Breachway News

Hi everyone,

We’re back with another update! We had a one-week delay due to some health issues, but we're back on track.

In our last post, we teased some of the changes in progress, but due to the high volume of work involved for our small team of four, it will still take time to finalize everything we want to improve. That said, we want to share all our progress with you and get valuable feedback on the direction we're moving. To make this easier, we've set up a public test branch where you can see the latest developments.

How to access the experimental branch.
The plan is to update the experimental branch every two weeks (or sooner if major bugs are found). Once a set of changes is finished, it will be moved to the main branch, and the next set will begin testing.

[h3]What’s in This Update?[/h3][hr][/hr]We’re still calling this the Meta-Game Update, and the goal is to increase replayability by:

• Providing more opportunities to change loadouts
  
• Giving players a clearer power progression through a run
  
• Making meta-progression unlocks more meaningful

The first two parts are nearly complete. Enemies now drop equipment, and equipment variety has increased, though some types are still missing and will be added in the next update.

What’s still in progress:

• meta-progression unlocks for items and additional perks. These will be added in the second update from now, after which we expect to move the full update to the main branch.
  
• Subsystem overhaul: more varied Subsystems to upgrade your equipment. These will come in at different power levels, so you can afford to buy a few subsystems even in the first sector.
  

Once this update is live, we'll apply similar changes to other parts of the game, focusing on run variety and more impactful player choices. The roadmap we posted at the end of last year is still valid and represents the order in which we plan to tackle things.

https://steamcommunity.com/games/2118810/announcements/detail/537714770822823940

[h3]⚠️ Test Branch Disclaimers[/h3][hr][/hr]Before jumping in, please keep in mind:

• This is a testing branch – Expect instability and unfinished features.
  
• Meta-game progress will not carry over – Any progress made in the test branch will reset when returning to the main branch.
  
• Tutorials won’t reflect new features yet – We’ll cover changes in update posts like this instead.
  
• Localization is one update behind – New cards and mechanics will initially be in English, with translations coming in the next test branch update.
  

[h3]🆕 What’s New in the Experimental Branch?[/h3][hr][/hr]

• Upgraded and Brand new Cards – Equipment now comes with both regular and upgraded cards to draft.
  
• A Clearer Power Curve – Mk.II versions of equipment now include upgraded versions of Mk.I cards, along with stronger options.
  
• Revamped UI – Station and ship status UI has been cleaned up to reduce clutter.
  
• Equipment Drafting Tables – Now viewable directly in the equipment inspector.
  
• Expanded Equipment Quality Levels – Currently seven levels, increasing to 9 when the third sector is introduced.
  
• A lot of Equipment Variations – Each piece has pre-drafted cards, subsystems, and unique slot counts.
  
• Card drafting changes - Skipping drafting no longer gives credits, but any drafted card increases an equipment's sell value by 20 credits.
  
• Resource Stockpile Limits – You can now stockpile 3 resources per max resource production unit, with a new bar indicating stockpile levels.
  

[h3]🚧 Equipment Still in Progress[/h3][hr][/hr]Some equipment is still being adjusted, and won’t drop from enemies or appear in shops yet. These include:

• All Engineering Bay Equipment
  
• 1 Resource Bay Equipment
  
• Missile Launcher & Missile Pods
  
• Point Defense Cannon
  
• Radiators
  
• Hacking Equipment
  

[h3]Thank You for Your Support![/h3][hr][/hr]Breachway wouldn’t be where it is without your feedback. Every suggestion, every bug report, and every discussion helps refine what comes next.

This update is just one more step—we’re not done yet. More improvements are on the way.
We look forward to hearing your thoughts on the new features and content!

– The Breachway Team

Take on tactical space battles in Breachway, now 30% off. Breachway combines deck-building strategy with turn-based combat, letting you customize your ship, manage resources, and face challenging encounters across the galaxy.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2118810/Breachway/

Hi everyone

It’s time for another update post.

As you might know, the meta-progression update turned into a pretty hefty rework, focused on addressing one of the most frequent pieces of feedback: improving replayability by reducing run similarity. This required a significant refactor of several systems tied to equipment progression and variety.

[h2]To the Community[/h2][hr][/hr]Before we get into it, we'd like to take a moment to thank you for all of your Steam reviews and feedback. Steam reviews and community feedback are the compass guiding the future of Breachway. They’re not just a way for new players to find the game — they provide us with the insights we need to deliver impactful updates. Every review, comment, and suggestion so far has helped shape the journey.

Now let’s break it down:

[h2]Equipment Overhaul: More Loot, More Choices[/h2][hr][/hr]To add some much needed variety to your equipment loadout, enemies will drop equipment as loot.
The type of equipment each enemy drops is based on the faction they belong to, so Starkin might drop Laser weapons more often, while Solarii ships are more likely to drop Flak weapons.
This means your loadout will evolve differently depending on who you’re fighting.

[h2]Variable Equipment Quality[/h2][hr][/hr]Our new equipment quality system now varies items by card slots, subsystem slots, and drafting library tiers (from Mk.I to Mk.III).
No longer is all Mk.I equipment 4 card slots and 1 subsystem slot, all equipment can range from 2 to 8 card slots, from 0 to 3 subsystem slots, based on the equipment quality level.
Quality level is marked by a colored bar on the right side of the equipment UI, as seen in the mockup below (We have 6 different levels at the moment, with more to come).


For example: An early-game Mk.II weapon drop might offer powerful cards but only 2 card slots. So while this may be useful power spike in the short term, eventually you will want to sell it and get something more powerful.

[h2]Card Upgrades & Drafting Libraries[/h2][hr][/hr]In order do differentiate Mk I, II and III equipment more, we added card upgrades. While Mk.I equipment has weaker, basic cards, it can also roll upgraded versions of those cards as rare drafting options, creating more interesting and exciting drafting choices.

Besides more powerful cards, a Mk.II version of an equipment comes with upgraded versions of the Mk.I as the default common picks, creating a clear power progression.

This will also synergize with the Crew leveling system coming out soon after this update, higher crew levels means improved chances to draft rare/uncommon cards on their equipped gear.

[h2]Drafting Library Visibility[/h2][hr][/hr]To handle all of these new cards and equipment drops, you can now click any equipment to preview its draftable cards, no more guesswork required!
(This update just got done yesterday, so excuse the placeholder UI art)


[h2]Station and ship status UI polish[/h2][hr][/hr]We have updated the Ship Status and Station/Store UI to a cleaner look, doing away with the oversized station action buttons, and adding more compact buttons with icons under the "Store" category. Soon we'll fill that empty spot in the station services with a button for hiring a crewmember!
(The image is quite large, click to expand)


[h2]Starting loadout and enemy rebalancing[/h2][hr][/hr]All of these changes also meant we took a closer look at balancing, something what was long overdue. The player now starts with weaker equipment, but will have a lot more opportunities to swap that equipment out for more powerful options as the run progresses. This leads to a more noticeable power increase for players, the further into a run they get.

There’s a lot of exciting content coming soon. This update is a massive undertaking—we’ve more than doubled our card count with upgraded versions, not to mention all the new cards and dozens of new equipment drops enabled by the equipment quality system. We really want to share this with you for feedback as soon as possible.

We’re testing the update internally and refining it this week, then rolling it out to our beta testers, and eventually to a public testing branch as we integrate all the content for this major update.

We'll keep you updated on when the public testing branch will go live.

Thank you
We’ve been heads-down making these changes (sorry for the quiet Discord and Steam Forums!), but your feedback directly shaped this upcoming update. Keep it coming—we’re listening!

—The Breachway Team

Hi everyone,

We're happy to report we’ve got this bi-weekly update ready to go, addressing some of the issues many of you have brought up on the Steam forums and our Discord. Your feedback has been invaluable and keeps us pushing to make Breachway the best it can be—thank you for that!

[h3]An Update on Meta-Progression[/h3]
We know a lot of you are excited about the meta-progression update we’ve been teasing, and we wanted to give you a quick update. After taking some much-needed time to recharge over the holidays, we’ve made solid progress, and it’s almost ready to head into internal testing. This update is shaping up to bring a lot to the table—better balance and power scaling, new cards, upgraded cards, more meaningful progression and ways to track it, and plenty of reasons to dive back in for another run.
It's turning into our biggest update yet!

[h3]A Peek at the Third Sector[/h3]
While we’ve been working on meta-progression, we’ve also been adding more content in preparation for the game’s third sector. We’re really excited about the powerful ships you’ll encounter there, and we wanted to share a little sneak peek of one of our latest designs: the Starkin Heavy Cruiser. Check it out!

[h3]Patch Notes for This Week[/h3]
Here’s what’s new and improved in this patch:

• Fixed some Deadweight enemies always starting with missile fire support.
  
• Fixed Force Optimization card disabling specified productions for the rest of the fight instead of 1 turn
  
• Fixed Force Optimization card disabling wrong amount of resource production
  
• Fixed Force Optimization depleting despite not saying so
  
• Fixed Force Equivalence card disabling specified productions for the rest of the fight instead of 1 turn
  
• Fixed Force Equivalence card disabling wrong amount of resource production
  
• Fixed Force Equivalence depleting despite not saying so
  
• Fixed Forced Conservation card disabling specified productions for the rest of the fight instead of 1 turn
  
• Fixed Forced Conservation card disabling wrong amount of resource production
  
• Fixed Forced Conservation depleting despite not saying so
  
• Fixed Drilling Beam depleting despite not saying so
  
• Fixed Uranium Slug sometimes not dealing additional equipment damage
  
• Fixed Uranium Slug only dealing damage to the first enemy equipment when working
  
• Thermal blockade: card effect now reads "Apply 1 Coolant Loss to the enemy ship for every 3 shield points it currently has."
  

We’re very grateful for your continued support—it means a lot. Whether you’re leaving feedback, reporting bugs, or just enjoying the game, you’re helping us improve Breachway every day. We can’t wait to get the meta-progression update out there and hear what you think!

– The Breachway Team