Patch #1 is small in line count and big in impact because it targets the exact bottleneck launch players were already reporting: late-game Draxine and waiting on the refinery.
Refinery processing can go lower
The patch added an additional refinery-processing upgrade at the bottom of each refinery tree. According to the official notes, the previous minimum 120 seconds can now be upgraded to 90 seconds, then 60 seconds at level 2.
That changes the recommendation for players who are genuinely returning from a job before their refined resource is ready: processing speed now has another meaningful step.
Late-game Draxine costs reduced
Higher-tier / late-game upgrade Draxine costs were reduced by roughly 10% across the board.
This is the patch note that directly addresses the launch-week “I have cash and other resources, but Draxine is still gating me” complaint.
Drone Capacity and Speed got cheaper
The Draxine and money cost of Drone Capacity and Speed upgrades was reduced by roughly 30%.
That makes old launch videos a poor source for exact drone prices. Use the current in-game tree, not screenshots recorded before v1.00.01.
Safes now pay much more refined material
Refined Resources earned from Safes increased by 250%.
That is a huge change to the value of safes in late progression. They were already tied to safe/diamond achievements; now they also help feed refined-resource demand much more aggressively.
What is next
The same official notes say:
- Patch #2 will focus on performance, specifically late game and gas vents.
- Patch #3 will review Steam Deck cursor/control issues, sludge detector range and other minor bugs.
What this means for guides
Any guide that publishes a pre-patch refinery time, late-game Draxine cost, drone capacity/speed cost or safe refined-resource payout without a version label can now be wrong two days after release.
This site therefore treats v1.00.01 as the current balance baseline and labels older video numbers as historical rather than silently copying them.