0.8.2 Beta Update
Greetings from Team Tapas!
First and foremost, we’d like to thank you for enjoying and supporting Garden of Witches until now.
Before the official 0.8.2 update, we will be conducting another beta test to gather your feedback. We kindly ask for your active participation. We will do our best to listen to your voices and improve the game in ways that can only happen with your help.
※ For how to participate in the beta, check our Steam announcement.
0.8.2 Beta Patch Notes
Epilogue 1 Adjustments
Time Attack System Removed & Berserk Timer Added
Originally by default, we utilized a Time Attack System in Epilogue 1. However, we found that the system felt forced, unnatural, and unintuitive.
As a result, we have removed the Time Attack System from all bosses in Epilogue 1, and in its place, we are introducing a Berserk Timer. The Berserk Timer is applied individually to each boss, and when the timer runs out, the boss’s attack speed will increase by 40%.
We now look forward to seeing how players overcome this new challenge using their mechanics and preferred build choices.
Difficulty and Epilogue Exclusive Upgrades Adjusted
Previously, we balanced the difficulty of Epilogue 1 under the assumption that players would have already gotten all of the upgrades they could get in Sil’s House. However, in actuality, players often entered Epilogue 1 with fewer upgrades. So we have rebalanced Epilogue 1 by reducing enemy HP from the first wave by about 15%.
Furthermore, defeating the final boss used to require a relatively high level of Epilogue 1 exclusive upgrades, which forced players to repeatedly grind for upgrades unnecessarily. To address this, extra seeds will now be generated upon clearing each boss, and enemy HP for the final boss has also been reduced by about 15%.
Lastly, to match the lowered difficulty of the final boss, we have removed the Harmony upgrade from the Epilogue 1 exclusive upgrades. Now, players will need to think strategically about what choices to make within the limited growth cap they have in order to clear Epilogue 1.
Enemy HP Adjustments
First Wave: 15% reduction
First Boss: 11% reduction
Second Boss: 13% reduction
Third Boss: 14% reduction
Final Boss: 15% reduction
Epilogue 1 Exclusive Upgrade Adjustments
Harmony upgrade removed
※ If you have seeds invested into the removed Harmony upgrade, they will be refunded and your maximum seed capacity will be reduced by 150.
Additional Seeds Granted Upon Clearing a Boss
First Boss: 2 seeds
Second Boss: 4 seeds
Third Boss: 6 seeds
Final Boss: 10 seeds
Epilogue 1 Challenge Mode Adjusted
We have applied the difficulty changes mentioned above to the Epilogue 1 Challenge Mode as well. However, to provide an initial difficulty level similar to before, we have added a new option that increases the HP of all enemies.
Existing Difficulty Setting Option Adjusted
Before: All enemy HP per wave +0% / 1% / 2% / 3% / 4% (+1 / +5 / +10 / +15 / +20 points)
After: All enemy HP per wave +0% / 1% / 2% (+1 / +5 / +10 points)
New Difficulty Setting Option Added
All enemy HP increases by 0% / 5% / 10% / 15% / 20% (+0 / +3 / +6 / +9 / +12 points)
Side Missions Adjusted
Added UI that displays the mission objective and a brief description when entering each side mission.
Changed the clear requirements for the “Perfect Counter” mission.
Counter 15 times → Counter 12 times
Changed the clear requirements for the “Powerful Strike” mission.
Inflict 9,000 or more damage → Inflict 6,000 or more damage
Changed the clear requirements for the “Getting Used to Giant Scissors” mission.
Inflict 10,000 or more damage → Inflict 9,000 or more damage
Requirement count: 20 times / 30 times → 15 times / 20 times
Changed the clear requirements for the “Getting Used to Magic Scissors” mission.
Requirement 1: Defeat 7 enemies → Defeat 5 enemies
Requirement 2: Defeat 14 enemies → Defeat 12 enemies
Changed the clear requirements for the “Getting Used to Broken Scissors” mission.
Requirement 1: Inflict 250,000 cumulative damage → Inflict 150,000 cumulative damage
Requirement 2: Inflict 400,000 cumulative damage → Inflict 300,000 cumulative damage
Skill Balance Adjusted
Giant Scissors
Although Giant Scissors had sufficient late-game potential, there was feedback that its unique long delay between attacks made it unwieldy in the early to mid-game. To address this, we increased its attack speed to make it feel less unwieldy and adjusted its damage to maintain its original performance level.
Before
Attacks the enemy with scissors. Sharpness efficiency is increased by 2 times, but all Sharpness is removed upon hitting with Scissors. After a fixed number of hits, the next attack will be a Critical Hit.
Damage: 300%
Attack Speed: 1.1 per sec
After
Attacks the enemy with scissors. Sharpness efficiency is increased by 3 times, but all Sharpness is removed upon hitting with Scissors. After a fixed number of hits, the next attack will be a Critical Hit.
Damage: 250%
Attack Speed: 1.8 per sec
Counter
There was feedback that Counter didn’t provide sufficient returns compared to its difficulty of use. To address this, its difficulty of use has been slightly eased, and its returns have been strengthened.
Before
Blocks most damage for 0.3s. Upon blocking an enemy attack, become immune to all damage for 0.7s and attack all nearby enemies.
Damage: 1000%
After
Blocks most damage for 0.4s. Upon blocking an enemy attack, become immune to all damage for 1s and attack all nearby enemies.
Damage: 1200%
Scissor Attribute
Before: When Counter inflicts a hit, gains 150% Sharpness.
After: When Counter inflicts a hit, 500% of Scissors damage is inflicted as Additional Damage.
Cooldown Attribute
Before: When Counter inflicts a hit, cooldown of Counter is decreased by 3s.
After: When Counter inflicts a hit, cooldown of Counter is decreased by 5s.
Thread Attribute
Before: Shoots 3 Needles at every target hit by Counter.
After: Shoots 5 Needles at every target hit by Counter.
Flower Attribute
Before: When Counter inflicts a hit, spawns 3 Flowers.
After: When Counter inflicts a hit, spawns 5 Flowers.
Crow Attribute
Before: When Counter inflicts a hit, summons 3 Crows.
After: When Counter inflicts a hit, summons 5 Crows.
Blood Attribute
Before: When Counter inflicts a hit, spawns 3 Blood Clots.
After: When Counter inflicts a hit, spawns 5 Blood Clots.
Leech
We have changed the skill’s name because “Leech” could be misunderstood in some languages as a skill that restores the player’s health. The skill’s name now matches the actual visual and nature of the skill better.
The skill name has been changed from “Leech” to “Blood Marble.”
Synergy & Witchcraft Attribute Balance Adjusted
Synergies
We adjusted some dual synergies that underperformed in the previous version of the game. Although a full-scale rework of dual synergies is planned for the future, we hope that this adjustment will provide some immediate improvements to build diversity.
Blood 7 / Fire 7
Before: When a Blood Clot is absorbed, has a 10% chance to Burn all enemies within 3m for 200% of ATK.
After: When a Blood Clot is absorbed, Burn all enemies within 3m for 200% of ATK.
Thread 7 / Fire 7
Before: All Combustion is increased by 20% per connected Thread.
After: Enemy HP is burned for 40% of Needle damage.
Witchcraft Attributes
Minus a few builds, we determined that the damage of Needles, Crows, and Flowers still fell short of our expectations. So we have buffed their overall performance.
Needle: Increased base damage of needles from 60% to 80%.
Crow: Increased base damage of crows from 60% to 100%.
Flower: Increased base damage of flowers from 200% to 260%.
Existing Chapter Boss Difficulty Adjusted
Chapter 4: Maid Abigail
Reduced the difficulty of the attack pattern where fan-shaped and donut-shaped danger zones appear simultaneously.
Chapter 4: Fiena Phase 3
Reduced the summon frequency of monsters that throw poison bombs into the cauldron.
Chapter 3 & 4: Nahatra
Reduced the difficulty of the attack pattern where grid-shaped danger zones appear.
Chapter 4: Nahatra Phase 2
Reduced the density of projectiles in the attack pattern where rectangular danger zones appear together with multiple projectiles.
Reduced the difficulty of the attack pattern where fan-shaped and donut-shaped danger zones appear simultaneously.
Reduced the difficulty of the pattern where large and small fan-shaped danger zones appear multiple times.
Gamepad Settings Improved
Added an option in the settings menu to invert the Confirm/Cancel buttons.
Example: DualShock → ㅇ / × buttons, Xbox Controller → A / B buttons
Added a Vibration On/Off option in the settings menu.
Added a UI in the settings menu to check combat key bindings.
Fixed an issue where certain controllers such as the Switch Controller and Pro Controller were not recognized or had incorrect key mappings applied.
Bug Fixes
Fixed an issue where Ambush would not cross to the other side of an enemy in certain boss battles.
Fixed an issue where the Flower 6 synergy damage was applied lower than intended in Epilogue 1 and in Epilogue 1 Challenge Mode.
Fixed an issue where certain homing projectiles would remain in the air for too long under specific conditions.
Closing Remarks
There’s a lot of changes in this version, so we’ll need your help to test the game. Please share any feedback you have of your playtest in the “Beta Test” channel of our official Garden of Witches Discord server. We encourage you to share your thoughts freely, and we’ll do our best to apply your feedback to the standard release where possible.
As we’ve said time and time again, it is thanks to your valuable feedback and support that Garden of Witches is becoming cultivated into something more beautiful than we have ever imagined. We will continue to do our best so that you can enjoy playing the game even more in the future.
Once again, we sincerely thank you.
– Team Tapas