Starship Troopers: Extermination News

[h2]Bring on the Boom![/h2]

Storming onto the battlefield with explosive weaponry in hand, the Demolisher unleashes a formidable arsenal. With expert knowledge in all things explosive, the Federation’s premier Demolisher troopers will easily be able to blast their way through the endless swarms of the Arachnid menace.

As part of the Class Revamp coming to Starship Troopers: Extermination, our second class showcase features the Demolisher. The Demolisher is the first all-new Class coming to the game and with that featuring a new set of tools as these troopers will be capable of utilizing a devastating Barrage to cover the battlefield with explosive ordnance.

The Demolisher will function as a powerful utility class, with a focus on grenades and Area-of-Effect weaponry. You will quickly prove that no Bug can withstand the Federation’s arsenal, as you’re equipped with the most destructive Grenade Launchers and Explosives Research and Development have created.

[h2]Danger Close[/h2]

Demolishers will be able to lob a cluster of their chosen Grenades at a great distance using the brand-new Barrage ability. It is important for any Demolisher to keep in mind they’re most effective to their fellow troopers when they use their armaments and abilities to funnel and group the Arachnid swarm. Always be vigilant and make use of your surroundings, utilities, and fellow trooper tools to quickly and decisively eliminate closely grouped packs of Bugs with one well-placed, ichor-riddled explosion.



While Demolishers are able to rain down shrapnel from a distance, your effectiveness is more variable, so be cautious not to deplete the Vanguard and your fellow troopers’ resources. Demolishers are specifically designed to excel in close-quarters and short-range engagements, but these troopers will need to be mindful that their weapons pose a risk to themselves as much as they do to the Arachnid horde. You will quickly find that despite the high-stopping power, the ballistic nature of the Demolisher's arsenal comes with its own set of disadvantages, as troopers will experience longer ability cooldowns and lengthier reload times.

Remember that no trooper should stand alone! Engage with the support of your fellow troopers whenever possible or you may be quickly overwhelmed with no escape.

[h2]Arsenal: Built for Destruction[/h2]

The Chi-Hong Grenade Launcher will be moving and finding its place within the Demolisher’s armory. This multi-barreled grenade launcher is able to rain down a flurry of explosive wrath, making this weapon a trusty companion for those desiring a less-than-surgical solution to the Arachnid menace!

Additionally, Demolishers will have access to the Lure Grenade a tool for drawing bugs away from troopers and vulnerable structures. The small explosive charge automatically detonates after a duration, able to dispatch smaller Bugs and seriously maim the larger specimens. Demolishers can use these grenades with their Barrage ability to protect a wider area.

Some may ask what could be better than one grenade launcher? That's right TWO GRENADE LAUNCHERS!

Unlock your explosive potential in the Class Revamp as you double your flexibility and double your firepower. Demolishers will be able to replace their secondary weapon by utilizing the new Extra Primary perk. Make good use of the Federation’s surplus stock in the fight against the Bug menace.

───

We hope you enjoyed this preview of the first all-new Demolisher class that will be coming in the Class Revamp update. We have more to share as this is the second of six class showcases to be released.

If you haven’t yet seen last week's showcase, we revealed the Sniper as well as a preview of a new weapon archetype coming to Starship Troopers: Extermination. Make sure to catch up and read it HERE. If you’re wondering what the next four Classes are, we revealed the names HERE!

We can’t wait to see what destruction you will bring as the Demolisher to those pesky Bugs when the time comes. But before then, if you have any feedback or want to share your excitement, we welcome you to share it with the dev team over at the ST:E Community Discord!

Tune in next week to see the next class, Troopers!

[h2]Troopers! [/h2]

Each of you has played a crucial role in supporting the Federation's relentless fight against the Bug menace. We've taken the battle directly to their homes within the caves of Valaka, and even on the scorching Agni Prime, we have faced losses of our loyal citizens. Yet, your unwavering resolve stands as a beacon, guiding and fueling our collective efforts.

Mission Command has thoroughly examined your objectives and is thoroughly impressed across all facets. However, suspicions linger that the Arachnid threat may reveal more than meets the eye, and this is merely the beginning. You’re all aware the Federation is actively channeling efforts into Research and Development for the trooper armory, but rest assured we are diverting resources to other aspects ensuring that troopers on the ground are ready and equipped to withstand whatever challenges come their way.

We want to ensure you're well-informed about the challenges ahead. To that end, we've dedicated time to re-evaluate an old dossier, updating it with our latest intel. This dossier provides you, troopers, with insights into what lies ahead, potential trooper movements, and anticipated timelines for annihilating those pesky Arachnids. Stay informed, stay prepared – victory awaits.

Please note, this roadmap is subject to change based on player feedback and development shifts.

[h2]Zeroed In[/h2]

Our first Class focused Dev Diary is here as we begin with a deep dive into the new Sniper class! Using its mobility to gain vantage points and perch high above, the Sniper acts as the eyes and ears of the team, offering unparalleled reconnaissance and firepower capabilities.

The Sniper's role can be pivotal in turning the tide of battle, as it dominates all within its sightlines. The Federation spared no expense in outfitting these troopers with some of the Vanguard’s deadliest answers to the Arachnid hordes as they bring unmatched accuracy and rain down lead from afar.

[h2]Death from Above[/h2]


With the first new addition to the Trooper Vanguard lineup, the Sniper preserves the core essence of its predecessor, the Hunter, harnessing the power of Jump Jets to access areas beyond the reach of conventional troopers and Bugs.

Jump Jets empower the Sniper with a versatile vertical mobility option, enabling them to effortlessly reposition, access superior vantage points, and skillfully evade approaching bugs. From these elevated positions, their iconic Sniper Rifles come into play, taking full advantage of long, unobstructed views across the battlefield.

This enhanced mobility not only ensures the Sniper's adaptability in dynamic combat scenarios but also reinforces its role as a master of long-range engagements. Prepare to redefine your engagement strategies as you deploy the Sniper class in the ongoing battle against the Bug menace.

[h2]Big Game Hunter[/h2]

This Class will come armed with large-caliber Sniper Rifles, and you will also be able to choose from a diverse array of additional long-range weaponry, including a robust selection of damage-amplifying equipment. The Snipers lead the way as a part of the Federation’s long-range offensive lineup. Their strategic prowess is most prominent when directed against larger Arachnid threats, exploiting their distance advantage and leveraging their kit to effortlessly eliminate bugs before they can even pose a threat to the base.


No soldier stands alone, however, and Snipers rely on their fellow troopers to support them. Being logistically expensive, Sniper Rifles require constant ammo resupply and even the best sharpshooter requires backup if they find themselves overrun. Snipers also have a notable lack of close-quarters weapons and backup options for handling swarms of Bugs. It is important for any Sniper to take advantage and be mindful of their positioning while seeking assistance from their allies to stay in one piece if needed.

[h2]Arsenal: Lethal Precision[/h2]

With a triumphant return, we want to welcome back the Morita XXX anti-materiel rifle as it makes its way into the hands of capable Sniper troopers. This heavy sniper rifle is capable of punching holes through nearly any carapace and makes quick work of any Federation traitors, too. The Morita ‘Triple X’ always proves itself as an invaluable tool in the fight against the Arachnids.

As a new addition to the armory, you will find the E-pulse 44-A2 Rifle. Research and Development has refreshed this time-honored design and will soon be equipping our troopers with the latest E-pulse weapons. The E-pulse 44-A2 Rifle is a powerful electromagnetic weapon that provides Snipers with a deadly mid-ranged alternative to typical sniper rifles and the trusty standard issue Morita.


Snipers will also be able to integrate the new High Ground perk in their loadout which gives the Sniper additional incentives for thoughtful positioning. With this perk, holding the high ground will give the Sniper trooper a significant advantage by amplifying your damage based on how much higher you are than your intended target.

If you prefer to keep your distance, the Scan Dart is the tool for you. Allowing Snipers to scan from afar. This dart provides the Sniper with a long-range alternative to other scan utilities. With it being a projectile it also allows for more flexibility in its usage as hitting a target with a Scan Dart will stick to them, scanning the target and nearby Bugs for a duration.

───

That is all we have for this Class dev diary and we thank you for reading! There will be more to come, but we hope you enjoyed this sneak peek into the Sniper Class. We can’t wait for you to get your hands on the new classes, and in the meantime if you have feedback or questions, we welcome you to share them with our dev team in the ST:E Community Discord!

Keep up the good fight, troopers!

Hello, Troopers! It's a new year which means It's time for a new Q&A. We want to thank the community for the great submissions for this Q&A. Our mission is to keep our development process as transparent as possible during Early Access and with our Q&As we try to select questions from a range of topics to answer. But before we dive into it all, we had one big question from the community to answer.

Every month we get a set of questions from the community that revolve around these four things.

[h3]Will we get new Bugs, Weapons, Planets, and Classes? [/h3]

We’re happy to give a resounding BIG YES to all of these! 🙂

With that first question out of the way, let us begin this month's Q&A!

───

[h3]Will any DLSS or FSR be added?[/h3]
DLSS and FSR will be coming to the game really soon, both are being tested and slated to be available in-game in the February/March time frame.

[h3]Are there plans to add an option in the near future for players to select which planet they want to deploy to? [/h3]
Yes, but it is a part of the seasonal campaign system in the Galactic War.

[h3]Are there plans to optimize smoke & particle performance?[/h3]
Yes, this is an ongoing effort and we have cleared a sizable amount of time in our schedule to focus on this with every update to the game.

[h3]Are there any new game modes that you are considering or in the pipeline to be released?[/h3]
We are working on improving all of our existing game modes leading up to the official launch of the Starship Troopers: Extermination. An example of our commitment to our existing game modes is we have more side missions coming to ARC game mode soon.

As for new modes, we are actively designing and fleshing out what solo experiences would look like in our game; more on that mode will be shared when we get more concrete details.

[h3]Is there any chance Hive Hunt is getting expanded? [/h3]
Yes, we already expanded Hive Hunt in 0.6.0 with the addition of the Royal Guard mini-boss and expanded the MI Caches loot table to include more weapon and item variety. We love running Hive Hunt with a SAW on the Operator! Hive Hunt will continue to be expanded on in the future to ensure it is continuing to offer increased challenges and new experiences to the players.

[h3]Why is your game so fun? [/h3]
I decided to ask our team this question, here are some of their responses:

“Bugs, Bombs and Bedlam…” - Trooper Shawn

“It's basically a reverse incremental game, you hold down the mouse button and the ammo and bug count goes down” - Trooper Nick

“Doing your duty is always fun” - Trooper Carl

“Chaos. Both from bugs and the people you play with.” - Trooper Gareth

“Teamwork makes the dream work" - Trooper Froiland and Trooper Renn

“16 > 4” - Trooper Matt

“For me it's creating moments that are similar to what you see in the movies” - Trooper Michael

“The secret ingredient is love (and Bug guts)” - Trooper Stuart

“The satisfaction of holding back the tide with a good team and a well-designed base layout.” - Trooper Griffin

“Bugs, I say Nuke them all!!” - Trooper Ed

“Relying on your teammates while you "do your part" comes across well in the gameplay” - Trooper Paul

[h3]Will there be better controller/gamepad adjustments?[/h3]
We are working on making sure our game is 100% feature complete for gamepads as we understand that many people on PC choose to play our game with controllers.

[h3]Will there be weapon upgrades down the line? [/h3]
Yes, coming with update 0.7.0 we will introduce the Weapon Mastery System, which will allow the player to continue to upgrade any weapon they choose, be it improving the weapon stats or its visuals in some cases.

[h3]What "Story" is there to come? [/h3]
Story is a loaded question; our game was never designed to be a full-on Narrative experience but to be a game that continues to focus on visceral and over-the-top, moment-to-moment gameplay.

One thing we noticed right from our Early Access launch was amazing emergent narrative moments, told by the players themselves. The community took over, and every match is testament to how highly our players regard the source material. It is not uncommon for people to join a match and hear people roleplaying and spouting one-liners from the films.

Are there opportunities for us to add “story” elements, sure, but it will be done strategically and never to distract from our core gameplay experiences, but to enhance them. The first example of this is coming with Galactic War, as each campaign will have its overarching theme and focus so that players understand the motivation and what is at stake.

[h3]Is the idea of providing community mod support on the roadmap or a future possibility? [/h3]
Not at this time.

[h3]There are currently 5 fireteams available in game modes, but only enough players to fill 4. Do you intend on expanding lobbies to 20 players? [/h3]
Not at this time, however, we will evaluate this constraint as we continue to optimize the game.

[h3]Are there any plans for more building opportunities, both at base and beyond it? [/h3]
Yes, we are exploring a lot of new things for our updates to the building mechanics. Building is a fundamental pillar in our game so you can rest assured we will always be looking to add more interesting ways to engage in this gameplay.

[h3]Will there be a console port? [/h3]
We are currently building our game to reach as many people as possible; we want our game to be available wherever players choose to play.

[h3]Will there be Horde Mode changes in the future? [/h3]
Yes, we are looking at an update to Horde in the future. Whether through combinations of more waves, side missions, mutators, building options, etc.

However, we want to make sure we retain what makes it special but also evolve the mode so that it offers more interesting challenges and experiences.

[h3]Are there plans to introduce additional resources? [/h3]
Yes, we have plans to have new resource types for the game in the future and we’ll share more details when we can!

───

Well that is all troopers for this month's Q&A! We hope you enjoyed the answers as much as we enjoyed the questions given by the community. Don't worry if your question wasn't answered this time around as we aim to do more Q&As down the line.

If you haven't you can check out our last November Q&A.

Thank you all for your support in the development of Starship Troopers: Extermination!

[h2]The New Trooper Vanguard[/h2]

At launch, Starship Trooper: Extermination will include six Trooper Classes. If you didn’t catch the announcement, we revealed them HERE. Each Class will bring a new arsenal, as we have curated progression tracks that include new weapons, utilities and perks. The launch of 0.7.0 is just the beginning as we plan to add more class advancement levels on a regular cadence post 1.0 launch.


Before we begin, it’s important to remember that everything remains subject to change, and in the coming weeks, we will be releasing more blogs to share our development processes regarding each of the new troopers you will be able to play. But today, we will be talking about the overall expectations from this Revamp, as we want to provide you all with a bit of insight into the decisions surrounding the overall change. Additionally, we’ll share our thoughts on what we liked and disliked about the existing system.

[h2]Gameplay Variety[/h2]

In our ongoing development of Starship Troopers: Extermination, our goal is to have each class specialize in a distinct gameplay role. Within each class, various loadouts will be available to cater to individual citizens' preferred playstyles, ensuring players not only feel effective but have an enjoyable experience in that role.

By emphasizing specialized gameplay roles, we have equipped each Class with purpose-made abilities and an optimized progression path. As troopers advance in each class, they unlock new loadouts. Our aim is for every unlock earned by troopers to offer more options and new gameplay experiences and opportunities, all while remaining relevant to the player’s chosen role for each class

As our seasoned veterans may already know, the existing Classes exhibited some degree of role variety through various loadouts. The objective of the Class Progression Revamp is to more precisely define each Class's unique gameplay role. Rest assured, variety within each Class will still persist! Different Trooper loadouts, featuring various weapons, utilities, and perks, can steer Classes into different niches within their overarching role. This enhanced loadout diversity now introduces more novel methods of performing your Class's intended role while still preserving the distinctive identity of each Class.

Remember troopers no matter the Class you choose you’ll be doing your part.

[h2]New vs. Revamp[/h2]

There’s been rumbling that the troopers you’ve all come to love will be going away, but fear not, Troopers! With this Revamp we aim to retain the elements you love from the current three classes while bringing in a breath of fresh air adding unique and exciting mechanics into the new six.


We aim to broaden the possibilities within our Class selection. Moving forward with the Revamp involves revisiting existing elements; enhancing certain features within their kits, and possibly separating extraneous elements into their own fully fleshed-out Classes. New mechanics will be introduced to create fresh gameplay opportunities and address areas the community felt were underutilized in the current Class system.

Has anyone used the Medical Station recently?

Troopers should expect significant reworks for some of ST: E's less developed and suboptimal mechanics with this Revamp.

[h2]Weapon Mastery[/h2]

In addition to the revamped Classes, we are introducing a new Mastery System for all trooper weapons. Weapon Mastery enables troopers to earn XP on the weapons they use, unlocking powerful modifications to their evergrowing arsenal. As a reward for those who fully master their weapon of choice, we want to introduce the new Armory Unlock System.


The Armory Unlock enables troopers of any Class to equip a given Weapon. An Armory Unlock allows Classes to bypass Class Restrictions on weapons – however, they will still need to meet the minimum level to equip said weapons.

The Weapon Mastery System at release will only apply to your arsenal of firearms. However, in the future, we hope to expand the Mastery System into other areas of your troopers' loadout.

[h2]Custom Loadout Slots[/h2]

Speaking of loadouts, with the Revamp, troopers will now have access to loadout slots! Each of the different Classes will have its own Loadout Slot by default, allowing you to customize each of the six Classes with your preferred gear tailored to your playstyle.

These Loadout Slots can be personalized to any available Class. By changing the Class of a loadout, you alter the current abilities and their gear restrictions. The loadout will then earn progression towards the chosen Class. You have the flexibility to assign any Class to each of your slots – whether it's one of each Class, all Medics, or any combination in between. Having multiple slots dedicated to a single Class will enable a greater variety of builds suited for different scenarios and battlefields. We're very excited to see the diverse loadouts you troopers will bring in the fight against the Bug menace!

[h2]Re-enlistment[/h2]

With all the talk about progression we want to let you know about our new system for our most dedicated troopers. We wanted to provide you all with a further milestone when it comes to progression. Troopers when the Revamp is available will be able to continue their journey beyond Career Rank 100.

Upon reaching max rank, troopers can Re-enlist! Re-enlisting provides a new Custom Loadout Slot, but resets Career Rank and Class Levels. Don’t fret troopers as you will keep all Mastery Progression, Achievements, and Career and Gamemode Unlocks. Each re-enlist will provide an additional Slot and increment your Re-enlistment Tier. More details to follow in a future Developer Diary as we draw closer to the launch of 0.7.0.

[h2]The Next Steps[/h2]

That’s all we have to show for now. We hope you enjoyed this glimpse into what is coming to Starship Troopers: Extermination! If you would like to know more, keep a close eye on this space over the coming weeks for more Class development diaries, reveals, and other details about the upcoming Class Progression Revamp. If you have feedback or questions, please share them with our dev team in the ST:E Community Discord!

On behalf of the entire ST:E development team, thanks for stopping by, trooper!