5:20pm EST - Client just hit - this update is live!

5:16pm EST - Devblog is live! Client update still pending...

4:54pm EST - Server update just hit! Client and devblog still pending...

4:45pm EST - Should be any time now as Helk is just getting the blog prepped.

1:30pm EST - Several more balance changes just came in, updated the post below.

12:55pm EST - A family emergency just came up and we will be unable to do our update stream today. I'll make sure to tweet everything to @Rustafied as it happens. Sorry for the inconvenience.

12:01am EST - We’ve had a week to dive in and get to know this new system and so far the reception from players has been overwhelmingly positive. Primitive fighting has been extended, commerce is booming, social aspects are finding their way back in, and several opportunities for improvements have come to light. As a result, we're seeing a ton of balance and QoL shifts this week.

Follow @Rustafied for news throughout the day.

Update summary video

Check out our update summary video from Puddy.

Elite crate nerf

Attempting to find balance (a theme this week), Helk has nerfed elite crates. The now only spawn every 2 hours - instead of every 20 minutes - and they yield half as many items as before (2 definitions as opposed to 4). Also, the launch site now has 1 less elite crate spawn.

Bradley shifts

At the last minute, Helk has tweaked some things with Bradley. It not only spawns less frequently, it now effectively drops elite crates instead. It also now only starts healing after 10 minutes and takes 5 minutes total to heal - much slower than before.

Quality of life improvements

In the wake of the new blueprint system, we're seeing a bunch of quality of life and balance shifts. Here are some highlights:

• At the highest levels (launch site roof and nuke plant), a small amount of radiation leaks through the hazmat suit.
• Airdrops now spawn fewer high end rifles, more shotguns and ammo. They also drop turrets instead of turret parts.
• Higher chance of finding tools in caves - less chance of finding miner and candle hats. Also, less HQM drops in caves.
• Lowered high quality metal available from helicopter and bradley parts.
• Boonie hat, candle hat, and miner hat all now have some armor protection.
• Tuna can lights and lanterns are now brighter, and the tuna can light is now cheaper (25 metal frags instead of 40).
• The miners hat has a blinding flair, and no longer emits light visible to other players.
• Recycling broken items now yields slightly more resources than before, and recycling weapons forces them to output ammo/mods before recycling.
• Fix for stone ore scarcity.
• Slightly lower chance of satchel duds.

Picking up random items

Tired of seeing dinette sets lining the countryside? Well now you can clean things up a bit! Some items like tables, chairs, and refrigerators can now be picked up to use or recycle without a tool cupboard.

This functionality is limited to only a few items at the moment though, as things like water holders and planters cannot be picked up. Turrets still require building privilege to pick up as well.

Workbench radius tripled and rotation added

After a week of basically having to stand on top of the workbenches, Helk has tripled the benefit radius, allowing a little more freedom while crafting. Another key change is the ability to rotate workbenches, which provides a little more freedom with placement and base design.

Blueprint balance

While this system will certainly see some more significant changes in the coming weeks, we have a few noteworthy things coming in today:

• Cluttery deployables spawn as blueprints in barrels instead of the object.
• Flamethrower requires work bench level 2 to craft.
• Pants, hoodies, guitars, planters, and ceiling lights are now tier 1 rarity.
• Snow and vagabond jacket cost 50 cloth (instead of 200) and are 1 rarity tier lower.
• Vending machines now display whether what is being sold is an item or a blueprint.
• Water purifiers, small/medium signs and stone spears are now default blueprints.
• Boonie hats, bandanas, ball caps, signs, and picture frames cannot be researched.

Grid added to map

Navigating using the in game map just got a bit easier as Helk added a grid. Each grid has it's own label in the top left, and the whole grid can be toggled off with a checkbox on the top left of the screen.

Other stuff

• Fixed launch site exploit allowing people shooting from within the walls
• Fixed stray dome sounds on lighthouse
• Fixed peacekeeper mode not working on turrets
• Fixed bug where candle hat had a light radius of 30m
• Hapis Island now has a chance to spawn elite crates
• Sewing kit requires less rope
• Tweaked high external wall and gate deploy volumes to make it easier to close compound walls
• Added tire effects when car drives over different surfaces
• Workbenches have deploy sounds
• System info includes process memory usage