Patch 22.01 - Difficulty Scaling V3: Faster Gameplay Pacing

Rocky Mayhem · published

Hi all,

This was meant to be shipped with the anniversary update but it wasn't ready yet. Introducing the first major change to the pacing of the game and Difficulty Scaling since 2024, this is sure to make classic more chaotic and fun to play, and less of a chore. A total of 2 minutes has been chopped off the length of classic mode, making classic only 6 minutes to complete! This will, however, make the game more difficult as you'll have less time to adapt but unlisted changes have been made to make this a bit easier.

Patch Notes 02/05/2026

Round Progression (Classic)

  • Round 1: Starts at 10 seconds, from 30

  • Round 2: Starts at 30 seconds, from 60

  • Round 3: Starts at 70 seconds, from 100

  • Round 4: Starts at 100 seconds, from 140

  • Volcanic Deity Boss Fight

  • Round 5: Starts at 140 seconds, from 180

  • Round 6: Starts at 180 seconds, from 220

  • Round 7: Starts at 200 seconds, from 260

  • Frozen Deity Boss Fight

  • Round 8: Starts at 250 seconds, from 300

  • Round 9: Starts at 280 seconds, from 340

  • Round 10: Starts at 310 seconds, from 380

  • Final Round: Starts at 330 seconds, from 440

  • Game ends at 360 seconds, from 500 seconds

In total, the game now lasts 6 minutes, from 8 minutes.

Changes

  • Classic Normal: Increased Volcanic Deity chase speed by 50%

  • Classic Normal: Extended play area during boss encounters

  • Classic Normal: Lowered brightness of ability disabled icons

  • Classic Normal: Asteroid spawner is now 0.2s slower

  • Classic Mayhem: Asteroid spawner is now 0.4s slower

  • Rescue Operations: Marker amount decreased to 6 from 10

Fixes

  • Rescue Operations: Using the scanner and markers didn't update the HUD

  • Classic Normal: Fixed Volcanic Deity getting stuck at top of screen

  • Classic Normal: Ability disabled icon appearing over game over screen