Greetings, Commander!
New threats have been detected lurking among the stars—and we're equipping you with the latest laser technology to confront them! Your arsenal has been expanded with dozens of new augmentations and enhancements from R&D, focusing on better tuning of beam weaponry and dishing out status effects!
Before you begin searching for new mission objectives and enemy encounters, be sure to familiarize yourself with your ship's enhanced Star Map, designed to provide more deliberate choices, as well as the newly installed signature subsystems that each starcraft is now equipped with, further reinforcing each ship's playstyle and combat abilities.
Three new beam weapons have arrived, sporting superior accuracy and high-impact crowd control:
Pulse Laser: A high-fire-rate laser weapon with pinpoint accuracy.
Plasma Arc: Bounces between targets to inflict damage and apply status effects to clusters of enemies.
Phase Beam: A powerful, high-impact laser that penetrates all targets in its path at the cost of lengthy charge-time.
*Technical Note: While these new weapons are truly awe-inspiring, we strongly advise against staring directly into their apertures.
To support the new hardware, we've added 30+ new augments focused on improving and modifying your beam weapons, as well as expanding the role of status effects (Slow, Stun, Armor Breach, and Plasma) in your strategy!
Additionally, to further distinguish the individual roles of the fleet, each ship is now equipped with a Signature Subsystem. These are permanent fixtures that provide a unique augment that helps define each craft's identity and approach to combat:
Ironclad Core (Ironhide): Emergency Protocols - When below {1}% Health, triggers automatic repairs of {2}% Max health every second for {3}s. Cooldown 60s.
Nova Core (Nova Lance): Precision Overload - Critical hits apply Armor breach, increasing damage taken by 50%. When above {1}% Health, Critical Chance increased by {2}%.
Nemesis Core (Nemesis): Dreadnaught Protocol - On Kill, increase Global Damage by {1}. Resets on Warp. Reduce all incoming damage by {2}. Movement speed reduced by {3}. Every {4} weapon hits Stuns.
In response to your numerous (and highly destructive) campaigns into their territory, the rebels have deployed a new mechanical monstrosity: The Contaminator.
The Contaminator will now serve as your final challenge in each expedition in place of the Rebel Flagship. This new threat heavily utilizes radiation and deployables as a means of area control, and has a variety of new attacks:
Breach Reactor Core: Every 30s the Contaminator will spawn three Breached Reactor Cores. These cores spew Radiation Clouds that grow larger the longer they remain active. If destroyed, the lingering radiation will dissipate.
Radiation Thrower: The Contaminator launches several high-damage radiation clouds at its target.
Micro-Warp Drive: The Contaminator is fitted with a Micro-Warp drive. Initiating at 80% health, this is used to periodically teleport and pursue the player.
The Star Map has been rebuilt with a much more focused, branching structure, designed to give pilots greater agency over their route. Outposts (shops) are now guaranteed every three nodes and always appear directly before the boss, so you're never caught lacking supplies.
Additionally, we advise pilots to look out for high-value targets during their expeditions. Rebel convoys are to be eliminated before they can activate their warp drives and escape the sector, and priority targets carrying large amounts of credits and augments will be especially lucrative kills—if you can catch them. Be wary of the Rebel Armada, however. If you see rebel ships accumulating in the distance, brace yourself for a Mini-Boss Onslaught!
This is our biggest update to Starforged Legacy so far, and these highlights don't even cover all the visual improvements and combat adjustments in this patch. The best way to experience everything this update offers is by trying the demo...
... but a full list of additions, balance changes, and fixes can be found below!
In addition to this being our largest content update to date, it also serves as our final major preparation before Steam Next Fest. We're expecting a large influx of new recruits joining our ranks, so your feedback will be exceptionally valuable as we work to fix any bugs and make balance changes before Next Fest begins on February 23rd!
As always, the best way to give us your feedback is through our feedback survey (found here), in-game, or by chatting with us directly on our community Discord (link below)!
Receive incoming transmissions: news, announcements, devlogs, and deep-space disturbances, by following Second Shift Games on X (formerly Twitter), Bluesky, YouTube, Reddit, and TikTok, or by visiting our website: SecondShiftGames.com.
Join our community Discord to chat with the developers and fellow pilots, and give your feedback on the game!
Wishing you happy holidays, Commander.
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