This is a small hotfix patch to address a few non-critical bugs and improve the balance of gearing up your Revenants.
REVENANT
Greatly increased the drop rate of Revenant weapons, which now have a chance to drop as rewards from a lot more missions than before.
BUG FIXES
Brie's total uses on a mission run are not reset between mission repeats. This sometimes resulted in her not appearing on a mission at all or showing incorrect remaining uses in her ability details.
Ned's assignment Wedding Ring cannot be completed.
Garrett's assignment Irradiated Tissue cannot be completed with collected items.
Machine gun mastery icon is not showing in merc details after spending points in MG mastery and viewing the merc's details in camp. This is only a visual bug.
Please post your issues in Discord or the Steam forums. Thank you!
BALANCE PATCH 2 - EA 0.3.20
Hello mercs and Happy New Year!
This patch brings a lot of quality of life improvements, many of which are based on your recent feedback since the release of content update 3.
CONSOLIDATED AMMO DROPS
All ammo drawn on a mission is now collected into a separate ammo stack, shown directly below the overflow deck. Press on the stack to draw an ammo card anytime during your turn as long as there is room in hand. This was frequently requested to reduce the clutter of cards in hand.
Slade's free ammo is now kept as loot and can be upgraded to small ammo.
Mission noise tracker UI has been reworked to hopefully be less confusing. The icon has been moved below the the ammo stack, added in this patch.
MISSION SQUAD RE-GEAR AUTOMATION
Used consumables equipped on any merc bag slot are marked to be automatically re-equipped when returning from a mission, if available in your arsenal. This applies to ammo, food, medical supplies, explosives, etc.
FOOD REWORK
Sugar Rush effect from sweet consumables has been removed (for now).
A new buff has been added to all the food and drink consumables, called Rejuvenated.
Rejuvenated buff grants +1 XP from all sources for 2-4 turns. Consecutive uses of the food/drink items on the same merc increase the turn duration of the buff.
Added 6 new food/drink consumables.
ACCESSORIES / GADGETS
New gadget, HV Sniper Rounds to grant bonus damage of Aimed Shot while using sniper rifles.
Accessory Quiver has been reworked to grant bonus damage of Aimed Shot with bows/crossbows.
ASSIGNMENTS
Collected assignment items now appear in the valuables tab of the gear management screen.
Previously collected assignment items are now applied towards newly picked up assignments that require those items. Those items should be automatically removed from your arsenal after being applied on the pending assignments.
AUDIO IMPROVEMENTS
Added 3 new announcer emotes for automated player kills during the enemy's turn.
Announcer emotes on automated kills through skills like Flanking Maneuver, have been changed to play on every other kill (instead of every kill) Examples: Humiliation, Frenzy, Rampage
Reduced the frequency of announcer emotes on headshot from 100% to 70%. This only applies to kills made with bow, crossbow and sniper rifles.
SKILL BALANCE
Enforcer's skill Assist is now capped at max 80% (instead of 100%).
Enforcer's skill Assist has been rebalanced to align with the new max chance.
Unique pistols granting +10% to Assist now grant +10% to max chance instead.
GAME SETTINGS
Added an instant upgrade animation option to General settings.
Added a Show Clock option in General settings to display system time in camp.
Added 144 FPS to the frame rate options in Video settings.
BUG FIXES
Lure is not created by removing a body with max enemy cards in play (8 cards).
Duplicate Lure objects can be created through rapid placement, they are now removed on turn end.
Enemies affected by Enemy Assessment have the wrong status, crit chance, should be crit damage.
Skill Natural Leader applies Total Focus but not Aimed Shot.
Details of cards in hand/loot rewards go out of bounds while using the hidden details option.
I've been closely reviewing the awesome feedback for Content Update 3.
Besides the immediate bug fixes, this patch addresses the 2 most common topics.
Bow/crossbow/sniper rifles don't feel impactful enough, especially when compared to the higher quality firearms with multiple shots.
Leader feels underpowered compared to the other mercs. I agree, so we have some buffs.
BOW / CROSSBOW / SNIPER RIFLES
All bows, crossbows and sniper rifles now come with a new triggered ability, called Aimed Shot. Aimed Shot greatly increases the next critical hit damage of a ranged attack and gets enabled by gaining Total Focus. Total Focus is gained when a merc skips their attack turn.
Aimed Shot is situational and requires a little setup, but the payoff can be significant. This is especially true for higher quality rifles or bows where most of the damage starts to fall off due to having a single shot. Merc's crit chance can be increased through many skills, weapon training, consumables and mechanics such as Distraction. I hope this change brings fun new strategies for lining up massive damage. More tuning to come.
SKILL CHANGES
Leader's passive abilities now include a 20% chance to retain Total Focus.
Leader's ability Black Belt now also increases the passive chance to retain Total Focus.
Leader's ability Natural Leader now also applies Total Focus on all mercs in play.
Tactician's skill Smoke Grenade has been updated to allow blind to be stacked up to 80%.
GENERAL CHANGES
Added comma formatted numbers to the following stats over 1,000, displayed in camp: player supplies, player reputation, trader supplies, region noise (blue/red) stats
Gear slot with an equipped shield has been changed to show the damage of the shield instead of its durability. This is for consistency across all weapons in gear slots.
Random Revenants in play auto-consume remaining enemy bodies on area clear.
BUG FIXES
Enforcer's skill Skull Crush is not increasing melee damage on a stunned enemy.
Upgraded accessory Shoulder Pads is not showing the correct rarity (visual bug).
Multiple smoke grenades on the same target/slot can stack blind to 100%.
Fixed typo for skill Flesh Grip, (our -> out).
Total Focus buff is not applied on Revenant mercs in play.
Falling 3D model glitch in card details of some consumables (ie. Plastic Explosive).
Mouse cursor disappears from a rare visual glitch. Toggling Game Settings (ESC) will now attempt to restore the missing cursor.
Skills Flanking Maneuver, Assist and Retaliation can cause the 3D camera to get stuck while combo proccing in combation with Initiative. Greatly reduced the chance of overlapping 3D cutscenes from chained combos.
Thank you and please post your issues in Discord or the Steam forums.
I've been closely reviewing the awesome feedback for Content Update 3.
Besides the immediate bug fixes, this patch addresses the 2 most common topics.
Bow/crossbow/sniper rifles don't feel impactful enough, especially when compared to the higher quality firearms with multiple shots.
Leader feels underpowered compared to the other mercs. I agree, so we have some buffs.
BOW / CROSSBOW / SNIPER RIFLES
All bows, crossbows and sniper rifles now come with a new triggered ability, called Aimed Shot. Aimed Shot greatly increases the next critical hit damage of a ranged attack and gets enabled by gaining Total Focus. Total Focus is gained when a merc skips their attack turn.
Aimed Shot is situational and requires a little setup, but the payoff can be significant. This is especially true for higher quality rifles or bows where most of the damage starts to fall off due to having a single shot. Merc's crit chance can be increased through many skills, weapon training, consumables and mechanics such as Distraction. I hope this change brings fun new strategies for lining up massive damage. More tuning to come.
SKILL CHANGES
Leader's passive abilities now include a 20% chance to retain Total Focus.
Leader's ability Black Belt now also increases the passive chance to retain Total Focus.
Leader's ability Natural Leader now also applies Total Focus on all mercs in play.
Tactician's skill Smoke Grenade has been updated to allow blind to be stacked up to 80%.
GENERAL CHANGES
Added comma formatted numbers to the following stats over 1,000, displayed in camp: player supplies, player reputation, trader supplies, region noise (blue/red) stats
Gear slot with an equipped shield has been changed to show the damage of the shield instead of its durability. This is for consistency across all weapons in gear slots.
Random Revenants in play auto-consume remaining enemy bodies on area clear.
BUG FIXES
Enforcer's skill Skull Crush is not increasing melee damage on a stunned enemy.
Upgraded accessory Shoulder Pads is not showing the correct rarity (visual bug).
Multiple smoke grenades on the same target/slot can stack blind to 100%.
Fixed typo for skill Flesh Grip, (our -> out).
Total Focus buff is not applied on Revenant mercs in play.
Falling 3D model glitch in card details of some consumables (ie. Plastic Explosive).
Mouse cursor disappears from a rare visual glitch. Toggling Game Settings (ESC) will now attempt to restore the missing cursor.
Skills Flanking Maneuver, Assist and Retaliation can cause the 3D camera to get stuck while combo proccing in combation with Initiative. Greatly reduced the chance of overlapping 3D cutscenes from chained combos.
Thank you and please post your issues in Discord or the Steam forums.
After many months at the lab, experimenting on the undead, I'm very excited to bring you the biggest content update to Dead Grid yet.
While this update brings a lot of new items, a new difficulty mode, many balance changes and bug fixes, the main feature is the new playable mercenary class, called Revenant. So, let's get to it!
REVENANT
Revenant is a new playable merc class, unlocked through the Lab component. A new Lab component has been added, called Mortuary. Once you gain access to the Mortuary, Revenant component wills to drop from random eliminated enemies. Collect enough of these components to reanimate your first Revenant merc.
A set of 15 new Revenant skills has been added, centered around the theme of the class.
Revenants can only attack in melee and use variety of class specific weapons, equipped into either of their hands. These weapons cannot be equipped on non-Revenant mercs. Durability of both hands is repaired by a single consumables at once. It's perfectly normal for Revenants to break their weapons on a mission as their damage with bare hands is already very strong.
Combat the training options are also unique to the class.
TACTICIAN
Tactician's first tree desperately needed a big review with a lot of feedback from players stating the noise reduction skills didn't have much of an impact when compared to the rest of the class toolkit. Another common request was to offer more passive options and this update should address both of these topics. Here's a quick look at the new skills and their placement on the tree.
COMMANDO
Breach and Enemy Assessment have been upgraded to 5 ranks and received a substantial buff.
NEW DIFFICULTY MODE - APOCALYPSE
A new difficulty mode has been added, called Apocalypse. The game now offers 4 difficulty options, covering a wide range of pace and play styles.
With the the addition of this new mode, the game has gone through a significant rebalance of enemy scaling, specifically pushing for an easier start and a lot more challenge on the later missions. Game balance is a continuous endeavor, so your feedback is always considered. If you're having problems beating some missions, please consider trying an easier difficulty and submit your feedback on the forums.
NEW MISSIONS
Two new missions have been added to the game, County Jail and Prison Route. Existing saves will need to complete their prerequisites again to unlock. These missions present a new enemy type, prison inmate. You'll be fighting weak, strong, elite and boss variants of these inmates.
NEW ITEMS
Over 80 new weapons have been added to the game, many of which are unique variants of existing weapons and some are completely new to the game. New unique weapon modifiers have also been added to change the behavior of various skills, making them more appealing for specific builds.
In addition to the new weapons, around 20 new gadgets and accessories have been added with completely new mechanics. Here's quick look at some of them.
QUALITY OF LIFE
A feedback requested feature to filter by minimum item level has been added to the gear management interface of all weapons.
Another popular player suggestion was to allow you to hide the card details for mercs and enemies in play. This is especially useful for players already familiar with the cards, looking for a less noisy UI. You can toggle this with the Ctrl key while hovering over a minion or object card in play.
Items stolen by Brie are now displayed on the Loot Haul dialog when returning from any mission where she was used.
SEASONAL CONTENT
The first holiday event has been added to the game. More more seasonal is planned in the future.
WHAT'S TO COME
I'll be closely monitoring any feedback and bug reports, so the first priority is the game's stability. I've already started planning the next update and plan to star working on it right after the holidays. A more interesting mission diversity is one of the things at the top of my list. I'll also be looking to complete the remaining survivors and start filling the gaps in the story. Controller and Steam Deck support is planned as well, some of that work is already in the game.
As always, thanks for all the great feedback and bug reports! Please stay tuned for more news and I hope you enjoy the update!
FULL PATCH NOTES - EA 0.3.10
GENERAL CHANGES
<*> Improved the skills tutorial, shown to new players early in the game. <*> Added an item level filter for melee and ranged weapons next to the pagination. <*> Duplicate cards can now be sold to the trader with single click while holding Shift. <*> Loot stolen by Brie is now displayed on the Loot Haul screen with a STOLEN flag. <*> Enemies with 10,000+ HP will now display as 10.0k on card frames. <*> Skills playable on target minions or objects can now be discarded from hand by dragging down. <*> Consolidated Tactical Advantage chance (from mercs in play) to no longer go above 100%. <*> Added a new minimal combat board frame variant, available in Game Settings. <*> Clicking on an open assignment button closes that assigment's details (per feedback). <*> New random enemy mechanic, called Fierce which grants a chance for double attacks. <*> Many unique melee and ranged weapons now offer modifiers to different class skills. <*> Weapon upgrade preview now indicates cripple or stun chance improvements. <*> Added distinct sound effects for broken sharp vs blunt vs shield weapons. <*> Holiday seasonal content has been added to the game as special drops, available until mid January. <*> Hidden skills with not enough earned points can now be hovered over to read their details. <*> Spacebar hotkey can now be pressed to return to camp from the mission victory screen. <*> Card details of minions and objects in play can now be hidden by pressing Control. <*> Remastered the end turn sound effect with a reduced volume.
GAME BALANCE CHANGES
<*> Weapon accuracy from merc training has been rebalanced resulting in additional hit chance of all ranged weapon types. <*> Many unique weapons and shields have been slightly rebalanced for damage and durability, mostly with minor buffs. <*> Stamina consumption has been rebalanced for all melee weapons to be more consistent with weapon damage. <*> Stamina regen has been rebalanced for all ranged weapons, smaller weapons will restore more stamina. <*> Infection has been reworked to drop merc's HP to 50% and lasts for 5 turns (previously 10). <*> Chance of infection has been rebalanced to slightly increase with game difficulty, this is shown on every enemy in combat. <*> Enemy chance to cause bleeding has been rebalanced to increase with game difficulty,shown on enemy in combat. <*> Poisoned effect no longer drops mercs to 0 stamina (Exhausted), this addresses a couple of issues with mercs never leaving Exhausted. <*> Gadget Sleeping Bag has been buffed with additional damage while Fully Rested. <*> The flat melee bonus of accessory Spiked Ring has been slightly reduced. <*> Study of Decay lab cards now only drop from Strong, Elite and Boss enemies, but the drop rate is doubled. Enemy type is shown in card details. <*> 5th merc slot in missions squad is now unlocked much sooner, upon discovering Pine Valley PD. <*> HARD mode and enemies are no longer affected by the extended tutorial for reduced HP and disabled damage gain from Frenzy. <*> All medical consumable cards have been completely rebalanced to align with the upgrade paths they offer. <*> Consumable with heal over turn (hot) now have a consistent 15% HP heal. The quality of the card increases the duration of turns. <*> Heal Over Turn effect now triggers at the start of turn instead of end of turn, allowing an extra turn of taking damage. <*> Knife Tool no longer offers lock picking. There are specific lock picking cards and gadgets. <*> Area objects (barricades, vehicles, rotting corpses, propane) can now be destroyed with melee attacks. Previously could only be destroyed with firearms or explosives. <*> Greatly reduced the number of completed assignments, required to unlock all the Survivor Assignment slots. This is in preparation for more assignments to be added in the next update. <*> Balance changes to survivor character Brie - Lowered Brie's cooldown from 30 to 20 turns. - Brie can discover a lot more uniques but also has a 50% chance to find 2-4 valuables instead. - Brie can now be used twice as much on a single mission, upgradable with Intel points. - A new gadget has been added, specifically to deter Brie from stealing your items.
NEW MISSIONS AND GAME DIFFICULTY CHANGES
<*> A 4th game mode has been added called, APOCALYPSE. <*> APOCALYPSE mode cannot be lowered to HARD once started. <*> Each game difficulty now offers different unique item drop rates from eliminated bosses. <*> The drop chance from bosses goes up for each repeat, shown in combat log after killing a boss enemy. <*> Here are the base values for the drop rates of the 4 modes in the game:
- EASY: 15% (max 25%, +1% from each repeat) - NORMAL: 20% (max 30%, +1% from each repeat) - HARD: 25% (max 35%, +1% from each repeat) - APOCALYPSE: 30% (max 45%, +1% from each repeat)
<*> HARD mode can now be selected without any requirements. <*> HARD mode can now be toggled in game settings while playing on NORMAL or EASY. <*> A major rebalance of enemy scaling has been done, specifically focusing on the easy and harder difficulty modes The game should now offer a wide range of challenging enemies for all play styles. If you're still finding the game too hard, I suggest toggling to EASY and gear up some more. I will of course keep balancing the game further, so I will be closely monitoring all the feedback. <*> Added a new medium size mission, County Jail, unlocked after completing the mission Pine Valley PD. <*> Added a new small size mission, Prison Route, unlocked after completing the Oil Refinery. <*> Existing saves will need to complete the prerequisite missions to unlock these new region locations.
LEADER
<*> Track Runner has been rebalanced with a significant buff to the skill.
COMMANDO
<*> Breach was converted from 1 to 5 ranks and now offers a major buff. <*> Enemy Assessment was converted from 1 to 5 ranks and also offers great rewards when fully ranked. <*> Execute damage now stacks with Enforcer's skills Pummel and Power Strike while applied on the same merc. <*> Updated art for some Commando skills.
ENFORCER
<*> Buckshot skill details now indicate the skill usage is per shot, not per attack. Increased shots from 7 to 10. <*> Slugs changed to count each shot (not attack) to be consistent with Buckshot. Increased shots from 5 to 10. <*> Power Strike and Pummel can now stack the damage when applied on the same merc. <*> Shield Master was slightly rebalanced to prepare for a new set of unique items. <*> Updated art for some Enforcer skills.
TACTICIAN
Aside from the new merc class, Tactician has the biggest rework of skills in this patch.
<*> Propane, converted from 1 to 5 ranks, added multiple variations of the object deployed in combat. <*> Dynamite, converted from 1 to 5 ranks and slightly rebalanced. <*> Siphoned Petrol was converted from 1 to 3 ranks and slightly rebalanced. <*> Smoke Grenade now offers extra noise reduction. <*> Pyrology, converted to a passive skill with a completely new mechanic. <*> Flare Gun was converted to a passive skill with a new mechanic. <*> Silence, phased out and replaced by a new passive skill Lure. <*> Light Movement, phased out and replaced by a new passive skill Infiltration. <*> Updated art for many Tactician skills.
REVENANT
<*> A new merc class has been added to the game, complete with 15 new class skills and unique training options. Note: Revenants cannot be the selected on the new game creation screen, they are unlocked through the Lab. After all, they are the experiments of a post-apocalyptic scientist! <*> Revenant cannot use ranged weapons and can only attack at melee using both of their hands <*> Revenants perform multiple swings and occasionally bite for even more damage. <*> Revenants use custom weapons designed specifically for the class, they cannot be equipped on regular mercs. <*> Revenant weapons use durability which means they can be repaired just like any melee weapon, using a variety of repair cards or skills. <*> Revenants are strong with their bare hands and their class specific weapons act as damage modifiers, equipped into individual hands. Keep in mind, it's perfectly normal to break their weapon during a mission as their hand damage is still very strong. <*> A new Mortuary section has been added to the Lab. You must unlock the Virology section of the Lab to reanimate your Revenants. Reference tool tips for more information on the required components, which start to drop as soon as you unlock the Mortuary. <*> Lab progression to unlock all Revenant mercs is persistent to future game replays, meaning you can reanimate all 3 Revenant mercs as soon as you unlock the Mortuary on that save.
FAME
<*> 60 new Steam achievements for a total of 215.
NEW CARDS
<*> 3 voiced Revenant mercs <*> 15 Revenant skills <*> 2 new Tactician skills <*> 2 enemy types with 15 variants for strong, weak and elite <*> 1 new boss, appearing on the County Jail mission <*> 7 gadgets with unique variants <*> 8 accessories with unique variants <*> 10 random lootable containers (duffel bags, suitcases, boxes, etc) <*> 10 valuable item drops <*> 10 junk loot variants <*> 5 new food and drink consumables <*> 8 events with unique mechanics <*> 3 rare medical consumables <*> 80+ weapons, many old weapons rebalanced and some are completely new to the game <*> 30+ new unique variants of existing weapons
BUG FIXES
<*> Lab unlock Field Tech is not correctly triggering, resulting in very little chance of progression. <*> Mission squad slot 4 can be unlocked before squad slot 3 which is confusing. <*> Melee weapons or shields using auto-repair from a backpack slot sometimes cause an item to break anyway. <*> Toggle weapon tooltip shown in card details on mercs without a ranged weapon. <*> Increased the size of skill details UI to fix out of bounds text on some resolution settings. <*> Mercs holding a shield with a bleeding status take bleed damage to durability instead of health. <*> Klaus leads away 0 undead on missions with a low unaware count, should always be at least 1 enemy. <*> Repair consumables still in bag sometimes don't trigger the auto-repair when reaching 1 durability. <*> Lockpicks auto-consumed from bag with a return chance do not stay in the bag on a successful roll. <*> Heal cards auto-consumed from bag to prevent a killing blow don't trigger heal over turn effects. <*> Repair cards auto-consumed from bag slot don't trigger repair over turn effects. <*> Charmed undead (through Bloody Meal) can gain XP in combat, they have no use for XP. <*> Poisoned mercs with no stamina (Exhausted) are able to perform attacks on a new turn, while showing as inactive. <*> Merc starting a turn in Exhausted state is unable to attack when stamina is restored by any means. <*> Merc at low stamina gets an unintentional stacking melee damage buff at the start of every turn. <*> Enemy 3d avatar occasionally does not fall down if killed by reflect or status damage during their attack on a merc. <*> Spiked Ring accessory applies multiple times when merc is played on board, resulting in incorrect item usage. <*> Selecting a save slot and closing Game Settings without confirming breaks the UI when upon returning to Save/Load. <*> Mercs returning to combat on new encounters (map tiles) are not kept in the last known order. <*> Some accessory buffs apply 4 times on the same merc when entering combat. <*> Total explosion damage boost in combat shows an invalid negative number (rare case). <*> During a Power Strike sequence, players are sometimes able to switch to a ranged attack. <*> Multiple fixes to Fame tracking related to killing with bows, pistols, shotguns and ARs. <*> Lab's Field Tech progression drop has an incorrect card image (explosive). <*> Enforcer's Shield Mastery skill triggers on melee attacks without a shield. <*> Enforcer's passive turn ability (repair) states COMMANDO in card log, should be ENFORCER. <*> Repair consumables can sometimes trigger lock related Fame progression. <*> Accessory item Waste Disposal (gloves) almost never triggered due to a wrong validation check. <*> Card details on the Loot Haul screen stay open if the space bar is used to close the dialog. <*> Mercs stunned by an enemy event, during the player's turn are still able to attack. <*> Many typos and errors have been fixed throughout the game, please report more as you spot them.
SPECIAL THANKS
I'd like to extend my special thanks to the Discord fans who've participated in testing this update the past couple weeks. You guys have really helped me improve the game!
Mimic Immortal George Tchey Rafael Hydra Toolpanzer Jigglyproff SirThoryn
Sorry if I missed anyone, be sure to let me know.
Please post your issues and suggestions in Discord or the forums. Thank you!
This week I'd like to share the main theme of the upcoming content update to Dead Grid.
NEW MERC CLASS
If you're a fan of classic zombie movies, such as Day of the Dead, you may recall scenes of zombies being experimented on, trained and used as meat shields.
Inspired by these movies and TV shows, a brand new playable merc class has been added to the game, called Undead. This class is designed to offer a different play style of what you've been used to.
Undead mercs aren't the brightest characters in your squad. Decomposing brains suffer from frequent amnesia, granting them a chance to completely ignore your commands. What they lack in smarts is easily made up for with brute force, sending them into a mindless frenzy of swings and bites in a single turn.
Undead mercs are still zombies and zombies suffer from constant hunger. The stamina bar, used by living mercs, has been replaced with a system called Hunger.
In addition to hunger, undead mercs suffer from a constant decay, causing them to lose HP every turn. The severity of decay is tied to the intensity of hunger. On the plus side, hunger determines the crit chance of every swing, giving you the choice of doing more damage at the cost of higher decay.
Hunger, decay and amnesia can be modified through skills, training and equipment.
The new merc class comes with 15 all new skills!
In order to acquire these mercs, you'll need to first gather research components for the Lab.
Undead mercs cannot use traditional melee or ranged weapons, therefore a set of new weapons have been added to the game, specifically catered to work with the class. They are upgraded the same as any weapon and can be equipped into left or right hand, allowing you to mix and match.
SKILL CHANGES
As I mentioned in the past update, Tactician was due for a review. Many players expressed the Surveyor spec feeling very underwhelming, so I did a significant redesign of multiple skills. This also includes a selection of passive skills which was another common request.
A few skills for other classes have also been tuned, more details to come in full patch notes.
IMPROVED UNIQUE ABILITIES
Many unique weapons now support modifications to various class skills. These modifiers apply only to the merc carrying that weapon. Not all uniques are affected yet, but the system will be expanded on with further testing.
NEW ITEMS, QUALITY OF LIFE
Some of these accessories are directly based on your feedback.
A number quality of life features, also based on your feedback, have been added to the game.
Weapons can now be filtered by minimum item level.
Brie's stolen items are shown in Loot Haul when returning from a mission.
ETA
I'm not ready to announce the release date of this update yet, but development is reaching the final stages with QA coming right after.
Please stay tuned for more news and thanks for playing Dead Grid!
--Paul
HOTFIX PATCH NOTES - EA 0.2.25
This is a small hotfix patch to address some immediate bugs found this past weekend. Thanks for all the reports!
CHANGES
Reduced Brie's steal chance from 35% to 30%.
Updated graphics of the weapon training respec button.
Updated graphics of the weapon training close button (used to say Accept). This was confusing to some players since points are spent right away and Accept only closes the interface.
BUG FIXES
Idle mercs (removed from mission squad) are not properly saved resulting in loss of equipped gear. This does not affect mercs in mission squad and the bug was introduced with the last big content patch.
All bows are not correctly aligned when held in hand by female mercs (not on their back).
Horde overflow icon shows up on undiscovered region locations.
Achievement "I'm Here to Help" is not being tracked. Also changed the description to match the goal.
Content Update 02 - Out Now!
Hello Mercs!
I'm excited to bring you the second major content update to Dead Grid! This update includes some new features, many quality of life changes, a new game mode, a new Enforcer merc, new music tracks, many small visual upgrades and bug fixes.
Here is a quick overview with the full patch notes at the bottom of the post.
NEW FEATURE - REGION NOISE
All generated or reduced noise during a mission is now tracked and consolidated at the end to spawn a random game modifier. These modifiers are similar to the event cards drawn in combat but last the entire span of your next mission instead of a single turn.
Active modifiers can be seen on the right side of the play board during a combat encounter. In addition to the modifiers created by your noise tactics, different locations have permanent modifiers associated with them. An enclosed area can result in less noise, while an open area can produce an echo to increase the noise.
NEW FEATURE - SURVIVOR ASSIGNMENTS
The design of the region has always been to provide a set of themed mission locations, offering different environments, enemy types and varied loot. To expand on this further, I've added a new system called Assignments. You can think of assignments as jobs given by the survivors to collect items, kill specific enemies and interact with unique area objects.
This feature acts as a foundation for allowing me to introduce objectives that span across multiple region locations, eventually leading to a victory condition.
During this initial phase, I've limited the selection of assignments to simple tasks so the feature can be tested. I will be balancing and adding new assignments with unique rewards which cannot be found from random drops or the vendor.
NEW GAME MODE - EASY
I'm aware of reviews, forum posts and Discord suggestions related to the balance issues and I've been reviewing all the feedback. I plan to keep revisiting this with every update, but keep in mind the game balance is frequently changing with new features, items, abilities, etc. This makes fine-tuning all the balance tricky with all the changes, especially at this stage of Early Access. For the time being I've added a new EASY game mode as an optional way to reduce the difficulty.
If you're having problems playing on NORMAL, you can try switching to the EASY mode in Game Settings (between missions). As long as you're playing on NORMAL, you do not need to start a new game to try the EASY mode.
I have not forgotten the HARD mode players and plan to add a new mode with harder challenges and permadeath to mercs. This mode needs more development time, so probably in 1-2 updates.
MERCS
Due to the popular request, mercs can now be removed from the mission squad while keeping their equipped gear. This is enabled by default and is a toggle in squad management. In addition, equipped accessories and gadgets are now always shown on the merc cards.
A new fully voiced Enforcer merc added to the game, named Tim. There are now a total of 3 Enforcers available to the player.
NEW TACTICIAN PASSIVE ABILITY
Having at least one Tactician merc in play increases your maximum hand size from 6 to 7 cards, allowing you to keep more cards in your hand every turn. This activates as soon as any Tactician gets played on board (into combat).
Note, I do plan to spend more time on revamping Tactician skills, specifically on their first skill tree in a future update.
DUPLICATE CARD STACKING IN GEAR MANAGEMENT
Duplicate cards now stack which should help reduce some of the clutter in your arsenal. Keep in mind, weapons must be the same name and item level to stack otherwise it would be difficult to manage when equipping or selling.
NEW HORDE MECHANIC
I've been working on an overhaul to the hordes. While the full feature needs more development time, I'm including a small change in this update. Active hordes now affect nearby region locations. When playing a mission affected by a nearby horde, extra enemies can be alerted to join your imminent threat. These enemies are not pulled from the distant enemy pile. You can combat this by trying to kill the enemies on board quicker or go after the roaming hordes.
CONSUMABLE UPGRADES
Many consumable items such as ammo and healing cards can now be upgraded into more beneficial variants. Not all consumables have been migrated yet and the trade values will need more balance.
ACHIEVEMENTS
15 new achievements added to the game for a total of 155. This update adds 55 in-game achievements to Steam and all your previously unlocked achievement should sync up when you load a saved game.
AUDIO
- 5 new music tracks to keep your blood flowing while slaying the restless undead. - Tactician character Aiden has been fully voiced replacing her computer generated voice.
As always, thanks for all the great feedback and bug reports!
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FULL PATCH NOTES - EA 0.2.24
MAJOR CHANGES
New feature Region Noise, available at the bottom of the Region Map.
New feature Survivor Assignments, available on the right side of the Region Map (replacing Region Control).
Both Region Noise and Assignments features are hidden until completing mission Meet Slade at least once on a new save.
New horde mechanic enabling active hordes to affect nearby region locations.
Duplicate weapons, accessories, gadgets and consumable cards now stack in gear management.
Tactician passive skill has been changed to also allow max cards in hand from 6 yo 7. Max hand size changes as soon as any Tactician merc gets played on board.
Mercs removed from missions squad now keep their equipped gear. This is also a toggle at the top of mission squad in gear management.
Easy Mode, can be selected when starting a new game. Easy and Normal modes can be toggled in game settings while in camp, but not during a mission. Hard mode cannot be changed to Normal or Easy.
Completely reworked combat stats UI (bottom left corner) with new art and improved tools tips. The new combat event log can be disabled in Game Settings - Cobmat.
New fully voiced Enforcer merc Tim.
GENERAL CHANGES
Equipped gadgets and accessories are now shown on merc cards in gear management.
Survivor Brie has been reworked wth consistent reward chance and a limited time she can be used on a mission. Intel upgrades increase this limit. This is a balance change to her ability combined with skills Multiple Solutions and Quick Learner.
Some consumable items can now be upgraded to better quality variants with more items to be added soon.
Absorbed damage by items like armor accessories is now indicated in the card log when taking damage.
Dropped ammo is now kept as loot or stashed away from the hand zone. This was a common request in player feedback.
Hovering over Loot Haul cards now shows details of items collected on a mission.
New Gear tab has been added to show collected valuable items, so they are no longer mixed with consumables.
Gadget Spare Parts now offers additional draw chances if equipped on an Enforcer merc.
New artwork for card frame AP stat icons.
New artwork for the area cleared pending loot dialog.
New artwork for the Find Ammo/Food/Drink/Accessory/Weapon cards that appear at the start of every turn.
New artwork for Gear management left nav tabs.
New artwork for all ammo cards.
New artwork for all weapon mastery icons.
New merc in-combat rank up animation.
Neutral skill Surprise Attack now also removes an additional 25 noise on use.
Neutral skills Stay Alert and Quick Break now remove 50 noise on use.
Removing dead enemy bodies now also reduces 15 noise.
Accessory Knife Tool can now remove locks in addition to repairs.
Lock Picks gadget renamed to Lock Picks Kit.
Small Toolkit no longer removes locks (replaced by a new card).
Improved many tool tips throughout the game.
All available mercs can now be selected when starting a new game.
Region location lore (text) changes to coincide with the new assignements system.
NEW CARDS
Rusty Lock Pics, cheap consumable to unlock locks, 30% chance to not consume on use.
Advanced Repair Kit, new repair tool consumable.
Added 10+ ranged and melee weapons offered as rewards for completing assignments.
10 new junk item cards, dropped in combat when looting objects.
ACHIEVEMENTS
Added 15 new achievements to the game.
All 155 in-game achievements are now on Steam (previously 100).
Previously unlocked achievements not on Steam should sync up after loading a saved game.
AUDIO
Merc character Aiden is now properly voiced (replacing her generated voice).
1 new camp music track
3 new combat music tracks
1 new mission complete music track (played 50% of the time).
Remastered explosion sounds to slightly reduce their volume.
BUG FIXES
Bunker intro animation sequence has been reworked to remove the broken walking animation.
Slade's Custom shows incorrect formatting in card details.
Cannot target merc with Small Toolkit to repair durability.
Lock pick consumable equipped on a merc is not removed from the board UI after being auto-used.
Achievements Sniper's Aim and Born to Snipe are not being tracked.
Achievement Mall Rat is tracking the wrong mission location, PVPD, should be the Supermarket.
Achievement Circus Acrobat indicates a 500 dodge requirement in game, but 300 on Steam.
Undead take no damage from Barbed Wire or Spike Traps when attacking area objects.
Fallen enemies spawn on the first tutorial mission if a new game was started after playing another save.
Player is able to toggle melee/ranged weapons during an in-progress merc attack sequence.
Gas Looters surviving explosions remain standing without a torso.
Exploding Gas Looters frequently trigger the explosion effect multiple times, resulting in extra noise and sound clipping.
Please post your issues and suggestions in Discord or the forums. Thank you!
It's been about a month since the last content update for Dead Grid. Today I wanted to share some progress of the next update. Please keep in mind some of the features in this post are still subject to change.
NEW HORDE MECHANICS
Region control bar has been phased out for now. It may return later in a different form in a future update. I've been working on a new system that allows hordes to have a long term consequence on the region map if left unattended. This system is still being designed, but one of its initial aspects is coming with this update.
Hordes now directly affect near-by mission locations. When playing a mission with a near-by horde, all undead spawned into combat have a chance to bring an additional enemy with them. Multiple near-by hordes can greatly affect this chance.
As I mentioned, this is only the first iteration of the design I'm moving towards, so I will reveal more down the road.
NEW FEATURE - REGION THREAT
During the Alpha design phase I had a few systems in mind to allow repeating of missions to feel somewhat different by using random modifiers. These were originally tied to individual locations and got pulled out before the release into Early Access. Reading a lot of feedback on scaling and issues with the repetitive nature of missions, I've come up with some fresh ideas to try.
There is now a new feature displayed at the bottom of the region map, called Region Threat. This system tracks all reduced or increased noise from the last played location and spawns a combat modifier on either side of the Region Threat bar. Here's a quick glance at some of these.
These modifiers can spawn for a quiet or loud play style and offer a change of game mechanics for any mission you play next. Most of these modifiers will expire in 1 mission play (1 day) as you will get new modifiers to replace them. It is possible to have modifiers for both quiet and loud play styles at the same time when modifiers span multiple days.
This system is similar to the event cards played in combat, but affects the entire mission instead of a single combat encounter. You can expect some of these modifiers to benefit you and others to give you a greater challenge, such as spawning new hordes on the map.
NEW FEATURE - SURVIVOR ASSIGNMENTS
Survivors now offer additional objectives through a new system called Assignments. Completing these objectives grants access to special rewards which are not found as world drops or sold by the trader. Assignments are displayed on the region map in place of the removed Region Control bar.
Some assignments will be tied to specific locations while others can instruct you to look for different enemy types or items found throughout the region. Eventually, the game will offer assignments tied to the main objective, so this feature moves the game closer to that phase.
I expect to tweak rewards and add more assignments in with player feedback.
QUALITY OF LIFE FEATURES
I've received a lot of requests for a way to remove mercs from the mission squad without unequipping their gear. This is now enabled by default and can be toggled off. Merc cards now also display icons of accessories and gadgets equipped on them, even when not in the mission squad.
Another popular request has been to stack duplicate cards and reduce inventory clutter. This is now available on all weapons, gadgets, accessories and consumables.
Many consumables can now be upgraded to produce better variants.
EVEN MORE STUFF
- New Enforcer merc. - New merc rank up animation in combat. - 4 new music tracks. - Many bug fixes.
QUICK NOTES
I've also been working on new mission locations and changes to some of the skills which are likely going to show up in content update 3.
As always, thanks for all the feedback and bug reports. I'm looking forward to sharing this update with everyone. Cheers!
HOTFIX PATCH NOTES - EA 0.1.39
This is a small hotfix patch to address some of the issues found in Content Update 01. Thanks for all the reports!
BUG FIXES
Locked loadout merc slots show incorrect mission requirements.
Typos in Quiver accessory card details.
Degraded AR with the name Commando has a scope bonus. This was not intentional.
Zombies during 3D cutscenes on the last encounter of Gas Up appear floating above ground.
Skills tutorial appears when completing later missions and does not go away.
NOTE: Skills tutorial should only appear once, after gaining the first 5 skill points.
Achievement Major Medical not triggering correctly when healing over 50% HP.
Achievement Major Medical triggers on durability repair, should only trigger on restoring HP.
