Development on the 2025 Halloween event is progressing well. A bug was reported on Discord which forced this early rollout. For now, the world map has seen a minor change and allows access to Brandywine Forest - the host location for upcoming Halloween themed DLC event. Progress is blocked beyond the first quest & second zone. If you choose to explore this area now, I recommend using an additional save file. A message plays in the first zone also saying as much.
This update also launches many changes to enemy skills as well as gives some enemies the new unmitigated Attack. In my quest to not have enemies ever do 0 damage without access to a functioning plugin, I've created a secondary Attack command that does 2x the Atk stat as damage with normal variance and does not take into account the defender's (Ruby's team) armor. I think upgrading the engine itself is what allowed the TurnOrderDisplay (top right during combat) to function, but also broke the ArmorScaling. I prefer TOD to function - I can just do extra work for AS.
While the new zone on the world map isn't finished, it also isn't empty. The enemies there will respawn upon leaving and returning. These zones do not currently have step-based random encounters, so the only enemies you encounter will be the ones you bump into. The Halloween themed enemies in this area have increased stacking drop rates from landing Saboteur debuffs. Ex: Landing Attack Break will increase the drop of some items by x%, then landing Magick Break will increase that drop rate even further. This is limited to one increase per state landed, so using the same one over and over won't give higher bonuses. Exact drop rates may be revealed in the future if we end up doing a full postmortem guide.
It is important to note that the Sabotage version of Attack Break and the Skill version of Attack Break share the same debuff state, meaning that once you learn all the skills you can, you don't have to keep leveling Saboteur if you don't want to. The same goes for Synergist abilities. Learn Skills start becoming available for both Saboteur and Synergist beginning at level 20. The classes themselves become available to Ruby's team once a character has brought White Mage or Black Mage above level 5 for Synergist and Saboteur respectively.
Final note... I'm not going to scrap the 2020/2021 Halloween events from the Veil like I previously intended. I think what I created for the alternate outfit event in both story and gameplay is unique enough within the game to not take it away. However, as the easier event by far, I will have to cut item drop rates across the board with the next update, however soon that is with Oct 31st being the latest. So, if you have not visited the Veil and taken part in the alternate outfit Halloween event, you have 3 more days to get super easy drops. The items used in the 2025 event are the same as the ones from 2020/2021 and progress made during the new event will work toward those orange weapons!
6.8.3.2 [Build #188, Release Date: October 28, 2025]
Fixes:
- Fixed an issue where pets would rejoin the team during the Frostslayer class trial event before canonically added back to the team.
Updates & Changes: - All store pages for Cross of Auria and associated DLC have been updated to reflect the following changes: Developer Name, Publisher Name, YouTube link (removed), and Social Media link. Long story short, I'm using a new name online (iArtefact) and all my new projects, plus this one, reflect that. Discord name is Artefact Kingdom - once you join, you must select the appropriate role to see the CoA section. (Edit 11/4/25 - This has been undone.)
Notes, Known Issues & Other:
- This update rolled out due to the pet fix - the Halloween 2025 event is not yet complete. However, the first quest may be started! Progress beyond it is currently blocked.
- A warning message appears in the first zone of Brandywine Forest to make a new save. I strongly recommend doing so during event construction.