Yes, that’s right - a new patch has received Royal Assent and can now be released to you fine citizens. But what’s it all about?
OPENING STATEMENTS
Let’s start with what we’ve done to…the start.
As of now, your very first Red Box decision allows you to make a Tactic choice - meaning you can start “expressing” yourself as Leader of the Opposition right away! Which will surely be a treat for your first opponent.
A SNEAKY PREVIEW…OF UPGRADES
“It’s not where you’re from, it’s where you’re going to” - a trite cliché loved by politicians across the world.
But it CAN be true of Tactics (could this link be any more tenuous?) Sometimes you want to know what a Tactic WILL be when it reaches its full potential, rather than what it is in its dreary, current form.
To that end, you can now right-click on any Tactic in order to preview what it will be in its upgraded form.
To demonstrate the power of this new functionality, you can actually right-click on this very Steam post in order to see a preview of what will be contained in the NEXT patch*.
*This is categorically untrue
BATTING OFF CRITICISM
Everyone knows there is no wild animal more loved and appreciated than the humble, leathery, goggle-eyed, disgusting bat.
But truth be told, we felt like we were leaving bats hanging. Those of you who are big supporters of Vampiric Victory were simply not being given adequate opportunities to take flight.
So just for you, we've added a brace of bat-based barbs in the form of two new tactics for Sucksworth!
But bat’s not all…
A SHOCKING DEVELOPMENT
No, it’s not that I have been fired and replaced with someone better at doing Steam posts. But it IS related to how to humanely deal with difficult underlings.
Rotilda has decided that it is not enough to just cram Smelling Salts up the nostrils of her Zombie MPs (the ones that still have them, that is). As useful as they may be on occasion, they were not the best Item she could start with.
So now every time you start a run with Rotilda she will have in her possession a brand new Item - the Shock Collar!
Those Zombie MPs are most certainly going to get it in the neck now.
And finally…
RIPPING YOU OFF
Not us, of course. These updates are all free, remember? No, instead we're offering you the chance to be mugged by a NEW political pairing...
The Earl of Dirtby has negotiated a (probably very one-sided) deal with Trollpole, and this unsightly duo will now appear in your second Term as a possible opponent.
If you weren't poor before you met them, you will be after!
PLEASE STOP
And so ends another post. It remains only for me to thank you for being here and hand over to my esteemed colleague, An Enormous List. Who will tell you about all the other changes contained in the patch.
See you next time!
Added a new Red Box decision that triggers at the beginning of a run and offers a new Tactic.
Added a new "Hold Right-Click" control that lets you preview Tactic upgrades when being awarded a new Tactic, or when viewing them in the Inventory.
Added a new Tactic named "Flight Response" that transforms 1 MP into a Bat at the start of your turn, if you have no Bat MPs.
Added a new Tactic named "High-Fliers" that transforms 1 MP into a Bat for 1 PC, if you have 1 or fewer Bat MPs.
Added a new "Shock Collar" item. Rotilda will now start her runs with this Item.
Added a new debate in Term 2 with Trollpole & Dirtby.
Added a greater variety of newspaper photos for the post-election Newspaper.
Adjusted the probability of Story case files being dealt during debate, so they can be distributed across different turns.
Updated Story and Event case files so they are drawn after regular cards, instead of replacing cards.
Removed the first debate’s tactic reward to balance out the new Red Box decision at the start of a run.
Adjusted "Rowdy" tactic to charge Harness Anger from 1 to 2 when a MP gets Frenzied.
Adjusted "Frenzied Energy" tactic to increase its number of uses from 1 to 2 per turn.
Modified "Bait" tactic to reduce its Retort gain from 4 to 2 (upgrade: 6 to 3).
Adjusted "Pre-Prepared Lines+" tactic to increase its Retort gain from 5 to 6.
Updated "Diss Artist" tactic to apply its Retort at the start of the turn, instead of the end.
Adjusted "Entertaining Attack" tactic to increase its damage from 6 to 9 (upgrade: 9 to 12), and its number of uses from 1 to 2 per turn.
Adjusted "Find A Vein+" tactic to lower the roll success target from 4+ to 3+.
Adjusted "Wing And A Prayer" tactic to reduce its PC Cost from 1 to 0.
Adjusted "Bat's Enough" tactic to add a "Gain 2 PC" effect.
Adjusted "Party Animals" tactic to increase its Unity gain from 3 to 6 (upgrade: 5 to 10).
Adjusted "Fly, My Pretty!" tactic to increase its damage from 10 to 12 (upgrade: 15 to 18).
Adjusted "Fly, My Pretty!" tactic to reduce its PC Cost from 1 to 0.
Adjusted "Loom" tactic to increase its Unity gain from 7 to 12 (upgrade: 10 to 16).
Adjusted "Needle" tactic to lower the roll success target from 5+ to 4+.
Adjusted "Old Material" tactic to increase its Unity gain from 3 to 5.
Adjusted "In-Joke" tactic to increase its Unity gain from 8 to 12 (upgrade: 12 to 16).
Adjusted "Support Act" tactic to gain 2 additional Unity to the dice roll result.
Adjusted "Deep Cut" tactic to increase its damage from 4x2 to 6x2 (upgrade: 6x2 to 8x2).
Updated "Flesh Mob" tactic to reduce its PC Cost from 2 to 1, and reduce its damage from 4 to 3 and maximum damage from 8 to 7.
Adjusted "Inhuman Resources" tactic to reduce its PC Cost from 2 to 1, and increase its damage by +1. "Inhuman Resources+" will now do +6 damage instead of reducing the PC cost.
Adjusted "Throw Shade" tactic to increase its damage from 3 to 4.
Adjusted "Heckle" tactic to deal 2 additional damage to the dice roll result.
Updated "Get The Vote Out" tactic so that failed rolls result in +1 Whipped being applied.
Adjusted "Stitch Together" tactic to increase its Unity gain from 6 to 8.
Adjusted "Throwaway Line" tactic to increase its Unity gain from 3 to 4.
Adjusted "Helpful Question" tactic to gain 2 additional Unity to the dice roll result.
Updated the categorisation for the Term 3 debate with Slickmouth & Dirtby, from Normal to Controversial.
Updated the order of attacks for Rabid Butler in Term 1, so that he attacks before applying Jeering to his MPs.
Updated the Zealot MP buff so that Zealots will be swayed first when scoring a point against Mummies, making it easier to remove them when dealing damage.
Updated Puke of Wellington in Term 1, so that he applies fewer Defend and Jeering buffs to his MPs.
Updated Split the Younger in Term 1, so that he starts with 1 additional loyal MP, and applies Splitting more frequently.
Updated Baroness Sleuthroyd in Term 2, so that her damage, unifying and stun power scale with difficulty. At max difficulty, she will now deal 20 damage (from 16), gain 12 Unity (from 8) and stun 3 MPs (from 2).
Increased the "Documentary Maker" staff member's Unity loss from -6 to -12.
Added an option to view your schedule when being awarded new tactics, card upgrades or staff members.
Added a way to ensure non-equipped tactics still show relevant buff tooltips.
Adjusted the Shop tags’ location to avoid obstructing prices.
Adjusted the dice ping speed, specifically Rotilda's second whipped application on a dice. This removes an unnecessary delay in Fast Mode when using Whipped builds.
Adjusted the flow speed for Difficulty resource penalties when returning to the Office in Fast Mode.
Removed a delay from multiple Tactics in Fast Mode.
Mummy MPs will now arrange themselves in pyramid formations when possible.
Adjusted the description for the "Pile-On" tactic to clarify its behaviour.
Fixed an issue where the incorrect newspaper headline could appear after losing a debate against Bonar Straw in Term 1.
Fixed a typo in the "Lawfare" Red Box decision description.
Fixed various text issues in English and other languages.
Fixed an issue where the "Donate Salary to Charity" pledge would affect cash revenues outside of Red Box decisions and debate rewards. Previously affected revenues included item sales and a successful "Scratch Card" item.
Fixed an issue where the "Sir Chopper", "Sir Sucksworth" and "Dame Rotilda" achievements would not unlock if finishing a run on a higher difficulty.
Fixed an issue where the Shrieker's suspicion level would not be properly reset when selecting the "Pay tribute" option in the "Shrieker's Lament" event.
Fixed an issue where you could return to the Office and be unable to use or sell Items.
Fixed an issue where the "Unity Overfill" tooltip could appear for Chopper, Sucksworth and Rotilda (opponent versions) when they score a point after convincing all their MPs.
Fixed an issue where the exploit value would not show if buffed by the "Conniving" tactic. This was causing an issue where Abacus' "Official Communication" cards would not show the PC exploit value in Term 2.
Fixed an issue where buff tooltips could be duplicated on tactics.
Fixed an issue where notifications could be duplicated when coming back to the Office after the "Holidays Banned" pledge prevented the user from actually leaving the Office.
Fixed an issue where the incorrect end screen would be triggered when losing the Rainbow Coalition fight.
Fixed an issue where loading the game with 30 Staff members or more could result in some of them not being displayed in your drawer inventory, despite still being active.
Fixed an issue where background tooltips could still trigger while being in the Urskin Flay.
Fixed an issue where skipping during the Election sequence after the MP reward section would instead rewind to the MP reward section.
Fixed an issue where a superfluous tint was present on the player Inventory overlay.
Fixed an issue where obtaining more than 50 Staff members in a single run would result in a broken expanded view in the Drawer.
Fixed an issue where the Schedule portrait for Hugh Gaitskull was not centred properly.
Fixed an issue where the Close button on notifications in the Office could look like a letter due to lack of backing.
Fixed an issue where Lady Wraithbone would not spit her wine while in the Lobby.
Fixed an issue where opponents were using incorrect poses when their Unity gauge was directly affected (e.g. debate decisions, Harness Anger, etc).
Fixed an issue where buffs and stances were not visually removed before the first debate turn. This was causing the issue where the "Rebel Ghost" staff member's Unity loss affected your MPs.
Fixed an issue where the Shrieker could freeze when hovering but not clicking the "End turn" button.
Fixed an issue where Buff effects could not be removed properly when stacked.
Fixed an issue where the audio played when opening a case file would not fully play.
Fixed an issue where MP sound effects could stack and create a high volume of buff ping sounds playing at the same time.
Fixed an issue where the incorrect tracks would trigger for the Sucksworth & Rotilda victory screens.
Fixed an issue where unequipping the "Agitator" tactic would not properly update the "Harness Anger" max charge level.
Fixed an issue where "Band Together+" would not add Defender to unbuffed MPs if there were no existing Defending MPs.
Fixed an issue where the "Trading Blows" tactic would trigger when the damage source is not a rival party. This was causing the issue where the "Documentary Maker" staff's Unity loss would trigger the tactic.
Fixed an issue where the "Keep Thinking" tactic would have a superfluous delay before a card is discarded.
Fixed an issue where Baroness Sleuthroyd's roll profiles were inconsistent with other characters.
Fixed an issue where the "Harness Anger" special would play the incorrect sound effect for Chopper Badstone (opponent version).
Fixed an issue where secondary leaders in multi-opponent debates would get stuck in poses when attacked by Bat MPs.
Fixed an issue where Lunatic MPs would still be ousted by the Shrieker if they had not killed another MP.
Fixed an issue where the Authority damage was not applied when selecting the "No Strings Attached" option in the Slickmouth & Dirtby fight in Term 3.
Fixed an issue where Dead Rod would face the wrong direction in the Debate intro screen.
Fixed an issue where the "Hawk" staff member would affect the attack power of an enemy attack when using the "Demand Defence+" card.
Fixed an issue where the "Next!" button would not update properly from "Next debate" to "Red Box" when acquiring the "Cabinet Secretary" staff member after handling all Red Box case files.
Fixed an issue where the "Remember Little Clonker" card header could display incorrectly in French and German.
Fixed an issue where the game would not be saved after the Shop inventory was updated by the "Business Czar" or "Recruiter" staff members, which could result in load issues.