Early Access: Update 2 - Danger Level 5!

Greetings, Aces!

Just over two months ago, Towerborne entered Steam Early Access with 40+ hours of core gameplay, a collection of classes to conquer, gobs of gear to grind for, and bands of baddies blundering between biomes—begging to be beaten down.

Today, we’re thrilled to roll out our biggest gameplay update during early access.

We are raising the stakes with the heightened challenge of Danger Level 5—which brings dozens upon dozens more hours of gameplay that can stack up fast (depending on where you’re at in your journey and, let’s be real, just how much loot you’ve stashed). Speaking of loot, more mastery means better gear—we’re introducing the first batch of Legendary items for players to discover alongside an expanded world with over 100 new map tiles waiting to be explored.

We cherish the connection that we share with our players—and inviting all of you Founders to join us on this journey is how we keep building towards the future we talked about when we started Early Access. Of course, don’t forget that we absolutely love to show our appreciation to all of you as we continue doling out sweet Founder Bonus gear … because who doesn't love fighting and frolicking while flashing fresh Founder gear? Nobody, that's who!

We are only a couple of months into Early Access and we’ve been hard at work updating the game, and you can expect that in the weeks and months to come, we will continue this trend: Releasing new updates, sharing more information about what we're working on, and continuing to listen to your feedback. For now, know that Towerborne will keep evolving with said feedback from our Founders, forging the way forward. We’re beyond grateful to be on this journey with you and can’t wait to hear what you think about Danger Level 5 and everything that comes with it!

Here’s what’s new in this update:

• NEW Group Finder (V1) ➔ We've heard your feedback on the woes of matchmaking and are introducing an early version of a Group Finder. It’s not fully functional yet - but we wanted to get something in your hands ASAP that we can build on over the coming months.
• NEW Danger Level 5 ➔ Our first big content drop, expanding the map, raising the level cap to 50, and introducing tougher enemies to challenge seasoned Aces.
• NEW Boss Fight: The Triumverate Awaits ➔ If you thought that Pangojira and Yxil were a threat, wait until you see what's waiting for you in the Heart of Numbers…
• NEW Ventures ➔ Embark on four additional Ventures packed with formidable foes and exclusive rewards.
• NEW Legendary Weapons and Gear ➔ Discover Legendary items with unique perks, adding custom power and depth to your loadout.
• NEW Umbra ➔ Encounter new Umbra companions with unique abilities to aid and amplify your adventures.

The Big Picture

Here's a summary of the most exciting pieces of this big update. For more details, check out the section that follows.

Group Finder

The first iteration of the Group Finder is here to help connect Aces for multiple missions and varied gameplay experiences. Group leaders can advertise their groups, and players can find and automatically join groups that match their preferences. Please note that this is an early release of the Group Finder and is NOT considered FEATURE COMPLETE.

How does it work? In this first iteration of the Group Finder, we are still attempting to automatically match players together, but we've dramatically reduced the total number of pools to find people. Now, instead of waiting for more players to join you on a specific tile, you can form up a Group on the Belfry and head out to play as you wish.

• Location and Danger Level options help streamline initial connections. Locations include "Any" or "Venture Farming," while Danger Levels are split into "Any," "1-3" and "4-5" to help Aces connect faster with compatible groups.
• If a group is set to "Any," it will only match with other players or groups set to "Any." If a player is searching with "Any," they can match with any available group.
• Players will need to remain on the Belfry while using Group Finder.
• Group leaders can cancel the search at any time and start an adventure with an incomplete group if they choose.

How Is Group Finder Improving matchmaking?THIS IS JUST THE START! We needed to get this feature in your hands as quickly as possible. From here we will add more options, including the ability to see a list of groups and select the one you would like to join. Expect us to significantly increase the support of this feature over the coming months. As we expand, we plan to add options like switching between the Map and Belfry while using Group Finder and seeing a list of groups currently searching for Aces.

How can you help us? Let us know what you're using Group Finder for in the comments here on Steam, or over on Discord. Your feedback will help us determine what additional settings groups need going forward.

Danger Level 5

The new Danger License Trial unlocks Danger Level 5 - which includes:

• Raising the level cap to 50 for a more challenging experience.
• 4 New Legendary Weapons, one for each class, each weapon features unique perks that add powerful options to your combat style.
• 12 New Legendary Gear Items: Players can equip up to 2 Legendary gear items and one legendary weapon at the same time. Legendary items will show up only at DL5.

A new chapter unfolds with the Mystweavers, bringing a fierce new battle deep within the Heart of Numbers. Prepare to face this mysterious new boss challenge by completing Ventures in DL3, DL4, and DL5.

New Ventures & Expanded World Map

Explore more of Towerborne with an expanded world map that includes new Discovery Missions, new Ventures, new loot, new foes, and new Umbra companions exclusive to Danger Level 5. Four new Ventures await:

• Numbers Ironworks: Mystweavers have taken over this industrial zone.
• Silver-Gold Gates: Beastkin now control the district, preventing access.
• Garrison: The Merks occupy this fort—are they working with the Mystweavers?
• Heart of Numbers: The site of the City of Numbers explosion, now hosting the ultimate Mystweaver challenge.

New Umbra

Two new missions introduce fresh challenges and unique Umbra allies who have joined us after emerging from the mysterious depths of the Ebb...

The wise and calculating Picus has spent years navigating the veil between the Shore and Ebb; this metallic is known to be a skilled navigator adept at guiding Aces through hazardous terrain...

...or team up with Grimel – steadfast and studious, Grimel delights in lighting up dark areas and helping people look for missing items. They enjoy the smell of parchment to the point that some may find the pages of new books to be irresistibly tasty.

Balancing and Quality-of-Life Enhancements

Our Danger Level 5 Update brings continued balance adjustments that refine core gameplay as new content arrives. This update introduces improvements to gear, Umbra companions, and enemies, ensuring a cohesive experience. Healing Shrines now cleanse status effects, adding a strategic edge, while expanded Aspect storage, clearer mission banners, and an optimized Forge layout make inventory and UI management smoother than ever.

The Road Ahead

Hey all, NotReallyAJedi here, I wanted to drop in and give a quick update on the promised roadmap. This one is 100% on me and I’m sorry we haven’t posted one. I know it sounds a bit cliche, but it’s been crazy since we’ve released and our primary focus has been getting things fixed, updated, created, and released for you. I have to walk back my promise here, and I’m really sorry about that. I don’t have any ETA on a roadmap for you right now.

What I CAN tell you is that our updates will continue unabated, and we have a LOT we are working on. We’ve rearranged several things in response to HOW you are playing and WHAT you are saying (hello Group Finder!), and we will continue to be as nimble and responsive as is humanly possible for a game like this.

Please forgive me for slipping on this front, but I hope that the continued updates will reassure you that we’re fervently working to make this the game you want to play!

Best,
- NRAJ

The Details

Here’s the breakdown of each feature and improvement in this update.

Gameplay & Exploration

Exploration & Mission Adjustments

• Danger Level 5 is now available!
  • A new Danger License Trial is available.
  • The map has been expanded.
  • New Quests have been added.
  • New Discovery encounters, layouts, and missions have been added across all danger levels.
  • 2 new Umbra Shrines are now available.
  • Class Level Caps increased from 40 to 50!
  • 4 new Venture missions are now available. (Numbers Ironworks; Numbers Garrison; Silver-Gold Gates; The Heart of Numbers)

• New rare Legendary Weapon and Gear items to discover!
  • 4 new Legendary Weapons (1 for each class)
  • 12 new Legendary Gear items
  • Each Legendary item has a unique perk
  • You can equip 1 Legendary Weapon and up to 2 Legendary Gear items at once
  • These will first begin appearing in Danger Level 5
  • Many of them have a chance to be looted anywhere, while others have more specific criteria
  • In general a Legendary item will have bespoke stat distribution, but the values of each of those stats will often still be variable

• Additional new Weapon and Gear items
  • 3 new Gear Sets with Set Bonuses
  • 2 new Gears Sets without Set Bonuses
  • 6 new Venture Weapons

• Aspect Perk Updates
  • 4 new Aspect perks that can be found on Tier 5 Aspects
  • Several Aspect perks that grant a damage reduction while the player has a specific affliction have been consolidated into a single perk.
  • Several Aspect perks that grant a damage bonus while the player has a specific affliction have been consolidated into a single perk.
  • Several Aspect perks that grant a damage bonus while the enemy has a specific affliction have been consolidated into a single perk.
  • The Aspect perk that reduces damage taken while reviving allies is now a Legacy perk and will no longer roll on newly acquired Aspects.
  • The Aspect perk that reduces damage taken while airborne is now a Legacy perk and will no longer roll on newly acquired Aspects.
  • Increased the Boon Duration for several Aspect perks that grant Boons (Might, Protection, etc.)

• Item Naming Updates
  • Weapons, Gear, and Aspects will no longer have their item name modified by the random attributes that the item rolled (Weapons and Gear this will just result in shorter, cleaner names; Aspects will instead have their name modified based on the random perk that was assigned to the Aspect. Each perk has a unique name).

• Item Balance
  • Reduced roll values of the “ATK” and “DEF” item suffix substats by 20%.

• Loot Adjustments
  • Gear items with set bonuses will also have a small chance to drop anywhere in the world, rather than only in Venture end chests.
  • Weapons that are unique to each Venture now each have a static substat, rather than all substats being fully random. This should give different weapons more flavor, and allow players to have more agency in targeting specific stats on their weapons.
  • When looting a weapon, it is now weighted to be more significantly more likely to be a weapon equipable by your current class. Sentinels are more likely to loot swords, Shadowstrikers are more likely to loot daggers, etc.

• Gear Score Adjustments
  • Tweaked most recommended gear score values on missions. In general, recommended gear score values have been slightly increased, particularly at higher danger levels.

Combat

This update focuses on quality-of-life improvements across the board. Although it is possible to cancel most attacks into an Evade, there were a handful of instances where this was not true across all Classes. These scenarios have been resolved. Additionally, we found a few opportunities to improve the general feel of combat along the way.

• Universally improved the feel of Dodge Roll. It is now possible to cancel the recovery frames of Dodge Rolls into attacks.
• Improved the responsiveness and feel of Ground Recovery techniques when knocked down.
• Fixed an issue that prevented Evade cancels if you were holding down the Focus Skill modifier button.
• Changed the VFX of Might, Weakness, Protection, and Vulnerability to alleviate visual loudness when those effects are active.

Classes

In the last update, we made some significant improvements to the Sentinel Class. It’s been great seeing the positive reception to the changes. It’s definitely a bit of a teaser of things to come. For this update, a lot of the changes focus on quality-of-life improvements. Although all Classes received various improvements, many of which are too minor to detail, Rockbreaker received the most attention. Most of the changes revolve around attack cancels and Powderkeg Punch.

• Sentinel
  • Dashing Stab now hits more reliably.
  • Allowing Jump Cancels to occur after all Launcher attacks.
  • Radiant Guard: Performing this Focus Skill now grants Protection for 8s.

• Pyroclast
  • All Heavy Focus Skills now add 5s of Burn instead of 2s.
  • Mountain Splitter: It is now possible to flip directions during specific frames of Mountain Splitter.
  • It is now possible to Jump Cancel the hold Light Launcher attack and the follow-up blast.
  • Increased the distance of the second hit in the Heavy -> Light combo chain.
  • Improved responsiveness of canceling attacks when using the Class Mechanic button to reduce recovery frames.

• Rockbreaker
  • Powderkeg Punch
    • Increased the default charge speed of Powderkeg Punch by about 20%.
    • It’s worth noting that you can increase the charge time of this ability using Aspects that affect the Class Mechanic meter.
    • Increased the duration of a held Level 3 charge to 10 seconds (was 5).
    • Fixed an issue that prevented players from Evade canceling Powderkeg Punch on hit.
    • Improved the juggle-ability of all levels of Powderkeg Punch to unlock some new combo opportunities.
    • It is now possible to combo enemies after landing a Full Charge Powderkeg Punch.
    • It is now possible to cancel the recovery frames of Dodge Roll with a Powderkeg Punch.

  • Skyward Swing
    • A small vortex now juggles enemies after the final hit, allowing for extended combo opportunities.

  • Dual Eclipse and Relentless Barrage
    • It is now possible to flip directions during specific frames of these Focus Skills.

  • Spinning Backfist now juggles enemies for extended combo opportunities
    • To perform this attack, Evade cancel any attack and then press Light Attack.

  • It is now possible to move the Ace during the Double Axe attack
    • To perform this attack, Evade cancel any attack and then press Heavy Attack.
    • Alternatively, perform the Light -> Heavy combo chain Finisher.

  • Fixed an issue that caused an additional Evade to occur if you pressed Evade too quickly while Dodge Rolling.
  • Fixed an issue that prevented Dropkick from being canceled properly during recovery frames.
• Shadowstriker
  • Sunrise Shrapnel
    • Adjusted Sunrise Shrapnel hitboxes so that it better reflects the visuals of the attack. This should make the attack hit more consistently.

  • Lightning Step
    • It is now possible to move around a bit during Lightning Step. This should help alleviate frustration when dealing with enemies that were just out of reach.

  • Shooting Stars
    • It is now possible to flip directions during Shooting Stars before the last hit.
    • Shooting Stars now Poisons enemies.

  • Smoke Veil
    • The Ace is now guaranteed to perform a critical hit while Stealth is active. This was previously only a 20% chance.

Umbra

Introducing two new Umbra to the family: Picus and Grimel!

• Picus
  • Scorched Earth
    • A ring of fire erupts from Picus that inflicts Burn on all enemies hit by its radius. The Ability also Block Breaks!
    • Equipped with 2 Charges

• Grimel
  • Beckoning Pyres
    • Grimel spawns a long-range tremor that travels across the ground and explodes on hit. This ability inflicts Stun for 0.4s, deals damage, and launches the enemy towards your direction. This Ability also Block Breaks!
    • Equipped with 3 Charges

• McKraken
  • Adjusted startup frames of Atoll Oasis so that it feels snappier and more in line with other Umbra Abilities
  • Activating Atoll Oasis now pushes away smaller enemies that are nearby

• Goji
  • Activating Harmony Draught now pushes away smaller enemies that are nearby

• Umbra Charges are now consumed when the Ability becomes active. This should prevent scenarios where getting interrupted before a Cast was complete would cause you to lose your Charge unexpectedly.

Enemies

Continuing with the trend of quality of life improvements, enemies received the same treatment. As you’ll see, this update mostly focuses on smoothing out some rough edges.

• General
  • Fixed an issue that caused many enemies to Evade more frequently than desired.
  • Fixed an issue that caused enemy Evades to have longer invulnerability windows than desired.
  • Alleviated some frustrating moments where it’s possible for multiple enemies to juggle an airborne Ace. There is still work to be done, but it’s now less likely to get juggled repeatedly.
  • Fixed an issue that allowed many enemies to cancel their Break moment when hitting specific Health Thresholds. This will allow you to continue beating up enemies without interruption after a Break.

• Madpole Pouncer/Bouncer/Trouncer
  • Fixed an issue that caused the Ace to get pushed unexpectedly during the enemy’s Flip Kick attack.
  • The stats for all three Madpoles are now identical.

• The Seamstress
  • Fixed an issue that caused debug visuals to appear when the Break Bar activation hits the Ace.

• Gobo Impaletail
  • Adjusted damage values to be more in line with other Lieutenants. It was way too high for certain attacks. This is normalized now.

• Pangor
  • It is now possible to properly interrupt the Charge Attack with a Parry.
  • Adjusted attacks so that hitting airborne Ace’s provides a less frustrating experience.

• The Stonecutter
  • Adjusted Spinning Death attack so that it’s more reflective of the attack's visuals.

• Yxil
  • Ground Stab attack no longer tracks airborne Aces.

Art & UI/UX

• Fixed a clipping issue with Goji’s rope
• Fixed skinning issues with new legendary gear
• Fixed skinning issues with the Ebon Warden cape
• Fixed an LOD issue with the Spectre Sten Umbra
• Fixed an issue on the Tower where shadows near the training room were popping in and out
• Fixed a texture seam issue in the Heart of Numbers Venture Mission
• Fixed a visual issue with water near the cliff asset in the Snaggleshire Venture
• Fixed an issue with floating grass in the Snaggleshire Venture
• Fixed an issue with a texture seam on the ground near Wolfram on the Tower
• Fixed a Facewright issue where helmets would cause certain hairstyles to become darker
• Fixed an issue with Blundt where his textures were flickering
• Fixed an issue where the Ace’s hand was not aligning properly with Shield handles
• Rewards screen now sorts items based on their item rarity, from highest to lowest.
• Legendary Items will show a celebration when you obtain them
• Legendary Items have special icon highlights
• Combat HUD will have a semi-circle health bar for each player in your party, including you