Hello Steam! Its been a while since we left the shadows of Discord. After we released the pre-patch notes a few months back, quite a lot went on. These patch notes are intended to catch everyone up on what went down for transparency's sake, as well as get into the meat of the updated Patch Notes for 0.3.
Where have you been!?
During our development cycle for 0.3, quite a lot happened in the real lives of our developers. I started a new job which ate a good bit of time, and our two programmers had to move across across the country. This cost us a lot of time but also gave us time to take some stock in what we have, what we want, and what the community has been asking for. We've gone through over a dozen iterations of how the game could look a year from now, trying to align our vision of the game with what players want and we think we've found a perfect sweet spot and have thus dubbed this update the Community Celebration Update as almost all of the changes have been a direct result of player feedback in our Discord and in game.
COMBAT
Since the early access alpha launch of ManaSoul we got quite a lot of feedback on the combat feeling too janky, unresponsive, and restrictive. We agreed and have since completely re-written combat in its entirety.
- Players can now move in 360 degrees and are no longer beholden to the tile system.
- Spells and abilities now have custom hitboxes rather than taking up X tiles
- Players and enemies now have dynamic hitboxes that are based on their size
- All spells in the game have been improved and reworked, though there will be less on patch
- Almost all bosses now have more engaging and interesting attacks to deal with
- Hit registration has been improved massively for projectiles and aoe spells
- Weapons are now more powerful and unique
- The Cooldowns of all Spells have been reduced
SPELLS 2,0
One of the biggest points of contention throughout ManaSoul's short life so far has been the spells. Some of our spells have just been really underwhelming, while others have remained extremely powerful. This has largely been due to us trying to give players maximum freedom in builds which can lead to some crazy interactions, and I won't sit here and pretend like we can solve a problem that has remained unsolved for 30+ years, so we're just going to dial it back a bit with Spell 2.0
- Spells now fit into 1 of 5 types; Focused, Burst, Creative, Recovery, and Ultimate
- Spells that share a type also share the cooldown of the last spell used in that type
- Focused Spells typically involve channels or longer lasting effects, or focus on 1 target
- Burst spells focus on instant powerful effects but sometimes feature channels
- Creative spells are unique spells that can offer damage, utility, or anything in between
- Recovery Spells do not cost Mana but instead restore Mana in return for less combat power
- Ultimate Spells are extremely potent spells that feature the longest cooldowns
- These changes will still allow mixing and matching, but guarantee that more spells have a use
ManaSoul Impact
Another point of player feedback we've received is that Memories feel a bit boring compared to real Gacha games, and we agree, so we've overhauled the entire looting and gacha experience while maintaining our never-ending stance that you should never be able to pay real money for gambling in an online video game.
- Memories can no longer be opened for loot directly
- Memories can now be converted at Summoners into different Summoning Crystals
- Summoning Crystals can now be spent to roll on specific Banners
- Banners operate similarly to other Gacha games and consist of a list of loot to roll on
- Each Banner accepts its own form of Summoning Crystal, and has its own unique loot
- Summoners can now be found all over Valeyra with their own Banners
- There is now a Pity System for each Banner. After X rolls you will be guaranteed a roll of X rarity
Gearing
We really messed this one up. Gearing felt quite bad in ManaSoul and the players felt it too. Though we did want to focus on Builds and Spells more, gear is an enabler in that process. We've overhauled Gearing completely to put more emphasis on "Cornerstone" pieces of loot with a lot of variety and uniqueness, and stat-block loot that helps you meet the goals of your desired build]
- You can no longer collect Helmets, Armor/Robes, or Off-Hand gear
- Helmet, Robe, and Off-Hand slots have been replaced along with a new gear slot
- You can now equip Weapons, Accessories, and 5 Soulrunes
- Weapons are now unique and no longer parts of sets.
- Weapons are now more powerful and can feature unique attack patterns or projectiles
- Accessories are now unique and no longer parts of sets.
- Accessories are now more powerful and add powerful unique effects like CDR or Vampirism
- Soulrunes can now drop directly from monsters on the overworld as well as in Banners
Character Customization
Players didnt really have access to look the way they wanted to before without paying for custom cosmetics. Now all players have specific cosmetic slots for items they find in the world or earn via subscriber benefits. All cosmetics have no level or element requirements so you can customize to your leisure!
Level Cap Raised to 50!
Players can now level up to Level 50 and the levelling experience has been reworked for that purpose.
- Sapphire Path now features Level 1-12 Content
- Ruby Crag now features Level 12-24 Content
- The Jadewoods now features Level 24-36 Content
- Topaz Spire now features Level 36-48 Content
- A new zone featuring 48-50 and endgame content will be arriving soon after Patch 0.3
- All existing Dungeons and Raids have been pushed to, and balanced around, Level 50
- All existing Dungeon and Raid loot has been completely reworked
Thank You So Much!
Without the wonderful little community we've built we wouldn't have the motivation or the inspiration to keep going, so thank you to everyone who has supported the project thus far, and a special shout out to our Discord which has fostered an extremely welcoming, funny, and garfield enjoying gamers.
For more information on Private Testing of Patch 0.3 please visit our Discord linked in our Store Page.