Hello everyone, this is the Version Highlights for v0.40 (or what we're calling internally the Early Access build)! To both the new players who will be joining us for this exciting step, and the old players who have been supporting for a while, welcome! Here we'll take a look at what's on the horizon before the Changelog's release, and the launch of our permanently live servers on April 2nd. This time we have a rework of our System Trees, a return to our classic Last Stand game mode and a whole bunch of graphical improvements, so let's dive right in!
First things first, we can't wait for you to join us all in Early Access! From April 2nd our servers will be permanently live and you will be free to progress with all your skins from Alpha and Beta Tests. That's right, no more wipes! To celebrate this we're happy to debut our Introductory BattlePass, which you can unlock the Pro and Premium tiers of for free! This will include a plethora of boosters and skins to get you started. While the Pro will be available for the 10 Platinum you get from completing Training, the Premium will be available for a further 10 Platinum. This will be obtainable quickly through just playing the game, so don't worry! We want to welcome you to Steel Hunters with a taste of what we're aiming for moving forward.
Now for the nuts and bolts of the version proper. As part of our ongoing mission to create an exciting and interesting leveling experience we felt it was time to look at the System Trees. Gone are the days of having four separate trees all competing for your System Points (and let's be honest, they were all going in your main weapon!). Now we have a single, glorious tree filled with nodes providing gradual power to look forward to on your leveling journey. On top of the new Ability Stat nodes, each Hunter will have 3 Unique Nodes that will add an extra layer to their capabilities. Some of them are old effects, like Heartbreaker spreading her Stealth to her allies, but most are all new! Check out a few examples below for Prophet, Heartbreaker and Razorside:
The team decided to take this opportunity to also rework Ability Power (AP) and remove it from the System Trees. We don't think you should need a guide to understand a core mechanic and so we've changed it to an "in-battle only" stat. Your AP will increase naturally as you level up and pick up Enhancement Cores, helping your abilities scale through to extraction.
You will be able to find more information on these topics in both the Changelog and an upcoming deep dive into the System Tree.
Speaking of the Changelog, in it you'll also be able to find our most recent round of balance updates. The main focus of these were to compensate for the new System Tree and Ability Power rework. As there is a lot of moving parts with the new systems, there might be some unforeseen consequences despite the best efforts of the Balance Team, so we thank you for your understanding in advance. Also, as a few of our Hunters had some of their Active Effects converted into the new Unique Nodes in the System Tree, they have been replaced with some brand new ones! We look forward to seeing how you make use of all these new tools.
The System Tree isn't the only part of the Hangar that has gotten a fresh coat of paint! Take a look at our new, much sleeker Loadout screen:
Please give a warm Steel Hunters welcome to our new Drones! While we've certainly redone their exterior, we've also tweaked the nuts and bolts, and given their AI an overhaul. They'll still be joyfully firing their autocannons and launching rocket barrages for now, but the new system will give us a lot more power when it comes to creating interesting behaviors in the future!
You'll probably notice that Starfall Harvest is missing from the Game Mode selection screen. This is intentional! We've received an overwhelming amount of feedback from both the World Premiere playtest and our Clutch Performance Beta Weekend; the team has made the decision to take Starfall back to the lab for a little more iteration. We are committed to making it the primary game mode for Steel Hunters and want it to be the best it can be. In the meantime, please enjoy Last Stand, our original game mode!
As you may know, something we've been cooking for a while is speeding up Steel Hunters without losing our slower, tactical feeling. For version 0.40 we're experimenting with near instant pickup speeds for Enhancement Cores, Ammo Crates and Energy Cells. We still want you to have to commit to picking up the more impactful items, like repairs or consumables, but your feedback that you were tired of holding the 'E' key, or pressing the 'X' button, for every little thing was definitely heard and taken on board. We've also lowered the time before you can start shooting after sprinting or Supersprinting, so running and gunning is easier than ever!
That's all for this time! Keep an eye out for the various articles coming your way on the new System Tree and BattlePass and we'll see you in the Hunting Grounds on April 2nd!
