A mage, a comet and a way home.
Update 0.9.15 brings a new companion: Alja, a mage of the Ember Empire, lost somewhere in the Sunscorch Waste. The game also opens and closes differently now. There's a new intro, a new main menu, a reworked ending, and a proper send-off when you fall.
On top of that: water that looks like water, rebuilt spell projectiles, merchant jobs that keep up with you, and a handful of fixes.
TL;DR
New companion: Alja. Find her in the Sunscorch Waste. Six fire and raw-rune spells, and two new Daily Arena kits built around her.
A new intro and main menu: a night sky, a burning comet and a mountain that still smoulders.
A reworked ending with a Victory screen, and a short ALMA moment when you fall.
New water, and rebuilt fireball, iceball, frozen orb and boss projectiles.
Merchant jobs get harder the higher you climb, and pay more.
Companions stop attacking walls, bouncing shots stop going through them, and more fixes.
🔥 Alja, a mage of the Ember Empire
The Emperor himself sent Alja to find the Labyrinth, where runes are said to surface raw. She didn't get that far. Find her lost in the Sunscorch Waste, point her to your camp, and she'll join the climb.
Ember Brand: a seeking orb that brands its target, and the burn spreads to enemies nearby.
Raw Shard: an unstable rune crystal that shatters into a ring of shards.
Mirage: a heat-shimmer double of herself that enemies can't take their eyes off.
Labyrinth Hex: everyone caught in it moves and aims the wrong way.
Raw Resonance: Fury for you and the rest of the party.
Imperial Sunfall: a rain of burning meteors around her.
She comes with Ember Brand. Anton at camp can teach her the rest. Miha in the Labyrinth has something for her too.
In the Daily Arena, two new kits put her at your side: Ember Legionary (Solakor, a sword with a fire in it, and fury cartridges) and Rune Seeker (a rapid-fire bow and the Starfall Rune).
🌋 A new intro and main menu
The opening was redone from the sky down: a real night sky with stars, a comet with a burning tail, fog creeping over the mountain, fireflies in the grass, and a much bigger impact.
The main menu now shows the same mountain at night, the crater still smouldering under the moon.
💀 Falling, and finishing
When you fall, Game Over doesn't just cut in anymore. ALMA shines, gathers up you and your companions, and pulls you all out in a flash.
The ending was reworked too. No spoilers here, but reaching the end of the climb now gets a proper send-off, and a Victory screen with confetti instead of Game Over.
🌊 Water
Water was redrawn from scratch. It gets deeper the further it is from the shore, with ripples and swells that follow the coastline, from the oases of the Sunscorch Waste to the rivers of Elderglade. Acid pools got the same treatment.
✨ Rebuilt projectiles
After last week's explosions, it was the projectiles' turn: fireball, iceball, frozen orb, tide bolt and the big orbs some bosses throw. They glow, trail and burst much better, in flight and when they hit.
🔧 Everything else
⚔️ Gameplay
Merchant jobs keep up with you. The higher you've climbed, the stronger the targets, the more guards and escorts, the bigger the waves, and the more gold they pay. Waves now come at you from a distance instead of standing around out of sight.
A new tutorial lesson: Gothar teaches the dash attack. Swing while you're still dashing and the blow lands twice as hard and builds more fury.
The Labyrinth now has rock shooter traps.
Arena minibosses can drop a blank rune or a coral.
Dyno ore shows up in Elderglade again.
🐛 Fixes
Companions attacked enemies behind walls (and so, the wall). They now only go for what they can see, and enemies play by the same rule.
Bouncing shots, like the rock shooters', could slip through walls. Fixed.
Enemies could get stuck at a level's entrance and never come at you. Fixed.
Some honest words
Alja is brand new, so she may still be a bit too strong, too weak, or do something odd. If she does, please tell me. Her art is still a first pass, too.
Alja is also a tribute to a friend of mine, an artist who took the initiative to create new capsule art for Lands of Fury. I'm genuinely and deeply grateful to her for that. ❤️
Whether Alja lands for you or not, please tell me what you think on the Steam forums or on Discord.
See you on the mountain.
Filip