Hades' Star: DARK NEBULA changelog

By Hades' Star

Target update date for the existing Hades' Star app: October 30

This is a raw list of the biggest changes coming in the DARK NEBULA update. If you are looking for bigger picture information and advice for how your day to day gameplay will change, the Dark Nebula upgrade guide may be a better starting point.  


Modules

  • There are now 6 distinct module types (Transport, Miner, Weapon, Shield, Combat, Drone). Old Support modules are now Combat and can only be equipped on Battleships.
  • All combat-related modules (weapons, shields, combat types) had their numbers re-tweaked separately per star type.
  • Cargo Bay Extension: All numbers tweaked. Pay close attention to new Artifact sizes in Red Stars to better plan your runs.
  • Shipment computer: Bonuses greatly increased. Upgrade level now also affects Shipment Drone.
  • Mining Boost: Is now an RS2 module, numbers tweaked
  • Laser: Is now an RS2 module
  • Alpha Shield: Now provides temporary immunity, can be fully upgraded like other modules
  • EMP: Duration decreased, no longer affects allies
  • Rush: Primary benefit changed to be reduced Hydrogen usage in certain situations
  • Hydrogen Bay Extension: replaced by new Module (Hydrogen Replicator)
  • Mining Unity: replaced by new Module (Artifact Boost), is now RS3 
  • Mass Battery: Is now RS3 module
  • Delta Shield: Replaced by new Module (Impulse Shield), is now RS3
  • Sanctuary deleted. All ships return safely home when destroyed from Combat (unless they were lost in the new Dark Red Stars). Losing a ship to Supernova destroys it permanently (Blue Star supernovas don't count)
  • Trade Burst: Bonuses increased, upgrade level now also affects Shipment Drone
  • Stealth: Is now a Transport module
  • Unity: Replaced by new Module (Solitude)
  • Genesis: Is now RS4 module. Limited use in Yellow Star. 
  • Remote Mining: Is now RS4 module, activated manually, upgrade levels increase the number of asteroids it is collecting from. Miner always collects when the module is activated, even when it is not stationed on an Asteroid.
  • Battery: Is now RS4 module.
  • Regenerating shield: Is now RS4 module, greatly reduced regeneration times.
  • Fortify: Now increases weapon damage while activated.
  • Shipment Drone: Drone will expire when it uses all onboard Hydrogen. Mechanics changed and bonuses increased, total bonus also depends on upgrade level of Shipment Computer and Trade Burst.
  • Enrich: Is now an RS5 module, can no longer be used in Yellow Star.
  • Dual Laser: Is now an RS5 module
  • Omega Shield: Is now an RS5 module
  • Time Warp: Replaced by new Module (Weapon Amplifier), is now RS5
  • Salvage: Replaced by new Drone Module (Decoy Drone)
  • Red Star Life Extender: Is now Transport module, moved to RS6
  • Crunch: Is now RS6 module
  • Barrage: Is now RS6 module
  • Blast Shield: Mechanics changed, now covers any hostile blast source in range immediately and independently of the numbers of friendly ships in range
  • Destiny: Teleport location is now more predictable
  • Remote Repair: Replaced by Repair Drone, moved to RS6
  • Hydrogen Upload: Can now only be used in White Stars for generating Relics remotely. Moved to RS7.
  • Mirror Shield: Moved to RS7
  • Alpha Rocket: Replaced by Rocket Drone, moved to RS7
  • Dispatch: Moved to RS8, does blast damage on landing
  • Dart Launcher: Moved to RS8
  • Area Shield: Renamed to Ally Shield, no longer covers the activating ship
  • Alpha Drone: Replaced by Chain Ray Drone, is now RS10
  • Mining Drone: Replaced by new Module (Blast Drone)
  • New Modules: Cargo Rocket (RS9), Chain Ray (RS9), Motion Shield (RS10), Rocket Launcher (RS11), Delta Drones (RS11), Pulse (RS12), Drone Squad (RS12)
  • The following modules were deleted: Impulse, Offload, Suppress, Entrust, Shipment Beam, Recall.
  • Maximum upgrade level for all modules increased to 15 (some late game modules start at higher levels when first discovered)
  • Added second Module Research slot (unlocks at around RS5) 

For historic information on module changes & motivations, also see this older post: http://blog.hadesstar.com/2022/10/module-changes-in-dark-nebula.html


Yellow Star & Economy

  • Redesigned Credits economy
  • Redesigned Hydrogen economy
  • Ship movement greatly sped up in Yellow Stars
  • Removed ability to deliver shipments or mine Hydrogen on other player's Yellow Stars
  • Time Modulator replaced by new station (Star Harvester)
  • Research Station now holds 8 Artifacts, shows the exact time research will be over 
  • Crystal economy tweaks (significantly less Crystals required for almost all conversions, especially with Credits, Hydrogen and Artifacts); planet crystal shipments removed and replaced by daily free item system
  • Premium appearances can be purchased for Crystals for Yellow Star system background and individual planets


Red Star changes

  • Pacing and gameplay changes, including new Dark Red Stars
  • Interceptor behavior changed to constant patrolling. Many other aspects of Cerberus ships (HP, damage etc) have been tweaked.
  • Influence renamed to Empire Power, retreated to make the leaderboards more dynamic
  • Hydrogen in Red Stars can no longer be transferred back home, is meant to only be used by Miners within that Star.
  • Added Red Star level 12


Blue Star changes


White Star changes

  • Pacing tweaks to make the matches more asynchronous
  • 5vs5 and 15vs15 slots removed to improve matchmaking and better focus overall design 
  • Corporation XP replaces Corporation Relics. Initially all old Corporation's Relics are translated to XP 1:1, but going forward only the match result matters for XP (not the exact number of relics retrieved)
  • Underdog system allows gross mismatched teams to still have a goal in the White Star, and awarded higher XP if they achieve it
  • Reward system redesign to focus only on Corporation-wide benefits, including time-limited Artifact boost that needs a White Star win to refresh
  • White Star leaderboards changed to reflect number of victorious matches a player has per season
  • For more details, see http://blog.hadesstar.com/2022/09/white-star-changes-in-dark-nebula.html


Other changes

  • Visual improvements
  • Audio improvements
  • Ships List window is now available on mobile portrait modes
  • Added planets list and other features in the Yellow Star window
  • Daily Objective system redone, no longer offers leveled up objectives
  • STARTER PACK 1 benefit increased, new STARTER PACK 2 added with additional permanent bonuses
  • Friends system, including local Friends chat in the Yellow Star chat tab
  • Free Daily Item system
  • Achievement tweaks (some achievements were retired and new ones were added)


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