1.2 is finally here! This update is Hellements’ biggest update yet, with a brand new challenge mode featuring 7 different shrines, a brand new map, numerous upgrade changes (15 major reworks and 22 minor tweaks), a new Diablo modifer, a scoring system and more!
Hellements is also going on sale for 20% off as part of this weekend's TactiCon festival. Check it out to find some great strategy games!
https://store.steampowered.com/sale/TactiCon
Thank you all for your continued support and I hope that these changes give you some added enjoyment out of the game. This update is far from the last and I can’t wait for you guys to see what I have planned for the future!
The Shrines of Sin
A brand new mode has been added to the game! The Shrines of Sin are unlocked at level 50 and can be accessed through the play menu right next to the “Hallowed Grounds” button.
Each day, players will be presented with a randomly generated challenge. The challenge will be to complete a map on Diablo difficulty with the following constraints:
• You can only use 5 randomly selected Spirits. (One will always be Forest Spirit)
• 2-7 randomly selected Diablo modifiers
• A shrine will be placed at a random location on the map. This shrine will provide an effect to all adjacent spirits, and this effect will be picked from a pool of 7 different shrines.
List of Shrines:
Wrath - Spirits adjacent to the shrine gain 25% increased damage and attack speed, but their upgrades now cost 50% more.
Envy - Spirits adjacent to the shrine gain +2 range, but can no longer target enemies within 2 tiles.
Lust - All flier paths must now go through the shrine's tile. Spirits adjacent to the shrine can now target fliers, but deal 50% less damage against them.
Greed - At the end of each wave, gain gold equal to 25% of your current soul count. Spirits adjacent to the shrine can only be upgraded with gold.
Start the game with 300 gold.
Gluttony - At the start of each stage, consume souls equal to 25% of all adjacent spirits' soul value.
For every 100 souls consumed, the most expensive adjacent spirit gains 2.5% increased damage.
If you do not have enough souls, instead sacrifice the cheapest adjacent spirits until the total soul value of the sacrificed spirits meets the required soul amount.
Sloth - Upgrading Spirits adjacent to the shrine now costs 75% less. However, at the start of each stage, petrify each adjacent Spirit.
While petrified, spirits are non-functional. Units placed on adjacent tiles can not be released.
Pride - Blessing adjacent tiles costs 1 additional blessing. Place a dragon's egg on every vacant, adjacent blessing, and give it a draconic soul at the end of each wave.
When a Spirit is placed on a tile with an egg, they consume the egg and gain bonuses depending on how many draconic souls the egg had.
- For each draconic soul consumed, gain 5% increased damage.
- If at least 5 draconic souls are consumed, gain 25% increased attack speed.
- If at least 10 draconic souls are consumed, gain +1 range.
- If at least 15 draconic souls are consumed, upgrades cost 25% less.
- If the egg reaches 20 souls, spawn a dragon on the egg's tile. Only one dragon may be spawned per game
Some things to keep in mind:
- Everyone gets the same randomly generated challenge each day
- Challenges can be played up to 2 days after they are issued, so you will always have 3 challenges to pick from.
- Challenges refresh at midnight UTC. If you'd like to play different challenges than what's currently available you can change the time on your computer's clock to a future date.
- The list of available random tiles to be selected are hand picked per map. Usually they'll be adjacent to a hellement but not all the time.
Blight Map
What would a content update be without a new map? Enter the Blight, where you’ll be faced with 6 different spawn points.
Spirit Changes
General Changes
Increased maximum chain range by 33%
Projectiles with chain now chain if the target dies before the projectile reaches the target
Increased the maximum distance of shock damage by 66%
Forest Spirit
Right Path
Leyline Manipulation (T4R-R) Rework - 11000 souls
New - Gain 40 damage for each Forest Spirit connected to this Spirit by blessings
Wind
Tier 1 - Added +1 range
Tier 2 - Added 15% increased damage only to self
Tier 3 - Added 30% increased damage only to self
Explosive Spirit
Left Path
Cluster Bombs (T3-L) - Mini bombs now apply lightning strikes
*See further lightning strike changes below
Projectiles that target fliers now properly shoot their mini bombs near their intended target
T4L-R Rework - Volcanic Geyser (previously meteor strike) - 7000 souls
Create a volcanic geyser on every vacant, adjacent blessing that is next to an enemy path. Volcanic geysers lob explosives at a random nearby location
*If there are multiple adjacent Explosive Spirits with this upgrade, the geyser will deal damage equal to all of their combined damage values.
Geysers attack at a set rate of 2 attacks per second.
Hellement bonuses are also applied to adjacent geysers.
Middle Path
ELITE Hunter (T3-M)
Added 4 units of area of effect radius
ELITE damage multiplier 300% > 400%
Right Path Rework (Previously Gravity Bomb)
Meteor Shower (T3-R) 4600 souls
Instead of attacking normally, attacks now call down meteors on every tile at a set radius around the Explosive Spirit.
*Set the radius of the meteor shower using the buttons on the left. The maximum radius is equal to the Explosive Spirit's range.
Hail of Fire (T4R-L) 8500 souls
For every targeted tile with a flier path, gain 10 bonus damage and 10% increased attack speed
The Big One (T4R-R) 9500 souls
Every 10th attack now calls down an extra large meteor that deals 2000% damage
*Control where the big one lands by setting this Spirit's targeting priority
Fire
Flamethrower’s area of effect now scales with increased range and explosion radius
Tier 2 - Bonus aoe radius 3 > 4.5
Lightning
The damage of individual lightning strikes are going down, but cluster bombs, geysers, and meteors will now trigger lightning strikes.
All tiers - Removed 50% bonus damage for enemies in the center of the strike
All tiers - Reduced lightning area of effect
Tier 2 - 100% bonus lightning damage > 50% bonus lightning damage
Tier 3 - 150% bonus attack speed > 100% bonus attack speed
Wind
Tier 1 - Stun duration 2s > 1s. This stun can now be reapplied after 6 seconds.
*Note that tier 2 and 3 still increase the first stun’s duration by 2s, but reapplied stuns will only last for 1s.
Sniper Spirit
Base Stats
Pierce no longer grants bonus damage against fliers. Instead, pierce converts to chain against fliers at a 2:1 pierce:chain ratio
Ground projectile max drift range
2 tiles > 4 tiles
*This is a stat that causes Sniper’s ground projectiles to travel farther than the max range of Sniper.
Tier 1
Added 10 damage to both upgrades
Cost 350 > 425 for both upgrades
Applied Force (T2-L)
Removed +1 pierce
Damage 20 > 25
Cost 1200 > 1000
Faerie Energy (T2-R)
Attack Speed 20% > 30%
Added +1 pierce
Left Path
Stopping Power (T3-L)
Removed ignore all armor
Added 200% increased damage against the first enemy hit
Shield Breaker (T4L-R)
Bonus damage 60 > 50
8000 souls > 9000 souls
Added ignore all armor
Right Path
Spray and Pray (T3-R)
Base attack speed bonus .65 > .7
Sniper Senses (T4R-R)
Fixed a bug where the Sniper spirit only targeted multiple fliers if they were near each other
Fire Mini Rework (Now called Death Mark)
ELITEs hit are now executed if they reach the execution threshold within 1s of the Sniper Spirit hitting them
Tier 2 - Removed bonus flat damage
Tier 2 - Projectiles now cause an explosion against the first enemy hit.
*This explosion gains bonus damage if paired with the new Stopping Power upgrade
Wind
Tier 1 - Bonus damage if no nearby enemies 10 > 20
Tier 3 - Bonus damage per tile between 5 > 10
Gatling Spirit
Base minimum attack speed 6 > 3
Base time to max attack speed 8s > 10s
Base time at max attack speed 20s > 16s
Extended Reach (T1-R)
Fixed a bug where this upgrade was lowering max attack speed duration instead of increasing it
Middle Path
Crystalline Rebound (T3-M)
Projectile damage penalty 50% > 40%
Right Path
Fixed some issues where projectiles would shatter at incorrect angles
Fire Rework
Tier 1 - Projectiles gain heat seeking capabilities, allowing the Gatling Spirit to target any burning enemy on the map. Every 10 seconds, burn 5 enemies on the map with the highest health
Tier 2 - Gain 20 bonus damage and armor penetration
Tier 3 - Gain 30 bonus damage and armor penetration. Reduce the time between burns to 3 seconds
Curse Spirit
Time Dilation (T2-R)
Added +1 range
Left Path Rework - Replacing Bane, which got moved to Fire
Wither (T3-L) 3600 souls
Cursed enemies have -15 armor and -20 regeneration. While cursed, negative armor increases damage taken and negative regeneration deals damage over time
*Each point of negative armor increases the amount of damage taken per hit by 1.
Each point of negative regeneration deals 1 damage twice per second
Crumble (T4L-L) 5500 souls
Cursed enemies have -50 armor
Pestilence (T4L-R) 8250 souls
Cursed ELITEs have -150 health regeneration. If that ELITE dies while cursed, they leave behind a zone of decay that reduces 20 health regeneration.
*Zones of decay last for 15 seconds
Middle Path Mini Rework
Energy Transfer (T3-M) 3000 souls
Curses now slow ELITEs. Whenever this Spirit curses an ELITE, every other Spirit in range gains 5% bonus damage for as long as the curse lasts
Power Extraction (T4M-L) 7350 souls
Gain +1 range. Cursing an ELITE now grants 10% increased damage to all Spirits in range (from 5%)
Warden (T4M-R) 6000 souls
Slow strength is increased to 40% (from 20%)
Fire Rework (Bane)
Damage dealt by bane is no longer stored onto other sources of bane. The way the old version worked basically allows you to compound a massive amount of aoe damage and was proving to be basically impossible to balance (see screenshots of curse spirit with 2+ billion damage dealt).
Also, the explosion now triggers if the amount of stored damage exceeds the target's current health. This way, the curse now always deals damage to the original enemy and you no longer have a situation where the damage stored goes to waste. Hopefully that these changes prove to be a healthier version of the mechanic.
Tier 1 - Curses store 10% of damage taken. Upon expiring, the curse explodes, dealing stored damage to all nearby enemies. If the amount of stored damage exceeds the enemy's current health, immediately trigger the explosion.
(Damage dealt by Bane is not stored)
Tier 2 - Curses last for 4 more seconds. Cursed ELITEs now take stored damage every second
Tier 3 - Curses now store 20% of damage taken
Divine Spirit
Fire
Tier 1 - (ADDED) Each hit now reduces 1 health regeneration for 3 seconds
Tier 2 - (ADDED) Each hit now reduces 1 health regeneration for 3 seconds (2 total)
Tier 3 - (ADDED) Each hit now reduces 1 health regeneration for 3 seconds (3 total)
Mushroom Spirit
Tier 2’s upgrades now give you the option of specializing in Archer damage or trap damage and functionality
Bow Mastery (T2-L)
Archer gains 15 damage, +1 range, and 25% increased attack speed
Spore Mastery (T2-R)
Traps gain 30 damage, +1 placement range, and 35% increased spore generation rate. Traps can now shoot spores at fliers that fly over the trap
Left Path
Fixed a bug where the left path was getting 20 bonus spore damage
Death Cloud (T4L-R) Rework - 10000 souls
Is now a permanent aura around the trap rather than an active ability.
Emit a cloud of death around the trap. Enemies inside of the cloud take 25% increased damage and can be targeted by any Archer on the map. Whenever an ELITE dies inside the cloud, every trap on the map generates a spore
*The death cloud affects all enemies within 2 tiles of the trap
Right Path Rework (Previously Controlled Release)
Spore Injection (T3-R) 1750 souls
Archer gains 5% increased attack speed for each trap in range. For every 10 spores generated by these traps, Archer gains 2 damage for the rest of the wave
*This upgrade takes into account any trap placed by any Mushroom Spirit.
MEGA traps in range of Archer grant 15% increased attack speed
Fungal Frenzy (T4R-L) 9250 souls
Archer gains +1 range and 10% increased attack speed for each trap in range. For every 10 spores generated by these traps, Archer gains 3 damage for the rest of the wave
*MEGA traps in range of Archer grant 25% increased attack speed
This upgrade stacks with the previous upgrade, for a total of 15% increased attack speed per trap and 5 damage per 10 spores generated
Infestation (T4R-R) 2750 souls
Every mushroom trap on the map now generates spores 25% faster and gains 10 bonus spore damage
Wind
Tier 2 - Removed generation of spores whenever an enemy affected by MEGA trap dies.
Chaos Breach Modifier Changes
Random Tile Selection
The Hellement placement modifier that randomly selects tiles is being replaced with a modifier that lets you place a Hellement on any unblessed tile.
Stage 3 Tier Ups
Stage 3’s chaos breach now always offers a tier up of each hellement that is still at Tier 1. Any hellements already at tier 2 will offer unblessed tile placements for that hellement type, along with blessings and souls. No longer will you end a game with every hellement still at tier 1!
Equilibrium Diablo Modifier
The 7th Diablo modifier is here! Equilibrium introduces a new challenge in that you can no longer have 2 Spirits of the same type on each hellement. Let me know what you guys think of this new mod.
Spirit Stats
A new stat panel has been added that appears to the bottom right where the Spirit’s damage tracker used to be. This panel shows every stat previously found in the upgrade tree, with more additions and clarifications. Hovering over a stat’s icon gives you a detailed breakdown of what that stat does and how that stat is calculated.
Each Spirit has a unique set of stats and some upgrades add to the list of stats shown. I’ve tried to add every important stat I could think of, but if there are any other ones you’d like to see let me know!
Scoring System
A brand new scoring system has beend added to the game! At the end of each wave, gain points depending on how many unspent souls you have left. The amount of points earned increases with higher difficulties and more modifiers.
Endless Mode Changes
- Now grants experience depending on which stage you made it to.
- Increased amount of souls gained per wave by 37%
- Base enemy health multiplier per stage now decreases at stage 10 and 15.
- Lowered base enemy speed scaling at all stages.
- Note that these are separate multipliers from the permanent breach modes, which are unaffected.
- High scores are now saved for each difficulty.
Quality of Life/General Changes
- Clicking on Mushroom and Divine Spirits now show which traps/beams belong to them
- Mushroom traps, Divine beams, and Laser clones now display a movement arrow when trying to move them.
- Mushroom spirits can now toggle between ground and air targeting priorities if there is at least one death cloud active
- Divine beams can now be placed directly on the crystal
- The upgrade tree menu now shows which upgrades have been unsealed.
- Added a Select All button for diablo modifiers
- Clicking on a Sniper Spirit now shows what angle they will fire at if the "Angled" targeting angle has been selected
- You are now returned directly to the level selection menu after each game
- The Helldrake (stage 4 fliers) has been replaced with a new model (Shade). The Helldrake’s model is now used for the Pride challenge.
- The currently playing song no longer changes after a checkpoint load
Bug Fixes
- Placing a mushroom/divine spirit or a laser clone now randomly selects a tile to place their accessory on if a chaos breach starts before you were able to place it.
- Fixed a bug where hellement tiers would not display properly upon loading into a saved game
- Fixed issues with mini gatling’s attack animations
- Mini gatling now follows his parent Spirit’s targeting setting
- Tier 4 upgrades now correctly factor into a Spirit’s resale/soul value
- The exit confirmation menu no longer appears after clicking “save” on the options menu
- Fixed a bug where hellement selection would lock you out if the upgrade tree was open
- Fixed a visual bug where Laser Spirit's clones wouldn't show fire novas
- Fixed an issue where Sniper Spirit's "Angled" targeting mode would target fliers if there was one in range
- Fixed a bug where chaining projectiles would not do anything if the target they were chaining to was too close to their original target
- The victory screen now properly displays 0 lives lost if the Fragile Diablo mod is active