Update #36 is more bristling than most - full of good balance changes, upgraded weaponry, reworked medical items, easier to use Lure, helpful new 0 AP display for Talents, improved Tutorial and some key upgrades to the enemy agent reactions to grenades and spotting dead bodies. Exciting progress on so many fronts - so let's dive in! Want more updates? Leave a review! Remember, you can always update your review later but if you feel like we are on the right track a helps immensely!

Gun Runners Refreshed

With this update, we're starting to round out a big package of updates and improvements to the strategy/underworld layer for the game. The first focuses on weapon upgrade balancing and Gun Runner contacts. The main improvement is that Gun Runners now sell a clear upgrade path with Power Level 2 weapons. Overall, a few weapons were removed (for the moment) from circulation (until you Gun Runners can upgrade their weapon services) including weapons like the hromehawk AR, Warthog, Nine-Edge, Stumwhelger M23, K37 Mauler, AutoMag. If you happened to have purchased these before, you'll find they've been upgraded to Power Level 3 weapons, so well done. For those weapons that are still actively for sale, there is the Power Level 1 tier -- which includes some of your starting weapons -- and a clear upgrade to Power Level 2 weapons. Power Level 2 upgrades are not fancy, they are functional and valuable -- the weapons add to their Damage types, some increase Armor Crit %, others add more Full Auto shots. With more Damage comes more Recoil. We're glad to have left the previous set behind -- those weapon upgrades were trying to be too fancy, offering lateral upgrades and trade-off specializations. For upgrades from Power Level 1 to 2, this was overkill -- that will be great for Power Level 5+ variations, but for your first weapon upgrade, you want a clear step up. Still, in terms of combat gear progression, we expect to keep seeing players first upgrade Weapon Mods as the first go to.

Medical Supplies and Items Rebalanced

There have been some key changes to Item rules in Update #36. First and perhaps largest change is that all Items require at least 1 AP. This is a key ground rule -- especially for low Power Level Items -- that will allow cool flexes with cybernetics, Talents and high-powered Items later on. We have established a better floor with the rule, from which we can make cool exceptions. This includes changes to -- all Combat Drugs, Bio-Stitch Bandages and one type of IO-Charger. We know you may be screaming nerf, but this is the best for the future item and item-modifier meta for the long-term. Second, we've upgraded First Aid kits -- increasing both their HP healing values and granting 2 charges for the Power Level 4 and 5 variations. Alongside the nerf of Bio-Stitch Bandages to require 1 AP, the medical item balance is much better off now. Some of the next steps in this department will be to high Power Level Bio-Stitch options available that grant 4+ charges while still keeping to lower heal-per-charge values.

Enemy Decision Improvements

A few improvements to the enemy agent decision trees have been added to Update #36 to continue to tune up enemy response. First, we fixed a gap where enemies would only spot the body of a dead ally when their Turn came around in the Initiative Timeline. Now, enemies will immediately spot and report dead bodies. The second set all deals with grenades and Shock Mines. If an enemy is Damaged or Debuffed by a grenade they will correctly upgrade to aggressive (as they have been attacked) instead of standing around confused. If a Shock Mine is thrown like a Grenade (thrown at the feet of an enemy and immediately going off) then they respond as if it was a Grenade and go into aggressive mode. If an enemy walks into a Shock Mine used like a mine (left there and they trigger it while moving) they will upgrade to Alerted (knowing their are intruders but unsure where they may be).

Talent / Item AP Always Shown

Previously, Talents and Items that cost 0 AP did not show any icon or value for AP. This hid their power in a way and also left some confusion about their activation requirements versus other Talents. Now, all Talents show their AP but those with 0 AP cost have a grayed out, easier to ignore version of it. This helps them really stand out -- Talents like Tactical Surge, iron Grip, Marker Sights -- all bring a special extra level of power to the table simply for their surge capability, using at the very end of your Action with 0 AP left or used back to back without cost to gun, grip, aim and gun again.

Clearer Lure

Lure continues to be a Talent that has some confusion when players first try to use it, so we're working to improve that situation still through basic UI cues. With Update #36, a small red circle now appears under an enemy agent who would be affected by the Lure, helping reinforce the idea that the inner circle that follows your mouse is the area that the Lure will draw from and help make it clear if an enemy is near the border of the Lure's area, whether or not they will be targeted. In short, it's very similar to Grenades but without the damage indicator.

Tutorial Upgrades

With Update #36 we've made another round of improvements to the tutorial and the Gameplay Basic sections. First, in the tutorial we've started to push the guiding text into highlights of actual HUD elements instead of through more clunky character dialog that doesn't play at the same time as the UI. The first prompt suggesting Jamkit be used to knock out a security camera is now explained with Jamkit directly highlighted. If this improvement pans out, we'll be sweeping the rest of the tutorial to move everything into HUD highlights.
Second, we've added annotated images to and updated the Gameplay Basics section on Action Points. For any players checking the Gameplay Basics for help, this section provides a ton more very clear and pointed explanation.

Hover Priority

Up until now, attempting to hover over any interactive element -- a merc, enemy, terminal, lootbox, security device, etc -- would just give hover priority to the nearest element. With Update #36, we've improved the hovering situation to put priority on players and enemies. if an enemy is behind a Laser Mesh, the hovering will now prioritize the enemy's hover and focus over.

v1.2.21 - 12/30/2023

- Updated Gun Runners Diego and Origami Joe to sell clearer set of weaponry upgrades - Street weapons for Sale Power Level 1 and Power Level 2 are clear upgrade, less weapons for sale, better offering - Check your weaponry, some weapons have been upgraded to higher Power Levels - Some weapons previously for sale (Chromehawk AR, Warthog, Nine-Edge, Stumwhelger M23, K37 Mauler, AutoMag) no longer immediately available - Enemies now correctly spot a dead body falling into their sight cone, don't wait until their turn - When damaged or debuffed by a grenade, enemies now correctly upgrade to aggressive - Enemies getting hit by a Shock Mine will emerge in Alerted state - Non-passive Talents always show AP cost even if it is 0 AP for clarity (of their high value) - Improved and rebalanced Item Action Point costs - all items cost AP to use - All Combat Drugs and Bio-Stitch Bandages now cost 1 AP to use - First Aid Kits at Power Level 4 and above gain a second charge and higher HP healing totals - Power Level 3 IO-Charger now costs 1 AP to use but adds a buff - Fixed bug where Talents and Items targeting dead bodies could not next/previous targets - Fixed bug sale prices with Bio-Stitch Bandages - Added glossary entry explaining Pure Dmg Upgrade rules - Fixed incorrect message about witnessed vs. heard grenade explosion