Early-Game Update: Part 1/2
Patch 1.11.9 improves early-game progression, gear and ship purchasing, feature unlocks, rankings, onboarding, balance and interface clarity.
NovaRaiderTeam
· 1.11.9
Added
- -Added new narrative text and guides to better explain the different areas and systems of the game.
- -This work is still in progress and will be completed in Part 2.
- -Added a new window at Level 7 to help players choose their first ship class.
- -Players can immediately test each class on a separate PvE trial map using a Level 50 setup.
Edits
Gear progression and purchasing
- -Reworked progression for weapons, equipment and ships.
- -Purchasing a higher tier now also unlocks every intermediate tier below it.
- -When upgrading, you now only pay the price difference between your highest unlocked tier and the selected tier.
- -Uranium and Star prices have been adjusted, especially in the early game, to make progression smoother for new players.
- -Completely redesigned the purchase and upgrade interface for weapons, equipment and ships.
- -Each item now displays more detailed statistics, with a direct comparison against your highest unlocked tier.
- -Added clearer information such as:
- -Damage per hit and per second
- -Healing
- -Effect durations
- -Flat and percentage-based absorption
- -Maximum absorption capacity
- -Other item-specific values
- -Added a Tips section aimed at newer players.
- -Buttons and labels now make the difference between a new purchase and an upgrade much clearer.
- -Important formulas and values inside descriptions are now easier to read.
- -Items below Level 16 no longer require Research.
Weapon and equipment selection
- -Updated the weapon and equipment selection menu:
- -Added a short description below each item name.
- -Upgraded items are now grouped after their Standard counterparts for better readability.
- -Red progression indicators have been replaced with dark gray, which is easier to understand for new players.
- -Items that are completely locked by level are now displayed in grayscale.
- -Updated the weapon and equipment selection menu in the Event Building:
- -Upgraded items are now grouped after Standard items.
Ship progression
- -Added a completely new ship selection interface.
- -Each class now displays its Standard and Upgraded ship lines separately.
- -Ship progression is organized into clear level tiers.
- -Each class directly shows the selected ship preview, its name and an Equip button.
- -The classes shown in this interface can be customized or hidden from the game settings.
- -Upon reaching Level 8, players receive the first ship from every class for free, allowing them to try each playstyle.
- -Added a new Ships tab to the Skins window.
- -Colors for Upgraded ships are now unlocked and equipped per class, instead of separately for every individual ship.
- -An equipped class color is automatically applied to every Upgraded ship belonging to that class.
- -Global ship skins remain separate from these new class colors.
- -Owned global skins can still visually replace the current ship through the existing skin selector.
- -Updated tooltips for weapons, equipment and ships.
Garage and feature unlocks
- -Removed the Ships and Research tabs from the Garage window.
- -Research can now be accessed from the button next to the Research preview on the right side of the interface.
- -Gems now unlock in Galaxy 3 at Level 10.
- -Kits and the Daily Wheel now unlock at Level 13.
- -News now unlock in Galaxy 4 at Level 16.
- -Research now unlocks in Galaxy 4 at Level 16.
- -Rankings now unlock in Galaxy 4 at Level 16.
- -Added a new Last 30 Days tab.
- -Individual rankings inside this tab unlock between Level 16 and Level 50.
- -High Scores unlock at Level 16.
- -All-Time rankings unlock at Level 75.
- -Several rankings have been removed, while new ones have been added.
- -Guilds now unlock at Level 20.
- -Garage, Gem and Settings preset managers now unlock at Level 20.
- -Seasons now unlock in Galaxy 5 at Level 24.
- -The Skill Tree now unlocks at Level 30.
- -Squadrons now unlock in Galaxy 6 at Level 35.
Onboarding and progression
- -Updated the Stellar Journey to its latest version.
- -Updated the Tips window to its latest version.
- -Arena rank and Arena rankings are now hidden until the player reaches the Arena's required unlock level.
- -New players now finish the introduction at Level 5, with a Level 5 Balanced ship, instead of Level 4.
- -The previous tutorial has been removed while it is being rebuilt for Part 2.
Balance Changes
Progression migration
- -All lower tiers below your currently unlocked weapons, equipment and ships have been automatically unlocked.
- -Several Garage item families have been reorganized to make progression more consistent and easier to understand.
The main goals of these changes are to:
- -Limit affected item families to a maximum of 20 progression tiers.
- -Simplify overlapping variants so that, where applicable, only one Uranium version and one Stars version remain.
- -Redistribute stats across the new tiers while preserving the existing overall power curve as closely as possible.
Item families
- -The number of available tiers has been reduced and redistributed across the level progression for:
- -Laser
- -Cannon
- -Galactic gatling
- -Repair kit
- -Automatic defense units
- -Tier counts have been increased or reduced and redistributed so paired variants now share matching progression levels:
- -Life buff / Upgraded life buff
- -Reactor overcharge / Upgraded reactor overcharge
- -Support drone / Upgraded support drone
- -The following redundant Stars variants without Research requirements have been removed:
- -Life buff
- -Reactor overcharge
- -Fighting drone
- -If you owned one of these removed items, an equivalent or better version of the corresponding item has automatically been unlocked:
- -Upgraded life buff
- -Upgraded reactor overcharge
- -Upgraded support drone
- -Stats for each tier have been recalculated to preserve the previous progression curve as closely as possible for:
- -Laser
- -Cannon
- -Galactic gatling
- -Repair kit
- -Automatic defense units
- -Life buff
- -Upgraded life buff
- -Reactor overcharge
- -Upgraded reactor overcharge
- -Support drone
- -Upgraded support drone
- -The price of the Upgraded collecting drone has been reduced.
- -Balanced ship progression now starts at Level 8.
Other balance changes
- -Reduced mouse-wheel scrolling speed across interfaces.
- -Removed Time Capsules from Galaxies 2 and 3, as well as Bosses 121, 122, 123, 131 and 132, since Research now unlocks at Level 16.
- -Farming events such as Back-to-School, Halloween and Christmas now unlock in Galaxy 4 at Level 16.
- -Upon reaching Level 16, all Research is automatically raised to Level 16.
Bug Fixes
- -Fixed pixelated icons in the weapon and equipment selection menu inside the Event Building.
- -Fixed a rare issue where the Epics interface could fail to load.
What's Next?
This is only Part 1 of the Early-Game Update.
Part 2 will continue improving onboarding, complete the new guides and narrative explanations, and introduce the redesigned tutorial experience.
The Wiki will be updated soon.