Highlights
- Patch 9 of Sons of the Forest brings new features and optimizations, improving the game's overall experience.
- The update includes changes to Creepy enemies, the ability to place blueprints in bulk, and customization options for camera sensitivity in the inventory screen.
- Traps have also received significant improvements, with the ability to place them on uneven terrains and have them affect larger enemy variants, enhancing base defense strategies.
Sons Of The Forest is still going strong with frequent updates in its early access state, and after the recent patch 9 the game is already within the early estimations for its full release window. The latest update brings plenty of new features to the game as well as some much-needed optimization, and more returning content from the prequel.
Outside some of the substantial changes mentioned, patch 9 includes an extensive list of bug fixes and other notable improvements. For players who want to read the full list, the patch notes are available on Steam, which is also where Sons Of The Forest’s developers are requesting players to submit bug reports and feedback.
The Biggest Changes from Sons Of The Forest’s Patch 9
Dealing enough damage to Creepy enemies with weapons like traps, explosives, and firearms can now explode Creepies into bits and pieces. This change can be disadvantageous for players looking to obtain Creepy armor, considering it’s one of the best armors in Sons Of The Forest, though exploded enemies can’t be looted.
Also on the topic of Creepy enemies, patch 9 has added a new Creepy enemy variant to the endgame, known as “Creepy Virginia.” Creepy Virginia is one of many returning enemies from the prequel game, The Forest. There is also a new large female variant of the Cannibal enemies, although there is no distinction from the male Cannibal counterparts besides appearance.
Another big change from the recent update is the ability to place the blueprints of premade structures in bulk. Previously, the crafting menu would disappear after players selected a blueprint to place, but now it will stay open until players manually close it. This change is particularly noticeable for players who are using mods in Sons Of The Forest to alleviate or bypass the crafting costs, though it is still helpful for unmodded playthroughs.
Sons Of The Forest’s patch 9 allows players to freely customize the sensitivity of panning the camera in the inventory screen, which is a huge improvement for inventory management. Another notable feature is that any items received from opening Skin Pouches will drop on the ground when players don’t have room to collect them, so they can be retrieved instead of immediately disappearing.
There have been several changes to radios in the game, with the newly added function to place collected radios. Another new, more productive use for radios is the ability to create silent alarm traps in Sons Of The Forest. These work as proximity alarms that detect and indicate when enemies are nearby, communicating imminent danger to nearby players and their structures.
Overall, patch 9 has proven to be a substantial update for player traps. Restrictions have been lifted so that traps can now be placed on more uneven terrains, like slopes and rock formations. Traps also now affect the larger variants of enemies, and given the addition of the radio trap, this will be incredibly helpful for players to get the upper hand against sneaky invaders. Some of the toughest enemies in Sons Of The Forest can be an overwhelming surprise to deal with because their sporadic movement abilities often allow them to infiltrate player bases, so now that most enemies can activate player traps, this will generally help to prevent unwelcome visitors.
One of the more discreet changes from Sons Of The Forest’s latest update is the game’s optimization for player bases. Now large-scale bases will cause significantly fewer performance issues, which is especially great for multiplayer servers in Sons Of The Forest, or for players who are near the minimum range of the game’s PC requirements. Since the changes to traps give players more reasons to expand their bases, going forward this optimization will come in handy for both new and old player bases in Sons Of The Forest.
Sons of the Forest is out now in early access for PC.