DemonCrawl News

Hi folks,

Great news! After several months of development, DemonCrawl Arena will finally enter its Open Beta phase next week on July 1st.

[h3]What is DemonCrawl Arena?[/h3]

DemonCrawl Arena is a new gamemode where you compete against 7 other players in an online Battle Royale!

It will launch with two divisions, Autosweeper and Manual division. The former features an "AI autosolver" that will handle the minesweeping for you. This will allow you to concentrate on item management and other strategies. It's our take on the autobattler genre.

Manual division is more competitive, giving you full control over your game boards.

Watch the gameplay video below for a closer look:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ky0uDQT8p0Y

[h3]Who can join the Open Beta?[/h3]

Anyone with a Steam copy of DemonCrawl will be able to participate in the Open Beta. This is effectively a "soft launch" of the new gamemode for all desktop platforms (Windows, Mac, and Linux). Mobile players will have to wait a bit longer. There is no signup required.

[h3]Are there any rewards for playing Arena?[/h3]

Yes! You can unlock new avatars after reaching a certain number of wins and rating (ELO) in either gamemode. We plan to rotate these rewards out on a seasonal basis.



You will also earn AP (Arena Points) at the end of every match. AP is automatically redeemed for Prizeboxes containing cosmetic items, similar to Beyond Mode.

[h3]Will you wipe online progress between the Open Beta and Full Release?[/h3]

Unlikely, but possible.

We have no plans to wipe player progress or ratings, and would only do so in the event of a major technical issue that forces our hand.

[h3]Can I play Arena for free?[/h3]

Yes, anyone who owns DemonCrawl will be able to play Arena without any additional charges! We have no plans to introduce subscription fees at this time.

That said, we do need to cover our server costs. You will have the option of purchasing an Arena Plus package on Steam that grants additional perks in multiplayer only - this DLC will not affect your singleplayer experience. These perks will include a custom sign editor, expressive emotes, extra homeland/mastery slots to pick from, and additional AP per game.

Those of you who have generously supported us on Patreon will be receiving free copies of the Arena Plus DLC. Keep an eye on your Patreon inbox next week for your Steam key.
[h3]Can I play Arena with my friends?[/h3]

Yes, we're working on the party system as we speak and hope to have it ready on day one!

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That's all for now! We will have another big announcement post for you very soon... Arena's not the only thing we've been working on. ;)

DemonCrawl is available for 50% off during the Steam Summer sale. Get your copy today!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1141220/DemonCrawl/

Hi folks,

We have released a new set of cosmetic rewards for DemonCrawl's Patreon backers!

Believe it or not, the summer heat is already here, so it's fitting that this month's theme is called DESERT SUN. The pack includes 5 new avatars and the Rugged Sand inventory:



Receive your unlock code today by supporting us on Patreon:

• https://www.patreon.com/thereforegames

Note: Patreon rewards are cycled out of rotation every 2-3 months.

Hi folks,

We just released a small stability patch to address a few issues related to the Ghost mastery.

This update also includes a new set of Patreon rewards called Desert Sun.

More updates coming soon!

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[h2]New Features[/h2]

• Added Patreon rewards: Desert Sun

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]

• Fixed Ghost not being able to interact with important objects while dead, such as stairwells and portals
  
• Fixed an issue with ghost form preventing bosses from interacting with objects
  
• Ghost form no longer triggers before revives
  

Hi folks,

A big DemonCrawl update has just been released! It includes the two masteries we announced last week, Ghost and Poisoner, along with the following goodies:

• 10 new items
  
• 5 new boss mods
  
• 3 new emblems
  
• 3 new sigils
  
• A new daily mission
  
• Various improvements and fixes
  

Here's a closer look at some of the new items in v1.75:



Full patch notes are available below. Enjoy!

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[h2]New Features[/h2]

• New mastery: Ghost - "Death is meaningless."
• New mastery: Poisoner - "Strike monsters and strangers alike with deadly toxins!"
• Added 2 new mementos and mastery dolls
  
• Added Nomad that sells treasure chests
  
• New magic item: Poison Blade - "[90 Mana] Kill target monster or stranger in 5 turns, applying Toxic to its cell after it dies. Cancel the cast to poison yourself."
• New magic item: Dessert - "[250 Mana] Automatically discharges whenever a status effect expires. Gain the same status effect."
• New magic item: Moonflower - "[140 Mana] Increase your status effect counters by 20."
• New passive item: War Paint - "Whenever a living object dies, solve 5 cells."
• New passive item: Rosin - "After you use a magic item, your next chord will be a powerchord."
• New passive item: Nanobot - "Whenever you lose life, restore that much life after opening 100 cells."
• New passive item: Ectoplasm - "You can become a ghost. After opening 200 cells as a ghost, you lose."
• New passive item: Hand of Glory - "Whenever you leave a stage, steal coins from all visible strangers equal to their price."
• New consumable item: Spider Fang - "The next time a monster is revealed, kill it before you can take damage."
• New consumable item: Cardboard Box - "Lose your mastery, coins, and all of your items. Get them back at the start of the next stage."
• New Lv1 emblem: Lost Soul
  
• New Lv2 emblem: Wild West
  
• New Lv3 emblem: Murderous Intent
  
• New sigil reflex: Combos - "X% chance to increase your chain length by 2 instead of 1."
• New sigil reflex: Conditions - "Add X to new status effect counters."
• New sigil reflex: Deal - "Reduce the price of all visible strangers by X."
• New daily mission: Crack the Code - "Acquire a Treasure Key. Reward: 10 Tokens"
• New boss mod: Judge - "Activate mistake effects whenever you incorrectly chord a cell."
• New boss mod: Ornate - "Collect 3 Dark Hearts whenever you use your mastery, sigil, or heirloom."
• New boss mod: Overprotective - "You cannot interact with objects that are in the same quadrant as the boss."
• New boss mod: Tough - "Has additional resistance against effects that can kill it."
• New boss mod: Surprise - "After opening half of all empty cells, gain 2 boss mods."
• New paint: Icy Sunset by community member juh9870
  

[h2]Quality of Life[/h2]

• Added search box to the Customize menu
  
• Added toast when you can't gain a status effect due to being at the status effect limit
  
• Improved performance of status effects
  
• We can now specify customized strings for status effect reward tooltips - check Rewind or Postbox as examples
  
• Updated Codex keyword from "favor" to "favored"

[h2]Balance Changes[/h2]

• Detective I buff: "Each stage has a guaranteed stranger. Solve a cell whenever you activate a stranger."
• Hunter I buff: "Begin the quest with 4 Minions."
• Warlock I nerf: "Once per turn, you may right-click your mastery to cast Blood Magic."
• Powder Keg price reduced from 50 to 45
  
• Pendulum price reduced from 19 to 16
  
• Trust Buster price reduced from 45 to 41
  
• Leftovers price increased from 35 to 45
  
• Leftovers crafting recipe removed
  
• Perfume price increased from 18 to 22
  
• Badge of Honor price increased from 18 to 24
  
• Nunchucks self-inflicted damage reduced from 5 to 3
  
• Seismic mod difficulty rating increased from 1 to 2

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]

• Fixed an issue with a few kinds of stage objects that could overwrite guaranteed chests
  
• Fixed a visual glitch where a new status effect could appear without its icon
  
• Fixed a potential memory leak related to status effect icons
  
• Fixed a visual glitch where the mastery icon could go missing after using an Academy
  
• Fixed an issue where Red Dye could bypass omen immunity
  
• Fixed a few issues related to the Demonlord hero trial effect
  
• Fixed Timeless stage mod not affecting realtime status effects like Sleeping Powder
  
• Fixed Sacred Ground emblem not applying Immutable mod
  
• Fixed a crash related to using Trash Bin with a magic radius upgrade
  
• Fixed a crash related to using Vampiric Blade on a frozen cell
  
• Fixed a rare crash related to Manaboard and Scalpel
  
• Fixed a softlock related to the Seismic mod with the board rumble setting disabled
  
• Addressed a few minor inconsistencies in achievement icons

Hi folks,

It's been a few weeks since our last DemonCrawl update - rest assured, we have been working hard to bring you a lot of exciting new content!

A big patch will drop next week, and it will include TWO new masteries: the Ghost and the Poisoner.





Implementing the Ghost was a technical challenge, as we had to rewrite a number of systems to support the "ignore death" mechanic. In the end, we think it was worth it - Ghost plays very differently than most masteries and encourages you to approach the game in a completely new way.

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Poisoner's development was less complicated than Ghost, but we spent quite a while figuring out how to tie together a bunch of Poison-related mechanics in an elegant way. This mastery is a sort of "Jack of All Trades," as it involves omens (Poison), targetable magic (Poison Blade), auras (Toxic), and object destruction (also Poison Blade)... all at the same time! We're excited to see what kinds of deadly combos you can pull off.

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Both masteries are available for testing in the DemonCrawl Beta Branch, which you can join by supporting us on Patreon.

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As for Arena, we are in the process of fixing a few last-minute issues related to the server infrastructure - we apologize for the delay and hope to have the new gamemode ready sometime in June. Thank you for your patience!

More to come soon,
Eric at Therefore Games