Peak’s new Roots biome dropped yesterday, introducing a dense forest of towering redwood trees and gigantic bouncy mushrooms that will inevitably spell your untimely demise. But tucked among the trees and mushies is a challenge far greater than what the rest of the game really offers—despite the icy winds, scorching heat, and rising fog that other biomes throw in your way.
Thanks to the game’s latest update, there’s now a lot more for you to navigate.
I naively thought the only hurdle we’d have to overcome as part of this update were the spiders teased in the trailer. Even then, I didn’t expect them to spawn as frequently as they do. But my God, having now forced my partner to navigate the perils of the Roots update with me, I’ve seen that there is actually a lot more than just spiders and the standard status effects to worry about.
Climbing through Roots is not for the faint of heart.
The first challenge is the environment itself, as you have to rely on vines and bouncy mushrooms to get where you need to go. In the map we explored, there were plenty of caves to get lost in before realizing there’s no way out, along with significant patches of large, hot pink clouds of spores that inflict the spore status effect the longer you linger.
Of course, there are the spiders too. These creatures spring down from whatever ledge they’re hiding on, pick up any unsuspecting scouts, wrap them in a web, and force them to mash the space bar to break free. Sounds easy enough, but you aren’t exactly suspended over a safe location, so although you’re free, it comes at the cost of half your stamina bar being converted into damage.
If these were the only two threats, I’d probably get used to mapping the best path to avoid all possible damage and make it safely to the campfire. But they aren’t.
One thing Aggro Crab and Landfall failed to mention before the update was the addition of zombies. That’s right—zombified, Last of Us-inspired scouts that will hunt you down and take a bite as soon as they get too close.
Even if you think you can outrun or outclimb one, trust me when I say you simply can’t. Not only are they fast, they’re incredibly tenacious. In fact, I was taken out by zombies more than anything else in the entire game, which speaks to how hard they are to deal with, especially since you don’t have any means of defending yourself.
Fortunately, I’m not the only player who has struggled with these enemies. Shortly after Peak’s Roots update rolled out, a patch nerfing the zombies swiftly followed.
In the announcement shared on Steam, the team stated:
> “We’ll be continuing to balance things during the coming days, but the big immediate thing on our radar is tweaking the zombies’ stats. We want them to feel properly terrifying, but they’re clearly feeling like too much of a constant run-ender in the area and deserve to be nerfed a bit and show up significantly less often.”
The tweaks include reducing the number of zombie spawn points, lowering their walk and sprint speed, and increasing the amount of time a zombie takes to recover after lunging at you. These changes address most of the issues I had with them, which is definitely a good thing for me.
That said, the amount of damage they cause with their bite hasn’t changed. Additionally, the update has altered zombie behavior so they will now attack any skeletonized players responsible for using the Book of Bones.
Hopefully, these changes make a run in the Roots biome a little easier. Though, keep in mind, you still have to contend with the spores, spiders, and status effects.
Not to mention the giant beetles that flip you off the mountain if they reach you.
Whether any of these elements will be tweaked further in the coming weeks remains to be seen. But hopefully, by that point, I won’t feel as hopeless each time I step foot in the area.
At this rate, I’m starting to wonder if the Tropics were actually a bit more forgiving.
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/peaks-new-update-added-a-ridiculously-powerful-enemy-which-was-swiftly-nerfed-after-being-labelled-too-much-of-a-constant-run-ender/