Starship Troopers: Extermination News

Stow the scuttlebutt, Troopers - we’re receiving it over the comms too. All squads not on deployment, patch in to rescue net frequency now.

“--I say again, mayday mayday mayday! This is Deep Space Vanguard mobile headquarters, Valakan starport district, broadcasting a general distress signal to all units in the vicinity.”

“The bugs got sarge! Sarge is GONE, man! HE’S GONE!”

“Dispatch dropships to our position immediately, our defenses can’t take another assault. Our CO is KIA and--”

“WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE! DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND!?”

“Trooper! Remove yourself from my communications tent and get back to repair duty! …wait, do you hear rumbling?”

“Oh no… not again… NOT AGAIN!”

--*Arachnids shrieking and humans screaming, then only shrieking*

Well, you heard it CFB: our mobile headquarters is in need of rescue. This one’s coming in hot - Military Intelligence is still pulling down data from the starport’s uplink but here is what you and your squads need to know now. Arachnid presence in that district is in flux: seems the Bugs are flooding in groups towards this location. You’ll be dropping in at the MHQ front porch, after which you should have a brief window to assemble rudimentary defenses. We’ll provide what ore we can to your team between firefights.

Redeployment will be a no-go until all active threats are neutralized. If you’re downed while bugs are present, better hope your battle buddies remember their Operator training, can run in for a clutch revive, or first aid stim jab.

Speaking of patching things up, the apes who built this place set up repair canister generators nearby. Bad news, they’re all offline and will need to be reactivated. You’ll want to take this on as a secondary objective, ideally before the MHQ falls.

*bzzt!*

And there goes the comms dish. Bugs’ plasma artillery must have finally taken it out. Go-time is now: defend the MHQ, keep your Troopers standing, and fight back the Arachnid horde. Be quick about it, Brimstone-1: tangos entering visual range in minutes. Looks to be a Drone detachment but ground radar shows that’s just the start of the party.

Pyre out.

Attention, Deep Space Vanguard! Terran Command has informed us that Arachnids are closing in on our Mobile Headquarters - a lot of them. We expect them to reach their target on Wednesday, August 2 at 10:00 AM PT (GMT-7) with the release of Update 0.4.0: Relentless Hordes. This will be Starship Troopers: Extermination’s second medium deployment, which introduces Horde Mode and Player Profiles with stat tracking. The game’s price on Steam will also be increasing on August 2 from $24.99 USD to $29.99 USD.

Horde Mode will unlock for players at Career Rank 2. In this 16-player mode, Troopers must defend the Mobile Headquarters (MHQ) in the build zone against 10 increasingly difficult waves of Arachnids. Each wave has a Build Phase and a Defense Phase. During the Build Phase, Troopers will have a short amount of time to build and repair base defenses using a limited amount of ore. The MHQ itself can only be repaired with special repair canisters obtained from completing secondary objectives during the match. During the Defend Phase, Troopers must fight off Bugs that spawn in escalating numbers and difficulty. Build Tools cannot be used and Troopers cannot respawn during this phase - if Troopers are downed while Bugs are present, they will need to be revived by their teammates. If the MHQ is destroyed or all Troopers are killed, the match ends in defeat. However, if the MHQ is still standing at the end of 10 waves, a dropship will be deployed to extract any surviving Troopers!

Troopers are to be on the lookout for upcoming transmissions that will share more details as the release of Update 0.4.0: Relentless Hordes approaches.

Pyre out.

Attention, Vanguard! Starship Troopers: Extermination Update 0.3.1 will go live on Thursday, June 29 at 10:00 AM PT (GMT-7)! The game servers will be briefly unavailable during this medium Deployment and players will need to update the game client.

The Federation thanks its Troopers for their detailed and constructive feedback on Update 0.3.0 this past week. In addition to the patch notes addendum with class and loadout changes, R&D has been working to resolve bugs reported by the community related to Mutator effects, Veteran difficulty, Bug health, unusable controllers, and more.

Gameplay

• Veteran (Hard) Difficulty
  
  • Developer Note: Mutators affected Veteran difficulty modifiers to Bug health and Bug damage and made them apply incorrectly, causing Veteran difficulty to lose its intended balancing.
    
    • Bug health modifier has been corrected, it was higher than intended.
      
    • Bug spawn frequency has been corrected, it was much slower than intended.
      
    • Bug damage multiplier has been corrected, it was lower than intended.
• Recruit (Easy) Difficulty
  
  • Bug damage multiplier has been corrected, it was higher than intended.
    
• Mutators
  
  • Added dormant Mutators, meaning Trooper (Normal) and Veteran (Hard) difficulty missions may have no Mutator effects.
    
  • Ambush: Reduced frequency of ambushes.
    
  • Ambush: Slightly reduced enemy counts when ambushes trigger.
    
  • Arachnid Rush: Reduced Warrior Bug run speed.
    
  • Bug Pack Mutators: Now trigger periodically throughout the mission instead of all at once at mission start.
    
  • Bug Pack Mutator: Reduced kill requirements and per-pack spawn amounts.
    
• Game Modes
  
  • Increased refinery cooldown to 30 seconds (from 4 seconds) for AAS game mode.
    
  • Reverted change to refinery cooldown for ARC Slam game mode.
    
    • Developer Note: The refinery cooldown timer change was not intended to affect ARC Slam matches. We will replace it with a new timer that is reflective of the ARC Slam game mode in a future update.
      
  • Corrected the damage radius of player-deployed explosives to account for friendly fire damage resistance.
    
• Quality of Life Improvements & Bug Fixes
  
  • Corrected inconsistent language related to the Build Tool in the Controls menu.
    
  • Updated the mapping layout to improve class skill usability while using a controller.
    
  • Fixed the ability to exit the Twin Machine Gun Emplacement while using a controller.
    
  • Fixed an issue where refilling ammo from an ammo crate while reloading a weapon resulted in the weapon not reloading.
    
  • Fixed an issue where the Grenade Field Test Mutator could cause players to spawn in with no grenades.
    
  • Fixed an issue where the Pilum Surplus Mutator could cause players to spawn in with an empty secondary weapon slot.
    
  • Fixed an issue where the Armory Incident Mutator could cause players to spawn in with no equipment.

Update 0.3.0: Mutated Sands introduces the Fuel Depot map location on Valaka, buildable Twin Machine Gun Emplacement, mission Mutators, and extensive weapon rebalancing! Along with these additions, we have quality-of-life improvements and bug fixes to issues shared by you, our Troopers, on Discord, Steam, and other social media channels. This Deployment drops at 10:00 AM PT (GMT-7) on Thursday, June 22.

Features

• New Map Location: Fuel Depot
  
  • The Fuel Depot in southern Valaka is a new industrial map location to build bases at and defend. Both the AAS and ARC modes may include this map location. Situated at the edge of a cliff and overlooking a valley along its north face, the Fuel Depot presents a logistical challenge. Players will need to make sure they don’t get backed into a corner when the Bugs arrive.
• New Base Construction: Twin Machine Gun Emplacement
  
  • A manned heavy machine gun base construction that can be mounted in bases or on other base constructions. Players will need to work together to keep it operational as it takes damage while being fired.
    
    • Developer Note: We're eager for feedback on how this new weapon feels, specifically its health and repair mechanic.
• New Gameplay: Mutators
  
  • Presenting a variety of buffs, debuffs, and global conditions, Mutators dramatically change the battlefield. Each AAS or ARC match above Recruit (Easy) difficulty will have up to three Mutators applied to it. These Mutator sets deliver a unique challenge and counter combo while others offer alternate stories and atmosphere - some may even provide a relief from the ruthless intensity of Valaka!
    
  • There are two types of Mutators. Certain Mutators affect XP gain depending on how much challenge they add.
    
    • Arachnid Mutators provide the Arachnids with an increase in one stat and most add a decrease in another or alter the frequency and composition of Arachnid encounters and events.
      
      • Arachnid Rush: Increased Arachnid movement speed, decreased Arachnid health.
        
      • Arachnid Resilience: Increased Arachnid health, decreased Arachnid movement speed.
        
      • Arachnid Fury: Increased Arachnid attack speed.
        
      • Elite Arachnids: Increased Arachnid damage, decreased Arachnid movement speed.
        
      • Arachnid Packs: Proximity-triggered Arachnid groups.
        
      • We Got Bugs!: An Arachnid infestation spawns at the start of the match.
        
      • Bugs Inbound!: An Arachnid infestation spawns in the middle of the match.
        
      • Ambushes: Sudden spawns of Arachnid groups near Troopers.
        
      • Increased Patrols: More Arachnid packs spawn.
        
      • Patrol Disruption: Fewer Arachnid packs spawn.
        
      • Double Threat!: All infestation level increases are doubled.
        
      • Threat Level Maximum!: Match starts at infestation level 5.
        
      • Threat Level Caution!: Match starts at infestation level 3.
    • Scenario Mutators affect the story of the match by altering Troopers, the environment, and the flow of missions.
      
      • Sandstorms: Mobile weather events that severely reduce visibility.
        
      • Low Gravity: Trooper jumps are higher and falling is slower.
        
      • Integrated Health Stims: Troopers regenerate some health every 2 seconds.
        
      • Reviving Disabled: Troopers are unable to revive (medical supply shortage).
        
      • Martyr: Troopers explode on being downed and can respawn immediately.
        
      • Scan Blade: Melee attacking an Arachnid scans it (scan grenade effect).
        
      • CM-48 Nightstar Field Test: Trooper knives replaced with tactical maces that sweep and stun Arachnids in an arc.
        
      • Explosive Mace: Trooper knives replaced with maces that explode Arachnids on attack.
        
      • Build Tool Malfunction: Reduces build tool speed.
        
      • Integrated Utility Fabricators: Slowly replenishes utilities.
• New Servers: APAC Region
  
  • Military Intelligence has heard the requests to improve the connection to Valaka for our Troopers stationed around the globe. We are pleased to share that new servers have been added for Asia East, Asia Southeast, and Australia Southeast and will be online when this update goes live!

Gameplay

• Extraction Phase
  
  • Added entrance and exit notifications and communication graphics to the extraction area inside the dropship. (Community Sourced)
  • Added “Onboard X/16” to the interface during the extraction phase. (Community Sourced)
  • Players can no longer fall out of the dropship when it’s in flight by jumping near the ramp door. (Community Sourced)
  • Dropship turrets now correctly target Bugs.
    
  • Improved dropship visibility in night maps. (The pilot learned how to turn on the floodlights.)
• Reduced refinery cooldown to 4 seconds.
  
• When attacked, Bugs now move in the direction away from the damage source instead of staggering backwards from the direction they’re facing.
  
• Streamlined the tutorial by removing the second refinery.
  
• Added mission information to the after action report.
  
• Reduced Gunner Bug damage. (Community Sourced)
• Reduced XP gain from rearms, revives, and heals.
  
• Removed XP gain from self-support actions.
  
• Smoothed jittery movement when trying to fire while sprinting.
  
• Respawn camera now spectates selected spawn location by default.
  
• Added sound effects to dust and rockfall effects.
  
• Bugs should no longer spawn inside terrain or buildings.

Classes & Loadouts

• Hunter
  
  • Design Focus: Death From Above
    
  • Class Identity: Scout
    
    • Combines high agility and mobility using its jetpack, base movement speed, and perks with relatively low survivability: a glass cannon.
      
    • Prepares the battlefield for frontline assaults, allowing the team to push forward and secure locations.
      
    • Specializes in taking out priority targets (Tigers, Gunners, Grenadiers).
  • Loadout Purpose: High single-target damage.
    
    • Long Range Engagement
      
    • Scanning Equipment to Assist Team
      
    • Targeted Explosives
  • Unlocks Gained
    
    • Equipment: Scan Grenade
      
    • Perk: Extended Magazines
      
    • Perk: Hardened Ceramic Plates
      
    • Perk: Utility Satchel
  • Unlocks Removed
    
    • Equipment: Cluster Grenade
      
    • Equipment: Heal Beacon
      
    • Equipment: Napalm Grenade
      
    • Equipment: Proxy Mine
      
    • Perk: Improved Grenade Cooldown
      
    • Perk: Synthetic Under-armor
• Bastion
  
  • Design Focus: I AM THE WALL
    
  • Class Identity: Tank
    
    • Holds the line with a loadout designed for stagger and stun mechanics.
      
    • Capable of sustained suppressing fire, keeping the Bugs back.
      
    • Able to fortify a position by creating a defensive perimeter.
  • Loadout Purpose: Survivability through threat management.
    
    • Crowd Control
      
    • Mid Range Engagement
      
    • Defensive Deployables
  • Unlocks Gained
    
    • Equipment: Napalm Grenade
      
    • Perk: Utility Satchel
  • Unlocks Removed
    
    • Equipment: Chem Grenade
      
    • Equipment: Hi-EX Grenade
      
    • Equipment: Scan Beacon
      
    • Perk: Improved Grenade Cooldown
• Operator
  
  • Design Focus: Make Way for Revives!
    
  • Class Identity: Support
    
    • Keeps the team fighting with mid-fight healing and rearming.
      
    • Adds close-quarters combat effectiveness to a team with its exclusive grenade launcher.
      
    • Applies various status effects on the battlefield via deployables.
  • Loadout Purpose: Team support, AOE damage, and status effects.
    
    • Mission Survivability
      
    • Short Range Engagement
      
    • Status Effect Deployables
  • Unlocks Gained
    
    • Equipment: Nuclear Det Pack
      
    • Equipment: Shock Grenade
      
    • Perk: Bloodlust
      
    • Perk Synthetic Under-armor
  • Unlocks Removed
    
    • Weapon: TW-202-L Morita Hawkeye
      
    • Equipment: Scan Grenade
      
    • Equipment: Shock Beacon
      
    • Equipment: Thermo Charge
      
    • Perk: Extended Magazines
      
    • Perk: Powered-Up Build Tool
  • Balance
    
    • Ability now heals nearby Troopers upon activation.
      
    • Decreased ability duration.
      
    • Increased ability cooldown.

Weapon Balance

• Morita MK1
  
  • Increased damage.
    
  • Decreased damage dropoff to optimize for mid-to-long range combat.
    
  • Reduced initial bullet spread.
    
  • Increased bullet spread gain while hipfiring.
    
  • Increased bullet spread recovery rate.
• Morita MK3 SAW
  
  • Decreased damage.
    
    • Developer Note: This change still results in an overall buff to the weapon from its other adjustments.
  • Decreased damage dropoff to optimize for short-to-mid range combat. (Community Sourced)
  • Increased rounds per mag to 200 (from 150). (Community Sourced)
  • Increased magazine carry capacity to 3 (from 2). (Community Sourced)
  • Updated ADS to use iron sights.
    
  • Greatly reduced horizontal recoil while hipfiring.
    
  • Reduced vertical recoil while hipfiring.
    
  • Reduced bullet spread while crouching or aiming down sight (ADS).
    
  • Increased bullet spread while moving or standing.
• TW-202-L Morita Hawkeye
  
  • Decreased damage.
    
  • Decreased rate of fire.
    
  • Increased bullet spread while moving or hipfiring.
    
  • Decreased spread and deviation while crouched or aiming down sight (ADS).
    
  • Increased bullet velocity for more accuracy at range.
    
  • Bullet trajectory now lines up with the reticle correctly.
• TW-109-E Emancipator
  
  • Increased rate of fire.
    
  • Increased bullet spread per shot and while moving.
    
  • Decreased initial bullet spread.
    
  • Decreased damage dropoff to optimize for mid-to-long range combat.
    
  • Increased recoil.
    
    • Developer Note: And we updated the firing animation to match!
• TW-101-S Peacemaker
  
  • Increased damage.
    
  • Slightly increased range.
    
  • Reduced stagger.
    
  • Reduced initial bullet spread.
    
    • Developer Note: Spread will increase with continuous firing.
• Morita MK1 Carbine
  
  • Reduced damage.
    
    • Developer Note: Still kills faster than Morita MK1 at close range.
  • Decreased damage falloff to optimize for short-to-mid range combat.
    
  • Increased initial bullet spread but rapidly reaches max bullet spread even while moving.
    
    • Developer Note: Now good for hipfiring and while on the move.
• C-32 Chi-Hong Grenade Launcher
  
  • Now applies stun effect to Bugs.
    
  • Increased crosshair utility and accuracy. (Community Sourced)
    • Developer Note: The crosshair should now by default be sighted for 20m range with each bar below counting for an additional 5m.
  • Increased projectile velocity. (Community Sourced)
  • Increased minimum spread while hipfiring.
• Thermo Charge
  
  • Increased deploy speed.
    
  • No longer floats above certain surfaces.
• Proximity Bug Mine
  
  • Now ignores Drone Bugs.
    
  • Increased damage radius.
• Cluster Grenade
  
  • Increased damage.
    
  • Increased projectile count.
    
  • Increased spread range.
• Shock Grenade
  
  • Increased damage radius.
• Hi-EX Grenade
  
  • Increased damage.
• Nuclear Det Pack
  
  • Increased damage.
    
  • Increased damage radius.

Base Building

• Added Twin Machine Gun Emplacement blueprint.
  
• Updated the build tool placing and repair interface.
  
  • Developer Note: Improved the build tool interface to increase usability and make switching between place and repair more intuitive.
• Updated the build grid to represent the snap size of the selected blueprint.
  
• Updated build tiles to highlight which tile you are building on.
  
• Increased build snap size to 1 tile (from ½ tile) for large blueprints.
  
• Greatly reduced build tool unbuild speed. (Community Sourced)
• Players will no longer see they’re in a Build Zone when they are not in a Build Zone.
  
• Building multiples of the same blueprint at the same time no longer exceeds its maximum capacity.
  
• Generators now are highlighted like other repairable structures.
  
• Weapon crates are no longer highlighted when they are not interactable.

Quality of Life Improvements & Bug Fixes

• Added setting to reduce and disable screen shake.
  
• Reduced game client size by 500MB.
  
• Disabled warrior Bug sneak ability (they now have audible footsteps).
  
• Eradicated the Bug that would sometimes hiss at players prior to the start of a match.
  
• Trooper models are now better lit in Loadout screens.
  
• Fixed an issue where weapon audio could loop infinitely. (Community Sourced)
• Fixed an issue where automated turrets would sometimes fire into the air instead of at the Bugs.
  
• Fixed an issue where the AAS refinery mission voiceover would ignore volume settings.
  
• Fixed an issue where players could respawn underneath the map. (Community Sourced)
• Fixed an issue where the audio of distant downed Troopers played as if next to the player.
  
• Fixed an issue where unreleased weapons could be viewed (not equipped) in the Loadout screen. Military Intelligence is always watching…
  
• Fixed an issue where client connections could timeout on the matchmaking screen, causing error messages and the Trooper model to assume an “A” pose.
  
• Fixed an issue where audio stuttering could occur during a match.
  
• Fixed an issue where players could lose the ability to jump and melee attack after respawn.
  
• Fixed an issue where Bugs could float after spawning. (Community Sourced)
• Fixed an issue where Trooper necks would grow to giraffe length on death.
  
• Fixed an issue where smoke generated by grenadier Bug projectile impacts could appear cube-shaped.
  
• Fixed an issue where rocks and vegetation could crop into the dropship.
  
• Fixed an issue where dying during the extraction phase in the tutorial would redirect players to the main menu.
  
• Fixed an issue where automatic weapons wouldn’t play their first gunshot sound effect.
  
• Fixed an issue where Bastions could hear extra footsteps after they stopped moving.
  
• Fixed a game client crash that could occur on respawn.
  
• Fixed several collision issues on the map (too many to individually list).
  
• Fixed several instances of floating assets on the map. (Community Sourced)
• Implemented a variety of general performance improvements and optimization.

Deep Space Vanguard, atten-TION! Latest orders are in from Terran Command so knock off the grab-ass and– well look at that: subject line reads “MUTATED SANDS - GET SOME, TROOPERS”. Seems the brass think you apes are gonna like what’s coming.

First up, you are all to be commended for your ongoing successful captures and extractions in our initial theater of combat on Valaka. So successful, in fact, Military Intelligence has seen fit to expand it some: our southern Fuel Depot is in need of rescue and reinforcement. Been too many revolutions since last contact from them, let alone since HQ has received their resource output. The industrial complex is situated cliffside, north face overlooking a deep valley. Should make it a cinch to fortify against the Bugs, but you all know those Arachnids are nothing if not clever. Anticipate being sent that way for your upcoming AAS and ARC missions starting middle of next week - check upcoming deployment for details. And Troopers, try to keep your weapons pointed AWAY from the Fuel Depot. FUEL Depot, yeah? Okay, moving on…


…what the hell are Mutators? Apparently, the Bugs AND the planet itself are about to make combat even more interesting, folks. The geeks at Military Intelligence report we should expect changes - Mutators - with each mission moving forward (well, except for the easy ones). We will be seeing Bug and Trooper damage variability, frequent ambushes, and global conditions endemic to the Valakan surface: sandstorms, near-zero visibility, even gravity can’t be trusted. Huh, live-fire field tests of experimental weapons - don’t worry your pretty faces, we’ll follow up with Command about that one. Expect up to three unique Mutators in the mission selection phase soon, copy? Hmm, note at the bottom says next page will help even out the odds.


Are these… blueprints? Oh, hot damn! Vanguard, allow me to introduce you to your new best friend for base building: the Twin Machine Gun Emplacement. …those who yelled “TOWER LET’S GO” just now, the enthusiasm is appreciated but the lapse in protocol isn’t - ten laps around the barracks, listen in on comms and hop to. That said, this prime piece of heavy firepower can be installed just about anywhere in a viable base location: built on the ground, placed along walls, and yes, mounted in towers. However, it demands two Troopers to operate, one to fire and the other to keep the weapon repaired - the eggheads who designed it didn’t have durability in mind, the thing damages itself as it’s fired. One Trooper could feasibly jump between firing it and repairing it but suffice to say it is not advised.

Looks like that’s about it, just this verbatim command on the last page: “Troopers are to submit the following weapons to the armory for retooling: Morita MK1, Morita MK1 Carbine, Morita MK3 SAW, TW-202-L Morita Hawkeye, TW-109-E Emancipator, TW-101-S Peacemaker, C-32 Chi-Hong Grenade Launcher”. You heard the word, Vanguard - master of arms wants to field-strip and tune those primaries and secondaries. Calm down, you apes, you’ll get them back before Mutated Sands kicks off. Now double-time it to the armory, drops to the Fuel Depot begin in 48 hours, 1000 local Valaka time. Dismissed!

Pyre out.