Hey all!
Alex here with a quick update on what we’ve been working on.
The first major update for Stories from the Outbreak is approaching completion - we’re planning on releasing it in the second half of May. It will contain major improvements to some game systems, new content, and game-wide balance improvements.
Let’s start with the new character: Elīza. The twelfth survivor brings a solid addition to your team’s tactics, and her moveset is built around two things: inflicting poison and bypassing protection.
With her in the team, poison and bleed can be much more devastating, and enemies that rely on large amounts of protection become far less threatening. She synergises well with characters that inflict bleed/poison, as well as characters that can deal massive amounts of damage with a single hit.
New forces have joined the enemies as well. Parasites and Ghouls might not pack a hefty punch, but the status effects they inflict can mess up your strategy if you’re not careful. And, if that’s not enough, some say there’s another, particularly powerful enemy rarely encountered near the edges of Rīga - though you have to be quite unlucky to meet a King.
Perhaps the most exciting addition to the game’s content is found in trinkets. Not only are we adding 24 new trinkets to the game (all of which belong to the unlock system), we’re also making major improvements to how this system works.
So far, trinkets have had rarities assigned to them that determine how frequently they can be found. This has been improved to add visual flair to various trinket rarities, and now the player gets to choose between several options whenever they find a trinket.
To us, trinkets aren’t just neat rewards for the player to find - they’re unique prompts that set your runs apart and invite you to rethink the movesets of your characters. With the added layer of choice, the player has a much stronger sense of customisation and agency, and it’s far more common to discover unique builds and strategies in each run based on the trinkets you pick.
Trinkets aren’t the only system being reworked. If you’ve read the previous instalment of dev notes, you know that an important part of this update has been simplifying the ability unlock system. This part of the game has been kind of uninviting to new players, with the game clearly being at its best when all abilities are unlocked, and really difficult when a lack of unlocks prevents you from upgrading your abilities.
After the update, all 4th abilities will be permanently unlocked upon defeating the Houndwalker for the first time, and all 5th abilities will be permanently unlocked upon defeating the Legion for the first time. No more worrying about ability unlocks after that. The unlock system no longer contains permanent ability unlocks - those have been replaced with new trinkets to be found in runs.
Some other major changes are to be expected - protection will now cap at 100 (for players and enemies alike), enemies can only be delayed twice between their turns, the timeline previews when timed effects (e.g. bleed/poison) activate, the final boss will be polished, and countless enemies, characters and abilities have seen heavy reworking and rebalancing. We’re still working on a few more improvements we want to prepare before the update - basically, you can expect quite a few additions and fixes that I won’t list here.
We wanted to get this update prepared ASAP, but that means a few other systems will have to wait for future updates. Most importantly, the game will become more forgiving once this update rolls out. While some of the most easily abusable strategies will now be less effective, veteran players might still find the game too easy. We have a system in mind to prepare tough challenges for those who seek more content after completing the campaign, however, this system will have to wait for a future update. Planned updates for increased replayability - more boss fights, better narrative systems, better map randomization, and more - will also be left for the future.
For now - we hope you’ll enjoy this update and we’re looking forward to your feedback.
May your headshots never miss,
Alex and the rest of the Coldwild Games team