Fire Support - Major Update is Live

Major Update: Fire Support

[p][/p][p][/p][p]Hey Agents!! We’ve got a Big One for you today with the Neon Abyss 2 Fire Support update, our first major patch since Early Access release. We’ve got a couple of brand new elements added here, as well as a huge number of fixes and balances for a bunch of weapons.[/p][p]The Fire Support patch is live NOW, after testing in our Beta Branch over the weekend. The highlights include:[/p]

[p]The New Blackdog Patch System – allowing players to pick a starter build to jump in with, following failure in the Abyss[/p]
[p]Weapon Fixes and Balancing – we’ve been listening to your feedback and have a huge list of weapon tweaks and fixes[/p]
[p]Visual optimisation and improvements – for multiple visual effects and artwork[/p]
[p]New Items! – adding a little more spice to the Abyss[/p]

[p]If you played back at launch, there’s a whole lot more to jump in with now, as well as ongoing fixes and improvements (it’s Early Access, right?!). Let us know how you find the new Fire Support patch and we’ll continue to throw tweaks, fixes, improvements and balancing at you in the coming weeks before our NEXT Major Update.[/p][p]
[/p][h3]The Blackdog Patch System[/h3][p]This all-new system lends a hand to players after a losing run in the Abyss (and we know there are a few of you out there! Sadly, me included). This new ability can be unlocked within the first page of the Evolution Tree, allowing a little leg up for those that fancy it. After losing a run, players will be thrown a random weapon / item bundle, specially bolted together by our Abyss Architects.[/p][p]Agents who complete an Abyss run with their random item bundle from the Blackdog Patch will unlock it to be able to select in future – meaning that you can choose to select that again (after failure in the Abyss), or get another random Patch to try out a new combination and try and unlock that one, too.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]Comprehensive Weapon Adjustment, Optimisation and Balancing[/h3][p]We’ve been listening to your feedback, and one of the things you’ve really let us know about is that weapon balancing has been feeling a little off in the Abyss. We’ve been taking some time to add a butt-load of new tweaks (and fixes) for a huge number of weapons.[/p][p]All of these changes are in addition to our new Damage system. While we’re not giving you the ins and outs on exactly how this works (we need to keep SOME things aloof and mysterious) we’re hoping that this will help with weapon balancing, and all weapons have had stats tweaked to essentially improve the fun factor – though we’ll let you be the judges of that.[/p][p]We’ve put a (partial!) list of these within the more patch-notes style bit just below, but do also keep in mind that the team are constantly working on weapon tweaks and balancing within regular updates. Your feedback is not only welcome, but critical to these balancing patches, as we need to know what you like and don’t like. We can’t promise to make every tweak (as one Agent’s Abyss Trash is another Agent’s Abyss Tresure) but we’re using feedback heavily to plan and prioritise balancing.[/p][p]
[/p][h3]Visual Optimisations and Additions.[/h3][p]The Abyss is meant to be chaotic, that’s the point of the Abyss, and it only gets crazier with multiplayer co-op. But we’ve heard your feedback, and we do agree that it needs to be manageable chaos at the very least (for reference, see the weird scene with Jeff Goldblum in the original Jurassic Park movie where he’s dropping water on Laura Dern’s hand).[/p][p]So we’ve been making changes to how the chaos gets represented in game. We’ve toned down player effect animations, and increased visibility of enemy projectiles as well. All of this aims to keep the chaotic feeling of the Abyss, while making sure you can see what you’re doing and what’s going on around you.[/p][p]We’ve also added new high-definition pixel art for all weapons , just to help the Abyss get a little extra shine.[/p][p][/p][h3]New exciting Items[/h3][p]After searching the forums, it looks like you all really wanted new items which helped you to get more jump boxes, so we’ve added 94 new items to help you get additional jumps![/p][p]I really need to point out that this is a joke, just for anybody who thinks we’re being serious. We’ve not added jump boxes, but we HAVE added a bunch of new items which improve attack speed, range and trajectory aiming, which we hope to help you feel a bit more buffed up in the Abyss.[/p][p]Seriously, though. If you do want more jump boxes, just say. We’ve got so many going spare and we can just throw them into the Abyss any time.[/p][h2]
The (Blackdog) Patch notes[/h2][p]So. That’s the narrative. But if you’re the type of Nerd that likes a bullet point list, we’ve got your back. Here it is in all it’s stunning glory. The Patch Notes for our first major patch, the Fire Support Update.[/p][h3]Additions[/h3]

[p]New Blackdog Patch Mechanics[/p]
[p]New Damage System[/p]
[p]New items[/p]

[h3]Weapon Adjustment List (partial)[/h3]

[p]VOLTEDGE - Mechanic Change: Charge time no longer decreases continuously, but each slash's damage increases progressively.[/p]
[p]VAJRA - Greatly reduced guardian cooldown. Guardian attack range scales with damage growth. New mechanic: Landing normal attacks during cooldown reduces cooldown time.[/p]
[p]RAGNAROK - Optimised charge time and reduced axe recall difficulty. Increased flame gauntlet attack speed and damage.[/p]
[p]AVALANCHE - Fixed a bug causing double damage (sorry!) and reduced weapon charge time.[/p]
[p]OBLIVION - Reduced charge time and added piercing effect.[/p]
[p]CATALYST - New mechanic: Enemies marked beyond 9 layers detonate immediately.[/p]
[p]COGDRIVE - Greatly reduced all charge times. Fixed a bug where damage could be taken during third-stage dash attacks.[/p]
[p]WILDSHIFT - Fixed a bug where weapon damage wasn't affected by egg count. Significantly increased mark duration.[/p]
[p]RED WIDOW - New mechanic: More eggs extend the reload window.[/p]
[p]LOONG - Optimized dragon behaviour for better player control.[/p]
[p]JADEWEAVE - Optimised orb behaviour and fixed orbs not attacking enemies (because, honestly, what’s the point if they don’t).[/p]
[p]ZANSHIN - Fixed a bug where damage could be taken during dash attacks.[/p]
[p]FLUORESCENT - Increased weapon damage and attack speed.[/p]
[p]JINGU BANG - Fixed a bug where spell damage didn't scale. Increased staff swing range.[/p]
[p]PULSEARC - Fixed missing damage bug. Optimised lightning strike mechanics and fixed tracking logic errors.[/p]
[p]EUPHONY - Greatly increased soundwave range and weapon attack speed. Removed combo mechanics.[/p]
[p]NIRVANA - Mechanic optimization: Not attacking no longer interrupts combos. Greatly increased soundwave range and damage.[/p]
[p]SWEETALK - Weapon attacks changed to soft lasers. Super Hatchmons now generate additional homing bullets.[/p]
[p]TOPSPIN - Fixed a bug where tennis balls could disappear (new balls, please!)[/p]
[p]YOKO - Increased Hatchmon absorption speed.[/p]
[p]SUNDER - Adjusted to key-themed weapon. Fixed critical-hit chance bug.[/p]
[p]ASCEND - Increased Wisp absorption speed and spirit sword damage/flight speed.[/p]
[p]PURGE - Fixed a bug where homing bullets couldn't deal multi-hit damage. Increased Wisp absorption speed.[/p]
[p]CACKLE - Increased sound ring speed damage, and Wisp absorption speed. Sound rings no longer trigger "Popcorn" explosions.[/p]
[p]VERDICT - Increased weapon range. Optimised light spear logic to prevent missed targets.[/p]
[p]TEMPEST - Increased storm cloud movement speed. Fixed a bug where bullets hitting clouds generated marks.[/p]
[p]STEEL TEETH - tack speed bonuses now extend sawblade duration.[/p]
[p]CHAMPION - New mechanic: More jump marks reduce Frenzy loss when hurt.[/p]

[h3]Optimisations and Adjustments[/h3]

[p]XUAN's skill now grants invincibility frames.[/p]
[p]Fishing Room and Zen Room no longer display as Arcade Room icons (ever visited a Zen Arcade room?).[/p]
[p]GOD OF ENTERTAINMENT (HYPERION) Phase 2 superheroes now appear in random order, much like sound balancing on entertainment streaming services.[/p]
[p]Task system now displays progress for clarity.[/p]
[p]Reduced plugin display time and boss transformation duration for better pacing.[/p]

[h3]Bug Fixes[/h3]

[p]Fixed weapon raise state persisting after upgrading in Soul Room.[/p]
[p]Fixed potential errors when generating relics.[/p]
[p]Fixed errors when collecting Null Sample with gauntlet weapons.[/p]
[p]Fixed relic sync errors.[/p]
[p]Fixed blue screen on Continue.[/p]
[p]Fixed enemy teleportation anomalies.[/p]
[p]Fixed relic "Ark Reactor" not converting Hearts properly.[/p]
[p]Fixed boss transformation logic errors.[/p]
[p]Fixed hotkey issues in bar evolution interface.[/p]
[p]Fixed progression blocks in certain rooms (Arcade Room).[/p]
[p]Fixed occasional XUAN skill failures.[/p]
[p]Fixed NIRVANA error when switching weapons during sound ring activation.[/p]
[p]Fixed Debt not clearing after maxing Smiley Privilege (Coin suit).[/p]
[p]Fixed attack anomalies during weapon swaps.[/p]
[p]Fixed YOKO anomalies when hit during Hatchmon absorption.[/p]
[p]Fixed unresponsive evolution interface.[/p]
[p]Fixed duplicate Hatchmon bug after Continue with Dr. Blue items.[/p]
[p]Fixed bombs detonating immediately on barriers (though, this one WAS funny for friends if you’re playing multiplayer).[/p]
[p]Fixed barrier items (e.g., Hybrid Doctrine, Microphone) detonating Bouncing Bettys.[/p]
[p]Fixed Spinal Fluid bug after Continue.[/p]
[p]Fixed "HORUX" Magic Eyes not auto-targeting enemies.[/p]

[p] Veewo Games[/p]