Jupiter Hell Classic 0.9 "Melee" brings improvements to melee gameplay, including new traits (and Masters) and improved FX, other trait improvements, Relics equipment slot, UI/UX improvements toximedas and a brand new special level with a classic Jupiter Hell boss!
Without further ado, lets dive into the sectioned patch notes!
== Melee rework ==
GHJ#254 -- Visual - added melee attack FX animations
GHJ#037 -- Game - Shattered Abyss added!
GHJ#255 -- Game - new Tech melee master Killing Flow (auto melee attack after move)
GHJ#255 -- Game - Assassinate trait added for Scouts! (replaces Blademaster)
GHJ#255 -- Game - Blademaster reworked into a Advanced trait replacing Berserker for Scouts
GHJ#255 -- Game - Executioner trait added for Scouts (replaces Ironman)
GHJ#255 -- Game - Stealth grants +50% melee resistance and +30 move speed
GHJ#255 -- Game - Brute is more frontloaded
GHJ#255 -- Game - Tech Bladedancer renamed to Butcher and made an advanced trait
We wanted to make sure that each of the current classes has its melee identity. The current Berserker approach suits Marine well, so it was a question how to make Scouts and Techs work without Berseker.
Scout is intended to lean onto Stealth and Executioner trait, Blademaster has been reworked into a Advanced that to replace Berserker, while a new Master trait, Assassinate has taken its place. JH veterans will know what to expect, but others are in for a treat :)
Tech also gets its old Master trait (Bladedancer) as a regular advanced trait (renamed Butcher), and instead gets Killing Flow as their new Master trait - think Gun Kata but for melee!
Several changes in this patch have also been made to make early game melee more forgiving, although it will always be tough - you're not expected to start with Melee apart from AoBerserk challenges.
To test your newfound melee prowess, you can also check out the new Shattered Abyss level, the JH version of Unholy Cathedral!
== Other traits ==
GHJ#281 -- Game - Stealth change - by default, only melee, pistols and semi-autos get the damage bonus but +100%
GHJ#281 -- Game - Ghost - at level 1, all weapons get the stealth damage bonus
GHJ#281 -- Game - Ghost - level 2 also adds +1 stealth attack, so level 3 is +3
GHJ#282 -- Game - Sharpshooter trait now works with semi-autos
It was a good moment to do a few minor changes to other traits, and take a look at Stealth. Apart from getting melee resistance and move speed as mentioned in the previous section, the Stealth damage bonus is now restricted to melee, pistols and semi-autos, but increased to +100%. The old behavior is still available as the Ghost trait, which also got a few buffs.
== Relics and other items ==
GHJ#279 -- Game - relics show up in equipment screen and can be dropped (destroyed) at will!
GHJ#279 -- Game - relics generated in Anomaly and Cathedral levels wont have duplicates
GHJ#280 -- Game - Grenade buffs - innate +3 acc (helps "lobbing over") and halved self-damage
GHJ#280 -- Game - Grenade buffs - increased dammage of all grenades apart from plasma
GHJ#227 -- Game - shotgun falloff is counted from range 1 (full damage), not from player position
GHJ#282 -- Game - buffed damage of .44 weaponry
GHJ#282 -- Game - hunter, sniper and toxin rifle have improved aimed shot
GHJ#275 -- Game - increased drop rate of all mods by +50%
Relics are now an equipment item, but behave the same as before - with the slight difference that you can now drop them to get rid of them permanently. Grenades got significant buffs, shotgun damage falloff is now counter from square 1, and .44 weapons and semi-autos got damage buffs. Mod drop rates have been significantly buffed too, so making stuff you want is now easier.
== UI and UX ==
GHJ#276 -- UI - Character screen reformated and showing more data
GHJ#230 -- UI - enemy HUD view includes affecting perks
GHJ#234 -- Game - better tile pick when dropping items (player and from chest)
GHD#337 -- UI - Windows - disabled StickyKeys, ToggleKeys and FilterKeys on game start
GHJ#255 -- UI - fixed melee tohit value in Character screen
Apart from the relic improvements, the character screen has been reformatted to show more data, and the enemy HUD now shows perks that are affecting them. Item drop placement should be a bit smarter too.
== Enemies ==
GHJ#229 -- Game - toxic medusa and medusaling added
GHJ#255 -- Game - medusas and medusalings now have a slither perk reducing tohit chance when moving
GHJ#229 -- Game - medusalings and *medalings lose their bullet/shrapnel resistance
GHJ#229 -- Game - less glacimedas in deep freeze
Oh did I mention we have toximedas now? Hell yes :P. Also the various medusa variants are now more dangerous having a special perk that reduces tohit chance when they move. To offset that the lings lost their bullet/shrapnel resistance and there are less glacimedas in Deep Freeze.
== Flood events ==
GHJ#229 -- Game - blood flood event added
GHJ#229 -- Game - flood levers offer counterplay - fluid spread is gradual (speed is difficulty dependent)
Full-level flood events will offer counterplay now, as the fluid will spread gradually, giving you a chance to run. A new blood flood event has also been added.
== Bug fixes ==
GHJ#255 -- Game - armor resistances will now properly reduce negative status effect durations
GHJ#255 -- Game - fixed environmental boots assembly
GHJ#255 -- Game - fixed internal tohit chances when targeting enemies behind enemies
A few bug fixes to round up the patch, including a fix to the armor resistances that should now properly reduce negative status effect durations, a fix to the environmental boots assembly and a fix to the internal tohit chances when targeting enemies behind enemies.
== Full Changelog ==
0.9
GHJ#254 -- Visual - added melee attack FX animations
GHJ#037 -- Game - Shattered Abyss added!
GHJ#255 -- Game - new Tech melee master Killing Flow (auto melee attack after move)
GHJ#255 -- Game - Assassinate trait added for Scouts! (replaces Blademaster)
GHJ#255 -- Game - Blademaster reworked into a Advanced trait replacing Berserker for Scouts
GHJ#255 -- Game - Executioner trait added for Scouts (replaces Ironman)
GHJ#279 -- Game - relics show up in equipment screen and can be dropped (destroyed) at will!
GHJ#229 -- Game - toxic medusa and medusaling added
GHJ#255 -- Game - medusas and medusalings now have a slither perk reducing tohit chance when moving
GHJ#229 -- Game - blood flood event added
GHJ#276 -- UI - Character screen reformated and showing more data
GHJ#230 -- UI - enemy HUD view includes affecting perks
GHJ#281 -- Game - Stealth change - by default, only melee, pistols and semi-autos get the damage bonus but +100%
GHJ#255 -- Game - Stealth grants +50% melee resistance and +30 move speed
GHJ#281 -- Game - Ghost - at level 1, all weapons get the stealth damage bonus
GHJ#281 -- Game - Ghost - level 2 also adds +1 stealth attack, so level 3 is +3
GHJ#255 -- Game - Brute is more frontloaded
GHJ#255 -- Game - Tech Bladedancer renamed to Butcher and made an advanced trait
GHJ#229 -- Game - medusalings and *medalings lose their bullet/shrapnel resistance
GHJ#229 -- Game - less glacimedas in deep freeze
GHJ#282 -- Game - buffed damage of .44 weaponry
GHJ#282 -- Game - hunter, sniper and toxin rifle have improved aimed shot
GHJ#282 -- Game - Sharpshooter trait now works with semi-autos
GHJ#227 -- Game - shotgun falloff is counted from range 1 (full damage), not from player position
GHJ#234 -- Game - better tile pick when dropping items (player and from chest)
GHJ#229 -- Game - flood levers offer counterplay - fluid spread is gradual (speed is difficulty dependent)
GHJ#280 -- Game - Grenade buffs - innate +3 acc (helps "lobbing over") and halved self-damage
GHJ#280 -- Game - Grenade buffs - increased dammage of all grenades apart from plasma
GHJ#275 -- Game - increased drop rate of all mods by +50%
GHJ#279 -- Game - relics generated in Anomaly and Cathedral levels wont have duplicates
GHD#337 -- UI - Windows - disabled StickyKeys, ToggleKeys and FilterKeys on game start
GHJ#255 -- UI - fixed melee tohit value in Character screen
GHJ#255 -- Game - armor resistances will now properly reduce negative status effect durations
GHJ#255 -- Game - fixed environmental boots assembly
GHJ#255 -- Game - fixed internal tohit chances when targeting enemies behind enemies
== What's next? ==
Next up on the calendar we have 0.10 "Heavy" which will bring a brand new class with its own traits! I did not expect the class to land in Classic first, but everything points to it landing in a month :). Apart from that there should be some more environment changes in the update so stay tuned for that!
Yours truly,
