The Last Spell News
Controller Support is finally here!
Hello Heroes!
We’ve seen your messages, your requests and your wishes and finally, finally it is here! After several months of work, you can now play The Last Spell with your controller!
You will also find at the end of this blogpost some changes on production building that enhanced the understanding of the mechanic.
[h2]CONTROLLER SUPPORT[/h2]
You can now play The Last Spell with Xbox, PlayStation and Switch controllers. When you plug in your controller, the system will automatically detect which device it is and display the appropriate interface for the buttons.
Note : Hero customization is currently not available for controllers & skills in the Character sheet/Inn cannot be hovered, but we are working on it!
Designing a control scheme for The Last Spell was a big challenge for us to overcome since the game has a ton of intricate interfaces and allows the player to have a lot of information all over the interface.
For practical reasons, in this blogpost we will use the Xbox controllers buttons, but this also applies to PlayStation and Switch controllers.
[h2]HOW TO PLAY WITH A CONTROLLER?[/h2]
There are two main navigation modes when using a controller :
You can press the “View Button” to switch between the two modes.
[h3]World navigation[/h3]
In this mode your cursor is in the world, meaning you are navigating through tiles and you can select anything you want in the world by pressing the A button and you can press the B button to deselect something you have selected. It is also in this mode that you will fight monsters during the night (more info below).
[h3]HUD navigation[/h3]
In this mode you navigate through the different buttons of the HUD (commander’s journal, the bottom panel with all the buttons to access the different interfaces).
To speed up the navigation in the interface we’ve designed a system that allows you to navigate through big sections of the interface using the R-stick. Those sections are displayed with a highlight like this one:
And this is what this system allows you to do for example in the character sheet:
[h3]Tooltips everywhere[/h3]
In the game our main way to give information on something is by displaying tooltips (little boxes that appear when you hover your mouse over an image, a text or button).
When playing with a controller it was important for us to have a dedicated button to be able to display tooltips for something you want more information.
So when you see the X button displayed on your selector that mean that you can display a tooltip to have information about the thing you are currently on
[h3]Combat[/h3]
Since you’ll spend most of the time fighting monsters we’ve put a lot of effort into designing this section.
When in the World navigation mode you can press the triggers LT/RT to navigate in your skills. After you’ve chosen your skill by navigating, you just have to press A on your target. If you want to stop casting skills you can press the B button and your hero will return into the “move mode”.
We wanted to have something that can be played fast, tell us what you think if you give it a try!
[h2]PRODUCTION BUILDING[/h2]
[h3]Gauge Removal[/h3]
Our balancing on the production building has changed a lot through the development of the game and after several iterations we are now happy with what we have. But the last iteration we’ve made to the balancing made their gauge completely useless (the gauges are always increasing at their maximum), and it made the overall understanding of the mechanic very confusing. So our decision regarding that issue is simple, we’ve decided to completely remove the gauges from the interface.
From now on, the building HUD is clearer on what the building is doing and the text of their upgrade and actions has been rewritten.
[h3]Night & Production Reward[/h3]
Another QoL we’ve made is the removal of the collect of all gold and material in the production reward panel, every resource reward is instantaneously added to the total count.
We also removed the manual collection in the Night Report panel since the rewards you get is already shown in the panic gauge, and we're trying to minimise the amount of clicks needed.
[h2]BALANCING[/h2]
Bone Shards (Omen of Bursting Flesh):
[h2]BUG FIXES[/h2]
Thanks for reading! If you encounter any issue (with the controller support or something else), please let us know in our Discord server or in the Steam discussions.
We’ve seen your messages, your requests and your wishes and finally, finally it is here! After several months of work, you can now play The Last Spell with your controller!
You will also find at the end of this blogpost some changes on production building that enhanced the understanding of the mechanic.
[h2]CONTROLLER SUPPORT[/h2]
You can now play The Last Spell with Xbox, PlayStation and Switch controllers. When you plug in your controller, the system will automatically detect which device it is and display the appropriate interface for the buttons.
Note : Hero customization is currently not available for controllers & skills in the Character sheet/Inn cannot be hovered, but we are working on it!
Designing a control scheme for The Last Spell was a big challenge for us to overcome since the game has a ton of intricate interfaces and allows the player to have a lot of information all over the interface.
For practical reasons, in this blogpost we will use the Xbox controllers buttons, but this also applies to PlayStation and Switch controllers.
[h2]HOW TO PLAY WITH A CONTROLLER?[/h2]
There are two main navigation modes when using a controller :
- World navigation
- HUD navigation
You can press the “View Button” to switch between the two modes.
[h3]World navigation[/h3]
In this mode your cursor is in the world, meaning you are navigating through tiles and you can select anything you want in the world by pressing the A button and you can press the B button to deselect something you have selected. It is also in this mode that you will fight monsters during the night (more info below).
[h3]HUD navigation[/h3]
In this mode you navigate through the different buttons of the HUD (commander’s journal, the bottom panel with all the buttons to access the different interfaces).
To speed up the navigation in the interface we’ve designed a system that allows you to navigate through big sections of the interface using the R-stick. Those sections are displayed with a highlight like this one:
And this is what this system allows you to do for example in the character sheet:
[h3]Tooltips everywhere[/h3]
In the game our main way to give information on something is by displaying tooltips (little boxes that appear when you hover your mouse over an image, a text or button).
When playing with a controller it was important for us to have a dedicated button to be able to display tooltips for something you want more information.
So when you see the X button displayed on your selector that mean that you can display a tooltip to have information about the thing you are currently on
[h3]Combat[/h3]
Since you’ll spend most of the time fighting monsters we’ve put a lot of effort into designing this section.
When in the World navigation mode you can press the triggers LT/RT to navigate in your skills. After you’ve chosen your skill by navigating, you just have to press A on your target. If you want to stop casting skills you can press the B button and your hero will return into the “move mode”.
We wanted to have something that can be played fast, tell us what you think if you give it a try!
[h2]PRODUCTION BUILDING[/h2]
[h3]Gauge Removal[/h3]
Our balancing on the production building has changed a lot through the development of the game and after several iterations we are now happy with what we have. But the last iteration we’ve made to the balancing made their gauge completely useless (the gauges are always increasing at their maximum), and it made the overall understanding of the mechanic very confusing. So our decision regarding that issue is simple, we’ve decided to completely remove the gauges from the interface.
From now on, the building HUD is clearer on what the building is doing and the text of their upgrade and actions has been rewritten.
[h3]Night & Production Reward[/h3]
Another QoL we’ve made is the removal of the collect of all gold and material in the production reward panel, every resource reward is instantaneously added to the total count.
We also removed the manual collection in the Night Report panel since the rewards you get is already shown in the panic gauge, and we're trying to minimise the amount of clicks needed.
[h2]BALANCING[/h2]
Bone Shards (Omen of Bursting Flesh):
- 100 Phys DMG -> 200 Phys DMG
- Cannot affect heroes and buildings anymore
[h2]BUG FIXES[/h2]
- Fixed Spiky Counter perk damage calculation (the tooltip was displaying the right value but it was not used in combat)
- Fixed Ballista’s skill and Damage Trap’s skill being able to hit buildings when using Omen of the Engineer and Omen of the Trapper
Thanks for reading! If you encounter any issue (with the controller support or something else), please let us know in our Discord server or in the Steam discussions.
Master of Omens: Changelog 0.99.0.21
Hello Heroes!
You will find below the new changes we bring to The Last Spell:
[h2]BALANCING[/h2]
[h3]Magic Scepter[/h3]
Base DMG at Level 0: 80-106 to 72-98
Magic Bash (Skill 1):
Wind Walk (Skill 2):
Shocking Touch (Skill 3):
Hammer of Faith (Skill 4):
[h3]Perks[/h3]
“Flexibility”, “Don’t Panic” and “Proximity Shot” descriptions have been modified to be more accurate: It now says “Total Damage” instead of “Damage”.
Note: “Damage” is the name given to the hero attribute that multiplies the base damage of an attack, while “Total Damage” is a separate multiplier value applied to the whole damage calculation.
Contamination
When applying Debuff to a unit, also apply Contagion (1 turn).
NOW: Unlocks the Contamination skill, allowing you to apply Contagion to the target.
Contamination:
When attacking a unit affected by 2 different types of negative alteration, the attack gets:
When attacking an enemy with 600 or more max Health, the attack gets:
[h2]BUG FIXES[/h2]
Also, there is an unresolved bug we are aware of when using Omen of the Engineer or Omen of the Trapper:
Join us on Discord, Twitter & Instagram to discuss with the team and other players!
You will find below the new changes we bring to The Last Spell:
[h2]BALANCING[/h2]
[h3]Magic Scepter[/h3]
Base DMG at Level 0: 80-106 to 72-98
Magic Bash (Skill 1):
- Uses per turn: 4 to 3
- Momentum: 25% to 15%
Wind Walk (Skill 2):
- Range: 1-5 to 1-3
Shocking Touch (Skill 3):
- Base DMG multiplier: 1.2 to 0.8
Hammer of Faith (Skill 4):
- Base DMG multiplier: 0.7 to 1.1
- Range: 1-2 to 1-3
- Uses per turn: 2 to 1
- Propagation bounces: 5 to 6
[h3]Perks[/h3]
“Flexibility”, “Don’t Panic” and “Proximity Shot” descriptions have been modified to be more accurate: It now says “Total Damage” instead of “Damage”.
Note: “Damage” is the name given to the hero attribute that multiplies the base damage of an attack, while “Total Damage” is a separate multiplier value applied to the whole damage calculation.
Contamination
When applying Debuff to a unit, also apply Contagion (1 turn).
NOW: Unlocks the Contamination skill, allowing you to apply Contagion to the target.
Contamination:
- Range: 1-9
- Targets: 1
- Limit per turn: 2
- Effects: Contagion (2 turns).
When attacking a unit affected by 2 different types of negative alteration, the attack gets:
- Guaranteed critical hit
- -30% Damage
- -15% Critical Power
- +25% Critical Chance
When attacking an enemy with 600 or more max Health, the attack gets:
- 3% of the target’s max Health as bonus damage.
- +20% Total Damage, increased by 2% every additional 120 max Health, up to 50%
[h2]BUG FIXES[/h2]
- Fixed the bug when the Elderlicht boss was stuck in phase continuing to cast their spell even when all the Souls Vessels were turned off.
- The description of the Gold mine upgrade is now displayed correctly
Also, there is an unresolved bug we are aware of when using Omen of the Engineer or Omen of the Trapper:
- With Omen of the Engineer, Ballista upgraded skill can hit buildings with its secondary effect.
- With Omen of the Trapper, Damage Trap upgraded skill can hit buildings with its secondary effect.
Join us on Discord, Twitter & Instagram to discuss with the team and other players!
Master of Omens: Changelog 0.99.0.19
Hello Heroes!
You will find below the new changes for The Last Spell. Thank you for your reports!
[h2]BUG FIXES[/h2]
Enjoy your Nights!
Join us on Discord, Twitter & Instagram to discuss with the team and other players!
You will find below the new changes for The Last Spell. Thank you for your reports!
[h2]BUG FIXES[/h2]
- Fixed the issue softlocking your game when killing a boss with a catapult
- Fixed some narrations issues
- Fixed some save issues
- Fixed Corpses behaviors issues
- Fixed the issue where monsters could be stuck in the fog between a Corpse and an obstacle
- Optimisation of the Oraculum has been done so you are less likely to have some FPS drop in it
Enjoy your Nights!
Join us on Discord, Twitter & Instagram to discuss with the team and other players!
Major Update - Master of Omens
Hello Heroes!
We've seen your messages: you were eagerly waiting for this Major Update and FINALLY it is here!
With this update comes the Meta Rework, the Omens but also the Wipe we announced and explained last month: we hope you will appreciate the new progression of the game! We are very interested in your feedback so feel free to share it here, on Discord or on your favourite platform.
https://steamcommunity.com/games/1105670/announcements/detail/3282583269800175535
All of the content of this Major Update has been tested in Open Beta. This blogpost is mainly the same as the previous one for the Beta.
Tomorrow, join us live on our Twitch channel at 16:00 CEST to talk about the update!
[h2]SUMMARY:[/h2]
[h2]PROGRESSION WIPE[/h2]
The progress of all the players have now been wiped. Your first new run will make you start on Swampfurt, the tutorial map which can be skipped if you open the Menu.
Beta players, your Save can carry through from Beta to Default: just change the branch on which you are playing and you will be good to go!
[h2]NEW MECHANIC: OMENS[/h2]
Let’s introduce the Omens! Omens can be selected at the start of each run. Each Omen gives a specific bonus while selected, ranging from simple attribute bonuses to very unique effects. Omens are meant to replace some of the strong permanent upgrades that players used to get, coupled with brand new effects. This allow us to have better control over the intended power level and difficulty for each map, while also introducing strategic choices at the beginning of each run.
Here are some examples of Omens you will be able unlock:
To be entirely clear: Omens are not meant to erase all permanent upgrades. They still exist and we even added new ones, but Omens are a way for us to introduce more upgrades and more interesting effects, while keeping the balance of the game interesting.
[h3]Starting a run with omens[/h3]
Before starting a run, you will be able to select Omens for this map. Obviously, you won’t be able to select all of your Omens for every run: each city has a set number of slots, and every Omen takes up one, two or three slots, depending on its strength. The harder the map is, the more Omens you will be able to use.
This means that the hardest maps also allow for the most interesting starting strategies and combos: will you focus your Omen choices on making your heroes stronger? On boosting your defenses? On setting up your economy? Or maybe a balance between all of these things?
[h3]Unlocking Omens[/h3]
After completing the tutorial, players will only be able to choose between a few starting Omens with simple effects. However, additional Omens can be unlocked in the Oraculum. Currently, there are around 70 Omens to unlock.
[h3]A new Boundless Mode[/h3]
We also took the opportunity to merge the old “Easy Mode” into the Omen system. Now renamed to Boundless Mode (because let’s be honest, the game never goes “Easy” on you), it can be activated in the Omen selection screen.
Activating Boundless Mode allows you to exceed the slot limit on Omens by however much you want, but also unlocks Boundless Mode-specific Omens which have the same effects as the old Easy Mode modifiers.
Use this new Boundless Mode to play the game at your own pace, or test some overpowered combos!
[h2]META PROGRESSION REWORK[/h2]
[h3]Oraculum unlocks[/h3]
All Oraculum unlocks have been redesigned: some have been removed, some have been added, and pretty much all existing ones have had their unlock conditions and prices changed. This is one of the main reasons why we had to wipe the saves, and the goal is to make the meta progression way smoother than before.
A lot of the important unlocks now come earlier than before, like the Inn building or some weapon unlocks. We also added new conditions in the Freude side of the Oraculum, in order to make the challenges a bit more varied.
[h3]Trophies[/h3]
End of night trophies have been rebalanced and some new ones have been added. The most important addition is a “You won the night” trophy, that gives a hefty chunk of essence if you manage to beat a night.
[h3]Soul gains for lost nights[/h3]
This feature has been requested for a long time now, but it is finally here: now you will also gain Tainted Essence for lost nights! However, even if the situation looks desperat, we encourage you to always try and win your Nights. Who knows, maybe you will get this juicy "Won the night" trophy after all...
[h3]Apocalypse Multipliers[/h3]
Playing on Apocalypse mode will now grant you a boost on the number of Essence you get each night. The higher the Apocalypse, the higher the boost!
[h2]TEMPLE AND MANA WELL REWORK[/h2]
While the Temple and the Mana Well had a use until now, we weren’t satisfied with their dynamic: building one often felt like a punishment more than an investment, compared to other buildings.
This is why we decided to rework both buildings a bit, in order to make these buildings relevant economy-wise. In addition to their health or mana restorating actions, the Temple and Mana Well are now able to grant permanent attribute increase to your heroes, which can be pretty strong!
[h3]Temple[/h3]
Gold cost: 55 -> 70
Build limit: 1
New passive production effect: Permanently grants +8 Max Health to all current heroes.
Production rate: 1x per day
Changed all Actions. New list:
Action: Offering Base action
Cost: 0 Workers
Max uses: 1
Effect: Restore 40 Health to one hero.
Action: Heal Base action
Cost: 1 Worker
Max uses: 1
Effect: Restore 40 Health to all heroes.
Action: Blessing Base action
Cost: 2 Workers
Effect: Permanently grants +24 Max Health to one hero
All upgrades have also changed to match these new actions.
[h3]Mana well[/h3]
Gold cost: 55 -> 35
Build limit: 2
New passive production effect: Permanently grants +1 Max Mana to all current heroes.
Production rate: 1x per day
Changed all actions. New list:
Action: Benediction Base action
Cost: 0 Workers
Max uses: 1
Effect: Restores 6 Mana to one hero.
Action: Restore Mana Base action
Cost: 1 Worker
Max uses: 1
Effect: Restore 8 Mana to all heroes.
Action: Gift Base action
Cost: 1 Worker
Effect: Permanently grants +3 Max Mana to one hero
All upgrades have also changed to match these new actions.
[h2]NEW MECHANIC: CORPSES[/h2]
We're introducing a new mechanic to spice up the combat and economy of the game: Corpses.
Corpses may appear at the end of each night, and can be scavenged during the day, just like ruins. Piles of Corpses can appear in multiple sizes: the bigger the pile, the greater the reward.
But how do you make them appear? Corpses and their bigger variants have higher chances of appearing when:
This means that some of the most dire situations may now lead to greater rewards...
[h3]Scavenging Corpses[/h3]
Corpses can be scavenged in different ways, depending on their size, and grant you Gold, Materials, Tainted Essence and Items. These scavenge actions have a fixed cost of 1 Worker: this makes the bigger variants very interesting economy wise!
However, Corpses can also act as obstacles, so you may even decide to let them be and use them as defenses, although they will rot away with time. However, if they are a hindrance to your strategy, you can also choose to destroy them during the day.
[h2]SEER REWORK[/h2]
Up until now, we only gave very limited information on incoming waves, which made it difficult for us to design interesting nights, especially early on, when players haven’t placed the Seer building yet. To let players make more strategic decisions and to make the overall enemy wave design more interesting, we decided to rework the Seer a bit.
[h3]Banners[/h3]
Prior this change, you could use the “Guess Where” skill of the Seer to know the proportion of incoming waves. Now, this information will ALWAYS be given to you, even if you haven’t placed down the Seer yet. Additionally, banners now indicate a very vague quantity of enemies, instead of just a proportion: a single side with a 4-Skull banner will have more enemies than a single side with a 2-Skull banner.
[h3]Precise Arrows[/h3]
Since its previous effect is now always given to the player, the “Guess Where” skill of the Seer is getting a new effect. When using the Guess Where skill, you will be able to see a very precise breakdown of where enemies will come from and in what proportions, thanks to arrows of varying sizes:
[h3]Additional changes[/h3]
[h2]NIGHT SAVE[/h2]
You asked for it and here it is! Now you can quit a night without the fear of restarting it from the beginning: your progress will be saved, and you will be able to resume from where you quit.
We’ve been wanting to implement this for quite some time, as we know that nights can become quite long. We hope that players with less time on their hands will enjoy this feature, allowing them to complete nights in multiple gaming sessions.
[h2]QOL UPDATE[/h2]
We have developed a certain number of features which increase the global quality of life of the game!
[h3]Oraculum[/h3]
The favors are now ordered in a more coherent manner, and this order should remain more consistent.
In addition to that, we’ve also added some tabs to allow for some filtering, which should help navigate the Oraculum and its countless favors.
Depending on its effect(s), a given favor can possibly be found in several tabs: we’d rather have duplicates but allow for a favor to be found easily when looking for it than the opposite. (e.g. a favor unlocking an Omen increasing Heroes’ attributes can be found in “Omens” as well as “Heroes”.)
[h3]Victory panel and Defeat panel[/h3]
Now when you finish a night, the first thing to appear on the panel is the animation of your number of souls gained with all the trophies acquired during the night. You can also skip the animation to present your heroes on the panel and go to the profile page by clicking on your heroes.
[h3]Item categories [/h3]
Some categories were implemented in game to classify protections so you can search and make some differentiation between heavy armors and light ones.
[h3]Enemies life gauge[/h3]
We changed the way big enemy health bars are displayed: you should now be able to clearly see how much health remain on a boss or an Elite.
[h2]SOUND DESIGN REWORK[/h2]
For this update, we introduce the first steps of our rework for the sound design, which will continue with the upcoming updates.
[h3]Introduction scene[/h3]
All the sound design of the introduction has been reworked so go enjoy it! You can watch it directly when you are on the main menu.
[h2]BALANCING[/h2]
[h3]Shared production building limit[/h3]
Production buildings now share a building limit of 5, meaning you can build a maximum of 5 production buildings but whichever ones you want. For example, you can place down 3 Bowyers and 2 Trinket makers in your haven.
[h3]Elderlicht Soul Vessels[/h3]
The Soul Vessels in Elderlicht will now become ignited after 2 turns: on the first turn of a night, they will warn the player that something is coming, and on the second turn of the night a Soulbound unit will spawn.
[h3]Traits[/h3]
All traits have been reworked & rebalanced to be more focused: on average, they will affect less different attributes, but give stronger bonuses.
[h3]Wounds[/h3]
Some time ago, we modified the wound system to make wounds unique for each enemy, because we wanted to allow for more tactical possibilities around this mechanic. However, they became too unique, making them bothersome to play around.
Wounds are now more harmonized: notably, enemies will all lose Move Points when wounded, but in proportion to their total Move Points.
A similar logic has also been applied to the Heroes.
[h3]Enemy attributes[/h3]
The defensive attributes of all enemies have been rebalanced to make them more focused. As an example, compared to before, less enemies will gain Block or Dodge over the course of the run, but enemies that gain some will gain more noticeable amounts.
We also wanted to reinforce the difference in strength between the different Tiers of enemies: common enemies will globally stay as weak as before but stronger enemies will become even stronger, meaning they can be more impactful without the need of spawning them in quantities as high as before.
[h3]Enemy waves[/h3]
Since the power level of the player has greatly changed with this update, enemy quantities in all cities have been rebalanced.
[h3]Other[/h3]
Additional and precise balancing involving stats can be read in our older changelogs for the Beta, with the changelog 0.99.0.15 and the last update we did on the Beta branch:
https://steamcommunity.com/games/1105670/announcements/detail/3314110913458634581
https://steamcommunity.com/games/1105670/announcements/detail/6188534200203596445
Thank you for reading! We will look at your comments and feedback with extreme interest.
Join us on Discord, Twitter & Instagram to discuss with the team and other players!
We've seen your messages: you were eagerly waiting for this Major Update and FINALLY it is here!
With this update comes the Meta Rework, the Omens but also the Wipe we announced and explained last month: we hope you will appreciate the new progression of the game! We are very interested in your feedback so feel free to share it here, on Discord or on your favourite platform.
https://steamcommunity.com/games/1105670/announcements/detail/3282583269800175535
All of the content of this Major Update has been tested in Open Beta. This blogpost is mainly the same as the previous one for the Beta.
Tomorrow, join us live on our Twitch channel at 16:00 CEST to talk about the update!
[h2]SUMMARY:[/h2]
- Progression Wipe
- New Mechanic: Omens
- Meta progression Rework
- Temple and Mana Well Rework
- New Mechanic: Corpses
- Seer Rework
- Night Save
- QoL Update
- Sound Design Rework
- Balancing
[h2]PROGRESSION WIPE[/h2]
The progress of all the players have now been wiped. Your first new run will make you start on Swampfurt, the tutorial map which can be skipped if you open the Menu.
Beta players, your Save can carry through from Beta to Default: just change the branch on which you are playing and you will be good to go!
[h2]NEW MECHANIC: OMENS[/h2]
Let’s introduce the Omens! Omens can be selected at the start of each run. Each Omen gives a specific bonus while selected, ranging from simple attribute bonuses to very unique effects. Omens are meant to replace some of the strong permanent upgrades that players used to get, coupled with brand new effects. This allow us to have better control over the intended power level and difficulty for each map, while also introducing strategic choices at the beginning of each run.
Here are some examples of Omens you will be able unlock:
To be entirely clear: Omens are not meant to erase all permanent upgrades. They still exist and we even added new ones, but Omens are a way for us to introduce more upgrades and more interesting effects, while keeping the balance of the game interesting.
[h3]Starting a run with omens[/h3]
Before starting a run, you will be able to select Omens for this map. Obviously, you won’t be able to select all of your Omens for every run: each city has a set number of slots, and every Omen takes up one, two or three slots, depending on its strength. The harder the map is, the more Omens you will be able to use.
This means that the hardest maps also allow for the most interesting starting strategies and combos: will you focus your Omen choices on making your heroes stronger? On boosting your defenses? On setting up your economy? Or maybe a balance between all of these things?
[h3]Unlocking Omens[/h3]
After completing the tutorial, players will only be able to choose between a few starting Omens with simple effects. However, additional Omens can be unlocked in the Oraculum. Currently, there are around 70 Omens to unlock.
[h3]A new Boundless Mode[/h3]
We also took the opportunity to merge the old “Easy Mode” into the Omen system. Now renamed to Boundless Mode (because let’s be honest, the game never goes “Easy” on you), it can be activated in the Omen selection screen.
Activating Boundless Mode allows you to exceed the slot limit on Omens by however much you want, but also unlocks Boundless Mode-specific Omens which have the same effects as the old Easy Mode modifiers.
Use this new Boundless Mode to play the game at your own pace, or test some overpowered combos!
[h2]META PROGRESSION REWORK[/h2]
[h3]Oraculum unlocks[/h3]
All Oraculum unlocks have been redesigned: some have been removed, some have been added, and pretty much all existing ones have had their unlock conditions and prices changed. This is one of the main reasons why we had to wipe the saves, and the goal is to make the meta progression way smoother than before.
A lot of the important unlocks now come earlier than before, like the Inn building or some weapon unlocks. We also added new conditions in the Freude side of the Oraculum, in order to make the challenges a bit more varied.
[h3]Trophies[/h3]
End of night trophies have been rebalanced and some new ones have been added. The most important addition is a “You won the night” trophy, that gives a hefty chunk of essence if you manage to beat a night.
[h3]Soul gains for lost nights[/h3]
This feature has been requested for a long time now, but it is finally here: now you will also gain Tainted Essence for lost nights! However, even if the situation looks desperat, we encourage you to always try and win your Nights. Who knows, maybe you will get this juicy "Won the night" trophy after all...
[h3]Apocalypse Multipliers[/h3]
Playing on Apocalypse mode will now grant you a boost on the number of Essence you get each night. The higher the Apocalypse, the higher the boost!
[h2]TEMPLE AND MANA WELL REWORK[/h2]
While the Temple and the Mana Well had a use until now, we weren’t satisfied with their dynamic: building one often felt like a punishment more than an investment, compared to other buildings.
This is why we decided to rework both buildings a bit, in order to make these buildings relevant economy-wise. In addition to their health or mana restorating actions, the Temple and Mana Well are now able to grant permanent attribute increase to your heroes, which can be pretty strong!
[h3]Temple[/h3]
Gold cost: 55 -> 70
Build limit: 1
New passive production effect: Permanently grants +8 Max Health to all current heroes.
Production rate: 1x per day
Changed all Actions. New list:
Action: Offering Base action
Cost: 0 Workers
Max uses: 1
Effect: Restore 40 Health to one hero.
Action: Heal Base action
Cost: 1 Worker
Max uses: 1
Effect: Restore 40 Health to all heroes.
Action: Blessing Base action
Cost: 2 Workers
Effect: Permanently grants +24 Max Health to one hero
All upgrades have also changed to match these new actions.
[h3]Mana well[/h3]
Gold cost: 55 -> 35
Build limit: 2
New passive production effect: Permanently grants +1 Max Mana to all current heroes.
Production rate: 1x per day
Changed all actions. New list:
Action: Benediction Base action
Cost: 0 Workers
Max uses: 1
Effect: Restores 6 Mana to one hero.
Action: Restore Mana Base action
Cost: 1 Worker
Max uses: 1
Effect: Restore 8 Mana to all heroes.
Action: Gift Base action
Cost: 1 Worker
Effect: Permanently grants +3 Max Mana to one hero
All upgrades have also changed to match these new actions.
[h2]NEW MECHANIC: CORPSES[/h2]
We're introducing a new mechanic to spice up the combat and economy of the game: Corpses.
Corpses may appear at the end of each night, and can be scavenged during the day, just like ruins. Piles of Corpses can appear in multiple sizes: the bigger the pile, the greater the reward.
But how do you make them appear? Corpses and their bigger variants have higher chances of appearing when:
- Enemies are killed close to the Haven
- Many enemies are killed on the same tile
This means that some of the most dire situations may now lead to greater rewards...
[h3]Scavenging Corpses[/h3]
Corpses can be scavenged in different ways, depending on their size, and grant you Gold, Materials, Tainted Essence and Items. These scavenge actions have a fixed cost of 1 Worker: this makes the bigger variants very interesting economy wise!
However, Corpses can also act as obstacles, so you may even decide to let them be and use them as defenses, although they will rot away with time. However, if they are a hindrance to your strategy, you can also choose to destroy them during the day.
[h2]SEER REWORK[/h2]
Up until now, we only gave very limited information on incoming waves, which made it difficult for us to design interesting nights, especially early on, when players haven’t placed the Seer building yet. To let players make more strategic decisions and to make the overall enemy wave design more interesting, we decided to rework the Seer a bit.
[h3]Banners[/h3]
Prior this change, you could use the “Guess Where” skill of the Seer to know the proportion of incoming waves. Now, this information will ALWAYS be given to you, even if you haven’t placed down the Seer yet. Additionally, banners now indicate a very vague quantity of enemies, instead of just a proportion: a single side with a 4-Skull banner will have more enemies than a single side with a 2-Skull banner.
[h3]Precise Arrows[/h3]
Since its previous effect is now always given to the player, the “Guess Where” skill of the Seer is getting a new effect. When using the Guess Where skill, you will be able to see a very precise breakdown of where enemies will come from and in what proportions, thanks to arrows of varying sizes:
[h3]Additional changes[/h3]
- Seer Repel skill now costs 2 workers when the fog is at its closest position, 4 workers when it is at its furthest position and 3 workers in other cases
- Seer Guess Who action has been removed : buying the upgrade now grants enemy list and quantities passively
- Seer Guess Who first upgrade cost: 25 -> 60 gold
- Seer Guess Who second upgrade has been removed
- Seer Guess Again worker cost: 2 -> 1
- Seer Guess Again max uses per night: 1 -> 2
[h2]NIGHT SAVE[/h2]
You asked for it and here it is! Now you can quit a night without the fear of restarting it from the beginning: your progress will be saved, and you will be able to resume from where you quit.
We’ve been wanting to implement this for quite some time, as we know that nights can become quite long. We hope that players with less time on their hands will enjoy this feature, allowing them to complete nights in multiple gaming sessions.
[h2]QOL UPDATE[/h2]
We have developed a certain number of features which increase the global quality of life of the game!
[h3]Oraculum[/h3]
The favors are now ordered in a more coherent manner, and this order should remain more consistent.
In addition to that, we’ve also added some tabs to allow for some filtering, which should help navigate the Oraculum and its countless favors.
Depending on its effect(s), a given favor can possibly be found in several tabs: we’d rather have duplicates but allow for a favor to be found easily when looking for it than the opposite. (e.g. a favor unlocking an Omen increasing Heroes’ attributes can be found in “Omens” as well as “Heroes”.)
[h3]Victory panel and Defeat panel[/h3]
Now when you finish a night, the first thing to appear on the panel is the animation of your number of souls gained with all the trophies acquired during the night. You can also skip the animation to present your heroes on the panel and go to the profile page by clicking on your heroes.
[h3]Item categories [/h3]
Some categories were implemented in game to classify protections so you can search and make some differentiation between heavy armors and light ones.
[h3]Enemies life gauge[/h3]
We changed the way big enemy health bars are displayed: you should now be able to clearly see how much health remain on a boss or an Elite.
[h2]SOUND DESIGN REWORK[/h2]
For this update, we introduce the first steps of our rework for the sound design, which will continue with the upcoming updates.
[h3]Introduction scene[/h3]
All the sound design of the introduction has been reworked so go enjoy it! You can watch it directly when you are on the main menu.
[h2]BALANCING[/h2]
[h3]Shared production building limit[/h3]
Production buildings now share a building limit of 5, meaning you can build a maximum of 5 production buildings but whichever ones you want. For example, you can place down 3 Bowyers and 2 Trinket makers in your haven.
[h3]Elderlicht Soul Vessels[/h3]
The Soul Vessels in Elderlicht will now become ignited after 2 turns: on the first turn of a night, they will warn the player that something is coming, and on the second turn of the night a Soulbound unit will spawn.
[h3]Traits[/h3]
All traits have been reworked & rebalanced to be more focused: on average, they will affect less different attributes, but give stronger bonuses.
[h3]Wounds[/h3]
Some time ago, we modified the wound system to make wounds unique for each enemy, because we wanted to allow for more tactical possibilities around this mechanic. However, they became too unique, making them bothersome to play around.
Wounds are now more harmonized: notably, enemies will all lose Move Points when wounded, but in proportion to their total Move Points.
A similar logic has also been applied to the Heroes.
[h3]Enemy attributes[/h3]
The defensive attributes of all enemies have been rebalanced to make them more focused. As an example, compared to before, less enemies will gain Block or Dodge over the course of the run, but enemies that gain some will gain more noticeable amounts.
We also wanted to reinforce the difference in strength between the different Tiers of enemies: common enemies will globally stay as weak as before but stronger enemies will become even stronger, meaning they can be more impactful without the need of spawning them in quantities as high as before.
[h3]Enemy waves[/h3]
Since the power level of the player has greatly changed with this update, enemy quantities in all cities have been rebalanced.
[h3]Other[/h3]
Additional and precise balancing involving stats can be read in our older changelogs for the Beta, with the changelog 0.99.0.15 and the last update we did on the Beta branch:
https://steamcommunity.com/games/1105670/announcements/detail/3314110913458634581
https://steamcommunity.com/games/1105670/announcements/detail/6188534200203596445
Thank you for reading! We will look at your comments and feedback with extreme interest.
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