Hello everyone,
This update significantly expands Knightmared's buildcraft foundation.
The game previously had 30 registered player stats. It now has 40, giving players more ways to specialize weapons, improve survivability, and create unusual item combinations.
This is both a gameplay update and preparation for future items, enemies, and upgrades.
Blessed Crossbow System Cleanup
The Blessed Crossbow rebrand was already visible to players in an earlier update. This patch completes the underlying cleanup.
- Removed remaining legacy Magic Wand references from weapon systems.
- Updated Crossbow upgrades, mastery tracking, interface references, internal identifiers, code, and assets.
- Existing Crossbow progression remains intact.
- Added support for Projectile Range, Projectile Speed, Projectile Count, Pierce Count, and weapon-specific Knockback builds.
New And Expanded Stats
- Fire Rate replaces the old Attack Speed wording and clearly describes how often weapons attack.
- Animation Speed is separated from damage output and affects cosmetic playback only.
- Cooldown Reduction now improves normal weapon cycles as well as ability cooldowns.
- Max Crit Damage adds a critical-hit ceiling, allowing more volatile crit-focused builds.
- Projectile Count enables multishot builds.
- Pierce Count allows projectiles to pass through additional enemies.
- Knockback adds crowd-control potential.
- Block prepares the game for future defensive mechanics.
- Healing improves recovery effects consistently.
- Status Chance, Status Duration, and Burn Damage expand status-focused builds.
Existing specialist stats also support more focused builds:
- Melee Damage and Melee Fire Rate
- Ranged Damage and Ranged Fire Rate
- Magical Damage
- Attack Range, Melee Range, and Projectile Range
- Area and Projectile Speed
Fire Rate And Cooldown Reduction
The old Attack Speed wording has been replaced by Fire Rate.
- Fire Rate increases how often normal weapon attacks occur.
- Melee Fire Rate and Ranged Fire Rate provide additional specialization.
- Cooldown Reduction now shortens both normal weapon cycles and explicit skill cooldowns.
- Animation Speed affects visual playback only and does not increase damage output.
Crossbow Build Options
The Blessed Crossbow now benefits from several distinct stats:
- Projectile Range increases targeting distance and bolt travel distance.
- Projectile Speed makes bolts travel faster without increasing their maximum range.
- Projectile Count enables multishot with a symmetric spread.
- Pierce Count allows bolts to pass through additional enemies.
- Ranged Damage and Magical Damage both improve Crossbow damage.
New Relics And Items
Ten new items have been added:
- Titanic Sigil - A legendary relic that enables Knockback for direct weapon hits.
- Sweeping Whetstone - Improves melee reach and damage.
- Witchwood String - Improves Crossbow fire rate and projectile speed.
- Penitent's Aegis - Trades movement speed for damage reduction and regeneration.
- House Edge - Trades maximum health for stronger critical-hit potential.
- Prospector's Signet - Improves gold gain and experience-drop chance.
- Censer of Radiance - Improves magical damage and attack range.
- Far-Seer's Lens - Improves projectile range and ranged damage.
- Loaded Die - Trades maximum health for a substantially higher critical-hit ceiling.
- Veilstep Charm - Improves Dodge and movement speed.
Several existing relics have also been adjusted to use the expanded stat system.
New Upgrades
Fourteen new upgrades have been added:
- Arcane Conductivity - Magical Damage
- Broad Impact - Area
- Brutal Precision - Critical Damage
- Cleaving Form - Melee Range
- Extended Reach - Attack Range
- Keen Edge - Critical Chance
- Longshot Discipline - Projectile Range
- Raise the Stakes - Max Crit Damage
- Swift Bolts - Projectile Speed
- Forceful Strikes - Sword Knockback
- Reaping Force - Scythe Knockback
- Heavy Orbit - Axe Knockback
- Crushing Impact - Anvil Knockback
- Driving Bolts - Crossbow Knockback
Knockback Rules
Knockback is intentionally disabled by default.
- Weapon-specific upgrades can enable Knockback for individual weapons.
- The legendary Titanic Sigil enables Knockback globally for direct weapon hits.
- Global and weapon-specific Knockback bonuses can stack together.
- Damage-over-time effects and Thorns do not apply Knockback.
Status Effect Improvements
- Player-created status effects now scale consistently.
- Status Duration improves the lifetime of player-applied effects.
- Burn Damage improves burn damage over time.
- Status Chance improves eligible random status applications.
- Pyromancer burn bonuses correctly stack with the new status stats.
Block: Foundation For Future Enemies
Block has been added as preparation for future enemy mechanics.
- At the moment, a successful Block prevents an incoming hit similarly to Dodge.
- Blocked attacks do not trigger your Thorns effects.
- In a future update, some enemies will deal Piercing Damage.
- Piercing Damage will not be avoidable through Dodge, but it will be stoppable through Block.
- This will give Dodge and Block distinct roles as more enemy types are introduced.
Healing Improvements
- Healing bonuses now scale recovery effects consistently.
- Regeneration benefits from Healing bonuses.
- Self-inflicted costs remain separate from avoidable enemy damage.
- Lifesteal remains intentionally disabled while its design is being revised.
Interface Improvements
- Expanded the stats panel to display the new buildcraft options.
- Improved inventory window sizing and alignment.
- The inventory panel no longer fills the entire screen or clips items near the corners.
- Updated item descriptions and terminology for clarity.
- Replaced the old Attack Speed wording with the clearer Fire Rate terminology.
Testing And Stability
The expanded stat system has been tested across weapon cadence, critical hits, Crossbow projectiles, Knockback, healing, blocking, status effects, and Pyromancer burn scaling.
This update is a major foundation for future items, upgrades, and enemies. More balancing adjustments will follow as players discover new combinations.
Thank you for playing Knightmared and for sharing your feedback.