Vault of the Void News

Good news, and bad news.

Bad news is - today's patch will be the last until Aug 16th. :(

Good news is, the Aug 16th patch is going to be worth the wait. More details to come during the next few weeks about what's happening, and what's coming up!

Alright, enough vague threats of enjoyment - lets move onto patch details.

Firstly, let me apologize for no patch last week. Truth is, it was a hectic week - with my Wacom tablet going down and having to be sent off to repairs. That threw me behind a little, and whilst I got the patch up onto the Beta Branch - I wasn’t happy with a few of the things, so I kept it in incubation for another week. Let’s hit the major points.


So, this has been a pain point for a while now. Discard effects on Volatile cards. The rule has always been that Discard effects on Volatile cards won't trigger, because they're Destroyed, not Discarded.

Truth is, this just kept catching players out (old and new). So its gone. Volatile Cards will "discard" (triggering effects and artifacts etc) and then be Destroyed once processed, just like you assume they would! Sorry about taking so long on this one, it was an unnecessary step of sillyness!


[h3]New UI Stuff! [/h3]
So I’ve been working through booting out some of the old, plain, reused UI for events and giving each one its own due flavour and joy. The Stone Smith and the Soul Merchant have gotten their treatment up first, quick snapshot below! To be honest, there's still a few minor things I’d like to tweak, but mostly I really think it adds a lot more flavour and I can’t wait to paint up more!





Also, the new “Draft a Card” option at the Well of Souls has had some treatment as well (which also fixes the bug with it disappearing when checking your deck!)



[h3]Card Balances[/h3]
So it was time for another card balance pass! You’ll see a big list below of all the card changes that happened. As always, this is kept an eye on and a lot of this is coming from feedback in the Discord. Big thanks to all those who have helped in this regard.

Some standouts include Void Kiss, moving its way to an Attack, which makes you less sad to get Death Strike and Red Void Stones in a Corruption start.

Also Swift Hand has ... gotten pretty spicy!



Thanks everyone for all the positive support as always. I’m excited for what's to come mid-next month, I’ll start sharing more details when I can!

Thanks to all who have left a review so far for Vault! Nearing that 300 reviews mark which is super exciting! If you haven’t already, it means a lot and really helps the game grow and reach new audiences. Also, remember to use the code Steam250Love at the Card Back unlocks screen to unlock the thank you Card Back I released a little while back!

Thanks everyone - a full list of notes will be below!

All for now!

- Josh




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[h3]Full(ish) Patch Notes[/h3]

Changes
- Volatile cards now trigger Discard effects! The world is right again.
- Changed the highlight colour for when marking card rewards on the map, for better visibility
- The Deshelved Salesman now will offer 5 items to choose from.
- Reduced the cost of the Elite Artifacts at Lost and Found.
- Shop till you drop with the Spell Child - he also now shows 3 spells.
- Blue Juice is now a starting "Loot the Dead" choice
- Can now minimise the opening choice, as well as the Cursed Item (rather than the moving option of times past)
- New Draft Screen (when chosen at the Well of Stars)
- New UI for the Soul Collector and the Rune Merchant!

Card Changes
- Flaying Flesh - Damage and Bleed changed to 10(13) and 4(5), but it's now Swift instead of Heavy
- Meditation - The base card now says "Start next turn in Zen," with the upgrade making you also immediately enter Zen.
- Careful Advance - Opener now also does Delay Block 6.
- Deliberate - Block increased to 9(13).
- Beard Knot and Silver Medal - Increased Knot bonus from 100% to 250%, and Medal bonus from 20% per stack to 50% per stack. More Void Stones for everyone!
- Muted - Now costs 0. The upgrade makes it produce upgraded Silent Shivs instead of Rigging.
- Battleplan and Collection Plate - Artifacts with these names renamed not to overlap with the names of cards (to Playbook and Meagre Offering)
- Bladestorm - Applies 1 more Bleed.
- Apprentice's Blade - Now produces Volatile Hidden Blades, like all other Blade generators.
- Untrustworthy Coinpurse - Gives 45 essence now. Makes a profit! Sometimes!
- Hidden Blade - Upgrading it adds "Apply Bleed 1" for any enterprising smiths out there.
- Cracked Sundial - 40 is replaced with 24. That's the amount of hours that exist!
- Chalice of Evil - Every 7th changed to every 8th.
- Death's Touch - The upgrade doesn't increase damage any more.
- Build Up - Doesn't do damage anymore.
- Surprise Attack - Does 9(15) damage baseline and 18 bonus now. Surprise.
- Bolster - Block increased to 12(17).
- Anemia - Block increased to 9(12).
- Forgotten Fuse - Changed from 4th turn to every even turn, and includes your Destroy pile now.
- Unrelenting - Deals 2 less damage, but gives 1 more Combo.
- Haste - Now costs 2 unupgraded, and the upgrade adds Chain 1.
- Timeless - Now costs 0 unupgraded.
- Tax Evasion - Changed to a 1(0) cost Expel that Blocks equal to Soultithe and Delay Blocks equal to half.
- Underhanded Tactics - Deals 1 less damage on upgrade.
- Gusher has moved to Rare.
- Void Kiss is now and Attack, that deals damage and gains Corruption.
- Swift Hand has changed. Now is: Add 1 Volatile copy of a Swift card from deck or discard to hand. Combo 1. (No) Expel.
- Self-Inflicted Agony now stacks.


Bugs
- Butchers Blade will no longer be eaten by Hidden Blades
- Can now preview upgrades at the Drafting page
- Fixed a bug that occured when playing Thinning Out with 1 card left in your Deck.
- Fixed lots of bugs with Volatile cards and sneaking into decks.
- Fixed a bug with Reverb causing too much Fatigue
- Fixed a bug at the card draft screen, and it disappearing when checking your deck.
- Fixed some bugs with card artwork previews for monsters
- Fixed a very rare bug which would cause you to skip Elite fights
- Kingdom Come and Who Thrives in Evil will now play ball with the Blood Library Artifacts

Alright- here we are with another weekly update! Enough pre-game, lets get into it!

So as things always go - the rapid patching in the last few week has meant a few bugs have crept their way in. This week I tried to smash as many as I could - got through a good chunk of the ones that were reported on the Discord and the Reddit as well. Whilst that took the most amount of time, I also managing to squeeze in a few nice to haves.

[h3]Passive Previews[/h3]
Right now - it can sometimes be a little easy for a passive to catch you off guard, or maybe something you didn’t quite parse in the original fight tips.

Vault ain't about that.

So I’ve added the ability to preview enemies' passive abilities from the pre-fight screen!



What’s more - the cards that are already animated now have their animation on this page as well. Huzzah!



[h3]Past Runs[/h3]
Ever wanted to flex on that buddy of yours with a sick Impossible +30 win, and then realise you’ve aged 6 months as you try and upload 3 separate screenshots because the Dev split the past run screen into 3 SEPARATE SECTIONS FOR NO REASON?

Me neither. Impossible+ is way too hard for me.

But if you have, then you’ll like this. I’ve redone the past run screen to make it all condensed into one neat and tidy looking single screen - ready for just the single screenshot (or selfie).

No judgement.



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Other than that, a few more notable changes:

• Removed Inert from Hidden Blade and Silent Shiv, but have also removed them off the floor spawn list. They are now token cards only gained from Spells/Cards etc. Hidden Blade has been replaced in the Mastery Pool
  
• Perfect Bonus has been toned down a lot, and baseline essence has been increased.
  
• Dynamic card size scaling implementing when above 10 cards in hand.
  

I’ll place the full list of stuff down below so you can all see whats changed.

Not enough? REALLY? Well I definitely won’t preview some artwork for an upcoming event.



Dang.

Thanks for the flurry of great reviews this week - appreciate you all! I’ve had a bunch of people reach out personally and give their beautiful sentiments on the game, and it means so much. I’m so glad that you’re all enjoying it - and welcome to all the new players making their way in from the Sale!

Much love, and much more to come! Happy Void hunting!

All for now!
- Josh




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[h3]Full(ish) Patch Notes[/h3]
General/UI
- Stopped the Filter Menu popping out everytime you open the Deck Manager
- Fixed an issue that caused the AP/Frenzy tooltips to linger around on screen.
- Removed Inert from Hidden Blade and Silent Shiv, but have also removed them off the spawn list. They are now token cards only gained from Spells/Cards etc. Hidden Blade has been replaced in the Mastery Pool
- Enemy Passives will now be shown on the Pre Fight Screen, as well as the card animation (if applicable)
- New Run Results page in the Past Runs screen. Finally - its all on 1 page! Screenshot away fellow travellers!
- Cursed Artifact popup now has a show/hide button - instead of the buggy 'move me around' feature
- Perfect Bonus has been toned down a lot, and baseline essence has been increased.
- Dynamic card size scaling implementing when above 10 cards in hand.
- Uninspired Impossible+ modifer has been changed to only effect starting boosters.


Changes
- Theifs Code now does the Draw part first
- Ceaseless is now Rare
- Red Glasses is now an Uncommon
- Counter is now a Rare
- Fractal Feather increased to Block 4 (WHAT?) but changed to be a Daughter of the Void Artifact (Oh ...)


Bugs
- Fixed an extemely rare bug on map generation on Floor 2
- Fixed an issue where Treasure Chests could get the same rewards back to back
- Fixed the display bug on Class Overview
- Fixed an issue where the view Deck/Backpack button on the Prepare your Deckback screen wouldn't include a few cards.
- Bloody Ledger won't trigger from monsters killing themselves anymore
- Fixed some filtering issues in the Compendium
- Utility Belt - removed the reference to 'Temporary'
- Discarding/Sifting Volatile cards will now properly Destroy them
- Fixed Amathyst Spyglass + Curse Spell interaction
- Updated some text in the Legend
- Art of card Celerity now sits in its card frame
- Stealth now finally says it doesn't stack

To Bleed or Not to Bleed.
Howdie folks! It’s patch day again so here I am, dropping some sweet details. Today, we take a look at the new Bleed starter kit, some enemy changes, and some general bugs, fixes and QoL stuff (including the new Void Stone track). Read on, weary traveller!



[h3]Bleed Starting Kit[/h3]
So - a very healthy discussion sparked up at the Discord this week. To be honest, there were mutterings about it for a little while now, and once brought up, there was definitely a lot of agreement from a number of players.

Basically - Vault is a bit weird. Okay sure - it’s wordy weird. But one thing that stands out a lot to newer players at first is “Hey - these starter cards for each Spec actually... aren’t bad? I kinda want to keep a few around?”.

That’s actually by design. Slash’s interesting decision points with it’s Opener, Stabilities Ghost play to double tap into Zen - even the Daughters excellent Discard target in Grasp; they all are interesting - in a synergistic way.

Except Bleed. Poor old Draw Blood. Infact, that whole starting kit was just bad. Well - it was good in one way - it was super straightforward; it was a great stepping stone before drowning new players in a sea of endless keywor- OMG WHAT DOES ALL THIS EVEN MEAN? Ahem.

It also lacked the power to compete - on high Imp+ modes, you would either die Floor 1, or survive long enough to hit that power spike, and work through it. The goal was to address some synergies, make it more interesting, but also work on its early defense and scaling game.

So - Hidden Bleed has a brand new kit! Heres a screenshot of the new cards.


What’s interesting here? From Shadow is now a decent card, for starters. It allows a big chunky Block, but also lets you setup into a Rebound of some sort. Maybe it's a Rebound Evade to get you through a damage spike, - or a Rebound FTT to stack some heavy Bleeding. There's actually a lot of options with it.

Also - you may notice Parry has been replaced for Evade. A unique Block card that powers up with Bleeding enemies.

But how will I Bleed so many enemies you say? Draw Blood is... very different. So firstly - it’s lost Swift - which may seem like a downside, but it isn’t. It does it’s damage, then spawns a Silent Shiv into your hand. From there, you can use that for small ticks of Bleed across the board, or focus down one target. Because Draw Blood doesn’t eat your Combo, you can totally float some Combo, run on a bunch of Draw Bloods before throwing out all your Silent Shivs, taking advantage of Balanced. Huzzah!

Also, the starting spell got a rework!
Blood Rush: Apply Weak 2. If at Combo 0, Combo 1.

There is one slight concern of course. Whilst all these cards will probably make the VotV Veteran drool with possibilities, there is a flip side where now, there is a touch more overload to the new player. I’m weary of this, but I do think this starter kit feels much closer to what Vault is about, and has a lot more playability moving forward. It’s a decision I had to make - it’s never easy. Vault always cops a bit of flack for being pretty front loaded. But once you push through that - the gooey center awaits!

Bleed on, players. Bleed on.



[h3]Enemy Rework[/h3]
So - as you may have noticed, there's a few enemies floating around who are resistent to Bleed. That was pretty spec-prejudice, seeing no other spec really got maimed that hard. Most of it was flavour stuff to be honest (Bleed resistant on Lost Spirt, the Obsidian Golem etc).

All of this has been removed! Bleed the Totems. Bleed the Ghost! Bleed the RUNE STONE!

Bleed on, players. Bleed on.



[h3]The Void Stone Track[/h3]
So here's something that feels particularly Vaultish, that I’m a little embarrassed it wasn’t included earlier. Now, when you mouse over your Void Stone bar, you’ll see the upcoming Void Stones! More open information, more planning, more fun, and much more Vaultish.



Bleed on, players. Blee- actually never mind this part has nothing to do with Bleed.



[h3]Introduction Changes[/h3]
So I’ve made a few quick changes to Introduction mode. Firstly, you don’t get a Booster Pack anymore (trying to reduce the front loading!). I’ve also hidden the Spell Book and Map Reward buttons, and disabled the Deck Manager until you’ve actually done a fight.

After your first fight, you’ll then be guided to open the Deck Manager and ... er... Manage?

I’ve tested this for about an hour, trying to break things wherever I could. I’m paranoid about tinkering with the Introduction - so please - if you’re new and something WACKS OUT, please just leave a message here, on the Forums or over at the Discord and I’ll get it fixed right away!



[h3]Class Trainer[/h3]
Just a quick one here - the Class Trainer will now give you a FREE VOID STONE when you transform a card.



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Alright, that's enough rambling from me. I’ll leave you all to game Bleed on!

As always - thank you so much for all the great reviews! If you haven’t left a review yet - it would mean the world to me if you could - helps me really grow the game and get it out to more people! Appreciate you all!

Also, we’ll (hopefully) reach the 500 review mark in the distant(ish) future. I want to do another special something, just like the 250 special Deck Back. I’ve got a few ideas, but please feel free to leave any ideas you have of what could be cool!

All for now!
- Josh




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[h3]Full(ish) Patch Notes[/h3]
- New Bleed starter cards and Spell! Sorry if you were part way through a Bleed run pre-patch...that's going to be a bit confussing logging back on!
- Space Bar is now the shortcut for End Turn. It's been removed from the Purge ability for now - I'll be remapping that once I gather a bit more feedback.
- Some monsters have changed how they interact with Bleed. Namely; Swamp Mistress Totems, Lost Spirit, Obsidian Golem and the Runic Pillar. Bruce will no longer heal from Bleed.
- Merchant prices have been lowered a touch
- New Void Stone bar QoL option- mouse over and see what's coming up next!
- Class Trainer has been updated. You'll get a FREE VOID STONE with every purchase!
- Jade Mantis will now be accounted for when it comes to damage preview
- Remove the socket symbol from Voids when dragging Void Stones in the Deck Manager
- Fixed Tooltips showing on the Spell Child through the mini-map
- Blood Library Tooltip fixed on mini-map
- Various spelling changes
- New Introduction mode changes

Hi all! Just popping in with a quick hotfix for a few things reported over the last few days.

Welcome to all the new players by the way - I hope you’re enjoying Vault of the Void!

Thanks everyone - all for now!
- Josh



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[h3]Bugs etc[/h3]
- Fixed description on Forbidden Pact upgrad
- You can now view card upgrades using CTRL in the Blood Library
- I've added the Blood Library and Lost and Found to the Legend
- Added new particle effects to the motes that fly towards the Void Stone bar, as well as the Combo/Corruption ones.
- Fixed an issue which left the Potion cards still on screen on Daily Draft
- Lots more typos!
- Fixed an issue with the Combo tooltip still referencing Attack cards.
- Fixed overlapping text on Guided Impossible+30
- Fixed an issue where sometimes enemy debuff icons could get hidden behind the threat stack

Here we are! I’m excited to get this one out - I previewed it a bit last week, but its finally here. Let me dive in and give a quick breakdown of the 3 new events.

[h3]The Well of Stars[/h3]
Ever found yourself with a little extra Essence just burning a hole in your pocket coin pouch? Well have I got the, err... Well, for you!

Totally not an Essence sink, this hole in the ground is the perfect place to throw your spare change. You’ll hit the Well of Stars after every Guardian fight (end of Floor 1 and 2), and you’ll be presented with a screen that looks just like this:



The top row is familiar - here are the 3 choices you got previously from killing the Guardian. These are free - no strings attached. There's also a few new ones tossed in!

The second row however are some added options. Here’s some other bonuses you’re able to cash in on, for a small donation. These are randomised, and bucketed in the players favour. They include things like Void removal, Void Stones, unique Artifacts, extra Blessings, the option to spawn an extra Elite on the next floor, etc.

There's nearly 40 different options spread across the free and “for donation” choices. I really like the extra variety added here - and I hope you all do as well!

[h3]The Blood Library[/h3]
Sometimes, you’ve just got too much HP, and you’d love to shred a little. The Blood Library is an event that can spawn on Floor 1, which gives the player a chance to trade in some Max HP for some Rare and Uncommon cards.



One of the best things about the Blood Library? Well trading away your health isn’t without its own benefits. If you decide to purchase 3 cards, you’ll get a unique artifact. If you decide to purchase all 5, taking you to 85% of your max HP, you’ll get another unique artifact!

Keen to give it a try? Here's a seed with the Blood Library spawned in! 36897149

[h3]Lost and Found[/h3]
So sometimes a Treasure Chest has just ALL good options. Or maybe you can’t choose between Artifact drops at the Elite you’re currently fighting. Have no fear - the Lost and Found is here.

The Lost and Found has a chance to spawn on Floor 2, and it will contain a shop where you can buy 1 card and 1 Artifact you turned down previously from Treasure Chests or Elite fights. The cost of cards are 0/300/600 for Common/Uncommon/Rare, and 900 for an Elite Artifact.

You can rest easy knowing your discarded goods have been collected and filed away!

Just a note about the Blood Library and Lost and Found - these are both currently missing their “flavour” artwork off to the right. I tried to get it all painted up but ran out of time. Rather than push back the patch, I’ll patch those in in the next few days when I get a chance to finish the artwork! Sorry - spent too much time in code this week!



Asides from that - Vault of the Void is currently 20% off for the Steam Summer Sale! It’s a great time to pick up a copy if you haven’t already, because the above 3 events are guaranteed to add at least 27% more fun! Thats a net positive number of percent, and its hard to argue with solid math!

In all seriousness though - thank you all so much for the support this week - a quick flurry of positive reviews in the last few days has pushed Vault on the verge of nearly 97% Overall. Poggers.



Remember - if you haven’t already, head over to the Deck Back Unlocks in the Unlocks screen, and enter the code Steam250Love to unlock your exclusive animated deckback, made by me as a show of appreciation for all the support and kind words!

Thanks everyone! I’ll be sitting by the error logs for the next 8 hours or so - hot fixing anything that hot crashes in a hot minute!

All for now!
- Josh





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- New Event! The Lost and Found event can now spawn on the Floor 2. Here, you'll have a second chance to buy some of the Artifacts/Cards you turned down from Elite fights and Treasure Chests along your way.
- New Event! The Blood Library can now spawn on Floor 1. What would you pay for some Rare cards? The Blood Library allows you to trade life points for some Rare/Uncommon cards - with some bonus Artifacts if you decide to really sign your life away...
- New Event! The Well of Stars will now spawn after fighting each Guardian. The Well of Stars allows you the same free choice of 3 you used to get from defeating a Guardian (with some new ones added!), but also opens up for some extra choices if you've got some Essence to spend!

Bugs/Text
- Lots of spelling changes
- Added Overcharge tooltip to Purple stone cards.
- You can now view Deck/Backpack on Mastery Screen
- Spiked Pommel will now correctly Block for 2x the Energy
- Cutting Fan won't reset between fights anymore.
- Removed hand size reference from Forbidden Pact
- Text on The Void's Darkness ability has been updated to reflect the correct cards
- Fixed damage projection on Smash when couple with Deathstrike (or any multitrigger)
- Fixed damage projection of Cursed Scythe with Rage and Deathstrike