- Beacon: The Vault - 21 November 2024
As we've been shutting down the operations of Monothetic, we've collected a selection of past versions of Beacon that we've uploaded to Archive.org for anyone who's interested in exploring past versions of the game. We've hand selected only the finest builds extending from the very earliest prototypes in 2015 to the end of Early Access in 2022. We understand that this is a niche game with a small audience interested in exploring the past of the game, but for the dedicated players who are interested we wanted to show how the game has evolved over each year of development. Included are early prototype builds that have never been released before, the earliest public demos we shared at various conventions before our Early Access release, and various milestones throughout our First Access and Early Access releases. As well as past versions of the game, we've spent the last few months assembl…
- Final Transmission - 30 August 2024
After a long journey unfortunately it's time for Monothetic to disband. Beacon will be removed from sale in the coming weeks on all storefronts as we prepare to shut down. Players who already own the game will still be able to access and play Beacon, but there will be no future updates. The game will be on sale for 80% off from August 31st to September 10th for any final purchases. Thank you to everyone who supported us throughout our early development, First Access, Early Access, and Final Release. Without your support and feedback we wouldn't have been able to continue through such an extended development, and the game would not be what it is today without our amazing community. Monothetic
- Beacon 3.21 - 1 June 2023
Patch 3.21 is released, adjusting the spawn rate of Elite Enemies and adding many community requested fixes! Patch 3.21 Balance Removed Trench Droid spawners at start of levels Increased chance of Elite Enemies spawning in Landmarks from 10% to 15% Vault Passes to unlock the Scrap Vault are now 3 separate types of key, each correlating to one of the 3 doors to unlock the vault fully. Fixes Fixed Level 2 Icosatron Mega Manufactory having a missing battery randomizer, making the main loot island unreachable without mutations Fixed a few item having incorrect model position in Codex Fixed a few incorrect tooltips Fixed Laser Gatling Variant model showing up on top of endings when equipped after winning Attempted fix for Native Ooze and Ultra Ooze not dropping their bestiary entries Fixed incorrect Boost Pad on Level 1 Hydro Trap Exit Tile Fixed many Bestiary entries having incorrect model…
- Beacon Patch 3.2 - 16 March 2023
After a few delays, our 22nd content patch Wrecking Zone is finally ready for release! Thanks to everyone in the community for their patience while we chipped away at the content for this update. Wrecking Zone includes 30 new items, 10 new enemies/traps, 2 new Act 1 Bosses, 2 new Landmark level sets, and more! Many new weapons have been added including a new Miniblast Grenade set and expansions to other technology types like Flak and Energy. A new shopkeeper has been added as well that can be found rarely in the new Scrapyard themed zones, Krum the Undermerchant. Scrap can be traded multiple times to Krum to release up to 3 bursts of randomized loot, containing weapons and items they have scavenged from the surface of Kovus. Krum can only be found in rare Scrap Vaults though, requiring multiple keys to gain access to their wares. With this patch we wanted to give an update on the develo…
- Beacon 3.11 - 23 June 2022
Patch 3.11 is out, including some minor balance tweaks and dozens of fixes! The most important fix in the patch is a change to the Remove Mutation DNA mod, changing it to Clear Slot. The issue that caused the slot to stay locked is now fixed but it will also clear the DNA from the slot as well. Depending on feedback to this change we can consider changing it to keep your DNA and only remove the mutation, but generally when a mutation is being removed from a slot there is plenty of other DNA to replace it with. Development on the next content patch is progressing as well! Patch 3.2 will include more level content than the previous patches, including multiple new sets of landmarks including a new Icosatron themed set. The full 3.11 patch notes are below. Let us know if you run into any new bugs and if there's any feedback on the new Clear Slot DNA Mod! Balance Start Stockpile - Removed Gr…
- Beacon 3.1 - Ruined Prospects - 30 April 2022
The first post-release content patch for Beacon is finally here! As Freja's presence on Kovus continues to disrupt Prism's operations, the Uncharted and Native factions have begun to take over more territory. Along with a large chunk of new weapons and items, new enemies have been added to fill in some missing spots in the Native enemy roster. A completely new Native subfaction has been added as well, Antigrav Oozes. Found mainly in Primordial Ooze Pits present from the earliest forms of the universe, the Oozelings possess a unique anti gravitational force that can be utilized to gain a boost to upper spires. Along with all of the new content in this patch, a Melee Overhaul has been done as well to rework or buff nearly every melee mutation in the game. Melee attacks are generally stronger, and melees should feel a bit more unique now with rebalanced attack speeds and stamina costs. Mel…
- Beacon 2022 Roadmap - 12 March 2022
Hello everyone! Since we've been quiet for a bit while planning what the future of Beacon is, we wanted to post an update for the community! Here's our upcoming roadmap for the rest of the year, focused on 4 new content patches. Each patch will focus on expanding the content of multiple factions. New items, weapons, enemies, bosses, and levels will be added to each patch along with some other unique content and tweaks. A lot of new content has been implemented and is being tested already, but if anyone has any requests of the type of content they'd like to see added to the game don't hesitate to post your suggestions! Here's a peek at 4 of the new weapons coming soon out of nearly 60 being tested. The first content patch, Ruined Prospects, should be releasing in the next month or so and will focus on expanding the Native and Uncharted factions! Along with new items and enemies, more Nat…
- Beacon 3.04 - 28 January 2022
Patch 3.04 is now released adding Save and Quit after Mutation Rolls, Difficulty Select on New Game, longer timers for Timed loot, and many other tweaks and fixes! Timed loot and secrets should be a bit easier to obtain now for players that like to explore, along with a removal of the Shop Timer to make it optional to fight the Master Scavenger shopkeeper whenever. Statistics on many mutations have been adjusted as well to reduce the amount of Speed reducing mutations and give some mutations lower stat reductions overall. Thanks to our players for the continued feedback! We are beginning to work on a new content patch for the game that should release in the next couple months. Until then read the full 3.04 patch notes below! Patch 3.04 Misc Difficulty - Added Difficulty Selection menu when New Game is selected Reconstitute - Added Save and Quit to Reconstitute after the Mutation Roll sc…
- Beacon 3.03 - 15 January 2022
Patch 3.03 is released including dozens of balance tweaks and fixes! Some of the notable changes this patch are increases in difficulty, balance tweaks to many enemies and bosses, and new backtrack boosters added to many arenas to allow players to backtrack in levels 1 and 2. Another small patch will be released in the coming weeks with some highly requested changes! Read the full patch notes below and let us know if you have any more issues or suggestions! Patch 3.03 Balance Difficulty: Player Damage Taken - Increased damage taken by the player on Easy by 5%, Default by 10%, Hard by 15%, and Extreme by 20% Difficulty: Explosive Self-Damage - Increased Explosive Self Damage taken on Extreme by 25% Difficulty: Stormcells - Increased chance of Stormcells on all difficulty types Player - Freja will now hold her arm up to aim on a target while moving even if not firing Stormcell: Spore Rain…
- Beacon 3.02 - 31 December 2021
Patch 3.02 includes more tweaks suggested by the community along with some balance tweaks! Multiple of the Onyx traps have been adjusted to be less annoying to encounter including the Level 5 and 6 Stormcell being updated to remove the permanent orb traps. Tweaks have been made to Flamethrower type weapons as well to reduce their effectiveness with ammo mods stacked. As usual let us know if you run into any issues or have any other tweaks to suggest! Patch 3.02 Balance Enemies: Cluster Champion Mods - Released the chance for multiple champion mods to release their cluster projectiles when the enemy is damaged Weather: Onyx Stormcell - Updated Onyx Stormcell to replace the old permanent Emanator traps. New Stormcell summons telegraphed Onyx Orb projectiles from the sky, exploding once on impact. Passive: Onyx Shard - Updated projectile with new better telegraphed Stormcell event version…
- Beacon 3.01 - 21 December 2021
Thank you to everyone's messages and feedback following the release! We're happy to see the majority of opinions on the release and Patch 3.0 have been positive so far and appreciate all the new reviews! Patch 3.01 is the first minor patch following the launch fixing many reported bugs along with some balance tweaks following suggestions from the community. A few of the fixes already included in the build last week have been included in this patch list as well. As always let us know if you run into any issues or have a suggestion on how to improve the game! We're still watching closely for any important fixes and want to hear if you think there's anything that could be tweaked to make the game more fun. If you're enjoying the game please consider leaving a review as well to let other potential players know what you like about the game. Patch 3.01 Balance Player: Speed - Increased both t…
- Beacon Release Patch - 15 December 2021
Hello everyone! The day has finally arrived for Beacon to leave Early Access! Patch 3.0 is now released, including the new Scrap Currency system, Boss Mutations, Minibosses, new Act 2 Bosses, multiple new Endings, 30 new Items, 18 new Enemies, Achievements, and dozens of other tweaks and fixes. This patch is over twice the size of previous content patches and we hope everyone enjoys what we consider the fully realized version of the game! The full patch notes are below for anyone who wants to dig into the details. We’ll still be watching over the release and will keep an eye out for any important fixes or tweaks suggested. We’re also still working on finalizing a couple of the new Endings to be added in the coming weeks, including the Solus and mysterious Onyx endings. Thanks once again to everyone who played and provided feedback over our First Access and Early Access releases! Without…
- Beacon Release Announcement - 22 November 2021
Hello everyone, After our extended development of Patch 3.0 we're finally able to announce the release date! Beacon will be releasing out of Early Access on December 15th, 2021. We've still got some final touches to put on the game during this last month of development, but Patch 3.0 is already full of more content than any previous patch including Boss Mutations, Minibosses, and the new Scrap Currency system. If you'd like to read more about what's coming in Patch 3.0 we posted a blog about more of the upcoming features at the link below. https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/856610/view/5525343639480598494 If you enjoyed the Early Access please leave us a review leading up to release and politely ask your friends to Wishlist! Any support we can get to spread the word about the final version of Beacon would be greatly appreciated. Thank you to everyone who's been a part of our journe…
- Beacon 3.0 Pre-Release Update - 17 September 2021
Hello everyone! We wanted to post an update on Beacon since it's been quiet for a few months while we are finishing up the big 3.0 patch. Things have taken a bit longer than planned as usual, but we're in the final stretch of development now and are still planning to release it on PC before the end of the year. We aren’t quite ready to announce a final release date, but development is nearly completed and we’re almost ready to leave Early Access with the release of 3.0. Patch 3.0 will be the largest patch released so far out of Beacon's 20 Early Access content patches! Along with new enemies, items, final bosses, and endings there are a few new major features we have been working on that we have been waiting to share with everyone. Some of those new features are detailed a bit below as a preview of what will be in the patch! Boss Mutations The final piece of the Reconstitution system, B…
- Beacon 2.93 - 9 April 2021
Patch 2.93 is out including another big chunk of fixes and balance tweaks! A big focus of the balance tweaks this patch was to balance Pickup items that use charges to make them more desirable to pick up compared to Passive Pickups. All Active Pickups have more charges now and abilities have been rebalanced when they felt underwhelming in combat. Many Weapons have had balance tweaks as well with Heavy Weapons getting the most focus. Reload times on almost all heavy weapons have been reduced along with some other buffs to make them feel more rewarding to use. Weapons that use a per shot reload have also been buffed to reload 2 shots per reload instead of 1, making them much quicker to reload and more viable compared to single clip weapons. A lot of grenade mods have been buffed as well to both make them more useful when you choose to use them in combat and make choosing a grenade other t…
- Beacon 2.92 - 19 March 2021
Patch 2.92 is released, bringing Beacon closer to the final 3.0 release! This update includes major Act 1 Level improvements, a big chunk of balance tweaks, and dozens of fixes. Over 20 of the Level 1 and 2 Landmarks have had improvements made to them for this patch, with some getting major overhauls. Similar to the other recent level updates, terrain is thicker and combat areas should be more free to move around in. Many awkward or uninteresting areas have been redone which will hopefully give Levels 1 and 2 a fresh feel for long time players. Loot balance has been improved as well making it more likely to find extra weapons in the early levels, along with additional secret spawns giving more variation over multiple runs. With this update the levels in the game are nearing their final iterations, and only a handful of final edits remain that will be saved for 3.0. We've been working on…
- Beacon 2.91 - 19 January 2021
Beacon Patch 2.91 is released including improved End Game progression, a new Accuracy Bonus for the first 25% of your clip, and many other fixes! Patch 2.92 should release in a few weeks with more level updates and other new features and fixes. After that we’ll be fully focused on finishing version 3.0 of the game and releasing out of Early Access! We’ll give more news on that when our plans are closer to being finalized, along with a few peeks at what will be added in 3.0. Patch 2.91 Misc Game End Progression - Completing the game now continues to the Reconstitution screen, allowing you to continue with your genome and DNA looted from the winning run Base Accuracy - Many weapons will now have improved accuracy for the first 25% of shots in their clip after reloading. Accuracy gradually reduces with each shot to your normal accuracy stat. Arena Monitors - Updated visual of monitor sligh…
- Beacon 2.9 - Last Vestiges - 29 December 2020
Beacon's final major Early Access patch is here including Freja’s final batch of mutations, dozens of arena and enemy improvements, and various UI and gameplay tweaks! The new mutations added fill out mutation sets that were missing a slot before, as well as adding a couple new full sets and miscellaneous mutations. Many mutations have had their abilities and effects improved as well, making the mutations more visually noticeable in game and more fun to use. A handful of new enemies and champion mods to pair with them have been added as well! Uncharted has a new set of 3 champion mods that allow them to reach Tier 3 champions, giving more variation and challenge over multiple runs. Other faction's champions have been updated as well including a new type of champion mod that has a chance to release an explosive cluster with each hit, making high fire rate weapons more unfavorable to use…
- Beacon 2.81 - 28 October 2020
Patch 2.81 includes a handful of fixes and tweaks following feedback from the latest content patch, as well as dozens of particle effect improvements! The big focus of this update was improving the effects of many attacks and items, making them more readable and overall fancier to make them more satisfying to use. Explosion blasts should be much more visible now, enemy and player dashes will leave visible trails behind them, and many bullet types have been improved to be more readable in combat. While testing improvements to the effects many enemies and items also received balance tweaks. The most noticeable are a few new enemy updates such as the Nematode and Effigy, giving them secondary attacks to make them more dangerous in combat rather than just floating in the background. Patch 2.9 will be the next update in a few weeks, including more particle and balance improvements, combat an…
- Beacon 2.8 - Silent Sanctum - 14 October 2020
Beacon Patch 2.8 is ready for release adding the long awaited Level 6, the Prism Mainframe Act 2 Boss, and the first Ending! Descend through a hollow chasm down a series of randomized catwalks and load up with some final loot before facing off against the most challenging boss fight in the game, the Prism Mainframe. Thanks to all of our players for their patience as we finished development of this patch and for sticking around through the early access development as we figured out how to design the final chapter. Level 6 thrusts Freja into the heart of Prism's facility, the Omega Vault. Built around the subsurface remnants of the unknown Onyx faction, Prism seems to have an extreme interest in protecting whatever they've been researching. If you survive to the deepest section of the vault, the only thing stopping you from activating your Beacon is Prism's Mainframe. Along with all of th…
