[2021] Build diversity would be a lot more interesting...

For Worldslayer we are looking at the overall mod library usage and are considering changes that may well speak directly to what you have in mind here. We're considering the viability of single target, cleave and uncapped AOE mods against each other and what we can do to make different mods more fun and, as you say, less punishing to play with. That includes looking at how on-kill mod effects are consumed and triggered/not consumed if played in certain arrays.

I can't share any details about where we'll end up with ultimately since Worldslayer is still in development and is looking forward to lots of balancing + we haven't yet kickstarted the marketing campaign for it, but I just wanted to let you know that we are looking at these kind of questions.

New Horizon was intended as the "rounding off" of our work on the base game. Once the New Horizon update released, our plan was to keep an eye on things and see how they unfold - basically be ready in case there were any things that require immediate patches in the short term.

While there are still a few outstanding issues, I don't believe any of them warrant an immediate fix simply because of how much patch creation impacts our overall progress. Developing even small patches takes an enormous amount of work from our teams. It is fair to say that the New Horizon update might have arrived earlier if we hadn't needed to focus on addressing certain issues through patches earlier. It is therefore similarly true to say that to continue patching the Outriders base game in the way we previously did would delay the release of Worldslayer.

The release of the expansion is at this moment looking like it will be our next opportunity to fix any outstanding bugs and niggles in the base game (outside of a Stadia issue with the DLC we're looking into), but I am remaining active here and continuing to monitor/participate in discussions and bug reports, passing them on to the team for investigation and resolution. Worldslayer itself will also bring some changes in general, including balancing changes that will affect the base game so it's not being left entirely as it forevermore.

That being said, while we are focusing on developing Worldslayer right now, patches to the maingame are only unlikely, not impossible. It all depends on how our plans for Worldslayer shake out in the end.

I may put out a dev update towards the end of this year outlining the above again in a more "official" manner, but I'll first see if that's necessary or whether most folks are simply looking forward to Worldslayer.