups.
- Tweaked the camp spawn numbers, level gains values, and fixed an issue that was allowing the max growth values to go past what they should.
- Major changes were made to the adversarial camps in Howling Hills. They are smaller in size than was previously the case.
- Moved one of the camp spawners in Beggar's End so that it was further away from borders.
AI
- The mob assist code has been adjusted so only creatures of level 6+ will assist. This is to prevent overwhelming new players.
Auctions and Work Orders
- Added "Search Bags" ability for Work Orders, which will find all active work orders whose item name matches items found in your main inventory and containers.
- Simplified the entry of search criteria for work orders. No more confusing radio buttons next to drop-downs and text entry fields. Replaced with filtered drop-down lists for the item name, components, and filter choices.
- Improved sorting of Auction search, including sorting across all pages, not just within the currently shown page.
- When setting Component and Filter values for a Work Order search, the Item Name drop-down list will automatically reduce to match only those items meeting the component and/or filter criteria, to make it easier to choose an item from the list.
- When you post an auction, you will now have a choice to enter total prices, or per unit prices.
- When fulfilling a work order with a mixed stack item, all grades within the stack will be used as needed to fill the order, starting with the lowest grade and moving to the highest grade, until either the order is complete, or the item has no more qualifying grades within it, whichever comes first.
- When creating a new Work Order, the total price you will pay when you submit the order is now displayed.
- Invalid entries, in the work order "Item Name", "Component", and "Filter" search criteria boxes, will display in orange. Valid entries continue to display in white.
- Added Component and Filter search options to work order creation, so you can reduce the very long Item Name list to something shorter and easier to pick an item from.
- Work Orders are now limited in quantity per character.
- Improved chat and email text messages related to work order creation, fulfillment, expiration, and cancellation.
- Right clicking an item, in a work order list, will now display that item in the Game Database
- Added a "Ctrl"+"Shift"+"Click" trigger to cancel a Work Order.
- Added a confirmation dialog for cancelling Work Orders.
- Added a validation so players can not Post an Auction for soulbound items.
- Consolidated the Trading "Request" and "Fulfill" windows into a single "Work Orders" window.
- Dropping an item into the work order drop box will automatically enter the name of the item into the "Item Name" field.
- Added the ability to cancel your work order requests.
- Choosing an item, when creating a new work order, can now be done by typing in the name in the "Item Name" field.
- When choosing an item, component, or filter from the work order drop-down lists, the associated text field will now complete to match the chosen drop-down item.
- Improved sorting of Work Order search lists, including sorting across all pages, not just within the currently shown page.
- Added feedback to the automated email for an auction bid timeout to include the name of the auction winner.
- You can now delete all digits in Qty field for work order creation, to make it easier to enter a new value.
- Improved performance for Work Order searches.
Audio
- Rain sound effects are now blended in a much better manner and at a volume which is more appropriate to the rain level.
- A sound will now play any time you receive a tell. This is intended to alert players who may be viewing a combat or other tab without tells enabled.
- Improved our music system to provide a higher level of volume control for our musicians.
- Improved our variable footstep sound support. It is now easier for us to provide alternate footstep sounds over wider areas than was previously the case.
- Added new rain, wind, and thunder sounds.
- Environmental audio will now kick in instantly rather than waiting on an astronomy event to change it.
- Environmental background sounds will now activate properly when moving seamlessly between areas.
- Added support for snow and hard surface footstep sounds.
- Added new regional music tracks for Mount Ash and Tralus Plains from Matthew Shine.
- Added variable footstep sounds to multiple parts of the world that did not previously have them.
- Added more background sounds to Freedomtown, particularly in the Candy Shop.
- Variable sounds are now supported for walking and running footsteps.
- Added a new coins sound to be used in Auctions or on vendors to indicate that something has been purchased.
- Slightly lowered the "Rallying Cry" ability sound FX.
- Music should no longer cut off abruptly when you switch areas.
- Corrected an issue which was causing NPCs to alter your footstep sounds erroneously.
Combat
- Significant improvements were made to the mastery system for different species. The species mastery system will now process its damage bonus 600% more often than before, and the damage bonus now takes both your Subsistence Knowledge of that species (from harvesting), as well as the total kills you have had against that species. For those unfamiliar with this system, it is intended to give players a small DPS increase based on the amount of experience they have against that species.
- Players should generally have less issues with line of sight from other players or NPCs.
- Introduced a new Combat Modifier: Reflexes. This modifier will increase your resistance to Disarming or Blinding attacks by avoiding them.
- Added a new Combat Modifier: Stability. Stability helps you avoid being Knocked Down.
- Implemented a new Combat Modifier: Balance. This modifier helps prevent you from being Knocked Backwards or Off Balance.
- Added a new Combat Modifier: Willpower. Willpower reduces the chance you will be affected by Stuns, Dazes, or Confusion.
- Widened the action mode radius for melee abilities.
- Introduced a new Combat Modifier: Courage. Having high courage helps reduce the chances you will be affected by Frightening or Discouraging attacks.
- Stun Immunity timers are now valid against NPCs, as well as players, and had their duration increased from 8 to 10 seconds.
- Improved the way that action mode auto-selects positional abilities so that they will fire more often in chaotic situations.
- Reduced the amount of damage done from critical hits from 200% to 150% and put an upper limit of a 250% damage bonus on crits.
- Slightly reduced NPC melee damage. This was part of a larger tweaking process to try to bring combat more towards the balance we seek from it.
- NPC difficulty rankings (Minion, Boss, etc) now have a significantly larger impact on penetration and armor ratings.
- Medics can now Revive or Resuscitate friendly players in Action Mode.
- Improved the selection mechanics of First Aid abilities in Action Mode so it will be more intelligent in choosing which heals to use on which opponents based on their current health.
- Using hostile abilities while in Action Mode with a Medical Scanner will now use medical attacks if they are available, rather than defaulting to a standard melee attack.
- Resistances now have an effect on Damage Over Time effects.
- Armor Penetration for the appropriate damage type is now applied to Damage Over Time effects.
- Increased melee range in action mode.
- Added a Courage debuff to the Reduced Courage combat effect.
- Burning effects now stack up to 5 times.
- Players now have 5 seconds instead of 4 to respond to a Countered opening.
- Some openings which previously had no visual indicators other than the buff icon will now display one.
- You can now use the Energy Overload ability when in Action Mode and using a Medical Scanner by CTRL+Right Clicking a friendly target.
- Lunging attacks are no longer auto-selected in Action Mode. They can still be used through the keys, however.
- Optimized some parts of the server side combat code.
Engagements
- Players will no longer receive treasure or training point rewards from the Training Grounds engagements, only a chance at bonus buffs.
- Added Fire Extinguishers back into Camp Kjell so that the Camp Kjell is On Fire engagement can be completed again. These had been erroneously removed when the area received a prop pass.
Graphics
- You can now disable HDR Lighting through the Video Options, if you so desire.
- Added new animations for ranged weapons. Melee weapons will get a similar revamp soon.
- Setlang animations have been redone including new movement and attack animations.
- Adjusted the animation tracking used with rifle and handguns, so they look and work much better.
- More visual improvements were made to Plymouth City, continuing what began in the 14.12.1 build.
- Added or improved the FX of many abilities.
- Adjusted the specular maps on some armor sets to reflect light properly based on material type.
- Added 50 new prop models (containers, tables, chairs, beds, barrels, generators, and security cameras).
- Added 99 new ability icons.
- Added 70 new item icons.
- Added two new female armor sets.
- Added new particle textures and effects.
- Updated the melee combat idle animation.
- Added information stand model.
- Added an animated ventilator model.
- Added canopy models to the center area of Plymouth City.
- Added a second female head variation which can now be selected during character creation.
- Added miniature statue of the ram creature on a glassed pedestal including rotation animation.
- Added 2 new console models.
- Updated the appearance of the terrain textures in Freedomtown. Removed large normal maps, and adjusted scaling.
- Updated the textures of the large rocks in Freedomtown with higher resolution textures abd normal maps.
- Upgraded the textures of the large rocks outside of Plymouth City with higher resolution texture and normal maps.
- Updated the eye texture maps on both male and female models. The human character eyes look more realistic overall.
- Added another bundle of prop models (e.g. barricades, lights, doors).
Housing
- Housing plots for cities no longer check city membership, just if you are part of the nation.
- Added a small housing region to the Southern Chasm.
- Player housing is now supported in Wyrmn Grove.
- Moved some trees which were in the center of the housing area in Neverwood.
Inquiries
- Added an inquiry to Kasey Bosch a journalist in Sept Falls. You can now ask her about stories she has written.
- Added an inquiry to Major Noren in Thicket Overwatch. You can now ask him about his unit.
- Added an inquiry to Peteco Carabajal the Defense Rep in Freedomtown. You can now ask him about FPR military personnel.
- Added an inquiry to James Gonzales a journalist in Banshee's Hollow. You can now ask him about stories he has written.
Items and Fittings
- Fittings and ability enhancements now support modifying the FX of any type of ability used (optionally of course). Previously this was only supported on damage altering FX.
- Fittings and ability enhancements now support altering buffs or debuffs to not only add additional components, but to replace components entirely with something new.
- Added new Complete Body Morphing Kits to General Store and Disguise vendors. These will later become crafted items. Where the Cosmetic Styling Kits allow you to modify facial features, these kits allow you to modify body features.
- Fitting points for Implants are now determined by your Cybernetics skill.
- Shield fitting points are now properly determined by your Shield Tactics skill.
- Added fitting sockets to Sweaters, Tank Tops, and Jackets.
- A few Bartenders in large cities now carry a copy of the recipe book Moonlighting: The Quick and Dirty of Distilling Liquors with them; an enterprising thief could steal it.
- Added a new Ranged Shielding fitting which can be equipped into shields to modify the Defense Bolstered effect to make it effective at blocking ranged attacks, at the cost of removing its dodge bonus.
- New book (a song) "MuSS I Denn, by Albrecht Kepler"; will give the first reader a small, permanent bonus to Entertainment Skill.
- Increased effectiveness of Repair Kits by 300%.
- Repair kit now displays how much it is repairing/reducing condition into chat so it is less of a mystery.
- Increased the chance that Stun Modules will knock your opponent Off Balance, in addition to Stunning them.
- Refined Iron had Momentum listed as a Tertiary (4) value when it was also the primary (10) causing issues. Decrease Energy was added as a Tertiary (4) in its place.
- Changed the secondary buff timer on all Complex and Arduous Advanced Stims to match the main buff timer.
- ToxinBlock Compound is no longer created in Herbal Extraction. It is now provided in Chemical Extraction: Fish from Koine.
- Energy Booster/Energy Tank Fittings are body only, type A, and properly set to be repaired as armor fittings.
- Sulfur Trioxide is now the correct Refinement Agent for Handgun Damage Resistance. Sodium Oxide has been removed.
- Removed Arms from the list of slots that the Type A Implant Fitting can slot into
- All Decorative Metal Bars have had their crafting component types properly set.
- Added new items to NPC loot tables and increased the chance of ability cards to drop.
- Vitamin Spray has had its value reduced.
- Flour has had its value reduced.
- Fittings will now take damage at a slow rate when doing AoE damage.
- Reduced the value of paper.
- Items moved to the auction from vendors now only last 24 hours vs the 120 hours before.
- You can now wield a shield with a medical scanner.
- Maypuri Stalk is now correctly categorized as only a grain.
- The length of some Advanced Stims, such as Focus and Max Range, has been doubled.
- The fitting points for Medical Scanners are now using the First Aid skill, as intended.
- Standard Transformer Chain is now categorized as a Gain Medium.
- Reduced the value of Cannisters to 50 credits.
- Added a special buff for the Chip Scrambler liquor. Drink at your own risk.
- You can now dual wield Nightblade Swords.
- Myxococcus Xanthus is now correctly identified as an antibiotic.
- Light Tactical Harness and Light Tactical Thigh Rig are no longer soulbound.
- Fruit Juice has had its value reduced.
Miscellaneous
- Added 9 new combat oriented achievements and titles.
- The anti-bot code has been improved to be able to detect bots more often.
- /stuck and /unstick now have a 15 second delay before they unstick you. You will be unable to use abilities during that time. This is prevent players from abusing these systems to escape death.
- Idle/AFK status is now reset when you chat.
- Added minor faction gains from killing certain NPC factions.
- Modified the default starting gear so it is all Light Tactical. Previously the helmet was medium armor.
- Added some newer commands which were missing from the /help command list.
Missions
- Improved the long range marker system for NPCs so that it supports long range markers for more NPCs.
- Mission waypoints now support a Day/Night setting which allows it to disable markers to them if the NPC is not currently spawned.
- New Inquiry launched mission in Sept Falls: "Kasey Bosch's Stories". What stories has journalist Kasey Bosch written about?
- Plymouth Control: "A Friendly Chat". Having confirmed your desire to work for OWON Psychology, Jerlene sends you on your first mission to have a friendly chat with a trouble OWON citizen.
- Sept Falls: "Ask Kasey Bosch About Brewen's Past": As part of your ongoing investigation into Sgt Brewen's past, talk to Kasey Bosch about Sgt Brewen.
- Plymouth Control mission: "Peer Review". Having confirmed your desire to work for OWON Interior, Iona sends you on your first mission to talk to two scientists who can peer review some data that has been reported on the Lesoo that are observed near Control.
- Plymouth Control: "Eliminate the Experiment". Having discovered your desire to work for OWON Research, Daren sends you out into the canyon below the facility in order to track down an eliminate a lesoo that has outlived it's experimental usefulness.
- New Plymouth mission "Party Preparation"; Savannah Burke asks you to help her prepare a dinner party for the influential folks of Plymouth.
- New Freedomtown Entertainer mission "I Hope You Can Read"; Sergeant Blythe asks those with some experience of entertaining to perform a poem and deliver gifts to his beloved before he gets orders for a new assignment. The poem is in an old earth language that seems strangely familiar to some of the folk in Freedomtown.
- New Inquiry launched mission in Banshee's Hollow: "James Gonzales' Stories". What stories has journalist James Gonzales written about?
- New Inquiry launched mission: Thicket Overwatch:"Major Noren's Unit". Ask Major Noren about soldiers in his unit, including Sergeant Brewen. This is part of the Investigate Sgt Brewen's Murky Past mission series.
- Banshee's Hollow: "James Gonzales Discusses The Scourge of the Lurkers": As part of your ongoing investigation into Sgt Brewen's past, talk to James Gonzales about Sgt Brewen and the story behind "The Scourge of the Lurkers".
- New mission in Thicket Overwatch:"Ask Major Noren About Brewen's Past." This is part of the mission series that to investigate Sgt Brewen's past.
- New Inquiry launched mission: Freedomtown:"Peteco's Military Knowledge". You can ask Peteco Carabajal the FPR Defense Rep for Freedomtown what he knows about Sgt Brewen. This is part of the Investigate Sgt Brewen's Murky Past mission series.
- New mission in Freedomtown:"Ask Peteco About Brewen's Past." This is part of the mission series that to investigate Sgt Brewen's past.
- Added validation and feedback for players and mission writers to the Give Quest Action so now it checks if the mission to give is already completed and repeatable.
- The Melanko Leaf Trade now provides the special recipe book needed to produce Melanko Serum as a reward.
- Upgraded Plymouth Control mission:"Report to Daren Shin". Daren Shin explains the different career options available within the OWON Science Department.
- Have amended missions "Ask Brewen" and "Ask Azrayella about Sgt Brewen" so that they are now non-repeatable.
- Upgraded Plymouth Control mission:"Report to Carter Dayton". Carter Dayton explains the role of Security within OWON Community Protection.
- Mission "Water is Life" will now display player name on offer email.
- Upgraded Plymouth Control mission:"Report to Jerlene Cornish". Jerlene Cornish explains the role of Psychology within OWON.
- The Catch the Nacoot mission emails will no longer automatically delete on a relog if you are still in the tutorial area. Once you leave the Training Facilities they will be removed instead.
- Upgraded Plymouth Control mission "Report to Iona Amato". Iona will now talk you through the different career options within the OWON Human Resources Department.
- Improved hostile generated waypoint support in various areas.
- Updated Plymouth Control mission "Career Control" to take account of new follow up missions that have improved upon previous placeholder missions.
- Upgraded Plymouth Control mission "Report to Rory Crittenden". Rory will now talk you through the different career options within the OWON Engineering Department.
- Added mission opportunities in Whimsy Fields.
- Added new generated mission opportunities to Causeco and Rendall Gulch in Wailing Chasm.
- Added new mission opportunities in Vanth.
- Added new icons to many mission items.
- Fixed the Category on several harvesting missions.
NPCs
- Some NPC bosses, and especially raid bosses will now have stun, knockdown, and daze immunity timers similar to players. This is to prevent players from stun locking boss encounters.
- NPC health scaling per level has been increased slightly to compensate with players doing more damage on average.
- Increased the health and damage of raid bosses.
- Improved the combat visuals of numerous NPC special attacks.
- NPC medics can now perform some special attacks in addition to healing.
- Increased the damage output of NPC Shockgunners.
- Beefed up the potency of some generated boss abilities.
- Setlang have a new charging attack which is a telegraph that will see them move backwards and then charge players. Players who are in the way of this charge will have a chance to be knocked off balance or backwards.
- Vultures can now sprint for longer lengths of time.
- Lurker Raid bosses now have appropriate generated boss abilities.
- Added 3 new NPC personalities: Enthusiastic, Cautious and Stubborn which will impact diplomacy checks when making inquiries.
- Added a new NPC profession: Cub Wrangler.
- Hokfig NPCs and pets have been sped up slightly.
- Reduced the chance of plants to paralyze players.
- Morgenstern Cactus will now have a chance of dropping Morgenstern Sap.
- Increased the special abilities of numerous NPCs to bring them in line with the player changes.
- Reduced the attack speed of NPC medics, and changed their offensive abilities to deal biochemical damage.
- Reduced the range and damage of Achilleas and Cacti.
- Earl Alexander (Plymouth City) is now available on both the day and night shifts.
- Kitchi, a lesoo trapper, now sets up his snares close to the Laredo fort.
- Helena Steele is now a Rogue Commisary vendor who sells Millitary Supplies.
- Shang Jian in Plymouth City is now properly flagged as a day only NPC.
- "Private Touch" located at Thicket Overwatch, tired of blunt jokes, has changed his name to "Private Lesoko".
- Helena Steele will no longer attack players of any faction.
- Updated General Store and Bartender vendors to include fruit juice and alcohol.
Pets
- Increased pet damage by 12%.
- Action Mode will now ignore friendly pets when determining line of sight.
- Pet owners will now generate aggro properly even if they do not engage.
- Personal turrets now have grades and will scale their level as a result of them.
- Lingmaa Infants can now be tamed, provided you have 275 Animal Handling skill.
- Okolat Calves can now be tamed. It requires a minimum of 750 Animal Handling skill to do so.
- Jabberbulls can now be tamed. It will require 4000 skill to do so.
- Mubark Calves can now be tamed at 5000 Animal Handling skill.
- Changed the ranged Lesoo Pets AoE ability from a variable circle to a cone of fire attack.
- Improved medical bot vaccination capabilities. Not only are they more effective, but they can be used more frequently.
- Medical Bots can now only heal players within their group.
- Veterinary Medicine should now be easier to raise through healing.
- Tamed Drakes now have a maximum durability of 5 instead of 4.
- Setlang Pets gained a new charge ability.
- Support based Vulture pets now have standard attacks, in addition to their generated abilities.
- You can no longer trade the single use Pet Crawlers obtained in the tutorial.
- Ankle Snap now scales its damage appropriate to pet level.
- Corrected an problem which was preventing several types of Genetically Engineered Drake pets from spawning.
Player vs. Player
- Made some adjustments to the initial load in code on tournaments to correct a problem where they weren't initializing on startup.
- Rogue Raiders should now always drop an insignia similar to other faction NPCs.
- You can no longer attack other players inside of Kaavo Hold.
- You will now lose reputation/faction 4x more quickly when killing OWON or FPR NPCs.
Resources
- There are now static harvesters. They can be setup to spawn in specific locations with specific resources/qualities/quantities.
- Harvesting tools will automatically be equipped if you do not have the appropriate tool selected but have one in inventory.
- Harvester Cluster System timer changed from 3 minutes to 30 seconds. This should result in a lot more harvester clusters being generated.
- Harvesters across the board have had their hopper size and extraction rate greatly increased. They now are fairly straight forward. Rapid harvesters fill in 30 minutes, Standard in 60, and Large in 2h30m. Quality increases both speed/hopper size.
- Harvester Clusters now have considerably (roughly 3x) more resources than was previously the case, and water harvester clusters were nearly doubled, as well.
- Tweaked the harvester/to player counts slightly, they were pretty high already, but were not being reached with the timer not able to generate enough.
- Harvester clusters now last 48 hours if discovered/harvested. Non used clusters now go away in 4 hours instead of 8.
- Enhancing and Enriching now only add 250ms when you fail instead of 1 second. The enhancing/enriching now stops at 2/4 seconds respectively as a result.
- Harvestable resources (whack-a-node) regions now replenish/change grade every 1 hour instead of 30 minutes.
- Harvestable resources are now return 2-7 results based on the difficulty of the region. Most nodes have been reduced to 1 extraction as well vs 3 to cut back on the time/extra execution for the same result.
- You can now receive multiple results at a time from the Fishing Minigame.
- Plymouth Pond: Added 8 of the new Static Harvesting Nodes, all for Water.
- Tweaked harvesting skill rates slightly to compensate for having less swings per resource.
- When harvesting stacks of resources it will now display the amount in the text banner, as well as chat.
- Southeast of Freedomtown: added 3 of the new Static Harvesting Nodes, all for Water.
- Twin Falls: added 4 of the new Static Harvesting Nodes, all for Water.
- Lower Daxton: added 5 of the new Static Harvesting Nodes, all for Water.
- Scaed'ecoo Meat can now be substituted as either Meat or a Meat Slab.
- Jabberbull Meat can now be used as a Meat Slab or a Meat.
- Slightly decreased the frequency at which you gain SI from harvesting.
- Improved the resource quality in the Slaughter Slopes to reflect the danger of harvesting there.
- Arboleda: added 4 of the new Static Harvesting Nodes, all for Water.
- Significantly increased the chance of receiving an item from Abandoned Supplies.
- You will now receive a water scrounging quality boost at Twin Falls.
Skills and Abilities
Due to the sheer size of the updates here they are being categorized by type. Thanks to Epitaph for sorting these.
Miscellaneous
- The majority of melee special abilities can now affect multiple enemies if they are close by. There were too many of these cases to list them all individually.
- Many abilities (too many to mention individually) which previously did not scale in effectiveness will now do so.
- You now have three additional effective level differences on NPCs before hitting the diminishing returns for skill gain rates.
- The level differential penalties on defensive skills has been updated to bring it in line with offensive ones. This means you can gain defensive skills more quickly from easier mobs than was previously the case.
- Slightly increased combat skill gains across the board.
- Increased the bonuses and reduced the penalties of the Evade (Dodging) and Parry (Parrying) abilities.
- Added a Reflexes bonus to the Evade ability (Dodging).
- Increased the duration of Heightened Senses (Tracking).
- Stealth is now more effective than was previously the case.
- Sabotage Robot (Robotics) has had its damage boosted significantly.
- Increased the effectiveness of the Clear Mind ability (Hidden).
- Drastically increased the effectiveness of Gather Self (Hidden).
- Increased the defensive bonuses of Defensive Stance (Defensive Knowledge).
- Added a boost to your Reflexes when using Evasive Maneuver (Bladed Weapon Defense).
- Added a new Ability Enhancement: Ranged Bolster. This enhancement can be placed into Rapid Strikes, Break Defenses, Thrusting Pell, Trip or Staving Smash to convert them to use the Ranged Bolster buff in place of Bolster Defenses.
- Added "Skilled Entertainer" and "Master Entertainer" achievements.
- Increased the rate at which you gain defensive skills.
Acrobatics
- Significantly increased the effectiveness of the Regain Balance ability, and added a Balance increasing buff (Acrobatics), but added a short recharge time.
- Added a physical resistance bonus to the Roll ability (Acrobatics).
- Added a damage reduction bonus to the Avoidance ability (Acrobatics).
Aerosol
- Increased the damage over time of the Venomous Cloud ability enhancement (Aerosol) and allowed it to stack up to five times.
- Increased the initial damage of Slow Release (Aerosol) significantly.
- Increased the duration of the Burning effect on Maximum Release (Aerosol) by 2 seconds.
- Increased the success chance and duration of the Burning component in Release and Roll (Aerosol).
- Increased the burning duration of the Wall ability (Aerosol) if players walk through the wall.
- Increased the range of Spray Cone (Aerosol), and made the Burning effect impossible to resist.
- Increased the chance that Focused Sweep (Aerosol) will knock your opponent Off Balance.
- Increased the chance that Wide Sweep (Aerosol) will Discourage targets, and also increased the duration of that effect.
- Cloud (Aerosol) will now always cause damage over time, and had its damage boosted, as well.
- Increased the duration of the vision impairment effect of Smoke Screen (Aerosol).
- Increased the chance to apply and duration of the Off Balance component of Gust (Aerosol).
- Doubled the chance to Discourage targets when using the Make It Rain ability (Aerosol).
- Heavy Gust (Aerosol) will now apply its burning DoT significantly more often, and will leave opponents Off Balance longer.
- Aerosol Burning effects now stack up to five times.
Animal Handling
- Increased the effectiveness and duration of Calm Animal (Animal Handling)
Assassination
- Bloodletting (Assassination) now does substantially more damage over time.
- Assassination skills will now increase more quickly.
Automatics
- Increased the chance that Flanking Assault (Automatics) will Reduce the Courage of Motivated targets.
- Slightly increased the damage of the Frenzied Fire ability (Automatics).
- Increased the duration of the Dialed In ability (Automatics), and added a Damage Dealt bonus to it.
- Increased the chance of Stopping Power (Automatics) to injure your targets legs, but reduced the duration slightly.
- Increased the chance that Aim High (Automatics) will knock your opponents Off Balance.
- Spraying Assault (Automatics) had it's DoT length when a target is knocked down increased by one tick but it's DoT damage decreased per tick to compensate.
- Increased the AoE radius of Spraying Assault (Automatics) by 25%.
- Discouraging Assault (Automatics) now has a higher chance of removing buffs from the target, and a slightly higher chance of Confusing targets which are already Discouraged.
- Increased the AoE radius of Covering Fire (Automatics) by 25%, and increased its chance to Stun and the duration of that stun by one second.
- Increased the AoE radius of Panicked Spray (Automatics).
- Increased the damage of Concealed Burst (Automatics).
- You can no longer cancel the Dug In effect of Dig in and Fire or Dig in and Spray (Automatics).
- Increased the chance that Pelt Area (Automatics) will cause Covered opponents to get up and panic, as well as its chance to dispel positive effects from them.
- Increased the chance that Spraying Fire (Automatics) will Discourage well Motivated targets.
Axes
- Increased the accuracy, damage, and AoE radius of Blind Hack
- Increased both the damage and damage over time of Slicing Blow
- Increased the Area of Effect and damage of the Cleave ability
- Increased the AoE radius and damage of Hurricane Slice
- Pummeling Slash (Axes) has a higher chance to land its debuffs, and they will last slightly longer.
- Leg Slash (Axes) has an increased chance to cause leg injuries.
- Increased the damage on Cranial Swing (Axes), as well as its chance to blind opponents who were already bleeding.
- Berserk (Axe Fighting) is now more effective at dealing damage, but also leaves you more susceptible to attacks than was previously the case.
- Reduced the endurance cost and also the damage of Thrusting Pell (Axes), while increasing its accuracy.
- Increased the damage and chance to immobilize on the Hold ability (Axes) but increased its recharge time by three seconds.
- Increased the damage, AoE radius, and chance to stun on the Axe Fighting ability: Whirling Pummel.
- Face Shot (Axes) now has a higher chance to Confuse opponents, but a longer recharge time.
- Increased the Area of Effect radius and damage of Whirling Axe (Axes).
- Twirling Trip (Axes) now has a higher chance to trip opponents, and a wider AoE radius.
- Fury (Axes) had its duration and its aggro regeneration bonus both increased slightly.
- Substantially ncreased the chance of breaking an opponents leg when using Cripple Legs (Axes).
Bladed Weapons
- Hamstring Slice (Bladed Weapons) has an increased chance of causing Leg Injuries, but the duration has been reduced slightly.
- Increased the chance that Opportunistic Attack (Bladed Weapons) will Discourage an opponent who has recently been Countered.
- Increased the damage, and the chance to Disarm your opponents when using Disarming Slash (Bladed Weapons), but increased the Momentum cost to compensate.
- Increased both the chance to land and the duration of the Daze and Stun components of Head Slash (Bladed Weapon Tactics).
- Increased the damage done by the bleeding effect of the Puncture ability (Bladed Weapons).
- Bleeding Slash (Bladed Weapons) has an increased chance to cause your opponent to bleed.
- Increased the duration and effectiveness of the Feign Stab debuff (Bladed Weapons).
- Sweeping Slice (Bladed Weapons) saw a number of improvements including a wider AoE radius, improved knockdown chances, and a significantly improved chance to break legs which have already been injured.
- Doubled the debuff duration of Springing Thrust (Bladed Weapons).
- Significantly increased the chance that Furious Onslaught (Bladed Weapons) will cause targets to bleed.
- Increased the damage over time of Kidney Puncture (Bladed Weapons).
- Slightly increased the damage of Spinning Blade (Bladed Weapons).
- Blade Flurry (Bladed Weapons) now lasts for 15 seconds and also increases your attack speed.
- Open Wound (Bladed Weapons) will now always open the wound of your opponent if they are suffering from a bleeding effect.
- The debuff effect of Lethal Thrust (Bladed Weapons) now lasts an additional two seconds, and increases your maximum range by 10%.
- Increased the damage over time of Gaping Slash (Bladed Weapons).
Blunt Weapons
- Significantly increased chance to disarm opponents and reduced the PBAoE radius of Disarming Twirl (Blunt Weapons) to a lesser extent.
- Increased the chance that Staving Smash (Blunt Weapons) knocks your opponents backwards.
- Reckless Swing (Blunt Weapons) has a higher chance to knock your opponent Off Balance, and will last longer when it does.
- Increased the chance and duration of the Off Balance effect in the Crush Legs ability (Blunt Weapons).
- Bludgeon and Stunning Blow (Blunt Weapons) each have a higher chance of stunning your opponent.
- Significantly increased the chance that Killer Instinct (Blunt Weapons) will Daze opponents if they have been stunned already.
- Increased the endurance damage done by the Sternum Shot ability (Blunt Weapons).
- Smash Generator (Blunt Weapons) will now reduce your opponents Energy Recovery rate by a larger extreme.
- Disarming Pummel (Blunt Weapons) has a significantly higher chance of disarming your opponent than was previously the case, but had its momentum cost and recharge time increased.
- Debilitating Crush (Blunt Weapons) had its chance to confuse opponents increase, along with the duration of that confusion.
- You now have a higher chance to knock your opponents senseless (and for longer) than was previously the case when using Head Blow (Blunt Weapons).
Counter-Attack
- Counter (Counter-Attack) had its duration and damage dealt buff increased slightly but its recharge time increased to compensate.
- Counter Move (Counter-Attack) had it's recharge time cut in half.
- Feign Counter (Counter-Attack) will always reduce opponents attack speed if they have just been Countered. It can be used with a ranged or melee weapon but is only effective for a short cone-based distance in front of you.
Defensive Knowledge
- Doubled the duration of Moving Target (Defensive Knowledge). Reduced its speed increase but enhanced its Dodge bonus.
- Defend Yourself (Defensive Knowledge) has a slightly longer duration and significantly boosted dodge and block boosts.
Defensive Tactics
- Increased the effectiveness of the Defensive Focus buff
- Increased the effectiveness of Instill Confidence significantly.
- Increased the effectiveness of Hold the Line (Defensive Tactics), and added both a damage reduction and stability component to it.
- Increased the effectiveness of the Hold Tight ability (Defensive Tactics), and added a stability component to it.
- The Retreat and Fall Back abilities will no longer cancel on targets if the user of the ability dies.
- Improved the resistance bonuses of the Dig In ability
- More than doubled the tracking/stealth detection buff in the Stay Alert ability
Diplomacy
- Increased the debuff chances of Verbal Lashing (Diplomacy).
- Increased the debuff chance and duration of Verbal Assault (Diplomacy).
- Unthreatening Approach (Diplomacy) is now significantly more effective in reducing aggro range.
Significantly increased the effectiveness of the Calm ability (Diplomacy). It now lasts longer, is effective more often, has a larger initial reduction to aggro, and has a shorter recharge time. - Confuse (Diplomacy) is now a PBAoE.
- Increased the duration of Verbal Lashing and Verbal Assault (Diplomacy) by one second.
- Diplomatic skills will now increase more quickly.
Dirty Fighting
- Low Blow (Dirty Fighting) now drains twice the endurance, and also had its damage boosted slightly.
- Arrogant Taunt (Dirty Fighting) now has a greater chance to sap your opponents courage, but a slightly shorter duration. It is also now more effective as an AoE taunt.
- Increased the effectiveness of the Showboat debuff (Dirty Fighting), but reduced its area of effect size.
- Arrogant Taunt (Dirty Fighting) had its AoE radius and debuff effectiveness increased.
- Increased the chances of applying the debuff and the duration of the debuff of Eye Poke (Dirty Fighting), but also -increased its recIncreased both the duration and chance to apply the Dirt in the Eyes debuff (Dirty Fighting).harge time by 3 seconds.
- Dirty Fighting will now increase skillmore quickly.
Entertainment
- Marching Chant (Entertainment) is no longer a toggle, but now a short duration wide area PBAoE buff which does not require a rest area.
- Battle Song (Entertainment) is now a short duration, wide radius PBAoE buff which does not require a resting area.
First Aid
- Reduced the recharge time on Revive and Resuscitate abilities (First Aid) from one minute to thirty seconds.
- Slightly reduced the Energy Regeneration bonus of Energy Overload (First Aid).
- Increased the chance that Overload Powercell (First Aid) will knock your opponent Off Balance or off their feet entirely.
- Slightly increased the success rate of vaccinations (First Aid).
- Cut the activation time of Corrupted Nano Bomb (First Aid) in half.
- Inject Sedative (First Aid) will now Confuse targets without fail, but had the duration of that effect reduced to six seconds.
- Ocular Spray (First Aid) now reduces the damage dealt and defense of affected targets.
- Cut the recharge time of the Rescue ability (First Aid) in half.
- Nano-Stitch (First Aid) can now remove punctures as well as normal bleeding effects.
- Increased the regeneration rate of Bandage Wound (First Aid) by 40%.
- Extinguish Flames (First Aid) can now be used to dispel Flame Shields in addition to dispelling Burning effects.
- Reduced the AoE radius of Antibody Spray (First Aid).
- Reduced the usage time and increased the effectiveness of Nano-Vaccine (First Aid).
- Set Bone In Place (First Aid) is now always effective against one broken limb.
Handguns
- Slightly increased the duration of the debuff component of Crippling Shot (Handguns).
- Slightly reduced the duration of the Paralyzing effect when you use Overwhelm (Handguns) on opponents who were previously Dazed.
- Increased the duration of Trigger Finger (Handguns) but slightly reduced it's attack speed bonus.
- Slightly reduced the Immobilization period of Stopping Power (Handguns).
- Increased the chance that Double Shot (Handguns) will knock your target off balance, and the duration of that opening by 2 seconds.
- Dizzying Shot (Handguns) now has a small chance to Daze your opponent. This was originally intended but had been missing from the ability.
- Doubled the AoE radius of Scatter Shot (Handguns).
- Stinging Shot (Handguns) will now apply its debuff significantly more often on Off Balance opponents, and received a 5% damage boost.
- Increased the duration of the Shield Shot (Handguns) debuff, improved its description and removed the Momentum cost.
- Increased the amount of endurance damage done by the Body Blast ability (Handguns).
- Increased the duration of Pistoleer (Handguns).
- Significantly increased the chance that Neck Shots (Handguns) will cause Massive Bleeding.
Intimidation
- The debuff component of Screw Face (Intimidation) will now apply more often and reduce your opponents ability to retain momentum to a higher extreme than was previously the case.
- The Rage and Instill Rage abilities (Intimidation) will now improve your Critical Hit Chance, as well as Damage Dealt.
- Increased the chance of the Terrorize ability (Intimidation) to frighten your target.
- Trade Blows (Intimidation) had its recharge time reduced from 5 to 4 minutes.
- Frighten (Intimidation) will now strike fear in the heart of opponents more often.
- Intimidation will now increase skill more quickly.
Leadership
- Shake It Off (Leadership) is significantly more effective at removing negative effects from an ally than was previously the case. It also had its recharge time reduced by 30 seconds.
- Significantly improved the Mind Over Matter (Leadership) ability. Its buff is now both more effective and longer lasting. It will also dispel any Discouraged or Loss of Confidence debuffs on your party.
- Increased the regeneration rate of the Iron Man Mentality ability (Leadership).
The Leadership skill: We've Got This now has a 100% chance to cancel Loss of Confidence or Discouraged debuffs if they are present. - Rallying Cry (Leadership) will now add 90 seconds to the duration every time a new stack of it is applied. This is equal to the recharge time on the ability, and allows you to keep it running at all times.
Parrying
- Reduced the cooldown on Riposte (Parrying) from 5 to 3 minutes.
Protection
- Reduced the attack speed penalty of the Humiliate and Humiliate Enemies abilities (Protection).
- The Behind Me! and Everyone Behind Me! abilities (Protection) were improved by adding a Physical Resistance bonus to it.
- Protection skill will now increase more quickly.
Rifles
- The Stun effect on Suppressing Fire (Rifles) can now be avoided occasionally, but its AoE radius has been increased.
- Increased the duration of Locked In (Rifles) and changed its Dodge bonus to a Damage Dealt bonus, which is more useful for rifles.
- Dramatically increased the chance that Disarming Shot (Rifles) disarms your target, and increased the damage slightly in either event, but increased its Momentum cost.
- Increased the damage over time of Flesh Wound (Rifles).
- Critical Rifle Work (Rifles) now has an Energy Penetration bonus in addition to previous enhancements.
- Increased the chance that Startling Shot (Rifles) will Startle your opponent.
- Startle Shot (Rifles) has a higher chance to debuff your opponent, and the openings it creates last longer.
- Significantly increased the chance that Panic Shot (Rifles) will Panic an opponent who was previously Startled.
- Static Discharge (Rifles) will now reduce Electro-Magnetic Resistance, in addition to previous effects.
- Increased the damage on Rifle Fire Storm (Rifles).
- In addition to now being a small cone based AoE like most melee abilities, the Butt Attack ability (Rifles) has had its knockdown chance increased. It's recharge time was increased by three seconds. Previously this effect stunned and dazed if an opponent was Off Balance, but now it only dazes but at a 75% success rate if the Off Balance opening is present.
- Take Aim (Rifles) now grants a bonus to Critical Hit Chance, as well as its normal bonuses. Its ability description was also updated.
- Significantly increased the chance of Arm Shot (Rifles) causing an Arm Injury.
- Added an Attack Speed boost to Rifle Monkey (Rifles).
- Increased the chance of Head Shots (Rifles) confusing your target.
- Decreased the chance of Knee Shot (Rifles) causing a leg injury in addition to to its normal slowing effect. The percentages were too high for a ranged weapon.
Shield Tactics
- Increased the chance to stun and debuff your target when using Shield Bash (Shield Tactics), but increased its recharge time slightly.
- Block (Shield Tactics) had its recharge time increased slightly, but its blocking effectiveness increased substantially, while its offensive penalty was reduced by 33%.
- Shield Counter (Shield Tactics) had its recharge time reduced from 5 to 3 minutes.
- Raise Shield (Shield Tactics) had its recharge time reduced from 5 to 3 minutes, and its block bonus increased by 7%.
Shockgun
- Significantly increased the range of the cone of fire for Stunning Blast (Shockguns). Also increased the Stun duration by one second.
- Increased the damage of Double Click (Shockguns).
- Increased the duration in which you can attack the target specified in Take Them Down! (Shockguns) to restore endurance.
- Reduced the duration of the Paralyze effect in Obliterate (Shockguns) from 10 to 8 seconds.
- Debilitating Shot (Shockguns) had it's spread radius increased, and its chance to cause Leg Injuries boosted, as well.
- Increased the chance of Stun Shot (Shockguns) to knock your opponents Off Balance or Stun them.
- Increased the chance that Balance Shot (Shockguns) will knock your opponent Off Balance, and the duration of that opening.
- Increased the AoE radius of Maniacal Rampage and Maniacal Kill Spree (Shockguns)
- Significantly increased the chance that Angle Shot (Shockguns) will confuse your opponent.
- Increased the chance to Stun or Knockdown targets with Melon Shot (Shockguns).
- Increased the chance that Chest Shot (Shockguns) will knock your opponent Off Balance or stun opponents, and slightly -increased the amount of Endurance that it drains.
- Increased the chance that Shock (Shockguns) will Confuse opponents who are currently Stunned.
- Increased the range of Jolting Shock (Shockguns).
- Increased the damage of Overcharge (Shockguns).
Survival
- Added a boost to the Courage and Willpower when using the Show of Courage ability (Survival).
- Gather Self (Survival) now has a significantly higher chance of removing negative effects.
Thrown Weapons
- Increased the damage of EMP Grenades (Thrown Weapons).
- Increased the chance that Flash Grenades (Thrown Weapons) confuse targets, and increased the duration of their vision impairment by one second.
Thrown Weapon Defense
- Increased the level of protection from Fire in the Hole (Thrown Weapon Defense).
Trap Knowledge
- Sentry Alarms (Trap Knowledge) will now reduce your ability to retain Momentum, as well as Stealth chances.
Unarmed Tactics
- Increased the buff duration of Unbridled Aggression (Unarmed Tactics).
- Knockback (Unarmed Tactics) has a higher chance to knock your opponent Off Balance or backwards.
- Kick (Unarmed Tactics) had its damage and chance to knock your opponent Off Balance increased.
- Shove (Unarmed Tactics) now has a substantially higher chance of knocking your opponent backwards of Off Balance.
- Body Blow (Unarmed Tactics) now has a higher chance to debuff your opponent, and deals increased damage and endurance damage over time.
- Increased the chances of Jab (Unarmed Tactics) debuffing your opponent.
- Headbutt (Unarmed Tactics) now has an increased chance to stun or knock your opponent Off Balance, but a slightly longer recharge time.
- Trip (Unarmed Tactics) will now bolster your defense for longer than was previously the case.
- Drastically reduced the endurance cost of Comeback Rally (Unarmed Tactics) but reduced its buff effectiveness somewhat during the process.
- Increased the damage over time of Rip Open Wound (Unarmed Tactics).
- Increased the chance of the debuff components of Feign (Unarmed Tactics) to take hold.
- Increased the damage and chance to create an opening on your opponent when using Shin Shot (Unarmed Tactics).
- Increased the knockdown chance, and chance to stun Off Balance opponents of the Uppercut ability (Unarmed Tactics), but increased its recharge time to compensate.
- Leg Sweep (Unarmed Tactics) now has an increased chance of breaking legs which are already injured, but consumes a higher amount of momentum.
- Reduced the momentum loss of the Kidney Punch ability (Unarmed Tactics), but increased the effectiveness of its endurance drain.
- Roundhouse Kick (Unarmed Tactics) is now a PBAoE and has an increased damage and a higher chance of knocking your opponent Off Balance, as well as an increased duration for when it does.
- Power Shot (Unarmed Tactics) now has a 75% chance to knock an Off Balance opponent senseless.
Veterinary Medicine
- Reduced the usage time of Patch Animal (Veterinary Medicine) but increased its Recharge time. You lost no healing capability in this trade, but should now be able to perform additional activities in between the recharge time (where previously the usage time was very long and the recharge very short).
- Reduced the recharge time of Heal Animal (Veterinary Medicine) from 30 to 18 seconds.
- Cure Animal (Veterinary Medicine) is now slightly more effective at curing disease or ailments.
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Trade Skills
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