The Heavy Metal Update (previously known as The Big One) is a major content update for Indie Pogo. This patch is Part 1 of this giant 2-part patch. It introduces newcomer Bullet Kin, as well as a complete overhaul of the game, including new battle mechanics, modes, stages, and features.
Patch Notes
Additions
Bullet Kin added to the game.- Canabalt Skyline added to the game.
- Well Caverns added to the game.
Melee attacks added to the game. Old attacks are now called “Specials”.- Side Specials added to the game.
- Grabs added to the game.
- Characters now face left or right when fighting. New sprites have been made for every fighter to reflect this change.
- Entrance animations have been made for every fighter. Battles now begin with each character entering individually and spawning in set locations.
- New rule option – Bubble Swap! When turned on, players can use the trigger buttons to switch to any character in the roster while bubbled.
- New Single-Player Mode - Infinite Pogo! Fight off an endless horde of Indie Pogo fighters. How long can you survive?
- New Multiplayer Mode - Crown Pogo! Face off and fight for control of the crown! First player to 50 points wins!
- New unlockable alts available for the following characters:
- Blockman
- Bullet Kin
- Orcane
- Penelope
- Teslakid
- Velocispider
- New DLC skins available for purchase:
- Sun Fire Stardrop
- Frogtaro Welltaro
- Remaining Kickstarter NPCs added to the game.
- 3 new Gachapon trophies available, as well as Bullet Kin Arcade Trophies.
- Controller Rumble compatibility added. Can be turned ON or OFF in the Options Office.
Character Balance Changes
- Universal Changes
- Hitstun
- Invulnerability frames during hitstun have been decreased across the board.
- Characters can no longer activate their SUPER immediately after entering hitstun.
- Parkour
- All Characters can now tech off of walls and vertical surfaces.
- Tech window slightly increased.
- Rolling Leap damage reduced from 4 to 2 for all characters.
- Air Dodge
- Helpless state can now be nullified by Wallsliding.
- Hitstun
- Blockman
- Side Melee
- Blockman's old Neutral Special has been moved to his Side Melee.
- Can now be used multiple times in mid-air.
- Startup slightly increased.
- Grounded Charge | Double Uppercut
- Blockman can now angle this move to the left or right to travel in an arc.
- Neutral Special | Tetro Twist
- A command grab that has Blockman spawn two cursors beside him. When the button is released, the cursors switch sides, and anyone caught in one of them will be trapped and sent into knockback in the opposite direction they came from. This attack can also interact with objects such as his blocks and Zorbie's axe.
- Side Special | Agent Combo
- Blockman dashes forward with a hard punch. Using this move consecutively allows Blockman to perform a second punch, followed by a finishing kick.
- Up Special | Block Dropeth
- Falling block damage reduced from 8 to 7.
- Side Melee
- CommanderVideo
- Grounded Charge | Slide Strike
- Distance traveled significantly increased.
- Neutral Special | Eggplant Plane
- CommanderVideo hitches a ride on an eggplant plane, gaining the ability to fly around freely. The plane will explode on contact, damaging anyone it touches, including CV himself. Pressing the jump button while riding causes CV to jump off and send the plane hurdling straight forward at the angle it was aimed at.
- Side Special | Flying Kick
- CommanderVideo’s old Neutral Special has been moved to his Side Special. Function remains identical.
- Up Special | Beat Paddle
- CommanderVideo's momentum no longer halts when this move is used, making it less awkward to use while moving.
- Down Special | Spring Flipkick
- Can now be cancelled by any move.
- CommanderVideo can no longer spawn a new spring if one is already active. This prevents frequent spam.
- Startup time increased when used above a surface.
- Spring width now shrinks slowly.
- A transparent indicator briefly alerts players where it will spawn when used above ground.
- SUPER | Void
- Knockback has been slightly decreased.
- Damage reduced from 10 to 8.
- Grounded Charge | Slide Strike
- Fishy
- Midair Jump
- Fishy now has a proper midair jump.
- Parkour
- Roll startup acceleration decreased.
- Side Melee
- Fishy's old Neutral Special has been moved to his Side Melee.
- Now only fires forward once.
- Fishy's momentum is no longer halted when using this move.
- Damage reduced from 5 to 4.
- Down Melee
- Fishy's old Down Special has been moved to his Down Melee.
- Fishy's momentum is no longer halted when using this move.
- Fishy now bounces upwards when this move connects.
- Damage reduced from 11 to 9. Caped Damage reduced from 13 to 11.
- Neutral Special
- Fishy fires an arcing cannonball from his gun. This projectile bounces on any surface it touches once.
- Side Special
- Fishy's old Up Special has been moved to his Side Special.
- Now has an upward/downward angle limit.
- Maximum cannon uptime drastically reduced.
- Fishy can no longer spawn a new Cannon if one is already active.
- Damage reduced from 7 to 6.
- Up Special
- Fishy's old midair jump has been moved to his Up Specia.
- Down Special
- Fishy launches a box downwards, tethering them to the victim. A 2nd press launches the victim towards Fishy at a set knockback.
- SUPER
- Fishy gains the ability to swim freely, firing rapid shots from his gun. Pressing the Special button shoots arcing spikeballs.
- Midair Jump
- Jack
- Midair Jump
- Midair Jump height reduced.
- Grounded Charge | Chainsaw Lunge
- Jack whips out a chainsaw and leaps upwards. The chainsaw can hit enemies multiple times on its way up, as well as on its way down. Deals 1 damage per hit.
- Neutral Special | Laser Scanner
- Jack fires a bright laser that locks onto terrain and travels forward. The path of the laser creates a line of explosive pillars that rise up from the ground, dealing 6 damage to any opponent they come into contact with.
- Side Special | Sickle Boomerang/Pollen Boomerang
- Jack’s old Neutral Special has been moved to his Side Special.
- Now has a cooldown once the projectile despawns. Jack can negate this cooldown by catching it in mid-air.
- Range greatly increased.
- Damage increases from 1 to 2 if Jack catches a deployed Boomerang.
- Now travels in a straight line rather than returning to Jack. Direction cannot be angled.
- Up Special | Double Drill
- Jack equips a pair of drills and shoots upward into an arc. Holding the button allows Jack to keep the drills held out. Drills deal 2 damage per hit and hit multiple times.
- Down Special | Spikeball
- Spikeball now has a health meter that depletes whenever it collides with players or terrain. Once it is destroyed, it cannot be redeployed for a while.
- Spikeball no longer deals damage while retracting.
- SUPER | Chaos Drill
- Drill projectiles spin outward faster.
- Now spawns two sets of eight drills.
- Midair Jump
- Lilac
- Up Melee
- Lilac's old Grounded Charge has been moved to her Up Melee.
- Can now be angled to the left.
- Damage reduced from 6-9 to 5.
- Side Special | Blink Dash
- Lilac dashes forward a short distance at light speed, dealing 4 damage on contact. With Dragon Star active, this move's distance is increased, and it deals 6 damage.
- Up Special | Dragon Boost/Boost Breaker
- Damage reduced from 6 to 1, but can hit up to 5 times.
- Distance significantly increased with Dragon Star active.
- Base travel distance shortened.
- Boost Breaker can only be used whith Dragon Star active.
- Grounded Charge | Dragon Star
- When fully charged, Lilac jumps through a Time Gate, earning a Dragon Star that orbits her. While active, Dragon Star will power up Lilac's Side Melee, Up Special and Side Special. Disappears if the latter two are used.
- SUPER | Holodragon
- The laser now shifts up and down.
- The laser lasts one second shorter.
- Up Melee
- Orcane
- Side/Up/Down Melee
- Orcane's old Neutral Special has been moved to his melees. They should be easier to input this way.
- Can now be used multiple times in the air.
- Damage reduced from 6 to 4.
- Grounded Charge | Hydro Pump
- Puddle-charged hitbox changed from a weak multi-hit to a strong, single hitting attack, similar to how it appears in Rivals of Aether.
- Neutral Special | Downward Droplet
- Orcane shoots a puddle projectile downwards. When a puddle is active, this attack detonates it, spawning a stream of bubble from the puddle.
- Side Special | Telesplash
- Orcane teleports a short distance forward, dealing 7 damage when he reappears. Distance traveled is dependent on the time the button is held.
- Down Special | Bubble Dive/Butt Bash
- Now runs on an ammo meter that recharges slowly over time. Repeated use causes less bubble to fire.
- Bubbles recharges a set amount every time Orcane lands an attack.
- SUPER | Abyssal Runes
- Can now be dodge cancelled.
- Side/Up/Down Melee
- Penelope
- Neutral Special | Vampire Mines
- Penelope can now drift in all directions, or choose not to drift.
- Healing increased from 2 to 3.
- Damage now scales from 4 to 6 depending on mine size.
- Deploying a mine now deals 1 damage to Penelope.
- Side Special | Smashboost Engine
- Just like her ship's Smashboost ability in The Next Penelope, Penelope boosts forward at high speed. This move doesn't do damage but is useful for covering long distances as well as extending combos.
- Up Special | Static Teleport
- Hitbox size increased the longer the attack is charged.
- Damage reduced from 8 to 7.
- Down Special | Harpoon
- Damage reduced from 9 to 8.
- Neutral Special | Vampire Mines
- Shovel Knight
- Shovel Drop
- Damage reduced from 2 to 1.
- Parkour
- Roll startup acceleration decreased.
- Side Melee
- Shovel Knight’s old Neutral Special has been moved to his Side Melee.
- Can now be used multiple times in midair.
- Damage reduced from 8 to 4.
- Down Melee
- Can be used in conjunction with Shovel Drop to give it even more height.
- Neutral Special – Flare Rod
- Shovel Knight casts a slow, lingering fireball that travels in a straight line. Deals 3 damage on impact.
- Side Special – Dust Knuckles
- Shovel Knight punches forward using the Dust Knuckles. Can be used multiple times in rapid succession. The first punch deals 5 damage. Each consecutive punch deals 2 damage.
- Up Special – Infinidagger
- Aerial hang time decreased.
- Minimum damage reduced from 8 to 5.
- Maximum damage reduced from 15 to 10.
- Down Special – Fishing Rod
- Other players can now consume Troupples as they’re being reeled in.
- SUPER – War Horn
- Shovel Knight can now move freely while this attack is active.
- Duration reduced.
- Shovel Drop
- Stardrop
- Side Melee
- Stardrop’s old Neutral Special has been moved to his Side Melee.
- Can now be used multiple times in mid-air if another move is used before it.
- Damage reduced from 5 to 4.
- Down Special – Groundward Starshot
- By holding the attack button, the Starshot becomes a remotely detonatable projectile. This projectile shrinks in size and damage over time. By pressing Down Special again, you can detonate the star.
- Main projectile damage reduced from 8 to 7.
- Grounded Charge – Celestial Calling
- Star now bursts if the attack is held all the way through.
- Can create a second perpendicular explosion using an active Starshot projectile.
- Clap hitbox size reduced.
- Neutral Special – Quasar Burst
- Stardrop attracts any active Starshot projectile, sending it flying towards him at high speeds. Projectile does not stop until it collides with a player or surface.
- Side Special – Lunging Latch
- A long-distance lunging command grab. Angle of the arc can be adjusted using the control stick during startup.
- Up Special – Cosmic Comet
- A long-distance lunging command grab. Angle of the arc can be adjusted using the control stick during startup.
- SUPER – Superstar
- Can now be dodge cancelled.
- Contact damage reduced from 2 to 1.
- Dash damage reduced from 5 to 2.
- Dash endlag slightly increased.
- Side Melee
- Teslakid
- Grounded Charge | Ball Lightning
- Damage and size now scale from 1 to 5 depending on charge time.
- Projectile size and damage shrink slowly over time.
- Neutral Special | Polarity Cloak
- Pressing down as Teslakid lands in this state now allows for a seamless transition into Grounded Charge.
- Pull rate at outer reaches of attack range lowered.
- Distance required to put magnetized victims into tumble state now scales according to victim’s HP.
- Teslakid can no longer pull in players that are in the middle of an attack animation.
- No longer contributes to Pogo combos.
- Side/Up Special | Blink Boots
- Tesla’s new Side Special is a horizontally oriented version of the Blink Boots ability. Punch speed and range reduced if angled in the opposite direction Teslakid teleported from.
- Damage reduced from 10 to 6.
- Stun hitbox no longer contributes to Pogo combos.
- Grounded Charge | Ball Lightning
- Velocispider
- Parkour
- Velocispider can now walk freely along walls.
- Up Melee
- Velocispider's old Neutral Special has been moved to the Up Melee attack.
- This move can no longer be charged.
- Hitbox sized reduced to more accurately match the spritework.
- Grounded Charge | Charge Shot
- Neutral Special, Side Special and Grounded Charge all come together as this one move.
- Velocispider can rotate to fire more horizontally.
- Projectile speed increased.
- Ground speed increased.
- Down Special | Jet Cannon
- The opponent can now mash out of this command grab.
- SUPER | Omega Laser
- Now has a short startup time upon activation.
- Damage reduced from 8 to 3 to compensate for changes to hitstun.
- Parkour
- Viridian
- Midair Jump
- Viridian can now SD if they cross the top blast zone during their Midair Jump.
- Viridian no longer gains Midair Jump after touching the underside of a platform.
- Parkour
- Viridian can now use Parkour on ceilings and underneath platforms.
- Up Melee
- Viridian’s old Up Special has been moved to their Up Melee.
- Can now be used multiple times in midair.
- Damage reduced from 7 to 4.
- Neutral/Side Special | Orbit
- Viridian’s Side Special is the same as his Neutral Special. If one is used after the other in the same jump, it will have a shorter duration and deal double the damage.
- Up Special | Warp
- Viridian spawns a Warp portal and teleports through it. Other players can be launched through it upon contact.
- Down Special | VVV
- Each V is separated into its own hitbox and deals 2 damage.
- V projectiles no longer travel through platforms.
- Midair Jump
- Welltaro
- Passive – Gem High
- Gem High has been reworked as Welltaro’s new passive. Activates whenever Welltaro lands a Pogo combo of 2 or higher. Ends when Welltaro takes damage or dies.
- Neutral Special – Triple Module
- This wide firing gun module can shoot 3 bullets out in a spread. Deals 2 damage per hit and has decent downward knockback.
- Side Special – Shotgun Dropkick
- Welltaro lunges forward feet first, before shooting a wide spray of bullets in front of him. Hits harder the more bullets Welltaro lands.
- Up Special – Heart Balloon
- Damage reduced from 10 to 8.
- Hitbox lifespan decreased.
- Hitbox size reduced to more accurately match the spritework.
- SUPER – Timevoid
- Welltaro’s new SUPER allows him to select one of 10 upgrades to use during a match. Upgrades stack and never expire. Choices are randomly selected upon use. The following upgrades are available for Welltaro to use:
- Blast Module – Buffs basic Pogo damage from 3 to 5 and gives it powerful downward knockback.
- Candle – Increases invincibility time after taking damage.
- Gem Attractor – Enemies drop Gems when hit. Stolen gem pickups can be collected by any player.
- Gem Sick – Doubles the number of gems earned from successful Pogo combos.
- Heart Balloon – Buffs Heart Balloon damage from 8 to 10. Allows Heart Balloon to explode automatically when popped.
- Hot Casing – Grants Hot Casing to all Welltaro’s ammo-consuming attacks.
- Knife and Fork – Causes enemies to drop HP pickups when killed. Welltaro will gain 5 HP upon collecting one.
- Puncher Module – Converts Midair Jump bullets into hard-hitting Puncher bullets that do double damage.
- Safety Jetpack – Allows Welltaro to briefly float down safely when out of ammo.
- Youth – Grants Welltaro an extra Upgrade choice whenever his SUPER is used. Increases Welltaro’s max HP by 5.
- Apple – Heals Welltaro for 10 HP. Shows up last in Welltaro’s Upgrade pool and can be used infinitely once Welltaro is out of upgrades.
- Passive – Gem High
- Zorbié
- Neutral Special | Corkscrew Flurry
- Can now be dodge cancelled.
- Side Special | Fart Knocker
- Zorbié dons his trusty helmet and blast forward headfirst into foes, dealing 6 damage. The gas he leaves behing slowly deals 1 damage, but cannot kill, which makes it a good tool for stage control. The helmet protects Zorbié from one hit of damage, but takes a while to respawn after it is used.
- Up Special | Mustache Flap
- Damage reduced from 8 to 7.
- Down Special | Shoe Stomp
- This attack can now be dodge-cancelled, making it generally safer to use.
- Zorbié can now transition into Parkour after landing with this move.
- SUPER | Mega Axe
- The range of this attack has been improved.
- Neutral Special | Corkscrew Flurry
Other Changes/Bugfixes
- Gameplay
- New indicator for a successful tech added.
- New sound cue when a player enters the off-screen zone added.
- AI for all characters updated to reflect gameplay changes.
- Taunting has been moved to the Left Control Stick by pressing it down.
- Options Office
- New Profile Feature: Make Default Profile. Allows selected profile to be automatically assigned in Single-Player and Local/Online Multiplayer.
- Players can now set button mapping for Basic Movement, Melees, Specials, and Bullet Kin’s Fire within the Profile options.
- Taunt mapping has been moved to its own window within the Profile options. Taunting is also now set to the D-Pad by default.
- Character/Stage Select Screen
- Menu and option boxes have new, sleeker animation.
- Free for All
- Impact hitboxes from launched fighters have been removed from 4-player FFA battles to make things less chaotic in close-quarters.
- Sovereign Deck
- Left blast zone moved further outwards.
- Training Stage
- Top blast zone moved down significantly.
- Arcade Mode
- All characters’ existing Arcade paths have been reworked.
- Challenges
- Fixed a bug in CommanderVideo's Rainbow Trail challenge that caused the fail sequence to play again if a CPU dies after the fail criteria has already been met.
- Lowered the blast zone in Shovel Knight's Shovel Pogo challenge to prevent Shovel Knight from escaping the playable area with the new changes to Air Dodging.
- Shop
- Prices for all purchasable fighters lowered.
- Shovel Knight is now a default fighter.
- Added item scrolling and item categories.
- Tutorial
- The tutorial has been modified to include info on new mechanics.
- Credits
- New names added to the credits.
Patch Notes - Patch 2.0.0.1
This is a hotfix patch that fixes some bugs with the Heavy Metal Update.
Changes
- Bullet Kin
- Fixed a bug that caused Bullet Kin's chest effects to play if they were hit.
- Welltaro
- Limited Welltaro's max HP with Youth to 99.
- Profiles
- Fixed a bug related to Melee button mapping.
- Fixed a bug that prevented profile controls from being applied to Single-Player modes.
- Infinite Pogo
- Fixed a bug that caused coin rewards to stack.
- Marketplace
- Fixed a bug with trophy description scrolling.
- Temporarily removed Sun Fire Stardrop and Frogtaro Welltaro skins from the in-game shop as they could mess with game files. These skins are still purchasable from the Steam Store page.
- Credits
- Removed Diogenes' sprite from the Credits fireplace.
Patch Notes - Patch 2.0.0.2
This is a small patch that fixes some more bugs with the Heavy Metal Update.
Changes
- Welltaro
- Fixed an issue with the Youth upgrade that caused Welltaro's HP to freeze if he was KO'd by a blast zone.
- Fixed a bug with the Candle upgrade that caused Welltaro to take damage during his SUPER.
- Welltaro can now only gain up to 1 Pogo with Side Melee.
- Flappy Pipeyard
- Fixed a bug that caused the stage to be locked despite being a starter stage.
- Profiles
- Fixed a remapping issue with the Firing Gun button.
- Fixed an issue with Default Profiles carrying over game modes.
- AI
- Temporarily removed the ability for CommanderVideo AI to use Eggplant Plane.
- Arcade Mode
- Removed a debug command to spawn a Blockman in the Coin Room.
- Infinite Pogo
- Increased the starting difficulty of the AI when playing as Welltaro.
- Marketplace
- Fixed an issue that caused a Bullet Kin skin to appear in the shop even if it was already owned.
Patch Notes - Patch 2.0.0.3
This is a small patch that fixes even more bugs with the Heavy Metal Update.
Changes
- Blockman
- Fixed a bug that caused Blockman to freeze opponents in place with Tetro Twist.
- Bullet Kin
- Fixed a palette issue with Bullet Kin's Tazie skin.
- Small changes made to Bullet Kin's icon.
- CommanderVideo
- Fixed a bug with Eggplant Plane and Spring Flipkick that caused CV to turn invisible.
- Stardrop
- Grounded time when landing incorrectly with Lunging Latch increased.
- Invincibility frames removed from Lunging Latch knockdown.
- Velocispider
- Grounded time when landing incorrectly with Charge Shot increased.
- Invincibility frames removed from Charge Shot knockdown.
- Bouncy Castle
- Moved the bottom blast zone down to prevent an issue that caused players to die through the floor.
- Flappy Pipeyard
- Fixed an issue that caused the stage to randomly become locked.
- AI
- Lowered the chances for AI to perform head jump grabs.
- Online
- Fixed an online sync issue when using keyboard controls.
- Battle Stadium
- Added a new NPC.
Patch Notes - Patch 2.0.0.4
This patch was exclusively a minor bugfix patch for keyboard users.
- Gameplay
- Fixed a minor bug relating to keyboard controls.