Into the Necrovale news & patch notes

Bugs - Seal of Arrogance shouldn’t bug out with a black screen - Last Remnant shouldn’t get stuck on the wall so much - You should be less likely to die after completing a level/boss - You can no longer drink potions after you die - Per level effects should work consistently on every level - Burning damage now only applies while controls are active Balance - In story mode, you no longer get despair each level - Reduced range on Viperlilys - Reduced lunge on Wraith and Phantom enemies Misc. - An arrow now points to the exit when you complete a level - Slipped Away achievement now triggers when you die with no items at all

Hey Strangers, The time has come to leave Early Access. It's been about 8 months of hard work, fixing bugs, adding QoL, adding items, enemies, levels, areas, bosses, NPCs, and more. With your help, I was able to take it so much farther than I ever imagined when I began. I've said it before, but I'll say it again. Thank you for playing my game and giving feedback and encouragement. Since I was a little kid I dreamed about making games. And somehow, the dream just never went away as I got older, it always kept simmering in the back of my mind. Bringing this game into existence, and having people actually play it and enjoy it, is a satisfaction a long time coming. The only problem is, now I want it even more. Guess I will have to keep making games. For this 1.0 update, I've added a feature I've thought about for a long time: Roguelike Mode. It can be accessed right from the main menu. In this mode, the game should feel a little different. In the main mode, the fun is in gathering items and experimenting with items, and trying to perfect your build. In the Roguelike mode, the fun will be a bit more about scrounging what you can, getting by with what you have, and making difficult choices about what direction to take your build. As for the future, I expect to still update, though not as relentlessly as before. My favorite part of making the game is designing and adding items, so expect some more of those. Also more bug fixes as needed. I have big, big plans. If you enjoy Necrovale, follow me here, on twitter, Discord, or wherever. - CLYDE

Bugs

• Slickice boots work again
• Situations where items dont want to be picked up should be resolved
• Dropping items on top of differently typed items wont destroy one of them
• Witch Trials map flags should show correctly now
• Cleared most of the “44.9%” type floating point errors
• Burning damage no longer multiplies by your damage mod twice

Balance

• Significantly improved Dawn Staff’s power move
• Significantly increased difficulty scaling for later areas

Misc.

• Off-hands can no longer be melded (sorry, there isn’t a great way to make it sane)
• Singularities gloves now effect the Links of Carnage armor
• Soulance shouldn’t break level geometry as easily now
• Improve lag with many Hope dropping

Bugs

• Conductive Chain now works correctly
• Deranged Sermon works properly now
• Exploding Heart Technique and Monster’s Guide no longer effect your Allies

Balance

• Exploding Heart Technique and Monster’s Guide can no longer overlap
• Fire damage is now maximum 1% of your health per tick. It also now considers defense, second defense, evasion, and second evasion.

Misc.

• Weeping Goddess wont lag the game out with Hope
• Gold should lag the game less now at high levels
• Melded stats are now indicated with an arrow. Second melds are indicated with two arrows
• The Seraph now gives you a blessing when shes fully upgraded

Bugs

• Wishing Well doesn’t only drop the Flower anymore
• Power moves can Crit again
• Burn damage now registers on the Malingerer for the Test of Might and DPS counter
• Armory is harder to get stuck in now
• Balor Mask now transfers damage when it spreads the flames

Balance

• Burning now respects Defense, and Fire Damage Taken stats
• Burning damage to the player now maxes out at 5% of their health
• Zealot Initiates attack slower

Misc.

• Your Streak in Path of Wotana can now reduce a lot quicker if you die a lot
• Reworked Riverskin
• No more than 100 Hope can drop at once, the rest will be automatically added to your resources

Bugs

• NPC health bars wont get stuck on the screen
• Dying in the Entryway wont get you stuck

Balance

• Removed breakpoints and bounds from secondary defensive stats (all but defense and evasion)
• Hope no longer reduces upon completing a difficulty
• Curse effect no longer effects the Curse of the Witch
• Curse of the Witch can no longer be spent on Curse doors/levels
• Burning damage on the player is now capped to 1% of your max health
• Spawns are killed in between phases of the Witch now
• Reduces the Power per Health on Vlad’s Grimoire

Misc.

• Shaper’s Anvil now shows the correct cost
• Second melds can now be upgraded without splitting them
• The Witch will keep dropping the end-game keys until you’ve unlocked their door
• The difficulty of the Path of Wotana will increase even faster when it gets high enough
• The Temple of Hope will never drop more than 100 Hope crystals. Extra will go directly to you

This weeks update is a big one. I’m gearing up for 1.0 launch, which to me means that the game can be played front to back, there is an end-game for those who want to keep going, and the game is stable. What’s new, Mr. CLYDE? First off, a final boss. The Witch of the Necrovale, the one that’s been tormenting you and stealing your items. She sits smugly at the end of the Trials of the Witch. Good luck! She sounds hard, won’t we need something to make us more powerful? Yes, I added triple melds. You can now unlock a special area behind the Craftsman, where a second item can be mixed into your equipment. But won’t that make the character too powerful again? Yes, so I added something called the Witch’s Curse. It makes the enemies you fight significantly harder. But it also significantly increased the amount of Embers, Coins, and the Rarity of items. But what if it’s still too easy? Well, there is now another end-game beyond the Witch Trials: the Path of Wotana. This mode will get infinitely difficult. Completing a run makes it more difficult, and dying makes it easier. See how far you can get! Anything else? Yes, I also made an area in the Refuge, the Garden, where you can pay Hope for blessings that massively increase your Health. But aren’t there still bugs and QoL features needed? Yes, so I fixed around 100 bugs and added a bunch of random QoL things people have been asking for. When the game hits 1.0, will it be updated any more? Yes. Bug fixes for sure. More items, enemies, levels, NPCs, and bosses? Likely. Thank you for all the support and encouragement, everyone. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43503330/477ed7cbc3ae9c849dd0fc12b7ce574a4b42150b.gif TLDR:

• Triple Melds
• Voluntary difficulty increases
• Infinite Mode
• Blessings can be bought with Hope at the Refuge
• Many bugs and QoL improvements
• 1.0 coming very soon

Bugs - The Last Remnant boss now scales properly - Fruit now shows Levels Remaining - Health Drain now bypasses barrier - Health per Power stat no longer works if you don’t actually spend power - Fixed Messenger’s Shoes effects - Umbral Gate now keeps spawning each of its 3 uniques until you pick them each up - Elixir Basin no longer shoots your potion way off - Succumbing to despair now clears your active curses/blessings/potions - Build Storage clears correctly when switching between saves now - When you go fishing, other discarded items wont be pulled to you - Monster’s Guide works properly now - Sacrificing your life to the Seraph shouldn’t hide the UI anymore - Attempt at fixing the “crash on close” bug. Let me know if it still happens - Soulshots will no longer go flying out into the River - Multiple copies of a curse now increase in level correctly - Fixed many cases of fonts scaling weirdly - Death Whistle works correctly now - The River no longer builds despair while you are paused - Justicars should no longer escape the level when they teleport Balance - Hope rewards taper off when completing a level more than once - Strange Brew now spawns at level 0, instead of level 5 - Grubgobbler and Wheel of Fortune now scale the amount of Hope they drop - Visibility Bonus now has soft/hard cap - Ice Pillars now release a blizzard when destroyed, instead of ice shards - Cursewash now removes all Curses from you - Narthex now links to Umbral Gate instead of Sorrowell - Trial of Arrogance room is a bit larger, and the reward quality scales faster - Test of Might can now go all the way to +10 reward - Burning is in a far better place now - Mirrored Locket now reduces attack range. The amount scales down - Loculus can now be used multiple times - Effigy blessing now lasts longer, but the effect is slightly reduced - Mystic blessings now scale with his level, and last longer - Increased damage on Links of Carnage, reduced blade count scaling - Silken Blade fight is easier. Fewer grates ignite, she casts slower, releases fewer projectiles, and has less barrier - Defensive stat hard cap now goes up to 99% Misc. - Power Cost stat is now Power Cost Reduction stat, and has a soft+hard cap - Major performance improvements - Cloister exit is a little harder to accidently go into - Build Dummy can now be accessed from the Respite - Craftsman will show a reason a meld failed now - Outpost rooms are a bit smaller now - Upgrading the Harlot lets you listen to her song again - Trading with the Coward no longer excludes items you own from the results - Clearing The Sewers will no longer expend a Blessing/Curse level - Trigger + Y on controller will discard an item from the inventory - Left Button/Right Button or PgUp/PgDown will scroll stash/build pages - In the Inventory, LB/RB PGUP/PGDOWN will switch between equipped and potion belt - Weeping Goddess now generates Hope when you harvest her tears - Melded items can no longer be traded with the Coward - Screen hit effects can be completely toggled off - Soft and hard cap for each stat is now visible in the information popup - Getting the Flower and Key from the wishing well is much less random now - Gods Eye drop is less elusive now - Heroic items can no longer be traded at the Coward - Curses now appear red, instead of the same color as uiniques - Reflected projectiles now pick up all the properties of their owner - Off-hand melds work a little better now

Bugs

• Withichor boost from potion effect is now properly applied
• Armory/Shinebog shouldn’t lock you out anymore
• Fixed bug where saves were getting deleted
• In the Temple of Despair, the same item shouldn't be chosen over and over again

Balance

• Significantly increased Heroic item drop rate in the Witch Trials

Misc.

• Adrift Soulshots shouldn’t run way out into the River anymore

For today's update, I mainly focused on building out the Off-hand category of items. Big thanks to user Samson for some great designs there, quite a few of his ideas made their way into the game. The slot has always been a bit of an odd duck. It's meant to be an active slot, but nothing there feels too essential. Hopefully some of these new designs fit into your builds better, and provide some actual value. Also, as I figure out the difficulty, some of the defensive Offhands might start to be more relevant. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43503330/06fa6955015e07f7c8b58356ccb6e8ef2700c63d.gif Bugs

• Stat breakpoint logic was being run multiple times, leading to weird stat behavior (slyvanessy)
• Negative Health per Kill now functions properly
• Demonic Goatmen no longer do such insane damage when hitting you into the wall
• Fixed Per Level effects to actually work

Balance

• Fixed attack split calculations. Multiple projectiles will now split their damage and their effects will be diluted (generously)
• Reworked Vlad’s Grimoire and Baltair’s Memento. Should still be usable without being broken.

Misc.

• Updated Sunlit colors
• Levels within an area must once again be completed in order

Additions

• 27 new items

Bugs - Extracting embers now extracts the correct type - Fixed Laughing Shield, Chains of Ire, Moonchild Rites, and other emission effects - Fruit from the Garden now picks up Potion Quality Bonus - Items are kicked out of the forge extraction slot when closing the menu - The Innocents health should scale properly now Balance - Reworked forking. Now a fork is always a split into 2, and damage is divided - Projectile bounce damage lowered - Lowered Sunlit Burn, Instant Kill Threshold, and Enemy Start Health properties - Added health on kill to the Harpoon Gun unique - Reworked Messenger Shoes - Reworked Thralls Plate and Crude Plate - Increased Run Speed scaling - Test of Might damage thresholds now scale - Reduced highest possible Refinement Level from Test of Arrogance, increased spawn Misc. - When sacrificing an item, it now checks your inventory first, and then your equipped items

Bugs - Fixed Burning Rate modifier - Controller now works properly on the Prisoners Log - Negative despair per kill items work properly now - Malingerer can no longer be shattered - Malingerer won’t die anymore - + Despair on Kill items wont flash “You are Hopeless” over and over - Max Health can no longer go below 1 - Fix exploding attacks interaction with forking - Fixed Knockback Collision damage - Crown of Storms no longer has a weirdly short range Balance - Reduced Burning Rate scaling - Increase Coin Drop scaling (you get more coins now later on) - Reduced size and increased enemy density in the Confluence - Lowered gate trigger on Kennels level - Added soft and hard cap to many stats - Increased size from Firewalkers trail - Significantly increased health cost from Vlad’s Grimoire - Witchichor now has a soft and hard cap, and is applied in the correct order Misc. - There are now 10 total ember types, and they combine into each other all the way to the top - Heroic items can now only drop from Chests (not the merchant), and their drop rate is increased - There is now a DPS counter when you hit the Malingerer in the Refuge - Toned down the red screen border when youre at low health - Made the Jack-Pot wheel more accurate Additions - 2 Uncommon staffs

Today’s update reworks the Hope and Despair system again. As many people rightly pointed out, it wasn’t working very well. Despair was trivial to get rid of, and maxing out Hope was trivial to accomplish. With this rework, I hope its a little more interesting, and easier to understand. First off, there is no longer Hope and also Hope Crystals. Now, it’s just Hope. The blue nuggets you get at the end of a run are just Hope. Also, instead of cashing your Hope into Hope Crystals, you now just get an amount of Hope equal to the difficulty. Easy peasy. Second, the “meter” is just Despair. It starts at 0 and goes up to 100. When you die, you gain 30 Despair, but you can also gain and lose it through many different items and levels. If you die, and you have 100 Despair already, you will succumb to the Despair, and the Witch will have her way with you. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43503330/0608008fa30b38120819aa309460b822b0aae01d.gif Thanks for playing my game, people CLYDE Bugs - Mini bosses should no longer lead to a full run - Obsidian Staff power move no longer does absurd broken no-good damage - Fixed crash with empty meld slot - Hero’s Courage blessing works correctly now - Effects that reduce your healing will no longer prevent a full heal from completing a run Balance - Increased difficulty scaling - Melded stats that overlap are no longer doubled - Lowered overall Ember drop rate, now that they drop at higher levels - Added soft and hard cap for crit chance - Reduced damage from Singularities - Elixirs and Fruit now scale with level. Potion level bonuses are now applied to both - Coffers reward room is a little farther out, making it harder to steal the goods Misc. - Reworked Heart of Greed unique amulet, so its not just a gimmick item - Void Embers and Embers of Heroism can now be combined - Melded items can now have Embers of Heroism applied, if the main item is fully upgraded - Capped the time it takes for the Statue of the Mother to dispense Hope

Today's update focuses a lot on how Ember drops work. Basically, it is a lot easier to get high level Embers later in the game. No more seeing 20 Dull Embers sitting on the ground beyond the gates of despair. This update will shorten play time, but I'd rather have the game be shorter and more fun. Hopefully it also lets you experiment more, as its not so difficult to upgrade random pieces of equipment. Bugs

• I had accidentally introduced a bunch of lag, should be better now
• CRT filter wont automatically toggle back on when loading the game
• Blessings/Curses can now be picked up, even with full inventory
• Fixed Guillame’s Shot power move
• Capped movement lock when attacking with slower weps
• Attack Dash (from Roarke’s Kilt) no longer locks you into a super long dash
• Foraging Guide potion quality bonus should apply more uniformly to all potions
• Fixed interaction between Bomba Bow/Hand Cannon and Grenadier Gloves
• All Fishing rewards are now guaranteed to be picked up
• Fixed Repulsion Totem
• Convergence level now shows proper enemy count
• Fixed Guillame’s Soultrap
• Killing the first guy in the Bombardment doesnt end the level

Balance

• Rebuilt Ember spawning. They are far more likely to be of the appropriate tier now
• Rebuilt a lot of the damage calculations
• Reworked Devilish Spirit
• Silken Blade barrier is smaller, and regenerates less frequently
• Crystal Staff shards now do proper damage
• Increased Health on Leo’s Greaves
• Reduced damage from Burning, when its on the player
• Increased Health from items
• Improved scaling on Jazerant

Misc.

• Reduced the overall darkness of the game
• Stygiana level is now about finding the exit, not clearing all the monsters
• Reduced the room size in the Carnarium
• Using an Ember of Heroism will now reduce the level, instead of consuming it
• Extracting a level 7-10 item will now give an Ember of Heroism with the correct level
• Reduced lag from Hollow Pulex
• You can now use the shortcut to equip runes into slots other than the first
• Remaining Enemies display is now more accurate

Additions

• 3 new Heroic items

If the highest aim of a captain were to preserve his ship, he would keep it in port forever. - Thomas Aquinas Today’s update is a massive rebalancing. Until now, the balance has been more art than science (art as in: childrens finger paintings). This update brings some more science to it. A handful of overwhelmingly powerful items have been brought in line. A huge amount of bad items have been improved. I’ve put some serious thought into what my goals for balance are, and then went and touched every single enemy and item to try and fit that goal. I’m sure I missed it in some areas, but I think overall we are getting a lot closer. Thanks again for all your patience, feedback, ideas, and enthusiasm. Together I think we can make this game quite good. As always, please let me know what you think is working, or isn’t working. Overall, later areas should be significantly harder. But if you feel that this update really makes your build bad, please let me know what you’re using and I will look into it. Bugs - Hammer of Wotana now only multiplies attacks on power move, not regular move - Fixed Shock Sticker’s power move - Fixed Vance’s Peeler power move - Fixed Pain on Kill from Heirloom - Fixed Thunder Staff Power move - Fixed the Hot Shot power move - Fixed burning status effect sprite - Fixed Steeleye Circlet to actually do damage - Early Bosses can no longer be stunned (though their poise can still be broken) - Fix stat soft cap Balance - Increased overall scaling. Later areas should be harder now - All enemies have been rebalanced - Nearly every single item has been rebalanced - Enemy tracking now tapers off as they “wind up”, making it easier to avoid them - Player and Enemy poise now resets to full after breaking - Removed the Health Steal stat. Replaced it with Health per Kill - Replaced Barrier Health Steal with Barrier Heal (any heal effect also goes to your Barrier) - IMPROVEMENTS - All projectiles pierce now, substantially buffing all bows and many staffs - Increased the size of nearly every melee attack - Forking no longer subdivides the forked projectiles damage - REDUCTIONS - Overlapping properties on melded items compute differently - Reduced execution damage from 10x base DPS, to 10x attack damage - Lowered the drop rate of Embers in the Embermine - Power moves now do 200% more damage inherently, instead of 400% Misc. - Added Heroic Embers, allowing items to be upgraded to Refinement Level 10. These can not be crafted, only dropped beyond the Gates of Despair - Savage Dictolydium is now Legendary - Desiderata is now Rare - The Warrior Poet is now Uncommon - Reworked the Hock Chopper’s power move - Reworked the Longbow’s power move - An areas mini-boss must be defeated before attempting the Seal Additions - 1 new legendary spear

This weeks update finally opens the Gates of Despair… Beyond the gates are 50 more challenge levels. Each run pulls randomly from all 5 previous areas. The challenge starts building more and more, so as you advance, you’ll need to get increasingly broken in your build to survive. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43503330/47d8308c9fce62ba5a423642b382f9bade82f007.gif And to that end, I’ve introduced a new rarity of item: Heroic, and designed 26 new items for this tier. These items are very rare, more rare than Legendary items, and they only start dropping beyond the Gates of Despair. These items are my take on “Set Items”. What I don’t like about Set Items from others games, is that they end up as the developers making your build for you. Where’s the fun in that? So while each of the 3 items in each set are very powerful, and are meant to synergize well, there is no explicit bonus for using them together. Some builds might use all 3, others might just want one of them. It’s all up to you. This is my first stab at end-game content. Getting the balance right on all of this is hard, I’m sure you’ve had one of your builds nerfed at one point or another. That’s not exactly fun, for you or for me, but my long term goal with this game is to make it as deep and fun as possible, and that unfortunately does require some balancing. If you feel the Gates of Despair is too hard, or too easy, or some item is overpowered or underpowered, please let me know. Your feedback is my compass in this wilderness. I suspect that with this new level of challenge, a lot of items will prove to be too weak, and might need some buffs. Anyway, there is more in store. Thanks for sticking with me and playing my game. - CLYDE Bugs - Witch Trials map no longer shows at the end of runs in place of the regular map Balance - Each area no longer enforces a specific progression, you can tackle the levels in any order you wish - The entrance fee for each area has been substantially increased - Removed the gated doors from the Forge, Craftsman, and Alchemist in the Refuge - The Intro section now leads to the Coffers or Cemetery, instead of the Sanguinary or Cemetery - Lowered Coin scaling amounts in later areas - Increased the Coins you get from the Coffers - Improved the potential rewards for looting graves in the Cemetery

This week I’ve mostly been working on the Gates of Despair end-game area. Todays update is just a few other bugs, balance, etc… Items I wanted to get out. I hope to have the Gates of Despair ready next week. Thanks for playing everyone. Bugs

• Using the Build Dummy will no longer swap your helmet and armor
• Blessing of Warmth will now always last the duration of a run
• Fruit from the Gardener now lasts 4 levels, like Curses and Blessings, instead of 1
• Repulsion Totem should no longer cause the game to crash
• Meteor effect fixed

Balance

• Bosses and mini-bosses are no longer at the end of a run. To compensate, the bosses themselves are harder
• I had accidentally nerfed Health Steal way more than intended. It’s fixed now. It is probably still OP, so I will look at it again soon
• Now that you can only equip 4 Runes, I have significantly buffed almost all of them

Misc.

• Health costs for doors and such can now be paid even if you don’t have enough Health. It will just kill you if you don’t have enough.
• New projectile and attack effect art

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43503330/485ab2d2d5ec3663e5f8e9200bdeedb852ca6b46.jpg I've been getting feedback that the Palace area is too punishing. I've rebalanced it, so it's not so ridiculous now. Also, the Marquess mini-boss has the wrong weapon, and was dealing over 10x the damage he was meant to. Thanks for your patience, if you found the area too difficult, give it another shot and let me know what you think.

No pleasure is a bad thing in itself: but the means which produce some pleasures bring with them disturbances many times greater than the pleasures. - Epicurus {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43503330/91023c099914be7415678f398d7b4cba1fbf3eda.gif Today I have released the fifth area: The Palace of the Witch. There are new enemies, levels, two new bosses, and some new items. Now that the area is out, there are no more “Early Access” areas which are just the same level over and over again. But that’s not to say each area is done. I still plan to go through and add more levels and variety and secrets to each area. But the next step now, is (finally) some actual end-game content. While you might be able to break all the Seals locking the Gates of Despair, the area is not accessible yet, so the doors won’t be opening. But soon they will part, and hopefully bring the game to the next level. There will be some serious challenges and rewards available beyond those doors. Thanks for playing my game, everyone CLYDE

Today's update is mostly QoL features that I've wanted to get in. Chief among them, is Build Storage. This is a dummy placed near the Forge, which will let you store up to 10 complete builds. With the press of a button, you can swap them on and off. Additionally, you can now compare items to ones you have equipped, and hover over stats to view more details about them in the Stats panel. I hope this makes it a bit easier and more fun to experiment with different builds. Bugs

• Fixed various random crashes
• Lich will no longer start at high level
• Umbral Gate doors will no longer stay open after opening them once
• Test of Might and Respite now show the correct tileset in the River area
• With all 5 Lich Curses, hope will correctly show 0 at the end of a level
• Columns no longer spawn in Dockyard, blocking enemies
• Spinners in the Spinner Tunnels should spawn behind the door less often
• You can no longer use the Scholarium books over and over again

Balance

• Hollow Infernus damage reduced, and spawn rate lowered
• >100% Slog Resistance won’t send you careening through the River (but it will still speed you up)
• Area boss fights are now at the end of a run, like mini-bosses
• All blessings, curses, and potions are now lost when dying
• On Hit effects (like firestrike, health loss/gain on crit, etc…) now consider the amount of attacks/projectiles you create with each attack
• Campfire blessing will now last longer when upgraded
• Base Barrier Regeneration rate increased 500%
• Increased scaling on Rune of the Boar

Misc.

• There is now a Build Storage dummy, near the Forge. This will let you store up to 10 complete builds, and swap between them easily.
• Holding Shift/L-Trigger will compare the item you’re hovering on to the one equipped in that slot
• Stats in the Stats Panel can now be hovered for more information about their effect
• More NPCs will appear in the Prisoners Log
• Embers of level 5 or higher can now be upgraded without another Ember. Put them in the Forge’s Ember slot (and make sure the Item Slot is open, for any remainders)
• More levels properly track remaining enemies
• Made the books in the Library a bit darker, so enemies stand out better
• Ronan and Roarke health bars disappear after defeating them
• Fished items should now be more reachable

All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle. - St. Francis This week’s update realizes the fourth area of the game, the Halls of Shadow. This place is dark, with strange hopeless creatures crawling about. Figures long lost to the darkness of the Necrovale. There are new enemies, new challenges, new items and experiences. The area is focused on Curses. Throughout the area, enemies might randomly curse you when they die. However, a curse is not simply a bad thing. Every curse is a price you pay for some other benefit. You may find people and places in the Halls of Shadow that feed off of curses, too. As for what’s coming next, I will start work on the fifth and final area, the Palace of the Witch. In a few weeks I should have that ready to go. In the meantime, I will get out quality of life updates, bug fixes, and additional content. After the fifth area is out, my focus will shift to adding end-game areas. This is where I think the game will really come alive and open new dimensions to the gameplay. Thanks for sticking with me throughout the process. CLYDE

Today’s update focuses on balance. Because of the way builds worked, the game would eventually start to get really easy. That’s fun for a while, but it feels a lot better to make a powerful build if there is an actual challenge for it to overcome. So with this update, the first two areas should feel roughly the same. But starting in the River of Souls, the challenge will start to increase more rapidly from how it previously worked. By the time you’re at the Palace of the Witch, there should be some more serious resistance to your machine of destruction. Possibly the most significant change now, is that defensive stats actually will start to matter. Enemy damage scales differently now, so if you come in to later areas with no defenses, you might get flattened. Remember, this is all a work in progress, things can change. I count on your feedback to let me know how things are feeling. I’m making the game, but at the end of the day, you are the ones spending your time in this world. What you think matters. I hope you’ll give this update a chance, and let me know what you think. Thanks for playing my game, people. Bugs

• Cursor properly aligns with potion slots on Gamepad now
• Buyback button can now be accessed with the Gamepad

Balance

• Increased base ember drop rate by 50%
• Curse of Sorrow from the Sorrowell now only reduces attack speed by 20%, and it adds +1 ember quality

Misc.

• Levels should repeat less often during a run, especially when using levels like the Sewers
• Flameseeker can be upgraded now
• Courtyard, Plaza, and Terrace doors cost Hope Crystals instead of Coins now

Today’s update mostly spruces up the Hornslack Ruins area. There is a new enemy, the Crusher, and a few new levels. Other levels have been improved in their rewards, notably the Garden. This has long been a stinker of a room, so hopefully the changes make it into an great room. Let me know what you think. I’m building up to fully releasing the next area: The Halls of Shadow. So about half of my time is currently spent working on that, the other half on weekly content. So apologies if this update is a bit smaller than usual. It will be worth it, I think. Balance

• The Gardener’s fruits have been significantly improved
• Elemental Whirlwind amulet adds more damage for each ailment now (Yggdrasil)
• Observatory has fewer waves, with each one being larger

Misc.

• Reworked how Rarity Chance works, and increased value from Merchant’s Boots
• Circular rooms have a more even distribution of doodads. Thanks to the math gang: November, Evarika, and Pell
• Many item rarities have been shifted

Additions

• New Ruins levels: Scholarium, Bombardment, Innocent’s Folly, Garrison
• New Ruins Enemy: Cretin Crusher

Bugs

• Kite Shield icon fixed
• Emerald and Sapphire Rune have the correct element strike now
• Level text doesn’t overlap the enemy counter now
• Bottom-left inventory slots are no longer mixed up on the gamepad
• Magna Bestia and Spirithorses no longer one-shot you
• Magna Bestia fight is less laggy
• Stormtouch gauntlets no longer transfer their lightning to your projectiles
• Gobbling potions with the Tosspot will no longer crash the game

Balance

• Dart Gun power move poise damage massively increased, and pierce added
• Drinking the Cowards’ Tonic now immediately fills your barrier
• The Wellspring now fully heals you, instead of just a small heal
• Slogging in the River doesn’t slow you down as much
• Necrotower spawn rate slowed down
• Higher rarity enemies are much more likely to drop things now
• Vengeful Amulet causes you to take more damage now

Misc.

• Audio now mutes when the game loses focus
• Paying a resource cost is faster now
• Damage and Attacks per Second now appear at the top of weapon stat lists
• Statue of the Watcher upgrade capped at 10 levels. His entrance was also made a bit more visible, and a gate was added.
• Items info popup when melding will show the final form of the item when you hover it
• Item info popup for the forge should be more consistent in showing the right values

Today’s update is a big hodgepodge, mostly consistent of implementing feedback. To cut through the big list, here are what I think are the most important takeaways:

• You can get Uniques you unlocked now. If you trade a Unique at the Coward, it will be in the rotation of items that show up.
• Many levels that were annoying (Slime Pits, Rats Next, Floodplain, Wraithbog, etc…) should be less annoying now
• You can buyback items from the Merchant now. Also, it’s a little harder to accidentally sell something.
• Now that there are Rune Slots, instead of them occupying your inventory, I’ve added 8 Common Runes and 8 Uncommon Runes
• The Stash starts with a whole page unlocked, and upgrading it now unlocks entire pages, up to 10

Note: The Linux/SteamDeck build is delayed. My Linux laptop just gave out, once I replace it I will get those builds up ASAP. Bugs

• Cretin Sapper bombs no longer do 4x damage
• Grip Mitts now properly increase attack speed
• Juggernaut Helm now only knocks back on rolling, like intended
• The camera now resets when you give your life to the Seraph
• Dwarven Brew now applies properly
• Fixed Slime Pit level generation
• Ember Drop Rate stat now effects the crystals in the Embermine
• Merchant gives his gift properly now on his final upgrade
• Levels that drop Embers will consistently apply Ember Quality buffs
• Upgrading the Mystic after talking to him will now properly give you the second blessing

Balance

• Completely rebalanced Coin economy
• Adrift Wraiths attack slower
• Slightly reduced Gossamer Hood barrier
• Floodplain has more torches to guide you, and spawns fewer enemies
• Barrier scaling on the Protective Spirit reduced
• Increased Hope Gained from Scouring Agent
• Embermine crystals can now drop higher tier embers
• Phantoms can no longer teleport to you from so far away
• Reworked Cult Symbol. Now it only stuns enemies when you break someones poise. But then stun lasts a lot longer and the range is much higher.
• Killing a Boss now awards an extra 50 Hope
• Jazerant now only effects actual health lost, damage to your barrier will not be effected
• Wraithbog is less of a slog
• Slime enemies have less health
• Rats, Slimes, Bats, and Spiders do less damage
• Rats are slightly slower
• Reduced spawn rates of Rats in the Rats Nest, and made the hallways wider
• Underwood’s Curse health steal reduced, health drain increased
• Sunseeker’s Psalm does a smaller % damage against bosses
• The Execution effect now adds 10x of your total DPS to the attack, instead of 10x the attacks damage

Misc.

• The current level name is now always displayed
• Added a Stash chest near the Forge in the refuge, and to the Foundry level
• Reversed the order of the doors in the Ruins Antechamber. Later levels are closer to the entrance
• Blocking no longer prevents 100% of damage. Instead, there is a blocking defense stat. If you block an an attack, this reduces the damage after all other calculations have gone through.
• Blocking an attack takes less poise now
• Scatterbang Inaccuracy stat now shows as red
• Marshwood trees should no longer block the exit
• Listening to the Harlot sing no longer takes away control, and she is a bit closer to the door
• The space around The Anguished boss chest is cleared when it drops
• Game background is now pure black instead of slightly off-black
• Using the shortcut to sell an item now requires you to hold Shift/Left Trigger, to prevent accidentally selling
• The Stash now starts with the whole first page unlocked. Upgrading unlocks additional pages
• You can now buy back items you sold to the Merchant
• Trading Unique items to the Coward now lets you re-obtain Uniques you got previously
• Floodplain level now only spawns Phantoms and Wraiths, no enemies that run away
• When a projectile bounces off a wall, it can hit any character its already hit again (Mangrove Staff buff)
• Stats panel now shows equipped Weapon stats

Additions

• 8 Common Runes
• 8 Uncommon Runes
• 2 Common Offhands
• 1 Rare Offhand

Let death and exile, and all other things which appear terrible, be daily before your eyes, but chiefly death, and you will never entertain any abject thought, nor too eagerly covet anything. - The Enchiridion Greetings Strangers… Today’s update fleshes out the third zone, the River of Souls. There are new enemies, new levels, new NPCs, new Unique items, and more. I really want each of the five zones to feel unique, and feel fun to explore, while also presenting interesting challenges. I hope you enjoy the new content, and keep the feedback coming. Thanks for playing my game! CLYDE

Unfortunately there can be no doubt that man is, on the whole, less good than he imagines himself or wants to be. Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual’s conscious life, the blacker and denser it is. - Jung Greetings, Strangers… Today, the Seal of Shame opens. Two bosses have been added to the Halls of Shadow area. On launch, I only had two boss fights complete, now there are eight. With every one, I learn more, and soon will be able to go back to earlier ones and improve them as well. I want each one to end up as an epic and unique challenge. I know many players have extremely powerful builds, so going back to these bosses and fighting them is like shredding tissue paper. I appreciate your patience on that, just know that in the end-game areas, these bosses will reappear in far more powerful forms. I am steadily working towards that point, and look forward to seeing just what you’re able to achieve… Thank you all for sharing your thoughts and feedback, it really helps improve the game. I really see Early Access as a collaboration between myself and the players, which I think will end up making something far greater than I could have achieved by myself. If you have thoughts on what you’d like to see more of (or less of), feel free to let me know. Thanks, CLYDE

Bugs

• NPCs can no longer be pushed around
• Merchant Reroll button no longer needs to be un-hovered to click again
• Hope/Power values displayed in the HUD and in the pop-up now match
• Tooltips appear above other UI elements again
• Eagle Talon stats fixed

Balance

• The Fool Card now works on Dodging, as well as Evading

Misc.

• Improved performance in areas with a lot of Doodads
• Other performance improvements
• Power Meter now fits into its frame better
• Emission projectiles are quieter

Greetings Strangers, First off, thanks everyone who submitted an item to the competition. There were so many great and creative entries. I only meant to pick 1, but ended up making 7. Wish I could have made even more! Perhaps with the next item drop. The six winners are (seventh is a secret)…

Vlad’s Grimoire - Evarika

Hunter’s Broach - Skwerly

Dwarven Brew - Skwerly

Coward’s Lantern - Fweburary

Quicksteppers - Evarika

Ramiel’s Shamshir - Bjornskarn Including those awesome items, I’ve added 48 new items:

• Melee Weapons: 1 Unique, 1 Rare, 1 Uncommon, 1 Common
• Ranged Weapons: 1 Common
• Off-hands: 2 Uncommon
• Armor: 2 Legendary, 1 Rare, 2 Common
• Gloves: 3 Rare, 1 Uncommon, 1 Common
• Boots: 4 Legendary, 2 Uncommon, 1 Common
• Amulets: 1 Legendary, 3 Rare, 3 Uncommon, 3 Common
• Books: 3 Legendary, 2 Rare, 1 Uncommon, 2 Common
• Runes: 1 Legendary, 4 Rare
• Potions: 1 Rare

As always, thanks for playing my game. - CLYDE