Neon Striker news & patch notes

New Ship

Phantom is now available and can be unlocked by beating the game on Skypiercer

Optimizations

• Optimized piercing beam code to not check for collisions while the beam was off.

• Status Effect animations no longer play for ships off-screen.

• Optimized the Scramble Bullet animation.

• Reduced some unnecessary keyframe data calculation in multiplayer.

• In multiplayer, when one player wins, all players will win.

• Cleared out some unused items and resources.

Bugfixes

• Supernova now properly stacks with other equipped Supernovas.

• Fixed a bug with weapon arcs not displaying properly after dying in multiplayer.

• Fixed a bug where Command Shot did not trigger on burst fire.

• Fixed a bug where Vulture's collision damage was set to 0.

• Fixed a bug where the Mini-Forge deployed by Divide And Conquer had lower Shield Regen than normal.

• Fixed a bug where Bullet Enhancer was not speeding up bullets.

• Fixed a bug where the "Disable mouse during battle" option wasn't working properly. (You might have to toggle this off and on again after this update)

• Fixed numerous desync issues in multiplayer caused by edge cases.

Balance Changes

• If you have Override equipped, Tunnel Beam no longer pushes bullets that are still touching the ship that fired them. (This allows the bullet to actually hit the ship that fired it)

• Wanted Level now increases reinforcement count instead of fleet size.

• Burst Fire should now interact better with weapons that have fast fire rates.

• Some enemies have their Hangars replaced with Emergency Hangars, which deploy after they have taken certain amounts of damage.

From The Shadows

The Phantom is our assassin ship, wielding the power of Dodge and Marks to hunt its prey. It has the lowest defenses in the game, but who needs defenses when you can sneak your way into the enemy fleet to wreak havoc from within?

Critical Strikes

Phantom also introduces our new Critical mechanic. Unlike in other games, Critical strikes in Neon Striker do not rely on chance. Each attack grants your weapon Crit Points, and it automatically spends 100 to perform a crit. In the end, the number of crits is still the same as a percentage based crit system, but there's no chance involved, helping you plan your fight better.

Pet Shark

His name is Riptide, and his favorite snack is wrecked ships!

Phantom will be available on February 13th!

Bugfixes

• Multiplayer netcode is now disabled while you play the game in singleplayer.

• Fixed a desync caused by pathfinding in long rollbacks.

• Fixed a desync caused by Swarm bubble carriers.

• Fixed a desync caused by dying ships and weapon targeting in long rollbacks.

• Fixed a desync caused by Marks.

• Fixed a bug where being slowed while you had Nitro would cause your turn rate to be abnormally reduced.

• Fixed a bug where a player could pick up an item while it was in its upgrade animation.

Balance

• When you apply Moonfire to a weapon that inflicts Sunspark (i.e. using Luminance on a Sunbow), that weapon will now apply both effects instead of switching to Moonfire.

Update 0.10 is finally here. This update overhauls a lot of underlying systems to make multiplayer synchronized. No more desync between bullets on your screen and your friend's, and no more ships dying for no reason out of the blue.

However, this does make the game run slower. We appreciate your patience as we sort things out. We have plans to make the game run faster, but those plans would make it harder to debug, so we want to prioritize fixing bugs first.

Eclipse

Eclipse is now available and can be unlocked by beating the game on Firestorm.

Keep

Keep has received a sizable rework, with many items getting replaced in favor of a new subset of items. The following items have been replaced:

• Shield Restorer

• Shield Generator

• Collision Protocol

• Shield Augment

• Plasma Cutter

• Mine Amplifier

• Mine Augment

• Hunting Arsenal

• Negation Barrier

New/Changed items:

• Laser Array: A laser randomly bounces between bullets and ships fired by adjacent items.

• Bolt Stockpile: The gun in front of this has +16% range and shoots Bolts instead.

• Ballista: Range increased significantly and firing arc reduced. Fires Bolts that pierce through shields and asteroids.

• Echo Gun: +1 Multishot for each other Echo item equipped.

• Echo Bow: Fires Bolts. +1 Burst Fire for each other Echo item equipped.

• Caltrop Launcher: Deploys Caltrops (Bolt Mine)

• Sentry Lander: Deploys Landers equipped with Ballistas. (3 uses per battle)

  • Landers are special drones that stick to asteroids.

• Barrier Lander: Deploys Landers equipped with Negation Barriers. (3 uses per battle)

• Gravity Lander: Deploys Landers that pull enemies to them. (3 uses per battle)

• Mining Lander: Deploys Mining Landers. After battle, get a Crystal for each one that survives. (3 uses per battle)

  • A Crystal is an item that can be combined with any item of the same rarity to upgrade it.

• Coordinated Fire: When the gun in front of this fires, also fire a bullet from each of your Landers. Your Landers have +1 use.

• Invasion Protocol: Lander health and speed +24%.

• Compass: All your items rotate to face this direction. They have +16% range.

Firestorm

Firestorm has been reworked to push it further towards the fantasy of being a true mobile fortress that tanks and deals damage using its abundant broadside weaponry.

Replaced items:

• Emergency Augment

New/Changed items

• Shield Rerouter: Shields -30%. Armor +20%

• Plating: Armor+20%. Double this while you are slowed.

• Shock Disperser: Each time you recoil, restore 1% health.

• Command Shot: When this fires, also fire your Recoil Guns that are facing this direction.

• Munitions Belt: Grant 64% fire rate evenly split across guns in this row and column.

• (Not a Firestorm item, but a relevant change) Railgun damage increased 30->50 and it now has Recoil(10)

Skypiercer

Skypiercer has received some upgrades to properly reward playstyles that invest in mobility.

Replaced Items:

• Boomerang Launcher

New/Changed Items:

• Orbital Slicer now gives 2 Orbital Slicers at common instead of 1.

• Stormeye: Orbital Slicer orbit radius +16%. +1 Orbital Slicer.

• Negative Zone no longer boosts Orbital Slicer rotation speed and instead gives +1 Orbital Slicer.

• Hotshot Blaster no longer fires exploding bullets and instead has increased fire rate scaling with your Nitro.

• Hitlist's marking cooldown now also improves with upgrades.

• Pulsar Heart damage increased 200 -> 300

• Pulsar Heart travel distance requirement reduced 6000 -> 4000

• Hyperspeed Wave: You are immune to collision damage while you have Nitro. You reflect bullets while you have more than 150 Nitro.

Glitch

Glitch has received some minor item changes.

• Network now applies a penalty to the weapon's fire rate instead of increasing it.

• Hacking Beam replaced with Tunnel Beam: A Beam that pushes nearby bullets in the direction it is firing.

• Virtual Reaper reworked: Gain 1 Dodge per second. +0.5 seconds for each Gun or Beam equipped.

Ace

Ace has received several item changes to solidify its many builds while tuning down strong items.

• The bullets fired by Inferno Missiles will now also inherit the Inferno Missile's status effects.

• Inferno Launcher rarity increased from Common to Rare.

• Quantum Trajectory rarity increased from Rare to Epic.

• Quantum Trajectory slightly changed: When your bullets bounce, they split into 2 bullets that share the remaining bounces.

• Rubberball Machine changed: The gun in front of this has +2 Bounce.

• Cross Evader replaced with Cross Reflector: While all four adjacent weapons have a target in range, you reflect bullets. Adjacent weapons have +16% wider firing arc.

• Pepper replaced with Meteor Cannon: Recoil(10) Can only target enemies with Overheat.

• Rebound replaced with Shooting Gallery: A bubble follows you and causes ALL bullets to bounce off the inside up to 4 times.

Multiplayer Improvements

Over the past four months, we have been hard at work upgrading the multiplayer for our game, overhauling many systems to get to where we are today. With this new system, we aim to solve desync issues. No more bullets appearing for one player but not the other, and no more ships dying randomly because they were killed on your teammate's screen.

However, these changes do decrease the performance of the game. We are still actively working to improve this, but we wanted to first prioritize functionality. Expect a performance upgrade after we resolve any remaining bugs with multiplayer.

Eclipse

It would be a pretty boring update without actual new content. This time around, we're bringing you Eclipse, one of our most complex ships yet!

Choose your side

Eclipse utilizes the Switchable mechanic. Items with this tag have different effects based on which side of the ship they are placed. The Moon side focuses on health and lifesteal, while the Sun side focuses on Shield and long-ranged attacks.

Volatile Combination

Sometimes, it can be hard to choose. Why not both? If you utilize both Moon and Sun powers, you can activate the powerful Novas. A Nova is activated when both Moonfire and Sunspark are applied to an enemy, dealing high damage.

Bugfixes

• Fixed a bug with the ready up button in the multiplayer causing a soft lock in the lobby.

• Potentially fixed a bug with the ready up button causing a soft lock in the multiplayer workshop.

• Fixed a bug where players in the same lobby would encounter different enemies if one of the players previously started a run in the same game session.

• Drones deployed by Divide and Conquer now remember their modifiers.

• Fixed a bug where Omni Hangars would remember their previous items if placed with no slot in front of them.

Features

• Many new Modifiers have now been added to the Modifier reward pool.

• You can now choose from 3 Modifiers instead of getting one randomly.

• Gift rewards now tell you in the text which ship you will be getting the items from.

• Modifiers will now reject items that cannot receive that modifier (no more multishot on your melee weapons)

• The Multiplayer lobby now displays the selected danger level.

• When playing in multiplayer, you can now un-ready in the workshop.

• If you play in windowed mode, the game should now remember your window size and placement.

Balance Changes

• Blade Dance changed: Duplicate adjacent Melee Weapons. The Duplicates have -1 rarity.

• Cavalry Shield is no longer a melee weapon (renamed to Joust Mod).

• Drill Lance rarity increased to Epic.

• The laser wall enemy's lasers now have a maximum range (the range decreases the further the laser is from the center one).

• Hologram now also copies the modifiers on the item it is copying.

• The items created by Duplicator and Blade Dance now remember their modifiers.

• The items equipped to Mega Hangars and Omni Hangars now remember their modifiers.

• You can now chain Omni Hangars together and they will remember their items.

Bugfixes

• Your displayed Wanted Level in the Workshop now properly updates when you use a Hologram on an item that increases your Wanted Level.

• Piracy now properly turns red when its condition is not met.

• Modifiers no longer apply to items that were moved into and then out of the box.

• Fixed a bug where weapon arcs were disappearing.

• Fixed a bug where the selected Danger Level was not transmitted to players who joined the lobby after it was selected.

• Fixed a bug where Havoc Protocol was making the duplicating enemies duplicate at an abnormal rate.

We've been hard at work upgrading our multiplayer architecture, but it still isn't ready yet. So this week is a lighter update, which includes a lot of improvements for Modifiers! Many new modifiers have been added to the reward pool. In addition, you will be able to choose a modifier from 3 options instead of randomly receiving 1. There are additional improvements as well, such as modifiers no longer accepting items that aren't eligible to receive that modifier. You can see the list of tags that are eligible for a modifier by hovering it.

Features

• Knight has been added to the roster and can be unlocked by destroying the Celestial Angel.

• Rewards can now sometimes show up already upgraded. The chances of an upgraded reward increase with act number.

Bugfixes

• Fixed some positive status effects counting as debuffs.

• The Workshop no longer incorrectly displays a Wanted Level > 10

• Fixed a bug where a Universe Seed equipped to something other than a player would contribute to the battle reward count.

• Fixed a bug where a Mirror's Edge clone that dies while equipped with Divide and Conquer would transfer the player's control over to the Divide and Conquer drone even though the player hasn't died.

• Fixed a bug where Outlaw Munitions would not work when equipped to a clone deployed by Mirror's Edge.

• Munitions Belt no longer counts non-gun weapons in its calculations.

• Arsenal X and Munitions Belt now properly highlight guns.

• Omni Hangar artwork has been rotated when equipped on the ship.

Wield Your Blade

The Knight is our premier melee ship, boasting a large arsenal of melee weapons, as well as the powerful Stances. You can only equip one Stance at a time, but each one transforms your gameplay in completely new ways.

Blazing Comet

In order to get close and deal damage, the Knight needs ways to survive hits. Thankfully, it has plenty of options, such as the Momentum mechanic, which allows you to charge into enemies while tanking hits.

Unstoppable Light

Damage isn't the only thing to watch out for. With the new Light resource, Knight can even shrug off incoming status effects as well, allowing it to charge undeterred into enemies.

• Improved the game's startup time.
• Fixed a bug where the game would sometimes not detect when a teammate switches their ship.
• Fixed Honed not actually preventing the gun from gaining fire rate.
• Acceleration Core no longer has Honed.

• Re-enabled a previously disabled faction
• Fixed a bug that was preventing players from seeing their teammates' Modifiers in multiplayer
• Fixed a bug where Wanted Level would activate reinforcements on lower difficulty levels.

• Removed some tags that appeared in the text of certain items instead of as tags attached to the item.
• Fixed a crash preventing the players from beating the game.

Features

• We have now added visible tags to the game! Tags were already in use for various interactions, but they are now displayed on items for full clarity. There might still be some missing or unusual tags though, as we're still cleaning things up.

• Vulture has been added to the game and can be unlocked by beating the game on Ace.

Balance

• The Virtual Reaper's minimum distance has been increased. It should no longer be able to touch the player, and thus correctly prevents the bullets inside from hitting the player.

• The enemy hangars that deploy Reflection Drones now have a deploy limit of 1.

• Enemy Repair Beams can no longer target ships with Healer AI.

• The Eon now disperses in all directions at the start of the fight instead of rushing at the player.

Forge

Forge landed in a strong spot, particularly because of its multiplicative nature which turns effects that were normally balanced into unstoppable swarms. This update aims to reduce its multiplicative powers while giving back power in other areas.

• Hangar Volley now fires Mini Missiles, which are faster and deal less damage. (50 -> 10)

• Hangar Volley cooldown reduced 9 -> 6

• Assembly Line changed: Hangars in this column have +1 multishot +64% fire rate and +1 deploy limit.

• Heavy Augment no longer increases hangar deploy limits.

• All Cores have their cooldowns reduced 12 -> 10

• All Cores now have the Honed tag. (When this is upgraded, increase damage instead of fire rate)

• Doomsday Core changed: Chain. Deals 10% target max health damage. (Halved for bosses)

Bugfixes

• The Duplicator should now properly duplicate any item.

Loot and Plunder

Get ready to pirate with Vulture, a ship designed to loot and destroy items with its unique Junk mechanic. Junk items are broken parts that you can acquire from multiple sources, like the Buzzsaw, which destroys enemy items that it touches and gives you a Junk item when it does.

Junk items have several uses. On their own Junk items provide only small bonuses. However, they can also be combined with fearsome Unstable items, which destroy their adjacent items to boost their power.

But powerful weapons also come with their own notoriety. Some items grant great power at the cost of increasing your Wanted Level, which increases the difficulty of the battles.

Balance Changes

• Guns will prioritize ships that have Healer AI

• The Nameless fight has been made easier by reducing laser prism count. It also has a new attack pattern.

• Upgrading Zapwave now increases the number of bullets it releases.

Bugfixes

• Fixed a reconnection bug in multiplayer.

• Fixed a bug where the game wouldn't detect when another player used a modifier in multiplayer.

• Fixed a softlock with the ship unlock screen.

• Fixed a bug where the Nameless had 0 health on its extensions.

Features

• The Forge is now available and can be unlocked by destroying the Coalition Flagship.

• Counter Assembly now turns red in the workshop when the two weapons are not of the same rarity.

• We're adding an experimental change under the hood that makes players attempt to reconnect if they disconnected in multiplayer sessions.

Balance Changes

• The Anti-Regen status effect now reduces regeneration by 50% instead of 100%

• All ship deployers now have a limit to how many ships they can deploy. Most enemies will have a limit of 2-3, while bosses will have more.

• The instance of damage that breaks your shield will not carry over to your health.

• The Nameless has a new mechanic: When one of its parts dies, it releases laser prisms in a circle.

• Steelwing:

  • Reactant reworked: Acid damage taken is reduced by your percentage of missing health. Adjacent weapons inflict 2 Acid to yourself and enemies.

  • Technovirus now also heals you for the Acid damage on the enemy that dies.

  • Hive reworked: When you ram or use a melee weapon, deploy a Razorfly and restore 4% health.

  • Parasitic Injector range increased 400 -> 500

• Glitch:

  • Override changed: If you have no guns, enemy bullets can hit their allies and have +2 bounce.

  • Cheap Missiles changed: Your missile weapons have +1 Multishot and they lock on to yourself.

  • Virtual Reaper changed: A death zone chases enemies and makes ALL bullets bounce off the inside 4 times.

  • Mini Missile Launcher cooldown reduced 15 -> 10

  • Static Cannon changed to Static Launcher: Fires missiles that explode and inflict Scramble.

  • Slipstream now has a visual indicator showing you when a bullet misses you (you don't need Dodge for it to activate)

  • Slipstream buffed: Restore 1% health each time an enemy bullet misses or bounces off of you.

  • Slipstream rarity reduced Epic -> Rare

Bugfixes

• Fire rate, damage, and range buffs now stack additively as intended instead of multiplicatively.

• Negation Barrier now interacts properly with bouncing bullets.

• Fixed a bugged interaction between missiles and enemy reflection shields.

• Fixed a bug where bolts had no lifesteal.

• Fixed a bug where Star Fiber was not correctly reducing damage from bullets.

We're excited to announce that Neon Striker will be attending Dreamhack Atlanta as a part of the indie section! The event will be taking place from October 31 to November 2 at the Georgia World Congress Center. You can come chat with us in person and tell us how much we need to add rerolls to the game directly to our faces.

You can also use our discount code: NEON for 15% off on tickets!

https://dreamhack.com/atlanta/

Command your Fleet

The Forge is our drone ship, leading a large army of drones to destroy your enemies. It has access to a wide variety of drone types, like the Repair Drone, which can keep your fleet healthy, or the Omni Drone, which can equip any item you give it.

Heavy Arsenal, Heavy Price

However, Hangars are Heavy items, which reduce your ship's speed by 10% for each one equipped. Equip too many and you won't be able to dodge incoming bullets! Fortunately, this ship comes with several ways to solve this weakness, like the Chronofield, which reduces the speed of incoming enemy bullets!

Unrivaled Firepower

You may think this ship only utilizes drones in its arsenal, but that's not all! While your drones are out there fighting for you, you're not just a sitting duck watching the battle from afar. You can still utilize the powerful Core weapons to blast away tougher foes.

Glitch Changes

The Glitch has landed as our strongest ship to date, with an arsenal of wacky ways to destroy your foes. But there is no worse offender than its greatest defensive tool: Virtual Reaper. This update will change Virtual Reaper into a new item that is weaker as a defensive option but stronger as an offensive option. It is now a bubble that captures all bullets and makes them bounce around inside. Combo it with Override or your own bullets for some powerful effects!

Steelwing Revisited

Steelwing suffers from having incredibly synergy-dependent items that are weak pieces on their own but powerful when combined. In this update, we're addressing this by buffing several of its items to be more self-reliant, so the ship requires fewer pieces to get a build going. For example, the new Reactant is not only a great offensive tool, but it can also significantly reduce Acid damage taken, countering its own downside.

Features

• Glitch has been added to the game and can be unlocked by destroying the World Eater.

• The fourth difficulty level has been added to the game.

• Items with specific conditions will turn red when those conditions are not met.

• More Modifiers have been added to the Modifier Pool:

  • Legendary Gift: Get a random Legendary item from another ship.

  • Epic Gift: Get 2 random Epic items from another ship.

  • Rare Gift: Get 3 random Rare items from another ship.

• Your mouse is now locked to the screen during combat.

• The mouse should not take over controls while you have arrowkeys pressed during combat.

• The game now runs in debug mode. If you experience a crash, please contact us (preferably on Discord) and we can try and figure out the crash from your logs.

Balance Changes

• Overall difficulty has been adjusted:

  • Enemy fleet sizes are reduced by 25% across all difficulties.

  • Rare enemies are now stronger but also more rare. This makes Act 1 easier while acts 3 + 4 are harder.

• The Skypiercer has had slight adjustments to items:

  • Nitro now affects your turn rate by default.

  • Nitro Lab changed: Gain 2% Shield Regen for each point of Nitro.

  • Pulsar Heart now destroys bullets.

  • Zeus changed: Melee Weapon. When this hits a Marked enemy, damage all Marked enemies.

• Item Acquisition Adjustment:

  • In Act 1, every set of rewards is guaranteed to have at least one weapon or deployer.

  • In Acts after 1, every set of rewards is guaranteed to have at least one item from your class.

• Advanced Controls nerfed from 6->4 dodge.

• The Celestials' Triangle Missiles now die in one hit from Anti Missiles.

• Asteroids now have 10x health.

• Shatter Cannon bullets now have 1 bounce.

• The difficulty level of the Gemini battle has been reduced.

Bugfixes

• Fixed a bug where bullets that stick to enemies with multiple parts would be offset at weird positions.

• Fixed a bug where players saw different items on their allies in multiplayer.

• Fixed a crash caused by enemy Black Hole bullets.

• Fixed a crash caused by equipping Panic Button and Laser Beam.

• Fixed a visual bug with long-ranged weapon arcs.

• Fixed a bug where equipping more than one Star Fiber on your ship would cause enemy bullets to restore your shield.

• The Nameless minions have been temporarily disabled while we investigate a crash.

Our next playable ship is set to be released on August 15th!

Glitch is a rule-bending hacker ship that sabotages enemies with debuffs and can even turn their own bullets against them. For example, the Override item will allow nearby enemies to be hit by their own bullets, but only if your ship has no guns equipped.

But you know what doesn't count as a gun? Beam weapons! The Glitch has a variety of Beam weapons to help it annihilate foes while still enjoying the benefits of various items.

But Beam weapons aren't your only option. The Glitch can even make use of enemy weapons in various unique ways, and has its own arsenal of missile weapons as well.

You will be able to unlock our next ship starting on our August 15th update, which will also include balance changes and some new items for other ships as well, so stay tuned for more information!

Features

• Two new difficulty levels have been added to the game.

• Modifiers have been added to the game. Modifiers are single-use buffs that are awarded for beating bosses.

• You can now shift an item in the ship customization screen by dragging another item over it.

• You can now view your ship while selecting a reward.

• You can now see what your next fight will be while customizing your ship or selecting a reward.

Bugfixes

• Fixed a bug where Shield Shrapnel did nothing when upgraded.

• Fixed a bug where enemy Triangle missiles were exploding on-fire.

• Multiplayer battles should no longer spawn a massive fleet of enemies and instead spawns them as reinforcements that replace enemies that are killed.

• Ships that die off-screen no longer shake your camera.

Balance Changes

• Duplicator can now duplicate any item instead of just guns. The Duplicates have reduced rarity.

• Metamorphosis now also copies the buffs on the melee weapon in front of it.

• When a boss dies, their minions also die, ending the fight immediately.

Our next big update is coming on August 1st, and it brings a ton of new changes!

Danger Incoming

This update brings new difficulty levels, and with them, new enemies! In order to unlock a difficulty level, you must beat the game on the previous difficulty first. This update will introduce two new difficulty levels at first, and we'll slowly be adding more over time.

Expanded Arsenal

But it's not all hopeless! In this upcoming update, you will have access to powerful Modifiers which can push your build over the edge into absolute powerhouses. Modifiers are very rare. You can only get them from bosses and and late-game elite fights, and each one is a one-time use, so choose wisely!

Inventory QoL

Players will be happy to know that we've finally implemented a much requested quality of life feature that should make managing your ship a lot easier now.

We're really excited to bring you these changes. Get ready for a serious challenge on August 1st!

Steelwing has been added as a playable ship! To unlock the Steelwing, first destroy the Swarmlord.

Firestorm mini-rework

Firestorm has received some changes to some items:

• Shatter Cannon: Recoil(20). Fires bullets that explode into more bullets.

• Junk Ejector: When your weapons Recoil, spawn a Mine. Adjacent items have 20% less Recoil.

• Shock Disperser: Every 5 seconds while slowed, adjacent weapons gain +1 Multishot on their next shot.

• Impact Booster: Speed +32%. Adjacent guns have Recoil(5).

These items will replace the following items. Some of these items have been moved to a future ship. Double Cannon Junk Launcher Chronofield Heavy Augment

Neutral Item Pool Adjustment

We've removed some undesirable items from the neutral item pool. Some of these items will move to other ships.

• Laser Blaster

• Gatling Gun

• Shield Restorer (Moved to The Keep)

• Drill

In addition, the Pulse Emitter has been replaced with the Shield Restorer for The Keep's item pool.

Balance Changes

• Players can no longer be slowed below 50%

• Missile Stockpile recoil reduced from 15 -> 10

• The Devourers Chompers now have a lifespan of 5 seconds so they don't infinitely spawn and lag the game.

• Counter Assembly has been adjusted: "If the gun in front and behind this have the same Rarity, they swap bullets."

Bugfixes

• Fixed the Dino Missiles having black glow instead of red.

• Laser beam visuals should no longer stutter.

• Fixed a bug where Targeting Systems and Magnifier were not updating the arc visuals for guns.

• Added changes to prevent multiplayer desync at the end of battles where multiple enemies are being spawned.

A Living Weapon

The Steelwing will be joining the roster of playable ships on July 18th, bringing with it an arsenal of living weaponry and new mechanics!

Hazardous To All

The Steelwing uses an array of Acid weapons. You may have already been hit by one or two of these weapons, and now you will be able to use them yourself! Acid is a simple damage-over-time debuff that stacks indefinitely. Health bars big and small will wither away when doused with Acid.

But that's not all! The Steelwing can also apply Acid to itself, paying a price for significant power. But be warned! If this isn't used properly, you will find yourself a victim of your making!

Do Not Touch

The Steelwing also utilizes a wide array of Melee Weapons. Get up close to cut through swaths of enemies!

Firestorm Revisited

We've updated the Firestorm to make some of its less exciting items more exciting. The Firestorm has some cool builds and a core identity already, but it has some items that don't really fit or don't support its identity. These items have been reworked to be much more fun and interesting to build around. And don't worry! Most of the replaced items still exist, but we're planning a new home for them on an upcoming ship!

Heavy Firepower

The Firestorm utilizes the new Recoil mechanic. Certain guns with Recoil will slow your ship when they fire, but the Firestorm has ways to circumvent this downside, and can even benefit from it.

For example, the Double Cannon has been replaced with the Shatter Cannon. This weapon may seem familiar to you, as it's a mainstay of the Coalition's arsenal. Now you can be the one on the delivering end of it!

We hope you'll enjoy these new items for the ship, and if you miss the replaced items, don't worry! They'll be showing up again on a future ship!

• Fixed a bug where Negation Barrier would stop working if an item of a higher rarity was equipped.
• Implemented a fix for a multiplayer desync that would occur at the end of battle.

Bugfixes

• Fixed several bugs that were causing the game to crash in multiplayer.
• Fixed a bug where duplicated Echo Guns were not properly contributing to the multishot counter.
• Optimized collision detection for improved performance.
• Optimized weapon target detection for improved performance.
• Fixed a bug where the Missile Stockpile slow effect was significantly reduced.
• Fixed a bug where Chronofield's slow effect was weaker than intended for players.
• Fixed a bug where Missile Drones equipped their Missile Launchers sideways.
• Fixed a bug where having multiple Negative Zones of the same rarity would disable them.
• Duplicator now properly highlights adjacent items.
• Fixed a bug where Targeting Systems was giving less firing arc than displayed.

Balance Changes

• You can no longer be slowed below 10% of your original speed.
• Bullet Enhancer now also boosts Orbital Slicer speed.
• Minigun replaced with Gatling Gun, which ramps fire rate over time while firing.
• Zapwave rarity changed from Common to Legendary.
• Hitlist rarity changed from Rare to Common.
• Negative Zone rarity changed from Epic to Rare.
• Scrappers Bomb health reduced 40 -> 20 and number of bullets on death reduced 12 -> 10.
• Enemy Exploding Bullet speed reduced by half.
• Shield Rerouter changed: "Slow recovery +10% per second and Shields -50%."

Features

• Ace added as a playable ship.
• Added an option to disable screen shake.
• Added an option to display your weapon firing arcs as faint cones.
• Player Missiles and Mines are now yellow to differentiate them from enemy Missiles and Mines.
• Nitro now also displays as a counter above your healthbar.

Our next playable ship, Ace is set to be released on July 4th!

Ace is a maverick battleship that loves to be surrounded by enemies. Take Trick Shot for example. This item allows its adjacent weapons to also shoot an extra bullet backwards whenever they fire.

Maximum Firepower

With this update, we're also introducing two new mechanics. The Overheat status effect can be applied to enemy ships, causing them to take damage from their own weapons whenever they fire.

Of course, there's more to this than just a debuff. Ace also has the almighty Inferno Missiles, which stick to enemies and turn into their own weapons (which damage their allies).

High Risk, High Reward

Ace also takes advantage of the new Dodge mechanic. Dodge is a resource that you spend to ignore bullets that would normally hit you. Because of this, Ace can even afford to sacrifice shield for some extra power.

You will be able to unlock our new ship starting on our July 4th update, which will also include some more significant changes and fixes, so stay tuned for more information!

We're releasing Hotfix 0.1.1 to address a common crash that occurs in Multiplayer. This patch also experiments with an overhaul of the collision system and the Godot Compatability renderer.

You can try the Hotfix on the beta branch right now! Don't forget to let us know if you have any problems!