Early Access v0.099 balance patch

MK-ULTRA Psychic Defense · build 24438216 · published

On SteamNotes only · this build shipped before we watched the app

## Heavy enemies are a real threat now

The audit found something broken under the hood of the *difficulty* curve:

every enemy has a "damage when it reaches the center" stat (Contempt hits for

15, Despair for 10...), but **none of it ever landed.** A working defense killed

every heavy every time, so the only things that ever leaked were 1-damage

fodder. The enemy-damage escalation you see as runs go deeper was effectively

decorative.

This patch makes heavies earn their keep:

- **Heavies are armored.** Sadness, Contempt, Envy, and Despair now carry a

depth-scaled shield on top of their health. A single upgraded tower can no

longer melt one inside its crossing window — you stack coverage or you take

the hit. Their real damage finally connects.

- **Heavies get faster as runs deepen**, so a mid-strength defense gets fewer

shots at them.

- **Waves interleave fast fodder with heavies** instead of feeding heavies in

one clump at the end, so your towers split targets instead of focusing the

big ones down one by one.

Net effect: later waves put genuine pressure on the health pool again, and

letting a heavy through is a real mistake — not a 1-point shrug.