[Frontline Patch] Difficulty Update is out on Frontline!

Frontline only! Click here for Frontline instructions

Patch Info

Summary

A load of bugfixes, some QoL improvements and more difficulty options!

This patch is a "Frontline Patch"! It's intended for players who want to help out with testing, or if you're having a specific issue that is solved in this patch!

The default/Stable branch on Steam, as well as the Humble/GOG branches, will be updated after this has been in testing for 1-2 weeks!

Details

About the patch

After watching a lot of streams and reading a lot of feedback, we've come to realize that the difficulty options in the game are a bit limited, and there are two seemingly pretty big groups that is affected: people looking for something a bit less demanding, and people who'd like to face a greater challenge than Normal but don't appreciate the current Hard Mode. The patch contains a couple of new difficulty settings hoping to improve on this: Chill Mode and Expert Mode, and some toning down of Hard Mode.

There are also changes to display options, as well as the possibility to adjust controller deadzone and assign the DPad to be a quickslot shortcut instead of being used for movement.

Another noteworthy change is the addition of proper translator credits, where authors of the fan-translations now have the option to appear at the start of the game, and during the credits!

Oh, and the difficult Phase Shift Course no longer has to be fully completed in order to get the True Ending.

...and a bunch of other changes that can be found in the patch notes!

More Details on Difficulty Changes

The first part of addressing the difficulty issue is a new “Chill Mode” (aka Easy Mode). We hope this mode will suit players who want to go on an adventure but not necessarily be under a lot of pressure skill-wise.

Conversely, we’ve realized that the gap between Normal and Hard is very big – especially considering the final boss' moves of disabling the Health Potion and Barrier; two tools that a lot of players feel forced into when playing the mode. For some, Normal feels like a cakewalk and Hard like a punishment.

To better serve this second crowd, we will adjust the difficulty of Hard Mode, where HPot and Barrier will always be allowed, and the mode will generally be made slightly easier across the board. It is basically equivalent to Catalyst 2 in Arcade Mode, with some adjustments.

We will at the same time introduce a fourth difficulty: “Expert”. This mode is slightly harder than current Hard, mostly due to the Health Potion and Barrier being weaker right from the start. Overall, though, the experience will mostly be about the same as current Hard.

The Hard Mode-achievement will be rebranded as an Expert Mode-achievement, and everyone who has unlocked it will keep it but under the new name!

Patch Notes

Version 1.02c (May 16, Hotfix)

Bug Fixes

Fixed some layering issues in Post Ending startington

Fixed a bug where one of the final bosses might crash the game for clients during his fireball attack

Version 1.02b (May 15, Hotfix)

Bug Fixes

The fire hurtboxes now properly disappear during the Frosty Foe phase of the final battle

The 'Preserve Ratio' graphics option is now saved properly between sessions

The Boots of Bloodthirst now deals its player damage on Chill Mode as well, but at a reduced rate

The difficulty selection now wraps around properly when pressing Left (from Chill to Expert)

Fixed a bug where the new burn code could cause a highly unnecessary amount of updates and network sends in Co-op

In multiplayer Arcade, the Floor 5 spawn sequence no longer occasionally disables item collision for clients

Version 1.02a (May 9, Main Patch)

Additions

Translation authors can now add a name and logo to be more prominently credited in-game!

There's now an option to enable/disable black borders when playing fullscreen with a monitor that's not 16:9 aspect ratio

Gamepad players can now choose to have the DPad quick-access the left clover (the one accessed with LT/L2) instead of moving the character

Gamepad players can now adjust the deadzone of the left thumb stick to match their preference

Potions can now be equipped one-by-one to remove the need for multiple button presses, if preferred

The 'Hard' difficulty is now a bit easier overall (especially towards the end), and a new difficulty called 'Expert' is like the old Hard Mode

The fighting part of the Collector Exam now includes a short shield trial

Changes

It's now possible to select zoom levels higher than 3 for monitors that support it

Red Giga Slime's level scaling will now be locked to the player level when first fighting it [Story Mode]

If equipping a weapon through a Quickslot, you can now switch back by pressing the same button again (especially convenient for things like the Bug Net)

Larvacids no longer leave continuous acid behind unless they're angry

Health Orbs now have a larger pickup radius

The player is now healed between every battle in the final tower, except on Hard and Expert Mode

The Burn debuff, when affecting a player, now has a short 'mercy timer' before being applied

Enemy Shockwave-attacks now have less punishing colliders

The Arena Gauntlet Challenges now scale in a more reasonable manner on high levels

The player can now move earlier after putting the shield away

The player can now move earlier after taking shield damage, and can attack and use spells at any time during the shield damage animation

Input when turning and raising the shield is now somewhat context sensitive, making the timing less strict

("[Arcade Mode] The zoning field (jumpdown) in the Flying Fortress Boss Rooms now has an indicator to lessen confusion

Kailan's ghost-gift has been changed from the Phase Resequencer to a new item, 'Kailan's ID', which is found earlier in the bonus phase course

Thorn Worms can now be interrupted during the beginning of their dig-animation

After completing a Twilight-locked challenge in the Ghost Ship, the player now automatically leaves Twilight

The monkey barrel room in Tai Ming's Inner Shrine will now become an efficient Monkey + Statue grind room after saving Shiidu

Monkeys can now spawn as elites, mostly for drop-rate-increase purposes

Bug Fixes

Skipping the quests that grant potion flasks should now more reliably set the potion amount correctly

Reading Penn Wryte's final book as a client in multiplayer no longer removes it from your inventory

The Penn Wryte achivement's progress is now tracked on the character, not the world

Burn particles for burning players are now displayed correctly on clients

Player 2 no longer automatically picks up the health orb when reaching Floor 5 in Arcade Mode

Fixed a bug in the cannon-scene in the Lost Ship that made the scene become rather silly

Fixed several music bugs related to Tai Ming

When receiving the Valkyrie Hat DLC reward, the game no longer mentions being in Beta

The housing menu no longer puts Rotate and Place on the same button on gamepads

What's next?

If nothing major arises, this update will make its way to Stable and the other storefronts in 1-2 weeks!

After that, more QoL (with focus on clutter reduction and other clarity improvements) and New Game+ awaits!