Greetings Heroes!
In today's Steam update we'll have a look at the death system within Evercore Heroes.
It's a little awkward to say, but we don't expect you to save the world of Lumerea on your first run, nor the second or third.. you get the gist!
(but we'd love to see you try and prove us wrong!)
As Evercore Heroes is an action roguelite, falling down during a run, and standing back up right after to do better next time is expected and an integral part of the core gameplay loop. This loop is what helps you learn, get better at the game and try out new ways to tackle tough challenges. We really want you to feel the progression as you play with your friends, having to adjust your strategy as you aim to beat difficult runs, specific bosses and/or unlock new awesome content together.
As always, everything you read here is still a work in progress and can change over time based on game development and player feedback.
How does this work in multiplayer?
There are two ways to go around 'falling down' in a game of Evercore Heroes.
You have the mission, your selected run, which you are trying to beat by making it till the end and beating its end-game encounter. You will fail your mission the moment all three players within the party are downed and you have no way of getting back up to finish the challenge of the island you are on (these are our randomized 'rooms'). This will automatically trigger the end of the mission and will bring you to the end-game screen where you will be able to view all rewards you gained during that run.
Then you have your sentinel, the character you play, which can get downed during an island challenge. This happens when the hit points (HP) of your sentinel reaches '0' and you have no way to get back up. This results in your character taking a break from combat and being out for the rest of the island encounter. It'll be up to the rest of the team to make up for it, finish the challenge and bring their teammate(s) back to continue to the next island!
This can bring about some pretty intense hero moments for both you as your friends when only one player is left to make it all happen - no pressure, you got this!!
(When all sentinels fall without a way to get up - you will lose the mission)
Introducing the Phoenix Shard!
Depending on the type of island you are on, you get a reward for completing the encounter. Originally, it was the rule that as long one of the sentinels made it through an island encounter, the whole party would revive and could pick a reward (depending on the type of island).
We felt this wasn't punishing enough. We noticed players starting to play more reckless as in the end, as long at least one player was still standing, they would all win.
We also tried the opposite, where players that got downed received no rewards at all. We quickly noticed that although you are on the same team and trying to achieve the same goal, it wasn't as much fun when your teammates gained more rewards than you during a run and you couldn't focus on the build you wanted to build.
In the end we landed on a system that lies somewhere in the middle and does a bit of both. Although you won't get to pick a reward from getting downed during an island encounter, you instead receive a magical item called a 'Phoenix Shard'.
This luum-infused shard is automatically used to revive you the moment you select it, but its remnant will remain in your inventory as a shard you can sell at a store during your run. This means that although it's sill not desirable to fall during an island encounter, it still provides you with a (smaller) bonus that you can turn into power and towards your build later down the run.
(When you fall but the rest of the party survives the encounter - you will be offered a Phoenix Shard)
We'd love to hear what you think of this system! Let us know in the discussion area!
For now we hope you enjoyed getting some more insight in how Evercore Heroes is played and we'll see you again next time!
~ Evercore Heroes team