Balance Patch#4 - New Flak subsystems, fight compression

Hey everyone, time for the weekly balance patch. As mentioned in las week's post, this update comes with a run reset.

We've got two quality-of-life improvements this week. First, we've cut the credit cost of upgrading cards in half, upgrading individual cards is one of the best parts of building out your ship, and the old prices turned it more into a luxury instead of a real decision. Second, as promised in the Patch #32: Quad-Fire, Immolation, Firestorm and Expulsion are back, returning as Flak subsystems. That means you can now bolt them onto any Flak weapon, opening up some builds that weren't possible when they were locked to specific drafting pools.

On the balance side, we're continuing to file down the Sector 1 wall, with a focus on compressing fights. The Freeroamer Sector 1 boss is a good example of this: it was both too weak and too slow, fights against it dragged on without ever really threatening you. So it hits harder now, but its equipment breaks faster, making the fight shorter in both directions. The Sector 1 elites also got another round of trims to bring their kill rates in line and shorten fights.

This week in the "fun analytics" section , we have the most drafted and most removed cards:

On to the Change log: General

• Fixed an issue where elites would only grant subsystems 50% of the time, they now grant subsystems all the time, it's just a 50% chance for a guarantee that the subsystem be compatible with your loadout

• Reduced the credit cost of upgrading cards by (roughly) 50%.

• Quad-Fire, Immolation, Firestorm and Expulsion return as Flak subsystems, installable on any Flak weapon.

Balance changes

• Freeroamer S01 Boss: Its 4-damage Slice attack is replaced with a 6-damage attack. Ion Cannon and Shield Generator durability both reduced from 16 to 14.

• Solarii S01 Elite: Now plays an 8 SP Block every 3 turns, instead of a 6 SP Block every 2 turns, and the initial Block card is played in 2 turns instead of 1. It now fires Starflare missiles from the first reload cycle, instead of Fireflies first. Hull reduced from 50 to 45. Stagger Shot now deals 5 damage, up from 4.

• Deadweight S01 Elite: Hull reduced from 55 to 50. Shield Generator durability reduced from 14 to 12. Missile Launcher durability increased from 14 to 18.

• Freeroamer S01 Elite: Hull reduced from 45 to 40.

Thanks for sticking with us, see you in next week's balance post! o7

The Breachway Team

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We are hard at work on additional patches, which will cover the reported issues, and we are also working on improving the game's balance and adding more significant meta-progression elements. -- all reviews and suggestions are enormously appreciated, and we will use your advice to help improve the game together!