Combat Complex News

[p]Hi everyone! We usually release updates right before seasonal Steam sales, but this time we couldn't finish our work in time. As a result, the Skill Tree update will miss the Winter sale.[/p][p]The Skill Tree update is planned to contain all three missing branches – Fire / Shock, Defense, and Luck. The amount of work needed for implementing all this turned out to be much higher than we originally anticipated, especially considering the fact that I also wanted to release a bunch of new Power-Ups along with the Skill Tree (and fix the long-standing issue with missing legendary affixes on some weapons).[/p][p]So, we're skipping the Winter sale with the Skill Tree update. Hopefully we'll be able to finish it in time for the next seasonal sale.[/p][p]Thank you for understanding,
Combat Complex team.[/p]

[p]The goal of this update is to make earning Skill Points smoother and easier to understand by replacing Skill Stations with Experience Points (XP). Additionally, we're introducing multiple balance and gameplay improvements. Here's the full list of changes:[/p][p][/p][h3]Experience Points (XP)[/h3]

• [p]Developer comment:[/p]
  • [p]Our original system for earning Skill Points via Skill Stations on missions was clunky, hard to understand, and, at times, confusing. We are replacing it with a more streamlined and familiar system: you earn XP by killing enemies and "doing quests" (i.e. completing challenges), and when you reach a skill level (a full XP bar), you get a Skill Point.[/p]
• [p]You now earn Experience Points (XP):[/p]
  • [p]Experience is awarded for killing enemies on
missions, and for completing Challenges.[/p]
  • [p]During missions, Experience is awarded for any enemy death, regardless of what caused it – be it a direct attack, friendly fire damage by other enemies, or environmental damage.[/p]
  • [p]Harder enemies award more XP, so playing higher-difficulty missions naturally yields more XP.[/p]
  • [p]Enemies spawned by other enemies do not 
award any experience.[/p]
• [p]Skill Points and Respec Points:[/p]
  • [p]A Skill Point is awarded when you reach a skill level – .e. a full XP bar.[/p]
  • [p]A Respec Point is now awarded with every 3rd Skill Point.[/p]
• [p]UI changes:[/p]
  • [p]XP is displayed as a bar at the bottom edge of the screen.[/p]
  • [p]XP is also shown in the hub UI as a bar at the top of the Skills screen.[/p]
• [p]Other changes:[/p]
  • [p]Skill Stations have been removed from the game.
    [/p]

[h3]Challenges[/h3]

• [p]Challenges no longer award Skill and Respec Points – they now award XP instead.[/p]
• [p]Completion threshold for the Cautious Carrie challenge has been relaxed from 20% to 30%.[/p]
• [p]Completion threshold for the Rubbish Rampage challenge been relaxed from 50 до 30.
  [/p]

[h3]Balance[/h3]

• [p]Rifles and Miniguns now deal 10% more damage.[/p]
• [p]Base hit points of Small Bugs and their eggs have been reduced by 12%.[/p]
• [p]Base hit points of Centipedes and their eggs have been reduced by 8%.[/p]
• [p]Base hit points of Breakables and Boom Barrels have been reduced by 20%.[/p]
• [p]Developer comment: We're introducing these changes to improve the flow of the early game, and to make rifles and miniguns more versatile and useful – for example, now you can more easily clear breakables or detonate Boom Barrels with a rifle. Additionally, this change makes dealing with bug swarms spawned by Maggots less annoying.
  [/p]

[h3]Gameplay[/h3]

• [p]Fodder enemy spawns that occur behind the player on regular missions without the Backspawn modifier now always spawn a single enemy type (either bugs or bots, but not both), and the amount of enemies spawned from behind has been reduced.[/p]
• [p]The duration of the Rare Item Find buff from the purple orb has been increased from 60 to 120 seconds.[/p]
• [p]Dash now works while shooting.
  [/p]

[h3]Enemies[/h3]

• [p]Jumping Bugs no longer deal area damage on landing, and do not attack the player within 0.5 seconds after landing.[/p]
• [p]Roundshield now has a 90% damage resistance to friendly fire damage from other enemies.[/p]
• [p]Bullets fired by Minigun Tank now have a chance to pierce multiple enemies. Additionally, the bullets trails have been made more visible.
  [/p]

[h3]Item Stats[/h3]

• [p]The Area of Effect (WIP) item stat has been removed from the game. It will remain on existing items, but will not roll on new items or in Crafting.[/p]
• [p]A new stat has been added: Damage vs Breakables – it increases damage you deal to all breakables, including Boom Barrels. The stat will not appear on existing items, but it will roll on new items and in Crafting.
  [/p]

[h3]Crafting[/h3]

• [p]Upgrade Parts of all rarities now drop on missions.
  [/p]

[h3]Audio[/h3]

• [p]The audio playback system is no longer limited to 32 active voices – we've raised the voice limit to 256. This fixed a lot of audio hitches. In general, the game sounds much smoother now.[/p]
• [p]Jumping Bugs now play a sound effect when they land on the floor.[/p]
• [p]The Mistake Mitigator ability now plays a sound effect when it activates.[/p]
• [p]The shotgun sound has been slightly reduced in volume (by 2 dB). Additionally, we've added a little more bass to it and reduced the middle frequencies.
  [/p]

[h3]Bug Fixes[/h3]

• [p]Plasma Turret now correctly plays its sound effect on activation.[/p]
• [p]Roundshield now correctly protects Rocket Tanks.[/p]
• [p]Mistake Mitigator now correctly displays its texts in bluish-white color, instead of red.[/p]
• [p]The Revive orb now correctly displays its texts in yellowish-white color, instead of red.
  [/p]

[h3]Other Changes[/h3]

• [p]The game executable now has a correct custom icon.
  [/p]

[hr][/hr][p]With this update out, we'll be focusing our efforts on the Skill Tree. Meanwhile, grab the update and let us know what you think![/p][p]Thank you!
Combat Complex team.[/p]

[p][/p][h3]Crafting[/h3]

• [p]The Crafting bench is now available for all players, starting from Level 1.[/p]
• [p]Crafting allows you to upgrade, add, modify, randomize, and remove item stats.[/p]
• [p]Crafting uses materials that can be obtained on missions, or by salvaging unwanted loot.
  [/p]

[h3]Crafting Blueprints[/h3]

• [p]Upgrade Item – upgrades item stats. Stats that got major upgrades become Starred.[/p]
• [p]Randomize Item Stats – randomizes all non-Starred item stats.[/p]
• [p]Reroll Stat Values – rerolls the numeric values of all non-Starred item stats.[/p]
• [p]Remove Random Stat – removes a random non-Starred item stat.[/p]
• [p]Add Random Stat – adds a random stat to an empty stat slot.[/p]
• [p]Increase Item Rarity – increases item rarity by adding a new random stat.[/p]
• [p]Duplicate Item – duplicates an item (useful for item backups before risky crafting).[/p]
• [p]Finalize Item – applies a major stat increase but locks the item from further modifications.
  [/p]

[h3]Upgrade Levels and Tiers[/h3]

• [p]Each equippable item now has an Upgrade Level and an Upgrade Tier (indicated by the number of stars). They are displayed in the lower-right corner of the item tooltip.[/p]
• [p]Upgrade Level and Tier of an item can be increased via the Upgrade Item crafting blueprint.[/p]
• [p]Each Upgrade Level increases the value of each item stat by 5%.[/p]
• [p]When an item reaches an Upgrade Tier (awarded at Upgrade Levels 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20; shown as a star) one of its stats (chosen randomly) is increased by 20%, after which it becomes Starred – this means that the stat can no longer be modified, replaced, rerolled, or removed from the item via crafting blueprints. However, its numeric value can still be upgraded.
  [/p]

[h3]Loot Drop Changes[/h3]

• [p]Loot items that drop from chests and enemies on missions can now have upgrades already in place. Higher-difficulty missions have a higher chance to drop upgraded loot.[/p]
• [p]Crafting materials now drop on missions. Higher-difficulty missions drop higher-rarity materials.
  [/p]

[h3]UI Changes[/h3]

• [p]The Discard buttons in Inventory have been changed to Salvage buttons. They disassemble items into crafting materials, instead of simply discarding the items.
  [/p]

[h3]Balance Notes[/h3]

• [p]Due to the fact that players can now upgrade item stats beyond their original ranges, and to the fact that items can now drop with such upgrades already in place, player power has been increased.[/p]
• [p]We did not make any changes in enemy hit points or damage to compensate for this increase.[/p]
• [p]As a result, players who craft their items or obtain upgraded items by playing on higher-difficulty missions will now have higher player power, on average. Early-game players will not see much changes balance-wise, because they haven't had the time to upgrade their gear or obtain upgraded gear on missions.
  [/p]

[hr][/hr][p]Crafting can provide a significant increase in player power – and you don't even have to actively use it because items can now drop in an already upgraded state. So grab the update, give it a try, and let us know what you think!

Thank you!
Combat Complex team.[/p]

[p]The goal of this update is to make the first mission more engaging, and to make the early game more engaging and smooth. We're also adressing one of the biggest flow-breakers of the game: red shields – the spawn chance of red (deflector) Shield Bots and Roundshields has been reduced. Here's the full list of changes:[/p][p][/p][h3]Gameplay[/h3]

• [p]25% of regular soldier bugs now spawn as jumping bugs.[/p]
• [p]Fodder enemy spawns now have a 15% chance to occur behind the player.[/p]
• [p]The Mortar Mayhem mission modifier now causes regular (non-elite) grenade bots to fire in bursts of three grenades, similarly to the elites.
  [/p]

[h3]Balance[/h3]

• [p]Reduced the spawn chance of deflector (red) Shield Bots and Roundshields depending on the mission difficulty:[/p]
  • [p]On White missions - from 50% to 30%[/p]
  • [p]On Yellow missions - from 50% to 32%[/p]
  • [p]On Orange missions - from 50% to 34%[/p]
  • [p]On Red missions - from 50% to 36%[/p]
  • [p]// Developer comment: besides the direct effect, the above changes have an indirect effect of significantly lowering the chance of encountering a group of red Shield Bots. [/p]
• [p]Reduced the density of Grenade Bots on the second mission.[/p]
• [p]The Backspawn mission modifier now doesn't spawn extra biomass beyond budget. Previously, it spawned 100% biomass from the front and 30% from the back (130% in total). Now it spawns 70% of the biomass from the front and 30% from the back (100% in total). This should help with both the performance and the playability of Backspawn missions.
  [/p]

[h3]User Interface[/h3]

• [p]To avoid accidental rerolls in the Power-Up Terminal, the mapping for reroll changed from Space to Enter on mouse / keyboard, and from RT to X on controllers.[/p]
• [p]Renamed Combat Roll to Dash in "Mapping - Controller" and "Mapping - Mouse / Keyboard" UI screens.
  [/p]

[h3]Bug Fixes[/h3]

• [p]Minigun icons now reflect weapon stats more accurately.[/p]
• [p]Jumping soldier bugs now don't perform "idle jumps" in place.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug that caused aim assist to latch onto hidden turrets.
  [/p]

[hr][/hr][p]With this update out, we're done with the early game issues, so we're planning to shift our focus to bigger systems, such as crafting, achievements, and the skill tree. Meanwhile, grab the update and let us know what you think![/p][p]Thank you!
Combat Complex team.[/p]

[p]This update aims to increase the gameplay and build variety by introducing new enemies, weapons, abilities, and pickups; and to make the first introductory mission more engaging by introducing an early-game hazard, Plasma Turret, which demonstrates our signature Friendly Fire mechanic (meaning that enemies can damage and kill other enemies) on the first mission. Here's the full list of changes:[/p][p][/p][h3]New Enemy – Roundshield[/h3]

• [p]A flying bot surrounded by six shields arranged in a large circle. The shields are separate – each shield takes damage and regenerates independently of the others.[/p]
• [p]It's gameplay purpose is to serve as a "bodyguard" for other enemies by covering them with its shields. Roundshield attempts to stand behind the enemy it has chosen to protect, thus making itself harder to hit due to bodyblocking.[/p]
• [p]Comes in two varieties – regular (blue shields) and deflector (red shields).[/p]
• [p]Available on Level 3 and higher.
  [/p]

[h3]New Enemy – Minigun Tank[/h3]

• [p]A tank-like machine equipped with two laser-guided miniguns.[/p]
• [p]Gameplay-wise, its similar to a Laser Tank – it divides the battlefield by creating a line of fire that's dangerous to cross. However, unlike the Laser Tank, Minigun Tank can move during its firing phase, making findingh suitable cover more challenging for the player. [/p]
• [p]Available on Level 4 and higher.
  [/p]

[h3]New Hazard – Plasma Turret[/h3]

• [p]A retractable floor-mounted turret that activates unexpectedly for the player and, when activated, sweeps the surronding area with a high-damage plasma beam that deals direct damage and ignites anything it hits, including the player and the enemies.[/p]
• [p]The gameplay purpose of the Plasma Turret is to make the first tutorial mission more engaging for new players, and to demonstrate our signature Friendly Fire mechanic (meaning that enemies can damage and kill other enemies) on the first introductory mission.[/p]
• [p]Available on Level 1 and higher, starting from the first tutorial mission.
  [/p]

[h3]New Weapon – Minigun[/h3]

• [p]Miniguns provide high rate of fire, cooling, range, and utility at the cost of hindering player movement when fired.[/p]
• [p]When the player fires a minigun, their movement speed is reduced and Dash is disabled.[/p]
• [p]Miniguns damage deflector (red) shields and armored targets (e.g. Wrecking Ball).[/p]
• [p]Miniguns can be equipped into a Primary Weapon slot.
  [/p]

[h3]New Weapon – SMG[/h3]

• [p]SMGs provide high rate of fire and damage at the cost of significantly reduced range.[/p]
• [p]SMGs are best suited for close-proximity builds that rely on dealing damage to nearby enemies.[/p]
• [p]SMGs can be equipped into a Primary Weapon slot.
  [/p]

[h3]New Active Ability – Gravity Hook[/h3]

• [p]Provides you with a grapling hook that quickly pulls you to a desired location – or to an enemy.[/p]
• [p]Useful for quickly repositioning in order to get out of danger or collect a disappearing pickup.[/p]
• [p]Can be used for quickly getting close to enemies (e.g. a Rocket Tank) for a shotgun blast. [/p]
• [p]Can be equipped into an Active Ability slot.
  [/p]

[h3]New Pickup – Ultimate Orb[/h3]

• [p]An orange orb that drops from killed enemies (similarly to other orbs) that provides Ultimate Ability charge and resets Active Ability cooldown and weapon overheat. [/p]
• [p]The gameplpay purpose of the new orb is to enhance the flow of the game by increasing the uptime of player guns and abilities, and to make the Ultimate Ability faster to charge, so it can be used more frequently.[/p]
• [p]The Ultimate Orb comes in two varieties:[/p]
  • [p]Small Ultimate Orb – grants 10% Ultimate charge, resets Active Ability cooldown, and instantly cools down all weapons.[/p]
  • [p]Large Ultimate Orb – grants full Ultimate charge, resets Active Ability cooldown, and instantly cools down all weapons.
    [/p]

[h3]Other Changes[/h3]

• [p]Weapon tooltips in Inventory now display the range and spread of the weapon.
  [/p]

[h3]Known Problems[/h3]

• [p]Legendary effects on a legendary Gravity Hook do not work correctly.[/p]
• [p]Inventory icons for Miniguns sometimes do not reflect weapon stats.
  [/p]

[hr][/hr][p]We hope that these changes will enhance the gameplay and build variety, and make the early gameplay more engaging for new players. Grab the update, give it a try and let us know what you think!

Thank you!
Combat Complex team.[/p]