Combat and Strike overhaul, and many QoL improvements

Patch 0.8900 Notes:

Strike 3.0: Complete overhaul of Strike.
For my third major iteration of the Strike/Weapon system, these are the major changes:

1. Strike now uses a "combo" system. Every weapon type has their own unique attack pattern consisting of 3 or 4 animations. Moving or casting other abilities instantly cancels the combo. The final attack of each combo has increased damage and applies an Element (based on your weapon).
2. Auto-attacking has been removed. Pressing strike will just immediately start the attack animation in place, instead of trying to run up to the enemy. Projectiles now don't automatically follow their target but rather just fly straight at the desired direction. This removed any sense of janky/unresponsiveness related to targeting/range issues. It will also make implementing controller/steamdeck much easier.
3. Reworked the augments that no longer made sense with the new system. Like "Opportunist" now makes it so your next Strike skips straight to the final combo attack. And Heavy Blows is now Invigorating Strike which makes it so after landing your final combo attack, your next ability has significantly increased effectiveness.
4. Motion has been re-implemented into animations. This is pretty rare for top-down arpg, Path of Exile 2 is the only one I've seen mention implementing it. In Strike 2.0 I removed all motion from animations to help with multiplayer desyncing, and because it could often result in janky feeling combat in various situations. However when it worked, I think it really elevated the gameplay feel. So this time, I've solved the multiplayer issues and most importantly, I've implemented some algorithms to make sure the motion disables itself in relevant situations, mostly regarding standing very close to an enemy(s). Previously your character could sort of slide by or push them, resulting in floaty combat. But now it will check for those situations and act accordingly.

Other Combat changes:

• Lots of abilities/augments have had their animations changed/improved.
• Reworked a lot of Vfx. removed some of the more janky/cartoony placeholder vfx. Added Distortion (the air distorting effect you see on a hot day on the road) to many effects which really helped sell their powerlessness.

Systems:

1. Added a built-in dash\dodge ability that every character starts with. This is a feature that I've gone back and forth on many times throughout development. I've tested many iterations over the years and it may continue to evolve, but I think it's time to get a version out to the public. One thing I think will set my version apart from other games is that it's open to augmentation via the normal systems. For example if you have the Major Trait, "Apparition" (stuns all enemies you dash through), that will now apply to this built-in dodge as well, etc.
2. You can now freely remove and replace augments in your ability and trait slots - the Augment Remover item is no longer needed. While it does remove a bit of the meaningfulness of choices, it also makes leveling up smoother and allows for easier experimentation of all the millions of possible combinations. You can exchange your Augment Remover items at the Trader in the Hub for other crafting items.

Quality of Life

• Added lots of Gameplay options in the Settings menu to better tailor your experience. Like disabling screen-shake, the click-to-move mouse indicator, blood fx, etc. Please let me know if there are additional aspects you'd like to have control over.

Graphics/Visuals

1. Fixed most of the LOD popping issues (when objects like trees suddenly pop into place as you run by) that was created after I implemented some performance improvements a few patches back.
2. Fixed that pesky jitter bug, where the player would jitter while running on certain PCs due to a refresh rate / fps issue. (At least on my test rigs, please let me know if you still experience this).
3. Cleaned up the Graphics settings, removed some nonsensical options, reorganized it better. I still need to expose more options to better tailor the graphics to your preferences. I've run into a few snags when trying to do so I need a bit more time to work out the best solution.
4. I upgraded the game engine to the next major version. This provided some new tools and features that I desired, but also came with its own new set of bugs. For example, if an item drops in a stream/river the text UI hovering above it that says its name now appears as if it's underwater. It looks pretty cool, but for clarity I need to sort that out. Also, choosing your character on the Title screen often has a lag spike. I found the root of the issue but it will take some time to adjust my load systems.

Notice:
Like previous large updates, this update will be an ongoing process over the next few weeks working out the kinks and bugs. I anticipate adding small patches every other day or so as feedback rolls in. Please feel free to let me know what you love and what could use improvement. Pop into our Discord or here on the Steam forums. Thank you!