Update 1.0.6.A As always, this patch will be delivered in two parts. Skill Tree The skill tree has been consolidated to one large skill forest again. Full pathing between different classes is now available, however some skill passives don't function properly (namely those relating to critical strikes). Unallocating skills from the skill tree have been disabled, however a skill tree reset button has been made available. Skill tree point acquisition is disabled, but for alpha testing purposes players may freely take skills throughout the passive tree. Testing of the pathing and node dependence is at the core of this round of testing. Thank you for your participation. If you find bugs, please report them in the bug reporting forum.

• Added Weapon Slot Unlocks from the skill tree. Selecting an unlock slot from the tree will allow your character to equip weapons in that equipment slot. Each character starts with one equipment slot unlocked except the Operative who gets two. Players can select nodes either from the start of the skill tree or from the starting weapon slot. Skills which are provided by the equipped weapons can be found in the skill tree nodes surrounding the weapon.
• Added additional passive abilities to major passive nodes, and added several passive abilities.

• Added a new system which is multiplayer friendly in which towns are generated randomly. This is one of the core tests of this alpha test. On Pulverem, please find an area that loads a random area and provide feedback on the forum. These areas are being spawned without enemies for this test so that players can test loading times and navigation.

• Added a new Skill: Orders Menu. Using this skill brings up a contextual menu of selected units and their available orders. While a majority of these skills are available from the skill tree as individually assignable skills, they are all available regardless of skill unlock so that players can orders units about from the start of the Commander class, while more advanced hotkeying will require a larger skill point investment.
• Added Summon Grunt to the skill tree. This grunt is summoned to the Command Transport for now, and is not available for use at this time aboard the Assault Carrier capital ship, and only useful during away missions.
• Added the final weapon slot: Thigh Pistol and added it to as the Commander's starting weapon. Currently there are several bugs, including a poorly performing animation blend causing the aim in third person to point lower than desired. (This will be fixed in 1.0.6.b)
• Added several skills to the Commander section of the skill tree regarding unit selection and orders.

• Moved grenade skills from Soldier to the Engineer part of the skill tree.
• Reduced the Credit cost of Frag Reign
• Temporarily disconnected the 100mm turret from the Engineer's tree while several adjacent skills are added ((This will be fixed and completed in 1.0.6.b)

• Added critical strike nodes to the passive tree. Currently they have no affect, but serve as a placeholder while planning the skill tree.
• Added Kunai, Caltrops and Shuiken skills to the Operative section of the skill tree, however they don't function yet.

• Added a weapon forge to the assault carrier. Currently this is the only place you can manually modify your weapons. Weapon modifications can be unlocked via the Skill Tree.
• Added Underbarrel Grenade Launchers to all firearms. Currently they do not provide skills to the associated weapons, however this will be added shortly.

• Added an arcade mode (default), where reviving is free of charge.
• Completely overhauled the death and dying mechanic. In preparation for the Medic subclass (to be found in the blank area beyond the commander skill area), when players die, a corpse is created where they died, providing an overview of the area which they can wait for another player to revive them (coming soon). The death menu now provides a list of areas which are available to them. Selecting a respawn point gives the player a view of the area and the option to respawn.

• Implemented a new system for loading maps: using the ships helm (press F by default) will switch you to a view of the local planet with a menu attached to the planet allowing you to travel there upon clicking on it. Using the mouse wheel will zoom you out to view the entire solar system and you'll later be able to select different points of interest (planets, stations etc.).
• Added a landing cinematic to Pulverem.

• Added a key rebinding system available from the Top Bar
• Transitioned account variables (sound volume, graphics settings, etc) from the player save to a system save.
• Completely reworked the main menu system. Players now view the main menu as the capital ship orbiting the last visited planet. All 4 character slots are immediately playable and viewable. Each save slot starts in a different area of the ship:
• Commander starts on the bridge and can quickly access the helm
• Soldier & Operative start in the armory and can quickly access the weapon forge
• Engineer starts in the Engine room which serves no purpose other than keeping the ship with power for now.

• Fixed a bug where Front Kick would kill the player.
• Significantly improved frame rates on the Capital Ship and around the Command Transport.

• Tutorials have been disabled until the new Top Bar is complete
• Character information on selecting a new character (show's "Class name" as a place holder) is incomplete and won't be finalized until 1.0.6.b

• Compelete the 100mm Turret for the engineer and associated skills.
• Integrate a new multiplayer cooperative menu