Howdie all!
Stopping back in for another round up of whats been happening the past few weeks in Beta! Lots of changes and tweaks, lets dive right in.
The Enlightened - Mindfulness
The second spec - named Mindfulness - is now live and running. Mindfulness is the alternative to the Martial spec for the Enlightened, focusing on attacking enemies minds. It centers around a mechanic called Shii, which you build up over time on enemies. Shii reads:
Whilst Shii isn't effected by Vulnerable, its strength comes from the fact that once it's on the board, it stays on the board, bouncing between other creatures on death (albeit in a diminished state). Also keep in mind, Shii triggers at any time, based on the creatures current HP. So throwing some Shii on a creature and then coupling in some direct damage or even Future Strike can help bring it under the threshold, resulting in a brain bursting instant pop!
Card Balance Update
The entire card catalogue has been revisited, with each card being looked at and either tweaked a little, or removed if it doesn't fit the current direction and balance. As a note, the Enlightened and Daughter Soultithe cards got hit the hardest, followed up by any cards that grant you "free" resources (think Draw, Recur etc).
Stats System
Probably something that should have been in from the start! The new Stats system will track data across your runs, with some general stats and also a break down of class specific stats and even Daily Draft data. This system is still in a state, so please feel free to log any issues or concerns with me directly, either via DM or Discord.
New Damage Prediction Scripts
Whilst the damage prediction on cards has been great - it started to run into issues with a few cards, namely some for the Enlightened that applied Future Strike AND Shii (greedy I know!). This required two values to show. Also some cards that would do X damage, and then an secondary, conditional X damage.
The new damage script will show both values on cards like these, and also provide cute little icons which are all around much more visually pleasing.
I've tried to cycle through all cards and accommodate all the changes, however if any numbers go wonky, please feel free to report as well and I'll get them fixed right away.
New Card Size
So cards were running into the issue where they'd start to run out of space pretty quickly. Some cards being 4 lines, and then getting a Void Stone, would cause all sorts of issues. I bit the bullet and made cards a little taller to accommodate for this.
[h2Pre Run Vault Guardians
At the start of your run, you'll now be greeted with a screen where the Void chooses his Vault Guardians for the run, along with their Blessings. This is a move to continue to give the player more control and knowledge over the run and whats upcoming. Also, if you're mid run and forgot what was assigned, you can mouseover the Map icon in the top toolbar for a tooltip giving you the information again.
Leftover Souls
Souls are an interesting currency. On one hand, they're powerful, as they're the main way to buy Artifacts to power up your run. On the other hand, their use is limited outside the Soul Merchant and few other, more limited locations. I wanted to provide an option for excess Souls, which is why I setup a "Unleash Souls" option once you reach the Void.
Once inside the Vault, you'll be able to "Unleash excess Souls" upon the Void, setting free the Souls of the damned you collected across your run and dealing damage directly the Void himself. The more Souls, the more damage. Now the choice between spending your Souls or saving them for an extra burst of pre-fight damage is always an option.
Artifact Artwork
For awhile now, some Artifacts have had the "Coming Soon" image next to them. I'm pleased to say I've caught up on all artwork, and all Artifacts now have they're artwork in game! (all 120+). I still have about 30+ more Artifacts to add, but going to do my best to ensure all artwork is done for these before they get pushed live.
Cursed Item Changes
Small change to Cursed Items, you'll now have a few more choices when visiting one!
Walkaway Option
Again, another small change, but more choice for the player. Don't like Elite Artifacts? You can always leave them all and get some Essence and Souls instead!
New Card Backs and Challenge Coins
New Card Backs and Achievements have been added , along with new Challenge Coins!
Early Access Date!
And finally - an official Early Access date! Thank you to all who have participated in the Beta for the 12 months or so! It has been absolutely instrumental in making the game what it is. It was a hard decision to delay things for around a year to ensure this Beta program could run, but I'm very glad I did. Theres been a lot more activity around this genre in the last 12 months, and whilst I would of loved to have gotten in "earlier", Vault is now going to be a much better, much smoother experience for new players on launch, which I value a lot higher. Heres hoping the drive and desire to do things differently, and passion (and pain sometimes!) I've poured into the game will be enough to make it stand out from the crowd.
On that note, Vault of the Void will be officially released into Early Access on December 11, 2020!
For anyone still wishing to give things a shot, feel free to join the Discord and I'm more than happy to flick around a few more Beta codes.
Next update will give some more information on the upcoming Impossible+ and Instability game mode!
All for now!
- Josh