Retrostein mod for Wolfenstein

ENEMIES

Wehrmacht Infantry (normal soldiers)

• Increased health from 15 to 24 (RtCW soldiers had 30 health)
• Legs and lower arms given 0.85 damage modifier (originally only the lower legs had this)
• Critically injured limbs will cause them to die from their wounds after a few seconds
• Fire damage multiplier lowered from 10 to 5 (it will take a fraction of a second for them to die screaming rather than being instantaneous)

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SS Sentries (late-game soldiers)

• Increased health from 20 to 45 (late-game RtCW soldiers had between 45-75 health)
• Same 0.85 limb damage multiplier and critical injuries as ordinary soldiers
• Fire damage multiplier lowered from 10 to 5 (a quick half-second tap from the Flammenwerfer will not be enough, you'll want to keep the trigger down for a good second)

The SS are rare enemies in the first half of the game but their black uniforms become common in the second half. They use the powerful MP43 assault rifle which makes them dangerous in the harder difficulty settings. In the unmodified game they have a third more health than standard Wehrmacht soldiers but your powerful weapons and Veil abilities make this minor health difference completely irrelevant.

In RtCW the equivalent to these guys were the Black Guard paratroopers. They were armed with the dangerous FG42 Paratrooper Rifle, and they had a whopping 75 health, which was ludicrously high given that some levels were almost exclusively full of Black Guards.

In RtCW the other types of late-game soldiers armed with MP40s were also given a health boost in the second half of the game; the Wehrmacht soldiers had 45 health and the SS soldiers in black uniforms had 60 or 75 health. Retrostein's compromise is to give the SS soldiers 45 health like the late-game Wehrmacht soldiers in RtCW.

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Sniffers

• Increased health from 20 to 33
• Fire damage multiplier lowered from 10 to 5

These mutants have been given a minor health boost, but the main danger comes from their fast movement. If you find yourself getting swarmed by these guys, try using Mire to slow them down. The Mire "Shearing Crystal" shockwave upgrade stops them from being a threat as it will instantly petrify them, even through shields.

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Scribes

• Increased health from 60 to 75
• Given 2x fire damage multiplier (so Flammenwerfer is slightly less useless against them)

No other changes were needed, since they were already tricky enemies due to their shield and dodge abilities, and natural immunity to being petrified by the Mire "Shearing Crystal" shockwave or disintegrated by the Shield "Reactive Crystal". Note that they have a 3x melee damage multiplier, and it is possible to melee attack a Scribe through his shield.

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Elite Guards

• Increased health from 40 to 90 (RtCW Elite Guards had 75-90 health)
• Given 2.5x fire damage multiplier (so the increased health does not make them even more resistant to the Flammenwerfer)
• Given immunity to petrification by the Mire "Shearing Crystal" shockwave
• Gave rare dark-haired varient with green Veil powers immunity to disintegration by the Shield "Reactive Crystal" upgrade

Elite Guards are primarily melee attackers, which meant that they were very vulnerable to your short-range insta-kill Veil powers. It also meant that they needed a big health boost as they need to be able to survive enough of your bullets to get in close.

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Assassins

• Increased health from 50 to 90
• Given immunity to petrification by the Mire "Shearing Crystal" shockwave
• Given immunity to disintegration by the Shield "Reactive Crystal"
• Fire damage multiplier lowered from 10 to 5 (you'll need to keep the Flammenwerfer on them for almost two seconds)

Similar to the Elite Guards, but even more so, as they only have melee attacks and you will always be using your Veil powers to counteract their invisibility and high speed. Vulnerability to being petrified made them no threat whatsoever.

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Heavy Troopers

• Increased health of Shoulder Vents from 20 to 60
• Increased health of Reactor Core from 1 to 20
• Removed 0.8 walking speed modifier (so he can effectively chase you)
• Increased his Particle Cannon damage from 50 to 75 per second, removed player's half-damage modifier (he is very inaccurate so it still isn't too dangerous)
• Reduced delay between shockwave attacks
• Reduced delay between long-range energy projectile attacks

His weak points are now "places that aren't bullet-proof" rather than ridiculously fragile. He's now just a little weaker than a Prototype Super Soldier in RtCW. He can still be quickly wiped out with two Panzershreck rockets (same as in the unmodified game) or an MG42 machine-gun turret as they can penetrate his armour without needing to destroy the weak points first. Has natural immunity to Mire "Shearing Crystal" and Shield "Reactive Crystal".

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Drachen Troopers (dragon/flame troopers)

• Increased health from 200 to 275
• Given immunity to petrification by the Mire "Shearing Crystal" shockwave
• Given immunity to disintegration by the Shield "Reactive Crystal"

He needed the immunity because he only has a short-range attack, so like the Assassins he was unable to attack you without being in range of your insta-kill powers. His armour protects him from being instantly disintegrated by one blast from the Leichenfaust 44 (as well as being fire-proof), so it is not inconceivable that it can also protect against your Veil powers. Presumably it is made from similar materials to the Heavy Trooper's powered armour.

A couple of Nazis talk about the resistance shooting Drachen Trooper fuel tanks, but they are not actually "weak points" unless you use explosives or Empower, which is a surprisingly realistic touch. A flamethrower fuel tank will not explode if punctured by a bullet unless it is a special incendiary bullet, and Empowered bullets are hot enough to melt glowing orange marks wherever they hit. Using Empower with non-bullet weapons works too, though; particle cannon, Tesla Gun... even the Flammenwerfer.

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Rocket Troopers

• Increased health from 50 to 80
• Can no longer be shielded by Scribes (their rockets can't shoot through shields!)

The Particle Cannon's long-range "Particle Lens" upgrade and the Panzershreck's "Seeker Crystal" upgrade are pretty much made for dealing with these jetpack guys. The MP43 does the job too, but isn't quite as much fun.

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Despoiled

• Increased health from 200 to 275

An interesting thing to note - if a Despoiled suffers more than 20 damage from friendly fire it will get angry and attack the Nazis!

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VEIL POWERS

Empower

• Damage multiplier for "Piercing Crystal" upgrade reduced from 3 to 2.5
• Damage multiplier for "Penetrating Crystal" upgrade reduced from 4 to 3.6

With these changes the Empower upgrades are still very powerful, but there is no longer such a massive game-breaking jump in effectiveness between the basic power and the upgraded power. (Without upgrades Empower has a 1.5 damage multiplier, this is unchanged.)

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WEAPONS

Melee attack

• Increased damage of player's standard melee attacks from 5 to 11.25

This ensures that it still takes 3 melee attacks to kill a Wehrmacht soldier and 4 melee attacks to kill an SS soldier. Attacks from behind do 50 damage, while stealth attacks on unaware enemies do 125 damage, this is unchanged. Note that you can do melee attacks through Scribe shields!

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Mdl. 24 grenades

No change, standard damage is still 60. This is no longer enough to instantly kill Scribes, Elite Guards or Assassins (which can be explained by their Veil powers protecting them). Now the Fragmentation upgrade (120 damage) is actually useful for something!

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Kar98 bolt-action rifle

• Increased damage from 20 to 25
• Increased "Big Bore" damage from 40 to 45
• Increased "Bayonet" melee damage from 25 to 30

In normal Wolfenstein a Kar98 shot to the arm or leg will instantly kill normal soldiers. In RTCW the bolt-action Mauser rifle needed two bullets until you got the sniper scope which also gave you a damage boost while you were zoomed in.

Retrostein's compromise is that chest shots are instantly lethal - rewarding you for aiming skills - but limb shots cripple limbs and cause death several seconds later. (The Big Bore upgrade makes limb shots instantly lethal... and gruesome.) Without the Big Bore upgrade you'll need to do headshots on SS soldiers as Retrostein makes them tough enough to survive a chest shot unless you have the Big Bore upgrade. (In RtCW the late-game soldiers were tough enough to survive an enhanced-damage sniper shot!)

The Bayonet will instantly kill normal Wehrmacht infantry and Scribes, and you can stab Scribes through their shields. SS soldiers will need to be stabbed twice; Elite Guards and Assassins will need to be stabbed three times.

Personally, I'm not a fan of the Kar98 silencer as the loud bang noise is much more satisfying (especially with the Big Bore dismemberment effects).

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MP40 submachine gun

• Decreased recoil head bobbing
• Increased damage from 5 to 6 (same as RtCW)
• Reduced number of bullets in ammo pickups

In normal Wolfenstein the MP40 kills soldiers with 3 bullets and with the Big Bore upgrade it is just 2 bullets. Back in RtCW you needed 5 bullets to kill a basic soldier; Thompson and Sten Gun could do it faster but they used rare ammo or would overheat.

Retrostein's compromise is that it will take 5 bullets to kill a normal soldier if you spray wildly, or 4 bullets if you get all the bullets to hit his chest. With the Big Bore upgrade (10 damage) it will always take 3 bullets (regardless of limb shots), turning the MP40 into a Sten Gun without the overheating problem. The Big Bore upgrade is pretty essential if you want to use it against SS soldiers and other tough enemies; alternatively, save the MP40 for use exclusively on ordinary soldiers and use other weapons on the tougher enemies.

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MP43 assault rifle

• Decreased recoil head bobbing
• Reduced damage of Big Bore upgrade from 19.1 to 15 (same as FG42 Paratrooper Rifle in RtCW)
• Reduced number of bullets in ammo pickups

In the original unmodified game the Big Bore upgrade is absurdly overpowered, causing it to do more damage per second than heavy weapons like the Particle Cannon and with plentiful ammo everywhere.

The RtCW equivalent of the assault rifle was the FG42 Paratrooper rifle, which did 15 damage per shot but had very powerful recoil and a small 20-round magazine.

Retrostein's compromise is that buying the Big Bore upgrade for the MP43 will make it as powerful as the old FG42 but without any of its disadvantages.

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Particle Cannon

• Increased damage from 50 to 72 per second (enough to still dissolve 3 Wehrmacht infantry per second)
• Increased "Beam Intensifier" damage from 55 to 90 (original Beam Intensifier upgrade was unnoticeable)
• "Particle Lens" also increases beam speed from 3000 to 4000 rather than just boosting range
• Increased "Flux Arc" MaxSeekAngle from 10 to 12.5, OuterRadius increased from 80 to 90

The Particle Cannon is an energy weapon equivalent of RtCW's gatling "Venom" minigun, though in unmodified Wolfenstein it actually does less damage per second than the old Venom due to the enemies themselves having half as much health. I have boosted the damage so it is now as powerful as the old Venom Gun and the slight improvements to the Particle Lens and Flux Arc upgrades mean that once it is upgraded it has capabilities that that make it an obvious improvement over a conventional bullet-based weapon.

You can obtain Particle Cannon ammo simply by wandering around the city and hunting Heavy Troopers. In the unmodified game this was trivially easy; a "heavy trooper" was just another name for "free particle ammo". In Retrostein, Heavy Troopers are much tougher, but the reward is worth it. If you are having trouble finding heavy troopers, try reloading the last autosaved checkpoint in the city (one that was triggered by wandering around rather than completing a mission) as often it will change the random enemy spawns.

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Panzerschreck

• Increased splash damage from 60 to 90 (direct hit does 216 damage, plus splash damage)
• Increased "High Explosives" splash damage from 120 to 150 (direct hit damage reduced from 400 to 370, plus splash damage)
• "Seeker Crystal" is now unlocked by the Castle mission rather than the Airfield mission

Originally the Seeker Crystal was not available until the Black Market vendor at the end of the Airfield mission, which was disappointing as you could only use it for a few minutes at the end of the game. It is quite expensive ($2500) so Retrostein allows you to buy it slightly earlier and actually get some use out of it.

The Panzerschreck is great for taking out squads, machine-gun nests and Heavy Troopers. The boost to the splash damage means near-misses can still kill Scribes, Elite Guards and Assassins, though to be sure you should try to him them right at their feet. The High Explosives upgrade will cause very large, powerful explosions that can wipe out groups of tough enemies, while a direct hit will insta-kill anything except bosses.

Panzerschreck ammo cannot be found anywhere until the last third of the game, so it is worth spending $100 at the Black Market to get your ammo refilled, especially if you first buy the Ammo Pouch and/or Magazine for increased ammo capacity.

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Flammenwerfer

• Reduced cost of "Improved Fuel Pump" from $1000 to $750
• Increased cost of "Pump Overdrive" from $500 to $750
• "Pump Overdrive" is now unlocked by the Castle mission rather than the Airfield mission

The Improved Fuel Pump was rather expensive; it allows you to fire the weapon continuously for a longer duration, which is FUN but only occasionally useful. The Pump Overdrive upgrade is perhaps the most desirable upgrade as it improves the weapon's range, which is useful AND fun.

I've lowered the cost of the Improved Fuel Pump and increased the cost of the Pump Overdrive by the same amount. Originally the Pump Overdrive was not availble until the Black Market vendor at the end of the Airfield mission, which was disapointing as you could only use it for a few minutes at the end of the game.

Bizarrely, the Flammenwerfer has a very low base damage of 10 per second (and less towards the edges of the flame), but enemies have fire damage multipliers. In the unmodified game many enemies had a 10x multiplier so it did 100 damage per second. This has been changed to 5x so it does 50 damage per second. This means that against individual targets it will now do less damage than the Particle Cannon (which makes sense, the Particle Cannon is a sci-fi weapon), but in group situations the flamethrower will have the advantage as it can hit an entire squad simultaneously.

Flammenwerfer ammo is quite rare, but there is a chance that you may encounter a Drachen Trooper in the city at some point. Flammenwerfer ammo can be picked up in the Castle and Airfield missions after the Cannery where you first obtain it. If you want to have fun using it in the city or in an optional mission then it may be worth spending $100 to refill your ammo, but it is not worth it if you are about to do one of the last main story missions.

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Tesla Gun

• Increased damage from 0.76 to 1.52 (which is then affected by TransformRatio of 250)
• Increased "Arc Nodes" melee damage increased from 40 to 45

Back in RtCW the Tesla Gun was fun but surprisingly weak; in Wolfenstein it is actually useful as it has a stun effect that prevents most enemies from being able to fight back. (Note that you cannot stun Assassins and Elite Guards, but you can stun surprisingly large enemies like the Heavy Troopers, Drache Troopers and even some bosses.)

Retrostein boosts its damage so that it will kill normal Wehrmacht infantry and tough SS soldiers at approximately the same speed as it would do in the unmodified game.

The "Arc Nodes" melee upgrade is superior to the Kar98 bayonet, as it can insta-kill SS soldiers (though they may survive and be stunned if you hit their gun or limbs) and it can be used to paralyse heavy enemies even if you have no Tesla ammo.

No enemies carry the Tesla gun and you cannot find Tesla ammo until the Castle and Airfield missions, but it is very ammo efficient as it only uses about 1 unit per second, so there is no point saving your Tesla ammo for special occasions. Once you run out you should definately consider refilling it at the Black Market for $150, especially if you first buy the Upgraded Battery for increased ammo capacity.

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Leichenfaust 44 (LF44)

• Increased trail damage from 120 to 138

Just a minor change to ensure that 2 shots are still enough to disintegrate Drachen Troopers or Despoiled, rather than 3 shots. The last two LF44 upgrades are not available until the Black Market vendor at the end of the Airfield mission, and I have chosen not to unlock them early, they are your final reward.