Greetings, Scavengers and welcome to Part 2 of our Progression Overhaul blog.
In Part 1 we talked about some of the larger progression changes coming to Persist Online, including the shift from skill-based requirements to character levels, Safehouse progression adjustments, updates to badge distribution and XP for harvesting. Today, we continue by giving you more details on the next wave of features and improvements making their way into the pre-alpha with the next game update very soon:
Elites Are Evolving
New Enemy Spawn Mechanics
New Consumables
Additional Changes
Another major addition in this update is a complete overhaul of Elite enemies and the way they appear throughout the world. Previously, Elite encounters were mostly restricted to nighttime gameplay. With the new system, Elite enemies can now spawn both during the day and at night, making exploration more dangerous and unpredictable at all times.
Elite scaling has also been adjusted depending on the ring they appear in, making higher-level Elite encounters significantly more threatening. Instead of the old Elites, special new variants are now being introduced:
Mutant Elites – enhanced versions of existing mutants that have a higher chance of applying their debuffs or combat effects.
Elemental Elites and mutants – dangerous variants with unique battlefield mechanics:
Fire Elites have a chance to apply the debuff “Fire” that deals 3% of your maximum HP as damage per second over 10 seconds.
Lightning Elites have a chance to apply the debuff “Lightning” that starts at 10 stacks to slow down the target by 75% over 10 seconds.
Radiation Elites have a chance to apply the debuff “Radiation” pressure nearby players with dangerous area effects and stamina-draining attacks.
Acid Elites create “Acid” pools on the ground that reduces the characters evasion and damage reduction rating by 50% for 10 seconds.
The goal of those new enemies is to make Elite encounters feel mechanically distinct instead of simply increasing enemy stats. Players will need to react to positioning, movement, and combat mechanics depending on the Elite type they encounter.
We have spent a significant amount of time analyzing gameplay flow during playtests and evaluating what makes zombie hunting satisfying (and frustrating) over longer sessions. As a result, enemy spawning behavior throughout the world is receiving a major overhaul, that will help solo or group players to progress better in buildings or other hunting areas.
In recent playtests we received lots of great feedback (and suggestions): From Safehouse and task management to the different armor types, item modifications, augmentation or more. And while we are currently reworking the User Interface and Experience of the Safehouse completely (this will come later in 2026) we still wanted to add some Quality-of-Life improvements for certain parts of your daily gameplay.
Therefore we are adding several new consumables that will support player characters in many different ways. Lets have a look at them:
Safehouse task management is now becoming more flexible with the introduction of the Punch Card.
Punch Cards can be used to speed up active Safehouse tasks by significantly reducing their remaining duration. Different qualities of Punch Cards can affect different tiers of tasks, and all Safehouse activities now receive visible quality classifications directly in the UI. This gives players more control over long upgrade chains and helps reduce downtime for important progression goals.
Safehouse progression is also becoming more convenient with the addition of Room Blueprints. These consumables instantly increase the level of a Safehouse room without requiring the normal upgrade waiting times or raw materials.
Blueprints can only be used while inside the Safehouse and support different room tiers depending on their quality. This system gives players another strategic way to invest resources into base progression.
We are also introducing Sewing Kits: consumables that allow to switch armor pieces between Flexible and Sturdy variants.
This gives players more control over defensive playstyles and allows equipment to adapt more easily to different builds.
We are introducing two new consumables that allow players to increase the minimum level of equipment pieces (armor and weapons).
These kits help players continue investing into favorite gear pieces instead of replacing them too quickly while progressing through the world. They can even be used on non-upgradeable equipment, giving additional flexibility when building loadouts.
Another new consumable category is the Component Set.
These items allow to directly boost progress toward active modifications on equipment pieces. Instead of relying entirely on normal gameplay progression, players can now further specialize and accelerate the development of specific builds and item setups.
Players will soon be able to directly augment equipment using a new item called the Engraving Kit.
Using the kit on valid gear applies an augmentation following the standard augmentation rules, adding another layer of customization and long-term equipment investment.
The current reset token system is being replaced. The new Amnesia Pills allow to fully reset all skill points of a single skill tree, making experimentation with builds significantly more accessible as your character level progresses.
Developer Note: All of the new consumables have a chance to drop from Elite enemies in the world.
Smarter Protected Enemy Behavior
Protected enemies previously behaved inconsistently because they calculated their allowed combat distance based on moving home positions. This has now been changed so enemies instead remember where they initially engaged players, leading to much more predictable combat behavior.
As you can see this update contains a massive amount of foundational improvements aimed at making Persist Online feel more rewarding, more flexible, more dynamic, and more satisfying during long-term play.
We are looking forward to more feedback and suggestions in the next playtest (more details on this soon). As always, thank you so much for your support and passion. Your input helps shaping the future direction of Persist Online every week.
-The Persist Online Team