Echoes of Elysium has received its major new Tempest update, adding dynamic rain and wind systems that directly affect how players sail through the skies.
Loric Games and Snail Games USA have rolled out the update for the airborne open-world survival RPG, alongside a new trailer. As per the press release, the headline weather changes are more than visual flourishes. Rain, wind, weight and drag now all play a much bigger role in keeping your airship airborne.
Rain now makes your airship heavier
Rainfall can now affect both your ship and everything sitting on it.
Ship pieces and stored items gain wetness during rainfall, increasing their weight and drag. Some stations can also become unusable if they get soaked through, which should make an unexpected downpour more than just a nice bit of atmosphere.
Thankfully, wet objects will dry once the rain stops.
Each biome also has its own weather cycle and frequency, so conditions will vary depending on where you’re travelling. That means captains may need to think a little harder before piling absolutely everything onto the deck and hoping physics looks the other way.
Wind gets a bigger role in Echoes of Elysium
Wind is now stronger and more variable too. Sailing against the current has a greater impact, while new visual effects should make those changes easier to spot.
To account for the updated weather system, thrusters, sails and ship weight have all been rebalanced around wind, wetness and the extra weight rain can bring.
The Tempest update also adds several quality-of-life improvements. The ship encumbrance bar now shows how much weight a new construction will add before you build it. Likewise, it displays how much weight you’ll lose if something is destroyed.
Build mode and station tooltips now provide more information, including details such as weight and speed.
Elsewhere, scrap metal piles should no longer spawn underground, while music and sound effects have received further tweaks and improvements.
What is Echoes of Elysium?
Echoes of Elysium is an airship-focused open-world survival RPG set across the skies of Elysium.
Players build their own airships, which act as both transport and a base of operations. You can haul supplies, craft materials and take part in aerial combat while exploring a fractured world filled with different environments.
The game supports solo play or co-op for up to six players. Along the way, you’ll gather resources, craft tools and contraptions, upgrade your airships and battle soul-powered clockwork beasts.
In short, much of what you’d normally expect to do on the ground in a survival RPG happens in the sky instead. The Tempest update now makes those skies considerably less forgiving.
A new trailer showcasing the Echoes of Elysium weather update has also been released.