This is probably the most massive game update to this date.

Here is a short overview:

• A new biome: snowy tundra
• A new colony: an immobile fortress called Hive
• A new turret: a resource gathering point - Refinery
• A new turret: a powerful AoE attack laser that requires an active crew
• A new weather toggle (works for a snowy tundra right now)
• A new special seed for Arena mode (see Infernal achievement)
• New achievements
• Several quality-of-life changes
• Balance tweaks

Now let’s get down to the details.

Tundra Biome

This new biome is rather harsh and challenging.

Due to the cold weather, drones get discharged 33% faster.

The landscape is covered in snow, trees, and landcracks, making it one of the hardest terrain for the ground units. Unlike the Forest biome, trees in Tundra can’t be traversed and used for cover by ground units.

Since this place was never explored before, many artifacts wait to be collected. When recovered, the artifact increases the drone level as well as restores its energy and structure. Only drones of tier 2 and above can recover artifacts.

The local unique resource is minerals. It can be compared to the iron resource from the Moon biome, but it’s worth more and stashes are usually larger. The downside is that they can only be mined by workers of tier 2 or above.

This biome also features snowy weather (which can be turned off).

To try it out, use an Environment option in the World tab when creating a game.

Hive Colony

This colony plays very differently from everything else.

It can’t move at all. Instead, you’re controlling a rally point of your drones. By building another colony further away from your first one, you expand your area of control.

The Hive itself is so resistant to damage it can survive a couple of Dreadnought’s raids without getting destroyed. It also has anti-ground weapon systems.

It has the largest drone count limit and the biggest resource storage capacity. In addition to that, the drone production cost is decreased: it can build a bigger fleet more easily.

I recommend trying it out in combination with a new Refinery turret.

If you’re not sure how to play it correctly, make the bots play it. While not being overly smart, they can show you some basics.

Since this colony is so unique and unusual for Roboden, it may take a couple of patches to make it properly balanced.

Refinery Turret

This utility building acts like an income-boosting resource delivery point.

It also has a passive effect of distributing excessive resources between the colonies.

It works best in combination with Hive colony, but can be useful to boost the economy of some other builds too.

Twister Turret

Twister is a multi-target laser turret capable of attacking both air and ground targets. This is the only turret that can handle both kinds of targets.

This turret requires the constant maintenance of three worker drones to function. If any of these three drones are disabled, the turret will go offline.

The assigned workers will repair this turret from time to time.

Various Changes

• Clicking on a message with a marker moves a camera to that marker
• Blitz mode is now open by default (the tutorial is not a mandatory entry point anymore)
• Extra tooltips (turrets, enemy buildings)
• Reverse mode is now unlocked earlier (before the Infinite Arena mode)
• Whether a special (magic) seed is used, the game produces a sound cue

New Achievements

You can browse the achievements inside the game or use Steam.

• Lucky Roll achievement (any game mode)
• Fast-forward achievement (any game mode)
• Siege achievement (Reverse mode)
• Infernal achievement (Arena mode)

Balance Changes

• Completely reworked the drone energy systems
• All tier 2 (and above) workers now repair buildings more efficiently
• Tier 1 workers now build buildings 25% slower (T2 and T3 workers keep the 100% efficiency)
• Buffed Disingrator: +1 damage (16 -> 17)
• Buffed Scarab: -1 upkeep cost (8 -> 7), -1 cloning cost (20 -> 19), faster reload (2.5 -> 2.4)
• Buffed Servo: -1 upkeep cost (7 -> 6), -4 cloning cost (26 -> 22), +4 hp (18 -> 22), moves fast ability
• Buffed Cloner: +5% cloning discount (85% -> 80%), -2 cloning cost (26 -> 24)
• Buffed Courier: +10 attack range (140 -> 150)
• Buffed Trucker: alternative AoE attack, faster reload (2.6 -> 2.2), energy regen +0.2 (0.5 -> 0.7)
• Buffed Crippler: +1 max targets (6 -> 7)
• Buffed Commander: +5% follower’s damage reduction (20% -> 25%)
• Buffed Devourer: +1 max level (7 -> 8)
• Buffed Seeker: +20% damage against buildings
• Buffed Firestorm turret: +50 attack range (750 -> 800)
• Buffed Navigation Beacon: +1 max targets (4 -> 5)
• Nerfed Beam Tower: +4 upkeep cost (18 -> 22)
• Dreadnought (creep boss) deals 40% less damage against buildings
• Dreadnought servants deal 75% more damage to buildings

Bot Changes

Changes in computer player behavior (relevant co-op and Reverse mode):

• Comes back to finish a building construction
• Distributes the faction colors more carefully
• Can pick less obvious drone builds in Reverse mode

Bug Fixes

• Mega Seeker is not getting too close to the colony anymore
• A T1 army achievement will no longer be unlocked if Seekers are used