Dev Diary #40: Perk Overhaul
As we quickly approach the Early Access release in February, we have decided to move the dev diaries to a bi-weekly schedule. Development is transferring to polishing and balancing, and there will be less new content to write about. However, we do have one pretty big update coming about the character stats.
This week, we take a look at a big perk overhaul we did over the past month!
[h2]Perks and Promotions[/h2]
In preparation for this week's diary, make sure to read up on perks and promotions in Dev Diary 9.
In short, players get rewarded with promotion points for completing missions. These promotion points can be used to promote squad leaders and pilots, which in turn unlocks perks from individual perk trees.
The system itself works very well, but the squad leaders and pilots were missing character, as too many perks overlapped with each other, and the distribution of perks was too arbitrary. That is why we used all the feedback from the demo and the experience we have with the game now to add more variety and uniqueness to it.
[h2]New Perk Tree Setup[/h2]
We decided the best way to set up the perk trees is to have both reliable perks that are always useful for most roles, but add more variety and uniqueness by having more character-specific perks.
Each character, squad leader, or pilot starts out with 7 fixed perks that are the same for all characters. These cover basic mechanics like:
Then, each character has 4 absolutely unique perks that only this character has access to. The first of these is always the unique perk a character starts out with, and that is always unlocked.
Designing 4 specific perks for each character is a lot of work — with a final amount of 26 characters, we will have over 100 unique perks on top of the roughly 60 that are shared by all.
On top of these 11 perks, each character also has 6 generic perks that are shared with others but are taken from a pool of 60 general perks. This will have our characters sit at 17 perks each.
On top of all the new perks, we redistributed the existing ones and changed many of them to work better in the game.
[h2]Examples[/h2]
Now let’s look at some of your favourite characters and how their perks changed:
[h3]Pike[/h3][hr][/hr]Pike's role in the game is that of a seasoned commander who gives stability and order to a potentially rag-tag outfit of semi-professional fighters. To underline this more, he now has the following unique perks:
Starting Perk: Take Command
Take Command is an active ability that costs 60AP and instantly transfers 40AP to an ally in range. The ally will be activated again if they have already acted.
This ability is extremely handy when juggling turn order and activations, and also to save clutch engagements by allowing an exposed friendly to dash into cover or take another shot at the aliens trying to eat their face.
Unique Perk 2: Inspiring Presence
This perk was not unique before, but it is now. It increases accuracy and discipline for units nearby, underlining Pike’s authority and command role on the battlefield.
Unique Perk 3: Command: Rally
We changed the Rally perk to now be a targeted ability that increases morale and reduces suppression of a friendly unit. With the nature of the battles in MENACE and units usually being pretty far apart, the original AoE effect was too short-range, and the outcome was very unclear. It now has a very clear use case, and the outcome will always matter.
Unique Perk 4: Stalwart
This was Pike’s original unique perk, but the impact was too low, and the perk was not useful in the early game. We have now moved it back to his highest tier of perks to make it available in the late game when facing the horrors of the constructs.
[h3]Lim[/h3][hr][/hr]Lim is foremost an aggressive character that works with mobility and speed to flank and finish opponents in close-quarters combat.
Starting Perk: Aspiring
The Aspiring perk that makes promotions cheaper for Lim is still on the character and very useful, so we kept it.
Unique Perk 2: Run and Gun
We made Run and Gun, which reduces AP for the next attack after moving, unique for Lim. It fits his character very well and also synergizes with his other abilities and his preferred fighting style.
Unique Perk 3: Return of Serve
Return of Serve is a rather specific perk that allows you to throw back grenades at an attacker. As the number of situations this is useful in is rather small and best on a character that acts very close to the enemy, it is a natural match for Lim, but won’t make sense on many other characters.
Unique Perk 4: Blaze of Glory
This is a completely new perk for Lim at the highest tier level. It is an active ability that can be used once per battle. It instantly removes all suppression from Lim and reinstates any AP that were lost due to being suppressed. This will be very useful to break out of a suppression lock or free up more AP for a final push into an enemy position.
[h3]Rewa[/h3][hr][/hr]Everybody's favourite relaxed pilot also got some new and changed perks.
Starting Perk: Revel in Slaughter
Her starting perk increases stats for each enemy unit killed. This is still on character and very useful for Rewa, so we kept it.
Unique Perk 2: Roadkill
To emphasise Rewa's character, she now has the unique Roadkill perk that substantially increases the damage of run-over attacks. This can be useful when running out of ammo or squashing enemy units that are too close to be fired on effectively.
Unique Perk 3: Grind Down
To support Rewa's playstyle of just firing at anything moving until it's destroyed, she now has the “Grind Down” perk. This perk substantially increases the armor damage of all attacks and will whittle down any enemy armor very quickly. It works best with lower penetration weapons that have lots of repetitions.
Unique Perk 4: Fury
Rewa is not known for subtlety but raw firepower. This perk reduces her accuracy permanently but at the same time gives a massive damage buff to all attacks. To make this perk work, additional perks or equipment that offset the drop in accuracy will go a long way or, alternatively, perks and weapons that allow for lots of skill uses or repetitions.
[h2]Engage, Explore, and Stay Informed[/h2][hr][/hr][p]Be sure to check out our tips and tricks thread for more tactics to help you out in-game.
There's also the The Beginner’s Guide explains how to manage squads, prepare missions, and handle combat. For more details, you can also visit the community wiki, and follow our how-to-play video.
You can find us on Discord, BlueSky, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and Reddit for discussions, updates, and feedback. You can also subscribe to our monthly MENACE newsletter on our website — just scroll to the bottom of the page to sign up.
[dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]
This week, we take a look at a big perk overhaul we did over the past month!
[h2]Perks and Promotions[/h2]
In preparation for this week's diary, make sure to read up on perks and promotions in Dev Diary 9.
In short, players get rewarded with promotion points for completing missions. These promotion points can be used to promote squad leaders and pilots, which in turn unlocks perks from individual perk trees.
The system itself works very well, but the squad leaders and pilots were missing character, as too many perks overlapped with each other, and the distribution of perks was too arbitrary. That is why we used all the feedback from the demo and the experience we have with the game now to add more variety and uniqueness to it.
[h2]New Perk Tree Setup[/h2]
We decided the best way to set up the perk trees is to have both reliable perks that are always useful for most roles, but add more variety and uniqueness by having more character-specific perks.
Each character, squad leader, or pilot starts out with 7 fixed perks that are the same for all characters. These cover basic mechanics like:
- Solid Grouping – Increases accuracy for each consecutive shot at the same target
- Bags and Belts – Increases accessory slots
Then, each character has 4 absolutely unique perks that only this character has access to. The first of these is always the unique perk a character starts out with, and that is always unlocked.
Designing 4 specific perks for each character is a lot of work — with a final amount of 26 characters, we will have over 100 unique perks on top of the roughly 60 that are shared by all.
On top of these 11 perks, each character also has 6 generic perks that are shared with others but are taken from a pool of 60 general perks. This will have our characters sit at 17 perks each.
On top of all the new perks, we redistributed the existing ones and changed many of them to work better in the game.
[h2]Examples[/h2]
Now let’s look at some of your favourite characters and how their perks changed:
[h3]Pike[/h3][hr][/hr]Pike's role in the game is that of a seasoned commander who gives stability and order to a potentially rag-tag outfit of semi-professional fighters. To underline this more, he now has the following unique perks:
Starting Perk: Take Command
Take Command is an active ability that costs 60AP and instantly transfers 40AP to an ally in range. The ally will be activated again if they have already acted.
This ability is extremely handy when juggling turn order and activations, and also to save clutch engagements by allowing an exposed friendly to dash into cover or take another shot at the aliens trying to eat their face.
Unique Perk 2: Inspiring Presence
This perk was not unique before, but it is now. It increases accuracy and discipline for units nearby, underlining Pike’s authority and command role on the battlefield.
Unique Perk 3: Command: Rally
We changed the Rally perk to now be a targeted ability that increases morale and reduces suppression of a friendly unit. With the nature of the battles in MENACE and units usually being pretty far apart, the original AoE effect was too short-range, and the outcome was very unclear. It now has a very clear use case, and the outcome will always matter.
Unique Perk 4: Stalwart
This was Pike’s original unique perk, but the impact was too low, and the perk was not useful in the early game. We have now moved it back to his highest tier of perks to make it available in the late game when facing the horrors of the constructs.
[h3]Lim[/h3][hr][/hr]Lim is foremost an aggressive character that works with mobility and speed to flank and finish opponents in close-quarters combat.
Starting Perk: Aspiring
The Aspiring perk that makes promotions cheaper for Lim is still on the character and very useful, so we kept it.
Unique Perk 2: Run and Gun
We made Run and Gun, which reduces AP for the next attack after moving, unique for Lim. It fits his character very well and also synergizes with his other abilities and his preferred fighting style.
Unique Perk 3: Return of Serve
Return of Serve is a rather specific perk that allows you to throw back grenades at an attacker. As the number of situations this is useful in is rather small and best on a character that acts very close to the enemy, it is a natural match for Lim, but won’t make sense on many other characters.
Unique Perk 4: Blaze of Glory
This is a completely new perk for Lim at the highest tier level. It is an active ability that can be used once per battle. It instantly removes all suppression from Lim and reinstates any AP that were lost due to being suppressed. This will be very useful to break out of a suppression lock or free up more AP for a final push into an enemy position.
[h3]Rewa[/h3][hr][/hr]Everybody's favourite relaxed pilot also got some new and changed perks.
Starting Perk: Revel in Slaughter
Her starting perk increases stats for each enemy unit killed. This is still on character and very useful for Rewa, so we kept it.
Unique Perk 2: Roadkill
To emphasise Rewa's character, she now has the unique Roadkill perk that substantially increases the damage of run-over attacks. This can be useful when running out of ammo or squashing enemy units that are too close to be fired on effectively.
Unique Perk 3: Grind Down
To support Rewa's playstyle of just firing at anything moving until it's destroyed, she now has the “Grind Down” perk. This perk substantially increases the armor damage of all attacks and will whittle down any enemy armor very quickly. It works best with lower penetration weapons that have lots of repetitions.
Unique Perk 4: Fury
Rewa is not known for subtlety but raw firepower. This perk reduces her accuracy permanently but at the same time gives a massive damage buff to all attacks. To make this perk work, additional perks or equipment that offset the drop in accuracy will go a long way or, alternatively, perks and weapons that allow for lots of skill uses or repetitions.
[h2]Engage, Explore, and Stay Informed[/h2][hr][/hr][p]Be sure to check out our tips and tricks thread for more tactics to help you out in-game.
There's also the The Beginner’s Guide explains how to manage squads, prepare missions, and handle combat. For more details, you can also visit the community wiki, and follow our how-to-play video.
You can find us on Discord, BlueSky, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and Reddit for discussions, updates, and feedback. You can also subscribe to our monthly MENACE newsletter on our website — just scroll to the bottom of the page to sign up.
[dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]