Okay, this is a big one. Wanzers have been thoroughly reworked, balancing has been polished, bugs have been patched and a new ship is making its debut. I'll let you check this unit of a changelog to get an idea of what awaits you (or don't, it can be fun that way too). In any case, I hope you'll enjoy it!
CHANGELOG
2.70
- Added Coanda-class frontline destroyer: A heavy destroyer hull with many small turrets and a medium missile hardpoint to bully smaller ships and distract bigger ones. Has a mixed mobility+defense ship system.
> This is to the Hayle what the Daze is to the Haze.
- Removed non built-in Dampened Mounts hullmod.
- Added a pair of bounties to point the player toward the Virtuous, and the Gulf if you don't have IBBs enabled.
BALANCING:
Massive balance pass that aims to make the Wanzers more usable on regular carriers, buff up a few ships that have been a bit too squishy for a while but also tone down a handful of weapons that have on the other hand crept in power a bit too far.
* WANZERS overall:
. Now all have default rebuild times closer to regular wings (around + 10 to 20% longer than regular fighters instead of + 100 to +200%),
. OP costs have been spread out upward a lot.
* Wanzer Gantry Hullmod:
. Now exclusively built into the Storm, Gust and Pandemonium (and added to the Gulf because why the hell not),
. Now adds one extra craft to all installed wanzer wings (instead of reducing rebuild times),
. No longer require "wanzer-exclusive" complements to apply its effect!
> This is an attempt at finding a new balancing paradigm for Wanzers.
> Hopefully this will make them more usable outside of Diable ships without relying on the Gantry hullmod crutch to prevent snowballing.
> At the same time, the Gantry has been turned into a tool to make Wanzers great on select hulls rather than an OP tax to make them usable at all on regular carrier.
> Thus the Wanzer Gantry hullmod has been removed from several ships.
> Mix-and-match of Wanzer and non-Wanzer wings is now possible with the Gantry, this should allow more versatility in using cheaper wings to draw fire away from the expensive units.
- Frost trooper:
. Covet handgun DPS doubled to 150 from 75 (stat card is also much clearer).
. Rebuild time reduced to 12s from 26, OP cost unchanged at 8.
> Now a solid Broadsword replacement with half the kinetic damage potential, but much more HE with the blade attacks.
- Strife gunner:
. Removed the Thunderbolt launcher.
. Rebuild time reduced to 15s from 34, OP cost raised to 12 from 9.
> There's a fierce competition in the 12OP range, I hope the reduced rebuild-time will make up for the loss of the single Thunderbolt.
- Hoar bodyguard:
. Gun damage per shot increased to 140 from 125 (dps of 175 per gun from 156), range increased to 600 from 500.
. HP reduced to 750 from 950, armor reduced to 75 from 100, speed increased to 250 from 160.
. Rebuild time reduced to 15s from 30, OP cost unchanged at 10.
> Should now be a capable interceptor able to defend a wide area against missiles and fighters instead of an escort for big ships.
- Avalanche shock trooper:
. Added a two-shot Thunderbolt launcher.
. Armor increased to 200 from 175, speed reduced to 160 from 175.
. Main gun no longer has limited ammo, damage per shot increased to 75 from 40 but number of pellets reduced to 6 from 8.
. Rebuild time reduced to 20s from 38, OP cost raised to 14 from 10.
> The Avalanche was lacking in bite against armored targets, so it gets the Strife's Thunderbolt missiles to make it the improvement it should have been.
> It now should be equivalent to a wing of Warthogs but more reliable and versatile.
- Warlust sniper:
. Main gun is now Kinetic instead of Energy, damage and dps unchanged at 400 et 200 respectively.
. Added 200 EMP damage per shot.
. Now has a "fighter" role instead of "support".
. Rebuild time reduced to 20s from 42, OP cost raised to 16 from 12.
> Basically, a fighter with a HVD.
> It's hard to beat the Broadsword in raw kinetic output (900 dps wing wide, if only for a moment) but between the point defense support and the pin-point accuracy, the Warlust should bring something interesting to the table.
- Blizzaia grenadier:
. Cicada grenade launcher ammo removed, dps reduced a bit.
. Rebuild time reduced to 25s from 42, OP cost raised to 18 from 15.
> Removed ammo due to an issue with the new Gantry effect
- Valiant commando
. Cull damage-per-shot increased to 100 from 65, firerate reduced to maintain dps.
. Rebuild time reduced to 18s from 38, OP cost raised to 22 from 14.
- Zephyr marksman
. Rebuild time reduced to 20s from 46, OP cost raised to 20 from 13.
- Raven heavy trooper:
. Glowtusk range reduced to 500 from 625, ammo removed, DPS increased to 200 from 125,
. Grave HMG range reduced to 550 from 650, DPS increased to 325 from 260,
. Rebuild time reduced to 25s from 60, OP cost raised to 26 from 16.
> Now you won't wait forever for the replacement to be deployed! OP cost might require further increase because that thing is a beast without the ammo limit.
* SHIPS
- Draft-class frigate
. Hull increased to 2250 points from 1750
- Versant-class hybrid wanzer:
. Shield efficiency buffed to 0.8 from 1.
. Increased the damage and flux-per-shot of all three built-in Harvest weapon variants.
> With its flux stats unchanged it should not be a ludicrous powerhouse yet, but still much better at punching through medium armor.
- Pocket Gust-class combat carrier:
. Deployment cost reduced to 9 from 11,
. Maneuverability significantly improved,
. Flux capacity increased to 4500 from 4000,
. OP amount increased to 95 from 85,
. Removed built-in Wanzer Servicing Gantry hullmod
> Gantry was no longer needed, and added some thematic buffs for a ship supposed to be quick and agile but ended up folding every other battle.
- Calm-class destroyer:
. Reduced cargo capacity to 80 from 110,
. Reduced fuel capacity to 50 from 60,
> These changes are more for flavor and give a bit of breathing room to the new Coanda-class destroyer to stand out.
- Gust-class light cruiser:
. Deployment cost reduced to 20 supplies from 24,
. Max speed increased to 75su/s from 65,
. Flux capacity increased to 9500 from 8200.
. Gets the improved Wanzer Gantry hullmod.
> I'm trying to keep it a bit more brittle than an Eagle but about as mobile and no longer ludicrously more expensive to deploy.
- Rime-class recon cruiser:
. Flux dissipation increased to 300 from 250,
. Flux capacity increased to 6000 from 5500,
. Speed increased to 65su/s from 50,
. Maneuverability slightly increased.
> It's in the deployment cost range of a Falcon and while it should not be as good, it certainly should not have been hopeless either.
- Haze-class cruiser:
. OP amount increased to 175 from 170,
. Maneuverability slightly increased.
> The Haze has been outshone by the Daze, these are very minor buff to try and bring it up to parity.
- Storm-class Battlecarrier:
. Removed 2 medium hybrid turrets,
. System changed to Plasma Burn from Targeting Feed,
. Deployment cost increased to 26 supplies from 23,
. Gets the improved Wanzer Gantry hullmod.
> If you think this is a nerf, wait until you give it a whirl with those +1 Wanzer wings!
- Maelstrom-class Battlecruiser:
. Removed the Wanzer Servicing Gantry hullmod.
> No longer needed
- Pandemonium-class Dreadnought:
. Oversized Hull hullmod removed,
. Deployment cost increased to 75 supplies from 60,
. Number of decks reduced to 3 from 4.
> Last update added a 4th deck and it is already gone... But hey, those three with the new Gantry hullmod are worth "6" decks if you use solo wings!
* WEAPONS:
- Artassault revolver cannon:
. Accuracy significantly improved
. Damage and Flux-per-shot increased to 75 from 60,
. DPS adjusted to 175 from 150.
> It needed a serious buff considering the anemic 500 range for the same cost and similar offensive stats as the Light Assault Gun.
- Artdeux Twin Cannon:
. Flux/dmg buffed to 1.0 from 1.1,
. OP cost reduced to 11 from 13.
- Glowtusk Linear Rifle:
. Flux-per-shot reduced to 400 from 500 (0.8 flux efficiency)
- SRAB:
. Range lowered to 800 from 1000,
. Projectile durability halved.
> Since it benefits from both weapons *and* missile hullmods and skills, it was a bit insane when deployed in numbers.
- Thunderbolt Pod:
. Fire delay increased to 6s from 3.6,
. Burst size increased to 4 from 3,
. Ammo reduced to 16 from 24,
. OP cost reduced to 10 from 12.
> Some changes to help the AI not waste missiles, others to make it less "power dense" for a single medium slot.
- Lazyhorn Warp Projector:
. Damage-per-shot reduced to 200 from 280,
. Flux-per-shot reduced to 100 from 140,
. OP cost reduced to 12 from 13.
> Same deal, the weapon just offered too much utility out of a single slot, even for the OP cost.
- Opfer GV:
. Damage and Flux-per-shot reduced to 10 from 15,
. Ammo reduced to 320 from 400,
. Ammo regen increased to half its burst DPS.
. OP cost reduced to 20 from 26.
> Another weapon that was just a bit too much power in a single slot,
> It should still be a worthwhile upgrade upon the Mark IX but no longer a massive jump in power with the OP cost as the lone meaningful drawback.
BUGFIXES/IMPROVEMENTS:
- Added "broken" hullmod to recovered Virtuous, and resolved the crashing issue for deploying it without restoring first.
- Removed (!) icon next to the Virtuous fleet (and the Gulf one if you don't have IBBs enabled) and added it to the post-battle wreck.
> It confused so many people!
- Fixed Virtuous being unreliable to recover.
