Dev Log #56: Experimental Branch with Version 1.0.3.13

[Mindless]

BTW, I've killed a bit of faceless in the Blockade(oddity farming) and Elevator fight and couldn't pass the Mindreading procedure in DC with new changes =(

[Hazard]

Elevator fight shouldn't affect the mindreading outcome, but killing Faceless at the blockade and other avoidable places does.

Epeli, do you happen to have any info regarding Expedition difficulty if it's played after returning from DC?

[hilf]

On hard difficulty EMP will drain energy (and subsequently deal damage to the holder) from all items in the inventory (not just equipped ones)

This calls for old Power Management - 35% less energy usage or 35% more energy, if lesser cost is not possible.
Or maybe it is possible to give energy shields reduced cost as well? Something like Damage Reduction mechanism that is currently protecting health bar, but for energy shield.
I want Power Management, not Die Faster To EMP Nades Management


Does anyone know if killing Faceless in a cave near CC makes mindreader in DC angry?
It should not because they are attacking you on sight unlike group near Foundry so you are just self-defending.

[destroyor]

Spoiler alert! Do not read if you never made it past the elevator fight.










Guys I need a confirmation here: Does creeping dread/Eye of Tchort debuff seems to stack faster on dominating difficulty for you?

This is either my memory playing trick on me or the debuff stack speed was increased in this patch. I remember being able to explore a couple blocks before having to hide in a safe spot before. Right now I can barely walk one block before creeping dread turns into Eye of Tchort. Yes, I'm using Cheat Engine speed hack. Yes, I tested and re-tested this with and without Cheat Engine and it has nothing to do with the rate debuff stacks. I don't remember being this annoyed by this in my previous DC runs. This is not even hard or difficult, just pure annoyance - Tchortlings would constantly show up, kill them in 1 ~ 3 shots from my laser and their reinforcements would lock me into a 10 min mini battle which is neither difficult nor resource draining (you waste a couple of my batteries and stims, gold star for you Tchort).

Please take a look at the rate creeping dread/Eye of Tchort stacks and slow it down a bit. Thank you.

[Mindless]

Guys I need a confirmation here: Does creeping dread/Eye of Tchort debuff seems to stack faster on dominating difficulty for you?

Faster from my observations or mb Styg changed debuff rate on all difficulties.

[hilf]

edit:

Does anyone know if killing Faceless in a cave near CC makes mindreader in DC angry?
It should not because they are attacking you on sight unlike group near Foundry so you are just self-defending.

Would you get angry if someone killed your family--in self-defense? I am not a faceless lawyer, but all kills (except during the invasion) count for something.

Tough question as i don't have anyone in military.

Spoilers ahead!






I just wanted to inform group near CC they can go home, just like i did with Foundry group. If mindreaded is worthy of his name he should know this. I don't know why Faceless would get angry about killing them (unprovoked) near CC but not during elevator fight, not counting gameplay reasons.
Actually they have more reasons to be mad at you for fighting them near elevator.
Are they mad for killing them at West Wing?

BTW what's the deal with this absurdly strong bias towards Faceless? It was already strong before 1.0.3 but now it's just... i don't know. It manifests itself in so many ways i can't be bothered to list them all so i'll just mention infinite respawns and Bakers quest. I guess they must be the good guys.

[Hazard]

Why would any of the Faceless surrounding Core City want to leave? They're looking for the cube after all, and all leads point to it being in Core City, especially if the player talks to them in Rail Crossing and near Foundry.

You could argue that in all other possible battles with the Faceless except the elevator one, the player character can run away instead of fighting in order to survive. That's probably why the Mindreader in DC doesn't consider that particular engagement as a hostile act. It's a shaky argument, but there's hardly anything else apart from gameplay reasons, so...

[hilf]

Spoilers time!





After you witness Tchortists stealing cube you know it's no longer in Core City.
"Hi guys, you can move on since item you're looking for is no longer... what the heck?! You wanna fight? Great choice as i am the Invictus and Invictus never runs away!"

My interpretation of conversation with Faceless in West Wing and elevator fight:
Faceless: "Hi player. We're going to kill everyone in this place including you if you won't leave."
Player: "Why, thanks for the warning, man. But i'd rather stay here to fight hand in hand with your archenemy and kill as many of you as i can before proceeding with my business in Deep Caverns."

[Tygrende]

I wouldn't mind if the kills during the elevator fight counted as well, it's rather easy to just stay out of the fight and wait until the elevator comes, even if tchortists are hostile.

[Hazard]

Spoilers time!





After you witness Tchortists stealing cube you know it's no longer in Core City.
"Hi guys, you can move on since item you're looking for is no longer... what the heck?! You wanna fight? Great choice as i am the Invictus and Invictus never runs away!"

My interpretation of conversation with Faceless in West Wing and elevator fight:
Faceless: "Hi player. We're going to kill everyone in this place including you if you won't leave."
Player: "Why, thanks for the warning, man. But i'd rather stay here to fight hand in hand with your archenemy and kill as many of you as i can before proceeding with my business in Deep Caverns."

The Faceless shooting on sight is a different issue, though. AFAIK, lore-wise the Faceless are supposed to be somewhat unpredictable: I think it's Old Jonas who advises the player to steer clear of small bands of Faceless, since those tend to be more dangerous/prone to attacking than larger groups. That said, if you go through the Oligarchy questline and only after that speak with the Mindreader in Rail Crossing... That should probably have a pretty big impact on the Faceless, and I'm not sure if the game recognizes this possibility at all.

As for the friendly Faceless... well, yeah. You won't encounter him if you didn't help him in Core City, but if you did do that, it does make the whole Institute assault and elevator fight pretty weird. Giving the player a choice to temporarily side with the Faceless, or leave and either hide during the battle or fight alongside the Tchortists (hostile Faceless, but if you don't attack them you don't get any penalty to your reputation) would probably make more sense.

This choice could even be the fourth main deciding factor in whether or not the Faceless in DC decide to ally with the player. If you screwed up in Rail Crossing, but helped the Faceless near Foundry and in Core City and then fought the Tchortists, the Mindreader would still consider you as a friend. You could even go back to the Tchortists in DC, since as far as I remember, nobody actually made it down from the Institute apart from the player, and thus the Cytosine Outpost garrison wouldn't have any idea you betrayed them before.

[Hal900x]

Wow! Time for my ~100th playthrough! I was waiting for the expansion but looks like I will finally have to try chem pistols. I agree about the uniques nerfs though...why nerf power fist/jawbone? These become disposable quite early, for a crafter. Speaking of which, this game really needs some tweaks to allow for a non-crafter game. I suggest a major change to Mercantile skill. Not just more random items selection (mainly components) on merchants, but more powerful completed gear.

[Fenix]

Chem pistols are good - playing now with 3 Con build on DOMINATION, can confirm.
Also, tips - acid don't hurt big mutants in Deport A, but do hurt mutated dogs - it help to conserve ammo.

[Ravager]

There is something I am not clear about.

Several weeks ago, I started a new Crossbow build, as I had never played that build before (and now Bowyer is available!)

I just completed Depot A, and am ready to move onto the bigger game.

Knowing that this 1.0.3 update is coming, I have not moved beyond the SGS/Junktown/GMS starting area, because I heard that many zones will be updated. Someone mentioned that zones you haven't been to yet are the ones that are updated by the update.

Is this true? I haven't moved to Camp Hathor yet, because I want those (and all other) zones to be created by the maps from the new update. Is this the right idea? Should I hold off on venturing beyond the pre-Depot A areas until the update is officially released?

Or does this have no bearing on the maps, and I should just go to Camp Hathor now?

[Hazard]

AFAIK, the redesigned enemy encounters is the biggest thing you won't see in areas you've visited before the update. There's not much reason to wait for the official release, though, since the experimental branch is really stable and any serious bugs that turn up are pretty quickly fixed by Styg and his team.

[Altos]

Knowing that this 1.0.3 update is coming, I have not moved beyond the SGS/Junktown/GMS starting area, because I heard that many zones will be updated. Someone mentioned that zones you haven't been to yet are the ones that are updated by the update.

Is this true? I haven't moved to Camp Hathor yet, because I want those (and all other) zones to be created by the maps from the new update. Is this the right idea? Should I hold off on venturing beyond the pre-Depot A areas until the update is officially released?

Or does this have no bearing on the maps, and I should just go to Camp Hathor now?

You mind as well just update to 1.0.3.20 now and be done with it. The Experimental Build, despite its name, is very stable in its current iteration, and--as Hazard mentioned--any serious bugs are swiftly patched by the devs upon them being reported.

There are new zones that have been added in the Lower Caves between SGS, Junkyard, and Camp Hathor, so it's not just the Lower Underrail metro area that has been updated for the map. However, these new zones are nothing more than empty connector maps meant to fill the space between existing rooms (at least as far as the Lower Caves are concerned), so don't worry about having a ton of content behind you that you'll have to re-visit in order to map out. I can tell you now with confidence that it's really nothing to worry about.

Regarding what zones are and are not updated, it is my understanding that everything is retroactively updated once you download the update, regardless of whether you have already visited it or not.

tl;dr :: You mind as well just download 1.0.3.20 now from the Steam Experimental Build and be done with it. Your character will be fine. Don't worry about it. If you're not sure how to download the Experimental Build, there are instructions on the Steam forums somewhere. Or you can just ask for help here and I can explain it. It's a fairly easy process.