Welcome to Stormgate Patch 0.5.0!

Get ready to conquer the battlefield with Stormgates, the all-new evolution of creep camps that shake up your strategy like never before, now featured on the stunning brand-new map Edge of Oblivion. We’ve completely removed the top bar UI from Versus mode to give you a cleaner, faster, and more immersive gameplay experience. Connect with your friends and foes using lobby chat, and jump into action instantly with the new Skirmish vs AI queue. Command your forces like a true tactician with the innovative Move Line Drag feature, and feast your eyes on striking new Infernal and Vanguard art. Read on for all the details!

Support:

How to report a bug or provide feedback on the latest build: https://playstormgate.com/feedback  

Still having trouble? Visit our Stormgate Help Center.

Help us out by leaving a review over on Steam: http://bit.ly/stormgate

NOTE: As part of updating this latest build, replays and saved games made on previous builds will no longer function.   

Highlights: 

Versus 1v1: 

Patch 0.5.0 marks what we believe is the most significant shake-up to competitive Stormgate to date, centered around three core changes: the removal of Top-Bars, the removal of Creep Camps, and the introduction of Stormgates as a new map mechanic.

Top-Bar Removal

Top-Bars have always had a unique place in Stormgate, but ultimately, we felt they occupied too much UI space relative to their gameplay impact. For new players in particular, they contributed to a sense of overwhelmingness and hindered the game’s overall approachability. As a result, we’ve reallocated many Top-Bar abilities to other areas within each faction, aiming to create a more streamlined experience.

Creep Camp Removal

Creep Camps have long been a polarizing feature. Common criticisms included their repetitive nature, lack of excitement, and the way they often encouraged players to disengage from direct conflict. After carefully considering this feedback, we decided that instead of further tweaking the system, it was time to retire it altogether and design a new objective system from the ground up—one that avoids the pitfalls of Creep Camps.

Introducing Stormgates

Enter Stormgates: dynamic map objectives designed to inject tension, decision-making, and impactful rewards into every match. Stormgates appear at various points during a game, offering players the opportunity to contest them for powerful, semi-random rewards that can turn the tide of battle. Alternatively, players may opt to ignore them, hoping to deal enough harassment damage to your opponent while they opt to chase the Stormgate. Our goal with this system is to incentivize action and tension on the map while also injecting moments of excitement that could swing the game.

The choose-one-of-three system we've implemented for Stormgate rewards draws inspiration from modern games across other genres—and we believe it’s a natural fit for RTS. This system allows us to inject variability into the game while still allowing for player agency as it gives players a choice of rewards.

We’re incredibly excited to see how players adapt to and explore this new system. Over the next few patches, we’ll continue expanding Stormgates—adding new rewards, iterating on mechanics, and introducing new maps that take full advantage of this feature.

Looking Ahead

Beyond refining the Stormgate system, we’ll be turning our attention to the Celestial faction. A full design pass is underway, focused on reducing mechanical confusion while preserving their identity as a highly mobile and adaptable faction.

We can’t wait to hear your feedback as you dive into Patch 0.5.0. See you in the storm.

Patch Notes: 

General:

• All top-bars have been removed from Versus Games. Most top-bar abilities have been moved to other parts of their respective factions, but the following abilities have been removed:
  • Nightfall Infestation
  • Evolution Catalyst
• Creep Camps have been removed from the game, and in their place, have been replaced by Stormgates.
• Lobby Chat - Custom Games: 
  • Players now automatically join a chat channel when entering a lobby.
  • All players in the same lobby can freely communicate during pre-game setup.
• Performance: 
  • Increased ping calculation frequency across all server regions to improve connection responsiveness and matchmaking diagnostics.
• Replays: 
  • Player names,Teams, Factions, Victory/Defeat, and map images have been added to the Replay Browser preview. 

NEW: Stormgates:

• Stormgates have been introduced across three dedicated maps, adding new dynamic objectives and high-value rewards.
• Stormgate Maps: Stormgates will now appear on the following 3 maps:
  • NEW: Edge of Oblivion
  • Boneyard
  • Broken Crown
  • Note: Ladder play will be limited to these 3 Stormgate maps. All other maps remain accessible via Custom Games and Skirmish.
• Environmental Update: The new Stormgate maps now feature the Day/Night Cycle, enhancing map immersion and strategic visibility.
• Stormgate State System: Stormgates progress through several distinct states:
  • Deactivated: Default state at game start. Takes up ground space but remains quiet and unobtrusive.
  • Activating: Transitioning from Deactivated to active state.Takes 20 seconds to become Activated.
  • Activated – Non-Captured: Stormgate is live and contestable. Teams can battle to claim control.
  • Deactivating – Non-Captured: Begins if uncaptured for 85 seconds. Takes 20 seconds to deactivate. All active VFX slowly dissipate during this period.
  • Activated – Captured: Stormgate has been successfully captured. Visibly displays reward, awaiting collection.
• Stormgate Tiers: One Stormgate activates at one of several random locations at the start of each night. The first Stormgate that activates is Tier 1, second Stormgate is Tier 2, and all other Stormgates are Tier 3.
• Stormgate Rewards: Capturing a Stormgate grants powerful units and relics, scaled by tier:
  • Tier 1 Rewards
    • 1 Unit: Feyren - Ranged creature adept at healing. Can use Infuse Life to rapidly heal a single target.
    • 1 Unit: Creeping Horror - Ranged creature adept at slowing enemy units with its attacks.
    • 1 Relic: Soulforge - Can use Dark Creation to create copies of friendly units. (Consumes the Relic)
    • 1 Relic: Shadowmark - Can use Mark Structures to permanently increase construction speed, production speed,and recharge rate of structures in an area. (Consumes the Relic)
    • 1 Relic: Powerstone - Can use Imbue Avatar on a target friendly unit to permanently increase its maximum health, attack speed, and energy regeneration. (Consumes the Relic)
  • Tier 2 Rewards
    • 1 Unit: Vile Lurker - Long-range siege creature adept at dealing area damage and destroying structures.
    • 1 Unit: Cosmic Drifter - Flying creature adept at transporting units. Capable of holding twice as much cargo as a normal transport.
    • 4 Units: Sky Hunter - Ranged creature adept at stunning and destroying air units with its attacks.
    • 5 Units: Void Prowler - Deadly melee creatures. Can use Shadow Shift to scale cliffs or close distances.
    • 3 Units: Unstable Necrilusk - Very slow, volatile creatures without a normal attack, but can explode into enemies at the cost of their life.
    • 1 Relic: Darkthrone - Can create any faction’s primary gathering structure within seconds and at no cost. (Consumes the Relic)
    • 2 Relics: Soulforge - Can use Dark Creation to create copies of friendly units. (Consumes the Relic)
  • Tier 3 Rewards
    • 1 Unit: Deep One - Apex void creature adept at dealing powerful single target anti-heavy ranged attacks.
    • 1 Unit: Swarm Mother - Slow moving creature adept at relentless assault. Can use Spew Offspring to spawn groups of Swarmlings that have a timed life duration.
    • 1 Relic: Stormcaller - Can create a Dimensional Storm which damages enemy units passing through its spiraling vortex. (Consumes the Relic)
    • 2 Relics: Powerstone - Can use Imbue Avatar on a target friendly unit to permanently increase its maximum health, attack speed, and energy regeneration. (Consumes the Relic)
    • 3 Relics: Soulforge - Can use Dark Creation to create copies of friendly units. (Consumes the Relic)
• Stormgate Choices: When a player captures a Stormgate, they will be offered 3 reward choices that are randomly chosen from the reward pool for that Stormgate’s tier level. Players have 20 seconds to select a reward by clicking on the appropriate command button. If they do not select a reward during this time, 1 of the 3 rewards will be chosen randomly.
• Stormgate Comeback: To help balance control over Stormgates and provide comeback opportunities, players who have captured fewer Stormgates than their opponent will gain a damage bonus against Stormgates as well as a small vision advantage around Stormgates:
  • 50% increased damage against Stormgates for each fewer Stormgates captured versus your opponent
  • 1 bonus vision radius around the Stormgates is granted or removed for each Stormgate captured difference.

NEW: Skirmish Mode vs AI

• Quickly play against the AI on different maps and difficulty settings.
• Note: This mode is 1vAI only. 

NEW: Move Line Drag

• Available as an option, you can now draw a shape to spread out your units.
  • When multiple units are selected, hold the right mouse button and drag it around. On mouse button release, your units will evenly space out along that path. This is a great way to quickly spread your units to avoid AOE, or shape your army into a conclave shape with a single action.

Campaign:

• Tutorialization Pass – Hub Missions 1 & 2:
  • We've made adjustments to the early game experience to better support new players learning core RTS mechanics.
    • Selection & Move Tutorials added to the first two Hub missions.
    • These tutorials introduce basic controls in a structured, low-pressure environment before players enter combat scenarios.
• NPC Banter Proximity System:
  • NPCs in all Hub levels now feature improved proximity-based banter.
  • As you walk through the Hub between missions, ambient conversations trigger more naturally to create a more lively and immersive atmosphere.
• Interactable Hub Objects:
  • Numerous environmental props in the Hub are now interactable.
  • When players hover over these objects, new interaction cues appear, adding depth and exploration opportunities to downtime between missions.
• New Fog of War Shaders added to the Campaign:
  • New Fog of War Shaders have been created for every campaign level to add a new level of RTS immersion.
• Bonus Objective Currency: Added Bonus Objective Currency on the Post-Game Screen for Campaign Missions.
• Hero Ability/Leveling Reworks: Hero leveling has been reworked for a more streamlined experience.
• Hero Ability Sync Issue in Campaign: 
  • We've discovered an issue where hero abilities and talents may appear incorrect in Campaign mode for players using accounts with existing progress. This is due to recent changes in the hero ability system. Starting a new campaign is recommended for a clean experience.

Audio: 

• Continued to iterate on volume mixing across the entire game (see Bugfixes)
• Implemented a new SoundClass system for better mixing (All audio should be tied to a mixer now).
• Removed a variation of a Fiend on-death sound that some players found abrasive.
• New SFX for Stormgates and Stormgate rewards.
• New SFX and announcer VO for tribute pyres.

New Art: 

• Unit rim outline added to all units in each faction.
• Vanguard: 
  • Sentinel
  • Helicarrier
• Vanguard Structures: 
  • Command Post, Central Command, High Command
  • Machine Lab
• Infernal: 
  • Gremlins, which replace Felhogs
• Infernal Structures: 
  • Tribute Pyre, which replaces the Meat Farm
  • Iron Vault
  • Conclave
  • Ritual Chamber
  • Blood Tree, which replaces the Shadowcleft
  • Shroudstone

Balance Updates: 

Vanguard:

General:

• Starting worker count decreased from 10 to 7.

Command Post/Central Command/High Command:

• Each Command structure now has 50 starting energy and 100 maximum energy.
• New Ability: Servo Overcharge
  • Energy cost increased from 25 to 50.
  • Servo Overcharge now increases the movement speed of Servos by 50%.
  • Shares a cooldown with all other structures with the ability.
• New Ability: Sensor Drone
  • Energy cost increased from 25 to 50.
  • Unlocked if you own a Central Command.
• New Ability: Promote
  • Energy cost increased from 15 to 50.
  • Unlocked if you own a High Command.

Rampart:

• Reinforce can now target and shield units. If it targets a structure, the structure gains 100 bonus armor, but not when it targets a unit.
• Reinforce now autocasts on units that have taken damage in the last 3 seconds instead of units that are in combat. This prevents it from being autocast on Sentry Posts that happen to be attacking.

Sentry Posts + Variants:

• Can now rally its cargo.

Hornet:

• Anti-ground damage decreased from 7 to 6.

Infernals:

General

• Starting worker count decreased from 10 to 7.
• Players no longer gain Animus when units die.

Shrine/Greater Shrine/Elder Shrine:

• Each Shrine now has 50 starting energy and 100 maximum energy.
• New Ability: Summon Effigy
  • Energy cost increased from 10 to 25.
  • Cooldown increased from 0 to 5 seconds.
  • Effigy max health off-Shroud decreased from 100 to 50.
  • Shares a cooldown with all other structures with the ability.
• New Ability: Hellspawn Resurgence
  • Energy cost increased from 50 to 75.
  • Unlocks if you own a Greater Shrine.
• New Ability: Shadowfall
  • Now additionally decreases enemy unit vision by 60%.
  • Unlocked if you own an Elder Shrine.

Shroudstone:

• You can no longer upgrade to a Wraithstone.
• Weapon period increased from 1.2 to 1.8.
• Damage increased from 27 to 40.

Wraithstone:

• Removed from the game.

Brute:

• Cost increased from 125 to 150.
• Infernal Fury bonus attack speed decreased from 50% to 25%.

Gaunt:

• Reaper's Rush research time decreased from 90 seconds to 60 seconds.

Hellborne:

• Can no longer attack air units.

Flayed Dragon:

• Flayed Dragon health decreased from 900 to 700.
• Flayed Dragon health regeneration on Shroud decreased from 9 health per second to 7 health per second.
• Flayed Dragons are no longer Resilient and can be affected by stuns, snares, and mind control..

Celestials:

General:

• Starting worker count decreased from 2 to 1.
• Arcship cascade field radius increased from 8 to 10.
• Removed all Surge bonuses.

Collection Array:

• Each Collection Array now has 50 starting energy and 100 maximum energy.
  • New Ability: Power Surge
    • Energy cost increased from 0 to 25.
    • This ability has been reworked: Targets one of your structures, granting it 150% increased production speed, 100% increased movement speed, and 10 bonus health and energy regeneration for 15 seconds. Afterwards, the structure will be afflicted with Overload, reducing its production and movement speed by 75% for 15 seconds. Cannot target Collection Arrays.
  • New Ability: Sovereign’s Watch
    • Now charges the Collection Array instead of a structure near the Collection Array.
    • No longer has two charges.
    • Shares a cooldown with all other structures with the ability.
  • New Ability: Zenith Scan
    • Energy cost increased from 25 to 50.
    • No longer has two charges.
    • No longer has a cooldown.
• Prism maximum charge count increased from 1 to 2.

Arcfortress:

• No longer has the Fate’s End Ability.
• New Ability: Purify
  • Energy cost increased from 30 to 50.
  • Instead of a 120-second charge-up time, it now has a cooldown of 30 seconds.
  • No longer has two charges.
• New Ability: Summon Aeon Gate
  • Energy cost increased from 0 to 50.

Power Bank:

• Cost decreased from 125 to 100.
• Energize can no longer be used on structures.

Strike Node:

• Is now a Detector

Blast Node:

• Is now a Detector

Aeon Gate:

• Can now rally its cargo.

Argent:

• No longer has the Photo-Capacitors Trait or upgrade.
• Starting and maximum energy increased from 30 to 50.
• New Ability: Heavenstep: Dashes a short distance towards a target location.
  • Researched at the Guardian Nexus.
• High Energy energy cost increased from 10 to 50.
• High Energy now increases the damage of the Argent’s attack by 300%, up from 100%.
• New Trait: Harmonic Exchange:
  • Argents do not naturally regenerate energy. Instead, they regenerate energy for each 4 damage they deal or take.

Vector:

• Anti-ground damage increased from 8 (+2 vs Light) to 8 (+3 vs Light).

Seraphim:

• The Condemnation ability now deals bonus damage to Stormgates instead of Creeps.
• Condemnation bonuses increased from 300% to 400%.
• No longer has the Creepbane Guard passive trait.

Bug Fixes: 

• Gameplay: 
  • Corrected worker count display when group-selecting HQs of different tiers to show accurate numbers.
  • Units loaded into cargo now correctly update their HP in the unit info panel’s health bar.
  • Fixed an issue where the SCOUT’s Pounce ability was not doing the correct damage.
  • Morphing units no longer instantly finish and visually skip transformation if stunned mid-morph.
  • “Out of Luminite” alerts now appear correctly for Celestial units.
  • Turrets now properly respect the Hold Position command.
• Out-of-Game Issues:
  • Fixed an issue where the Score Screen would stick on “Waiting for Results” for longer than expected or never appear at all.
  • Fixed an issue where the Units Trained stat on the score screen was inflated if a production structure was blocked from completing a unit.
  • Versus matchup loading screen now correctly shows players’ colors instead of defaulting to purple until both players load in.
  • Fixed an issue where creating or joining a Custom Game Lobby would hang for several seconds while still accepting other UI inputs before opening the lobby.
  • Drag scroll sensitivity no longer resets or changes after adjusting replay speed.
• Performance:
  • Fixed a bug where changing video settings to low during a cutscene caused the player's screen to turn white.
  • Fixed FPS drops caused intermittently by Shroud.
• Audio: 
  • Fixed missing sound effect for Archangel Ascend ability.
  • Adjusted volume for Archangel Descend to prevent overwhelming audio when multiple Archangels land simultaneously.
  • Resolved an issue where Kri footstep audio stacked excessively, becoming too loud when moving large groups.
  • Gaunt selection, movement, and attack audio can no longer be spammed repeatedly for overlapping effects.
  • Tied Flayed Dragon Summon audio to the proper volume mixer category.
  • Added missing SFX for Imp's Flame On ability activation.
  • Addressed an issue where some announcer audio lines were not playing as intended.
  • Fixed excessive volume scaling for unit death sounds when multiple units were selected.
  • Balanced ability and morphing audio to avoid stacking and volume spikes when selecting several units.
  • Celestial units now receive appropriate audio and visual pings when clearing resource nodes.
  • Imp attack SFX are now properly linked to the volume mixer settings.
  • Reset to Default button in Sound settings now correctly resets all audio settings as expected.
• Hotkeys: 
  • Added missing hotkey for the Switch Vision UI in Observer and Replay modes.
  • Resolved an issue where the Enter key could not be assigned as a custom keybind.
  • Fixed a bug where the Celestial Hyperdrive upgrade did not have a default key assigned when switching from Grid to By Command key layout.
  • Corrected functionality for custom modifier hotkeys using Ctrl + Shift + Q/W/E/R/T/Y, which were previously not registering input.
• Quick Macro: 
  • Fixed a critical bug where setting the Quick Macro – Upgrade Advanced keybind to 'B' would trigger multiple errors.
  • Resolved an issue where the Flayed Dragon quick macro did not display its cooldown timer.
  • Fixed a bug where the Celestial Hyperdrive ability activated via quick macro was non-functional.
  • Addressed a reliability issue where assigning a custom key for the Quick Macro Upgrade menu would occasionally fail to register input.
  • Corrected display behavior where morphing HQs still showed upgrade charges in the quick macro UI when they should not.
• Co-Op: 
  • Fixed an issue where the score screen did not display earned XP or the modifier bonus breakdown after completing a mission.
  • Fixed a bug where minimap arrows were always oriented forward, regardless of player or camera direction.
  • Addressed a visual bug where Blockade was always shown on the replay loading screen with the name "Commander," regardless of the actual player or hero used.
• Custom Games: 
  • Fixed an issue where creating or joining a Custom Game Lobby would hang for several seconds while still accepting UI inputs before the lobby properly opened.
  • Resolved a UI layering issue where the Friends List would appear behind the Custom Game Lobby when opened.
• Campaign: 
  • Campaign Hub: 
    • Amara can no longer see through walls in the Campaign Hub. 
    • Fixed an issue where holding down Spacebar when speaking with someone would sometimes cause a black screen. 
    • Fixed an issue where some of the Scientists in the hub would flicker.
    • Amara will no longer get stuck on crewmates when navigating through the hub.
  • Mission 01: 
    • Fixed an issue where Amara would utter her “Stop” line when entering the facility.
    • Fixed an issue where a secret sound could be heard but no secret is discovered.
    • Players will no longer be able to continue the mission after Amara has died. 
    • Fixed an issue where players were softlocked if they walked into the final room and back out. 
    • Completing the last mission will now properly return the player to the campaign menu. 
  • Mission 02:
    • Fixed an issue where the outro cutscene would appear black for ~12 seconds. 
  • Mission 03:
    • Fixed a progression blocker that could occur during the final satellite uplink, preventing mission completion and blocking Maloc's path.
    • Resolved an issue where the camera would not follow Maloc during his arrival cutscene.
    • Addressed a softlock that occurred if players killed Maloc before his cutscene could be triggered.
    • Corrected Servo behavior released by the Satellite Uplink Truck—Servos now properly route to subsequent Satellite Depots instead of returning to the first one.
  • Mission 05: 
    • Fixed an issue where destructible objectives could not be damaged using the Hedgehog’s weapon.
    • Resolved a progression issue where completing Vanguard05 did not transition players to the Vanguard06 Hub as intended.
  • Mission 06:
    • Fixed an issue where Blockade could use Heroic Leap to reach Major Galt before the intended door sequence opened.
    • Resolved an inventory bug where Ryker’s items from Vanguard05 were not carried over into Vanguard06.
    • Adjusted Ryker’s movement speed during the infiltration phase to match Infiltrator standards, correcting an unintended penalty.
  • Other: 
    • Fixed an issue where the camera would load at the bottom left corner of the map when restarting/loading a checkpoint. 
    • Firestarter VFX brightness reduced.
    • Amara now has SFX when she dies.
    • Fixed an issue where destructible objectives were not displaying minimap icons as intended.