Changelog 0.6.3
Hey everyone,
We've got three new weapons and a Launcher rework to push today.
Our Launchers have been underused for a while, and the feedback has been pretty consistent that they just weren’t pulling their weight. After digging into it, the problem wasn’t only raw numbers — their explosions also weren’t scaling properly with weapon damage bonuses and buffs, which meant they fell off harder than intended later in the game.
Launcher Rebalance
Launcher explosions have been reworked so they now scale properly with weapon damage effects and buffs, including bonuses from things like Lythograms.
Previously, the projectile itself could benefit from these effects, but the explosion often did not. That made Launchers scale poorly into higher Threat levels.
We’ve also increased Launcher damage overall and leaned harder into what we want their identity to be:
Very strong explosive damage against unshielded targets, but weaker when compared directly against the correct Elemental damage type.
On average:
Launchers should deal around 150% more damage against enemies without Shells, or after their Shells have already been broken.
Against enemies where you could instead use an effective on-element weapon, Launchers should still deal around 30% less damage.
The goal is not to make Launchers the answer to everything, but to make the trade-off actually worth considering.
Weapons Affected
Argus-3
N.E.R.F.
ATLAS-1
PL Mk. V
\[Unique] Sedgemoor
Additional Reload Synergies
We’ve expanded some of the systems that can trigger On Reload effects.
Rook’s Combat Momentum passive now counts as an On Reload trigger.
This opens up some new interactions with weapons and effects that care about reload events.
New Weapons
C.L.A.M.P. R2 — Rosetta Labs / Assault Rifle / Legendary, Rook
A heavily improved version of the C.L.A.M.P. with better overall stats and a new unique mechanic: whenever the weapon reloads, it spawns a weaker Protocol Bolt that bounces between enemies and applies Stagger. With Combat Momentum now counting as a reload, Rook can trigger the effect through careful skill timing, while other Weavers can benefit if you find ways to force reloads more frequently. And yes, there may already be a Lythogram or Weapon Scar that helps with that ːsteamhappyː.
LA F4-H — Hardpoint / Launcher
A semi-automatic Launcher that fires a six-round burst of explosive projectiles, capable of putting out very high AoE damage in a short window if you can keep the full burst on target.
SM B2-HP — Hardpoint / SMG
A reliable, easy-to-use SMG with a large magazine and low spread, trading some raw firepower for sustained, controllable rapid-fire hits.
Visual Tweaks
Updated the weapon model for ATLAS-1.
Enhanced the VFX for Rook’s Weaver Bolt active skill.
Added a deployment-area indicator after selecting a mission.
Bug Fixes
General stability and anti-desync improvements.
Elite enemies and bosses with the Mending mutator will no longer heal themselves.
They can still heal nearby enemies.
Fixed an issue where the Archivist’s health was displayed incorrectly during the Defend the Archivist objective in the tutorial mission.
Fixed an issue with Botsy’s Complementary passive, so it now correctly inherits Elemental Damage bonuses.
Known Issues
Launcher weapon stats may display lower damage values than they are actually dealing.
We’re still iterating on the stats display for weapons with non-standard projectile behavior, including Launchers and Shotguns.
Co-op play between players running different game versions may cause multiplayer issues when joining via Lobby Code or Steam Invite.
Players may be unable to see each other.
Parties may become stuck in the HQ countdown.
The LA F4-H currently has a floating explosion decal/VFX issue.
Let us know how the new Launcher balance feels while we continue to tweak the weapon balance.
As always, keep telling us when something feels too weak, too strong, or just weird. That usually gives us a pretty good place to start digging.
— The RIFTSTORM team
