Hello Responders!

It’s been a few weeks since our second Free Weekend ended and since then we have continued to work on 1.0 with your feedback in mind. Today, we wanted to catch up on some topics we heard about often during the Free Weekend and share some changes being made to address them.

These are only a small selection of a much larger changelog shipping alongside 1.0’s new content offerings, so we ask that you keep in mind that some of these adjustments will be affected by other changes not yet revealed.

Ever since the Genesis update’s balance hotfix, we’ve been hearing lots of feedback around melee combat, especially when it pertains to one-handed slashing weapons. Free Weekend also allowed us to get thoughts from those who were unfamiliar with our melee system entirely on where other pain points exist and what we can do to elevate close-quarters combat.

One of the largest changes planned for 1.0 is a general responsiveness increase when it comes to strong and charged attacks. One-handed weapons will be receiving a universal 10% speed increase to their strong attack windup alongside a 20% speed increase to their charged attack windup. This is separate from the actual swing speeds of individual weapons, which are receiving more targeted balance. Two-handed weapons will also receive a 10% speed increase to their charged attack windup

Slashing weapons will see 5 stability damage added to quick attacks across the board and 10 stability damage added to strong attacks (for context, 20 stability damage triggers a zombie stagger), to better open up combo opportunities based upon each weapon’s strengths. Trading hits with zombies will be generally less common, but still a threat if you aren’t conscious of how you start an engagement. Closing the gap or making a hasty escape will also be more feasible as we’re bringing improvements to sprinting and stamina, with sprint speed increasing slightly and stamina beginning to refill quicker after use.

Overall, these changes should allow melee to feel more dependable, opening up more room in gameplay to learn quirks and master each weapon’s strengths for greater reward. We’ve really appreciated all the detailed thoughts shared with us as we work to improve this aspect of the game!

During the Free Weekend, we got to see how our current difficulty offerings feel for players less familiar with No More Room in Hell 2 and where new players gravitate to start. The vast majority of players played Classic, which led to a large drop in the extraction rates across maps for that difficulty as new Responders learned the game. However, this is a trend we see generally even when our dedicated core has been playing the live game the past few weeks.

This data highlights three key concerns we plan to address with difficulty changes in 1.0:

• “Casual” and “Classic” send the wrong message to new players generally on the intent of these difficulties and where you should start.

• Classic is too hard for the average player compared to dedicated players.

• Nightmare isn’t reaching the emotional highs (and extraction rate lows) we want the mode to deliver.

We have several changes coming to tackle each of these points, from adjustments to zombie variety based on threat level to how we handle holdout objective zombie spawning, but for this preview we want to focus on our approachability changes. 

Casual and Classic are now renamed Beginner and Normal to better position them as a place to learn and place to refine skills respectively. (we’ll have more information around Tutorialization in a future blog, stay tuned!) Beginner will feature a time-based respawn system that gives players a better chance at completing objectives without wiping, and the existing objective-based respawn system is moving into Normal.

This allows for a much better transition between these difficulties as well as lowers the concern for permadeath until you choose to enter Hard. It is still a threat on lower difficulties during extraction, so saving resources and smart play are still required to keep your Responder alive and gain levels. We’ve also added an additional layer of challenge to the respawn-disabled difficulties by reducing the ammo found in weapons to require more conscious use of unloading.

Our changes to the Credit economy in Revelation are a big departure from how flush with currency players were in earlier updates. This is an intentional shift towards a more streamlined system for 1.0 and onwards, however we recognize that this transition isn’t fully realized and has left the current version of the game in a tight spot. Free Weekend especially highlighted this as we had many players with no Credit stockpile who could outspend their earn rate in scenarios that didn’t feel fair.

In 1.0, we will have an additional way of earning currency as well as an overhaul to the pricing of loadout equipment to encourage more spending to boost your Responder’s starting odds. Perks and their reroll costs remain a priority for the team headed into the future, with some changes coming in 1.0 as well as in post-launch updates.

We want Nightmare to be achievable both by those whose knowledge and skill allow them to perform even on a default loadout and those who instead slowly level a Responder up the difficulties and invest in their growth to ease that journey. Finding that balance between reward and challenge is our goal and will be something we continue to watch for at release.

Over the next several weeks, we’ll be dropping in occasionally to share more info about the 1.0 update through blogs about various topics; from a deeper dive into Survival and a particular rural farmhouse in Pennsylvania to controller support and performance improvements that benefit both consoles and PC.

As always, stay safe out there!

The NMRIH2 Dev Team

Hello veteran Responders and new recruits alike!

Welcome to No More Room in Hell 2’s second free weekend, offering another glimpse into our intense 8 player zombie survival shooter. We’ve been in Early Access for a year and a half and throughout that time we’ve worked alongside our dedicated community to build an atmospheric and challenging cooperative experience unlike any other. This weekend, we invite everyone to become a Responder and survive hell together!If you’re someone who is new or returning to No More Room in Hell 2, here is what the game offers now during the free weekend:

• A roster of up to three customizable CRC Responders you chose prior to entering a match.

  • Think about the best starting perk fit for your selected mode and difficulty

  • If your Responder dies, they are permanently lost. If they live, they will gain XP and unlock more perk options for future runs.

• Two modes to select from:

  • Objective, offering 5 maps that each offer unique scenarios and visuals, asking players to complete a set of tasks to assist survivors and extract from the zone.

  • Survival, here as an exclusive preview for free weekend on one of the multiple maps coming at 1.0 launch! Defend against waves of undead using traps and barriers until it’s safe to extract.

• Four difficulties to select from:

  • Casual, offering an easy entry point with respawning after objectives and full UI

  • Classic, our standard experience with minimal UI and manageable threat levels

  • Hard, with more zombie variety and a scarcity of resources

  • Nightmare, a true test of skill and the endgame for fully-kitted Responders

• A robust extraction-survival experience across modes once deployed:

  • Meet up with other Responders using proximity voice chat, tackling objectives to progress and earn more XP.

  • Gear up with a diverse set of items found across the map, including 15 firearms, 19 melee weapons and several tools to choose from! Each offers its own use case and strengths to weigh carrying in your limited inventory.

  • Extract with Supplies to earn Credits that can be spent on perks and starting equipment.

    • If a match becomes too dire to finish, early extraction opens up to offer another way out.

    • Any tools you found during a run are given to other survivors, each run starts only with what’s in your Responder’s pockets

• Grow your Responder’s experience, spend Credits to build a personal arsenal, and tackle Nightmare to earn tokens that lead to Early Access rewards at launch!

For more information on the free weekend & our road to 1.0, check out this post! No More Room in Hell 2 leaves Early Access and launches on PC and consoles Summer 2026, community feedback and support remains invaluable so join our Discord[discord.gg] if you haven’t already!

Stay safe out there,

The NMRIH2 Dev Team