Wasteland 2 Update #66: Precision Strikes and Director’s Cut Livestream

inXile Entertainment has sent out a new post-funding update for Wasteland 2. It includes a detailed write-up on the Precision Strike mechanic that will be added in the Director’s Cut version of the game (free to all owners of the game), though depending on whether you are free from 4 PM to 6 PM PST today yourself, you might decide to just watch how the mechanic plays out during a gameplay presentation on streamer Quill18’s Twitch.tv channel.

For now, here are the basics on Precision Strikes:

A Precise Look at Precision Strikes

One of the main features we have been working on for the last little while has been Precision Strikes, our called shots-type system that many fans of post-apocalyptic games will be familiar with. This is actually one of the earliest features we designed and prototyped for the Director’s Cut, but it also went through a lot of subtle changes and iteration along the way. And now we can finally show it off to you!

First, what exactly are Precision Strikes? Put simply, they a new shot type we have added to combat. Precision Strikes will let you aim at specific enemy body parts, and depending on the body part you fire on, you will be able to inflict debilitating status effects.

When we approached Precision Strikes, we had a few goals in mind. First, we didn’t want Precision Strikes to feel like they were always the superior option. We wanted Precision Strikes to live up to their name to be used tactically and situationally rather than being used each and every time.

On that note, we also wanted Precision Strikes to all be useful in their own ways. We made sure each type of Precision Strike had its own unique qualities. Different enemies have different strengths and weaknesses (something we had to further refine and accentuate thanks to our rebalancing and new additions like Precision Strikes and Perks), and with Precision Strikes you will have ways to counter them effectively.

When attacking enemies, you have up to four Precision Strike options. We are still tweaking the numbers a bit, but their effects are:

• Head: 1.35x damage, +25% crit bonus, chance of rendering the enemy confused or psychotic, causing them to attack their friends or behave erratically. Significant Chance to Hit penalty.
• Torso: 0.8x damage, reduces the enemy’s Armor. Small Chance to Hit penalty.
• Arms: 0.7x damage, reduces the enemy’s Chance to Hit, chance of destroying their weapon and causing it to explode in a shower of shrapnel. Moderate Chance to Hit penalty.
• Legs: 0.7x damage, reduces the enemy’s Combat Speed, chance of knocking them down and reducing their Action Points. Moderate Chance to Hit penalty.