Praxis Returns Update

Hello Knights!

And Happy New Year!
We hope everyone is ready to start 2024 off with the action-packed Praxis Returns Update!
The evil influence of Praxis is stronger than ever!

Take a look below for everything that this massive update includes!



With the constant threat of Praxis rising, we felt it was necessary to add another weapon, inspired by the evil one himself.
Harness the powers of Praxis with the all new Void Mantle!

Note: Since the Void Mantle harnesses the powers of Praxis, you'll need to defeat Praxis to unlock it. If you've already defeated Praxis, it should automatically be available.



Wightsbury just became more deadly...and more interesting? Here, you'll find curses - each bringing a new challenge to your plight, but don't fret, once the curse has been equipped, you'll also receive an immediate benefit. After the curse has been cleared, the unique benefit will persist for the rest of your run!


See below for a specific functionality that was removed but has since been returned in the form of a cleansed curse!



In addition to the Praxis-buffed enemies, we've added a bunch of new and deadly attacks that Praxis can do throughout your run to keep you on your toes. These random attacks add a noticeable increase to the difficulty so we've decided to add this feature as a new difficulty modifier. If you want this additional challenge, be sure to turn this modifier on and if not, no sweat!





Weapon customization is a feature we've had requested quite a bit and we loved the idea so much that we decided to add it!
Complete a special weapon challenge to unlock a unique weapon skin and brand new Steam achievement!





This is another massive update so continue reading for the full list of additions, improvements, and fixes!






Note: items marked with 🔥 are a result of player feedback.

[h2]New Content and Features[/h2]
[h3]Void Mantle[/h3]
The 7th weapon has arrived and it introduces a fun new way to continue the battle against Praxis!
[h3]Void Mantle Mods[/h3]

• Orb Burst - Your 3rd attack shoots 2 additional orbs
  
• Orb Weaver - Your chain attacks have seeking
  
• Laser Focus - Your charge attack is now a laser beam
  
• Dark Spell: Dark Star - A dark spell that creates a black hole and casts meteor
  
• Dark Spell: Celestial Tear - A dark spell that instantly kills a non-boss enemy
  
• Dark Spell: Darkening - A dark spell that summons 2 lightning bolts that damage enemies
  
• Ghostly Image - Whenever you dodge, summon a dark clone to attack nearby enemies
  
• Phantom Pulse - Whenever you dodge, summon a dark clone that deals AOE damage around it
  
• Grim Duality - Whenever you dodge, summon a dark clone that when defeated, casts a dark spell
  
• Void Field - Your dark spells have a 5% chance to instantly kill all non-boss enemies

[h3]Praxis Curses 🔥[/h3]
Wightsbury now includes a bunch of new cursed relics. Players will have the choice of selecting a temporary bane/boon combo. After clearing Wightsbury, the curse is lifted but the boon will remain for the rest of the run!

• Bane/Boon of Agility - Your move speed is reduced to half/You can quickly dodge twice
  
• Bane/Boon of Fortification - You can no longer dodge/Chain attacks destroy projectiles
  
• Bane/Boon of Leeching - You can no longer heal from items or healing rooms/Defeating an enemy heals you
  
• Bane/Boon of the Wights - All rooms are Wight rooms/Whenever you dodge an attack, haunt a random enemy
  
• Bane/Boon of the Deal - Randomly replaces your relics and skills. Repeats after defeating a boss or miniboss/Whenever you gain a relic, upgrade it if possible
  
• Bane/Boon of Shrouding - Except around you, darkness engulfs each room/You have a chance to ignore damage
  
• Bane/Boon of Mortality - Whenever you receive damage, you lose that much max HP/Whenever you defeat a boss or miniboss, increase your max HP
  
• Bane/Boon of Wisdom - Your second skill slot is locked/Your first skill slot gains additional charges
  

[h3]Praxis Effects - New Difficulty Modifier[/h3]
In addition to the buffed effect, Praxis has expanded his power with new mid-run attacks. These random attacks can be turned on and customized via the Tyrant difficulty modifier.

• Suppression Obelisk - An obelisk appears that disables skills while active
  
• Celestial Impact - Deadly meteors rain down from above
  
• Plasma Barrage - Praxis claws appear and fire orbs
  
• Void Vortex - Black holes appear that pull and damage
  
• Dark Matter Beam - Praxis claws appear and fire lasers

[h3]Weapon Challenges, Skins, & Achievements[/h3]
For additional Knight customization, players will have 35 weapon skins that can be equipped. To unlock each skin, a unique and weapon-specific challenge must be completed.
Once each challenge is completed, an associated Steam achievement will be awarded.

• Ember Blade
  • Amplified Ember Blade Challenge - Unlock all weapon mods for the Ember Blade
    
  • Untouchable Challenge - Complete a world without taking damage with the Ember Blade
    
  • Radiant Ember Blade Challenge - Complete a run with 25 difficulty modifier levels active with the Ember Blade
    
  • Master Challenge - Complete a run without reviving with the Ember Blade
    
  • Umbral Ember Blade Challenge - Defeat 1000 enemies with the Ember Blade
• Guardian Bow
  • Amplified Guardian Bow Challenge - Unlock all weapon mods for the Guardian Bow
    
  • Bullseye Challenge - Damage enemies with 50 perfect charge attacks in a row with the Guardian Bow
    
  • Radiant Guardian Bow Challenge - Complete a run with 25 difficulty modifier levels active with the Guardian Bow
    
  • Swift Challenge - Complete a run gathering 4 of Evee’s care packages with the Guardian Bow
    
  • Umbral Guardian Bow Challenge - Defeat 1000 enemies with the Guardian Bow
• Nexal Staff
  • Amplified Nexal Staff Challenge - Unlock all weapon mods for the Nexal Staff
    
  • Eldritch Challenge - Refresh a skill 50 times on a run with the Nexal Staff
    
  • Radiant Nexal Staff Challenge - Complete a run with 25 difficulty modifier levels active with the Nexal Staff
    
  • Maelstrom Challenge - Deal 100 damage in one hit with a skill with the Nexal Staff
    
  • Umbral Nexal Staff Challenge - Defeat 1000 enemies using skills with the Nexal Staff
• Rift Hammer
  • Amplified Rift Hammer Challenge - Unlock all weapon mods for the Rift Hammer
    
  • Tenderizing Challenge - Stun 6 enemies in one charge attack with the Rift Hammer
    
  • Radiant Rift Hammer Challenge - Complete a run with 25 difficulty modifier levels active with the Rift Hammer
    
  • Crystalized Challenge - Defeat 50 enemies with Overcharge on a single run with the Rift Hammer
    
  • Umbral Rift Hammer Challenge - Stun 2000 enemies with the Rift Hammer
• Razor Wind
  • Amplified Razor Wind Challenge - Unlock all weapon mods for the Razor Wind
    
  • Zephyr Challenge - Damage an enemy with perfect charge attacks 500 times with the Razor Wind
    
  • Radiant Razor Wind Challenge - Complete a run with 25 difficulty modifier levels active with the Razor Wind
    
  • Lawless Challenge - Defeat the Ice King with a total runtime of less than 10 min with the Razor Wind
    
  • Umbral Razor Wind Challenge - Defeat 1000 enemies using the charge attack with the Razor Wind
• Reaper's Toll
  • Amplified Reaper's Toll Challenge - Unlock all weapon mods for the Reaper's Toll
    
  • Spectral Challenge - Gain a slash charge from using a skill 100 times with the Reaper's Toll
    
  • Radiant Reaper's Toll Challenge - Complete a run with 25 difficulty modifier levels active with the Reaper's Toll
    
  • Ethereal Challenge - Complete all 8 portals in Netherra without healing with the Reaper's Toll
    
  • Umbral Reaper's Toll Challenge - Defeat 1000 slashed enemies with the Reaper's Toll
• Void Mantle
  • Amplified Void Mantle Challenge - Unlock all weapon mods for the Void Mantle
    
  • Illusionist's Challenge - Cast 100 dark spells with the Void Mantle
    
  • Radiant Void Mantle Challenge - Complete a run with 25 difficulty modifier levels active with the Void Mantle
    
  • Enigma Challenge - Defeat all variant bosses with the Void Mantle
    
  • Umbral Void Mantle Challenge - Defeat 1000 enemies using dark spells with the Void Mantle

[h3]Final Praxis Fight[/h3]
To help make each fight more distinct, we've reworked a lot of the final Praxis fight. These changes should increase the difficulty but also make the fight much more unique and fun.
We also added a new music track for this fight!




[h2]Balancing & Minor Adjustments[/h2]

In addition to the new content and features, we’ve also made the following changes and fixes.
[h3]Weapon Mod Adjustments[/h3]

• Ember Blade - Whirlwind
  • Increased the damage
    
  • Increased the pushback
    
  • Increased the stun
    
  • Increased the speed of the attack
• Ember Blade - Spin Attack
  • Decreased the thrust distance
    
  • Slightly decreased the thrust speed
    
  • Increased the speed of the attack
• Guardian Bow - Perfectionist
  • Increased the damage
    
  • Increased the damage multiplier
    
  • Added stun
    
  • Decreased the pushback on the skillshot
• Guardian Bow - Invigorate
  • Increased the attack rate
• Rift Hammer - Combat Slam
  • Increased the damage multiplier
    
  • Increased the distance of the leap
• Rift Hammer - Volcanic Rift
  • Updated to deal increased damage on the first attack
• Rift Hammer - Overcharge
  • Decreased the time to use 🔥
• Razor Wind - Hefty
  • Increased the damage radius
    
  • Increased the AOE damage
    
  • Increased the stun value
• Reaper's Toll - Summoner
  • Increased the ghost damage multiplier
• Reaper's Toll - Phantasm
  • Increased the ghost damage multiplier

[h3]Misc[/h3]

• Reworked Igna Za by enabling its rear to be vulnerable and reduced its travel distance, attack radius, and damage aura 🔥
  
• Reworked Glacial Bruma by reducing the number of ice waves, slowing the speed of the permafrost attack, and removed the ability for that attack to freeze players 🔥
  
• Reworked Overlord Mack by increasing the attack cooldowns for the bouncing projectile, charged spike, and energy blast attacks to help reduce the number of projectiles visible at any given time and removed the laser drones from spawning during its first phase and improved its attack indicators 🔥
  
• Swapped the order of the Mirror and Graveyard attacks during the third phase of the Poltergeist boss fight
  
• Updated boss drops from 2 small stat gems to 1 large stat gem and miniboss drops from 1 large stat gem to 2 small stat gems
  
• Increased the charge attack speed and added the ability to move while charging the Guardian Bow
  
• Increased the charge attack speed and increased the damage multiplier for the Rift Hammer
  
• Adjusted the tipper damage for the Razor Wind
  
• Updated Razor Wind's Empowered mod to function similar to Guardian Bow's Empowered Arrows mod
  
• Reduced the move speed and reduced the full heal when enemies become supercharged 🔥
  
• Updated Pristine Band, Flawless Brace, Absolute Ambition to reward each player when perfectly clearing a room 🔥
  
• Updated Bob's Containment Field functionality to include a cooldown 🔥
  
• Increased the lightning chance, growth, and max owned for Tainted Conduit 🔥
  
• Added an icon to the HUD for the Ember Tree upgrade Guardian Angel 🔥
  
• Updated Ember Tree upgrade Keen Eye to also trigger on miniboss deaths
  
• Updated Ember Tree upgrade Bonus Gems to drop a small stat gem for bosses and minibosses
  
• Updated Ember Tree upgrade Perfection to also include minibosses
  
• Updated Ember Tree upgrade Super Reroll to reset at the start of each world
  
• A bunch of improvements to various descriptions throughout the game

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]
Last but not least, we fixed a bunch of issues.

• Fixed some issues that arise during endless looping 🔥
  We'd like to extend a really big thank you to our players who provided their time and feedback to help address this issue! ❤️
• Fixed a multiplayer bug with the Relic Refinement drop that was causing 4-player local games to freeze after making the relic selections 🔥
  
• Fixed an issue with the Relic Refinement UI where one player scrolling the list of relics would cause the list to scroll for all players 🔥
  
• Fixed an issue where players were avoiding cutscenes while charging the Razor Wind
  
• Fixed an issue where players were avoiding cutscenes while equipped with the Ember Blade and holding the Flurry charge attack 🔥
  
• Fixed an issue with the Razor Wind's Burgeoning mod where it would not increase the projectile size when hitting an enemy if Empowered is also equipped 🔥
  
• Fixed a bug with the Rift Hammer's Unstable Rift mod that was allowing some bosses to become stunned 🔥
  
• Fixed a bug with Reaper's Toll where it was not performing multiple charge attacks in a row
  
• Fixed a minor issue with the Perfectionist charge attack
  
• Fixed a few issues related to the presentation of “New” relics 🔥
  
• Fixed a bug with Barrier Pendant where the player could still take damage 🔥
  
• Fixed a bug with Eye of the Storm where the previous projectile wasn't clearing properly
  
• Fixed an issue with Decayed Scepter where poison was only getting applied from perfectly casting pets
  
• Fixed a bug with the Arcane Orb where it wasn’t triggering Supreme Ambition
  
• Fixed a bug with Guardian Angel where it wasn't taking into account the player's armor 🔥
  
• Fixed a rare bug where Praxis could disappear during the fight if he picked an invalid teleport location at the end of some attacks
  
• Fixed an issue where Praxis minibosses return to their default state after being frozen
  
• Fixed a visual issue with the Wightsbury bosses where the Haunted Stakes could remain visible if killed while frozen
  
• Fixed an issue where some enemies would become invisible when frozen
  
• Fixed a few minor visual issues with the planets on the world loading screens
  
• A bunch of localization improvements 🔥

As usual, if you want to stay on top of the news, see new content before it's live, share your favourite memes, or simply chat strategy about the best weapons and skills, join us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!

We will also be especially grateful for your feedback and suggestions as we work towards a massive 2024 so be sure to join our Discord to share your comments directly with us!


Stay tuned for more news and updates!