Open Development Week #104: New Skills & Combat 2.0

Hey Hunters,

Hope you're having an excellent week!

After a long period without playable updates, we're glad to share with you the first glimpse of our massive Combat 2.0 update! If you missed the original post explaining what Combat 2.0 is, you can check it out right here on this link.

Combo System

New to the Combat 2.0 update is the Combo System promised way back during the Kickstarter campaign! Depending on your Hunter's Role, they will be able to either Prime enemies for Combos and Detonate the Primers that other Hunters have set up.

This feature was originally inspired by Mass Effect 3's multiplayer, but since we announced it in 2017 it has been included in the ill-fated Anthem. What we have learned with their implementation is that the Combo system should be a collaborative-only feature: you should not be able to set it up and trigger it yourself. So here's our design ethos behind it:

• Only Tank and Support characters can set up Combo Primers;
  
• Only Damage and Trickster characters can trigger Combo Detonators;
  
• Combo damage is very high and should compensate for extra enemy health when playing with multiple people;
  
• Combos will be clearly communicated through unique interface icons to make it easier to use them even with a group of strangers and no in-game communication;
  

We hope you like the current iteration of the system and look forward to hearing your feedback on it!

Hunter Skills: Pinkyy

Pinkyy is our aggressive Tank character, and her skills help her and her teammates survive while rewarding her for staying on top of enemies and in the thick of the fights.

Passive Skill: Iron Will

When Pinkyy has no Armor points left, her damage is increased by 30%.

Mobility Skill: Leap (Combo Primer)

Pinkyy's Leap

Pinkyy jumps high and far, landing and interrupting enemies around her. Every enemy hit is Primed for a Combo for 5 seconds.

Utility Skill: Barrier

Pinkyy's Barrier

Pinkyy puts down a Barrier which blocks enemy projectiles but allows her team to shoot through it.

Charge Skill: Iron Rush

Pinkyy's Iron Rush

A powerful dash attack that hits multiple enemies. Pinkyy can hold down the Charge button to empower Iron Rush, and while she is charging the skill, she gains Damage Reduction. There are 3 charge levels, with increasing damage. The final charge level also creates an explosion when the Rush ends.

Melee Skill: Titan Punch

Pinkyy's Titan Punch

Finally, Pinkyy can quickly summon her Titan gloves to punch nearby enemies, dealing considerable damage and restoring Armor points in the process!



Jimmy is our damage dealer, with unparalleled damage-per-second on single targets. He excels at gunplay and rewards careful and precise aiming.

Passive Skill: Bullseye

Whenever Jimmy hits an enemy with a Precision hit, he gains a stack of Bullseye. He can have up to 5 stacks, and each provides him with increased Precision damage for a few seconds.

To hit a Precision hit, you need to hit enemies dead center. Your laser sight will turn white to indicate you are aiming at the Precision spot, and the damage numbers of Precision hits are yellow instead of white.

Mobility Skill: Dash

Jimmy's Dash

Jimmy dashes, defying gravity for a brief moment. After the Dash, he gains an increased chance to Dodge attacks for a few seconds.

Utility Skill: Web Shot

Jimmy's Web Shot

After using this skill, Jimmy's next shot will inflict the enemy with a crippling Web. Enemies under the effect of the web are slowed, and take more damage from all attacks!

Charge Skill: Impact Grenade (Combo Detonator)

Jimmy's Impact Grenade

Jimmy's Charge skill is a grenade that deals heavy damage to all enemies in an area. Hold down the Charge button to increase the radius and damage of the blast (up to 3 Charge levels). If this Skill hits any enemy that is currently marked with a Combo Primer, it will Detonate, dealing extra damage in an area.

Melee Skill: Shield Drain

Jimmy's Shield Drain

Jimmy uses a special gadget installed on his shoes to deal Magnetic damage to enemies and at the same time recover his own Shields!



Raff is our Support character. She is pretty good solo, but shines when playing in a party, healing allies, increasing their damage and move speed with the power of her songs.

Passive Skill: Shifting Moods

Raff's mood in constantly changing - every 7 seconds, to be exact. When she is on her Good Vibes, her healing skills are amplified, while her Bad Vibes enhance her damage-dealing skills.

Mobility Skill: Up The Tempo

Raff's Up The Tempo

Raff increases the tempo of her beat, boosting the movement speed of herself and all nearby allies.

Utility Skill: Soundscape

Raff's Battle Song active

Raff always has one of her music auras active: either Soothing Song, which heal herself and nearby allies over time, or Battle Song, which increases weapon damage for her and everyone nearby. Activating the "Soundscape" skill changes which song is active. If you switch to Soothing Song during Good Vibes, you send out a healing pulse, while switching to Battle Song during Bad Vibes will create a damage pulse instead!

Charge Skill: Keytar Blast (Combo Primer)

Raff's Keytar Blast healing allies

Raff can Charge up a blast from her Keytar which heals allies and damages enemies. There are 3 Charge levels with increasing amounts of healing/damage. Any enemy hit by this skill will get a Combo Primer for 5 seconds.

Melee Skill: Wrench Raff's Wrench

Of course, Raff is still an engineer - which means she fixes problems using a wrench. A really big wrench. The Wrench deals damage to enemies in an area, but can also be used to recover Armor and Shields of allies in range!



Our favorite space donkey Ace is our Trickster character, combining great mobility, crowd control and single-target damage, with a bit of support thrown in for good measure! Ace's kit has been completely redone as a rogue-ish jack-of-all-trades, and we hope you have a lot of fun with him!

Passive Skill: Donkey From Above

Anytime when using Focus Aim (right mouse button / left trigger) in mid-air, Ace will hover with his jetpack, triggering this Passive skill. Hovering in the air is not only super cool, it also gives him bonus Critical Hit Chance and Critical Hit Damage to boot, so stay in the air as often as you can!

Mobility Skill: Jetpack

Ace's Jetpack

Ace's Jetpack throws him quickly into the air - it's very handy for escaping attacks, quickly being able to trigger Donkey From Above or just navigating terrain. Any enemies caught around Ace when he takes off will also take Fire damage and suffer from a Burn Condition for a few seconds.

Utility Skill: Improvised Plan

Ace can use his Improvised Plan skill to recover a big chunk of Skill cooldown for himself and all allies around him! When playing solo this can drastically reduce the cooldown of Holo-Sandwich and/or allow for a fast combo of multiple Jetpack and Rocket-fist maneuvers. But it really shines in party play: with good planning your party can chain together a bunch of skills at the same time!

Charge Skill: Holo-Sandwich

Ace's Holo-Sandwich

Ace's holographic projector has been calibrated for crowd control: he can charge and throw a fake Sandwich across the battlefield, luring nearby enemies and confusing them when they try to eat it. Charging the Sandwich for longer increases its duration, providing you with ample time to run away - or hit your enemies in the back!

Melee Skill: Rocket Fist

Ace's Rocket Fist

Well, Ace's plan was to do a cool rocket punch, but it ends up being a clumsy head-butt instead! This skill was reworked to deal single-target damage instead of AoE, but now launches you into the air after you hit an enemy. You can use this to trigger Donkey From Above and finish them off, or just as a free escape tool to do a hit-and-run tactic!



If you have access to the PTR, we have just uploaded a first taste of the Combat 2.0 on the PTR.

We want your feedback on some of these changes and the direction we're headed.

Here are the major changes on this patch:

• All-new Skills and Combo system (however, there is NO feedback on the interface for Combos right now)
  
• Regular and Elite enemies' effective Life increased by 400%
  
• Champion enemies' effective Life increased by 200%
  
• Relative Skill damage increased by 200%
  
• Non-Mobility Skill Cooldowns drastically increased
  
• Potion Cooldowns drastically increased
  
• Enemy Mortar skills deal a little less damage, are much faster
  
• Weapons are much less accurate when you are not using Focus Aim (laser sights)
  
• Enemies change positions less often, and have a "tell" before their attacks
  
• All-new enemy attack patterns: no homing projectiles, easier to dodge, higher damage
  
• New attack patterns for Regular enemies and the Ducan Demolisher
  
• New spawn system that allows us for better control of the encounter size and enemy types
  
• The time before you can self-revive in co-op matches has been drastically increased
  
• Multiplayer enemy scaling has been tweaked up a little bit (enemies have more life and damage proportional to how many players are in the match)
  
• Enemies now have collision and you can no longer walk through them (they also cannot walk through each other)
  

Here is how to play it:

(FIRST: RECOMMENDED) By accessing the PTR, your save files will be lost. Please back up your files first by navigating to "C:\Users\YOUR_USER_NAME\AppData\LocalLow\Rogue Snail\Relic Hunters Legend" and making a copy of all the files within.

• Go to your Steam Library
  
• Right-click on the game and select "Properties"
  
• Navigate to the "BETAS" tab
  
• Select "public-test-realm (PTR)" from the drop-down menu
  
• Click on "CLOSE" and wait for the update to download
  

If you have any questions come to our Discord channel, we can help you out.



We also have a confirmed release date for the full Combat 2.0 update, with new mechanics, new enemies and gameplay: December 23rd!

Looking forward to deliver this Christmas gift for you!

I (Mark) will be with you on the Livestream this Friday at our usual time to show the new Combat 2.0 and discuss the upcoming changes with you.

Our Twitch channel: http://twitch.tv/playrelichunters

That's all for today! See you on Friday!

Cheers,

~Mark