Tidebreak Patch 1.0.4 Reins In the Harpoon Build and Fixes a Switch 2 Save Bug

Nine days after launch, Tidebreak has its first substantial patch. Version 1.0.4 is live now on PC and Xbox Series X|S and is rolling out on Nintendo Switch 2 over the next 24 hours, according to self-publishing developer Saltmarsh Games. It is a balance patch first and a bug-fix patch second, though the most important fix is one Switch 2 players have been asking about since the weekend.

The headline change targets the harpoon build that has dominated runs since launch. The Barbed Volley relic, which added 40 percent harpoon damage per stack with no cap, now adds 25 percent per stack and caps at four. Saltmarsh also reduced how often the Reeling Winch appears in early shops, which had made it possible to assemble the build before the second tide turned.

• Barbed Volley: harpoon damage bonus reduced from 40% to 25% per stack, capped at four stacks.
• Undertow events: no longer appear twice in a row on the same voyage.
• Broadside cannons: reload time reduced by 10% to make the default loadout more competitive.
• Calm Seas: a new assist toggle in the voyage menu that slows enemy projectiles and widens dock windows. Runs with it enabled are marked in your logbook but still count toward Gull’s Rest refits.
• Switch 2: fixed save corruption that could occur when quitting to the home menu while islands were rearranging during a tide change.
• Xbox: fixed the “Salt in the Wound” achievement not unlocking after defeating a ship with ramming damage alone.

Barbed Volley was supposed to be one of the ways a run could go, not the way every run went. We’d rather nerf it now, while people are still learning the game, than six months from now.

Oskar Fennimore, design lead at Saltmarsh Games, in the patch notes

Saltmarsh says affected Switch 2 saves cannot be repaired by the patch, but that the game now keeps a rolling backup of your Gull’s Rest progress, which it restores automatically if the primary file fails to load. The studio’s next update, which it describes as “a small content drop with a new crew member,” is planned for November.