Welcome to our first Developer Diary for Starship Troopers: Extermination! Today we are unveiling some exciting new content, features, and changes coming to our game in [b]Update 0.5.0 - Hives of Valaka[/b] next week! We will also be diving into some of our design thoughts and intentions behind the upcoming additions to our existing Class Progression system. [h1]New Utilities, Perks, and Weapons[/h1] Class progression is a cornerstone of our game. When we introduced the Bastion, Hunter, and Operator to the Starship Troopers Universe we wanted to make sure they each had a meaningful impact in the game. One of the things we want to accomplish with our Class design is to ensure each base shooter archetype was represented; we feel we have hit that mark so far with having a support, dps, and tank focused Class. As we continue to evolve and design what our final progression system will entail, we felt it was still very important to continue to add in [b]new Utilities, Perks, and Weapons[/b] to each Class. [h2]Bastion[/h2] [h3]Utilities[/h3] [list] [*] [b]Deployable Shield Wall[/b] - Wartime Adversary Limiter. A deployable mini-structure that can wall-off confined areas. Enemies will attack the walls first. [*] [b]Portable Sentry Turret[/b] - A Sentry turret that can be deployed, shoots at nearby enemies and explodes when destroyed. [*] [b]Overcharge module[/b] - Attach to offensive structures to give a boost (Increase damage output of Turrets, or add passive shock damage to attacking Bugs. Lasts 30 seconds, slightly damaging the structure during the duration) [/list] [h3]Perks[/h3] [list] [*] [b]Long-Range Repairs[/b] - Increases Build Tool’s maximum repair range up to 15 meters [*] [b]Reinforced Repairs[/b] - Repair walls, gates and bunkers past 100% (Up to a maximum of +30%) [/list] [h3]Weapons[/h3] [list] [*] [b]TW-2 S.P.L.I.T Shotgun (Auto)[/b] - The SPecial Light Infantry Tactical Shotgun (Auto) is a powerful close range auto shotgun, with improved fire rate. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//43269229/218542e9391eb2097d764671d6049784718ffb72.jpg[/img] [/list] [h2]Hunter[/h2] [h3]Utilities[/h3] [list] [*] [b]Shock Field Device[/b] - Creates a circular shock field that stuns Bugs. [/list] [h3]Perks[/h3] [list] [*] [b]Mobile Training[/b] - Increases clamber speed for hunters, no longer slowed by bug attacks. [*] [b]Running Start[/b] - Get some extra height when you run and jump at the same time. [*] [b]Spotter Training[/b] - Spotting a bug scans it (on 15-second cooldown) [*] [b]Watkins Trigger[/b] - All explosives on the trooper detonate on death [/list] [h3]Weapons[/h3] [list] [*] [b]TW-2 S.P.L.I.T Shotgun (Slug)[/b] - The SPecial Light Infantry Tactical Shotgun (Slug) is a powerful pump-action shotgun, with single shot slugs - better at range and single target fire. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//43269229/43f0f9ee1f1bb26ce69b45b9e96fd34f45023026.jpg[/img] [*] [b]Morita XXX Sniper Rifle[/b] - A heavy hitting, long range bolt action rifle. Precision pest control. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//43269229/bc77fd8b7de20b6799e6ae8447bb4655b32fc5c0.jpg[/img] [/list] [h2]Operator[/h2] [h3]Utilities[/h3] [list] [*] [b]Rally Beacon [/b] - Allow troopers to respawn on the beacon. [*] [b]Stim Dispenser[/b] - Place a dispenser that allows any trooper to pick up a Stim utility. [*] [b]Guardian Drone[/b] - A deployable drone follows the operator and shoots at nearby enemies. [/list] [h3]Perks[/h3] [list] [*] [b]Refined[/b] - While continuously using the repair tool on a refinery harvest time will be sped up by 30% [*] [b]Running Start[/b] - Get some extra height when you sprint and jump at the same time. [*] [b]On your Feet![/b] - Gives the ability to revive troopers at a distance by shouting at them; the longer the distance the slower the revive. [/list] [h3]Weapons[/h3] [list] [*] [b]TW-2 S.P.L.I.T Shotgun[/b] - The standard SPecial Light Infantry Tactical Shotgun is a powerful close range pump-action shotgun that fires a spray of shots and has high stun damage [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//43269229/a20bf296dc4a981b8e5e4d1ac80e9410d0e3e842.jpg[/img] [/list] [h1]Class and Career XP Split Changes[/h1] [h2]New Rank Cap[/h2] Each Class will now progress to Class Rank 30, and Class XP gain will also be capped at Rank 30. Moving forward, players cannot earn bonus Class XP after they hit this Rank cap per Class. Please note that we will be looking to [b]increase the Rank cap again in the future[/b] (and of course that means more new Weapons, Perks, and Utilities as well!). Players will still get rewarded Career Rank Progression XP, as we have now split those XP pools out, and are rewarded post match. Career Rank Progression has also been increased to Rank 30 for this update! [h2]Progression Tracking[/h2] Update 0.5.0 - Hives of Valaka is also bringing some [b]changes to our progression tracking[/b]. While these changes are mostly invisible to you, we wanted to shed more light on what happens behind the scenes when changes like this are made. For Class progression, we track XP individually for each Class. As for your Career Rank, we would previously determine your rank from the sum of the three classes’ XP. If your Bastion had 7,000 XP, your Hunter 22,000 XP, and your Operator 10,000 XP, your Career XP would be the sum of those (39,000 XP). In the Hives of Valaka update, we are separating these two ‘tracks’ of progression. Your [b]Career XP is now tracked separately from the Class XP[/b]. What does this mean for existing players and their XP? In short, you aren’t losing progress anywhere. When you launch the Hives of Valaka update for the first time, we still use the sum of your Class XP as the starting point of your Career XP. From this point on, any XP gained during a match is accumulated separately for the Class you play, and your Career. [h3]Example[/h3] Let’s walk through an example. Let’s say you previously had: [list] [*] 16,500 XP for Bastion (Rank 10) [*] 14,000 XP for Hunter (Rank 9) [*] 3,000 XP for Operator (Rank 4) [/list] Your starting Career XP would be 33,500, which would take you to Career Rank 16. Starting in this update, Class XP gain is also capped at the current maximum rank (Rank 30 in Hives of Valaka). But, since the XP gain is now properly separated you can still gain Career Rank XP even if your current Class is maxed out. Now to answer a question we’re sure some of our top Troopers have been wondering: [b]Q:[/b] [i]“What if I have already exceeded the XP cap for any of the three classes?”[/i] [b]A:[/b] Don't worry, your previously gained experience points aren’t disappearing anywhere! You will simply stop gaining XP for a Class, until we raise the Class Rank cap again in the future. - Now that’s all for today, but we’ll have more information on next week’s update very soon! [b]Stay tuned, and thank you for supporting our game![/b] - Starship Troopers: Extermination Development Team