Among the many keepers in the roguelike survival miner Dome Keeper, the Assessor is the least popular, according to developer Bippinbits. Something had to be done, so the aptly named Re-Assessor update was deployed to fix the Assessor's clunky gameplay.
Assessor Rework
The developer made three notable changes to the Assessor in this update. The Assessor's rotational mining has been completely replaced with Contact Mining. This new ability makes the Assessor press firmly against the tile and break it down slowly using kinetic energy. Although this is not as efficient as rotational mining, it does have a major advantage in that you no longer have to rely on kinetic spheres.
Another major pain point addressed in the Re-Assessor update is the clunky shooting mechanic of the said keeper. The Assessor now fires kinetic spheres instantly as soon as the shoot button is pressed, rather than having to hold the button down. This adjustment was made to make things more intuitive.
And lastly, the Assessor's carrying mechanic was changed. Instead of shooting resources individually to carry them to the base, it now acquires them in bundles.
Here are the other Assessor changes:
- Picking items up is now consistent in controls, being bound on the use key by default (as "using" often means "picking up" with gadgets and caves). The controls are automatically reset to this default, so please change as you like (but note that you should keep use and collect on the same key, ideally).
- Assessor now has the option of 3 sphere abilities: reflect, split and explode
- Reflection is now a stationary field that can be placed, instead of being an ability you have to time perfectly. While the old way was fun too, it didn't stay fun if you kept reflecting spheres for 2 hours.
- Added sphere explosion ability, which lets spheres in your vicinity explode, removing a lot of rocks around them.
- Reflect, split and explode each got one improvement upgrade in the tech tree.
- Rebalanced reload times, with a repeatable upgrade to get more spheres and a repeatable upgrade to extend the sphere lifetimes.
- Added a free pet and skin, in addition to the Assessor Gear Pack (which also has a pet and a skin.)
While the Re-Assessor update is free, you can support the developer by purchasing the Dome Keeper Assessor Gear Pack for $2.99. This bundle includes:
- The Arcane Cloak, to keep you extra warm and mysterious deep underground!
- The Sea Dragon pet: it's only a little one right now, but this fella will keep you company during those tough expeditions and cheer you on during attacks!
- Two new boopin' and boppin' songs to assess to!
So, what can you say about the newly reworked Assessor in Dome Keeper?
