Early Access release version 4.0.0 is live for all players on Steam! This is another HUGE update. As always with updates this size, there will be bugs, balance issues, and broken things. If you have any issues, please let me know here on Steam or, even better, on the [url=https://discord.gg/RmfqQ57g]DINO MERCS discord[/url]. This update introduces a brand-new character: [b]EPHEMERYS[/b]! [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/41563742/a40647e39c8c16f34d74ebfc1e797a5ebf26ae83.jpg[/img] Ephemerys is a stealthy close quarters assassin who prefers to strike from the shadows. She utilizes the new Stealth stat to quickly dispatch enemies. A number of brand-new cards have been added that give you Stealth, and use Stealth to land deadly blows. BOSSES have also been added! [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/41563742/6e2b996aff44a7a6490d0b6130c646f5669951c3.jpg[/img] Bosses are encountered every 20 sectors and will seriously test your survivability. They get access to some of the most deadly cards in the game and provide a hefty challenge to various play styles. Currently, there are two bosses, with more coming soon! Here's a full list of everything that's been added, changed, and/or fixed in this update: - [b]New[/b]: a brand new playable character - Ephemerys. She uses Stealth to avoid damage and land lethal blows on her enemies. - [b]New[/b]: Stealth - this stat reduces damage taken (prevents most damage if playing as Ephemerys), but once you attack, you lose all your stealth points. Use Stealth points to power up deadly Stealth attack cards. - [b]New[/b]: Stealth cards! - [b]New[/b]: new faction of enemies - Fascists! The Fascists field mechanical units and heavily armored vehicles to deadly effect. Try not to die. - [b]New[/b]: Bosses - extra-deadly enemies that will test your deck and skills to the max. They appear every 20 Sectors, so be prepared! - [b]New[/b]: Card Slots have been totally reworked. Instead of Weak/Average/Deadly and Positive/Negative, slots are assigned a multiplier based on how far into a run you’ve progressed. For example, a slot might power up (or power down) the effects of a card by 2x or by -2x. This should help remove some of the guesswork involved in positioning cards and make things simply easier to reason about in general. A big thank you to DINO MERC’s community manager, Strateture, for the inspiration behind this change. - [b]New[/b]: Since Card Slots work differently now, I reworked every card in the game … again. Expect a lot of upcoming balancing fixes. Things might be a little rough around the edges for a number of cards. - [b]Change[/b]: environmental damage from Operation Events is significantly reduced and is handled like combat damage (i.e. affects shield, then armor, then HP) - [b]Change[/b]: increase every playable character's starting Shield/Armor/HP - [b]Change[/b]: I thought have smaller numbers would help make things more strategic. Instead, it (personally) feels like small numbers are less fun, more difficult to balance, and appear to be “less powerful”. So I’m basically doubling every number (damage, stats, etc.) - [b]Change[/b]: cost of unlocking a new character is now 7, instead of 5. - [b]Change[/b]: player is rewarded 1 unlock point for every 2 sectors completed (rounded up, increased from every 3 sectors completed) - [b]Change[/b]: increase width of tooltips to prevent tooltips that are way too tall - [b]Bugfix[/b]: add in score details to Mission Complete screen [b]What's next? [/b] I'm getting close to the end of Early Access - I'm specifically aiming to have the game finished before Christmas-time/late December. I'm focusing on lots of balance fixes, getting rid of all the bugs, and introducing various quality-of-life changes. There won't be much more new content at this point before the game leaves early access (you can expect another character, another boss, and some new cards at the very least!) since I want to focus on getting the game really polished. I'll have more updates to share soon. In the meantime, have a spooky October! - Tim (the dev)