Posted January 31, 2018 by HOF Studios
It’s been in the works for a few months now, but the Character Class update is finally here! We wrote down some details about it and covered the initial five classes in this blog post. We’ve also brushed up the UI again for this build, as our artist Sebastien (@vakerics) has done some spiffy new icons for the character and weapon classes, plus for icons that are used in other places in the UI. This Build was pretty complex, as you can tell by the version number, as we did 7 revisions to the initial Build 38. I think that is our most ever.
Unfortunately, this update resets save data but we think it’s worth it to start over and experience the new classes! Read on for all the details
Mike (@mikest34)
Buy a discounted First Access key here on itch! (includes a Steam key!)
First, let’s talk about the skills that can be unlocked in these five new classes first. Each class has 3 skills that can be unlocked when the stat value for the class is upgraded to a particular level.
Class | New | Name | Level | Description |
Assault | * | Snap Shot | 1 | Take a shot without using an action with reduced hit chance |
Hit and Run | 3 | If moved and shot results in a kill, get another movement action | ||
Close Combat | 5 | Attack on enemy within 2 tiles doesn't cost an action | ||
Deadeye | Sentry | 1 | Bonus to damage and aim if firing on first action | |
Vigilance | 3 | Character will enter overwatch after moving twice | ||
* | Kill Shot | 5 | If shot results in a kill then get another shot | |
Saboteur | * | Low Profile | 1 | If in cover, first attack per turn does no damage. |
Shadow | 3 | Does not trigger overwatch when moving | ||
* | Sneak Attack | 5 | Deal double damage if not spotted by enemies | |
Soldier | Item Master | 1 | Use an item one extra time per mission | |
Close One | 3 | If killed, revive once per mission with 1 health | ||
Double Tap | 5 | Take two shots with aim penalty on one action | ||
Wildcat | * | Itchy Trigger | 1 | Fire an extra bullet if on first Action |
Bullet Hell | 3 | Fires all remaining bullets at random enemies in range | ||
Combined Arms | 5 | Fire on enemies in range that are fired on by allies |
We’ve also made some changes to the other Stat skills that can be unlocked.
Stat | Name | New | Level | Description |
Awareness | Watcher | 2 | Can fire two overwatch shots on a turn | |
Vital Targeting | 4 | Automatic critical on flanked target | ||
Constitution | Regen | 5 | Restore some health on every turn | |
Grit | Boost Aim | 2 | Increase your focus to better target vital areas | |
Critical Miss | 4 | Enemies can not land a critical hit | ||
Reaction | Speed Loader | 3 | Weapon reloads do not cost an action | |
Return fire | 5 | Fire a shot at any enemy who fires on you | ||
Speed | Flip the Field | 2 | Sprint twice as far on this action | |
Fast Mover | * | 5 | Reduce all cooldowns by 1 |
We have two more character classes and four enemy classes that can also be unlocked in the course of the game. We have these planned out but don’t want to share too much yet. Here are some high level details on the next set of classes.
Class Name | Faction | Weapon | Skills | Unlock |
Warden | Friendly | Launcher | Distraction, Hunker Down, Covering Fire | YES |
Wrecker | Friendly | Heavy | Big Blast, Scrap Blast, Total Mayhem | YES |
Scourge | Cultists | Bio | Bio Freak, Infect, Rupture | YES |
Hazard | Feral Android | Rifle | Malfunction, Power Surge, Overclock | |
Annihilator | Androids | Rifle | Target, Crack Shot, Thermal Imaging | YES |
Butcher | Raiders | Rifle | Taunt, Mend, Enrage | YES |
Swashbuckler | Pirates | Whaler | War Cry, Run and Gun, Revenant | YES |
Equipment and Loot
All equipment will be grouped into tiers, which will help us show you at a glance in the UI whether an item is an improvement over the one currently equipped. There are several other behind the scenes uses for these tiers as well, for example, calculating the store prices.
Another detail we mentioned in the Classes blog post are the new Weapon Classes. To sum up, each Character Class is associated to at least one weapon class. Equipping a “non class” weapon will mean a penalty. Some weapons can’t be equipped except by a member of their class but most just have a reload penalty.
Enemies now drop any “tiered” equipment (greater than tier 0) that they have plus a few credits.
Other Changes
We’ve done a bit of an mini-overhaul to the game UI. New icons for classes plus a few design refinements.
We’ve also revamped the Screen resolution settings to hopefully better support your monitor and, when in windowed mode, enforce 16x9 resolution. For you Linux players with multi-screen setups, we’re trying to improve on a bug reported recently, but you might need to switch to windowed mode. If you have issues with full screen, please submit a bug report with a screenshot and some details on your setup to help us figure this out.
Other Balancing changes
So what’s next?
We’ll be trying to post more regularly (at least once a week) between builds about our upcoming plans. For now, here’s a quick roadmap of what we have left to do before launch (just major items):