Hi everyone!
This update focuses heavily on improving early-game clarity, making Chapter 1 more welcoming, and tightening the pacing of a few boss encounters later on. We’ve also knocked out a handful of crashes and fixed some long-standing quirks with abilities.
Here’s a summary of the most notable improvements:
🔥 Highlights
Chapter 1 boss rebalanced — lower health, slower attacks, and longer vulnerability windows
Better onboarding — Ember now provides smarter, once-per-run context hints (without feeling naggy!)
New Sun Power — helps detect foraging/crafting items
New Plushie Upgrade — grants a free Sun Power at first dawn
Crafting minigames require fewer inputs
Chapter 3 boss pacing greatly improved
Multiple crash fixes
Lots of bug fixes including Courageon quips, Ayco’s Shield Surge, parry behavior, and more
And of course, below are the full patch notes for anyone who loves the details.
Thank you so much for playing and for all your feedback. Your insights make Ember stronger. 🦊✨
If you encounter anything unexpected, please drop a note on the discussions page or in the Discord!
Stay bright,
— Arden, LionArc Games
Full Patch Notes
v1.0.3 — Guiding Light Update
Chapter 1 Improvements
Boss health reduced
Boss attack frequency reduced
Boss vulnerable phase lasts longer
Dev Note: These boss changes apply only when reaching him normally in Chapter 1
Slight increase in the quantity of bug food spawns around the forest on day 1. (Ch1 only)
Slight reduction in total enemies appearing during Chapter 1 nights
Onboarding, Tutorials & Player Guidance
Reworded the first tutorial popup to better explain how to light campfires
Expanded Ember’s contextual hint system to reinforce key concepts while avoiding spam:
Up to once per run, Ember hints that a campfire is too small to add more wood (until you build a large campfire at least once; tracked with a new stat)
Up to once per run in Chapter 1 (or until lighting 5 fires), Ember reminds you to grab a bug for a fire attack in mid-afternoon if you don’t have one
Up to once per run, Ember points out if a nearby campfire has run out of wood
Up to once per run (until reaching Chapter 2 or lighting 5 fires), Ember hints about needing a Power Strike to light a fire
Up to once per run (same conditions), Ember hints about needing a fire attack upgrade to light a fire
Up to once per run, Ember gives feedback on how to damage the Chapter 1 boss if you appear stuck
Added a new Sun Power that helps detect foraging and crafting items
Added a Plushie upgrade that grants one free Sun Power at the first dawn of each dream
Boss & Enemy Adjustments
Chapter 3 Boss
Move phase duration cut roughly in half
Added minion spawns at the end of the start of the move phase to reduce perceived idle time
Some bullets at the end of vulnerability are now dread type
Improved intro sequence to fix several edge-case behaviors
Other Enemy Changes
Red spider variant health increased from 120 → 140
Bullets that seek enemies no longer target invulnerable enemies
Crafting & Interaction
Reduced the number of required inputs for most crafting minigames
Added checks to prevent the game from entering an invalid “pseudo-paused” state
Added brief input lockouts on certain menu moments to prevent accidental inputs
Fixes
Fixed a bug where the final bedroom plushie conversation could trigger twice or not at all
Fixed a crash when the pond gem tried to absorb an object that had despawned
Fixed a crash when adjusting video settings that could corrupt the configuration file
Fixed a crash during the final boss if the white gem was destroyed before its cutscene finished
Fixed a minor trigger issue where the game incorrectly believed you were at the edge of the map while the camera was panning
Adjusted Plush Fox's Starfall ability (minor buffs and exploit prevention)
Fixed a bug allowing the Parry moon power to work on dread skull chaser bullets
Fixed a bug that prevented Courageon’s nighttime quips
Fixed a bug that disabled Ayco’s Shield Surge
Additional Fixes
Since this release, a handful of hotfixes have been released to address additional issues reported by players.
Hotfix 1 | Hotfix 2 | Hotfix 3
Things Addressed in Hotfixes
Epilogue Fixes
Fixed multiple crashes related to Epilogue dawn events triggering more than once.
Fixed a crash related to an Epilogue boss spawn event.
Fixed an Epilogue dialogue issue that could cause unintended dialogue to play.
Fixed a visual issue where some vines were not clearing correctly in the Epilogue.
Corrected a small visual error in an Epilogue-specific vine art asset.
Resolved a glitch that caused the Chapter 2 boss’s shield to render out of position.
Gameplay & Balance
Updated the Dusk Treader outfit unlock requirements to reduce confusion.
Balance: Fully evolved Vine Nests now gain additional maximum HP each day in the Epilogue, in line with difficulty scaling.
Progression & Achievements
Steam achievements now retroactively unlock when loading save files created before v1.0, if their requirements have already been met.
Improved the conditions for unlocking the first achievement so it triggers more reliably for older save files returning to the game.
Audio
Fixed a crash that could occur when starting a new game with sound effect volume set to zero.
Fixed inconsistencies where sound effect volume was not correctly respecting player settings.