Dear Brave Heroes,
Hello everyone! Version v0.3.0 is officially live! In this update, we dedicated our efforts to crafting a unique experience distinct to Blade of Wiz. We have significantly enhanced the expressiveness of your adventure partner—the Cat—introduced the new strategic resource "Candlelight," and implemented a variety of random Adventure Events.
Furthermore, in response to your feedback regarding controller handling, we have performed a fundamental reconstruction and optimization of the input system.
Here are the details of this update:
Core Gameplay: Candlelight & Adventure
In this version, resource management and route selection become even more crucial.
New Resource: Candlelight
Rare Resource Acquisition: You can now obtain the rare resource "Candlelight" during your adventure.
Multiple Strategic Uses: Candlelight possesses powerful directional energy. It can be used to cleanse "Calamity" statuses, increase the rarity of upcoming Blessings, or even enhance your Sigils! How you allocate this limited light will determine how far you can go.
Adventure Events
8 New Events: We have implemented 8 brand-new adventure events on map nodes. These events will immerse you in Sera’s adventure from fresh perspectives—explore Abandoned Warehouses, Divinations, Crossroads, Execution Chambers, and more!
Risk & Choice: Every event requires you to make a choice. They come with rewards, but also risks. Narrative text and interactive options have been implemented—go explore the stories hidden in the corners of the labyrinth.
Calamity System Upgrade
Effect Rework: We reconstructed the system and added 6 specific Calamity effects.
Double-Edged Sword: They will interfere with your adventure in more targeted ways. Please handle them with care.
Feline Companion: Stronger & More Dazzling
We want the Cat to be more than just a skill launcher—we want it to be your most reliable (and cutest) comrade.
Visual VFX Overhaul: Significantly optimized the visual effects for Furious Scratch, Synergy Missiles, Heavy Smash, Airflow Wall, and Siphon Tornado. When unleashing specific powerful skills, the Cat will now manifest a more imposing "Giant Cat Form"—maximum visual impact!
Permanent Growth Skill: [Heavy Smash] has received an epic buff: Killing enemies with this skill now permanently increases its attack power for the current run. Raising a "One-Punch Cat" is no longer just a dream!
Behavior Logic Optimization: Introduced a new Point of Interest (POI) mechanism and optimized the Cat's following and behavior logic when out of combat. It's much smarter now!
Weapons & Combat
Three Brand New Weapons:
Arcane Heavy Staff: Consumes Mana to charge and fire missiles! Heavy, impactful, and full of magic.
Whirlwind Greatsword: After charging, spin rapidly to crush enemies in a wide area.
Thrusting Lance: Swift thrusts to control the distance.
Emblems & Blessings
New Emblems: Added Sigils related to Mana values, such as Call of the Wind, Vanishing Magic, Way of Balance, Lick Wounds, and Tenacity, further enriching the build variety.
Parry System Perfected: We finally fixed the Parry issues, so it's back!
We reconstructed the underlying logic of the Parry system and supplemented it with Earth-element Parry blessings, encouraging a defensive counter-attack playstyle.
Levels & Challenges
Challenge Room Iteration: Challenge Rooms now have extra additional conditions! If you can face these challenges head-on, you will receive richer rewards! There might even be... rare rewards?!
Greedy Chest Rework: Adjusted the price curve and drop weights of Greed Chests. They now fit their positioning better: a "Greed Slot Machine" for a quick pull. The variance in rewards is now quite high...!
Lore & Systems
Adventure Log: The "Insight" value now calculates richer entries, and unlocked items will be revealed to players.
Codex Interface: The highly requested Codex (Collection) interface has been finished and implemented!
Ongoing Updates: Although the Codex UI is still a work-in-progress, the backend has already started recording your "Insight Value." Keep adventuring to unlock more content!
(Note: Since the settlement system involves underlying changes, this update may require a save file reset or compatibility adjustments. Using old save files may cause unknown issues. We strongly recommend starting a NEW SAVE for this playthrough!)
Experience Optimization
Controller Input Reconstruct: Separated controller input from character orientation. Performing reverse dashes and "kiting" (moving while shooting) with a controller is now silky smooth.
Bow Optimization: Optimized aim assist/magnetism and action buffering in controller mode. Solved issues with "eaten inputs" and aiming feeling disconnected.
Group Knockback: Optimized the underlying physics logic for knockbacks. Knocking back multiple enemies in a line now feels more realistic and satisfying.
Bug Fixes & Optimizations
UI Interaction:
Optimized the interaction experience for picking up drops and Adventure Events.
You can now open the Inventory during the "Select 1 of 3" and Map Route screens! Check your current abilities and effects more freely.
Added Hint pop-ups for Blessings in the Inventory—check the specific effects of keywords at any time!
Bug Fixes:
We invested a lot of effort into fixing various crashes you may have encountered. This involved deep adjustments to the Unreal Engine underlying logic. We believe this version will show significant improvement! (Trust us, we suffered just as much as you did).
Fixed unreasonable Mana cost and Cooldown calculations from the old version. They now correctly benefit from bonuses and link tighter with the Sigil system.
Fixed dialogue flow and Favor refresh issues for the Merchant and some NPCs.
Fixed a bug where spamming 'R' while swapping weapons caused infinite weapon duplication.
Fixed an issue where Heavy Strike could place infinite War Banners without destroying the previous one (the battlefield doesn't need that many flags!).
Fixed an issue where the iconic blue circle VFX of the [Deep Sea Cage] blessing would not display in specific scenes.
Fixed an issue where Sera’s shadow would mysteriously disappear in certain scenes.
Fixed an issue where subtitles would freeze and overlap UI elements after starting a New Game+.
Fixed the intermittent footstep audio issue; movement now sounds much more natural.
Balance Adjustments:
We noticed the blessing [Soaked Misfortune] was too OP against Bosses, often dealing unexpected explosive damage. For the long-term health of the game, we have added a damage cap to it.
Thank you all for your support! v0.3.0 is a major step in our attempt to shape the unique identity of Blade of Wiz, especially with the Candlelight system and the Cat's combat performance. We look forward to hearing your feedback!
Happy Adventuring!
The Blade of Wiz Dev Team