Phoenix Point – Ambrose Balance Update Available

Ahead of the upcoming Corrupted Horizons DLC for Phoenix Point, Snapshot Games has put together a new balance update with the primary aim of reducing the dreaded mid-late game tedium and addressing the game’s overall difficulty. You’ll find the patch notes, along with some additional info, below:

Our latest Phoenix Point update, “Ambrose,” is now available for all our operatives around the globe[…]

The patch started its life with a very simple task at hand: to cut some tedium of mid – late game. This is something that had previously been discussed at length by both our community and internally, so we were not short of ideas. But as often happens in gamedev, shortly after we began working on the task, conditions shifted, and we found out that things won’t be so straightforward.

We had settled on a release date for our PlayStation and Xbox Behemoth Edition, and in that case, it was precisely “Ambrose” that would go for a console certification. The whole console certification process is long and complex, as well as the process of merging and syncing up new content for both PC and consoles. To reduce the possibility of further complications, we decided to keep “Ambrose” changes strictly to the “data” kind.

This also meant that we had the opportunity to incorporate other changes that were also discussed at length by both community and internally, namely to address the difficulty for Rookie and Veteran players. At the same time, we wanted to keep the game challenging for all players, including bringing some new fun with some old toys.

Your feedback has been crucial in shaping up “Ambrose,” with many of the ideas of how we can better balance the soldier’s gear coming from your suggestions. There are a few things that came out during testing that we plan to address in the following updates (yep, less tech in scavenging) and we are also closely monitoring all feedback around the “economy” changes and the reduction of the amount of HD mission. Even with the launch, the job is not done with it going live. Soon, we’ll be talking more about what’s coming in DLC 4: Corrupted Horizons, what to expect from the console Behemoth Edition, and other updates coming later this year for the game.

A huge thanks to all of you who take your time to share feedback on the game, and test or discuss the elements of “Ambrose.” And for everyone that has yet to play Phoenix Point, as of today, we’ve introduced a price reduction for our Year One Edition to $39.99 USD, so get in there now as the world’s not going to save itself! Try using the code HERECOMESTHEPHOENIX for a little treat from Odin…

Full patch notes are as follows:

AMBROSE- V1.12

Geoscape

• The cost of late-game faction research is lowered by approximately 35%.
• The build time of story haven zones is lowered by 50%.
• The rate of Pandoran evolution is slowed down with approximately 20% on Rookie, Veteran, and Hero difficulty.
• The rate at which the Pandoran bases conduct their attacks is reduced.
• Increased the rewards for scavenging and haven defence missions by approximately 20%.
• Increased the number of total food, training, elite training, and factory zones in Havens
• The Neutral weapons and armors are now available for manufacturing to the player from the start of the game.

Tactical

• Increased the maximum strength for the player’s soldier to 35.
• Increased the starting strength of the soldier for Rookie, Veteran, and Hero difficulty with 2.
• Increased the strength of all human characters by 2.
• Reduced the amount of damage “Bash” does.
• Increased the number of enemies in the beginning of the game for Hero and Legend difficulty.
• Increased the chance of enemies dropping items on death.

Mutations, Bionics and weapons adjustments

• Venom Torso – damage increased to 55, Shoot Spike cost reduced to 1AP, 10 stealth and 2 speed added, maximum range of projectile removed, effective range reduced to 22 , ammo reduced to 16.
• Tentacle Torso – Paralysis value increased to 24, stealth penalty removed, perception bonus increased to 6, 1 speed bonus added.
• Screaming Head – Psychic Scream cost reduced to 1AP and 4 WP, but is restricted to one use per turn, 4 WP bonus added.
• Judgement Head – WP bonus increased to 8.
• Shadow Legs – shock damage of Electric Kick increased to 200.
• Propeller Legs – Rocket Leap distance increased to 9 tiles.
• Juggernaut Torso – Demolition State cost reduced to 2WP.
• Scion of Sharur – viral damage increased to 15.
• Destiny III – damage reduced to 70, ammo capacity reduced to 12, manufacturing and ammo cost reduced.
• Nergal’s Wrath – effective range increased to 14.
• VVA-2 Arms – ammo capacity reduced to 5.
• Ragnarok – ammo cost is reduced to 16 tech and 49 materials.
• Autocannon – weight reduced to 4.
• Praetorian 2 Body Armor – armor reduced to 18.
• Guardian XA Helmet – armor reduced to 26.
• Guardian XA Leg Armor – armor reduced to 29.

Mutogs adjustments

• Venomous Head damage increased to 60.
• Ramming Head damage increased to 150.
• Slasher Tail damage increased to 70.
• Basher Tail damage increased to 60 and shock damage increased to 200.
• Paw Strike damage increased to 80.

Pandoran changes

• Damage of the Evolved Organic Machine Gun reduced to 45 per shot.
• Siren Injector Arms viral damage increased to 6 (per hand).
• Arthron Shieldbearer gets 2 additional speed.
• Scylla Thureus, Scylla Imperator, Scylla Hegemon, Scylla Regina, Scylla Smaragdos, Chiron Smaragdus, Siren Armis have now evolved 50% virus resistance.
• Legacy of the Ancient changes
• Excavation time of Ancient Sites reduced to 8 hours
• Manufacture time for archaeology probes was reduced by approximately 40%.
• Lowering the requirement for Triton Umbra and Scylla Smaragdus to be researched by the aliens.

Bug fixes

• Few minor bugs were fixed.