Balance Patch #6 - Balance, Bug-fixes, Fast combat mode

Hey everyone, the weekly balance patch is back! (We said we would skip this week, but never mind, we have a cool new addition)

Fast Mode

The headline this week: we've added a fast mode option to the settings menu. Turning it on makes all combat actions play out twice as fast, so there's less waiting around for the graphics when you already know what's coming. Our analytics (and your reviews) have been telling us for a while that fights run longer than they should, and while we're improving that on the balance side, fast mode is just an immediate quality-of-life win while we get there.

Overheat timing change

One mechanics change worth explaining before the change log: Overheat damage now triggers before the card draw phase. In practice this matters for cards like Redline, which adds Heat at turn start, previously that Heat landed right before the Overheat damage check, so you could take damage without ever getting a chance to react. Now you'll always have a turn to dissipate Heat before it burns you.

Fun with analytics

Ok, we turned it into a real section!
This week i'd like you to take a look at the elite lethality chart, this should hopefully put this week's balance changes into perspective.
The elites are currently all over the place, ranging from almost 15% kill ratio (that's higher than any sector 1 and 2 boss), down to below 1%. Ideally we'd see elite lethality sit at around 7-9%, so there's plenty of work needed there as well.
Hopefully after we've shipped the commander update, we can focus on balance more

Change log:

Bug fixes

• Fixed an issue that made every neutral-faction elite fight in Sectors 2 and 3 be against a Solarii Elite. You should now see a proper variety of elites again.
• Fixed an issue where multiple Railgun cards were not applying their bonus equipment damage correctly.
• Fixed an issue where multiple Railgun cards were not being correctly buffed by damage multiplier effects like the one from Predictive Aim.
• Fixed an issue where Coil-gun cards could show a very high equipment damage bonus when playing Surge Spike.
• Fixed the damage display on Tracker+ to properly show the correct damage (9).
• The Interference card spawned by EM Round is now properly removed from the deck on play/discard.
• Fixed the upgraded Torch Beam's name to properly display as Torch Beam+.
• Fixed Light Barrage+ not properly displaying the Flak Shell+ card.
• Fixed an issue where the Combined Assault subsystem did not count Beam Laser attacks toward the +1 damage bonus.

Balance changes

• FR S01 Elite: Now plays 1 Flare every 2 turns. It previously played 1 Flare every turn, then reloaded for 1 turn after every 2 Flares.
• FR S02 Elite: Beam attack increased from 4 damage / 2 Ignite to 6 damage / 3 Ignite. Its Twin Barrel attack (2x 3 damage, 1 Shred) is replaced with a 6 damage / 4 Shred Flak barrage. Missile volley cycle reduced from 4 turns (3 attacking + 1 reloading) to 3 turns (2 attacking + 1 reloading).
• FR S03 Elite: Hacking system durability reduced from 20 to 16.
• SOL S03 Elite: Flak barrage reduced from 5 damage / 2 Shred to 4 damage / 2 Shred. Shield Generator durability reduced from 25 to 20.

Let us know how fast mode feels and which elites we should look at next.

See you in the next one! o7
The Breachway Team