The first big piece of the enemy redesign we talked about in our last dev update is ready for testing: every enemy in Sector 1 has been rebuilt, from the first fights of a run through the elites and all four bosses. It's on the experimental branch now, and we need your help finding out how it plays before it goes to the main branch.
As usual, switching to the experimental branch means losing your current run.
What's changed
- New starter enemies. Your first three fights now each teach one mechanic, through 8 new enemies (two per faction): Solarii teach Shred/Brittle and a cannon whose charge you can wipe by destroying it; Starkin teach Ongoing effects and Blind; Deadweights teach missiles and Suppression; Freeroamers teach Ignite and Ion.
- Redesigned regulars. All 16 Sector 1 regulars now build on their faction's starter lessons, and each one has a single twist that changes how you'd normally play the fight.
- Aux equipment arrives. Several enemies now carry levers: small pieces of equipment that give you an edge while they're destroyed or disabled. Take out Sensors and the enemy is Blinded each turn; take out an Engine and it takes +1 damage from every hit.
The new elites
- Solarii: a gun platform with a Fire Control system that charges one of its guns for an Empowered (+50%) shot every couple of turns.
- Starkin: a chain laser that spins up, firing faster each turn until you destroy it. Destroying it resets the spin.
- Deadweight: a Field Emitter whose Dampening Field steadily weakens your Shield cards, backed by torpedoes hiding behind escort missiles.
- Freeroamer: a beam that grows stronger with every shot, sealed behind a Deflector. It only opens up the turn before it fires, or you can take the Deflector down first.
The new bosses
- Solarii: fires in a steady fire, fire, pause rhythm. Its Engineering Bay builds extra damage on every hit as long as you leave the ship undamaged, and repairs its most damaged equipment each turn.
- Starkin: a Dampening Field, a heavy lance and a Targeting Array that ramps its damage the longer it's alive.
- Deadweight: no shields, but a Suppression Field that punishes every attack you play, heavy torpedoes, and Fire Control charging its beam.
- Freeroamer: a beam that fires every turn, Ion attacks that refill its shields, and a Repair Bay that brings destroyed equipment back faster. Its Radiator is your lever.
What to watch for
Sector 1 is meant to hit harder and fight shorter now: enemy damage is up, and every fight should have a turn you can see coming and a part worth taking out first. We know the higher damage may mean ships need more starting hull, and that's one of the things we're watching.
This is a purely functional build meant for balancing, there are a lot of placeholders (card art, equipment, etc)
Feedback we need
- Do enemies feel different from one another, do they change the way you play in any way?
- Are there any unusually difficult/easy/unfair/frustrating enemy fights?
- How does going through sector 1 as a whole feel now?
Post your thoughts on Discord, as a comment on this post, or in the Steam discussions, and if you encounter any bugs, a screenshot or your save file helps a lot.
Thanks for testing! o7
The Breachway Team
