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Competitive Budget Deck Masterpost (January 2021)
i'm starting to feel like modern Yugioh is a clown car, and every time the banlist apprehends the first few clowns that lead the format, 4-5 more step out to take their place. we didn't even have Linkross in handcuffs yet before VFD took the wheel and Vanity's Ruler got into the passenger seat. happy new year
This post will give recommendations for decks that can generally do well while generally remaining in the $50 to $150 price range.
Estimated pricing includes a sample completed main deck and some or all of an extra deck, but no side.
Pricing is based mainly on singles and you can easily save a lot of money by buying cores for most of these lists all at once.
Decks were chosen usually based on having some degree of success in recent TCG formats.
These deck choices and rankings are heavily based on online tournaments such as Konami's Remote Duel Invitationals, LCS, and other assorted online events.
Performance on DuelingBook's ranked ladder also slightly factors in to the placement of these decks, with data taken from Ygoscope.
Many decklists will include some middle-range power cards that might drive the price point up, which can be cut for players on an extreme budget. For instance, a set of Ash is $25-30 currently, but Ash is included in many of these lists as a generic staple that players might already own.
Conversely, decklists are oftentimes easily upgraded by adding power cards such as Forbidden Droplet and Triple Tactics Talent.
Decks are grouped into four "tiers" and listed alphabetically by tier. Decklists are built prioritizing simplicity and effectiveness on a budget. Not all of them are perfect, but this post is not an F. Unless there is a particularly offensive deckbuilding error that you want to point out, please don't use this thread to nitpick at the sample decklists. Don't feel obligated to stick to the sample lists either; you should experiment and play cards that feel comfortable and/or optimal to you. Feel free to leave suggestions for budget players, whether it's a budget tech choice for one of the decks on this list or whether it's a different deck that you think can compete in the coming months. [Last updated: 23 Jan 2021] Previous version: October 2020 Post
S Tier
The best bang for your buck. Decks in this category have the capacity to top premier events, though they're almost always supplemented with expensive power cards.
New Ritual-based combo deck from Genesis Impact that has a lot of recursion from the Graveyard, boasting a strong grind game as well as potent turn 1 boards that can win the game outright.
The level 1 Drytron cards tribute other Drytron cards or Ritual cards in hand/field, so this deck abuses Cyber Angel Benten's lack of a once per turn clause to gain a ton of resources and search a lot of power LIGHT Fairy cards, such as Herald of Orange Light and Vanity's Ruler.
Drytron Nova is an automatic 3-of inclusion in every competitive version of this deck, but also currently sits at around $40 each in NA. Novas are a massive boost in consistency, though the deck is honestly still playable without it, and is quite cheap otherwise. With even one copy of Nova, you should look to also include three copies of Drytron Fafnir (their Field Spell) which can search Nova as well.
The absence of Nova + Fafnir from the main leaves a lot of space to be filled. There are many ways you can go about this.
The sample list plays a small Pre-Prep engine with Herald of Perfection. It's very simple to play, especially if you're unfamiliar with the deck, and helps raise your overall ceiling - athough optimized competitive builds have generally moved away from Pre-Prep.
Another viable Ritual engine is the Megalith engine, which provides numerous options. These variants generally also suffer from consistency issues, made worse by the lack of Novas in the budget version. Less consistent access to Alpha means less consistent usage of extra Ritual monsters.
You could play cards that search Drytron monsters in an attempt to patch up consistency. Examples include Where Arf Thou, or normal summons that fetch Drytrons such as Cyber Dragon Core (getting Emergency) and Mathematician. Also viable is Neo-Spacian Aqua Dolphin, which is an interesting tech in Drytron that helps you beat handtraps like Droll & Lock Bird.
Finally, you can always just play more handtraps or generic power cards.
This deck is a relatively new deck, and is getting support in Lightning Overdrive, which might indicate that it's relatively safe from the next banlist. However, there's no telling what Konami will do, so don't take my word as gospel.
Combo deck with an extra deck toolbox, using Synchro and Xyz monsters to break boards or to win the game with True King of All Calamities and their recurring boss monster, Shenshen. The Virtual World monsters have a shared restriction which means that Link monsters are usually not played in this deck at all.
Most of the main deck VW monsters can dump other VW cards from Deck to GY, and their continuous spell Qinglong is a searcher in the GY. Combined with Virtual World Mai-Hime - Lulu's ability to search for VW cards as well, the deck is consistent at doing the same combos and executing its gameplan almost every game, as most combinations of 2 Virtual World cards result in some type of combo.
Despite being one of the top decks in the format, this deck is also quite cheap. Staples aside, the most pricey card in the main is Lulu at around $18-20 each. Can you get away with fewer copies of her? Probably, but you really want to get 3 due to Desires, and her being one of the best cards in your deck.
Saw success immediately after PHRA release, even in the previous combo-infested format where Virtual World took the most representation and top cut spots at LCS 8, eventually winning the entire tournament. Post-banlist, they also took the most top cut spots and then won LCS 9, versus an entirely different playing field full of Zoodiac, Drytron, and Eldlich variants.
Recent combos using Chaofeng, Phantom of the Yang Zing to search either one of the Virtual World tuners (Lulu or Laolao) have opened up some new combo routes that make Foolish Burial Goods a lot more forgiving to play, allowing you to still end on impressive boards despite using Qinglong somewhat suboptimally. On the other hand, Chaofeng's price also spiked quite heavily after LCS 9, so you may not want to play it.
Non-budget players will first and foremost want to add Zeus to the Extra Deck, as it helps greatly with going second and also dealing with threats like Dragoon. Another common inclusion is Triple Tactics Talents, though this card is by no means mandatory in the deck, and has also seen a decline in popularity lately.
A Tier
Strong decks, but limited either by a lack of access to powerful staples or by the natural ceiling of the deck. You could still top a regional with one of these decks on a good day.
Control + backrow deck with incredible recursion and the ability to come back from almost no resources
Altergeist have seen sparse success ever since FLOD, and are a respectable budget contender. They've have had a fairly modest showing online, and saw recent success with a top 8 finish at LCS 9. That deck was a Dogmatika variant piloted by Lars Junginger, playing the recently released Artemis, the Magistus Moon Maiden to make it slightly easier to summon Ecclesia in some hands.
The Dogmatika engine is viable even on a modest budget. It's possible to simply play Dogmatika Punishment as a powerful trap capable of utilizing your extra deck, and even a single copy of Ecclesia (around $20 each right now) goes a long way for improving the power of this package. Of course, the deck is also perfectly playable as pure Altergeist.
Budget players are most hurt by a lack of Pot of Extravagance, Infinite Impermanence, and Evenly Matched. The first three of these cards have reprints, but none are quite cheap enough yet to be easily accessible on a budget.
The extra deck is extremely flexible (as Altergeist are typically played with Extravagance, anyway) and several options are simply tech cards, such as Elder Entity N'tss.
Main deck trap choices are also extremely flexible. Torrential is quite powerful against Virtual World, but this could easily be swapped out for many other cards depending on your budget, available card pool, and locals demographics.
The release of Blazing Vortex in early February also brings along an incredibly powerful staple card in Pot of Prosperity. Altergeist, along with virtually every other deck that enjoys running Pot of Extravagance currently, will appreciate Prosperity as well. Many OCG decks are choosing to play both Extrav + Prosperity in their decklists. Of course, Prosperity is also a Secret Rare, and is virtually guaranteed to be around $100, so this is not applicable on a budget.
Floaty combo/control deck with 4 maindeck Prank-Kids that all float into any other Prank-Kid when used for a Link or Fusion summon
Got a great boost in Phantom Rage with Prank-Kids Meow-Meow-Mu, a Link 1 Prank-Kid monster that makes this deck incredibly consistent and turns any single Prank monster into full combo.
Prank-Kids Place is a little pricey, currently sitting at around $17 per copy in NA. While it contributes to your overall consistency (as it's equivalent to any Prank name), you can definitely get away with cutting copies of Place if your budget is tight.
Notably took 1st place at the Canadian Remote Duel Invitational in mid-January, piloted by Hanko Chow.
This deck appreciates the inclusion of Predaplant Verte Anaconda (currently over $30 apiece in NA) which can dump Thunder Dragon Fusion to help field Battle Butler, your main win condition. It was dropped from the provided list for budget reasons, but it's a great inclusion if you have a copy already. In conjunction with cards like Link Spider, it also improves your ability to play through disruption and through Nibiru.
This deck has many characteristics of a great deck, but suffers from similar problems as Zoodiac in that it struggles to play through disruption on your normal summon, or cards like Ash negating your first Prank-Kid effect. The inclusion of Polymerization in the main deck helps to combat this, but also popular are builds that don't play Poly at all and instead just load the main deck with handtraps and powerful staples like Forbidden Droplet.
Pot of Desires is included in this example main deck to help boost consistency and overall power, but some players opt not to run it.
Link-based midrange deck with a lot of recursion and a special in-archetype technique, where 1 Link Monster is used as the entire Link material to summon another copy of that monster, granting bonus effects
The deck is somewhat halfway between control and combo, establishing respectable boards turn 1 with a fairly compact engine, allowing many handtraps to be played. Their real strength comes in turn 3 and beyond, where their arsenal of free summons from the GY, coupled with their stellar resource recycling, easily overwhelm the opponent.
The majority of the deck is dirt cheap and is mostly able to be built with commons from SOFU+SAST supplementing 3 copies of Structure Deck: Soulburner.
Accesscode Talker is a huge part of this deck's success, able to steal games easily with the help of Update Jammer. Accesscode is not at all affordable on a budget, so the sample list plays Zeroboros instead. Owning one copy of Accesscode is a tremendous improvement to this deck's strength.
Salamangreat has found little competitive success in bigger online tournaments this format, but still regularly performs well in smaller events, remote duel locals, and the like. It's also a fairly safe choice, as it's somewhat unlikely we see further Salamangreat hits on the next banlist.
The provided list plays Rivalry + Strike, a potent option allowing you to sometimes win games even into established boards. Strike is quite solid in the current format, as even the combo decks don't usually end on ways to punish a lot of set backrow.
Parallel eXceed is an optional card, and can be cut in favor of more backrow or handtraps. On one hand, it allows you to more easily link climb when going second, and can easily add a Dweller or Bagooska to your board going first (Dweller is very good right now, as well). On the other hand, players may prefer to run more defensive cards instead of eXceed.
Subterrors are a control deck with a focus on flipping monsters face-down and generating constant advantage with Subterror Guru.
Pure Guru control is the most played variant, and is more or less a stun deck that tries to abuse Guru as much as possible. While most Guru lists online are Numeron and/or Dragoon hybrids, the pure version saw some success earlier this format at the Benelux Remote Duel Extravaganza, finishing top 4. You can watch that deck profile here, and the sample list is generally based off of that list.
While Dragoon isn't budget-friendly, the Numeron engine is very accessible for little cost, and is a viable variant of this deck as well. Numeron cards aim to make Number S0: Utopic ZEXAL going first or simply OTK going second. S0 is an extremely powerful card that can prevent the opponent from playing the game entirely if it resolves. If you are interested in this version, you can check the Subterror list on the previous budget post.
The sample list doesn't have a complete extra deck, mainly because it doesn't play Extravagance and you barely go into the Extra Deck to begin with. Relinquished Anima is a decent option if you can shell out the $7-8 for it, since sometimes you can turn Fiendess into Anima. Apart from that, provided Extra Deck options include anti-Maximus cards for the Dogmatika matchup, and Aussa + Zoodiac Drident in case you face a Zoodiac player. Taking their Zoo monster and then slapping your Drident on top can be potent.
This deck usually plays Extravagance over Desires, but Desires is quite a serviceable replacement. Similarly to Altergeist, this deck also enjoys Pot of Prosperity post-BLVO.
B Tier
Like the above category, but generally weaker, less consistent, and/or impacted harder by a lack of access to a certain card(s).
Dinosaurs are an aggressive deck with consistent access to Evolzar Laggia/Dolkka and Ultimate Conductor Tyranno, a formidable boss monster with incredible OTK power and disruption.
Dinosaur's strength tends to be largely meta-dependent, particularly how well it can counter the existing top decks. During the previous two combo-infested formats with decks like Dragon Link and Adamancipator running around, Dinos had several extremely impressive showing at events, such as TeamSamuraiX1's win at the first NA Remote Duel Invitational, as well as all three first-place players at LCS 7 (a 3v3 event) playing Dino.
In the current format, Dinosaurs are struggling. The Virtual World matchup is difficult, and it's hard for Dinosaur to build to beat all of VW, Drytron, Eldlich variants, and the plethora of rogue decks running around. Additionally, Mystic Mine is not very potent this format as both Virtual World and Eldlich have in-engine outs to the card, which is another blow to the Dinosaur strategy. Finally, the popularity of handtraps like Skull Meister and Artifact Lancea in the side or even the main deck are also reasons this deck has declined.
The provided variant still plays Mine, as it has utility breaking boards. Deckout is a much less reliable strategy against VW and Eldlich, but you can still stall for some turns until you can make a push for game. The addition of Cosmic Cyclone is also an attempt at neutering cards like Chuche and Conquistador.
If you wanted to build this deck without Mines, you would have to find replacements for quite a few cards (and frankly, Dinosaur does not have very many good ones). Most power staples are not budget, such as Lightning Storm, Talents, Droplet, etc. This deck also really appreciates Pot of Extravagance, which still sits barely out of budget range at around $25 each in NA.
Budget Dino must also deal with the lack of Animadorned Archosaur, an extremely powerful addition to the deck that opens up many new combos. However, sitting at around $60 per copy, the card is inaccessible on a budget.
The provided list plays the Simorgh combo, bringing out the WIND barrier statue on turn 1 to steal games. Though a full extra deck is provided, very few cards are actually needed, as the deck typically plays Extravagance anyway.
Dragon Link is a Link-centric combo deck that was a dominant force in the meta for about half a year, but lost a lot of resilience and power with the recent bans to Linkross and Dragon Buster Destruction Sword.
The provided budget version of this deck actually has a ton of extra deck flexibility due to not needing to play Synchro/Link cards related to the Halq/Kross package, meaning that you can play Knightmares, anti-Dogmatika cards, etc. This also means that the budget version doesn't actually care about the Linkross ban at all.
This deck has seen a great deal of variation online, playing a variety of different engines and tech cards. A few of these include Vylon Cube + Smoke Grenade, the Rose Dragons, several different Dragonmaid cards, and even an FTK variant involving Earthbound Immortal Aslla piscu. However, few of these are viable for budget players, especially if you do not own a copy of Halqifibrax.
An interesting option the deck has is to use Union Carrier to equip handtraps such as Artifact Lancea. On the opponent's turn, Hieratic Seal can be used to return the handtrap to your hand, making it live immediately. This is something you may want to consider in the main deck if you frequently have to deal with decks like Virtual World and Dinosaur. Another option is to equip Ally of Justice Cycle Reader to Carrier (they're both machines) and then bounce it to hand, as a weapon against Drytron. Carrier isn't in the example list, but this is a really interesting option to consider.
With Linkross out of the picture, playing Fibrax alone is an option if you either already own a copy or can afford the $20 needed to obtain one. You may have to retool your combos to incorporate Fiber, but the card can definitely add flexibility and resilience to your deck if you use it well.
Backrow-heavy control deck that summons its Traps to the field as monsters and pressures the opponent with Toadally Awesome
After being absent from the budget post for about a year, Paleo makes its triumphant return as its boss monster, Toad, returns to 3. Toad's reprint in Maximum Gold also brought this card down from $20 each to just a few bucks, making the entire deck extremely cheap.
As a control deck, Paleo suffers from more weaknesses compared to Eldlich, Altergeist, and Subterror. Notably, the engine tends to bleed advantage unless you've managed to maintain access to Swap Frog, and you can be quickly outpaced by stronger decks. However, in games where you can establish a Toad early, or where you can maintain control with your backrow, you can do quite well.
Paleo saw a surprising amount of success in various remote duel events this format, though some of that success is likely due to the format being unexplored and some sort of "new toy syndrome" as Toad recently went from 2 to 3.
Paleo struggles to out Dragoon, especially without access to Ice Dragon's Prison, a $40 card. An interesting option catching on in the meta lately is the use of Mirror Force cards, particularly Quaking and Storming, as they both pressure Dragoon. Still, the card puts quite a lot of pressure on this deck.
Speaking of Dragoon, some Paleo players opt to play that package in this deck as well. Swap Frog is a one card Dragoon as you can simply dump Ronin, turn Swap into Almiraj, and then revive Ronin to make Verte from there.
Fiend Griefing is presented as an interesting option which is very decent in the current meta, particularly vs Drytron. Combining it with Absolute King Back Jack is a classic combo that Paleo played a long time ago in 2017, during early Zoo formats.
Price: $100+, can be closer to $50 with fewer copies of Schism Imgur | DuelingBook
Classic Fusion-based archetype from 2014, debuting in Duelist Alliance. Somewhat of a midrange combo deck that can slow the game down with El Shaddoll Winda or be very aggressive with El Shaddoll Construct
Winda is a troublesome floodgate that many decks struggle to out, especially combo decks such as Drytron. Shaddoll cards are currently played in several Dogmatika variants due to the sheer power of Winda and the utility of Shaddoll Schism.
The current meta is favorable for Shaddoll not only due to Winda being effective vs Drytron, but also due to Ariel being very strong against a large chunk of the format, including Eldlich variants. Her ability to banish 3 cards from the GY is so strong that some decks are splashing in Sinister Shadow Games + Ariel just for that option, which we saw played in some of the 60-card Eldlich decks at LCS 9.
The growing popularity of Shaddoll cards has also caused Shaddoll Schism to go up in price substantially. Currently, it's around $17, but it may continue to rise.
The deck's biggest problem has always been its inability to consistently resolve a fusion spell on turn 1. Invoked Shaddoll was a popular hybrid in earlier formats, but with the release of the Magistus archetype in GEIM, Shaddolls got access to Rilliona and Magistus Invocation. This is an improvement since Magistus Invocation can fuse from hand and field whereas the regular Invocation can only fuse from hand when summoning Shaddolls. Additionally, Artemis provides a super convenient way for the deck to turn any Shaddoll into a LIGHT monster, which is important for summoning Construct.
While the full Dogmatika package is very expensive due to Nadir Servant being a $75 card, one option is to play just one copy of Ecclesia (around $20) along with Maximus and a playset of Dogmatika Punishment. Maximus and Punishment have a ton of synergy in the Shaddoll deck in conjunction with Apkallone's GY effect, and this combination is deadly even on a budget.
Other normal summons such as Mathematician and even Gale Dogra are potent on this deck, and can be played in addition to Rilliona or as a replacement for her. Yet another option is to run 1 copy of the now-cheap Eldlich the Golden Lord as a LIGHT monster for Shaddoll Fusion that can easily revive itself.
Another popular variant is a very trap-heavy list, sometimes cutting the Magistus cards entirely. PAK and SirEmanon's YouTube channels both have their own takes on this, if you're interested.
Floaty destruction-based archetype that generates advantage when its cards are destroyed, enabling its gimmick of using your opponent's monsters to Link Summon.
Can be built to go first or to go second quite effectively. Since going second is very difficult this format, the provided list aims to go first, playing a bunch of trap cards.
Fairly modest online performance, doing alright at smaller events and more recently finishing top 8 at the second YuGiJoe online series as well as occasional Luxury events. After the December banlist, Unchained has rapidly gained popularity in online remote duel events, and is one of the more prominent rogue decks this format. This success could be because the format is generally slower compared to previous ones, and many destruction-based cards such as Torrential Tribute are very popular currently, which this deck enjoys.
Mega-Tin reprints of Abomination's Prison as well as their Link 2 have helped make this deck a great deal more affordable. I:P Masquerena being more affordable is also a nice boost, though it's by no means essential in this deck.
This deck's best weapon is its opponents being unprepared for it. Playing improperly into backrow or Unchained floats can very quickly be fatal. It also matches up decently into some backrow decks as well as Dogmatika variants, which rely on destruction-based removal from Dogmatika Punishment and Elder Entity N'tss.
C Tier
Decks in this category have the capability to be just as good as the ones above at times, but often tend to suffer from multiple problems including consistency and power.
Versatile control-based Graveyard toolbox deck that has been swinging in and out of meta relevance since its release way back in 2014.
Gradually got more and more cards back from the banlist, with Cir and Graff being unlimited on the December 2020 list. The deck is now more or less "full power" with the exception of Beatrice, who is still limited.
The deck aims to establish Beatrice on turn 1 backed up with trap cards. The BA cards as well as Beatrice are extremely floaty, so this deck can put up quite a fight in grind games. Fiend Griefing is a solid card in the current meta, and is excellent in the Burning Abyss deck as you can send Farfa for further disruption, Graff/Scarm for followup, or Back Jack for more traps.
This deck was frequently mixed with Phantom Knight cards back in 2016 (often called PK Fire). Nowadays, Phantom Knight decks are typically either built pure or with an extremely compact BA engine. While it's possible to play a more dedicated hybrid build, the release of PK Torn Scales combined with most key BA cards being unlimited means that it's just better to focus on one or the other.
Many other options are playable - Desires for draw power, playing more traps, more handtraps, etc. Consider Needle Ceiling over Torrential as it can be harder to pull off, but combos better with Trap Trick. Players with access to Ice Dragon's Prison should play it, and adventurous duelists can even opt to play Fire Lake of the Burning Abyss.
As a deck easily capable of churning out Rank 3 Xyzs, you also have easy access to Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS Sky Thunder, one of the most powerful extra deck cards in the format. If this is an accessible option, it should be played.
Spell-heavy control deck that usually maintains only one monster on the field at a time, in the extra monster zone.
Formerly an extremely dominant control deck, modern-day Striker no longer accrues infinite resources through resolving Engage multiple times, but instead is easily able to kill you with an Accesscode Talker push after whittling down your LP and resources for a turn or two. The standard combo involves laddering from Halqifibrax -> Selene -> Accesscode and then dismantling your opponent's board before swinging for game.
You may have noticed a problem: if you're on a budget, you can't use Accesscode. This is a pretty big blow to the deck's overall strength. Some players opt for alternatives such as the Utopia Double package, which Zoé Weber played in the second EU Remote Duel Invitational last format. Another option is to simply not run it at all, and close games the old-fashioned way.
In previous formats, this deck was oftentimes played like an anti-meta going second deck, packing tons of removal cards and usually 3 copies of Mystic Mine in the main deck. In the current format, this strategy is a lot more difficult due to several factors - it's very hard to go second this format in general, and Mine is a lot less effective vs the top decks right now.
Instead, the sample list plays a going-first strategy with powerful trap cards like There Can Be Only One and Solemn Strike. It's possible to build this deck to go second, but you'd probably want to play board breakers instead of trap cards, and potentially also maindeck PSY-Framegear Gamma.
Yet another way to play this deck involves (surprise) Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon and multiple copies of Red-Eyes Fusion. Instead of using cards like Widow Anchor and Afterburners to muscle through disruption and stick a Mystic Mine on the field, you use them to get to your Dragoon and either win the game immediately or put yourself in a position where your opponent can't play through the Dragoon disrupt.
Roze is the most expensive card in this list. If your budget is tight, you can definitely cut her down to 1.
Xyz-focused deck with a gimmick allowing you to use any one Zoodiac as the entire Xyz material requirement for another Zoodiac. This lets you stack Zoo Xyz monsters on top of each other, making use of their effects.
Plays a compact engine combined with around 20 slots dedicated to handtraps, traps, and draw power. This deck is also commonly played as a hybrid deck, oftentimes with Eldlich and sometimes with Dogmatika cards. Both of these options are quite expensive, so they are not shown.
The deck's strength in competitive play comes almost entirely from Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS Sky Thunder, an extremely powerful Xyz monster that Zoodiac can effortlessly make due to Zoodiac Boarbow. Zoo is also easily able to summon Zeus with many materials, allowing it to repeatedly nuke the board.
Budget Zoo without Zeus is extremely weak by comparison. Relying solely on Drident + handtraps is not a reliable win condition, so cards like Parallel eXceed and Pot of Avarice are included in the sample list to give this deck a boost. While Megaclops is a troublesome boss monster in some matchups, the big three decks (Drytron, Virtual World, and Eldlich) generally don't have much trouble dealing with it.
Even with Zeus, the deck has been struggling in the current competitive meta. Noteworthy is its performance at LCS 9, where out of a whopping 51 Zoodiac variants that entered the tournament, only 1 survived until top 16.
Up-And-Coming
Decks to watch out for, oftentimes due to recent online success or new support being announced. Some might also be decks that could potentially be on the main body of the post, but need a little more time to prove themselves.
Link-focused deck that plays a variety of Beast, Beast-Warrior, and Winged Beast monsters. The maindeck Tri-Brigades cheat out powerful Link monsters, provided your GY is set up. This deck also trivially access the Simorgh link, which can sometimes seal games on its own through the WIND Barrier Statue.
In the current format, Tri-Brigade has seen fairly sparse success, usually mixed with Zoodiac. However, BLVO gives us Tri-Brigade Kitt, a great boost to this deck and a fantastic combo piece.
Further support in LIOV and beyond is also very promising, making this deck a potentially solid investment for the future.
The Tri-Brigade core is currently quite cheap, but this could change in the future depending on hype and the market.
Control deck with an extremely powerful Link 1 monster, Traptrix Sera, that pumps out constant advantage.
The sample list incorporates a very small Dogmatika engine. Dogmatika Punishment itself is very cheap, and is one of the best generic traps in the game right now. Just 1 copy of Ecclesia (around $20) provides a substantial power boost to this mini-engine, as dumping one copy of Titaniklad with Punishment and grabbing an Ecclesia for next turn is extremely powerful. Another option is to dump El Shaddoll Apkallone, then adding and discarding Ariel in order to trigger her effect and banish 3 cards, which is insane value.
If you can't get Ecclesia, you could simply play just Punishment as a generic trap. Another option is to play pure Traptrix, incorporating more power traps/handtraps, and quite frequently the Utopia Double package as well.
Pirate archetype with ridiculous recursion and a unique tag-out and equip mechanic based on Attributes being used in the game.
The pirates become equips for one of (currently) three Patrollships, extra deck monsters that can all discard Plunder Patroll cards in hand to fuel powerful effects. The ships become stronger when manned (equipped with) a Plunder card, with bonuses such as ignition effects becoming quick effects, or being able to replace the discarded card with a new one from the deck.
Many Plunder lists play Forbidden Droplet, as it has great synergy with the cards. Without Droplet, you could fill the space with several different options. This deck chooses to play the Undine package, but you can also go for cards like Foolish Burial Goods, Salvage, Silent Angler, Tenyi Spirit - Shthana, Toadally Awesome + Bahamut Shark, or just more generic staples.
This deck is getting at least one more support card in LIOV, that being Ravenwing. Many people speculate that they'll also get another Patrollship of a new attribute, which would be a huge buff to the deck.
Honorable Mentions
Megalith, Madolche, Pendulum decks, Cyber Dragon, Orcust, Mermail Atlantean, Magical Musketeers, Crusadia (Guardragon), ABC, D/D, Generaider, and more - Decks that are fairly decent but have been left off of the post to make room for other decks that have seen more recent success or have fewer budget resources online.
Dragonmaid, Eldlich, Infernoid, Invoked variants, HERO, etc - Decks that are pretty good but are sorta in limbo due to some expensive individual cards, such as Chamber Dragonmaid, Cursed Eldland, Invocation, etc.
Cubics, Phantasm, Chain Burn, Evilswarm, Yosenju, Dinomist, and much, much more - Unfortunately, there is not enough room to cover every single decent, super-cheap deck.
I hope to keep this post updated for the foreseeable future. Feel free to leave any comments or suggestions.
Deadset's All Characters Cheat Sheet & Endgame Guide Compendium, Season 22 Edition
S22 COMMENTARY AND THOUGHTS
Greetings, /Diablo! The foreboding Season 22 announces the arrival of shadows - spectres of the past that grow ever thicker, clawing through the shrine and pylon beacons for another chance at fighting the demonic hordes. The Shades of Nephalem past stand by our side in the unrelenting fight against the minions of Hell, eager to spill the blood of our sworn enemies... ...Or level us up really quickly, at least. They're really good at that. Season 22 is a curious crossbreed of past Seasonal endeavors, as it features both an "environmental" effect (the Shadow summons) and a "mechanical" effect (the 4th Kanai's Cube slot). While the latter ends up being more of a uniform buff than a truly build-shattering concoction, it introduces just enough of a theorycrafting tinge to the Season to make both ends of the spectrum - fans of the theory and fans of the spectacle - to maybe make us all happy for once. At very least, we won't be chasing snowballs. As a personal takeaway, I think this Season prompted me to think about starting on more classes and builds than many previous Seasons have managed to. Maybe it's the need to consider the 4th Kanai's Cube slot that gave me pause at each and every concept? Regardless, I think we should all be glad for the confidence on display when it comes to Seasonal changes - this is the first time we see a dual theme, and on top of that both its aspects end up being important and impactful. Add a decent number of mechanical changes to items and sets, and even a paragon category change (who expected that to happen in 2020?), and this is one of the best Seasons we've had in a long, long while. Have a great Season 22, and as always - happy hunting! -Deadset
WHAT'S STRONG, FUN AND MAYBE EVEN NEW IN SEASON 22
BARBARIANS
Haedrig's Gift Beginner Build: Horde of the Ninety Savages Wrath of the Wastes - Rend Built from the ashes of a very old Rend/IK mixture, the Rend Wastes Barbarian truly shows the potential and terror of this DoT build. An unstoppable machine that whirls, cleaves and guts demons like Barbarians were always meant to do. With the newfound powers of Ambo's Pride, this build bleeds his enemies dry in an instant, turning what was once an unassuming bleed into a fearsome nuke that gets applied every second. Couple that with the savage elegance of Whirlwinding, and it's no wonder people will return to this build time and again when it comes to Barb progression. Might of the Earth - Earthquake Never the build at the forefront, Earthquake is nevertheless steady, extremely satisfying and a feast for the eyes. Couple its wholesome rotation with the newfound buffs and you really have a contender for Barb seasonal playtime. If you prefer to devastate a large area over precise shots, like to control the battlefield and gravitate toward rotations that just feel good to execute, Earthquake is your jam. Might of the Earth - Seismic Slam Always underappreciated, but always ready to pounce from the shadows and deliver, the Earthquake set has been quietly sitting very close to the leaderboard's top through a select few, but very devout Barbarian players. Ever since Season 19, we have Seismic Slam the way it should always have been - a thunderous mid-range devastator, the perfected counterpart of its older, pure Earthquake cousin. With the reworked Fjord Cutter, this build is quite the underrated powerhouse.
CRUSADERS
Haedrig's Gift Beginner Build: Aegis of Valor Akkhan/Invoker - Thorns Bombardment Say what now? The Thorn Bombsader is back with a vengeance, and is a force to be reckoned with in Season 22. Dropping barrels of pristine, unadulterated devastation from the skies, this will be one of the best soloing builds for the entire Season. Thorns Bombardment is a calculating, bursty, cooldown centric build that dishes out punishment in spectacular dollops that will take it all the way to GR150. Note that the build survived a hefty PTR nerf and emerged strong - a testament to its pure numbers. Aegis of Valor - Heaven's Fury Shotgun One of the two new sets from Season 20 ascended Crusaders to a whole new level, and evoked the times when the Holy Shotgun was considered OP, because it was the only Reaper of Souls build that demolished T6. Hundreds of millions of damage and health spikes later, this (un)holy amalgamation of items delivers a mixture of Fist of the Heavens and Heaven's Fury Shotgun shots with righteous ferocity that have earned this build the one rigthful nickname: the God Crusader. Aegis of Valor - Fist of the Heavens Not as strong as its counterpart, but just as satisfying - the Fist of the Heavens visuals are undeniable - and one of the best Crusader farming builds out there, again courtesy of the new Aegis of Valor Crusader. Mount up, descend into battle and demolish screens full of demons with violent, electrified arcs covering the entire battlefield? What more could you ask for? This build is stronger in Season 22, making it one of the top tier farmers in the entire game, and a pure pleasure to spread destruction with.
DEMON HUNTERS
Haedrig's Gift Beginner Build: Gears of Dreadlands Gears of Dreadlands - Hungering Arrow (and Bolas!) Using the powers of the Gears of Dreadlands set, this Demon Hunter build combines the deadly precision of Hungering Arrow with the elegance of movement and battlefield maneuverability of Strafe. The end result is one of the most versatile, agile and honestly - just visually appealing playstyles in the game. Valla's Bequest lives on yet another Season, ensuring this will remain the top tier Demon Hunter build for yet another round of 150 clears. Legacy of Dreams - Rapid Fire The emergence of the Rapid Fire build finally brought the close range, Tommy gun-like fantasy of the Demon Hunter class to life - all in a destructive, methodical playstyle that isn't afraid to get into the thick of fights and chaingun-and-grenade its way out. If the strafing evasion of GoD is not for you, and the top of the leaderboard is not your primary concern, this remains one of the most fun ways to play Demon Hunter: right in the demons' faces, melting them off. Gears of Dreadlands/Marauder - Support Using the combined might of the Gears of Dreadlands and Marauder sets, this support Demon Hunter build combines the strong damage buffs and pulling utility from the Entangling Shot and Bolas barrage with the myriad utility and toughness buffs coming from the Companion synergy. I never thought I would include a support build as something to be excited about, but it has been so long since Demon Hunters were this desirable and this versatile in the meta, that I can't help but highlight it.
MONKS
Haedrig's Gift Beginner Build: Patterns of Justice Patterns of Justice - Tempest Rush Rooting its powers firmly in the TR-dedicated Patterns of Justice set, this alternate take on Tempest Rushing gives its Sunwuko brother a run for his money. The set empowers Sweeping Wind to astronomical proportions, stacking all the runes and swelling the vortex of destruction to a veritable cyclone. The opportunity to include the Shenlong fists in the setup in Season 22 elevates it even further! Inna - Wave of Light Although not particularly exciting, this is a purposeful highlight; the ease of starting an Inna Wave of Light build can take you very far into the Season with relatively minor time investment. Inna WoL is a tried and tested build that combines the inherent screen-clearing AoE of Explosive Blasts with the forgiving, easy-to-play Inna set. If you're looking for something to breeze the Season with, this is a strong contender. Raiment Shenlong - Generator The Monk bread and butter. There is nothing wrong with liking this spec, and if you haven't hopped onto Monk in a while, it's still a great choice. If you like to punch things hard and fast and don't fear managing survivability in the closest of melee combat, this build will still deliver.
NECROMANCERS
Haedrig's Gift Beginner Build: Masquerade of the Burning Carnival Masquerade - Bone Spear Testing the full capabilities of the dedicated Masquerade of the Burning Carnival set, this Necromancer build focuses on a unique amalgamation of Simulacrums and Bone Spear to produce a crafty sniping playstyle that can take its time setting up fights due to its impressive endurance. Incredibly capable - likely one of the strongest builds this Season - and most importantly, Land of the Dead-independent (hurrah!), this is a build for all the CDR-weary Necromancers out there! Legacy of Dreams - Corpse Explosion Basing itself on the versatile and adaptable Legacy of Dreams power and stacking a bunch of empowering and synergistic legendary items, the Corpse Explosion Necromancer provides another supremely powerful and visually striking playstyle this Season - and this one relishes on exploding cadavers, which is about the coolest and most Necromance-y thing you could say. High contender for my second build this Season, I've wanted a top tier Corpse Explosion Necromancer ever since this class came into existence. Legacy of Dreams - Poison Scythe Emerging from a combination of the Season 21 changes to the build-defining Haunted Visions amulet, the adaptability of the Legacy of Dreams bonus, and the plethora of Poison-themed skills at the Necromancer's disposal, this Necromancer build offers a simple-yet-deadly playstyle that reaps enemies without a thought for cooldowns. Will this build tickle your fancy for mechanical mastery? Nah. Will it cause theorycrafters to break down build minutae in endless excel tables? Nah. Is it the strongest and laziest Necromancer thing since Bone Storm from ages ago? You betcha.
WITCH DOCTORS
Haedrig's Gift Beginner Build: Mundunugu's Regalia Mundunugu Spirit Barrage The Mundunugu set empowers one of the most visually satisfying builds of Witch Doctors, Spirit Barrage, to a ridiculously powerful level that will (barring any unexpected changes) seal the WD's spot in group play for a long, long time. To top it all off, this build is very versatile across all game activities, and can be adapted to everything from bounties, through keyfarm and speeds, to high end solo and group pushing as the Trash Killer. Truly top tier value of a Headrig's Gift for Witch Doctors this time around! Zunimassa - Carnevil DoD The Carnevil Witch Doctor summons an army of swarming minions at his side, whose adorable mimicking of his blowdart attack - and positively horrifying attack speed - are a sight to behold. This has been a long time coming; Zunimassa has been building up in power over the course of a few patches, with set and item changes that slowly inched it up in viability. It has been overcome by Mundunugu Spirit Barrage for some time now, but remains one of the strongest - and most evocative - builds in the WD arsenal. Helltooth - Zombie Bears Honestly, if this didn't make you check the year of this post, I don't know what could. But yeah, ZOMBIEBAAHS have been buffed now; still nowhere near a contender build, but strong enough to raise an eyebrow and make you chuckle. Seriously, if you choose to run this for GR pushing and Arachyr Chicken for farming, you might be my favorite person on the Internet right now.
WIZARDS
Haedrig's Gift Beginner Build: Typhon's Veil Legacy of Dreams - Mammoth Hydra The Mammoth Hydra playstyle brings the tankier - and more potent - version of the Hydra playstyle, and holds the reigning title of the top Wizard build in S22. If you are looking for a straightforward, durable and classic-feeling Wizard build, I would look no further than this one. Legacy of Dreams - Frozen Orb Leave it to Legacy of Dreams to put Frozen Orb back in the spotlight. Combine the Frozen Orb nostalgia of sorceresses past with the slew of synergistic buffs to items like Wizardspike (holy nostalgia indeed), and you have an awesome new playstyle that leaves enemies debilitated and helpless, watching their frozen death creep ever closer. LoD Energy Twister Alright, well, if the Zombie Bears didn't make you check the year of the post, then maybe this did. Yes, Twisters are back and no, you don't have to stack them in a corner. You can play a honest-to-Diablo spellslinger that drops down Tornados left and right and simply enjoys the obliterating vortex. And isn't that a nice thing indeed?
GETTING STARTED THIS SEASON, OR HOW TO GET TO THE COOL STUFF
We can clearly see an influx of new and returning players - people looking for guidance and advice on early crafting, gambling, and character building foundations. This is my attempt to convey as much information as I can in a single thread. At the very start of the Season, your first job is, naturally, to create a new seasonal hero. While this first choice does not lock you down too terribly, note that the Seasonal Journey rewards you once per Season - only for the character that completes the chapters first. Bearing that in mind, pick your character and go in game. While in town, approach one of the followers that most closely matches your class (Templar for Barbarians, Monks and Crusaders, Scoundrel for Demon Hunters, and Enchantress for Witch Doctors, Necromancers and Wizards), select the "Inventory & Skills" option, take their weapon and equip it yourself - it is a significant upgrade over the base weapon that you start with. Note that once you reach level 7, vendors in all towns - the ones with the nickname "the Fence" in their names - will start selling rings. Each of them has a chance to sell rings that increase your Average Damage (i.e. 2-4 Damage), which is a massive DPS boost early on.
THE IMPORTANT BIT FOR S22 ONLY: LEVELING WITH SHADOW CLONES
This tactic is only available in Season 22, and relates to the Shadow Clones that you get after clicking any shrine or pylon. The clones are AI controlled, high damaging allies that persist for 1 minute before disappearing, but are able to comfortably carry you on difficulties up to Torment VI for extremely fast leveling (~40-50 minutes with some luck and a good route). To execute this leveling strategy, all you need to do is check for shrines at specific waypoints in Adventure Mode — ones that are relatively safe and will not risk your character's life. Once you find the clone, simply run around the zone and let him wreak havoc, leveling you up with a tremendous speed in the process. Note that the Shadow Clones scale with your equipment, so you can check vendors to supplement their damage with some very basic equipment. The following is a list of relevant waypoints (note that they are not fixed spawns, so move down the list if you do not find one):
Act I - Southern Highlands (down from WP and to the left before the bridge);
Act I - Leoric's Manor Courtyard (several spawn points, explore the area a bit);
Act II - Howling Plateau (run up from the waypoint, along the upper rim of the map);
Act II - Road to Alcarnus (run through the area; spawn point near Maghda entrance);
Act III - Bridge of Korsikk (at the waypoint itself; other spawns in the Fields of Slaughter optional);
Act III - Rakkis Crossing (right at the waypoint; optionally run up the bridge);
Act III - Tower of the Cursed Level 1 (along the upper and lower rim of the first section of the map, near WP);
Act III - Tower of the Damned lvl 1 (along the upper and lower rim of the first section of the map, near WP);
Act IV - Realm of Fractured Fate (explore the area near the waypoint, multiple spawn chances);
Act IV - Lower Realm of Infernal Fate (explore the area near the waypoint, multiple spawn chances);
Act IV - Gardens of Hope lvl 1 (near Rakanoth; check right above and right below the waypoint);
Act IV - Gardens of Hope lvl 3 (explore area near waypoint; wells do not work like shrines for shadow clones!)
Challenge Rift Completion and Kanai's Cube
After your character is created, head to the Game Settings menu, go into the Challenge Rifts and start the current weekly run. Note that you have to have completed at least one Greater Rift on your account (either in non-seasonal or previous seasons) to have Challenge Rifts unlocked. Challenge Rifts are a weekly challenge that provides a fixed character and a build (usually using quirky skills and/or heavily unoptimized stats and items), and challenges you to beat the Greater Rift completion time of its original owner. The completion of the Challenge Rift is usually trivial and can be completed either solo or in a group, and will net you a Challenge Rift Reward cache. Open it up in-game with your brand new seasonal character and claim its contents: Death's Breaths, a couple hundred of each of the base crafting materials, Blood Shard, a couple million gold, and 15 each of the Act-specific bounty cache materials. With your newfound riches, upgrade both your Blacksmith and your Mystic craftsmen in town to their maximum rank. Your next important step is to acquire Kanai's Cube. Kanai's Cube is found in The Ruins of Sescheron - the waypoint in the top right corner of the Act III map. From that waypoint, run left towards the city and make your way around the ruins; one of its far corners (typically upper right, lower right, or lower left) will have the entrance to the next zone, the Elder Sanctum. Once in the Elder Sanctum, make your way through the zone, practically to its other end. When you find the Cube and click it, it automatically transports itself back to town. While you are at it, take a look at the Kanai's Cube guide for additional details on its use - it is an incredibly important part of your character progression at any point of the game, so make sure to acquaint yourself thoroughly with its properties.
Which Item to Craft and Extract in the Cube?
One of the strongest early game boosts that you can obtain while leveling is to craft a yellow (rare) level 70 item at the blacksmith, then try to upgrade it into a valuable legendary at Kanai's Cube, and finally extract its property for one of the Kanai's Cube legendary power slots. Note that this strategy is stronger for some classes over others, particularly favoring Demon Hunters, Necromancers, and somewhat Barbarians. The remaining classes can skip this step and directly go to gambling, sparing themselves some disappointment and saving some materials for level 70, since you can do this recipe exactly once at the Season's start (you only have so many Death's Breaths). When choosing which rare item to craft, keep in mind that you are looking to upgrade them into a legendary that provides some form of skill damage multiplier that will skyrocket your leveling efficiency. Every class has a different set of valuable items to attempt for:
Barbarian:
Craft a rare level 70 Two-Handed Mighty Weapon, and use the Upgrade Rare recipe in the Cube to try to obtain either a Fury of the Vanished Peak, The Gavel of Judgment, Bastion's Revered or Blade of the Tribes.
Crusader:
Craft a rare level 70 One-Handed Flail, and use the Upgrade Rare recipe in the Cube to try to obtain either a Darklight, Gyrfalcon's Foote or Johanna's Argument.
Demon Hunter:
Craft a rare level 70 Dagger, and use the Upgrade Rare recipe in the Cube to obtain either a Karlei's Point or a Lord Greenstone's Fan. Demon Hunters are excellent at this strategy since they only have 2 daggers, and they are both great for leveling.
Monk:
Craft a rare level 70 Daibo, and use the Upgrade Rare recipe in the Cube to try to obtain either an Incense Torch of the Grand Temple, Balance or The Flow of Eternity.
Necromancer:
Craft a rare level 70 Two-Handed Scythe, and use the Upgrade Rare recipe in the Cube to obtain either a Bloodtide Blade, Maltorius' Petrified Spike, Nayr's Black Death or Reilena's Shadowhook. Necromancers are excellent at this strategy since they only have 4 legendary Two-Handed Scythes, and they are all great for leveling.
Witch Doctor:
Craft a rare level 70 Staff, and use the Upgrade Rare recipe in the Cube to try to obtain either a Staff of Chiroptera or Wormwood.
Wizard:
Craft a rare level 70 Wand, and use the Upgrade Rare recipe in the Cube to try to obtain either a Fragment of Destiny, Serpent's Sparker, Unstable Scepter or Wand of Woh.
Note that this part of the leveling strategy requires some amount of luck for non-DH and non-Necromancer players. Leveling in a group minimizes the risk of RNG screwing everyone over, but sometimes you will be unlucky; this is nothing to be bothered by, as leveling in Diablo is still a fairly easy and straightforward process. If you are lucky, however, and obtain one of the items outlined above, you will have just about enough Death's Breaths to use the Extract Legendary Power recipe in Kanai's Cube. Do that, and then slot the (now maximized) legendary power of the item in the Cube, netting yourself a considerable leveling bonus. Needless to say, adjust your build accordingly to the legendary power, i.e. if you get Guard of Johanna as a Crusader, make Blessed Hammer your main damage dealing skill throughout leveling.
Spending the Challenge Rift Blood Shards
Your next step is to try and gamble for valuable items from Kadala at level 1. Since not every legendary is available right from the start, the legendary item pools for some classes are restricted in a beneficial way to obtain another strong damage multiplier right from the start. If you do not consider the legendaries listed for your class particularly attractive, you can always gamble for Helms for a considerable chance at obtaining Leoric's Crown; extracting its power and socketing rubies in your helmets throughout leveling will net you a hefty amount of extra experience.
Barbarian:
Gamble for Bracers, trying to obtain either Bracers of Destruction or Bracers of the First Men. Spend any remaining Blood Shards on Boots for a chance at Lut Socks.
Crusader:
Gamble for Bracers, trying to obtain Gabriel's Vambraces. If you are lucky to get them quick, you can also spend some (or all, if you are feeling lucky) on shields for Guard of Johanna or Denial. At level 31, if you have any Blood Shards saved over, or new ones you are willing to spend, you can try your luck at Pants for Hammer Jammers.
Demon Hunter:
Not many great options; you can gamble for Belts, trying to obtain the Hellcat Waistguard, although Grenade comes a little later in the leveling process. Otherwise, either go for Leorics Crown (helm) or the damage proc of Pox Faulds (pants). Another gambling strategy you can attempt is saving shards for level 30, when you can gamble on Quivers for a chance at Sin Seekers, or level 31 - for the additional chance at Holy Point Shot and Spines of Seething Hatred.
Monk:
Gamble for either Boots (hoping to obtain Rivera Dancers or The Crudest Boots) or Bracers (hoping to obtain either Pinto's Pride, Cesars Memento or Gungdo Gear). Adjust your gambling strategy for Monk depending on the item you obtained (if any) on the previous step, where you upgraded a rare item (i.e. gambling for bracers if you got an Incense Torch of the Grand Temple, hoping to get Pinto's Pride).
Necromancer:
Gamble for Gloves, trying to obtain Grasp of Essence, or Rings for Circle of Nailuj's Evol if you upgraded your scythe (see above) into Reilena's Shadowhook.
Witch Doctor:
Not many great options; you can gamble for Mojos, trying to obtain a Gazing Demise, but its usefulness is rather limited in early character progression. Otherwise, either go for Leoric's Crown (helm) or the damage proc of Pox Faulds (pants).
Wizard:
Gamble for Sources at level 1, trying to obtain Winter Flurry, or save them for level 31, when you can gamble on Rings for a chance at Manald Heal, or level 33 - for Source gambling for Etched Sigil.
Crafting a High Level Rare and Reducing Level Requirement
Pick a two-handed weapon category of your choice (2h Axes, Maces, Swords...) and craft a level 70 weapon of the chosen type. Avoid class-specific weapons, since they add a class-specific roll to the secondary stat pool (i.e. Max Fury), making this strat harder. You are looking for a roll with:
At least a Crowd Control secondary stat - Chance to Stun, Slow, Fear,.. etc. On Hit;
Ideally, also a Life per Hit primary stat;
If both these stats are present, you have eliminated a large part of the possible Secondary stats on the weapon. Thus, you can easily reroll the other Secondary stat (the one that is NOT the crowd control stat) into Reduced Level Requirement - making the item wearable up to 30 levels prior to level 70. This is a tremendous damage increase for a large chunk of your leveling process. Of course, if you are very lucky, the Reduced Level Requirement can roll onto your crafted item outright.
Complete a Boss Bounty
An easy early boost to your character in Seasons is to check your bounties for any easily completed act boss killing bounties - the most famous examples being Zoltun Kulle (at the Archives of Zoltun Kulle waypoint) and Maghda (down from the Road to Alcarnus waypoint) in Act II. Another option is Azmodan at the very end of Act III. Simply run past the mobs and go straight for the boss kill. The boss bounties reward you with a Diabolic Hoard chest that is guaranteed to drop you a couple of rare items; they will boost your overall character power nicely right at the beginning.
OTHER, NON SHADOW METHODS OF LEVELING UP
Torment VI Traps Method
Turn the difficulty up to Torment VI and go to the Halls of Agony Level 1. Run and dodge past monsters that come in your way until you reach the falling blades traps; there, lure the monsters towards these traps and watch as they get slaughtered, netting you tremendous experience. This method, while extremely efficient time-wise, is also (arguably) quite unfun and counter-intuitive, not to mention prone to mishaps. Needless to say, this strategy is not Hardcore-friendly and will result in the (frequent) death of your character.
Via Massacre Bonus
You can also consider leveling via Massacre bonuses — a very potent strategy in solo play. The Massacre bonus XP system was revised in Patch 2.4.1 into a multiplicative experience bonus that rewards you for chaining kills of monsters. The caveat is this bonus only works in bounties - and not during Rifts. To successfully pull of long chains of monster kills, pick highly populated zones - the Cathedral (Act I), Halls of Agony Level 3 (Act I), and, most notably, Fields of Misery (Act I). The tactic is to always be on the move, leading monsters into one another, abusing Cursed Chests for monster spawns, and generally using skills with DoTs or high AoE (Rend for Barbarian, Blessed Hammer for Crusader, Multishot for Demon Hunter, Wave of Light for Monk, Locust Swarm for Witch Doctors, Blizzard for Wizards). While Massacre leveling will require frequent restarts of the game (every 5-10 minutes), it will result in some of the fastest leveling in Diablo 3, clocking under the 2 hour mark when you get the hang of it. Due to its individual nature and the level of coordination required to pull it off in a multiplayer game, leveling by Massacre bonuses can only be recommended for 2+ players if they are experienced and have voice communication; this is predominantly a solo leveling technique. It also has the considerable downside of losing the increased legendary drop rate and blood shards of rifting.
Via Cursed Chests
This is one of the faster methods, clocking in under the 1 hour mark with experienced groups that have a Necromancer with them. The reason for the inclusion of the Necromancer is the supremely strong class-specific legendaries that are able to be gambled from the get-go — namely, Grasp of Essence to amplify the damage of Corpse Explosion, and Bloodtide Blade to amplify the damage of Death Nova. Either of those lucky finds can carry an entire group on up to Torment VI difficulty. Ideally, the remaining teammates will support the DPS carry with buffs and as much crowd control as they can muster. The preferred way to level through Cursed Chests is to have individual party members make their own games, and invite the rest of the group when they stumble upon one of the Cursed Chests from the list below. Note that Act IV has no suitable spots.
Act I - The Cursed Cellar - The Old Ruins (dangerous for Hardcore characters due to lack of space!)
Act I - The Cursed Court - Cathedral Level 2
Act I - The Cursed Bellows - Halls of Agony Level 3 (dangerous for Hardcore characters due to fire traps!)
Act II - The Cursed Spire - Archives of Zoltun Kulle
Act II - The Cursed Pit - Archives of Zoltun Kulle
Act II - The Cursed Moors - Shrouded Moors
Act II - The Cursed Temple - Temple of the Firstborn
Act III - The Cursed Garrison - The Battlefields
Act III - The Cursed Bailey - The Ruins of Sescheron
Act V - The Cursed Peat - Paths of the Drowned (dangerous for Hardcore characters due to high damage monsters!)
Via Rifting
For groups and players that do not stress losing an hour in the 1-70 race, the general recommendation is to stick to rifts for the 1-70 journey. Rifts grant you increased legendary drop rate, blood shards for gambling, and a hefty "hand-in" bonus at the end. While rifting has a higher degree of randomness than bounties (map layout, monster density and composition are all RNG), the removal of Rift Keystones as a requirement to open them allows you to simply remake if you get a bad (difficult or slow) rift.
And this is it! Thank you so much for reading this megathread and my guides! Good luck and have a great Season 22!
Cogmind Beta 10.2 "Forbidden Lore: Cogmind the ARG"
Forbidden Lore: Cogmind the ARG It's a special event for Halloween, and more! Starting today and for the entire next month, playing Cogmind automatically enters a new mode built as part of a Cogmind/roguelike/tech-themed ARG. Unlike previous special modes, this one doesn't actually make sweeping gameplay changes, but instead challenges you to hunt for clues with help from forbiddenlore.gridsagegames.com, scouring the game and internet for passwords to special lore. More on that later... As you'll see in the changelog, this release is clearly much bigger than just the event, scoping larger than planned as I started early on work to make some of the balance adjustments scheduled for Beta 11. There is still a lot more to come on that front, but a few items were either more urgent, or just things I felt like prioritizing a bit to see how they pan out as considerations regarding the bigger areas of the upcoming rebalance continue to get hashed out on Discord and the GSG forums. Beta 10.2 also includes a bit of new content, but I'll be leaving that for players to discover.
Cogmind Beta 10.2 "Forbidden Lore: Cogmind the ARG" (201030) changelog:
NEW: Unique Halloween mode for 2020, automatically activates on 10/29 for anyone who has played at least 10 runs (lasts through November)
NEW: Command line argument "-forceMode:Halloween2020" (or "-forceMode:ForbiddenLore") to enable the Halloween mode from 2020, regardless of system date
NEW: [Forbidden Lore mode] Hunt for clues with help from forbiddenlore.gridsagegames.com to scour the game and internet for passwords to special lore
NEW: 1 new prototype robot
NEW: 1 new weapon
NEW: Most door-access terminals in 0b10 converted to new Door Terminal prop
NEW: Hostile 0b10 bots that lose track of Cogmind raise alert
NEW: Relay Coupler [NC] combined with Signal Jamming RIF ability also blocks busy Engineer calls for reinforcements
NEW: Escape key recenters view on Cogmind if currently following drone
NEW: Advanced Commands help for message log includes Shift-Alt-z for note-taking
NEW: Version check now includes build number, allowing for in-game notifications about smaller unannounced updates
NEW: Screenshots of difficulty selection, title screen, and intro sequence have unique filenames
MOD: Special-purpose 0b10 terminal functionality limited to locally listed hacks, and special manual hacks where applicable
MOD: W base defenses changed
MOD: Data Cores can no longer be stolen by Master Tearclaws
MOD: Programmers require an active Remote Datajack to hack targets
MOD: Programmers no longer hack targets once disarmed
MOD: Sensor layout as learned from a certain NPC's data core behaves differently
MOD: Field Lobotomy Kit no longer works on unpowered, unconnected, or broken bots
MOD: Movement due to ramming and knockback makes all the same checks regular movement entails, ensuring the same results in terms of environmental factors
MOD: Ramming an adjacent target is no longer a valid way to immediately escape stasis
MOD: Ramming drones without destroying them no longer produces matter
MOD: Base chance for all Recall() hacks reduced by 10%
MOD: Master Thief encounters occur under different circumstances
MOD: Only Master Thieves capable of stealing from inventory and prioritizing target parts
MOD: Base steal chance of all Tearclaws reduced
MOD: Thieves have innate bonus to using Tearclaws
MOD: Nerfed CR-A16's weapon
MOD: Terrabomb reduced to 1 slot
MOD: locate_prototypes effect limited to a range of 15
MOD: Threat Obfuscation RIF ability level progression effect reduced from 25,50,75 to 25,40,50
MOD: Armor Integrity Analyzer effect description clarified to specify no impact on any area of effect attacks, rather than singling out launchers
MOD: Transmission Jammer toggle animation highlighting of jammed bots changed from red to yellow
MOD: Core Cannon critical hit chance reduced to 0%
MOD: Satisfying the conditions for a Warlord response from cave seals overrides the effect of core reset
MOD: Launcher-using bots take ally resistances into account when deciding whether to fire on targets in close proximity
MOD: Extended game C prefab added in Beta 10 reduced in size, composition adjusted
MOD: Map export images prefix filename with current world seed
MOD: Font config file format updated to maintain compatibility with engine changes
FIX: Murdering more than one Exile did not count any beyond the first in the scoresheet for the Uniques/NPCs Destroyed tally [zxc]
FIX: Hostiles would not attack unconnected drones [zxc]
FIX: Unconnected drones could follow through map exits [zxc]
FIX: Using a Reconstructor while standing on a Slip Node moved to the side instead of remaining at the same position [zxc]
FIX: Dormant bots ignored enemy cloaking effect when checking for wakeup [zxc]
FIX: C-40 Crushers might get stuck and fail to pathfind to otherwise reachable target [Valguris]
FIX: Was possible to simultaneously activate two Remote Datajacks by removing a launcher while autoUnreadyLauncher option active [Valguris]
FIX: Robots disabled while transitioning into/out of siege mode would allow the process to finish even while still disabled [Vectis]
FIX: Ally with PICKUP or COLLECT order could overflow inventory capacity if final acquired item is multislot [Vectis]
FIX: Recalled squads, coupler squads, and fabrication retrieval Haulers could be blocked by a Sentry standing on their intended exit [MTF, JackNine, Tone]
FIX: Beta 10 caused Transmission Jammers to no longer block non-combat robot calls for reinforcements in certain situations [MTF, JackNine, Terminus]
FIX: Core reset interactions with Beta 10's new extended endings was broken, fixed in earlier silent hotfix [GJ, Terminus]
FIX: Beta 10 part drop destruction warning system caused Go Naked command to leave one part attached if insufficient space to drop everything [GJ]
FIX: Self-destructing before depth -9 reused total score from previous full run in same session on game over screen [Hippasus]
FIX: Log messages for ramming terrain and machines did not match up with the type of method used [MTF]
FIX: Siege mode did not prevent ramming terrain or robots [NikolayAg]
FIX: Matter decay due to overheating was deducting energy instead [aoemica]
FIX: Beta 10 new endings broke game over screenshot tags for w8 and several types of losses [CaptainWinky]
FIX: [Player 2 mode] Player 2 situational dialogue typo [sterv]
FIX: Ally with a PICKUP order would move to nearby Scrap and Derelict Logs even though unable to acquire them
(I didn't highlight "more important" entries in the changelog like I normally do, since the vast majority were being highlighted anyway when I went to do that :P) Saves from earlier versions are incompatible with Beta 10.2, but even if you're on Steam and Cogmind automatically updates, Beta 10/10.1 is still available via its own legacy branch and you can roll back to finish a run in progress first if you like. As with any other release, I might do quick unannounced hotfixes in the coming hours or days if players discovereport something new and urgent (the chance is somewhat higher with 10.2 because this release went without the usual prerelease playtesting by Patrons to keep it a surprise for everyone). We now have an even more specific version check system based on build number, so if you're playing and have the News feature active, it'll remind when you're playing without the most recent hotfix.
Let the ARG Begin!
Cogmind is pretty big on lore, creating a deeper world with its various factions, NPCs, and the stories they share. And there's so much more room out there! In the lore you can already find references to pieces of the world which don't currently exist, some of them likely to happen one day (some of them guaranteed :P), but reliable information is spotty. This Halloween event will fill a few gaps and also give glimpses of other locations and inhabitants of Tau Ceti IV. Starting from the event's home page, at the bottom you'll see your first hint. Hints suggest where in the game world you'll find either a password or another clue as to how to obtain the password, and with that password you can follow the link on the event page to the next level, which will also reward you with FORBIDDEN LORE (and usually a bit of art to go with it). For simplicity the username at every level is always simply "cogmind", it's the password that will be unique each time and that's what you'll have to figure out. In-game clues can take a variety of forms, but are always presented as some sort of text, be it NPC dialogue, a special announcement, etc. Although I know at least a few people who could definitely complete this entire challenge on their own, not everyone will be capable of figuring out every step alone. Don't be afraid to ask the community for tips or additional hints along the way at various levels where you need it. I'm sure there'll be plenty of discussion and help available on the Discord. Working together with others to solve the mysteries would also make it easier to rise through the levels more quickly, since multiple runs will be required to follow every hint. I suggest using a new password on the site immediately after discovering it, in case the next hint is somewhere still within reach in your current run, in order to achieve it more quickly. This being an ARG, most of the passwords are actually found outside the game itself. Good luck :)
ARG Addendum
Shout out to PlasticHeart for putting together the CogFont based on fonts developed for the game, which came in quite handy when making the event website :D Forbidden Lore mode will automatically activate for you on new runs started on or after 10/29 (through November), if you've played at least 10 runs before. If you want to play beyond the end of the event, or regardless of your run count, you can still force it by adding a command line parameter when running COGMIND.EXE: "-forceMode:ForbiddenLore". Within Steam this is handled by going to Cogmind > Properties > Set Launch Options, like this example from Player2 mode earlier this year. (Note that although the event mode will be accessible after the period is over, and likely also in future versions, but I can't 100% guarantee that it will be fully completable forever since, as an ARG, advancing relies on the presence of information found outside the game, elsewhere on the internet.) If you want to play a regular run during the event, you can suppress date-based event triggering by adding the "-noSpecialMode" command line parameter. If the event mode is active, you'll see a notice in your message log on startup. *(though again this mode doesn't really affect much in the way of gameplay, even though runs in this mode will technically go to a separate leaderboard)
Rebalancing
Beta 10.2 includes a fair number of nerfs, and the changelog itself isn't nearly as balanced as I like to keep it (an equal helping of both buffs and nerfs/new features is best), but we'll be getting plenty more buffs and fun stuff to play with in Beta 11, and in this release I just took advantage of the opportunity to prioritize responding to areas the community has been cheesing the hardest by moving up planned changes, or just increasing the overall challenge level of various parts of the game. Also a number of the nerfed bits here were intentionally introduced as OP features with the intention of tweaking them after seeing how they were used. On that note, against the trend there is a new potentially OP weapon you might be able to get your hands on ;) To address some of the biggest changes here... All those easily-hackable single-tile door terminals that were a major security liability for 0b10 are a thing of the past. They now do nothing more than open their door, as opposed to providing one after another weak backdoor into the mapwide system :P (i.e., no indirect hacks there). All such terminals now also have unique names so they're even more recognizable at a distance, the majority simply being called "Door Terminal," although this change also applies to the other instances of special-purpose terminals that control something nearby.
Prior to now, with assistance from door terminals a good hacker could very easily end up with far more terminal resources than they could reasonably need and exhaust, especially in certain branches with lots of blast doors. Now instead of simply running out of hacking target ideas, these builds may in some cases have to be a little more selective, or in some cases have a (slightly? xD) harder time getting access to a suitable Terminal on short notice. This change does also negatively impact builds that could only effectively use low-level Terminals to begin with, but those builds have had numerous buffs over previous releases to begin with. Another change related mostly to flight-hack builds is that alert is now also raised when enemies lose track of you! The primary hostile interaction for gaining alert has traditionally been through destruction, but if you're zipping all over the place frequently attracting attention then slipping away it makes sense that the Complex should respond to that, too. I'm really interested to see the results of this change, which could add a bit of pressure to flight runs and make stealth approaches that much more enticing rather than simply outrunning everything but then safely remaining on the same map. The amount of alert involved here might be further tweaked, but we'll see how it pans out in the current release first. Also the current result of high alert accrued via this method will be assault dispatches, as usual, but the response will be different in future versions--I just haven't gotten to that point and added this bit first. Programmer allies were nerfed by making them unable to hack if disarmed, a sad loss because it was quite fun to have a disarmed hacker friend literally owning everything, when it happens naturally, but players were starting to intentionally create these OP allies so that behavior had to be removed and put them on par with hostile Programmers. Master Thieves got a pretty significant overhaul. They've been in the game for a while now but no one was really taking advantage of them until much more recently. Even more changes are probably in order, but the related mechanics are no longer quite so abusable. A range of individual parts were adjusted as per the changelog, mostly nerfs of various degrees, although you've also got single-slot Terrabombs now, which will make those a lot more enticing (technically that and a few other items on the list were modified as part of silent post-release 10.1 updates, but are included in the changelog this time around since they were otherwise not recorded or announced here). There's not a ton of QoL like we usually have each release, but I did add Escape key support for recentering on Cogmind while cycling through multiple drone views with Enter:
News
Cogminder aoemica has built a wonderful tool, dubbed Cog-Minder, a very convenient site to filter and search through Cogmind's many items.
Notice the Spoiler button there which can be toggled on to include everything, even uniques and other special parts you'll only find in mid-/late-game branches or the extended game. You can leave that off if you're just starting out and want an unspoiled experience but would like to examine "regular" parts. Over on my Twitch channel I streamed my first Beta 10 run, a hover run that eventually went on to obtain one of the new endings.
That's the first of five videos, a looooong run because 1) it hit a ton of locations and 2) there was a lot of discussion along the way :P. (More recently on the channel I'm trying out the space roguelike Prospector, which is pretty cool.) Starting this week over on Patreon we're also voting for secondary QoL features that patrons want to prioritize for Beta 11, so the results from that should probably be known by the time the next announcement comes around.
We know what happened after a good year or more of players joking about the possibility of "Combat Swarmers" (TRACKERS!). Well, the long-running joke that followed that is "Combat Recyclers." Hmm...
Squad Commands Revamped Hey Ghosts! Got my new computer running and, after recreating all my old assets and a lot of frustration (I should have gotten this thing pre-built lol), I bring to you my take on Squad Commands! Also look towards the bottom of the post for a sneak peak at the Ghost Recon: Warfighter version of Squad Commands, Ghost Classes, and Dynamic Entry. //THE ORDER WHEEL The very core of Squad Commands Revamped is the Order Wheel. It has been remade and features a host of new options such as Contextual Orders and Individual Orders. Basic Order Wheel Hold RB to open the “Order Wheel” for orders and commanding individual squadmates. Orders include Move To, Hold Position, Regroup, Formation, Cleared Hot, and Sweep and Clear and are located at the top half of the wheel. Some orders are grouped together and can be cycled with D-Left and D-Right. While using the Order Wheel, use LS to highlight an order, RS to aim, and A to select. There are also combat specific orders. Having a suppressor equipped affects squadmate combat orders when not engaged.
Move To
Move To - Order squad to relocate to a specific position
Dig In - Order squad to protect a specified location
Flank - Order squad to move to a position perpendicular to the designated area and engage targets. [Combat Only]
Hold Position
Hold Position - Order squad to cease following Nomad
Overwatch - Order squad to maintain their position and provide ranged support
Regroup
Regroup - Order squad to form up at Nomad’s position
Formation - Order squad to enter Formation Mode
Cleared Hot
Cleared Hot - Order squad to engage targets at will
Sweep and Clear - Order squad to eliminate threats in a specified area
Suppress - Order squad to force designated enemies into cover. [Combat Only]
Individual Orders Nomad can command individual squadmates, each having their own tab with the basic commands, class ability, and their two items (cycled with D-Left and D-Right). Individual squadmates are located on the bottom half of the Order Wheel. Selecting a squadmate expands their wheel, showing their available orders. Moving LS towards a different section or tapping B will quickly close the squadmate. Placing a squadmate(s) on Overwatch will make the squadmate hold position and choose targets. They will prioritize targets near the player or at risk of discovering the player. Targets they aim at will be marked with an eye symbol. Targets can be taken out similar to a sync shot, set Behaviors (see Behaviors section) can determine if the squadmate will engage on sight, on command, or at risk of discovery as well as the distance from the player they will prioritize targets at. //FORMATIONS Order your AI teammates to form up behind you with the order wheel. Once formed up, the order wheel can be used to choose a formation or end the formation. Formations include file, diamond, line, vee, wedge, and echelon. AI teammates will automatically cover directions the player is not facing. Co-op players can form up behind a player by holding the X button behind their back. Players will automatically keep pace with the lead player and can change formations via the order wheel. Teammates will automatically grab the player in front of them’s shoulder like real operators when stopped and in the file formation. Co-op players can tap X while on a full mag to alert the player in front of them that they're ready, squeezing their shoulder. This will buzz the player’s controller. //CONTEXTUAL ORDERS \"Stealth Kill\" Contextual Order Holding RB while looking at something like an enemy or door will show “Contextual Orders” such as Stealth Kills, Breaches, and Hiding Bodies. These specific options will appear at the very top of the wheel. If there are multiple options, they can be cycled with D-Left and D-Right. Certain Contextual Orders will automatically select the best squadmate for the job, taking into account positioning and whether they have a suppressor. If necessary, a squadmate will perform a melee kill. \"Stack\" Contextual Order When looking at a door for example, Nomad can command his squad to stack up on the door (or order them to breach right away by cycling with the D-Pad). \"Breach\" Contextual Order When you're ready to breach, you have three options:
Breach - The squad will enter the room and engage targets
Flash and Clear - If one of your squadmates is equipped with a flashbang, they will toss one in before executing the Breach order
Frag and Clear - If one of your squadmates is equipped with a frag, they will toss one in before executing the Breach order
//STATUS The Status, or health and condition, of your squad is symbolized by their icons at the bottom of the Order Wheel. Status
Green - Healthy. Full capability.
Yellow - Hurt. Received damage in combat. Restores to Green after some time outside of combat.
Orange - Injured. Received a large amount of damage and has reduced capability. Restores to Green after some time outside of combat.
Red - Downed. Needs to be revived. Restores to Orange after reviving.
Squadmates will tend to their own injuries outside of combat. //COMBAT When engaged with the enemy, you will gain access to two extra orders on top of the default. These combat specific orders will appear in red. Combat orders You can also use Quick Command (LT + A) to order your squadmates to Focus Fire on specific enemies. When not engaged, the Quick Command will be Sync Shot. The player will no longer be able to Sync Shot in combat, like in Future Soldier. Focus Fire //SQUAD MENU The player can manage the Ghosts from the new Squad Menu. Squad Menu From this menu, the player can customize their squad and set Behaviors which will affect how they act. From the Loadout, the player can can:
Customize Ghost appearance
Customize Ghost weapons. Squadmates will automatically have a suppressed handgun for sync shots and stealth kills when their primary isn't compatible. This will affect their effective range.
Select Ghost equipment. Ghosts can run with a Lethal and a Tactical such as Frags and Flashes.
//BEHAVIORS The player can also program individual “Squadmate Behaviors” in the Squad Menu at any time. Behaviors are an "IF/THEN" system that decides how squadmates act in situations without input from the player, such as following up orders with another order automatically (i.e. clear the next room, hide bodies after a stealth kill, etc.) and their actions in stealth and combat (i.e. kill enemies that spot them or Nomad, watch the player's flank in combat, use of their class ability, deploy smoke or gadgets, etc.). Behaviors can be customized to make squadmates as autonomous or as controlled as the player desires and are overwritten by orders. Behaviors can be saved as presets for quick changes. Thanks for checking out my Mockup! Let me know what you think. And now for a sneak peek at the Ghost Recon: Warfighter version + some extra: Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Warfighter //GHOST SQUAD Squadmates can be chosen from the “Squad Menu” at bases and bivouacs. Players can choose from their available weapon categories and customize them with Gunsmith. Players can also customize their squad’s hair, facial hair, details, and outfits. If a squadmate is critically injured, they will be unavailable for a short amount of time to recover. Squadmates can be captured if they are downed in combat and not revived while in contact with the enemy. The player will receive an Escalation Mission to rescue the squadmate.
Allied militias can rescue the squadmate
The captors can offer an exchange for resources or POWs
If the squadmate is not rescued, they can be executed (Ghost Mode only)
Aim and tap A for “Quick Commands” such as sync shots in stealth and focusing fire in combat. Hold RB to open the “Order Wheel” for more specific orders and command individual squadmates. Basic orders include Move To, Hold Position, Regroup, Formation, Cleared Hot, and Sweep and Clear and are located at the top half of the wheel. Some orders are grouped together and can be cycled with D-Left and D-Right. While using the Order Wheel, use LS to highlight an order, RS to aim, and A to select. There are also combat specific orders. Having a suppressor equipped affects squadmate combat orders when not engaged.
Move To
Move To - Order squad to relocate to a specific position
Dig In - Order squad to protect a specified location
Flank - Order squad to move to a position perpendicular to the designated area and engage targets. [Combat Only]
Hold Position
Hold Position - Order squad to cease following Nomad
Overwatch - Order squad to maintain their position and provide ranged support
Regroup
Regroup - Order squad to form up at Nomad’s position
Formation - Order squad to enter Formation Mode
Cleared Hot
Cleared Hot - Order squad to engage targets at will
Sweep and Clear - Order squad to eliminate threats in a specified area
Suppress - Order squad to force designated enemies into cover. [Combat Only]
Holding RB while looking at something like an enemy or door will show “Contextual Orders” such as Stealth Kills, Breaches, and Hiding Bodies. These specific options will appear at the very top of the wheel. If there are multiple options, they can be cycled with D-Left and D-Right. Nomad can command individual squadmates, each having their own tab with the basic commands, class ability, and their two items (cycled with D-Left and D-Right). Individual squadmates are located on the bottom half of the Order Wheel. Selecting a squadmate expands their wheel, showing their available orders. Moving LS towards a different section or tapping B will quickly close the squadmate. Placing a squadmate(s) on Overwatch will make the squadmate hold position and choose targets. They will prioritize targets near the player or at risk of discovering the player. Targets they aim at will be marked with an eye symbol. Targets can be taken out similar to a sync shot, set Behaviors can determine if the squadmate will engage on sight, on command, or at risk of discovery as well as the distance from the player they will prioritize targets at. The Order Wheel can also be used to access “Co-Op Actions”, such as boosting over obstacles. These will appear in the Contextual Orders. The player can also program individual “Squadmate Behaviors” in the Squad Menu at any time. Behaviors are how squadmates act in situations without input from the player, such as following up orders with another order automatically (i.e. clear the next room, hide bodies after a stealth kill, etc.) and their actions in stealth and combat (i.e. kill enemies that spot them or Nomad, watch the player's flank in combat, use of their class ability, deploy smoke or gadgets, etc.). Behaviors can be customized to make squadmates as autonomous or as controlled as the player desires and are overwritten by orders. Behaviors can be saved as presets for quick changes. Squadmates can be split into multiple “Combat Groups” in the Squad Menu at any time. Up to 4 Combat Groups - A, B, C, and D, with a minimum of two members - can be set and given orders. Members of a Combat Group will stick together. Nomad is always a part of Group Alpha and unassigned squadmates will be assigned to this group automatically. Combined with Behaviors, this can allow Nomad to “order and forget” and strike multiple areas at once without the need for micromanaging. Co-op players can also be added to combat groups and will be able to command AI teammates in their group but only if there are AI teammates available. Combat Groups can be accessed from the bottom half of the wheel in place of the group’s members and have their own Behaviors. Squadmates can also be added to a “Support Team” in the Squad Menu at any time. Up to 7 members can be a part of the Support Team at any given time. Nomad can call in the Support Team at any time in the Support radio menu from the Order Wheel. They can reinforce Nomad and cause distractions. Calling in the Support Team has no resource cost but risks injury and the capture of squadmates in combat. The Support Team can also be intercepted by militia groups through the Escalation System. After the Al-Majaea attack on the US, three additional Ghost teams were deployed to Afghanistan at the request of Lt. Col. Walker to support his team. Anthony Perryman
Callsign: Nomad
Class: Any
Weapons: Any
Second in command of Ghost operations in Afghanistan. Infamous for keeping his cool under intense situations. Formerly of SFOD-D before joining the Ghosts. Can be fully customized at any time.
Cole D. Walker
Callsign: Ghost Lead
Class: Rifleman
Weapons: ASR, BAR
Second in command of Ghost Recon, Ghost Lead for operations in Afghanistan. Courageous, charismatic, and idealistic. Defers to Nomad’s judgement in the field. Has a custom revolver called Sharp Thunder.
AFO Kingslayer Coray Ward
Callsign: Weaver
Class: Marksman
Weapons: DMR, SNR
Longtime friend and comrade of Nomad. Served multiple tours as a combat sniper. Formerly of DEVGRU before joining the Ghosts. Served under Nomad during Operation Kingslayer and Fallen Lord.
Rubio Delgado
Callsign: Midas
Class: Breacher
Weapons: SMG, STG
Former Army Ranger specializing in Military Intelligence. Feels he is being driven by a higher power, regularly gives spiritual counseling to his fellow soldiers. Served under Nomad during Operation Kingslayer and Fallen Lord.
Dominic Moretta
Callsign: Holt
Class: Drone Tech
Weapons: ASR, SMG
Enlisted at 18, joined the Army as a Sapper and then an Army Ranger. Uses humor to defuse tense moments. Served under Nomad during Operation Kingslayer and Fallen Lord.
AFO Wolfpack Josiah Hill
Class: Support Gunner
Weapons: BAR, LMG
Enlisted in the US Army out of high school and joined the 82nd Airborne. Transferred to the 3rd Ranger Battalion. Recruited for Delta and was soon selected to join the Ghosts. Serves under Lt. Col. Walker in AFO Wolfpack.
Kim Hernandez
Callsign: Fury
Class: Infiltrator
Weapons: SMG, STG
Joined the CIA out of college and was recruited to 3E and later 4E. Trained for field operations. Recommended for the Ghosts by Sam Fisher in 2020. Eager to see real combat, has trouble socializing with teams. Serves under Lt. Col. Walker in AFO Wolfpack.
Logan Mitchell
Callsign: Raider
Class: Commando
Weapons: ASR, DMR
The oldest child of Scott Mitchell. Enlisted in the US Army at 18, joined the Rangers, and was recruited into Delta Force at 21. Was later selected for Ghost Recon and served a short time with Rainbow. He is unsure if his position was earned of his own merit or as a result of his lineage. Serves under Lt. Col. Walker in AFO Wolfpack.
AFO Predator Joe Ramirez
Class: Rifleman
Weapons: ASR, DMR
Formerly of the Airborne Rangers. Performed two tours in Pakistan as a part of a JSOC task force. Worked closely with Scott Mitchell in the Korean conflict and Mexican Civil War. Leads AFO Predator under Lt. Colonel Walker and Nomad.
Haynes
Callsign: Irish
Class: Support Gunner
Weapons: SMG, LMG
Attached to AFO Predator under Lt. Colonel Walker and Nomad.
McGann
Callsign: Bear
Class: Sapper
Weapons: BAR, SMG
Former US Army combat engineer. Attached to AFO Predator under Lt. Colonel Walker and Nomad.
Richard Allen
Callsign: Castle
Class: Engineer
Weapons: ASR, LCH
Demolitions specialist. Attached to AFO Predator under Lt. Colonel Walker and Nomad.
AFO Trident Alicia Diaz
Class: Marksman
Weapons: DMR, SNR
Recruited by the Ghosts for her background as a world-class long distance shooter. Being looked at for potential recruitment into the CIA’s SAD. Leads AFO Trident under Lt. Colonel Walker and Nomad.
Rosalyn Baker
Callsign: Rose
Class: K9 Handler
Weapons: ASR, SMG
Trained in counter-terror operations in the USMC. Began training dogs for psychological support, now trains dogs for CQB with Ghost squads after being recruited by Cole D. Walker. Her K9 is named Daisy. Serves under Lt. Col. Walker in AFO Trident.
Isaac Keegan
Class: Medic
Weapons: BAR, DMR
Graduated from NYUMC. Enlisted after the 9/11 terrorist attack on New York to serve his country and went career. Served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan as a Green Beret and is well versed in the languages and cultures. Was recruited into the Ghosts after recommendation from Cole D. Walker. Serves under Lt. Col. Walker in AFO Trident.
John Kozak
Class: Phantom
Weapons: ASR, DMR
The youngest Ghost ever. Joined the Army at 18 and got the attention of Scott Mitchell with his engineering prowess at 21. Turned down recruitment by Skell Tech in favor of field work. Serves under Lt. Col. Walker in AFO Trident.
All squadmates, except Walker, possess a suppressed Handgun that they will use if they don’t have a suppressor compatible primary. This will affect their effective range for Sync Shots and Stealth Kills. Squadmates will automatically equip/unequip suppressors in time with the player and will try to maintain stealth while suppressors are equipped. This can be modified with Behaviors. Squadmates can be equipped with one lethal and one tactical item. Squadmates will always have a supply of plastic handcuffs and rappel launchers. Nomad can have up to 7 squadmates including the support team and co-op players. //SUPPORT PANEL By opening the Order Wheel (Hold RB) and pressing Y, Nomad can request assistance from Sentinel and nearby allied militias at the cost of resources. Use LB and RB to cycle between Sentinel, Militia, Ghosts, and Radio.
Ghosts - Nomad’s Support Team that can be called for quick reinforcements. Can range from 1 to 7 members. No resource cost.
Reinforcements - Support Team rendezvous with Nomad to provide fire support
Diversion - Support Team moves to a point to distract hostile forces
Sentinel - Sentinel support is more effective and can be manually controlled, but costs more resources and takes longer to arrive. They can also have a negative effect on the Hearts and Minds of the region if overused.
Precision Airstrike - Manually controlled A-10 gun run
Support Helicopter - Manual/AI controlled Little Bird
Strike Team - Sentinel squad reinforcements
Support APC - Sentinel heavy vehicle support
Transport Chopper - Call a Sentinel chopper for transport. Chopper can be selected and customized in the CIA Annex Garage.
Militia - Militia support is quicker and costs fewer resources, but isn’t as precise and risks betrayal depending on reputation. Depending on the militia’s reputation, militia support can have positive or negative effects on the Hearts and Minds of the region. Militia support options vary from militia to militia and are not limited to the options shown.
Mortar Strike - Designate a mortar strike over a broad area
Reinforcements - Call a squad of militia reinforcements
RPG Team - Call a squad of militia RPG gunners
Support Technical - Call a militia technical for fire support
Support BTR - Call a militia BTR for armored ground support
Gas Strike - Designate an area for a gas strike
VBIED - Designate an area for a vehicle suicide bombing
Transport Truck - Call a militia covered truck for less conspicuous transport
Radio - Nomad can call Ahmed, Walker, Vaughan, and Bowman at any time for intel about enemies, the current mission, his surroundings, or just to chat. Ahmed will also teach Nomad words and phrases in Dari, Afghanistan’s primary language. No resource cost. //GHOST CLASSES There are 3 Class types that each class falls into: Assault, Specialist, and Recon. Some classes act as combinations of two class types.
Assault classes specialize in frontline combat and CQC.
Specialist classes specialize in support and resupplying teammates.
Recon classes specialize in intel gathering and stealth.
Hybrid classes are a mix of two class types.
Classes have special equipment/abilities accessed using Up on the D-Pad. Players are not limited to having certain weapons equipped but AI teammates are. Teammates can be ordered to use their class equipment/abilities with the order wheel. Class items are limited in quantity and can be restocked at Resupply Crates, Bivouacs, and with the Munitions Box. Class Items can be unequipped to save on weight. Class “Weapon Proficiency” means that weapon class will affect Weight Threshold (WT) less. Each class has its own skill tree with upgrades and paths, making each class unique to different players. The player has limited slots for class skills and some skills can take more than one slot. Class skills can be equipped and unequipped at any time. To start, all classes start with a single class quantity of their item.
Assault - Rifleman
Reduced suppression effect. Proficiency with Assault Rifles. Middle of the road in terms of ability, capable of using adrenaline for precise aiming, shrugging off damage, and infinite use of agility actions at the cost of constant stamina drain. Damage and injuries received will apply in full once the ability runs out unless shot in the head. It is possible to drop dead right after Adrenaline Rush ends. Adrenaline Rush slows time while solo.
100% WT, low penalty, low benefit
Ability - Adrenaline Rush
Assault - Breacher
Reduced weight of breaching equipment, proficiency with Shotguns and SMGs, less affected by flashes. Can plant a cluster charge on doors, windows, and hatches and breach reinforced barricades. The cluster is manually detonated to fire four grenades into a room.
80% WT, med penalty, low benefit
Ability - Cluster Charge
Upgrades - Flash Cluster, Gas Cluster, 6-Cluster Charge
Assault - Marksman
Proficiency with DMRs and Sniper Rifles, longer hold breath time, has a sensor launcher that temporarily marks enemy positions. The Sensor Launcher is visible hanging from the back of the Marksman’s belt and can be shot.
75% WT, med penalty, med benefit
Ability - Sensor Launcher
Upgrades - Controlled Breathing, Increased Sensor Ammo
Specialist - Support Gunner
LMG proficiency. Reduced recoil for sustained fire, can drop Munitions Boxes that resupply ammunition and equipment. Each Munitions Box has 3 uses. More effective at suppressing enemies.
115% WT, low penalty, low benefit
Ability - Munitions Box
Upgrades - Explosive Box, Increased Stock
Specialist - Engineer
Proficiency with Launchers. Can drop a satchel of SAPI plates for teammates. Each Armor Satchel has 3 uses. SAPI plates will restore damaged body armor and give players without armor equipped a plate.
110% WT, low penalty, low benefit
Ability - Armor Satchel
Upgrades - Upgraded Plates, Increased Stock
Specialist - Medic
Faster revives, able to drop medkits (restores health, not injuries). Can heal injuries more effectively using fewer medical supplies. Each Medkit has 3 uses.
75% WT, high penalty, med benefit
Ability - Deploy Medkit
Upgrades - Increased Stock
Recon - Infiltrator
Proficiency with SMGs and Handguns. Stealth specialist, harder to detect, easier to lose enemies, reduced suppressor penalty. Comes equipped with an OCP Jammer from 4E. The OCP Jammer has a limited range and needs to recharge between uses. It can jam lights, cameras, NVGs, computers, drones, and optical camouflage.
50% WT, high penalty, high benefit
Ability - OCP Jammer
Recon - Phantom
Proficiency with Bows and Handguns. Can mark enemies from further away and can see them longer without maintaining LOS. Has an optical camouflage prototype. The Optical Camouflage can’t be used while moving quickly or shooting and runs on a rechargeable power supply. The power drains from movement and is instantly depleted by shooting. The camouflage increases thermal signature. The Optical Camouflage unit is positioned on the player’s back and can be damaged and destroyed, requiring a resupply. If damaged, the camo generator will only camouflage the operator's clothes, gear, and weapon.
Able to deploy a recon drone. The Recon Drone can be landed and turned into a UGV with B with a Class Tree upgrade. Will remain in its position unless recalled by holding D-Up. Can be used to maintain LOS on enemies. Runs on a limited battery that recharges when not in use. If the Recon Drone is destroyed, it must be resupplied.
60% WT, med penalty, med benefit
Ability - Recon Drone
Upgrades - Optical Camo, UGV Mode, Battery Upgrade, Range Upgrade
Assault/Specialist - Sapper
Proficiency with SMGs. Has access to the Shock Rifle and can detect and disarm explosives. The Shock Rifle has a single shot capacity and will non-lethally incapacitate enemies from range and disable electronics. Very effective when used on puddles. The Shock Rifle hangs from the back of the player’s belt when not in use and can be shot.
80% WT, low penalty, low benefit
Ability - Shock Rifle
Specialist/Recon - K9 Handler
Has a K9 companion that will alert the team to nearby hostiles and explosives, able to control a customizable K9. The K9 can mark nearby enemies and detect explosives and caches. Like a squadmate, the K9 can be injured, revived, and carried.
60% WT, med penalty, med benefit
Ability - Command K9
Assault/Recon - Commando
Specialized in sabotage behind enemy lines. Has access to the Striker-RAD, armed with 5.7mm ammunition and synchronized to the player’s weapon for increased overall firepower. The drone can’t be ordered and will only follow the player and engage targets when the player fires. The drone requires reloading, runs on a rechargeable battery, and can be destroyed.
75% WT, med penalty, med benefit
Ability - Striker-RAD
Upgrades - Secondary Targeting, Armored Striker
Post Launch classes
Specialist - Surgeon
Proficiency with SMGs and Shotguns. Has a Stim Shot pistol to revive teammates from range. Stim Shot revives are quick but less effective. Can heal injuries more effectively using fewer medical supplies.
Ability - Stim Shot
Specialist - Disruptor
Proficiency with SMGs. Has a High Frequency Disruptor capable of jamming enemy equipment and mobile signals. The High Frequency Disruptor has a larger range than the Signal Jammer item, disables HUD and maps, and runs on a rechargeable battery. The High Frequency Disruptor is located on the operator's back and is destroyed if shot.
Ability - High Frequency Jammer
Recon - Stalker
Proficiency with Handguns. Specializes in covert operations, harder to detect while covert, no suppressor penalty on Handguns and SMGs. Handguns can’t be found when frisked. Can see marked enemies for longer without maintaining LOS.
45% WT, high penalty, high benefit
Ability - Silent Step
Recon - Echelon
Proficiency and no suppressor penalty with Handguns and SMGs. Stealth operatives trained by 4E in cross-training exercises. Equipped with advanced Sonar Vision goggles capable of detecting threats through walls in pulses. Sonar Vision Goggles run on a rechargeable battery and have limited range.
Ability - Sonar Vision
Recon - Pathfinder
Forward recon specialist equipped with an Augmented Reality Pulse unit capable of scanning terrain and highlighting motion in a direction. It also highlights detected caches and intel. The AR Pulse needs to recharge between uses. It uses colored icons to show terrain and depth of water. The AR Pulse unit is located on the shoulder and retracts when not in use. It can be shot and destroyed, requiring a resupply.
Ability - AR Pulse
Assault/Recon - Scout
Proficiency with SMGs. Has a Directional Microphone capable of tracking audio signatures from a distance. Comes equipped with a motion tracker screen that tracks movement in pulses at short range. Works through walls. Battery powered, recharges when not in use.
Ability - Directional Microphone
//WEAPONS Weapons are fully customizable with Gunsmith. The player can equip two primary weapons, a handgun, and a CQC weapon.
Assault Rifles (ASR)
Selective-fire rifles that use an intermediate cartridge and a detachable magazine
Battle Rifles (BAR)
Military service rifles that are fed ammunition via a detachable magazine and fire a full-powered rifle cartridge
Designated Marksman Rifles (DMR)
High-precision rifles designed to fill the engagement gap between between infantrymen and snipers
Sniper Rifles (SNR)
High-precision, long range rifles
Submachine Guns (SMG)
Magazine-fed, automatic carbines designed to shoot handgun cartridges
Light Machine Guns (LMG)
Machine gun designed to be employed by an individual soldier
Launchers (LCH)
Portable weapons designed to fire large-caliber projectiles, typically unguided with an explosive, smoke, or gas warhead
Bows (BOW)
Ranged weapon system consisting of an elastic launching device and long-shafted projectiles
Handguns (HDG)
Small caliber cartridge weapons designed to be used in one hand
Melee (CQC)
Close combat weapons used in direct hand-to-hand engagements
Shields (SHD)
Defensive armor carried on the arm used as protection against blows and projectiles
Can be used in conjunction with Handguns. Hold LT to lower the shield and aim.
Attachments affect weapon weight. Ammunition has weight and the player can choose how much to bring, meaning the player will also gradually become lighter by shooting. Ammunition is sorted in magazines instead of a pool. Press X to reload and retain ammo. Double tap X to perform a "speedload" at the cost of the remaining ammunition in the magazine. Not all weapons can speedload. //HOTKEYS AND WEAPON FAST TUNING
D-Up - Class Ability
D-Left - Swap Equipment, hold to open Equipment Wheel
D-Down - Use binoculars, hold to use the Compass
D-Right - Toggle NODs, hold to open Utility Wheel and choose vision mode, toggle flashlight, and toggle Gas Mask
LT + D-Up - Toggle Optic, hold to switch to Canted Sight
LT + D-Left - Toggle Rate of Fire, hold to toggle Suppressor
LT + D-Down - Toggle Underbarrel, Toggle Weapon Light, hold to activate Strobe (Weapon Lights are only active while aiming)
LT + D-Right - Toggle Weapon Light, hold to activate Strobe (Weapon Lights are only active while aiming), activate Side Rail attachment
LT + X - Tap to reload, double tap to speedload, hold to Check Ammo
LT + A - Quick Command, hold to execute Sync Shot. Ping in Co-op/PvP.
LT + LS - Hold to Hold Breath
LT + RS - Toggle First Person Aiming
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Warfighter Might post some more stuff later or in my next Mockup, including post launch content. Also, fun fact: I had the Pathfinder class in my doc before Ubi announced the BP version. Reading my thoughts, Ubi?
BETA 10: WARLORD FOREVER! The full ambient soundscape is here, and it's not alone! Beta 10 also comes with expanded bothacking abilities, two more alternate endings, many more types of drones, and of course lots of other features to improve the overall experience. Diving right in here... (Note: Beta 10 is far too large to fit the entire release notes in a Reddit post, so I've had to share the changelog here as an image rather than text. For a normal view of the full release notes, see this same announcement on the forums!)
Saves from earlier versions are incompatible with Beta 10, but even if you're on Steam and Cogmind automatically updates, Beta 9.6 is still available via its own legacy branch and you can roll back to finish a run in progress first if you like.
Ambient Soundscape
You can now fully hear the world of Cogmind! Cogmind has always had a ton of sound effects that help bring the world to life, but as far as continuous tracks go, for many years we've only had a few ambient sounds emitted by special machines and sample mapwide tracks in a couple maps as a test. Now all named machines have their own audio, as do all the maps! Hear an array of Construction Platforms at work in the Factory, the rumble of a Megafabricator in the distance, Plasma Injectors down in the Mines, the hum of Power Conduits, busy Mainframes echoing throughout the Research branches, and so much more. Aside from thematic mapwide drones that meld everything together, when you're not blasting robots and using the interface the audio experience is primarily defined by environmental factors, yet another new facet of Cogmind's emphasis on immersion.
Here's a debug shot visualizing the variety of machine audio across a Factory floor, where each unique sound is associated with a random color.
Any gaps or areas where no specific local machine can be heard will generally have a higher-volume mapwide ambient track to unify the floor's audio and maintain the theme, as you can see in this visualization of mapwide ambient volumes (brighter is higher volume).
I wrote an in-depth article about the content and process behind Building Cogmind’s Ambient Soundscape (visual overview). Related to the expansion of Cogmind's audio content we have an important new advanced option, muteAudioOnFocusLoss, which you might want to turn on if you do a lot of Alt-Tabbing and prefer that Cogmind not continue playing its audio while you're in some other window. We might want that to be on by default, but it's off for now since I need to make sure it doesn't mess anything up first :P (it seems okay so far, anyway--I've been using it for a while now, but that's just me). The soundscape is also fully accessible in text form as well, a new feature that will benefit both those who can't turn up the volume or simply want the extra visual reinforcement enabled by being able to also "read" all the audio sources. This is made possible via a new Audio Log, off by default but toggled in the options menu.
See the Audio Log in the top-right corner, listing all heard ambient audio sources and their relative volume as heard from the current location as I walk around a Materials map:
Here's another demo showing ambient sound sources alongside sound effects and the visual sound effect system as a battle rages outside this room:
There's a summary of Audio Log features and behavior in the manual, or if you want an even more in-depth look at how the system was built you can check out the article I wrote on the topic: Audio Accessibility Features for Roguelikes (visual overview). The install size of the game has definitely gone up as a result of all the new audio, by a whopping 50%! It wasn't exactly huge to begin with, but with Beta 10 we're going from 30MB to 45MB.
New Endings
We have two new endings, bringing us to a total of nine different ways to win! I won't spoil the new ones here except to say that they're both a part of the extended game, and to point out the obvious, that yes the "expanded Warlord arc" indicated in the changelog is what you've been waiting for if you're one of us Warlord fans. Warlord forever! (Hopefully...) Each of the new endings presents new challenges beyond what was already in the game, and of course as with the other seven, they each come with their own unique animated ending sequence. A ton of work went into these endings as a whole, and based on initial feedback from patrons they seem to have turned out pretty well. I even had to add a whole new type of UI window to enable you to trigger access to one of the new endings--you'll know it when you see it ;) On a related note, I've also expanded some NPC interactions that people have wanted to see over the years. Under the right circumstances it's been possible to get certain major NPCs to meet each other, but in the past they wouldn't take notice or otherwise react in any way. Now they do, usually with consequences :P
Drones and AI
There was a decent list of optional features to consider for Beta 10, and this time patrons voted to prioritize a drone mechanics rework together with a significant expansion of the types of drones available. It's turned out pretty nicely, resolving what I saw as some longstanding issues while adding fun new options at the same time. Importantly, the new additions are not simply "drone with guns A, drone with guns B, etc.", or even drones using just standard tech, but instead come with unique features or behavior that can enable special strategies, or at least just be really fun to use--launch decoys, self-guided bombs, your own posse of thieves, drones that do your hacking for you, and more!
Drone Bay Basics The most fundamental change with respect to drones is that you must have an attached and functional matching type of bay in order to use them. The bay does not actually need to be active, however (activating a bay is simply a way to launch drones). There are a number of implied changes connected to this one, including:
Releasing a drone directly from a bay on the ground (e.g. with '>') can only be done if a functional matching type of bay is already attached
Zionite Recon dispatches now arrive as a Z-Drone Bay (since you can't have drones without a bay anymore :P)
Drone bays never autoactivate on attach, regardless of part autoactivation settings
If you remove the necessary drone bay (or it's destroyed xD), all related drones will take on the new "Unconnected" status and shut down. You lose the FOV info, but can gain it back again immediately by attaching an appropriate bay.
This requirement really opened up the drone space for more possibilities and was pivotal in making the new drones much more interesting since the bay becomes a part of the requirement for using them, meaning we can get more powerful/numerous drones because the bay itself can be huge or heavy as a balancing factor to compensate :) One surely welcome QoL under this new system is that if you have multiple matching drone bays and the attached one is full, drones can actually return to those which are currently in your inventory, as long as one has sufficient space. Less Micro Overall there'll be less micromanagement involved with drones, and in some cases other allies as well, with the biggest change being the complete removal of the GOTO order! That feature just encouraged a lot of micromanagement to get the most out of allies, especially drones which could then be carefully moved around to explore manually in some cases, and would often be optimal but tedious (i.e. not good). (Even after the removal you can technically still get them generally where you want by using a combination of movement, waiting, and STAY orders, though this incurs a time cost which can be prohibitive except when very important.) This encouraged me to make some improvements to the AI as well, most importantly that unarmed followers will slightly trail behind rather than gathering around your current location. And they'll be smart about retreating ahead of you if you're retreating, too, generally keeping them out of the line of fire (unless you're suddenly ambushed from behind, or surrounded, in which case good luck :P).
Implementation: Instead of following your precise location, unarmed followers will target a point lagging behind you, as demonstrated here in debug mode (you can't normally see the point itself)
Drones and all allies will also really do their best to avoid stepping on known traps now. It turns out that although they would never path through traps, they might sometimes decide to stand on one if you were hanging around near it long enough. Fleeing drones will now always RETURN automatically, rather than running around wildly, so it'll be easier to get them back and they'll be much more likely to survive longer. By extension, any disarmed combat drones will also automatically return, possibly improving their lifespan as well. The potential drawback here is that they might lead enemies right back to your position! Of course if you're not there when the enemies finally arrive then it's all good anyway... (or you can choose to sacrifice the drone by removing the bay to disconnect it and then you'll be fine, too) Drone QoL One long-requested new feature is the ability to have the map view follow a drone as it moves. You can easily cycle through your drones using the normal Enter key (or center mouse button), which highlights them and their FOV. You can just use this to more easily check where they are, or even pass turns while focused on them and watch as they explore even distant areas.
Acquiring Drones A majority of the new drone bays are available in the early game, although every single type except for one is a unique part, so you won't be seeing all of them in the same run. Less unique drones with similar mechanics might be available in the future (for example via Merchants!), but there's currently no good place to add them yet so I decided it would be better to make the bays unique so they could be especially useful or fun. Many are available in the Mines via a new prefab encounter, and the rest are scattered about in other plot areas. One is a regular 0b10 prototype bay.
RIF Expansion
For all the Botlord builds out there, the pool of potential robot hacking abilities has been expanded from 9 to 15. Half of the new ones can be obtained multiple times to increase their effectiveness. (Skip this section if you want to discover them on your own!) Here's an overview of what's new...
Hotswap allows you to automatically swap in additional matching Couplers in sequence from your inventory when the effective code value of current attached Couplers is insufficient for the desired hack. (No this doesn't mean hacking directly from inventory Couplers, but it does reduce the need to free up utility slots and attach additional Couplers mid-combat, while also allowing you to more easily get the most out of your existing Couplers.)
With Command Fork you have a chance to duplicate each hack, also applying it to the visible applicable target nearest to the initial target, at no extra cost! It's compatible with most hacks, excluding generate_echo, map_walls, map_earth, map_route, or those that would have no meaningful effect. This is super useful because you can hack a combat bot and have the same hack affect a nearby different type of combat bot for which you don't even have a Coupler--very powerful under the right circumstances! (link_fov fork demo) (demo of forking overload_power and streamctrl_high)
Threat Obfuscation reduces all influence increases by a certain percentage (depending on your ability's level).
Signal Jamming blocks local transmissions from visible hostiles while you have a matching Coupler attached, making it impossible for them to share information about your current position. Also prevents calls for reinforcements, and suppresses alarm traps. Basically against bots it's like having a targeted Transmission Jammer, a nice little bonus for having a given Coupler.
Zone Cloak causes extermination squads to take longer to pinpoint your position for dispatching, essentially the same effect as taking out Garrison Access points, but you get it for free.
With any [NC] Coupler attached, Watcher Feeds makes it possible to tap into the visual feed data of all 0b10 Watchers within a range of 24! This basically gives you temporary access to free drones that can maintain visual contact with enemies without themselves being attacked. One less reason to destroy Watchers :P (demo of the Watcher Feeds effect--while applicable, the link range is highlighted in faint yellow)
Mechanics
You can ram walls and machines now! Doing this is will mess you up pretty bad and there are warnings against it, of course, to help prevent you from smashing your face into that adjacent nuclear reactor, although if you're getting really desperate and squads are gathering around, this might actually be a good idea ;)
So it's there if you need it. This also provides a last ditch way out of escaping situations in which you've accidentally allowed Engineers to entomb you without any weapons to escape :P Ramming like this uses the same old force melee commands.
We also have a more controversial mechanical adjustment in terms of using melee weapons in dug out spaces. For a number of reasons being able to safely dig winding tunnels could be pretty cheesy, even more so using them to fight pursuers. Projectile weapons could cause instant cave-ins when used like this from within unstable areas, but not melee weapons. Now all weapons are treated the same in this regard. The chance of melee attacks causing a cave-in are lower than, say, a kinetic cannon, but it is no longer completely safe to do so. In terms of tunnel combat I imagine the effect of this change is less of an issue for players since that practice probably wasn't as widespread, though this does also affect the ability to dig consecutively through multiple spaces with a melee weapon, which will no doubt cause concern for some stealth builds which will need to consider alternative options if they can't risk a cave-in. In any case, we'll see how things turn out, but stealth is already super effective and melee digging in particular was only one small part of that effectiveness.
Balance
Trackers have been nerfed. See the multiple changelog lines regarding them :P The changes essentially mean they'll be a bit slower to catch up to you, and also have to be within view before they can open fire. Technically this is also an indirect nerf to builds that liked to farm Trackers and take their OP gear to turn it agaist 0b10, but players who could do that were few and far in between (in Rogue mode, at least xD). We also have some OP weapon nerfs, specifically the Firepult and Guided EMP Blaster. Both are still good, but were definitely way too good earlier. The Firepult nerf in particular was planned to happen eventually, but don't worry, it's still quite good, just can't be used indefinitely because the idea behind most EX-tech was that it's stuff which is fun and effective to play with through the early/mid-game rather than become something you stash away to help crush the extended game :P. Some other Exiles parts will likely be revisited in the next release for updating as well (they were intentionally made OP when first introduced basically just for fun, since you can't get them every run anyway). Impact weapons got a situational buff across the board, since all walls and reinforced barriers are now weaker against them. I made some changes to the Access garrison situation, namely removing the original extremely deadly result of visiting one, a nasty surprise for anyone doing it their first time that was probably not survivable for most builds. The origial effect (instant Max Security!), was my first reaction to Pimski trying to loop indefinitely since it was an easy way to use the game's existing content to mostly discourage or outright block that possibility. Now there's a much less deadly result specifically for that situation. Going inside that garrison itself has gotten more dangerous, however--I mean it's Access, right?! :)
QoL
Our favorite three-letter combo around here! We've got some useful new protective warnings, including most importantly a warning if you're attempting to attack from a position that might cause a cave-in as a result, since it can be easy to that accidentally in the heat of battle. (This warning also includes melee attacks, as per the earlier mechanical change mentioned earlier.) There's also a warning if your attempted line of fire is blocked by another robot, since a fair number of people don't seem to notice that as readily, especially if the situation is changing as a lot of bots are moving around during combat (note that the LOF indicator also changes color). Previously used guided waypoints can now be recalled even if some were outside FOV (demo). By request, as long as you have Tactical HUD mode active, parts that have been damaged for whatever reason (like... being shot :P) now retain a box around their integrity display in your parts list until your next action, so that you can more easily recall what has just taken damage (demo). I've activated this behavior by default, but if it bothers you you can deactivate it in advanced.cfg using partDamageIndicatorsRetained. Also by request, we now have the ability to add custom log notes! Log notes could later be expanded in a number of ways depending on player needs, but the primary purpose behind its current form is to allow you to leave in-game notes about what you were doing at the end of a play session, making it easier to pick up where you left off next time. This feature is currently only accessible via Shift-Alt-z, but we'll be later getting a new menu system for easier access to all Shift-Alt key combo features, including mouse accessibility. And no, your notes do not appear in the final scoresheet at this time (they're excluded from log output and only appear in game). I've updated any Mines reward encounters that required randomly visiting a hidden location, which encouraged the optimal tactic of scouring every inch of the Mines in search of them, especally in the hope of uncovering the famous early Exp. Sensor Array. As you can see, the event is now triggered by rifling through some visible Scrap. The original behavior was meant as a placeholder until there was a better solution--now we have one :) We've got a couple little special mode updates as well. First of all a dedicated indicator for when your built-in sensors are being jammed, since the normal indicator was attached to sensor parts, which you may not even need in RPGLIKE mode :P Player 2 now displays their parts with raw integrity values rather than as percentages.
Community
I've been doing a lot of streaming over the past months, about half of it Cogmind-related. In fact, we'll be starting a new run today, not long after Beta 10 is officially released here :) Past streams are archived on my YouTube channel, including the relatively recent Magneto run where we go for that achievement, some RIF runs, and others checking out the new ambient audio, including one dev testing stream. Many others have been streaming lately as well, including MTF, Tone, Valguris and other top players. The Discord is a good place to get a heads up on streams and when people are planning to go live. For those of you out there interested in the latest flavor of cheese, Pimski has put together an Exiles Kill Guide demonstrating a new pastime among Cogmind's more brazen and greedy (and evil!) players. As per the announcement last month, the leaderboards are back in action and better than ever. I'll be continuing to expand their features down the line. The next leaderboard reset will come tomorrow now that Beta 10 is out! All the current scores are from the Beta 9 builds (although the separate patron leaderboards include some Beta 10 and prerelease runs).
The Road to More
Thanks to all patrons and players for your support! We've still got that OP rating, so the next goal still stands. Keep the reviews coming :D Reminder: There will eventually be a big free expansion happening that adds Merchants (in fact there are a growing number of references in the game foreshadowing their arrival, including more in this release ;)), though I haven't yet decided for sure whether it will be before or after 1.0. Regardless, we've got lots and lots of plans, both small and large, still out there just waiting for some attention...
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