Starborne: Frontiers - Patch 3.16

• We have added a toggle to the graphics settings that disables screen flashes from combat and when upgrading units.
• We have added a toggle to the settings that enables the displaying of new experimental skill descriptions.
  (Feedback on these new descriptions is very welcome!)

• The Arena point system has been adjusted.
  Now more points are gained through attack victory and fewer points are lost in defensive battle defeats.
  
  

  Unit Reworks:

• Frontline has needed a rework for some time now, so here it is!
  The attack pattern has been increased and is now a large V-shape.
  The Basic Active skill has had the condition for gaining Shield removed, and will now always convert a portion of the damage deal to Shield.
  Charge requirements for the Charged Active decreased to 1 down from 3. Lose Charge effect lowered to 1 down from 2.
  The refit upgrade to the Passive Skill has been changed to apply Lose Charge (1) against the enemy targets with the highest current charge count if that enemy has an affinity disadvantage (instead of Fill Charge (2)).
• Zeolite has also received a rework, intending to turn him into a dedicated anti-defender unit.
  Targeting has been changed to front (instead of skip) and the attack pattern has been widened to a small diamond shape.
  The attack scaling has been lowered to compensate for the larger attack pattern.
  The Charge Active skill now inflicts Inc. Damage Up 3 instead of EMP Charge.
  The Passive skill now causes Zeolite to Purge an extra buff when hitting a defender (instead of dealing 30% increased damage for every enemy inflicted with Stasis or Disable) and the refitted Passive will increase damage done to defenders by 30% (instead of Fill Charge (1) when an enemy dies).
  Devnote: The EMP charge mechanic has been completely removed from Zeolite, but may return at a later time on another dedicated unit.
  
  
  

  Buffs, Debuffs, and Factions

  We have recently introduced some changes and updates to the affinity system to increase the impact and value of this core part of Starborne: Frontiers combat.
  With this update we will continue the process of improving and strengthening combat mechanics and themes to make gameplay more engaging and interesting, and make choices feel more rewarding, all the while expanding the options available to our commanders and our design team to make the Frontier a more intriguing place.
  As part of that work, we will be making some changes to buffs, debuffs, and faction identity in this update.
  
  To do so we will view damage as belonging to one of three distinct categories.
  Direct Damage, meaning the damage a hit to a unit deals,
  Damage over time, also referred to as "DoT", is Damage done over several turns by debuffs like Corrosion and Inferno,
  and lastly, Delayed Damage, which is damage that is dealt at the end of the duration of a debuff, like Bomb.
  
  Some factions like Marauders and Gelecek employ a variety of damaging debuffs like Inferno, Bomb, and Corrosion,
  while others like XAOC and the Frontier Legion rely more on direct damage, or like some would say they like to “hit very hard and very fast“.
  The following buff, debuff, and unit changes are made with this in mind and will strengthen the identity of the factions on the Frontier.
  
  

  Buff & Debuff Changes:

• Incoming and outgoing dmg buffs and debuffs have been changed to apply only to direct damage (this is defined as damage dealt directly by a hit and excludes damage caused by debuffs like Corrosion, Inferno, Bomb and other similar effects).
  
• All crit rate buffs have been changed to 10-20-30% (from 15-30-45%).
  
• The vault will now apply the Out. DoT Damage Down debuff as part of the Charged Active skill instead of the Out. Damage Down debuff.
  

  Unit Changes:

• Anemone Basic Active skill was changed to now inflict Out. DoT Damage Down 2 debuff for 2 turns instead of Out. Damage Down 2, and Corrosion 1 for 2 turns instead of Corrosion 2.
  Charged Active skill now additionally inflicts Corrosion 2 for 2 turns.
• Asphyxiator was the first unit to receive the new Inc. DoT Damage Up debuff which fits his Marauder faction Identity.
  The Inc. Damage Up 3 buff on the Charged Active skill has been replaced with Inc. DoT Damage Up 3 which increases the damage of all damage over time effects by 30% per tick. (This does not affect bombs.)
• Grif has had the Hacking Up 3 buff on the Basic Active skill replaced with XAOC Swiftness 3 which will greatly increase the effectiveness in terms of speed and direct power for their allies.
• Nuqtu has received a slight adjustment to the Core charge effect on the refitted Passive skill which now grants Bypass 1% defense per charge instead of 1% speed per charge.
• Oleander The Charged Active skill now additionally grants the Out. DoT Damage Up 2 buff for 2 turns.
• Ravager has the description on the refitted Passive fixed to properly show the Bypass 10% defense effect that has been there all along. Surprise!
• Ripper The Charged Active skill now additionally inflicts the Inc. DoT Damage Up 2 debuff for 3 turns.
• Rhodium has had her refitted Passive skill slightly changed to now deal 80% Atk damage instead of applying Concentrate fire to the enemy with the most buffs at the end of each round.
  
• Sentinel Basic Active Crit Rate Up 3 buff has been removed as a result of player feedback around the impact on gearing decisions coming from this effect.
  The buff has been replaced with the Crit Dmg Up 3 buff which has been moved from the Charged Active.
  The Charged Active skill now features a new unique buff called Charged Overdrive which will increase the damage of units when they use their next charged skill.
• Snapdragon The Charged Active skill now inflicts the Inc. DoT Damage Up 2 debuff for 2 turns instead of the Inc. Damage Up 2 debuff.
• Zosimos Charged Active now additionally inflicts the Inc. DoT Damage Up 2 debuff for 2 turns.
  
  

  Implant Changes:

• Vivacious Repair will now have a chance to double the repair instead of a chance to repair to full HP.
• Lifeline has been reworked to better fit offensive units which was the original intent, and will now grant Shield based on ATK stat instead of HP.

• New models for Atlas ships in the Hangar and in combat.
• A new starter unit selection screen has been added.
• The Start button in the initial loading screen has a new color and a new particle effect.
• The visuals for General Colosso's shield were updated to have thinner edges and a more holographic look.
• New arena modifier icons have been added.
• Minor changes have been made to The Affinity info screen.
• We have optimized the loot glitch fx by implementing a color remapping shader reducing the number of required sprite sheets from 9 to 1! Yay!
• An affinity-colored glitch fx has been added to Neurons.
• Added a system to give custom lighting to ships in the Hangar that had excess blooming or poor lighting.
• The Abyss depth selection list now scrolls to the last selected depth level.
• The following characters have received spine animations:
  • Xiaodao
  • Custodian
  • Rookie
  • Orel
  • Razi
  • LeSabre

• Fixed performance issues when loading arena history and top player panels.
• Fixed overlapping units in Recruit 10 animation in 16:9 aspect ratio.
• Fixed scene elements obscuring placement in the chemical Abyss basic crystals combat map.
• Fixed certain planet shaders not displaying their shadows correctly.
• Previewing equipped items now shows the correct buttons.
• Fixed an issue with the Synaptic Resonance implant. It should now trigger correctly.