Here we go! 0.9.4 is the biggest update so far, bringing a complete overhaul and expansion of the character progression system and a new core end game activity to test your newly empowered heroes. As well as countless other improvements and fixes, of course.
NEW MECHANIC: SKILL TREES
Skill trees introduce a brand new character progression system that replaces attribute training. Each character has access to a unique set of powerful passives that can heavily alter or improve their playstyle, allowing for different builds and setups. You can learn more about the system as well as check a few skill examples in our last sneak peek post. Or just play the game.
Dev Note: With the introduction of this third pillar of character development (runes and inspirations being the other two), we consider this part of the game mechanically complete. We may still decide to expand it with more content, though.
Dev Note #2: Skill points are gained by gathering XP or by purchasing them from the Master. As they replace stat training, the first time you launch the game, your existing upgrades will get converted into skill points.
NEW END GAME ACTIVITY: GAUNTLET
Gauntlet is an endgame activity that serves as a less time-consuming alternative to Endless runs. A condensed repeatable quest that gets harder each time you complete it, quickly ramping up from manageable to near-impossible.
While its levels are procedurally generated, they are also persistent between runs. This means that even seemingly impossible scenarios can eventually be overcome with tailor-made strategies, that can later be shared with other players.
Dev Note: Gauntlet provides the ultimate challenge for your party, with technically infinite difficulty (and rewards) cap.
Dev Note #2: For now the Gauntlet doesn't have any narrative context and just unlocks after a certain amount of missions. This is due for a change in an upcoming update.
FULL PATCH NOTES:
NEW CONTENT:
- Introduction of skill trees and a new XP system.
- 36 unique skills have been added to the game.
- Missions and errands now grant skill XP.
- New endgame activity: The Gauntlet.
- Two new early game story missions to get first runes for Hildie and Ephrem.
- Two new activities centred around gathering XP.
- A repeatable story mission to hunt the Bloody Countess.
- Two new boss-centric end game challenge missions.
- New enemy: Grim Slayer.
- New enemy: Undead Shepherd.
- New enemy: Oakheart.
- New miniboss variant: Nexus Mage.
- New miniboss variant: Wilted Oakheart.
- Three new elite types with tactically unique modifiers.
Dev Note: The two new story missions have been introduced to account for the fact that new players no longer start with runes unlocked. If you already got them, these missions won't be available.
Dev Note #2: The Bloody Countess mission is intended to make unlocking Erzsie less RNG-based, with the player deciding when and how to do it.
BALANCE:
- Nadia's inspiration now only grants 33% of its effect to AoE attacks (from 50%).
- Ephrem's Pure Force now only removes enemy buffs and debuffs.
- Erzsie had 5 of her Armor points moved to Attack.
- Cauterize buff power got reduced from 100% to 95%.
- Hildie's Bandage no longer targets summons.
- Characters now start the game without any runes unlocked.
- Elite versions of easy enemies now get additional +10 Health and +5 to all stats.
- Normal tier elites also get +5 to all stats.
- Raging Troll's stun effect has been increased from 100% to 200%.
- Crystal Golem's Nexus charges duration has been increased from 2 to 3.
- Bloatscorch's Self Destruct power has been reduced from 160% to 150%.
- Bloatscorch is also less likely to use Self Destruct in succession.
- Regenerating elite's duration has been increased from 5 to 6.
- Berserker elite's duration has been increased from 5 to 6.
- During the early game grace period, enemies' Attack is reduced by 5.
- Boss class enemies have their stats reduced by 5 until one is defeated.
- Max Health depletes more slowly in early game.
Dev Note: Erzsie's stat change may seem like a nerf, but it's intended to make her new damage-oriented build more viable.
Dev Note #2: Buffs to elites aim to make these encounters more threatening and memorable, especially for high level heroes.
Dev Note #3: Extra cushion in the early game is there to adjust for the initial lack of runes.
COSMETICS:
- Most ability icons have FINALLY been replaced with final ones.
- Likewise, buff icons have been altered to match the new look.
- Complete character screen overhaul.
- Mission summary screen got overhauled to include XP gains.
- New training and rune upgrade GUI.
- New sound effects for character movement, jumps, etc.
- Healing sound effect's volume now depends on its power.
- Sound volumes have generally been adjusted in several places.
- Additional sounds for some of the attacks.
- Positional sound is now being used selectively for better ambience.
- New FX and sound for effect for Sanctuary.
- Nicer FX and sound effect for Purge.
- Better FX and sound for Assassinate.
- New FX for Booby Trap.
- Fixed animation timing on Resonance effect.
- Damage text floater are now more "juicy"!
- Attacks with increased damage now display extra FX and a "!" in their damage number.
- "Save!" floater has been added on death prevention for more clarity.
- Reinforcements counter's look has been adjusted for more clarity.
- Rune icons have been updated to higher resolution.
- Fixed particle positions on beam effects (level up, Prism attack, etc.).
- FX for purchasing items is now nicer because why not.
- Updated recoil animation on some of the larger monsters.
- Smoothened coin appearance effect.
- New, nicer backdrop for menus.
- Area counter now disappears during cutscenes.
Dev Note: As you can see, cosmetics have been a major "hidden" goal of this update, with big, small and completely tiny changes everywhere. We wanted the game to catch up to its final look and feel.
Dev Note #2: Soundscape in particular has been improved with the amount of sound effects nearly doubled. It's a subtle but noticeable difference.
GAMEPLAY & QOL:
- Profile reset button has been added to the options menu.
- Item and gold counting during mission summary is now much faster.
- Ditto for errand summary.
- Story quests no longer disappear from the area when failed.
- Hero-specific items get removed from the inventory if that hero fell during Endless.
- Inspirations now get automatically unequipped if the particular hero has left.
- Endless quest info now displays your current record.
- Unified terminology for Skill XP and Motivation XP to avoid confusion.
- Monsters now belong to families: Mournfolk, Undead, and Creatures.
Dev Note: Monster families currently only come up in relation to some skills, but this is going to get expanded in future updates.
BUG FIXES & MISC STUFF:
- Item use quest now updates correctly.
- Fixed a rare crash related to Potion use.
- Adjusted wrong offset for Bloatscorch's attack.
- Fixed some cases where quest messages and tutorials overlapped.
- Golem's attack no longer ignores Magnetic Field & Sanctuary.
- Fixed shadow positions on purchasable items.
- Pins on the map no longer overlap (except for Gauntlet/Endless... ugh).
- "More DOTs" quest now updates correctly.
- Fixed a rare issue where heroes sometimes wouldn't get replaced during Endless.
- Some missions now correctly require a particular set of heroes.
- Fixed a crash in the scene with Nadia inquiring about Hildie.
- Enemy Wights and Knights no longer use Protect on each other.
- Fixed an issue with runes sometimes saving in wrong slots.
- Ripostes no longer get bonuses from item effect boosts when reacting to item attacks.
- Fixed a Booby Trap-related crash (thanks to Jack Carr for the report).
- Added custom dialogue for Erzsie during the food scene.
- Fixed some incorrect positions for Runesmith's animations.
- HP bar size for elite enemies now updates correctly.
- And many more too specific or minor to list...
FUTURE PLANS:
This update has been by far the most complex to develop, with its overhauls touching pretty much every core mechanic in some way. As such, we want the game to cool down a bit before introducing further major changes. The next patch is likely going to be smaller and focused on content.
Of course, for now we're going into rapid hotfixing mode on any bugs you may find, as well as balance (because let's be honest: we just turned the entire thing upside down).
We hope you like the changes! If you encounter any issues, would like to check our current development roadmap or make any suggestions, feel free to drop by our community forums. You can also follow me on Twitter or join MoaCube's Discord server for more frequent updates.
-Tom