THE NEW VANGUARD: CLASS REVAMP AND DESIGN DIARY

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The New Trooper Vanguard

At launch, Starship Trooper: Extermination will include six Trooper Classes. If you didn’t catch the announcement, we revealed them HERE. Each Class will bring a new arsenal, as we have curated progression tracks that include new weapons, utilities and perks. The launch of 0.7.0 is just the beginning as we plan to add more class advancement levels on a regular cadence post 1.0 launch.

Before we begin, it’s important to remember that everything remains subject to change, and in the coming weeks, we will be releasing more blogs to share our development processes regarding each of the new troopers you will be able to play. But today, we will be talking about the overall expectations from this Revamp, as we want to provide you all with a bit of insight into the decisions surrounding the overall change. Additionally, we’ll share our thoughts on what we liked and disliked about the existing system.

Gameplay Variety

In our ongoing development of Starship Troopers: Extermination, our goal is to have each class specialize in a distinct gameplay role. Within each class, various loadouts will be available to cater to individual citizens’ preferred playstyles, ensuring players not only feel effective but have an enjoyable experience in that role.

By emphasizing specialized gameplay roles, we have equipped each Class with purpose-made abilities and an optimized progression path. As troopers advance in each class, they unlock new loadouts. Our aim is for every unlock earned by troopers to offer more options and new gameplay experiences and opportunities, all while remaining relevant to the player’s chosen role for each class

As our seasoned veterans may already know, the existing Classes exhibited some degree of role variety through various loadouts. The objective of the Class Progression Revamp is to more precisely define each Class’s unique gameplay role. Rest assured, variety within each Class will still persist! Different Trooper loadouts, featuring various weapons, utilities, and perks, can steer Classes into different niches within their overarching role. This enhanced loadout diversity now introduces more novel methods of performing your Class’s intended role while still preserving the distinctive identity of each Class.

Remember troopers no matter the Class you choose you’ll be doing your part.

New vs. Revamp

There’s been rumbling that the troopers you’ve all come to love will be going away, but fear not, Troopers! With this Revamp we aim to retain the elements you love from the current three classes while bringing in a breath of fresh air adding unique and exciting mechanics into the new six.

We aim to broaden the possibilities within our Class selection. Moving forward with the Revamp involves revisiting existing elements; enhancing certain features within their kits, and possibly separating extraneous elements into their own fully fleshed-out Classes. New mechanics will be introduced to create fresh gameplay opportunities and address areas the community felt were underutilized in the current Class system.

Has anyone used the Medical Station recently?

Troopers should expect significant reworks for some of ST: E’s less developed and suboptimal mechanics with this Revamp.

Weapon Mastery

In addition to the revamped Classes, we are introducing a new Mastery System for all trooper weapons. Weapon Mastery enables troopers to earn XP on the weapons they use, unlocking powerful modifications to their evergrowing arsenal. As a reward for those who fully master their weapon of choice, we want to introduce the new Armory Unlock System.

The Armory Unlock enables troopers of any Class to equip a given Weapon. An Armory Unlock allows Classes to bypass Class Restrictions on weapons – however, they will still need to meet the minimum level to equip said weapons.

The Weapon Mastery System at release will only apply to your arsenal of firearms. However, in the future, we hope to expand the Mastery System into other areas of your troopers’ loadout.

Custom Loadout Slots

Speaking of loadouts, with the Revamp, troopers will now have access to loadout slots! Each of the different Classes will have its own Loadout Slot by default, allowing you to customize each of the six Classes with your preferred gear tailored to your playstyle.

These Loadout Slots can be personalized to any available Class. By changing the Class of a loadout, you alter the current abilities and their gear restrictions. The loadout will then earn progression towards the chosen Class. You have the flexibility to assign any Class to each of your slots – whether it’s one of each Class, all Medics, or any combination in between. Having multiple slots dedicated to a single Class will enable a greater variety of builds suited for different scenarios and battlefields. We’re very excited to see the diverse loadouts you troopers will bring in the fight against the Bug menace!

Re-enlistment

With all the talk about progression we want to let you know about our new system for our most dedicated troopers. We wanted to provide you all with a further milestone when it comes to progression. Troopers when the Revamp is available will be able to continue their journey beyond Career Rank 100.

Upon reaching max rank, troopers can Re-enlist! Re-enlisting provides a new Custom Loadout Slot, but resets Career Rank and Class Levels. Don’t fret troopers as you will keep all Mastery Progression, Achievements, and Career and Gamemode Unlocks. Each re-enlist will provide an additional Slot and increment your Re-enlistment Tier. More details to follow in a future Developer Diary as we draw closer to the launch of 0.7.0.

The Next Steps

That’s all we have to show for now. We hope you enjoyed this glimpse into what is coming to Starship Troopers: Extermination! If you would like to know more, keep a close eye on this space over the coming weeks for more Class development diaries, reveals, and other details about the upcoming Class Progression Revamp. If you have feedback or questions, please share them with our dev team in the ST:E Community Discord!

On behalf of the entire ST:E development team, thanks for stopping by, trooper!