StarCrawlers - Tipsy Tarantula patch

StarCrawlers has been updated with a rather large patch called the Tipsy Tarantula patch. Due to the amount of changes the patch notes extend over two pages. (P1, P2)

Due to the massive amount of changes, patch notes will be split into two parts. Get comfy...
PART 1 OF 2

We've been taking in an enormous amount of feedback and suggestions on combat, and this patch is all about it! Thank you to everyone submitting feedback and bug reports, we hope everything will find something they like in the Tipsy Tarantula patch. After experiencing the patch, let us know what you think about the changes in this handy feedback thread: http://steamcommunity.com/app/318970/discussions/2/133258593396281495/

Stat Changes
Health has been recalculated to lower the cap for players. When loading a save from a previous build, your team may have current health that exceeds the new maximum. This will be addressed in a future patch, but enjoy the excess health while it lasts! :D

Combat Changes
Combat speed and damage for both mobs and players has been revised. You should find combat at lower levels to be quicker and deadlier overall, with difficulty ramping more smoothly as you advance towards level 30.

Many classes have picked up Regeneration and healing abilities in their support trees. These become more important at higher levels to sustain your team against tougher enemies and reduce reliance on using medkits.

Regeneration heals at the start of a character's turn. A character can only have 1 active Regeneration effect on them, with stronger effects overriding weaker ones.

Several of the more deadly abilities have had their damage caps adjusted and require building charges to use them at full potential. This creates more opportunities to build power over the course of a run instead of just popping your nukes each battle. Looking at you, Hellfire Salvo.

Several debuffs have been standardized to make them easier to recognize in action: Blind reduces hit chance, Burn deals damage over time, Shock reduces Energy resistance, Corruption converts buffs into damage, and Vulnerability increases damage taken by the target.

Mobs will be updated in the next patch with new abilities and buffs.

Gear Changes
Heavy Armor no longer has a Time Unit penalty, but a dodge penalty.
Light melee weapons and pistols provide a bonus to dodge.
Heavy melee weapons and heavy weapons have a penalty to dodge.
Medkits can once again be used by the Prototype. The mechanic of having a separate healing item just for the Proto sounded fun, but in play was found to be less so.
The damage reduction for shields and armor has been reduced and damage ranges across all three types brought slightly closer together.
These changes do not affect gear generated in previous builds, but you will experience unbalanced play if you choose to use legacy gear.
[...]