Hey Everyone! Hope you’re all well!
We know we’ve been more on the quiet side lately, but that’s because we’ve been working VERY hard on Tainted Grail to bring you something REALLY amazing! This update will be quite hefty, but there’s a lot of big and important news coming your way. Many of you have been waiting for this, so stay tuned!
Before going further, we’d like to once again THANK YOU SO MUCH for playing Tainted Grail and supporting us along the wavy and shaky development road :D With our biggest post-release update so far (version 1.1), we aimed to address most of your commonly reported issues and requests. Since then, we’ve seen tons of positive comments and reviews on Steam, so seriously, keep that feedback coming because you’re being heard! You can consider yourselves a vital part of Tainted Grail, Travelers!
Okay, back to the juicy part!
Today, we are extremely proud to announce 3 things!
> New Patch (1.15) with some important improvements
> Free DLC with some extra content
> New, fully fledged expansion - Sanctuary of Sarras!
We’ve yet again collaborated with the one and only WolfheartFPS to bring you a video overview of the contents of this update! Check it out right here:
Or go directly to his channel! https://youtu.be/eLuIr9NTi-I
Let us start with….
1. Patch 1.15
Say hello to Patch 1.15, our new update that has just been released on Steam! Before listing all the patch notes, let’s start with what has been our #1 priority for this patch: optimization across all platforms.
We’ve constantly been going through the game top to bottom, searching for things to optimize. With today’s patch, the biggest improvements should be seen on Xbox. Our internal testing shows a significant performance boost of around 20+ more FPS.
These optimizations should also help older or weaker PCs run the game better, although, as always with PC, it heavily depends on your hardware. Modern or high-end PCs probably won’t see much difference, but the game should run better overall. Our internal testing also shows an improvement of around 2–3 FPS on Steam Deck and PS5.
Now, regarding PlayStation 5: we’re working really hard on this platform, but the issues we’re facing mostly come from how Unity handles graphics on PS5 (which we can’t change) and, unfortunately, memory allocation as well. This makes fixes tricky, but we’re digging through systems and rewriting parts of the game to find any solutions.
Our internal testing shows that we’re getting closer to significantly reducing crashes, and we hope to push an update that should help with this when Sarras launches. This crash-fixing patch will, of course, be available to everyone, not only to people who decide to buy Sarras.
All in all, the struggle for better performance on PS5 continues, and we’re doing everything we can on our end to improve the situation. We hope to have more good news in February, but we can’t promise anything; it’s not entirely in our hands. Still, today’s patch should offer a small boost to performance and stability. We’re really sorry for all the trouble, and thank you for your patience.
Now, for the rest of the patch notes!
Gameplay:
Three items that were meant to land in 1.1 were missing. They should now be available:
Sanguine Heart amulet → Corrupted Temple (in the secret cave)
Pendant of Endless Study amulet → Gates of Knowledge (in Kingie's room)
Harness of Inverse Right → Tomb of a Knight
An old item that was no longer available has been added again: Phantom Helmet in a chest at Kings Road Bridge
You can now access your stash at the boosted fireplace
Butterfly items are no longer consumable and can’t be placed in the quick-use slot
NG+ experience gained from quests and enemies has been tweaked
Mana Shield effect is now calculated before kill-prevention checks
Wyrdspawns should no longer spawn during dialogues
Hero no longer slows down when reaching shallow water
Buff/Debuff strength and duration now affect more statuses
Updated selection of items sold by Hjarn
Lowered Tempest Alliance increase to Mana Shield: 1% -> 0.25% per Perception point
Druid Shrines in Cuanacht now increase Mana Regeneration and Stamina Regeneration by a flat amount instead of a percentage, fixing inconsistencies depending on your mana regen at shrine completion
Quests:
In Price of Healing, Lord Yvain can now be convinced to fund the hospital once the Cuanacht main quest is complete
Improved and repaired objective tracking in Hollow Blessings: it now correctly tracks the amount of collected herbs
Fixed a bug where the player could start For the Silent after finishing the Úlfr tribe main storyline
Fixed an issue in Gunnvaldr Stronghold where the player was sometimes forced into dialogue with Frode even if he was already dead
Fixed looping dialogue and quest markers for Ulick in Handy Business
Completed quests should no longer show quest markers in certain edge cases
UI:
Added vignette and chromatic aberration toggles in the settings
Added an option to change the game’s font
Relic level now displays on items, and descriptions reflect the correct relic level
Fixed magic item tooltip separator visibility when only Mana Cost is displayed
UI asset rendering and structure optimized to boost performance, visuals, and load speed while minimizing memory usage
Equipped items and tools are no longer affected by bulk options in stash and shops
Fixed incorrectly cropped or wrong journal entries
Audio:
Voiceovers re-post-production should now fix loudness inconsistencies for dialogue lines: Osbryht, Cillian, Dicun, Drest, Imram, Vidar, Sir Vast, Self, Orlaith, Alma, Foxglove, Vorick, Gavrel, Ailei, SickBeggar, Pravda, Endrik, Briar, Neante, Asgall, Therrov, Ughwe, Berg, Betrys, Huardoc, Heber, Cinnamonsage, Rhys
Controllers:
Fixed an issue where DualSense controllers were sometimes detected incorrectly, breaking integration
Modding:
[Will be implemented tomorrow due to a delay] The mono modding branch requiring a password has been removed; you now have access to a public branch called "mono" without a password
Minor / Misc:
Added visual effect indicators to the HP bar; Bleed, Poison, and Burn now trigger unique graphic overlays
Armour weight modifiers in the Equipment UI now account for proficiency bonuses
Crimson Cave now has a new discovery marker
Improved visuals and concept for the FireRune spell
Some bandits should no longer drop 0-stack arrows
Fixed pixelated snow in the Forlorn Swords area
Debug Console QoL: toggle.debug-shortcuts is now saved between game sessions
Now, let's move to the big one!
2. The biggest of the big news
- Sanctuary of Sarras Expansion
We’re super excited to announce Sanctuary of Sarras, the first full-fledged expansion for Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon!
And it’s coming closer than you think; watch our announcement trailer to know more:
Sanctuary of Sarras expansion* launches December 15, 2025, at 1 PM EST / 7 PM CET on Steam and consoles! That’s right, just one week left! Let that sink in.
*We are calling it expansion instead of DLC, as we feel a new, fresh adventure for 15 USD should not be in the same category as a few cosmetic skins :D
Okay, cool, but what is the Sanctuary of Sarras about?
The journey will take you into the titular sanctuary, a realm shaped by the deep sea. Ancient structures rise from the ever-shifting currents, and forgotten paths pulse with the life of a submerged world. But try not to get charmed, as when you begin to explore the unknown, the true nature of Sarras starts to surface.
For six centuries, the fate of Sarras and its rebel crew has been shrouded in myth. Now, a hidden passage reveals a path into the past. In a completely new storyline, follow the trail of Nimue and the deserters who challenged King Arthur. Piece together the truth behind their disappearance and Merlin’s horrible retribution.
So yeah! This will be practically like a whole new act for the game, with 10-15 hours of gameplay, a new storyline, interesting characters, and multiple side quests! As mentioned before, there are TONS of new content coming. Not to spoil everything, but some of them are:
4 new epic bosses,
12 unique regular enemies,
more than 20 hand-crafted dungeons & interiors,
over 100 equipment pieces, including armor (#FashionGrail), melee weapons, bows, rings, amulets, spells, relics…
The expansion will also feature an alternate progression system! Activate sacred shrines to gain special skill points to spend within three new, distinct skill trees. You can level them all up at the same time, and choose which one is active at any moment. This will allow you to change your build on the fly and adapt quickly!
For those interested, you don’t need to finish the game to enter the expansion zone! To access the Sanctuary of Sarras, you’ll only need to have Cuanacht (act 2) unlocked.
You know screen-dumping is our tradition, so we have to preserve it this time, too :D Enjoy this never-before-shown set of Sanctuary of Sarras screenshots:
How much will the expansion cost?
Sanctuary of Sarras will be available for 14,99 USD on Steam (or your regional equivalent).
More info about the expansion coming soon, so stay tuned!
3. Bonus Content DLC #1
We have also decided to add some extra content for free to the core game! We hope that you will enjoy this free addition ;)
Take a peek at the screenshots below, or check all of that (along with patch 1.15 highlights) in our trailer:
You will get 5 completely new armor sets, serving as rewards for your in-game achievements.
Fore-Dweller: finish the I See A Darkness quest.
Champion: kill the Wyrdstalker.
Harbinger: finish the Thing On The Doorstep quest.
Weaver: resolve the mysterious encounters with the Weaver.
Unhallowed Divinity: finish the Menhir Rites quest.
Along with that, the DLC includes alternative looks for Qrko (your cute little pet), King Arthur and Caradoc.
You can try them out RIGHT NOW! :D
This free DLC is now available, and you should be able to see & download it in the DLC section on our Steam page!
And that’s it for today’s update!
Let’s quickly summarize all of this up:
Our first expansion, Sanctuary of Sarras, is launching in a week from today: December 15, at 1 PM EST / 7 PM CET.
Our first FREE Bonus Content DLC #1 is out now…
… and so is the patch 1.15 for the game!
Even for us, sleep-deprived indie gamedevs, this is quite a lot for one update! :D But at the same time, this is a result of our passion for Tainted Grail, and RPGs in general, and we’re honestly quite proud of it!
We hope you’ll like all the new stuff as much as we do. Feel free to share your thoughts regarding Sanctuary of Sarras, as well as the new armor sets, alternative looks for characters, and patch 1.15 contents! We’re excited to hear your thoughts!
This is going to be a crazy week! Talk to you soon, and see you in the Sanctuary!
All the best,
Awaken Realms / Questline