Star Traders: Frontiers News

Every major new update and expansion deserves a couple of solid Quality of Life follow up updates, and this is the first in that vein. We've added exciting new faction affinity's for specialist recruits, including a section in a crew roster detailing Trait and Gear bonus summary, further tuned economic and Contact simulation, fixed issues with Shock Trooper Talents, some of the new weapons and fixed a bevy of other community reported issues.

Thanks to every new captain for your support and especially to those leaving reviews!


[h2]What’s the latest on Cyber Knights?[/h2]
Development on our next game, Cyber Knights: Flashpoint, is continuing as we march toward the alpha test for Kickstarter backers and then on to Steam Early Access. Thankfully, we're finally be able to come clean about the true reason for the game's delays. Get on the hype, punch that wishlist button.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1021210/Cyber_Knights_Flashpoint/


[h2]Faction Affinity[/h2]
As we've added Jobs all the way up to #38 with Shock Trooper, we've started linking highly specialized Jobs to certain factions and granting them a Attribute bonus when recruited from that faction. The first was Blade Dancers -- which is an ancient and traditional Steel Song practice -- and Steel Song. Of course, the other factions have learned the practice, but the best Blade Dancers (may, all things depending) hail from Steel Song. Saboteurs have a faction affinity to Rychart and the Shock Trooper has an affinity to Cadar.

With Update #260, we've added those affinities clearly to the new game screen where you are picking factions and seeing their unique bonuses and special rules. We have also added 2 new faction affinities -- there is no tougher defender than a Zenrin Bodyguard and if you truly want an ace pilot, look no farther than a Alta Mesa Wing Leader.


[h2]Trait and Gear Bonuses[/h2]
We've now included a section in every crew member's roster dedicated to the summary of all bonuses granted by Traits and Gear. This can be a quick way to see the full effect of the choices and mutations your character has and is super helpful when evaluating officer potential!

[h2]Economic and Contact Simulation[/h2]
We've rebalanced the economics of 2 major trade goods -- Terraforming Components and Spice Extractors to ensure they are more profitable in trade routes. We've also adjusted the Influence and action rates for some of the more powerful Contact types including High Prince, UCF Emissary and Fleet Commander.


[h2]Shock Trooper Fixes[/h2]
We've fixed the last few things about Shock Trooper that were outstanding. In the Talent detail for their counterattack Talent, "Retaliation", is now correctly stated that if you have trained Bracing Shot, that is the Talent the Shock Trooper will counter with, otherwise Close Blast will be used. And finally, we've fixed a bug with "To the Front" which was always moving the Shock Trooper and not the target of the buff.

[h2]Other QOL[/h2]
We resolve issues with 3 weapons that were released in Update #259 not having the correct stats -- Paratitan HG, Otrike Domer, Solar Dragoon. We've also resolve an issue that was causing Thulun on map v2 default to have an 11 jump Arbiter mission which had potential impact on a lot of different maps, given the whims of proc gen. Finally, we've resolved an issue where purchasing a Military Rank would temporarily allow you to use the services of any landing zone regardless of faction rep.

[h2]v3.1.47 - 4/1/2021[/h2]
- Added new "Traits + Gear" display in Crew Details to show summary of all effects
- Bodyguards recruited from Zenrin spice hall or Contacts will have best Attributes
- Wing Leaders recruited from Alta Mesa spice hall or Contacts will have best Attributes
- Added faction affinity (such as Shock Trooper + Cadar) to list of faction special rules in New Game
- Rebalanced the economics and trade for "Terraforming Components" making them more profitable
- Increased galactic production of "Spice Extractors" in Industrial and Orbital Zones
- Increased Influence Base and Growth Rates for: Fleet Commander, Emissary and High Prince
- Increased Hull Points for Boarding Shuttle Small Craft at Level 5 and above
- Fixed issue where buying a rank temporarily allows you to use landed services with large negative Rep
- Fixed issue with Shock Trooper "To the Front" moving the Shock Trooper and not the buff target
- Fixed issues with low stats on level 10 weapons -- Paratitan HG, Otrike Domer, Solar Dragoon
- Fixed incorrect Talent detail in side panel for Retaliation, which uses Bracing Shot in its counter-attack if available
- Fixed issue with Thulun start on Map V2 default that could lead to an 11 jump Arbiter Escort mission

Update #259 follows up on the major new addition of the Shock Trooper job -- a frontline warrior with the sustaining power to hold slot 1 or 2 without a blade -- and adds new weapons, new gear, rebalances snubbers to further separate them from assault rifles, improves a merchant Talent and more! If you're new to the game, expect a lot of new updates with free, awesome content and be sure to leave a review and tell a friend.

[h2]For a different flavor of Trese Brothers sci-fi, check out Cyber Knights![/h2]
Our next game, Cyber Knights: Flashpoint is under development. Set in a different universe than Star Traders, we think much of what you all love about STF (a lore-rich world, many ways to play, strong independent spirit, lots of RPG depth) is shared within. Learn more about the Cyber Knights setting on its Steam page, or check out this video showing a ton of art and discussing the game design.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1021210/Cyber_Knights_Flashpoint/


[h2]Snubber Rebalance[/h2]
With Update #259, we've taken a chance to push Snubbers into an even more unique class of weapon by transforming some of their Accuracy bonuses into Parry bonuses. While they can't compete with carrying a melee weapon (as you have no Blades Skill) this bonus makes any buff to Melee Defense more noticeable and some of the high level Snubbers are bringing pretty significant Parry stacks.

[h2]Level 10 Relic Weapons[/h2]
We've added 7 new ultra rare level 10 Relic Weapons as possible results of Salvage -- the Slazah Falchion, Ki-Karat Sah, Paratitan HG, Retaliation Roar, Otrike Domer, Solar Dragoon and mighty AX2 Advadnium. This will be the last weapon add to Salvage as the story rewards will stand unique at Level 11. They each have their own special twist and will be of interest to specific combat builds but worth the risk in hunting.

[h2]Contacts Selling Level 5 Gear[/h2]
Contacts who sell Military and Specialist gear have gained 2 new options each with level 5 gears that are a mix of powerful offensive, defense and Attribute boosters. For those looking for a reliable pick up in ability to handle crew combat, check these out.


[h2]Shock Trooper Clean Up[/h2]
We've fixed the majority of reported Shock Trooper issues with Update #259, and what is left is small textual issues in certain Talent detail panels. We've resolved the issue with Deepstrike Grenade always immediately putting your Shock Trooper to penalty -- it was costing 196 Initiative!

We've also fixed the issue with some of the Shock Trooper's buffs and attacks adding to Melee Accuracy or Melee Damage -- these obviously were ranged.

For clarity, we're renamed the buffs that were Parry and Dodge to Melee Defense and Ranged Defense (thanks @jamesthesecond!) as these effect all dice in those pools, not only your weapon's Parry dice (etc).

[h2]And More[/h2]
Finally, we've improved the power and way that the dice roll out for Merchant's Talent "Garner Favor" which will help it have more impressive results.

[h2]v3.1.45 - Update #259: Retaliate![/h2]
- Added 7 new ultra rare level 10 Relic Weapons (Slazah Falchion, Ki-Karat Sah, Paratitan HG, Retaliation Roar, Otrike Domer, Solar Dragoon, AX2 Advadnium)
- Added 4 new level 5 Gear for sale (2 Mil, 2 Specialist) -- defensive, offensive, Attribute boosters
- Rebalanced all Snubbers to trade small percentage of weapon Accuracy for some weapon Parry
- Improved application of Negotiate Skill in Merchant's Talent "Garner Favor" to give more even better Rep bonuses
- Renamed buff bonus "Parry" to "Melee Defense" and "Dodge" to "Ranged Defense" for clarity
- Fixed bug with Shock Trooper Talents buffing Melee Accuracy instead of ranged
- Fixed issue with Deepstrike Grenade costing 196 Initiaive to use (auto Penalty)

Update #258 launches with all new frontline snubber-focused Shock Trooper combat job, all new Bleeding rules and Pinning resistance that shake up crew combat meta, powerful new boarding Talent, new recruit options for Princes and Merchants and more. Step on to the bridge captain, the void waits for no ship. To celebrate this major update and new Job, we're kicking off a weeklong 40% sale. Send shrapnel, shells and spice!



Speaking of new, new new -- if word hasn't trickled down from the tippity top of the New Boston spires, leaked below the streets and drip-drip-dripped into your safehouse, we're here to tell you about our upcoming turn-based cyberpunk heist RPG. Cyber Knights: Flashpoint will be coming to Steam in 2021 and mixes stealth, hacking and tactical combat with deep RPG elements and a unique heist system for missions. The wishlist button is calling your name, Knight.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1021210?snr=1_2108_9__2107


[h2]Shock Trooper -- to the Front![/h2]
For too long, the bladesman has held sway over the front ranks of battle. At last, a complementary Job has arrived to prop up Soldier's frontline Talents and shake up the close-quarters combat on ship, salvage yard and open field. The Shock Trooper is a deadly close-quarters combat specialist, trained in the martial arts of deadly face-to-face firefights. These battle-hardened warriors charge forward, and can be found in the front lines of conflicts across the galaxy.

The Shock Trooper unleashes 15 new Talents focused on joining the battle in the front 2 slots of crew combat and bringing enough sustaining power to survive it. Their unique buffing attack "Bracing Fire" allows them to resist being Pinned and resist all forced movement (your own team can still move you) -- helping them stay right where they want to be, in the enemies face. A Shock Trooper's firepower is legendary, and "Retaliation" creates the first and only ranged-fire counterattack Talent, allowing them to blast back if attacked from the enemy front 2. Like Swordsman, the Shock Trooper will return fire with a different Talent if available -- where Swordsman uses Balanced Blade, Shock Trooper will counter with Bracing Fire. The Shock Trooper's "Deepstrike Grenade" also pairs with the Soldier's "Concussion Grenade" to allow targeting the enemy's front or back ranks with a stunning grenade (both Talents now have 14 Initiative cost). In many ways, the Shock Trooper synergizes with the Soldier's Talent list

Their non-crew combat Talents include a Command Save, a ship combat +Boarding Buff and a powerful "finish them" style Boarding Talent. "Hota-Cored Shells" destroy up to 3 components with at least 40% but less than 60% (damaged but not yet out) guaranteeing that they are at least 60% damage or higher. If properly timed and planned, this Talent has the potential to land a knock out punch to an enemy ship, in the absolute best scenarios on the first boarding hit!

[h2]Bleeding Out[/h2]
Some exciting new meta has dripped and splattered into the Bleeding rules for crew combat. Bleeding has taken a new pace and now Bleeding Damage is rolled every time a character gets a chance to act. Naturally, we've rebalanced all of the Bleeding and Bleed Res damages but this does mean that heavier, chunkier use of Initiative will cost (Snipers) you less Hit Points to Bleeding. When thinking about who to slice up and Bleed, those characters who are high Initiative and use low Initiative attacks (Pistoleers) are your most effective targets. The new rules helps Bio-Poison stand on its own as the damage-over-time that runs once a turn where Bleeding runs every action (even if you are Stunned or Morale Break).

And the Shock Trooper brings some exciting new capabilities in this area! To battle!


[h2]Contact Adjustments[/h2]
With Update #258, we've pushed more recruit options into some of the most commonly available Contacts -- Princes and Merchants. Princes -- with their connection to their own military elite -- offer to recruit Shock Troopers and Merchants -- with their far-flung network of trade -- offer to recruit Hyperwarp Navigators.


[h2]Mission Highlight and Pending Count[/h2]
To ensure you spot the change, we've added a new highlight for whenever a Contact adds a story Mission to your offered list. At the end of the conversation, a highlight will play over the Mission option, reminding you that while the Contact told you about the Mission in story dialog, you do need to check it out, review its specifics and make an informed decision as to whether or not you'll accept.



We've also fixed a few bugs with Mission Offered count getting behind and showing too few or too many missions until you opened the subscreen, especially in the case of Missions expiring.

[h2]v3.1.43 - Shock Trooper[/h2]
- New Bleeding rules -- Bleeding damage is applied every time you act, all Bleeding and Bleed Res rebalanced
- New Job "Shock Trooper" leads with a snubber and a rack of grenades from the frontline with Rifles, Evasion, Command Skills
- Shock Troopers recruited from Cadar spice hall or Contacts will have best Attributes
- 15 new Talents for Shock troopers including multiple unique Talent types, uses and combat combos
- Shock Trooper "Braced Fire" resists forced movement and Pinning
- Shock Trooper "Retaliation" allows for ranged fire counterattacks
- Shock Trooper "Hota-Cored Shells" boarding victory Talent knocks out already damaged components
- Contact types Prince and Retired Bodyguard (new) offer Shock Troopers as recruits
- Merchant Contacts now offer Hyperwarp Navigator recruits always
- During Mercenaries Rumors, Shock Troopers and Bodyguards can be recruited in the Spice Hall
- New Contact Trait "Military Leverage" increases costs, always willing to buy Intel, recruits Shock Troopers
- Initiative on Soldier's Concussion Grenade Talent reduced to 14
- New mission highlighter shown in Contact screen if the mission count changes (due to story, etc)
- Fixed bug where crew combatants could end up smaller if they had custom outfit (legs/upper/gloves)
- Fixed all issues with incorrect number of pending missions listed when talking to contact
- Corrected Talent icon for Wing Bomber "Ruthless Destruction" to be red

Update #257 rolls out with a set of revamps to how Legendary Bounty Hunter stories are pulled into the game, adds new Contact simulation actions and fixes some outstanding issues with Conflict selection when generating Intel that were blocking the upcoming Conflict Missions. We've also continued to work on the platform updates and revisions for Mac and Linux that kicked off in Update #256.

If you like the pace of new updates, please consider leaving a review and telling a friend!

Speaking of new, new new -- if word hasn't trickled down from the tippity top of the New Boston spires, leaked below the streets and drip-drip-dripped into your safehouse, we're here to tell you about our upcoming turn-based cyberpunk heist RPG. Cyber Knights: Flashpoint will be coming to Steam in 2021 and mixes stealth, hacking and tactical combat with deep RPG elements and a unique heist system for missions. The wishlist button is calling your name, Knight.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1021210?snr=1_2108_9__2107


[h2]Legendary Bounty Hunters[/h2]
The four legendary bounty hunters -- Troy 'The Blade' Circin, April 'The Werewolf' Flowder, Draiv Solregard and Urraca Aurelius -- have long haunted the nightmares of captains and at times, come for them from the dark of the void, carrying a death warrant and a blade. Sometimes a assault rifle. Sometimes a torp. Whatever. If one of your enemies pays them well enough, they will come for your life. But, we often receive the feedback that a veteran player believes they have created the conditions that should cause one of the infamous hunters to appear but they do not. With this update, we've completely rewritten how the Bounty Hunters are deployed by Contacts to make it far less questionable whether or not they are going to appear. They are proc'd much more readily now, more like the vignettes.

If you make a powerful enemy, they will not hesitate to pay these hunters to do what they do best.

[h2]Spicy Contacts[/h2]
We've improved the matrix of actions that a Contact Trait can cause for a Contact again with this release, working to link more Rumors to more Traits. As an example, this release we've added the link that those Contacts who are Spice Addicted are more likely to take action that will start Spice Festivals on their zones. As more and more Rumors and Traits get added, we're always working to improve this motivation matrix.


[h2]Conflict Selection in Orbital Ops and Talents[/h2]
As we march toward Conflict Missions, we're continuing to grind down on any little rough edges, balance imperfections and bugs around Conflicts. With this update, we've fixed an issue related to how Conflicts were selected for those that would be targeted by Orbital Ops and any Talent that generated Conflict-related intel. The selection rules specifically used to select the oldest standing Conflict. This meant when playing an Orbital Ops like Spying you could only affect one Conflict and only gain Intel related to one Conflict. For Intel gathering Missions, this is a major problem and it would have been even worse for Conflict Missions. We've resolved this in many places -- from Orbital Ops to Unauthorized Access boarding Talent -- so that the targeted Conflict is taken from a list of possible Conflicts with a slight weighting applied by age.


[h2]Flight Plan Maxing[/h2]
For a long time now, if you trained enough flight plan Talents and used the right screen resolution, you could end up with them going off the top of the screen. This was kicked up a notch by adding Saboteur and players combining Saboteur and Wing Commando. We're now resolved this with a refresh to the interface that shows the Talent Icons in a neat little grid (less mouse movement, yah!) with hovers for their full details.

[h2]v3.1.41 - Update #257: The Infamous Hunt[/h2]
- Rebalanced rules for Legendary Bounty Hunters -- they will appear far more readily now
- Contacts with Traits like Spice Addict (and others) are more likely to start Spice Festival Rumors on their own zone
- Improved balance of Contact-created Rumors to run longer and be more useful to captains
- Rebalanced Orbital Conflict selection and Intel Talents that target a Conflict to stop using "oldest" Conflict only
- Fixed issue with too many Flight Plans going off screen
- Fixed issue with selling generic Intel to Contact raising wrong Conflict Score

Update #256 is an unexpected detour into an important system within the game. With a very timely and well-put post, @davea pointed out an area where we could massively improve the experience for new and veteran players through making the game's auto-trainer for Talents smarter. We took a quick break from our progression on Conflicts toward Conflict Score missions to improve the auto-trainer for the good of every captain across the expanse.

As always, a huge thanks to everyone posting feedback and helping us share the game through reviews.

[h2]Mac Big Sur and Linux Support Improvements[/h2]
This update also includes major upgrades to our SDKs, Steam libraries and other parts of the internal system to improve support for the latest versions of Mac OS and Linux distros -- such as Big Sur.

[h2]What’s the latest on Cyber Knights?[/h2]
Development on our next game, Cyber Knights: Flashpoint, proceeds apace. We’re currently working toward the private alpha test for Kickstarter backers, following the same process we used for Star Traders: Frontiers. But you can view the latest updates on the CKF Steam page (make sure you’ve wishlisted and followed!), or join us for behind-the-scenes discussion and development snapshots in our Discord.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1021210/Cyber_Knights_Flashpoint/

^ Experience E in the Frontier Liner
[h2]New Game and Auto-Train Talents[/h2]
Talent training has come up on the Steam forums in many ways over the years, with many players needing to receive the advice from the veteran captain community to train up on Skill Saving Talents. But, the credit is owed to @davea for asking just the right question to set off this chain of work and key improvements to the game that every new captain will feel.

The auto-trainer for bot the new game and the button in the crew manifest have had their priorities reworked significantly. The changes are all about acquiring up to a threshold of Skill Saving Talents before any other Talents are considered. if possible, the 3 or more are acquired in every core ship Skill and at least 1 is acquired in social skills.



This leads to dramatically better starts on every difficulty. In my last test on Normal, my captain who started in a Frontier Liner with E experience escorted the Arbiter, then took the mission to Faen court and to the Highwind wreckage and returned to Calagan Faen with only 2 traveling skill failures without having to do any manual Talent training.

^ Smuggler Template ^ Explorer Template ^ Pirate Template ^ Bounty Hunter Template

[h2]Job Skill Priority[/h2]
When reviewing different Jobs, you can now see the true list of primary, secondary and lower Skills. At early levels, this can sometimes be misleading, where Spy starts with +2 Stealth and +1 Electronics but eventually ends up with higher Electronics than Stealth as the Job progresses. For Jobs like Saboteur this can also be helpful as you don't see that you will train in Pilot Skill at all in the first level.

To help reinforce this priority, the Job skill bonuses are now ordered by primary, second, etc -- so Spy reads +1 Electronics, +2 Stealth, +1 Pistol in order of primary, second, tertiary skills.



[h2]And More[/h2]
Along with the work on the Auto-Trainer we also hammered out some other fixes from the Steam boards. We fixed an issue where the Templar Militant wasn't offering his unique brand of Trait Reconditioning but instead offering Chaesin's list. We also fixed some issues with ship component types disappearing during starport shopping and Talent descriptions and icons after use.

[h2]v3.1.39 - 3/8/2021[/h2]
- Major improvements to new game Talent training logic to better prioritize Skill Saving Talents
- Improved crew list Auto-Train to better prioritize Skill Saving Talents
- Job Listing now includes Primary, Secondary (etc) skills in order for each job
- Specific bonuses for a job level are now ordered by this primary, secondary ordering
- Linux and Mac Big Sur platform support improvements
- Fixed issue with Templar Militant Trait Reconditioning not matching advertised list
- Fixed issue with Wing Leader and Saboteur Talent descriptions
- Fixed issue with preview of new ship Component List being empty, launch capability being incorrectly listed
- Fixed issue with "Offensive" ship component subcategory sometimes disappearing