Strap in.



This is probably one of the biggest balance updates I’ve ever worked on. All of the changes below are based on data showing which skills people use the most and which ones tend to get ignored. My goal this time was to make things feel a bit more balanced and enjoyable overall. Some skills have received some pretty major buffs, and I’ve also added five new base skills that everyone starts with. I felt Katanaut could use a few more interesting options right from the beginning, so this should give players some new tools and hopefully some new fun to experiment with.

New Skills:
- Introduced new base skill – Volt Shear: Releases a burst of electricity from your katana when swinging your katana.
- Introduced new base skill – Spectral Cleave: Your melee attacks leave a cutting field that damages enemies over time.
- Introduced new base skill – Aether Volley: Swinging your katana fires projectiles at nearby enemies.
- Introduced new base skill – Warp Storm: Periodically calls down warp energy to strike a nearby enemy.
- Introduced new base skill – Orbital Blades: Summons spinning blades that orbit you and damage nearby enemies.

Balance:
- Ground Stab, 10% damage buff.
- Kinetic Repulse, 10% damage buff.
- Stealth cooldown reduced by 45%.
- Uppercut, 15% damage buff.
- Shockwave Roll, 15% damage buff.
- Impulse Wave, 15% damage buff, doubled AoE explosion radius.
- Gravity Slam damage doubled, and cooldown halved.
- Overcharge damage doubled, and cooldown halved. The skill will now follow you through the explosion effect.
- Rolling Thunder damage is doubled, AoE radius is enhanced, cooldown reduced by 20%.
- Blast Mines damage doubled. Amount of mines dropped by player scales with the skills level.
- Rolling Vault initial damage buff doubled.
- Reactive Armor cooldown reduced by 60%.
- Slinger Vault description is simplified, and cooldown is standardized.
- Blink damage is buffed by 10%
- Emergency cloak damage buffed by 15%, is reworked to activate whenever you take damage.
- Inferno Ring initial hit damage is buffed by 300%, DoT damage is left the same.
- Time Dilation cooldown reduced by 40%.
- Overdrive stamina consumption reduced by 80%.
- Kinetic Reflection cooldown reduced by 50%.
- Eldritch Grasp cooldown reduced by 50%.
- Void Legion cooldown reduced by 50%. Enemy and combat detection improved.
- Encroaching Doom cooldown reduced by 50%. Enemy and combat detection improved.
- Reality Rift damage increased by 35% and cooldown reduced by 35%.
- Cosmic Pact cooldown reduced by 50%.
- Ritual of Decay initial damage ceiling increased by 300%. Cooldown reduced by 35%.
- Frostbite Blast damage is doubled, and cooldown is cut by 50%.
- Bullet Storm damage buffed by 100%, cooldown reduced by 50%.
- Cursed Aura cooldown reduced by 35%.
- Shadow cut stamina reduced by 20%.
- Void Impalement damage buffed by 80%, cooldown reduced by 25%.
- Executioners Strike cooldown reduced by 25%.
- Vacuum Slash damage buffed by 35%, cooldown reduced by 50%.

More Balance:
- Increased how much hp enemies have in later biomes.

Bugs:
- Improved FPS when using drones.