This patch includes many new quests and other early game improvements for new characters, with the goal of making progression less chaotic and more immersive. Starting a fresh character in a fresh world is recommended to experience all of the changes.
Dungeons
The first dungeon, Shallow Caves, is now available. Entrances can be found on most islands.
Enemies inside drop crafting materials, 2 new cooking ingredients, and 1 new skillbook.
The starter island version is smaller and contains 2 special points of interest required to progress through the island.
After completing the starter version once, dungeons can be reset and run multiple times.
Skills
New skill: Corruption. Applies a DoT that spreads to nearby enemies. Dropped by Fathomfiends.
New skill: Shockwave. Creates a massive shockwave that deals heavy blunt damage in a large area. Crafted at the Spellforge. Its main ingredient can be mined from elite Earth Elementals.
Artisan Table
This is a new workstation used for crafting magical weapons, jewelry, gems, and potions.
New: consuming a potion creates an Empty Vial that can be used to craft potions at the Artisan Table.
Spellforge
Added the Lesser Spellforge, which is built with tin and unlocks disenchanting earlier.
Spellforge now handles upgrades and reforging, so you no longer need to run between different stations.
Since all 3 buttons are now next to each other in the same UI, disenchanting now takes 1 second, giving you time to cancel it.
Medium armor now has 1 extra reforging option.
Spellforge and Portal now unlock after reading a book found in a ruined tower on the starter island.
Altar of Rites
Learning the recipe now requires visiting Shallow Caves on the starter island.
Altar of Rites can now be used to set your respawn point.
Beds no longer act as respawn points, but can still be used to skip the night.
Fixed a bug that caused players to respawn at the coast despite having an altar, previously a bed, claimed.
Misc
Added new quests to help with progression on the starter island and beyond.
Improved world chunk and grass generation algorithms so they no longer cause FPS drops.
Smelting metals beyond copper and tin now requires Bellows. The recipe can be found in the Shallow Caves on the starter island.
Darkwood Dust can now be converted into charcoal.
Added localization to many places where it was missing.
Split Stack window now recognizes the Enter key.
In new worlds, the starting island is now slightly smaller, and other islands are slightly closer to each other.
Fixed a bug that caused some points of interest to not spawn all of their content.
Fixed a bug that caused some points of interest to spawn in the ocean.
Fixed a bug that caused rare and elite enemies to look like normal ones.
Fixed a bug that caused visible seams to appear on the terrain.