Black Ice News

Einar's final resting place beneath the volcano is now fit for a king! Decked in gold, the new boss fight arena offers more platforming and routes to evade the swarm as you battle the Mother of Spiders. With the new boss fight HP bar, you can focus on the objective before you're overrun.

We've also streamlined the early stages of the game to help you get through the volcano faster. More routes, better waypoints, rebalanced enemy progression. We will continue improving the early game with a reworked tutorial area soon!


A small taste of what's coming next, we added 2 new missions while streamlining the other 100 story emails already in the game. Tangle with Baba Yaga (again?) in the Forest, then help some Quarkus employees stage a coup in Act 3.


Stay tuned for the next update bringing the Helices megacorp tower.

Full patch notes below!

[h2]0.9.207 - 12/20/23 Gilded Rage[/h2]

• Remade Einar's Throne Room (Volcano Boss Arena)
  
• Major navigational improvements to the Volcanyon and Volcano
  
• Added a new shop in the Volcano
  
• Quarkus improvements, including boss attack telegraphing
  
• Overhauled mission waypoint system to be more readable and useful
  
• Added Courier Story Missions (including one to take you to the top of the Volcano)
  
• The first character on an account will now always get a free heal in the Cache
  
• Added two new unique items as rewards for the Quarkus and upcoming Helices fight
  
• Added two new missions between level 25-35
  
• Edited and improved all previous missions
  
• After you complete a mission, the active waypoint will automatically switch to the next active mission
  
• Players now run a lot faster on the Information Superhighways
  
• Heal Over Time items now automatically enable when the player logs in or respawns
  
• Rebalanced hack speed to make it less punishing if you fall behind on icebreaker upgrades
  
• Added Hack Timer calculation in the Full Stats UI
  
• Added Time To Kill calculation in the Full Stats UI
  
• Added a Boss HP bar for dungeon bosses and Lockout enemies
  
• Increased Flat Damage affix scaling at the low end, but also reduced drop rate
  
• Made Lockout GUI and in-game particles easier to see
  
• Lockout enemies now slow the hack down drastically instead of completely stop it
  
• Added a video option to reduce the sky intensity
  
• Reduced sky star size for stars closest to the player
  
• Added a green cooldown indicator for items with charges to show when charges will cd
  
• Fixed terrain hazards like lava doing increased damage in multiplayer
  
• Evading servers no longer appear in the Volcano
  
• Reduced Charge.bat damage
  
• New unique Sprint which applies Frictionless
  
• Items now have full charges when equipped for the first time, and remember both charges and cooldowns when you unequip them, which you can now do at any time.
  
• Many bug fixes, including waypoints, missions, etc.
  

Stay safe, hackers.

- superdupergc & Nonadecimal

Quarkus: a megacorporation known for quantum computing and data at every scale.

The biggest search and social media monopolies of the 21st century merged to form Quarkus. While its CEO Grafton Bayles never completed his vision of a "metaverse", Quarkus dominates the Supermesh with their quantum computing infrastructure.

Although some say all of Quarkus' innovation was stolen from Supermesh founder Rachana Joshi and the other megacorps...

[h2]By their powers combined[/h2]

Each of Quarkus' four towers wields the powers of ice, fire, corrosion, and laser... Almost like they were copying their 4 megacorp competitors. Equip the right gear to deal with each one!



[h2]Dissect their networks[/h2]

Like Oshiro Orbital and Sol Fusion, the Quarkus tower is an endgame dungeon with servers spanning levels 35 to 49.

But the Quarkus servers are all connected. Follow the arrows to know which server is protecting another. Hack them in the correct order or risk them all joining forces to defend the hack!



[h2]The W.O.R.M Returns[/h2]

After testing their newest AI atop Rachana's tower, Quarkus has redeployed the W.O.R.M. with upgrades.

Watch out, they look ready for revenge...



Stay safe, hackers.

- superdupergc & Nonadecimal

Sol Fusion, a megacorporation known for nuclear power and opulent enclosed cities.

Formed from a merger of aging oil export corporate kingdoms, Sol Fusion ascended to megacorp status through the construction of sealed cityscapes to survive the new world climate. Between widescale adoption of nuclear power and their technologically advanced and climate-controlled urban planning, Sol Fusion saved many lives across Africa and Eurasia in the mid-21st century.

At least, that's what their PR department keeps telling us...



[h2]Climb The Lasers[/h2]

Much like Oshiro Orbital, the Sol Fusion tower is an endgame dungeon with servers spanning levels 35 to 49. Hack servers to power laser platforms as you climb. But each additional platform fills the room with more and more lasers. Choose your hacks wisely.

Just watch out for the giant laser well that bridges each floor. It can be a shortcut if used correctly or it could end your run.



Stay safe, hackers.

- superdupergc & Nonadecimal

Systems online.......
After a lifetime hacking in the Supermesh, Ouroboros built an operating system that gamifies network (in)security. Corporate AIs personified as spiders, scorpions, and squids. Viral vectors and brute force attacks visualized as laser fire and... y'know... disco balls spewing even more lasers.

Because an accessible platform for hackers and hacker wannabes puts even more people on even footing with giant megacorps. Even you, Mako. Hack them all!





We improved the waypoint system with cleaner visuals. Red waypoints for servers to hack, green waypoints for servers to defend, blue waypoints for deliveries. Distance indicators make it easier to find servers in twisty indoor spaces and volcanoes.

And the best part? If it's not your primary objective, the waypoints are hidden when you get far away. No more waypoint clutter! Just a focus on the things you're doing right here and now.


Additional fixes include balancing enemy counts on higher level servers, making Treasure Crawlers a bit easier to catch, improving Bounty rewards, and allowing for more explosions at once!



Sol Fusion is coming next! Be ready for another megacorp skyscraper to climb. Just watch out for lasers...

The verdant Green Hills surrounding Helices are finally packed full of towering corporate fortresses, biotech cartels, and toxic sludge that amplifies damage.

Another quarter of the world is filled in with the addition of this swampy cityscape full of 40+ servers for levels 30-40. The new Proxy security type forces you to platform the giant castles to hold unlock points in order to finish the hack. The corrosive sludge being dumped by the warring biotech cartels causes both you and enemies to take bonus damage while standing in it.... use it to your advantage!

We added the much-requested Fast Travel system to the Arcade. You can use the ring of launchers to fly through the air back to locations you've already visited like the volcano, megacorp skyscrapers like Quarkus and Oshiro, and distant locations like the Phish Market or the Scar. You'll have to visit those places again after this patch in order to unlock each launcher. We also added the missing respawn points to Oshiro so you can get back to the fight quicker after dying.


Four new specialty shops like Ol' Glitchy's Bait Shop and the Data Broker in the Phish Market, the Black Market in the Scar, and PiuPew in the volcano make it easier to find specific item types like minions and mods. A fifth new shop in the volcanyon makes it easier for new players to empty their inventory before heading to the volcano.


We also fixed some major bugs like the broken Virtual Virtual Reality perk tryout room, the Oshiro boss fight, and enemies no longer getting stuck in walls (but please tell us if they still get stuck). Along with some level progression balancing after the volcano, we hope this makes it easier to level up and get through Act 2 of the story. And get ready for another megacorp tower to drop in June because Sol Fusion is coming online soon....



[h2]Update Highlights:[/h2]

• New Server Security: Proxy Servers, which lockout and create capture points to unlock the hack
  
• New Perk: Rootkit: Turret minions now have a permanent healing zone around them
  
• Added fast travel launchers to the Arcade to catapult you back to the volcano, Oshiro, and other landmarks!
  
• Added 4 new specialty shops around the world so you can clear your inventory and find specific items like minions and mods! Improved shop visuals to make them easier to spot too.
  
• Fixed enemies getting stuck in walls!!! (but please tell us if they still get stuck)
  
• Added respawn points in the Oshiro towers so you can get back in action faster.
  
• Fixed the Oshiro Orbital boss fight server and added its reward loot.
  
• Fixed the flying aimbots in Oshiro so they don't fly away.
  
• More level balancing to even out the gameplay progression after the volcano.
  
• Fixed multiplayer bugs when someone leaves your game.
  
• Increased the Ouro max capacity so you can get more rerolls.
  
• Fixed the teleport destination for the Virtual Virtual Reality perk tryout room.
  
• Plus way more bugfixes and quality improvements in the full patch notes.

If you're excited about the upcoming megacorp finales, please leave a Steam review as we near the finish line!
-superdupergc & Nonadecimal