This is a small follow-up patch note after the Mayhem Update, built directly from forum feedback about late boss fights and dense bullet patterns.
The request was pretty clear: Nova Swarm should stay mean, but the player needs a little more control when the screen gets tight. So the new control is Focus Drift.
- Added Focus Drift: hold Ctrl on keyboard or LT on controller to slow your ship for precision weaving.
- Phase stays separate. Shift / B / LB is still the invulnerability burst.
- Focus Drift does not dash, deal damage, change your weapon, change score rules, or change XP.
- How To Play and input hints now explain the new control.
- Keyboard/controller input was checked so Focus Drift works alongside movement, firing, Phase, mouse input, and gamepad input.
- No Steam leaderboard identity, achievement IDs, Steam Cloud paths, save format, score formula, or XP formula changed.
Several players have been describing a specific kind of pain: the bullet gap is visible, but steering through it at full speed can feel too binary. I do not want to soften Mayhem into soup. I do want the player to feel that a clean read and a steady hand can actually matter.
Focus Drift is meant for those "I can see it, let me thread it" moments. It gives you precision without giving you free safety. You still have to aim the ship through the mess.
Tiny Foundry