Playtest update: armor rework, salvage weapons, new HUD, smoother battles

Hi everyone,

A new Playtest build is up. It's a big one, since it covers everything since the September build, so here's the full list.

Combat

• Armor works differently now. How much damage a hit loses depends on the armor left on the part that got hit. A fresh plate soaks up a lot, a battered one much less, and shred wears it down faster. Mech health and armor numbers have been adjusted to match.
• Shields can't be shredded any more. Shred only hits armor.
• All weapons reach 20% further.
• Called shots no longer have an accuracy penalty. They hit as often as a normal shot, and if the shot clips a different part you can see, it still counts.
• Explosions leave scorch marks now instead of digging holes in the ground. It looks about the same and runs a lot better.
• Basin maps have rock formations. They block line of sight, and you can shoot them down (splash damage works too). The arena has ruin walls you can knock down.

Deathmarch

• You no longer get a weapon pick after a win. Weapons come from salvage instead. Boss rewards haven't changed.
• Picking salvage is simpler: click a card to take it, click it again to put it back.
• Gear now has rarities: Common, Uncommon, Epic and Legendary. You can tell them apart by the card border. The Mk2 and Hero names are gone.
• Random weapon modifiers (Extended, Rapid, Barrage and the rest) have been removed. If you had one, it's now the normal version of that weapon.
• Mercenary Doctrine now gives you 1, 2 or 3 extra salvage picks per battle, depending on its tier, instead of better rarity.
• Minibosses and act bosses now raise your standing with every faction that sponsored the fight. The map shows how much before you pick the node.

Menus and HUD

• The interface now scales with your resolution. It's bigger at 1440p and 4K, fits the Steam Deck screen, and stays centred on ultrawide monitors.
• New battle HUD: the minimap is in the top left, there's a list of every enemy you've spotted, and all 8 of your mechs fit on screen at once with their pilot portraits.
• Press 1 to 8 to select a mech. Z and X use pilot skills for whoever is selected.
• In the hub, store and forge you can see your whole roster without scrolling. Your hangar and the store sit side by side, damaged mechs show up in red, and each mech card has an Edit Loadout button.
• Reward and survivor cards: just click to pick.
• The Chronolith chamber is easier to read, and so is the list of permanent upgrades.
• You can delete a save from the main menu (it asks first).
• Long names no longer get cut off.

Mechs and maps

• Nearly every mech has a new model and new textures. They look cleaner, and big fights run better. House Valdris and Silence paint jobs were redone to match.
• Free Systems mechs now carry proper box missile launchers on their shoulders.
• House Valdris mechs have been resized, so a light mech looks light and a heavy one looks heavy.
• New trees that look like trees instead of dark blobs, and cost less to draw.
• Cars! Small ones drive around the city maps and park at Blackridge Gate and the Industrial Yard. On Corrupt maps you'll find them wrecked. The hub has new service trucks.
• New battle chatter and cutscene voice lines, plus new portraits.
• Des has new lines at the start of the Blackridge patrol.

Loading, stutters and freezes

• When the game starts, it now spends about 10 seconds preparing graphics, with a progress bar. That work used to happen in the middle of fights and cause stutters.
• Each battle now loads its mechs while the deploy screen is up, and the screen shows you what it's loading. The big hitch right as a battle started is basically gone (in our tests it went from almost 2 seconds to about a tenth of a second), and new waves come in smoothly.
• The main menu no longer has the row of mechs behind it. It was making the menu freeze on some PCs.
• Fixed stutter when moving the mouse during battle.
• Fixed a freeze in Blackridge right after the PRIORITY TRAFFIC message.
• Big fights with lots of explosions run better.

Known issue

The deploy screen can sit still for a few seconds while the map is built, before the mechs start loading. Windows might say the game is "Not Responding". It isn't stuck, so give it a moment. We're working on it.

That's it! Tell us in the discussions how the new armor and salvage feel, and how loading runs on your PC.