[b]Greetings Reagents! [/b] This update brings bug fixes, quality-of-life improvements, and balance changes based on player feedback. This update also introduces a new experimental Special Event: Program Omega Ω. We continue to improve the game experience for solo players as well as the first-time user experience in the early game. [b]Special Event: Program Ω[/b] We are introducing our first special event: Program Omega Ω. This is an experimental program for Reagents looking for the ultimate coop challenge!

• Program Omega details: [list]
• Unlocks at the same time as Program X.
• Group is required (2-4 players).
• Therapy Level 20+ is recommended.
• New Variator: [b][i]Stay Together[/i][/b]

[/list]

• Please be advised: [list]
• This is an experimental special event.
• Participating in this program is completely optional and not required to progress.
• Exceptionally, this program is coop exclusive.
• It will only be limited for a few weeks until it is vaulted.

[*] We are curious to hear your feedback about this first special event![/list] [b]New Variator: [i]Stay Together[/i][/b]

• [i][b]Stay Together[/b][/i] is applied to all Trials of Program Omega.
• Stay close to your friends or you will take damage.
• Voice chat range is limited, so stay close.

[b]Solo Play [/b] [i]Dev comment: Solo play is an important element of The Outlast Trials. Given the feedback we received, we realize that we may have been a bit too brutal on those playing alone. We’ve decided to revisit some mechanics to ensure solo players have a good time and that they can make continuous progress without being overly punished.[/i]

• Players now has unlimited respawns in solo, but will get a grade penalty for each respawn.
• Respawns (in solo) now restore 100% health (previously 50%).
• Enemies and Prime Assets won’t linger around objectives as much.
• General tweaks and rebalancing to AI behaviour when playing solo and cooperative in early game.
• We will observe and continue to gather player feedback and make improvements on solo play.

[b]Arm Wrestling[/b]

• You can now challenge other players while sitting at the table.
• Point at a player and press the interact button to challenge them.

[b]Prescriptions[/b] [i]Dev comment: These actions are now available from the start instead of being locked behind upgrades. Purchasing these prescriptions will now improve their base actions.[/i] Redesigned some Actions/Prescriptions (Rx):

• “KICK TO HELP” is now “HARD KICK”:[list]
• Players can now help teammates grasped by enemies without needing to acquire an upgrade.
• However, helping teammates now exhausts the player.
• Purchasing “HARD KICK” prescription greatly reduces the stamina cost of helping teammates.

[/list]

• “LIFE SAVER” is now “STAY OF EXECUTION”: [list]
• Players can now save teammates being executed by enemies without needing to acquire an upgrade.
• Saving teammates now exhausts the player.
• Purchasing this prescription greatly reduces the stamina cost when performing this action.

[/list]

• Players who acquired the previous prescriptions will automatically receive the newer version and it will be equipped. New players will have to acquire them as usual.

[b]Rigs[/b] Healing Rig:

• “Poison” upgrade:[list]
• Affected enemies slowdown effect has been increased.
• Affected enemies slowdown duration has been decreased.
• Fixed missing reaction animation on some enemies.
• [i]Dev Comment: The poison upgrade wasn’t perceptible enough, so we increased its effect but reduced the duration. We also fixed an issue where poison wasn’t triggering the reaction animation on some enemies.[/i]

[/list]Blind Rig:

• Base Rig:[list]
• Increased base deploy time to 3s (was 2s).
• “Deploy Technique” upgrade:
• Increased upgraded deploy time to 2s (was 1.5s).

[/list]X-Ray Rig:

• Fixed an issue where X-Ray wouldn’t work properly if 2 players would use the rig at the same time.

[b]Balancing and improvements[/b]

• All players in a group can now navigate the Programs menu.
• Completed Trials via Coop play are now replayable even if requirements are not met. [list]
• Previously, players would still have to complete requirements in order to replay a Trial that was previously completed via Coop (selected by a leader who had access to this Trial).

[*] Stamina consumption while running decreased by 20% - you can now run for longer duration. [*] Exhaustion time decreased by 20% - exhaustion now recovers faster. [*] Recovering from bleed-out now restores 25% health (was 50%). [*] Exit Trial objective marker is now displayed from further distance. [*] Completing a Trial that wasn’t unlocked will now make it available for replay, instead of having it locked until the unlock conditions are met. [*] “Slippers” amp now only works when walking on glass. Running will still trigger a sound disturbance. [*] Walking on glass while having the “Slippers” amp equipped won’t register as a score penalty anymore. [*] Added a new GAMEPLAY category in the Settings screen:

• Toggle run (define the run input behavior).
• Hide item after delay (auto hide the equipped item after a short delay to clear the field of view).

[*] “Toggle Run” setting now works correctly on gamepads. [*] Increased the sound made by Pouncers in hiding spots. [*] Added new voice announcements during the Exit Trial countdown to help players understand the remaining time. [*] Added border art around Player Icons in all menus where player icons are displayed. [*] Visual tweaks of the Settings menu.[/list] [b]Fixes[/b]

• Fixed a memory leak introduced in the previous update.
• Fixed and updated some text, typos, and grammatical errors.
• Fixed an issue where the global handwritten Murkoff comment was not correct to the situation.
• Fixed an issue where Vouchers or Release Tokens were sometimes not correctly rewarded to players.
• Grades of Trials completed in Coop will now display correctly
• Fixed an issue where walking on glass with the Amp “Slippers” was still incrementing as “Triggered Sound Traps” in the Results screen.
• Fixed navigation issues and bugs in all Trials.
• Fixed some issues for grab animations that would occur in some instances.
• Fixed an issue where the equipped item would sometimes disappear when used while in Psychosis.
• Fixed an issue where sliding got players stuck and unable to move.
• Fixed an issue where enemies wouldn’t get stunned by thrown items in some situations.
• Fixed an issue where players could survive the Exit Trial post-countdown using the Healing rig.

[b]On the radar[/b] As we continue to gain feedback from all our players through our [url=https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/OutlastTrialsEarlyAccess]Survey[/url] we are looking at these key areas to work on in the future:

• Reward efforts even in the event of failing a Trial.
• Penalize group players not participating to Trials.
• Improve the Trial selection process as a group.
• Keep improving the solo experience.
• Keep improving the AI behavior in some edge case situations.