UPDATE #44: Two Mechs & New Ways to Play

UPDATE #44: Two Mechs & New Ways to Play

Hey, everyone!

Buckle up, because this is a big one.

Update #44 is now live, bringing new gameplay improvements to First Dwarf for both solo and co-op players.

The headline co-op feature is one of the loudest requests from our community: Player 2 now gets their own Mech!

Each player now has their own machine to develop and customize, so you can build different setups, experiment with equipment, and shape your own combat style.

Co-op players who wanted more Mech action no longer have to share one machine. Now each player can bring their own idea of what a proper mana-powered walking machine should be.

And this update is not only about co-op. Ragna gets more useful in moment-to-moment gameplay, fireballs are easier to aim thanks to visible trajectories, colony management is clearer, and settlers are easier to track and recall when needed.

Why we went bigger with this update

A huge number of co-op players told us very clearly: if First Dwarf has Mechs, both players want to feel that Mech gameplay is truly available to them.

And honestly? We get it.

The Mech is not just a vehicle. It is your walking workshop, your combat machine, your tool for exploration, and a big part of what makes First Dwarf feel different.

That meant expanding a lot of game systems: co-op logic, UI, equipment, save files, interactions, and plenty of weird edge cases that only pop up when two players start breaking things simultaneously.

For a small indie team like ours, it was a serious task. But we knew how important this was for co-op players, so we wanted to do it right.

And since we were already elbow-deep in the co-op systems, we also improved Ragna's support role:
Ragna can now help with repairs! 🛠️

Defending and maintaining your colony should now feel way more flexible, especially when you're busy fighting off waves, exploring, building, or just trying not to accidentally walk off the edge of a floating island.

On top of that, Update #44 also brings clearer aiming, better settler information, improved house popups, and more control over your colony.

Full Changelog #44

Co-op improvements:

• Second Mech in co-op: Player 2 now has their own Mech.
• Personal Mech setups: Each player can develop and customize their own machine with their preferred equipment.
• Character icons on map and minimap are now colored correctly for the first and second player.

Settlers Improvements:

• Better House Popups: The window now shows exactly who is living there, along with:
  • Avatar of the settler.
  • Current status effects.
  • Current job.

• Minimap Settler Details: Hover over a settler's icon on the minimap to see their info instantly.
• Recall Settler Home: Added a handy option to send a settler back to their house.
• The radius at which settlers become afraid of enemy nests has been significantly reduced. They can now approach nests twice as closely before becoming scared.

Ragna Changes:

• Ragna now turns and changes direction more responsively.
• Fireball Trajectories: You will now see the expected path of your fireballs, making aiming way more satisfying and accurate.
• Improved camera placement when using Ragna’s mid-range attacks, such as Firebreath. It is now easier to see the attack range.
• Fixed an issue where structures built by Ragna were not registered on the map and minimap.
• Ragna can help with repairs: Ragna can now support colony maintenance by helping repair structures and mechs.

Highlights:

• You can now see the outline of the structure you are destroying.
• The wave spawner icon now stays pinned to the edge of the minimap.
• Character icons are now pinned to the edge of the minimap.
• Structure range is now displayed depending on category in the build menu.
• Hovering over a structure in the build menu now displays its radius, regardless of category.

Balance Changes:

• Added a new offering combination for waves in the Horn of Taint.
• Added more gears to pick up on the first island.
• Tru now gathers 2 resources instead of 1.
• Adjusted Tru’s attacks to fix an issue where damage was sometimes not applied if he was not close enough to enemies.
• Mixed waves in the Horn of Taint now include tainted animals.
• Tritris now becomes sick after eating tainted or sick Fluffgig.
• Increased Balloon Tower damage from 5 to 20.
• Increased Balloon Tower slow effect from -50% movement speed for 2s to -70% movement speed for 2.5s.

Bugfixes:

• Fixed cases where the camera would glitch while flying the airship in co-op.
• Fixed a co-op issue where tainted berries were not properly synchronized between host and client. The host saw tainted berries correctly, while the client saw them as healthy.
• Fixed an issue with opening the technology window in the Research Center in co-op mode, the window was opening for the host instead of the client.
• Fixed a co-op issue where the client was unable to deal damage to the Brute Felf in some cases.
• Fixed cases of desynchronization between host and client for mana-connected buildings, where the host saw connections but the client did not.
• Fixed a bug where the Main Base on the second island was not being unlocked.
• Fixed an issue where animals would disappear when destroying the Animal Shelter.
• Fixed a bug where no smoke was coming from the fireplace in the Archseeker camp.
• Fixed some pathfinding issues where NPCs were going through walls.
• Fixed cases where settlers were teleported or did not play animations when walking to buildings they were repairing.
• Stats of turrets are now displayed when placing them in the top-right window.
• Fixed cases where Sursa could dig peat inside its nest, making it impossible to pick up.
• Improved animation flow when Sursas leave their nests.
• Fixed a spot on Ruptured Canyon Island where Ragna was unable to dive into the cave lake.
• Fixed an issue where tainted clouds on the minimap rotated when the Seer was moving.
• Fixed an issue where tainted bears would not defend themselves when attacked until their previous action had finished.
• Added a missing icon when destroying BoomBoo.
• Improved visual effects for Tritri’s teleportation.
• Fixed an issue on the second and third islands where players could fly through the environment.

Thank you!

As always, a huge thank you for your feedback and patience. Update #44 is a big step for co-op, but also another step toward making First Dwarf better for everyone.

If you run into any bugs, performance issues, or weird balancing in the new co-op setup, let us know on Steam Discussions or Discord. With a feature this big, your feedback will help us polish it even further.

Update #44 is live now.

Jump in solo, bring a friend, fire up one Mech or two, and let us know how the update feels.

Thanks for sticking with us!
Star Drifters team ❤️