Items

Eclipse Lite

- Barrier gain per second of cooldown increased on subsequent stacks. (0.25% -> 0.5%)
- Base barrier gain is left as-is, but can be configured.
- Barrier gain now uses max health + shields instead of just max health.

This item stacks abysmally for a Common item; doubling the effect of subsequent stacks makes it a solid source of barrier. It also curiously didn't factor in shields when granting barrier, so I'm fixing that.

Old War Stealthkit

- Activation threshold increased. (25% -> 50%)

Being at quarter health is far too narrow of a condition, but being at half health is much more reasonable and expected of you in a run. It'll now be able to more consistently get you out of trouble.

Wax Quail

- Now applies to *all* jumps, not just base jumps.

Mods that have attempted to implement this in the past did so by turning mid-air jumps into base jumps. This unfortunately had the side effect of making them notably shorter.

Frost Relic

- Can now crit.

Why?

Growth Nectar

- Max buff count per stack increased. (4 -> 5)

A multiplicative 16% boost to all stats is not the worst thing in the world, but we can do a little better for a Legendary item. To accommodate the ever-increasing number of buffs in vanilla & modded gameplay alike, the item can now count one extra buff per stack.

Happiest Mask

- Proc chance increased. (7% -> 10%)

I personally don't mind the inconsistent RNG procs, but 7% is a little too inconsistent.

Orphaned Core

- Impact damage coefficient increased. (400%/1000% -> 600%/1500%)
- Re-hit delay decreased. (1.5s -> 1s)
- Increased hitbox size to roughly match the kinetic aura generated around Best Buddy.
- AI is slightly more competent.

Orphaned Core is rather low-impact for a Legendary, and janky to boot. The changes to AI & hitbox size both combat Best Buddy's tendency to harmlessly cling onto enemies, which pairs well with the overall 50% damage buff it received. At the very least, Best Buddy should feel a little more lively while in combat.

Sonorous Whispers

- Items only drop from *bosses* proper instead of Champion-class enemies.
   * Naturally-spawned bosses are excluded, but Horde of Many spawns are fair game.
- Items no longer drop from Elite monsters.
- Effect is now team-wide; the item will drop as long as a team member inflicted the finishing blow.
- Stacking now improves item rarity in a similar manner to Shipping Request Form.
   * Base odds are [60% Common / 38% Uncommon / 2% Legendary].

I am not a fan of the Sacrifice-lite gameplay this item forces. Swapping the drop restriction to full-on bosses forces players to actually make progress in the run to acquire the bonus items, since bosses don't spawn infinitely. As compensation, the item quality is slightly better and it is now a lot easier to work with in multiplayer.

Wake of Vultures

- Buff duration increased from 8s (+5s per stack) to 12s (+6s per stack).

This is to make it slightly more impactful in the earlier stages of the run, where Elites are not as plentiful. I do believe this item is not terrible, eventually, but you usually have to be fairly deep into a run (read: loop) to see it finally pull its weight; this is to help it reach that point sooner.

War Bonds

- Turrets no longer inherit it.

Yes, Engi's turrets are able to summon their own missiles. I don't like that.

Empathy Cores

- Damage bonus now affects skill damage instead of base damage.

The laser damage should be left intact, but this changes everything else that works directly off base damage, most notably the chaingun from Spare Drone Parts. Spare Drone Parts might overall still be strong to a questionable degree, but I think the strongest item combo in the game deserves to be taken down a peg or two.

Genesis Loop

- Proc coefficient increased. (1.0 -> 3.0)
- Skips the line of sight check if used by a Player team member.

I think this item's activation condition should remain as-is for thematical reasons, but we can definitely up the reward part of risk-reward. The extra proc coefficient (which now matches the Wandering Vagrant) lets the blast proc items like a beast, and the removal of the LoS filter makes it far less annoying to use optimally.

Halcyon Seed

- Ally Aurelionite now grabs the attention of every enemy within 60m upon spawning, as well as any subsequently struck target.
   * Taunt effect lasts for 15s.
- Removed ally Aurelionite's minimum distance requirement to use the laser. (10m -> 0m)

Aurelionite is actually rather bad at pulling aggro due to her unwieldy attacks and slow cooldowns, so I rectified that. Now, the enemies will actually give a shit about the giant golden golem unearthing herself right in front of them. Effect is most noticeable if you play with mods that make enemies target you more proactively, like TweakAI.