Greetings Knight-To-Be,
It has been awhile since our previous update, Citadel of Steel, so we figured it was about time we dust the sand off and release our next major update: The Rotted Throne!
In the Rotted Throne, you will be able to explore the brand new major island, Black Rot Chasm; as well as some new smaller islands. Alongside it we have made some significant upgrades to combat, rune crafting, improved fast travel, some tweaks to our overall narrative, and much more to improve the gameplay experience from beginning to end. More details can be found in the notes below, but here are just some of the things that we’d like to highlight.
Quick Start
We know that our previous save wipes have been daunting and our players would like to just jump into the newest content right away. In the previous patch we implemented the Quick Start feature that provides you with ample resources, items and gear to get started. It also completes all of the required quests in the story to allow you to jump right into the latest content. While we encourage players to experience the game from start to finish, this option is available. When you enter Start Game, the Quick Start option is at the bottom of the list of files.
Black Rot Chasm
With the storm of the Flare Forge quelled and the threat of its mysterious core addressed, all hope now rests within a single jewel of crystalline fire, within a simple vial of aged elixir. From the frigid depths of The Coldwell to the suffocating darkness of The Grave, come the sounds of your footsteps, the luminous gleam of your lantern, as you strive to exhume from Talamhel every secret of its sands.
But perhaps there are some things that are best left buried…
Unexpected events have broken open the belly of the world and set loose a wave of worry regarding those brooding beneath… Once thought eternally buried, with the emergence of the Black Rot Chasm comes the threat of a new age. An age ruled not by men, not by kings nor Ferrum, but an ancient, subterranean horror known as the Hashara.
Within this mire of sickening rot, between districts inlaid with shimmering greed, waits a tale of betrayal, a tale of rebirth. As you cleave through new unrelenting enemies, as you forge new friendships and struggle to recover the secrets of the past, you must decide whether the shadow of one’s history should forever determine their future, or if the crimson stains of antiquity can truly be forgiven…
It is up to you, Knight, what emerges from that subterranean darkness…
Is it a beginning? Or is it an end?
Combat
Let us talk about our feelings, “Combat Feel”, to be precise. In any action RPG, combat is the main focus of play and if it falls short, it harms the beauty of the world we are creating. Which is why this is one area where we are actively seeking ways to improve it, while also ensuring it fits our goals and designs.
In this patch, you will be able to experience Jump Attacks and Dodge Attacks! This has been requested by the community and feedback, and we wanted to make sure it worked. And by Leisis, it is amazing.
There are other seemingly small things that can make a big impact in combat, such as sound and visual effects. We took some steps to improve this area so be sure to turn up the volume and immerse yourself in your adventures!
Rune Crafting
Runes were items you found in the world to upgrade your armor with the stats that you wanted. This update you can take that a step further with the rune crafting. Our old friend Seldom is here to help! Be sure to recruit him back to Starspire to help you unlock your armor’s potential.
You can now deconstruct the unused runes you’ve hoarded and reconstruct them into the rune you’re targeting for your build.
Fast Travel
We get it, our world is huge! While some like to enjoy the cool hot breeze flowing through their hair as they sail across the sand sea, others like to just get there on auto pilot. While Talamhel does not have any self-driving boats, we do have Fast Travel!
Previously you were able to travel between the different islands you have visited, but now we moved that system to allow you to travel between any bell you have rung.
Guardian Armor
We are extremely excited that you may now equip the Guardian Armor set!
What to look forward to next!
From here on out we will begin our final ascent to completing our world. What this means is that while this update will have a Save Wipe, it will be the last one until the release of version 1.0. And to be clear, progress during Early Access will not carry over at the Full Release. We are very excited for the final chapter of our Sands of Aura journey. We will provide more details in the future, but until then please enjoy the new update and thank you for playing!
0.04.00 - The Rotted Throne Patch Notes
Island & Environment
General
- Added new quests for Black Rot Chasm, Starspire Refuge, Colossus of Radiance, and the Dune of Creation.
- Reworked the main questline path to better integrate certain characters into the story, improve clarity, and remove bugs.
- Updated appearance of some NPCs to remove duplicates and look-alikes.
- Fixed some cases of characters' skin tones not being consistent across multiple appearances.
- Updated human NPCs move speed to properly sync up with their walk and run animations.
- Fixed animation blending issue on some non-human NPCs (such as Furn).
- Dialogue cleanup and polish pass to account for story and environmental changes.
- Added new dialogue for Felker when approaching an island for the first time.
- Added additional lore for some items and armor and armor that had none.
- Fixed issue that could cause the camera to not move to its correct target during dialogue.
- Fixed issue that could cause the camera to abruptly snap its rotation during dialogue.
- Added additional checks to clear out unused and/or unneeded quest items from the player inventory after completing the relevant quest.
- Fixed issue where bosses would not properly be reset after Player death under certain conditions.
- Fixed crash that could occur when triggering certain events and interactions.
- Fixed bug that could cause the player to get stuck in a mid-attack state after clearing some encounters.
- Added option to control Grainwake movement and acceleration on a button toggle rather than a button hold.
- Fixed issue where the player could die while fast traveling or entering levels after defeating The Flare Knight.
Dune of Creation
- Fixed issue that would allow entry into the Dune of Creation at the wrong times.
- Fixed issue where a tiny version of Aura could appear in the Dune of Creation.
- Fixed quest softlock that could occur during "The Weight of Relief" if the player died or fast traveled during certain interactions.
Flare Forge
- Added storm VFX while approaching Flare Forge (which can be quite shocking if approaching the Ferrum stronghold without the proper equipment).
- Updated Furn's dialogue and quest descriptions for "The Remains of Redemption".
- Fixed issue that would cause Furn to despawn after completing “Remains of Redemption”.
- Adjustments to prevent the "Bones of a Hurwellian Royal" quest item from reappearing in Furn's inventory.
- Fixed sequence break that could occur after defeating The Flare Knight.
Radix Stronghold
- Fixed sequence break that could occur after defeating The Wilgram Twins.
Malek's Menagerie
- Fixed issue causing Felker to fall through the floor at the dock of Malek's Menagerie.
- Fixed issue causing the Fetters of Translocation to remain in the inventory after being used.
- Added additional interactions in the world after "To Shield or Smother" is completed.
The Coldwell
- Fixed issue where the Splintering Pike was not required to claim the Dustfall Talisman in The Coldwell.
Ruins of Hurwell
- Updated some item interactions in Ruins of Hurwell that were not consistent with the rest of the game.
- Fixed issue where Ulbur could enter an unintended state during his interactions at Ruins of Hurwell.
The Belfry
- Polished interactions with Kauzzum at The Belfry.
Gameplay
Player
- Adjusted jumping physics to give more weight to the player and reduce "floatiness".
- Reworked 2 handed slashing attack animations.
- Added dodge attacks.
- Added jump attacks.
- Reduced the maximum multiplier granted to special attacks by corruption.
- Setup better shadows for player and human NPCs to be more grounded in their environments.
- Added/Improved visual and sound feedback for hitting enemies and getting hit.
- Reworked sprint calculations so that positive and negative speed modifiers apply more consistently.
- Fixed bug causing certain attacks to hit targets multiple times in a single attack.
- Fixed a bug causing attacks that hit rapidly to not hit as frequently as they are supposed to.
- Fixed delayed actions occurring when landing from a jump. Input should feel more responsive in this situation.
- Added/Improved visual and sound feedback for blocking mechanics.
- Added animations for stopping from sprinting and turning around while sprinting.
- Added Martial spellblade.
- Fixed bug causing newly acquired healing bells to be lost if you died before resting.
NPCs
- Fixed bug that could cause bonus hits from various effects to more quickly trigger an enemies unstoppable state.
- Fixed bug that could cause NPCs to die immediately after loading by taking fall damage.
- Fixed bug allowing friendly NPCs to take damage in rare circumstances.
- Reworked stagger system and added more feedback when enemies are unstaggerable.
- Added Hashara Bloodsucker ranged and melee enemy variants.
- Added Hashara Spindlebug melee and explosive enemy variants.
- Added Hashara Elite enemy.
- Added Hashara Hive Guard enemy.
- Added Hashara Princess enemy.
- Reworked Danthea AI and abilities.
- Reworked Kauzzum AI and abilities.
- Added visual effects for human enemies doing special attacks.
Items
- Rescaled runes to level from 1 - 6 instead of 1 - 20 to streamline upgrading and reduce item clutter.
- Added ability to deconstruct and upgrade runes.
- Fixed bug causing overflow armor effects to only be triggered by healing bells and no other sources of healing.
- Rebalanced armor and health values on armor as well as bonuses from runes so that effective HP is equivalent between armor and health.
- Rebalanced Amplified armor effect.
- Rebalanced Tithe armor effect.
- Rebalanced Opportunists armor effect.
- Added Devourers armor effect.
- Added Woundweavers armor effect.
- Added Brawlers armor effect.
- Reworked Crags Cognac brew to now increase armor. Negative effect remains the same.
- Reworked Wilgrams Whiskey to only increase damage of regular attacks. Negative effect remains the same.
- Added Rugged Rum brew.
- Added Seethers Sake brew.
- Added Verdant Vodka brew.
- Rebalanced Poisoner pommel to scale well with fast attacking weapons.
- Reworked Corruptive pommel to now only generate corruption while in combat.
- Added Hashara codex.
- Refactored naming and icon generation for crafted weapons.
- Added Sinful Greed talisman.
- Added Reflectile talisman.
Music
- Added new music when the player enters a combat state.
Systems
- Improved fast travel system to allow travel to specific bells rather than just docks.
- Added auto dismount when you reach the top/bottom of ladders.
User Interface
World Map
- Added an additional menu that allows the player to pick the bell that they wish to travel to.
- Increased the area that the player is able to use the fast travel function from near bells and the docks.
- Made it so controller navigation would not snap the cursor to the center of the screen when moving around at the edge of the map.
- Fixed a problem that the map could go offscreen when zooming in and out while near the edge of the map.
Rune Upgrades
- Runes can now be broken down and upgraded at the rune carver to help the player build the stats that they want
Weapons
- Weapons have a different naming convention that better describes how they are made in the game
- Weapon icons have been updated to help lower confusion on how the weapon will work
Inventory
- Added a way to rotate the player when in the Inventory
Options
- Boat movement toggle has been added
- In game brightness / gamma controls have added additional images to make it easier to control how dark or bright that the game should look
Combat
- Added a border to damage numbers to make them more apparent
- Added an indicator that shows on the health bar of an enemy that shows when an enemy is in the Unstoppable state where they can no longer be staggered when hitting them.
Localization
- Localization options for all languages have been removed.
Interface Issues Resolved
- Removed a crash when trying to upgrade the temporal Spellblade.
- Fixed the progress bar in the church upgrade interact, it would go backward if it was leveled up. It now fills to the end and then moves to the desired percent.
- Made the glint pick up amount picked up stay on screen instead of counting down to make it easier to see the total.
We hope you enjoy this update as much as we did! Please feel free to leave us feedback in our discord or in the steam discussions. We are quite active in those areas to answer questions and take in comments to improve Sands of Aura.
As always, Thank you for playing!
- Chashu Entertainment