The end of an era

I’ll start with the bad news: after more than 7 years of service the official Perpetuum server is shutting down on January 25th, 2018. This is purely a financial decision as the monthly cost of running the server is way more than what we can handle.

We cannot release the live server’s database to the public due to privacy issues, however DEV Crm is committed to keep the live DB alive with his own private server solution. This won’t be the same as the current official server in terms of speed and availability and it’s strictly a “no promises made” gig, but it’s something.

What will happen after the shutdown?

The following will be discontinued on January 25th:

  • The store and support section of the Perpetuum website
  • The Perpetuum API
  • The Perpetuum IRC server
  • All official email addresses except info@perpetuum-online.com

The following will continue to work:

  • The Perpetuum website except the store and support sections
  • The official development blog
  • The official website forum (read only)
  • info@perpetuum-online.com
  • Our full Steam presence including the discussion section
  • The official Perpetuum Wiki

Where will Perpetuum be available in the future?

After January 25th the only platform where Perpetuum will be available to purchase is Steam. We are committed to provide a Steam version for every player who owns Perpetuum currently outside of Steam. The details of how this will happen are still being worked out, we ask for your kind patience.

Also, the price of the client has been reduced permanently from $9.99 to $4.99.

Will you still provide support for Perpetuum in the future?

Occasional bugfixes here and there but we cannot make any promises. That is why we will release the server source code to the public and help the community try to stand on its own feet.

The Standalone Server

The Perpetuum Standalone Server has been already available for a while on Steam but apparently it is hidden for a lot of people for some reason. If you own Perpetuum on Steam then it should be listed under Library/Tools and goes by the name “Perpetuum Dedicated Server”.

Some players have reported that it popped up after some time, others have told that SteamCMD is a good workaround for getting the server. (AppID is 693060)

You can also find more information about the standalone server in our previous blog post.

Is there a list of available Perpetuum servers?

You can find an up-to-date list of current Perpetuum servers here.

This list is of course also available in the client itself.

Where can you ask technical questions about the standalone server?

We absolutely love and endorse what the guys at The Open Perpetuum Project are doing and occasionally lurk on their discord channel with other players in the know, so that’s your best bet. As a last resort for reaching us specifically, there is also info@perpetuum-online.com.

Since the official Perpetuum Wiki will continue to live on, it might also be a good platform for gathering all info. Of course this is just an option, if the community finds a better place for the knowledgebase, that’s fine with us.

What about dev/admin commands and features for the client?

We can’t make the development client public for technical reasons, but the admin commands and tools will be progressively added to the live client soon. (things like terrain and terraforming tools, decor&blocking tools, spawn commands, etc.)

Where can I find the server source code?

https://github.com/PerpetuumOnline/PerpetuumServer

The source will allow you to build the server as it is, but we'll be expanding the Github page with more detailed information on how to build and debug in easier ways for those who aren't as experienced with development.

Thank you!

This is probably the last blog post here from me, but Perpetuum became a big part of our lives and we couldn’t forget it even if we tried. We are immensely grateful to everyone who has played Perpetuum in the past and to the people who dedicate time to help it live on, well… perpetually.

So you haven’t heard from us in a long time, and the reason for that probably became more and more obvious with time: I'm sorry to inform you that Perpetuum is not actively developed anymore.

This blog is meant to inform you what this means for the game, for you, the players, and how the future of Perpetuum looks like. Because there is a future, at least we hope so.

How we got here

We knew from the start that Perpetuum will be a niche game and we were cool with it. But even considering that, it never really got off. We had two major spikes, the one during the EVE exodus, and after the Steam launch, but even those pale in comparison to what the we would have needed to justify the “massively” in MMORPG.

Over the years we’ve been in talks with numerous serious publishers and investors, but unfortunately none of those promises came to fruition. So the only thing we could do was to push it on our own and hope that steady work will eventually pay off and bring in a critical mass of players that would keep the game alive for a long time, and provide us a living.

The most prominent feedback that we have received over the years is that Perpetuum has great mechanics and atmosphere but lacks content, and that it is a great foundation for a game. Sadly we never got to the point where we could develop it to its full potential.

It was basically catch-22. After the initial spikes our playerbase always receded to unhealthy levels, which meant that we had to lay off some of our less essential content-related people and also that we didn’t have the funds to do any impactful marketing. Which in turn meant that we could bring in even less new players and develop less new content and do even less marketing. These cycles transformed into a downward spiral where the remaining developers had to be on minimum wage for years and the only thing we could do for the game was fixing bugs and recycling old content. If we would have found a publisher we would have been shut down probably years ago.

I joined Avatar Creations in 2006. After 10 years of “bringing up your own child” and making it part of your everyday life, it’s hard to call it. I can only speak about my own personal experience, but after such a long time of trying hard and failing, there comes a moment when you ask yourself “is it really worth it?” and “what am I doing with my life?”. So the remaining few of us made a mutual agreement that this is it, it’s time to let go.

We didn’t just want to simply let it die though, for two reasons. The first is a selfish one: if years from now someone asks what we have worked on for 10 years, we would like to be able to show them and say “it’s here, you can still play with it if you want”. In case of an MMO this is not self-evident.

The second reason is of course our players. However small it is, we still have a faithful community, and we love you all for that.

Your own Perpetuum server

So while the official server is still going to stay online for an undetermined time, in the last few months we’ve been working on a standalone server solution, in order to ensure the game’s future.

Although Perpetuum’s server application is far from being simple, our primary goal while developing the standalone server was simplicity and ease of use, while keeping the possibility of optional in-depth customization open.

The minimum requirements for running the server are lower than you might think: it can be run on the same Windows-based PC that you play Perpetuum on, even both at the same time. Resource usage of course goes up with the concurrent players on the server, so beyond a certain number a dedicated server machine is needed.

Strandalone server installer

You’ll also need to have an SQL server installed for the database, but we got that covered. The Perpetuum server installer is a single exe about 1GB in size and includes the freely available Microsoft SQL Server 2016 Express that’s automatically installed and configured along with the Perpetuum server itself.

The installer also comes with an Admin Tool application, which is used to start/stop and configure the server, as well as provide a management interface for the player accounts on that server.

Admin tool

Server availability can be customized in the following of ways:

  • Public server: the server will be publicly available and listed in the server browser, which will be visible both in the game client and on our website.
  • Private server: the server will not be visible in the server browser; players will have to enter the server’s address manually in the game client.
  • Open registration: anyone who connects to the server can create a new account and play.
  • Limited registration: players need to request an account from server admins and only they can create player accounts.

As I mentioned above, initially our primary goal is to provide a working standalone server that anyone who has ever installed any application can set up, manage, and run with minimum hassle. Once we see that this works we can move on to the next phase where we provide documentation and know-how on how you can customize your server and the database, like doing your own balancing. Word of warning though: even our own management tools feel a lot of times quite hacky, the ways you’ll have to tinker with stuff will certainly require patience and at least some minimal knowledge on how databases work.

We still have to work out some kinks, but the standalone server installer will soon be made publicly available to download, for free of course.

Game client changes

The introduction of the standalone server will of course require support in the game client as well, while still retaining simple access to the official server.

It’s not a big change though: a new server selection screen will precede the current login screen. This includes a new server browser window where all the publicly available player-run servers are listed along with the official server, and you can select any number of them to be included in the server dropdown menu on the main screen. From there it’s as easy as clicking the connect button and after that it’s business as usual, just enter your credentials and play.

Ingame server browser

Becoming Steam-only

A bigger change that some of you probably won’t like is that soon Steam will be the only place where Perpetuum will be distributed, including the standalone server. The reason for this is to ensure the availability of the game on a stable platform, as opposed to our own website that we cannot guarantee to be around forever. Another reason is that it’s uneconomical for us to keep our own payment platform, as purchases made via Steam outweigh our own store by far.

It’s important to note that existing non-Steam (e-mail based) accounts will continue to work with the Steam-based Perpetuum client, but you won’t be able to create a non-Steam account after the change.

Perpetuum Credits and DLCs discontinued

On a standalone server Perpetuum Credits and DLC will make no sense, since we cannot sell and transfer them to a privately held server, and the administrators of the servers would be able to easily hack in as many credits or EP as they like.

So as of now, Perpetuum Credits, ICE, and Upgrade Kits (DLCs) are not available to purchase anymore, but existing assets are not removed of course and can still be used.

FAQ

In the rest of this blog I’ll try to collect any remaining info and questions you might have, and I will also update this section if any unanswered issue comes up in the comments or the forum.

What happens to the official server?

While the development of Perpetuum is discontinued, the game is not shutting down, and the official server will still stay online for an undetermined time.

How can I play Perpetuum in the future?

You will have the choice to either continue playing on the official server, or play on any of the player-run servers.

When will I be able to run my own Perpetuum server?

As soon as possible. Most of the development is done, but we're still working on some details and bugs.

Can I play with my existing account/character on a private server?

This is something that we’re still looking into. What we know for sure is that we cannot give out any personal information included in Perpetuum accounts unless the account holder requests it, so simply copying the database is absolutely a no go. Another problem is that there are a lot of dependencies related to characters, so if we transfer a single account, there are going to be numerous problems if the character’s corporation, or the base/storage where its items are doesn’t exist on the new server... and those are just a few examples.

Can I sell Perpetuum Credits on my own server?

No, Perpetuum Credits are discontinued as server administrators could easily hack in as many credits as they like.

What happens to game features depending on Perpetuum Credits?

They will be either removed or changed to use other ingame currencies (like NIC) at a later time.

What prevents private server administrators to cheat on their own servers and give advantages to certain characters?

Technically nothing. Server administrators have full access to their server’s database and can do with it as they please, we can’t do anything to prevent this. This is something where the power of the community comes in, and we hope servers run by trusted players will develop a good reputation where you can be sure that everyone plays fair.

Will you still provide support for the game?

We are committed to fix any critical game-breaking bugs in the future that would prevent running the game at all. Anything beyond this, including new content, balancing, and individual player support (running the support ticket system) is not possible for us anymore.

Will I be able to do tweak balancing or add new ingame items on my own server?

To a certain extent, yes. It won’t be simple, and your possibilities will be quite limited, but we intend to come up with some documentation on what you can do and how you can do it.

The final 4 robots of the new Syndicate line make their debut in patch 3.8.3, alongside of numerous balancing changes. In this blog we'll take an in-depth look at all these updates - spreadsheets warning ahead!

Helix and Callisto

Helix

Helix

Class: Light robot specialized in electronic warfare

"The Helix is a good all-rounder when it comes to electronic warfare. While it may not be the toughest bot around, combining a light chassis with an assault-class undercarriage makes it probably the fastest."

Slots

  • Head slots: 3
  • Leg slots: 2
  • Chassis slots: 3 (2x light turret/misc, 1x light/medium misc)

Bonuses (per extension level)

  • 3% increase to EW strength
  • 3% reduction to EW modules accumulator usage
  • -0.10 to surface hit size
  • 1% reduction to firearms cycle time
  • +2 to signal masking
Helix

Notable stats

  • Accumulator: 350 AP @ 120sec recharge
  • CPU: 220 TF
  • Reactor: 170 RP
  • Armor: 725 HP
  • Passive resistances: 45 points universally (31%)
  • Surface hit size: 3 m
  • Locking range: 350 m
  • Sensor strength: 110 Hw³
  • Signal detection: 75 rF
  • Signal masking: 120 rF
  • Cargo capacity: 3.75 U
  • Slope capability: 56°
  • Mass: 6000 kg
  • Base speed: 129.6 kph

Syndicate Supplies cost

  • 80 TM tokens
  • 80 ICS tokens
  • 80 ASI tokens
  • 800,000 NIC

Callisto

Callisto

Class: Mech specialized in electronic warfare

"Employing our own technologies and incorporating all the knowledge that we have gained from the Nian factions, the Callisto is an elusive and flexible mech for tackling and shutting down enemy units."

Slots

  • Head slots: 4
  • Leg slots: 4
  • Chassis slots: 3 (3x light/medium turret/misc)

Bonuses (per extension level)

  • 3% increase to EW strength
  • 3% reduction to EW modules accumulator usage
  • -0.10 to surface hit size
  • 1% reduction to firearms cycle time
  • +2 to signal masking
Callisto

Notable stats

  • Accumulator: 2600 AP @ 360sec recharge
  • CPU: 450 TF
  • Reactor: 700 RP
  • Armor: 1350 HP
  • Passive resistances: 45 points universally (31%)
  • Surface hit size: 6 m
  • Locking range: 400 m
  • Sensor strength: 120 Hw³
  • Signal detection: 110 rF
  • Signal masking: 110 rF
  • Cargo capacity: 7.5 U
  • Slope capability: 45°
  • Mass: 16500 kg
  • Base speed: 95.4 kph

Syndicate Supplies cost

  • 700 TM tokens
  • 700 ICS tokens
  • 700 ASI tokens
  • 8,000,000 NIC
Legatus and Metis

Legatus

Legatus

Class: Heavy mech specialized in firearms

"Alluding on its appearance our engineers have nicknamed it "Doc". Aptly so, as the Legatus can administer a swarm of good old glowing hot bullets at a relatively long range for those in need. And that without writing out a prescription."

Slots

  • Head slots: 4
  • Leg slots: 6
  • Chassis slots: 6 (2x light/medium turret, 2x light/medium turret/misc, 2x light/medium turret/misc/industrial)

Bonuses (per extension level)

  • 3% increase to firearms optimal range
  • 3% increase to firearms damage
  • -0.20 to surface hit size
  • 1% reduction to firearms cycle time
  • +3 to passive resistances
  • 9% reduction to NEXUS modules accumulator usage
Legatus

Notable stats

  • Accumulator: 3850 AP @ 720sec recharge
  • CPU: 370 TF
  • Reactor: 1200 RP
  • Armor: 3750 HP
  • Passive resistances: 45 points universally (31%)
  • Surface hit size: 9 m
  • Locking range: 350 m
  • Sensor strength: 90 Hw³
  • Signal detection: 90 rF
  • Signal masking: 90 rF
  • Cargo capacity: 12 U
  • Slope capability: 45°
  • Mass: 34000 kg
  • Base speed: 72 kph

Syndicate Supplies cost

  • 2,000 TM tokens
  • 2,000 ICS tokens
  • 2,000 ASI tokens
  • 20,000,000 NIC

Metis

Metis

Class: Heavy mech specialized in combat support

"Exceptional energy output and defense capabilities - two traits that turn this heavy mech into an indispensable powerhouse on the battlefield. The Metis is the holy grail of remote support, which usually makes it a primary target in the eyes of enemy commanders."

Slots

  • Head slots: 6
  • Leg slots: 6
  • Chassis slots: 6 (2x light/medium industrial, 3x light/medium misc/industrial, 1x light/medium turret/missile/misc)

Bonuses (per extension level)

  • 3% reduction to engineering modules cycle time
  • 3% increase to armor repair amount
  • 3% reduction to accumulator recharge time
  • 1% increase to armor hit points
  • -0.30 to surface hit size
  • 9% reduction to NEXUS modules accumulator usage
Metis

Notable stats

  • Accumulator: 3800 AP @ 360sec recharge
  • CPU: 600 TF
  • Reactor: 1200 RP
  • Armor: 5500 HP
  • Passive resistances: 45 points universally (31%)
  • Surface hit size: 13 m
  • Locking range: 230 m
  • Sensor strength: 100 Hw³
  • Signal detection: 70 rF
  • Signal masking: 70 rF
  • Cargo capacity: 21 U
  • Slope capability: 45°
  • Mass: 60000 kg
  • Base speed: 66.6 kph

Syndicate Supplies cost

  • 4,000 TM tokens
  • 4,000 ICS tokens
  • 4,000 ASI tokens
  • 40,000,000 NIC

Balancing changes

Tuning module rebalancing

The last patch introduced diminishing returns when using tuning modules in the form of exponentially increasing accumulator usage. The changes were a bit on the brute force side, so in 3.8.3 we are refining this concept further and create some diversity between tuning module tiers.

There is now an efficiency difference between tiers (efficiency meaning what you get from the module for the accumulator used). T1 and T3/T3- have balanced efficiency, T2/T2+ have higher efficiency (meaning the energy usage penalty is less than the provided bonus), and T4/T4+ have low efficiency (energy penalty is higher than the bonus).

In practice this means that if you want to go for maximum bonuses using multiple high tier tunings, you'll experience exponentially higher accumulator usage with every additional tuning. However, if you are concerned about accumulator stability, you can choose lower tier tunings, which provide lower bonuses, but at much better efficiency, with lower accumulator usage penalties.

ARMOR REPAIR TUNINGS

  • The additional remote repair accumulator penalty has been removed, as the armor repair penalty also affects remote repair modules.
  • To make things more simple, cycle time modification has been removed (hence all the 1s in the "After" table here) so the new balance is done using only accumulator modification and repair amount modification.

BEFORE

TIER Acc MOD Repair MOD Cycle MOD
T0 1.3 1.1 0.97
T1 1.3 1.3 0.95
T2 1.3 1.3 0.95
T2+ 1.3 1.35 0.95
T3- 1.3 1.4 0.92
T3 1.3 1.4 0.92
T4 1.3 1.5 0.9
T4+ 1.3 1.55 0.9

AFTER

TIER Acc MOD Repair MOD Cycle MOD Ratio
T0 1.4 1.1 1 0.79
T1 1.2 1.2 1 1
T2 1.1 1.2 1 1.09
T2+ 1.15 1.3 1 1.13
T3- 1.4 1.4 1 1
T3 1.4 1.4 1 1
T4 1.6 1.45 1 0.91
T4+ 1.7 1.55 1 0.91

INDUSTRIAL TUNINGS

BEFORE

TIER Acc MOD Gather MOD
T0 1.3 1.1
T1 1.3 1.3
T2 1.3 1.3
T2+ 1.3 1.35
T3- 1.3 1.4
T3 1.3 1.4
T4 1.3 1.5
T4+ 1.3 1.55

AFTER

TIER Acc MOD Gather MOD Ratio
T0 1.4 1.1 0.79
T1 1.2 1.2 1
T2 1.1 1.2 1.09
T2+ 1.15 1.3 1.13
T3- 1.4 1.4 1
T3 1.4 1.4 1
T4 1.6 1.45 0.91
T4+ 1.7 1.55 0.91

EnWAR TUNINGS

  • EnWar tunings did not have a diminishing returns factor so far, quite the contrary actually. The more tunings you used, the better your drainers/neutralizers became. This is turned around with the new values, so efficiency is either balanced (T1/T2), or reduced (T3/T4) the more tunings you equip.
  • This is more interesting for neutralizers since the used and neutralized energy amounts are more closer; for T4 medium tunings the turning point in efficiency (when you need to sacrifice more energy than the amount you neutralize) arrives at using 3x tunings. (For those curious, in the case of T4 medium drainers this theoretically happens at 17x tunings.)
  • The difference between drained and neutralized energy modification has been removed.

BEFORE

TIER Acc MOD Drain MOD Neut MOD
T1 1.1 1.1 1.2
T2 1.1 1.1 1.2
T3 1.1 1.13 1.23
T4 1.1 1.15 1.25

AFTER

TIER Acc MOD Drain MOD Neut MOD Ratio
T1 1.1 1.1 1.1 1
T2 1.1 1.1 1.1 1
T3 1.2 1.13 1.13 0.94
T4 1.3 1.15 1.15 0.88

WEAPON TUNINGS

  • Creating a difference in accumulator usage modifiers between the weapon types was a bad idea, now all types of weapon tunings use the same values. This retains the specific accumulator usage traits of each weapon and creates the same efficiency reduction curve when using multiple tunings.
  • The same tier efficiency ratio differences are used here as for repair and industrial tunings.
  • Cycle time modification has been removed here as well, efficiency is controlled by only accumulator usage versus damage modification.

BEFORE (magnetic weapon tunings taken as the example)

TIER Acc MOD Damage MOD Cycle MOD
T0 1.5 1.03 0.97
T1 1.5 1.05 0.95
T2 1.5 1.05 0.95
T2+ 1.5 1.055 0.95
T3- 1.5 1.075 0.95
T3 1.5 1.075 0.95
T4 1.5 1.075 0.925
T4+ 1.5 1.085 0.925

AFTER (for all wapon types)

TIER Acc MOD Damage MOD Cycle MOD Ratio
T0 1.4 1.05 1 0.75
T1 1.1 1.1 1 1
T2 1.05 1.1 1 1.05
T2+ 1.05 1.2 1 1.14
T3- 1.3 1.3 1 1
T3 1.3 1.3 1 1
T4 1.55 1.4 1 0.9
T4+ 1.7 1.5 1 0.88

Medium firearm balancing

Long range firearms (autocannons) were using disproportionally less energy than their short range brothers, so their accumulator usage has been brought in line.

BEFORE (Machine gun vs Autocannon)

MG Cycle Accumulator Damage DPS Accu per sec DPS ratio* Accu ratio*
T1 4 2 160 40 0.50 1.49 2.00
T2 4 1 160 40 0.25 1.49 2.00
T3 4 2 170 42.5 0.50 1.51 4.00
T4 3 2 135 45 0.67 1.44 2.67

AC Cycle Accumulator Damage DPS Accu per sec
T1 8 2 215 26.875 0.25
T2 8 1 215 26.875 0.13
T3 8 1 225 28.125 0.13
T4 8 2 250 31.25 0.25

AFTER (Machine gun vs Autocannon - accumulator usage brought in line, tier cycle times equalized)

MG Cycle Accumulator Damage DPS Accu per sec DPS ratio* Accu ratio*
T1 4 2 160 40 0.50 1.49 1.45
T2 4 1.5 160 40 0.38 1.49 1.46
T3 4 2 170 42.5 0.50 1.51 1.51
T4 4 2.5 180 45 0.63 1.44 1.43

AC Cycle Accumulator Damage DPS Accu per sec
T1 8 2.75 215 26.875 0.34
T2 8 2.05 215 26.875 0.26
T3 8 2.65 225 28.125 0.33
T4 8 3.5 250 31.25 0.44

* DPS and Accumulator ratio is MG/AC
** DPS is calculated with using 1 damage ammos for simplicity's sake and doesn't consider ciritical hits

Weapon hit dispersion balancing

In order to widen the gap between light and medium weapons, the hit dispersion of guns and the explosion size of missiles got increased. This increases survivability of light robots against larger robots (if the latter use medium weapons, which they mostly do).

Weapon Before After
Short Laser 8 16
Long Laser 8 18
Short Magnetic 10 18
Long Magnetic 10 20
Short Firearm 12 22
Long Firearm 10 20
Compact Missile 8 14
Ballistic Missile 9 16

NEXUS module specialization

NEXUS modules are being rebalanced to become a specialty for heavy-class robots. This is achieved by drastically increasing the accumulator usage of the modules, and adding a strong accumulator usage reduction bonus to the robots themselves. In practice this means that the following robots will be able to use NEXUS modules efficiently:

  • Gropho
  • Seth
  • Mesmer
  • Lithus
  • Legatus
  • Metis
  • Riveler
  • Symbiont
  • Scarab

NEXUS-related extensions will be reimbursed during the patch in order to let players reconsider their usage.

Other changes

  • Increased the missile cycle time bonus of Troiar, Ictus, and Gropho from 1% to 3% per extension level.
  • Doubled the mass of light armor plates and tripled the mass of medium armor plates.

Deployment

Patch 3.8.3 including the final wave of Syndicate robots and all the above changes will be deployed next week - the exact day and time will be announced soon.

The 3rd group of Syndicate robots is just around the corner, so let's have a closer look at them. This wave consists of two assault-class robots: the Cronus, specialized in both mining and harvesting, and the Hermes, specialized in artifact hunting.

Cronus

Cronus

Class: Assault robot specialized in mining and harvesting

"The Cronus is the missing link between the light and mech class Nian industrial robots, suitable for both mining and harvesting duties.

Although it can't really compete with the higher robot classes regarding productivity, its versatility makes it the Swiss Army knife of small-scale industrial operations."

Slots

  • Head slots: 3
  • Leg slots: 3
  • Chassis slots: 4 (2x light industrial, 2x light/medium industrial)
cronus

Bonuses (per extension level)

  • 3% increase to mined amount
  • 3% increase to harvested amount
  • 3% reduction to industrial module cycle time
  • 3% reduction to accumulator recharge time
  • +2 to signal masking

Notable stats

  • Accumulator: 1400 AP @ 300sec recharge
  • CPU: 220 TF
  • Reactor: 310 RP
  • Armor: 1000 HP
  • Passive resistances: 45 points to kinetic/seismic/thermal (31%), 30 points to chemical (23%)
  • Surface hit size: 5 m
  • Locking range: 200 m
  • Sensor strength: 100 Hw³
  • Signal detection: 90 rF
  • Signal masking: 105 rF
  • Cargo capacity: 12 U
  • Slope capability: 51°
  • Mass: 15000 kg
  • Base speed: 99 kph

Syndicate Supplies cost

  • 60 TM tokens
  • 60 ICS tokens
  • 60 ASI tokens
  • 750,000 NIC

Hermes

Hermes

Class: Assault robot specialized in exploration

"The Nians apparently don't care much for their own history, so there wasn't any specialized robot that we could use as our own to discover underground artifacts.

However, with the use of hybrid technologies we were able to build the Hermes - an assault robot that is not only equipped with accurate and high range underground sensors, but also has ample combat capabilities to defend itself when facing an ambush."

Slots

  • Head slots: 3
  • Leg slots: 3
  • Chassis slots: 4 (2x light turret/misc, 2x light/medium turret/misc/industrial)
Hermes

Bonuses (per extension level)

  • 3% increase to artifact scanning range
  • 3% increase to geoscanner accuracy
  • 3% increase to firearms damage
  • 1% reduction to firearms cycle time
  • +2 to signal masking

Notable stats

  • Accumulator: 450 AP @ 240sec recharge (updated!)
  • CPU: 120 TF
  • Reactor: 300 RP
  • Armor: 800 HP
  • Passive resistances: 45 points to kinetic/seismic/thermal (31%), 30 points to chemical (23%)
  • Surface hit size: 4 m (updated!)
  • Locking range: 200 m
  • Sensor strength: 100 Hw³
  • Signal detection: 90 rF
  • Signal masking: 100 rF
  • Cargo capacity: 16 U
  • Slope capability: 56° (the same as light robots)
  • Mass: 14000 kg
  • Base speed: 108 kph

Syndicate Supplies cost

  • 60 TM tokens
  • 60 ICS tokens
  • 60 ASI tokens
  • 750,000 NIC

Balancing changes

  • Increased the base speed of the Argano and the Laird (including all variants) from 104.4 kph to 109.8 kph.
  • Replaced the artifact scanning range bonus of the Argano with a bonus to signal masking.

Deployment

Patch 3.8.2 including the two new robots and the above mentioned changes will be deployed next week - the exact day and time will be announced soon.

So after a little unplanned delay, we're continuing the release of new Syndicate robots. This time we're introducing two mech-class robots: the Echelon, a combat mech, and the Daidalos, a mech-class transport.

Echelon

Echelon

Class: Mech specialized in firearms

"The big brother of the Locust in every way, employing the same self-adjusting armor plating technology and stabilized machine guns. Syndicate generals usually like to put the Echelon where it belongs: to the forefront of intense battles."

Slots

  • Head slots: 4
  • Leg slots: 5
  • Chassis slots: 4 (2x light/medium turret, 2x light/medium turret/misc)

Bonuses (per extension level)

  • 2% reduction to the hit dispersion of guns
  • 3% to firearms damage
  • 1% to firearms cycle time
  • -0.10 to surface hit size
  • 2% to demobilizer resistance
Echelon

Notable stats

  • Accumulator: 1800 AP @ 420sec recharge
  • CPU: 250 TF
  • Reactor: 900 RP
  • Armor: 2900 HP
  • Passive resistances: 45 points universally (31%)
  • Surface hit size: 7 m
  • Locking range: 300 m
  • Sensor strength: 130 Hw³
  • Signal detection: 130 rF
  • Signal masking: 90 rF
  • Cargo capacity: 9 U
  • Mass: 28000 kg
  • Base speed: 90 kph

Syndicate Supplies cost

  • 250 TM tokens
  • 250 ICS tokens
  • 250 ASI tokens
  • 4,000,000 NIC

Daidalos

Daidalos

Class: Mech specialized in transportation

"We call it 'the hauler with a punch'. The Daidalos is a curious experiment in our efforts aimed to create a versatile transport robot that's more than just a sitting duck when ambushed.

Capacity-wise it fits right between the assault and heavy mech class transports, and while it's not as tough as the Lithus, when aided by a few combat escorts it is more than capable of helping out with some damage-dealing on its own."

Slots

  • Head slots: 3
  • Leg slots: 5
  • Chassis slots: 4 (2x light/medium turret, 2x light/medium industrial)

Bonuses (per extension level)

  • 10% to firearms damage (that's no mistake, it is 10% damage increase per level)
  • -0.20 to surface hit size
  • 1% to armor hit points
  • +3 to passive resistances
  • +2 to signal masking

Notable stats

  • Accumulator: 1800 AP @ 480sec recharge
  • CPU: 220 TF
  • Reactor: 500 RP
  • Armor: 2000 HP
  • Passive resistances: 45 points to kinetic/seismic/thermal (31%), 30 points to chemical (23%)
  • Surface hit size: 8 m
Daidalos
  • Locking range: 200 m
  • Sensor strength: 100 Hw³
  • Signal detection: 110 rF
  • Signal masking: 100 rF
  • Cargo capacity: 160 U
  • Mass: 48000 kg
  • Base speed: 81 kph

Syndicate Supplies cost

  • 350 TM tokens
  • 350 ICS tokens
  • 350 ASI tokens
  • 5,000,000 NIC

Balancing changes

Like in the case of the first wave, robot balance has been reviewed within the currently released class, although this time I felt like a small boost to the Tyrannos was the only change necessary.

The already released Syndicate robots have been also revisited, and based on your feedback and my testing sessions, a few balancing changes have been made.

The list of changes:

  • Increased the missile cycle time bonus of the Tyrannos from 1% to 3% per extension level.
  • Reduced the base surface hit size of the Vektor from 3 to 2.5.
  • Reduced the base surface hit size of the Locust from 4 to 3.5.
  • Increased the NIC cost of the Locust from 500,000 to 750,000 (token costs remain unchanged).
  • Increased the base mass of the Locust from 11,800 kg to 15,000 kg (which means less speed reduction coming from equipped modules).

Deployment

All this is part of patch 3.8.1, which will be deployed tomorrow, September 23 at 15:00 CEST/servertime (13:00 UTC). Downtime is estimated to last about 1 hour.