Hello Pioneers, Patch 7 is here and we've got some fantastic updates for you.
First, we've drastically increased the performance of the bank for players with large inventories. These optimizations have also reduced the frequency of game crashes, freezes, and inventory sync issues for the bank and bag. We've heard this as a huge point of frustration in the community and want to continue improving the general stability and player experience so that all of you can continue to enjoy Soulbound.
We've also made an update to crafting based on community feedback. Now when crafting, the gear results will roll random stats from the same pool as the dungeon drops! Higher tier crafting gives you a better chance at higher tier stat rolls, and you can look at the crafting tooltip see the stat ranges and rarities a craft can produce.
To complement this, we've also added equipment salvaging! Talk to Tammy in Arcadia to break down gear you don't need into raw materials. You'll need to pay her gold based on the rarity of the item, but this is a great way to make sure your old equipment can help you out one last time! Do keep in mind that the salvaged materials go directly to your inventory though, so make sure you've got space!
While we were looking at crafting, we also rebalanced all 40 Chemistry Lab consumables and reduced the health of the Cactaro King in Eastern Reach Abyssal to improve combat experience.
There's plenty of updates besides these, so take a look at the full list below:
Highlights
Crafted items now gain random additional extra effects. Weapons and armour crafted at the Gearforge Station and Weapon Station now roll a random rarity and stat line from the same pool as dungeon drops, and crafting odds favour the higher rarities from tier 3 upward. New crafting tooltips show you the stat ranges and rarities a craft can produce before you commit.
Equipment salvaging arrives. Break down gear you no longer need into crafting materials by speaking to Tammy in Arcadia, salvage prices scale with the tier of the item. She'll salvage all applicable items in your inventory, so make sure to bank your best items before speaking with her.
A large batch of Bank and Bag fixes. Bank is now faster, particularly when there are lots of items (specifically gear).
Improved the consistency of NPC interaction and quest start times.
We've reworked the tutorial and some quests for a smoother experience. There are also a number of new quests in Virelda aimed at improving the onboarding experience.
Balance & Design Changes
Crafting at the Gearforge Station and Weapon Station now rolls a random rarity and stat line for each item instead of always producing the same fixed result. This covers 103 recipes: all head, chest and feet armour and all weapons from tier 1 to tier 6. Crafted gear draws from the same variant pool as dungeon drops, so a craft can now roll better or worse than the old fixed item. At tiers 1 and 2 the crafting odds match dungeon drop odds. From tier 3 upward crafting is weighted toward Epic and Legendary results, and Uncommon results can no longer be crafted at tiers 5 and 6. Note that this doesn't affect items that have already been crafted prior to this patch. Accessories, belts and tools are unchanged.
Reduced the health of Cactaro King in the tier 6 Eastern Reach Abyssal dungeon to 55,000.
We've reworked the main story quest line and tutorial to make the experience smoother.
We've implemented a new quest that teleports you from Arcadia station to Virelda station more consistently.
Reviewed and rebalanced all 40 craftable Chemistry Lab consumables, including several that granted stats the game no longer used and so did nothing at all. Notable changes:
Titan's Elixir health reduced from 125 to 50.
Warlord's Elixir now provides raw damage instead of power. Previously it was useful only for some abilities, it now scales all damage by 10%.
Tier 6 elixirs now all total 20 damage power. Frost Elixir cold damage goes from 15 to 20. Eclipse Elixir fire and cold go from 15 each to 10 each. Phase Elixir void and lightning go from 15 each to 10 each. Animancer's Elixir stays at 20 fire.
Tier 6 Stims are unchanged at 15. Elixirs and stims run on separate cooldowns, so they can still be combined.
Bug Fixes
Quests, Tasks & Achievements
Fixed quest NPCs failing to hand out their quests on the first visit to a room. You no longer need to leave and re-enter a room several times to continue with some quests.
Fixed the Quest Log not updating when you receive quest items. Gathered and delivered items now register on quest objectives immediately.
Fixed a crash when starting Train Defence at Virelda Station for the first time.
Fixed an issue where placing a Manufacturing Table in your apartment could sometimes immobilize your character.
Fixed Bomb abilities being labelled as a Technology skill in the Abilities book. Bomb abilities are now correctly shown as Dexterity, matching the Dexterity XP they already granted. Blackhole Bomb is a separate ability and remains Technology.
Dungeons & Combat
Fixed missing and corrupted visual effects on radial abilities such as Fortify, Ice Cube and Healing Pulse. Fortify's body glow is back, and the blue squares that could appear in place of radial ability effects are gone.
Fixed a crash that could occur when reconnecting into a dungeon after a connection drop while other players were still loading in. The game now discards the failed spawn and continues instead.
Added a physical entrance to the Arcadia Arena, so you can now walk straight in.
Fixed a crash that could occur when moving between areas while a quest camera was following an NPC or other tracked object.
Added Legendary effects for Dark Obsidian Chest, Lunar Conduit Treads, Lunar Conduit Crown (only found on newly dropped versions).
Items, Bank & Inventory
Fixed a group of Bank and Bag crashes and desyncs caused by rapid or conflicting inventory actions, including double deposits, double withdrawals, stack merges, splitting stacks, destroying items and moving items between tabs. Actions that can no longer be applied are now refused with a message and the inventory refreshes instead of crashing. Rearranging an item inside a Bank tab now inserts it at the target slot instead of closing the gap behind it.
Fixed a long freeze when opening or closing the Bank with a lot of items stored, especially gear.
Fixed item rarities shown in the Manufacturing Station so crafted items now match their recipe rarities. Legendary gear no longer appears under the Rare section.
Fixed the craft times shown for Brawler's Pendant, Elemental Pendant, Gunner's Pendant and Necklace of Explosions at the Gearforge Station. These recipes were listing roughly 13 minutes and now correctly take 5 seconds.
Fixed the stamina text on Dragon Fruit, Vanilla Orchid, Starfruit, Cacao Pod and Void Truffle. These crops have always restored 6 stamina, and their descriptions now say 6 instead of 70 or 80. The items themselves are unchanged.
Fixed missing tooltip details on Fish Stick and Bag of Flour. Fish Stick now states that it restores 25 stamina and is cooked at the Kitchen from Catfish and Bag of Flour. Bag of Flour now reads as a cooking ingredient used in Kitchen recipes such as Fish Stick and Bread, and cannot be eaten on its own.
Apartments & World
Fixed players being teleported out of their Apartment and into Arcadia City when they left. Leaving an apartment now returns you to where you entered from, and the teleport option in the apartment UI is disabled while you are inside.
Fixed the Build, Furniture and Manage Apartment bar taking a long time to appear after entering your apartment. It now shows almost immediately.
Fixed a texture size error that could appear when interacting with Sakamoto.
Fixed an issue where mining speed was tied to framerate. Mining now performs the same across all different framerate.
Audio & Visuals
Fixed the player display name briefly flickering to Guest while moving around or interacting with objects and NPCs on the tutorial island.
Fixed a UI glitch in the Character Creator when switching between selections. Equipping and unequipping in the Player Profile is covered by the same fix.
Under the Hood
Reduced likelihood players would encounter a slow reload.
Fixed loading screen diagnostics so that time spent after pressing Retry, or with the game suspended in the background, is no longer counted as loading stall time. Genuine stall reporting is unchanged.
Removed the Uncapped frame rate option from video settings as it was the source of some input delay issues. Players who had it selected are moved to 60. This also fixes the display name scale setting not applying correctly.