Gods and Relics - Patch Notes
Welcome to the Gods and Relics update! This update to Inkbound includes two new aspects, the major new Vestige Set feature, Steam Achievements, the removal of in-game monetization, and more. We’ve tried our best to capture accurate patch notes that include all the changes. If you’re interested in all the details, read on!
This patch will be released at approximately 10 am PT (GMT-7) on October 27th, 2023.
The game will have 2-3 hours of downtime starting at approximately 7 am PT on October 27th for the team to prepare the update.
[h3]New Aspect: Chainbreaker[/h3]
The Chainbreaker smashes their way to victory with nothing but their fists and pure tenacity.
Uppercut enemies right in the face with new powerful Combo mechanics in this new Aspect that is all about in-your-face fisticuffs. You can read more details about the Aspect in a deep dive available here.
To gain access to the Chainbreaker you’ll need to complete the short unlock quest. Talk to Sundance in the Atheneum to get started.
[h3]New Aspect: Godkeeper[/h3]
The Godkeeper fights to defend the written Gods of Yore using their divine Purespear to keep their opponents at bay.
This spear-based fighter can attack enemies near and far with a combination of spear thrusts and throws. To maximize their potential you’ll have to position yourself carefully to ensure optimal damage output. You can read more about the Aspect in a deep dive available here.
To gain access to the Godkeeper you’ll need to complete the short unlock quest. Inspect the Impaled Spear in the entrance to the Proving Grounds to get started.
[h3]Vestige Sets[/h3]
Vestige Sets are a major rework of how players increase in power during a run. Each Vestige has one or more Sets that it belongs to. Upon collecting a certain number of Vestiges with matching Sets, the Set will confer a bonus. The more you invest into a specific Set, the bigger the bonuses grow. Here’s a simple example.
The Vestige Mossed Spyglass is now part of the “Precision” Set. You can see the Set icons in the Vestige description.
If you draft Mossed Spyglass, you’ll get a point into the Precision Set. Hovering the icon will give you the full details.
Upon getting two points in Precision, you’ll gain +10 Crit Chance. Upon three points, you’ll get an additional +15 Crit Chance. And so on.
As a part of this, the design of many Vestiges have been reworked.
There are many new sets with many new types of functionality. We hope you’ll have fun exploring all the new build options!
[h3]Steam Achievements[/h3]
We’ve added 28 Steam Achievements in this update with a mix of progression and challenge Achievements.
Want to give this one a try?
[h3]Sea Breaches Improved[/h3]
We’ve heard from players that Sea Breaches were not offering interesting enough choices and rewards. We agree. In this update, all Sea Breaches have been redesigned with stronger rewards and more interesting choices.
[h3]Refreshed Victory Board[/h3]
We’ve fully refreshed the Victory Board with 108 new objectives and new cosmetics to unlock by completing them.
(The cosmetic rewards from the prior Victory Board have been moved into the Cosmetic Vault.)
[h3]Updated Ranks[/h3]
We’ve redesigned Ranks 11 through 20 with new challenges. If you were at Rank 11 or higher on either the Solo or Group track before this update your Rank will be reset to 10 so you can climb the refreshed Rank ladder. Completing Rank 20 in each track will earn you a special Nameplate.
Some of the earlier Ranks were also redesigned to smooth out the increase in challenge rank-by-rank.
[h3]Run Reward Structure Updated[/h3]
Binding drafts now show up after battles instead of on their own reward islands. The goal with that change is to improve game flow.
Binding Augment drafts no longer show up as guaranteed rewards, you’ll have to choose battles with those rewards to earn them. The goal with this change is to increase the impact of upgrade choices. In concert with this, common Augments have been removed from the game, and thus Augment power is higher in general.
[h3]Run Quests Removed[/h3]
We decided to replace the concept of Run Quests with the goals in the Vestige Set system. Overall we liked that run quests gave goals that contributed large amounts of power in return for completing their effect, but often they were either too easy or too hard with little middle ground, and this was made worse in multiplayer. Many sets have aspirational bonuses that reward putting in effort to achieve them, and feel more organic as a result than run quests did.
[h3]Font of Wisdom Removed[/h3]
Like Run Quests, we aimed to simplify the way players earn stats by putting them primarily into Vestiges and Vestige Sets. Independently drafting stat upgrades via Fonts of Wisdom has been removed from the game. In general Sets feel like ‘specialized stats’, with each point driving towards new build possibilities. That said, some Sea Breaches still offer the Font of Wisdom style stat upgrades, for those that miss it.
[h3]Trinket Design Revisited[/h3]
Due to various design changes described above we needed to revisit the design of our existing Trinkets. A variety of the current Trinkets have been refreshed with new functionality to accommodate the addition of Vestige Sets and the removal of other systems.
[h3]Change Your Aspect & Trinkets in the Sea of Ink[/h3]
Ever enter a run and wish you could change your Aspect or equipped Trinket? Well, now you can. We’ve added the ability to change these before entering the first Book of the run.
This can be especially useful if you use Matchmaking to enter a run and want to coordinate with a co-op partner before entering the first Book.
[h3]Seasonal Quests and Return of Season 1 Content[/h3]
We’ve moved all story-related Seasonal quests to the “main questline” and, from now on, only plan on adding story quests to the main questline and not removing them at the end of the season. This means that Season 2 quests will not go away at the end of the season. We’ve also added back all Season 1 quests to the main questline for new players to experience. For players who played any Season 2 content, all Season 1 content will be automatically completed to avoid progression issues, but we will have the ability to reset your story progress in a future update so you can experience all previous seasonal content.
[h3]Removal of Monetization[/h3]
As outlined in detail in an earlier post, we have fully removed in-game monetization in this update. Leveling Passes have been removed and have been converted into optional cosmetic-only “supporter pack” DLC sold via Steam. The in-game store has been renamed to the Cosmetic Vault. You can earn Vault Dust (formerly Shinies) to unlock cosmetics and there is also a chance that a cosmetic chest will drop after defeating a Guardian.
Various cosmetics and Vault Dust can be earned via normal gameplay by leveling up. These unlocks are collected via the Logbook’s Season tab.
See the linked post above for full details on the migration.
Want to see all the little details? Click here for the full list.
Release Timing
This patch will be released at approximately 10 am PT (GMT-7) on October 27th, 2023.
The game will have 2-3 hours of downtime starting at approximately 7 am PT on October 27th for the team to prepare the update.
New Features
[h3]New Aspect: Chainbreaker[/h3]
The Chainbreaker smashes their way to victory with nothing but their fists and pure tenacity.
Uppercut enemies right in the face with new powerful Combo mechanics in this new Aspect that is all about in-your-face fisticuffs. You can read more details about the Aspect in a deep dive available here.
To gain access to the Chainbreaker you’ll need to complete the short unlock quest. Talk to Sundance in the Atheneum to get started.
[h3]New Aspect: Godkeeper[/h3]
The Godkeeper fights to defend the written Gods of Yore using their divine Purespear to keep their opponents at bay.
This spear-based fighter can attack enemies near and far with a combination of spear thrusts and throws. To maximize their potential you’ll have to position yourself carefully to ensure optimal damage output. You can read more about the Aspect in a deep dive available here.
To gain access to the Godkeeper you’ll need to complete the short unlock quest. Inspect the Impaled Spear in the entrance to the Proving Grounds to get started.
[h3]Vestige Sets[/h3]
Vestige Sets are a major rework of how players increase in power during a run. Each Vestige has one or more Sets that it belongs to. Upon collecting a certain number of Vestiges with matching Sets, the Set will confer a bonus. The more you invest into a specific Set, the bigger the bonuses grow. Here’s a simple example.
The Vestige Mossed Spyglass is now part of the “Precision” Set. You can see the Set icons in the Vestige description.
If you draft Mossed Spyglass, you’ll get a point into the Precision Set. Hovering the icon will give you the full details.
Upon getting two points in Precision, you’ll gain +10 Crit Chance. Upon three points, you’ll get an additional +15 Crit Chance. And so on.
As a part of this, the design of many Vestiges have been reworked.
There are many new sets with many new types of functionality. We hope you’ll have fun exploring all the new build options!
[h3]Steam Achievements[/h3]
We’ve added 28 Steam Achievements in this update with a mix of progression and challenge Achievements.
Want to give this one a try?
Reworked Systems and Quality of Life
[h3]Sea Breaches Improved[/h3]
We’ve heard from players that Sea Breaches were not offering interesting enough choices and rewards. We agree. In this update, all Sea Breaches have been redesigned with stronger rewards and more interesting choices.
[h3]Refreshed Victory Board[/h3]
We’ve fully refreshed the Victory Board with 108 new objectives and new cosmetics to unlock by completing them.
(The cosmetic rewards from the prior Victory Board have been moved into the Cosmetic Vault.)
[h3]Updated Ranks[/h3]
We’ve redesigned Ranks 11 through 20 with new challenges. If you were at Rank 11 or higher on either the Solo or Group track before this update your Rank will be reset to 10 so you can climb the refreshed Rank ladder. Completing Rank 20 in each track will earn you a special Nameplate.
Some of the earlier Ranks were also redesigned to smooth out the increase in challenge rank-by-rank.
[h3]Run Reward Structure Updated[/h3]
Binding drafts now show up after battles instead of on their own reward islands. The goal with that change is to improve game flow.
Binding Augment drafts no longer show up as guaranteed rewards, you’ll have to choose battles with those rewards to earn them. The goal with this change is to increase the impact of upgrade choices. In concert with this, common Augments have been removed from the game, and thus Augment power is higher in general.
[h3]Run Quests Removed[/h3]
We decided to replace the concept of Run Quests with the goals in the Vestige Set system. Overall we liked that run quests gave goals that contributed large amounts of power in return for completing their effect, but often they were either too easy or too hard with little middle ground, and this was made worse in multiplayer. Many sets have aspirational bonuses that reward putting in effort to achieve them, and feel more organic as a result than run quests did.
[h3]Font of Wisdom Removed[/h3]
Like Run Quests, we aimed to simplify the way players earn stats by putting them primarily into Vestiges and Vestige Sets. Independently drafting stat upgrades via Fonts of Wisdom has been removed from the game. In general Sets feel like ‘specialized stats’, with each point driving towards new build possibilities. That said, some Sea Breaches still offer the Font of Wisdom style stat upgrades, for those that miss it.
[h3]Trinket Design Revisited[/h3]
Due to various design changes described above we needed to revisit the design of our existing Trinkets. A variety of the current Trinkets have been refreshed with new functionality to accommodate the addition of Vestige Sets and the removal of other systems.
[h3]Change Your Aspect & Trinkets in the Sea of Ink[/h3]
Ever enter a run and wish you could change your Aspect or equipped Trinket? Well, now you can. We’ve added the ability to change these before entering the first Book of the run.
This can be especially useful if you use Matchmaking to enter a run and want to coordinate with a co-op partner before entering the first Book.
[h3]Seasonal Quests and Return of Season 1 Content[/h3]
We’ve moved all story-related Seasonal quests to the “main questline” and, from now on, only plan on adding story quests to the main questline and not removing them at the end of the season. This means that Season 2 quests will not go away at the end of the season. We’ve also added back all Season 1 quests to the main questline for new players to experience. For players who played any Season 2 content, all Season 1 content will be automatically completed to avoid progression issues, but we will have the ability to reset your story progress in a future update so you can experience all previous seasonal content.
[h3]Removal of Monetization[/h3]
As outlined in detail in an earlier post, we have fully removed in-game monetization in this update. Leveling Passes have been removed and have been converted into optional cosmetic-only “supporter pack” DLC sold via Steam. The in-game store has been renamed to the Cosmetic Vault. You can earn Vault Dust (formerly Shinies) to unlock cosmetics and there is also a chance that a cosmetic chest will drop after defeating a Guardian.
Various cosmetics and Vault Dust can be earned via normal gameplay by leveling up. These unlocks are collected via the Logbook’s Season tab.
See the linked post above for full details on the migration.
Other Changes
Want to see all the little details? Click here for the full list.