The Red Solstice

Co-op Campaign expanded The Red Solstice’s multiplayer offering, letting players share technology while clients followed the host’s research and viewed the world map. The same update added 16 new Skirmish missions, the Shield Generator / Cities of Flesh map, and stronger tools for handling cheating and griefing.

• New content:
  • Co-op Campaign: Players shared technology, while clients remained limited by the host’s technology and research.
  • 16 New Missions to Skirmish Mode: Added missions including Boss Emma, VIP Howell, and Rescue Troops.
  • Shield Generator / Cities of Flesh: Added a new map.
• Multiplayer systems: Improved Anti-Cheat and Anti-Grief Systems strengthened enforcement, while Vote Kick let players initiate a hidden vote if more than half the group agreed. Daily Challenge monster points also doubled.
• Red Storm gameplay: Red Storm Energy Reduction no longer reduced player energy to zero, and Red Storm Lightning Strikes became synchronized.
• Balance changes:
  • Red Hunter became more dangerous, making preparation more important during terraformer missions.
  • Flameburst received a five-point cooldown increase at every level.
  • Convoy Vehicles dealt less damage, increasing the need to protect them during certain missions.

Red Solstice 2: Survivors launched on Steam on June 17, 2021, providing the period’s largest franchise-related beat. The Red Solstice itself saw no clearly verified major content release, while the sequel introduced a broader mission structure through Stealth Missions, Survival Missions, and Exploration Missions.

• Red Solstice 2: Survivors: The sequel launched on Steam, and its Steam Playtest ran from March 12 to March 15, 2021.
• Mission types: Red Solstice 2 added:
  • Stealth Missions, which required players to avoid the Hunter while completing objectives.
  • Survival Missions, which focused on fighting enemy hordes and defending positions.
  • Exploration Missions, which let players investigate the Biomass infection at their own pace.
• Secondary Missions: Red Solstice 2 allowed players to take on optional missions alongside primary objectives.
• The Red Solstice: Tracked sources mentioned a possible new class and the first official mod, but neither was confirmed as released during the period.

The TRS 2 Alpha announcement was the biggest headline, presenting a new trailer and opening an alpha sign-up on September 24, 2019, rather than shipping a playable sequel or expansion. The actual game changes centered on Vindicator buffs, class-limit increases, and a broad combat rebalance.

• Class limits: The balance pass doubled maximum class limits, allowing two Terminators, two Hellfires, and equivalent duplicate-class combinations.
• Vindicator and Arclite: Vindicator weapon damage rose from 500 to 850, its overcharge damage doubled, and overcharge dealt full damage across its entire radius while reducing friendly fire from 350 to 250. Arclite reached its maximum single-target burn damage 50% faster.
• Weapons and abilities:
  • Fiery Shockwave and Napalm Grenade received cooldown reductions to 10 seconds and 30 seconds, respectively.
  • Autocannon load-system damage increased by 10 per level, while its friendly damage fell to 10 per shot.
  • Suppress Target reduced damage by 90% while active, and Savage Burners dealt fire damage when no other skill damage modifier was active.
  • Wired Armor consumed armor faster, while activated energy, toxic, and explosive damage modifiers overrode item-passive damage types.
• Enemy tuning: Holer gained 200 health and shifted toward piercing resistance, while losing most of its hollow, energy, toxic, and shotgun resistance. Hellspawn gained piercing and energy resistance, and Behemoth and Lyganesh received major piercing, hollow, and energy resistance increases.
• Marine swapping: TAB allowed marines to be swapped outside tactical mode in single-player and Survival games.

Escape Sector added a new mission that enabled sector transfers, with a 30% chance to trigger whenever a secondary mission began. Civilian Mission also counted as a secondary, while combat tuning adjusted Chemical Bomb, Suppressive Fire, and several teleport abilities.

• Mission content: Escape Sector provided a new way to transfer between sectors, and Civilian Mission became eligible to trigger it as a secondary mission. The Mercs Mission no longer became stuck.
• Balance changes:
  • Chemical Bomb: Its cooldown was reduced by one second.
  • Suppressive Fire: Its maximum level was lowered to level 3, providing up to +3 minigun cone.
  • Explosive Modulator: Its ability range increased from 4–20 to 5–25.
  • Teleport Group: Its range and radius each increased by 3.
  • Explosive Teleport: Its radius decreased by 25%.
  • Electric Discharge: Its radius increased by 6 meters.

Operations Pack landed on February 20, adding two missions and two weapons to The Red Solstice. Marauder Mode broadened the campaign’s structure, while substantial combat and progression changes reshaped how squads handled skills, ailments, and evacuations.

• Operations Pack: The DLC added M.E.R.C.S., which combined a distress-signal response, wave defense, and squad escorting, plus Rescue Civilians, which required finding civilians and leading them to an evacuation point. Its weapons were the Assault Rifle with Flamethrower and Light Vindicator.
• New scenarios and threats: Marauder Mode opened every available sector simultaneously and extended runs to as long as two hours. Stay Frosty returned as a tutorial mission, while the Black Holer creature brought area-of-effect ailments and could appear after wave two on lower-ranked squads.
• Progression and combat systems: Skills no longer consumed Skill Supplies, instead using cooldowns. Terminator became available from the start, single-player and survival saves were connected, and the Ailments system was reworked so each hit applied only one ailment type. Final military evacuations also spawned Hellspawns along the route to the dropship.
• Balance overhaul: Balancing Patch 1.90 retuned Recon, Heavy Support, Medic, Terminator, Demolition, Hellfire, and Marksman skills, alongside item and weapon adjustments. Later changes strengthened the Medic healing gun and nano heal, reduced Hunter Seeker damage and slow effects, shortened Insurgent Marksman range, and gave Antivenom temporary poison immunity.
• Level and boss tuning: The May update improved visuals across the levels and reworked almost every level and boss fight, while ACE received a damage adjustment that made its outer-edge hits stronger but reduced friendly-fire damage.

Survival Mode was the biggest content drop, introducing open-map defense against endless waves, resource management, random missions, base building, and character upgrades after successful evacuations. Outpost Defense and Cerberus Red and Cerberus Green also expanded the game's challenge lineup with a dedicated defense map and new wave bosses.

• Survival Mode: The March update substantially expanded replayability.
  • Reaper Turret: Survival Mode let players build special defensive objects, including the Reaper Turret.
  • Survival Mode resource drops and random missions: Players selected resource drops, completed randomized objectives, and unlocked or fortified buildings.
  • Survival maps: Additional maps broadened the open-map mode's rotation.
• Outpost Defense: The new mode centered on surviving as long as possible while defending an outpost, and it received a dedicated map. Insurgent Reinforcements also added a new survival-style multiplayer mission.
• Bosses and equipment: Typhon replaced Hellspawn on Aetriden evacuation missions, while Cerberus Red and Cerberus Green filled waves 10 and 11 with color-based resistances and immunity mechanics.
  • SHIVA: Aetriden SHIVA missions gained the Personal Teleport item.
  • Creature variations: Smaller variants of existing creatures added more tactical enemy behavior.
• Systems and balance: Bunker Mode in the Industrial Sector was revamped, and Take/Give Nanites became an area-based support skill. Prestige points improved energy generation, while Heavy and Medic class changes improved rocket speed, reload times, Pharmacology cooldowns, and chemical bomb effectiveness.
  • Cerberus Red and Cerberus Green: Their Aetriden appearances gained a chance to occur beyond wave four, making later runs less predictable.
• Seasonal events: Halloween Pumpkin Hunt added bonus-granting pumpkins to the colony, while Santa Claws gained a 30% chance to spawn each wave during the Christmas event.