Speculation on balance changes

[NeloDante]

I already made a post about the flares changes but it motivated me to make a list of changes that I have noticed and I would like it more people can test what I found to see if it's correct and to talk about what you guys could find as well. Mind you, this is about the balance changes, not about the new rooms.

Keep in mind, this is only tested on Survival difficulty. So the changes I think I found are:
- Unable to skip Mynah boss fight with the speedrun strat. Before you could stab her with a flare for a one shot. Confirmed, it works on the second boss.
- Unable to skip the shrine box puzzle (the one with the planets). Before you could grab the key item without opening the door as long as you left the mouse right in the middle
- Downed replikas wake up way more often. I have completed the game several times by now and I have gone runs with barely anyone waking up meanwhile after this patch, a single room away and they do it - this has happened 4 times by now and I have not reached Nowhere in this run yet.
- Replikas are now more sensitive to light and sound. There are some rooms that just by entering/leaving they activate by the sprinting animation of going through a door alone.
- Kolibris deal actual damage even if you don't get close, in fact, I might say that it's way too much damage even when you're not missing a single code. This is a problem because this damage is basically unavoidable unless you shoot blindly and find the real one, it takes around half (or more) HP in survival since it depends on the speed that they feed you the codes.

Hope you guys find more stuff and can as well test what I mentioned.

[Rastrelly]

- Kolibris deal actual damage even if you don't get close, in fact, I might say that it's way too much damage even when you're not missing a single code. This is a problem because this damage is basically unavoidable unless you shoot blindly and find the real one, it takes around half (or more) HP in survival since it depends on the speed that they feed you the codes.

I suspect strangling Kolibris with freq changes was never the intended way to kill them. You catch the frequency once, get the ping on real one and shoot.

[Rastrelly]

Also, it seemed to me they made dying easier at the least on Survival. Looks like final hit protection is either off, or has significantly increased treshold.

[newk657]

You can still defeat the cage boss with one thermite flare.

[NeloDante]

Originally posted by newk657:

You can still defeat the cage boss with one thermite flare.

Why is this a thing but remove it for Mynah? Strange.

Originally posted by Rastrelly:

Also, it seemed to me they made dying easier at the least on Survival. Looks like final hit protection is either off, or has significantly increased treshold.

Yeah I have also noticed that, I abused that thing a lot. Before I could finish a survival run with an absurd amount of ammo and healing items, now healing items are being super scarce and for the first time I am being forced to use ammo in certain areas that I would not before.

Originally posted by Rastrelly:

I suspect strangling Kolibris with freq changes was never the intended way to kill them. You catch the frequency once, get the ping on real one and shoot.

That must be it, and you get punished for taking long.

[Bishop Malthus St. Claire]

I just finished my another survival run after one year, and I feel like the vigilance range and attack speed of enemies are larger and faster than one year ago, which has made the survival difficulty actually exciting.

Originally posted by NeloDante:

Unless you shoot blindly and find the real one.

About the Kolibri, it didn't give me much pain, even though the damage is new to me.

First of all, every time you match the code, it's marked on your screen the real one, so I don't get why you needed to shoot blindly to find the real one.
Then, you need to keep adjusting the radio every time you no longer hear the special sound made by them, even when there's no new code being showed on your screen. Entering your inventory or adjusting it directly depends on you, it's basically moving in a single-sided way. As long as you're adjusting it, the real one will keep being showed on your screen. Unlike seeking blindly, this feels more like that I was actively pushing their frequency.
In the end, perhaps you haven't discovered it yet, sometimes if you don't adjust it when the special radio noise stopped, it may keep dealing damage to you without showing the next code.
All in all, I think the new main idea is, except one room, you're supposed to shoot the real one as soon as you matched the code.

[NeloDante]

Originally posted by Bishop Malthus St. Claire:

[...]

I know how to find the real one, it's just that I never bothered actually shooting them because it was not worth it. Now it is.

Overall all of these changes are good, but it would be better to mention it.

[Lanzagranadas]

Reminds me of some dude in another thread complaining about the balancing adjustments being just to make the game easier beforehand... when "Balance" can also mean that some things will be made harder.

Interesting, thanks for sharing your observations. Definitely excited for a new Signalis playthrough once I finish a couple other games.

[Raeven]

I just one shot Mynah on regular difficulty. Maybe the change is only for survival, or survival has something else going that makes it harder to pull off. At least they didn't fully remove it.

Frequency strangling still feels like an intended method. Otherwise why code it in the first place. Its not a glitch that murders them. It just feels like one of the available methods.

[Rastrelly]

Originally posted by Raeven:

I

Frequency strangling still feels like an intended method. Otherwise why code it in the first place. Its not a glitch that murders them. It just feels like one of the available methods.

It's there for the same reason you can kill all bosses without ammo - softlock prevention.

[NeloDante]

Originally posted by Rastrelly:

It's there for the same reason you can kill all bosses without ammo - softlock prevention.

Whut? I've not tried killing first and final boss by walking. Second one I have out of curiosity and indeed he dies of boredom.
How does it work?

[Raeven]

Originally posted by Rastrelly:

Originally posted by Raeven:

I

Frequency strangling still feels like an intended method. Otherwise why code it in the first place. Its not a glitch that murders them. It just feels like one of the available methods.

It's there for the same reason you can kill all bosses without ammo - softlock prevention.

Interesting. Is this confirmed by a developer?

[Rastrelly]

Pure experimentation. I "killed" Nue and Falke by timings, and I'm pretty sure same applies at least for boss version MNHR (she seems to lose HP when barfing).

[CtenosaurOaxacana]

I'm overall pleased that all the balance changes have made the game harder, not easier.

Allowing 2nd boss to be 'defeated' with a flare still might be intentional, because their whole mechanic is to be pacified long enough for Isa to get her gun ready for the final blow.

As for the kolibris causing damage now, it feels like it makes a difference how close you get to them. You can still adjust frequency & shoot the real one to end the fight, you just can't afford to close the distance too much anymore without dying.
Now they're psychologically AND physically terrifying!

[Branchu]

I definitely noticed the Kolibri changes.

Also did they make the Falke arena bigger? It felt like I had way more room to maneuver than before.

[Death is Coming]

Now if they made the time requirement for the Promise Ending more lenient, I'd be happy. Having to sit and wait 6 hours to not get an additional point for the memory ending is ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥.