Patch Notes 1.35

Hey, we’re still around! Always around. Crash Command is back from the supremely-useful Unpub 9! Thanks to all of you who showed up and tried out the physical version of Crash Command!

Major Changes

ALCHEMIST REWORK

A rework? Already? Why yes, such is the nature of balance. The Arkite Fusor placard and Green/Red Prima tokens were too confusing to most players, and belied Alchemist’s role as a easy-to-play support Strider. Instead of needing a unique placard for her mechanic, Alchemist now uses the Function as her Fusor instead.

Arkite Fusor (Reworked)
Whenever you run your Function, cards in each slot now effect targets on your front axis, with the leftmost slot being your own space, and the rightmost spot being the space that is 4 spaces away on your front axis. You may have duplicates in your Function, and multiple cards in the same slot, but only the topmost card in a slot is active. You may still only move or swap 1 card at a time.

This allows for the same decisions and overall gameplan like before (by stacking cards instead of Prima to build up the damage or healing in that slot), while keeping the actual gameplay simple. To reflect these changes, Alchemist’s cards have been simplified and now take advantage of the DUO System’s color coding to help players build their beam.

NEW MECH: ARTEMIS
After one and half years of service, it’s finally time to retire Viper. As interesting as he may have been with the Canister system, he always felt like the odd duck out. As a Strider, Viper loathed moving around due to needing his MP to load Canisters. As a long-range support mech, he was too straightforward in his game plan; players hardly ever moved him because staying put in one place was just too efficient. His support-damage canisters lacked agency as well, almost always being completely dependent on other mechs’ effects to be able to deal optimal damage, or wait for the Invaders to make a move. Something had to give.

Replacing Viper as the premiere long-range mech is Artemis. Using the array of Reflectors, Artemis can curve shots around obstacles and around enemies. The farther the shot travels, and the more Reflectors it passes through, the more damage it deals.
Passive: Curving Shot
At the start of the game, place 1 Reflector in front, facing East. Reflectors are not targets, and as an repeatable action, may spend your MP to move. If a Rebound enters an empty space with a Reflector, it changes its facing to match the Reflector. Rebounds deal 1 damage for every 4 spaces it has moved, plus 1 damage for every Reflector it passes through.

Artemis looks to capitalize on the following key traits:

• As a Strider, she should have an innate focus on movement and positioning with her Reflectors.
• As a sniper, she should have the ability to remove high priority targets at long range, offset by a weakness at close range.
• As a Strider-Marauder hybrid, she should have somewhat consistent damage options, while having minimal support abilities, but still be able to benefit from other support abilities.

BLIZZARD REWORK
Blizzard has always had the best and worst perceptions about him. He has clear strengths in his ability to slow down the Invaders and debuff them with Cryos-related effects. Blizzard was also showing his age as his cards and buildup usually take 2-3 turns, which is an astonishing one-third (!) of the entire game now, making his payoff much smaller and more arduous compared to the other support and tank mechs.

To help with this, Blizzard’s Cryos requirement on certain cards have been adjusted to allow for more choices on how he wants to commit to crowd control.
Freeze Field now only prevents adjacent targets from moving and rotating, but can affect targets up to 2 spaces away with more Utility points. Freeze Field now only requires 1 or more Cryos token on the target for its effect.
Chilling Grasp still reduces damage dealt by Invader targets, but now requires 2 or more Cryos tokens on the target for its effect.
Protective Coating still reduces damage taken by Player targets, but now requires 3 or more tokens on the target for its effect.

With the increased pace of the game, All cards with Utility DUO bonuses now need less Utility DUO points than before,making stockpiling Cyros a potentially viable strategy. In addition, Blizzard’s PSD command cards have all been reworked, giving him better choices on whether to gain or spend Cryos tokens.

These changes look to improve upon Blizzard’s key traits:

• As a Vanguard, he should focus on team support and damage control, but in a way that is different from other defensive Vanguards.
• As a debuffer, he should have status effects that are impactful, yet still defensive in nature to support his team.
• As a Vanguard-Strider hybrid, he should bring survivability to the team when picked, while still offering supporting abilities for other squishier mechs.