That's right - DemonCrawl's first expansion is
FINALLY HERE!We are celebrating launch week with a
15% discount for the base game.
The Sweeping Heights expansion is free for all DemonCrawl players. (Sale begins at 1 PM EST.)
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After 3 months of development, we are very excited to bring you a massive number of new features and quality-of-life changes to DemonCrawl.
The endgame has been completely overhauled with a new metaprogression system called
Sigils. Use special crafting materials to optimize your Sigil and maximize your chances of beating the new super-deadly Lv3 Beyond Quests.
Not to mention:
- 7 new masteries that dramatically alter gameplay
- Over 50 new items
- The Endless Multiverse 2.0
- Bosses now have powerful boss mods
- Beyond Quest overhaul - more intricate/refined system for creating Beyond quests
- 5 new special stages: the Guild, Academy, Lighthouse, Smithy, and Starpond
- 4 new strangers: the Doctor, Gambler, Mage and Guide
- Ability to sell artifacts and other metaprogression materials for Tokens
- New music
- Completing the daily Hero Trial now rewards you with a prizebox instead of a flat amount of Tokens
- Tons of quality of life and bug fixes
We're including the patch notes below for those who want all the nitty-gritty details. If you don't want any spoilers, feel free to stop reading and start sweeping!
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v1.41 Patch Notes
Note: These patch notes are mostly unchanged from last week's preview post. Differences are prefixed with the following icon:
[h2]New Features[/h2]
- Beyond Mode overhaul
- Base Token cost reduced to 1
- There are now 3 different levels of emblems
- Quest length, difficulty, and material cost is determined by the emblem level
- Beyond Quests can have up to 6 stages now
- Past the 3rd stage, Beyond will utilize hybrid skins similar to Endless Multiverse
- Emblems give you access to new types of prizebox rewards (more below)
- Prizebox droprates have been overhauled to accommodate new reward types
- 16 new emblems
- Emblem sprites have been updated to visually correspond to their level
- Each emblem is more likely to have a certain boss and sigil effect (toggle the information tooltip with right click)
- There are also exceedingly rare Mythic Emblems
- Each Mythic Emblem has specific conditions to trigger a chance at its drop
- There are unique divine items associated with each Mythic Emblem
- Mythic Emblems have specific ingredient costs
- Elemental Triumvirate is now considered a Mythic Emblem
- Worldclay removed from the game - existing Worldclay artifacts have been converted to Tokens
- New optional Beyond ingredient: Glints
- Adds beneficial properties to your Beyond run
- The Treasure Within emblem has been converted to a glint
- There are 12 different kinds of glints
- Added new form of metaprogression: Sigils
- Only available in prizeboxes for Beyond runs that have been enhanced with emblems
- The level of sigil you can find corresponds to the emblem level
- Sigil effects are randomized both numerically and in terms of which effects get paired together
- The sigil's LV1 ability is an effect that activates automatically--upon certain conditions--once per stage
- The sigil's LV2 ability is a conditional, ongoing passive buff, e.g. "coins are 34% more common while you are not injured."
- The sigil's LV3 ability is an effect that improves the sigil itself, e.g. "this sigil has a 20% chance to remain charged after use."
- All sigils have a minor negative passive effect as well
- Sigils have a set durability and must be repaired using special materials once they break (more below)
- Extremely rare chance to find a shiny sigil that has 10% greater numeric values
- Every sigil has a unique appearance based on its effects
- Added sigil crafting material: Oilstone - "Restore 50 durability to a sigil"
- Added sigil crafting material: Jupiter Needle - "Reroll the impulses of a sigil."
- Added sigil crafting material: Moon Bottle - "Reroll the reflexes of a sigil."
- Added sigil crafting material: Saturn Square - "Reroll the numeric properties of a sigil."
- Added sigil crafting material: Star of Chaos - "Upgrade a broken sigil to the next level."
- Added Chaote talent that increases the maximum number of sigils you can store at a time
- Endless Multiverse overhaul
- After the first dimension, Metagate gains Portal Mods
- Portal Mods increase the difficulty of the following dimension
- There are currently 13 different Portal Mods in the pool
- You will always begin on Dimension 1
- New exclusive landmark: Vault
- You may store a certain item in the Vault
- The next time you encounter a Vault, you can retrieve your item and leave a different item in its place
- Your Vault item will persist between dimensions
- Vaults are fairly common by landmark standards; a bit less common than Signs
- New exclusive stranger: Guide
- Can only spawn in Metagate
- Pay him to preserve some items, stats, etc as you travel through the Dimensional Portal
- You cannot pay a Guide more than once
- New exclusive sub-category of legendary items: Mementos
- Mementos are only available in Endless Multiverse Item Shops for 10-20 coins
- Mementos allow you to retain some of your strength going into the next dimension, but only if you can meet special conditions
- There is a Memento designed around the gameplay mechanics of every mastery
- Added UI element in dimensions 2 and above that explains the properties of your current dimension
- Black Hole removed from the Token Shop
- Hero Trial leaderboards will now track cumulative first place scores (Winner Mode)
- Leaderboard filters allow you to toggle between regular leaderboards and Winner Mode
- Earn cosmetic rewards for achieving 1, 10, and 100 points in Winner Mode
- We may perform seasonal resets for Winner Mode eventually - TBD
- Hero Trial now rewards you with a prizebox instead of Tokens
- Expanded Hero Trial effect pool
- Bosses can now have Boss Mods
- There are currently 22 different Boss Mods in the pool
- In the Endless Multiverse, bosses start accumulating mods with each dimension
- In Beyond mode, bosses get a number of mods equal to your emblem level
- Bosses do not have any mods in Hard mode
- Right click to toggle between boss info and Boss Mod tooltips
- New stranger: Doctor
- She will restore a certain amount of lives for a low price, but will collect more coins from you later when you leave the stage
- You can enlist her services multiple times, but her cost will increase sharply each time
- New stranger: Gambler
- Pay a certain amount of coins and he will travel to a random hidden cell
- If the cell was empty, he wins the bet and keeps your money
- If the cell had a monster, the Gambler dies and you can pick up your coins along with any other coins he was holding
- Each turn, the Gambler has a chance to lose some of his held coins due to poor investments
- New stranger: Mage
- Pay a small amount of coins and the Mage will cast a specific targeted magic item at a random location
- The magic item will still use its normal radius, i.e. Dynamite Mage will target a 3x3 area
- After casting his item, you must collect some mana before you can pay the Mage again
- Big thank you to DemonCrawl player Snorlaxxo for coming up with this awesome idea for a stranger!
- New landmark: Barrel
- Barrels will apply anything that affects their cell to surrounding 5x5 area
- For example, if you burn a Barrel, all cells in a 5x5 area gain Burning
- They can even spread targeted magic items to the surrounding area
- Warning: familiars are dumb enough to detonate Barrels by walking into them
- 5 new special stages
- Guild
- Purchase strangers and spawn them in bubbles
- You may buy the same stranger multiple times
- Each Guild has a random selection of strangers
- Academy
- Replace your mastery with one of 3 random masteries
- Your new mastery will be tier 3 even if you don't have it unlocked
- It starts fully charged
- Lighthouse
- Reduce the difficulty of the following stage by choosing 1 of 3 options at no cost:
- (1) Remove monsters, (2) remove a random stage mod, or (3) reduce the stage power
- It can only affect the closest non-special stage, which encourages you to use the Lighthouse as soon as it is unlocked
- Smithy
- Purchase random head, body, or leg armor
- You must complete another stage before your armor is ready
- Return to the Smithy later to collect your item
- Starpond
- Purchase metaprogression items such as emblems and artifacts for Tokens and coins
- Found in the second half of every quest on Hard mode and above
- Does not replace an existing Item Shop
- 7 new masteries
- Spark - Connect the stage with electricity to solve the board in a unique way (Designed with the help of the community!
- Marksman - Create strategic cell chains to kill monsters before they can kill you
- Bubbler - Manipulate the power of bubbles to duplicate loot and solve cells
- Lumberjack - Deploy and manage Sawblades to wipe the map clean
- Undertaker - Generate a consistent supply of Bones by consuming other items
- Protagonist - Guaranteed legendaries. Enough said
- Knight - Overhauled into a completely new armor mastery
- The old Knight mastery is now known as Guardian
- 52 new items
- New keyword: Chain - "Making two or more consecutive turns by clicking on cells with the same value."
- New keyword: Powerchord - "When you fully and correctly solve a cell by chording, reveal nearby cells and kill any monsters within."
- 6 new divine items
- 12 new stage mods
- 10 new avatars created by the talented Sam Caron
- HUD now shows stage power at all times
- New loadout editor for Masteries and Sigils
- Improved the graphics of the 3 secret Endless Multiverse stages
- New original music by Levi Tuoremaa for the Beyond Ego boss fight
- Added 12 other boss songs - these only play if the boss has at least 1 mod
- Added a new category to the Codex that displays your artifacts and other metaprogression items
- You can now sell artifacts for Tokens
- The Codex now displays how many times you have acquired each item
- Replaced Codex pagination with scrollbar
- A few other visual improvements to Codex interface
- Added Codex tool that lets you quickly reclaim all favored slots
- Added 2 Codex profile slots for a total of 5 slots
- You can now click Codex stat icons to quickly search for favored items, blueprints, and divines
- New heirloom crafting UI
- New look for item targeting
- You may now sell rare loot (i.e. artifacts, emblems) for Tokens in the Codex
- Added many new terms to monster name generator
- Added new rule to monster name generator that will swap certain "prefix" and "suffix" name parts on occasion
- Added setting to adjust board panning sensitivity
- New hard-mode specific sign messages
- Added "orb" as a Library research subject
- Added credits button to the options screen
- Added button to reset options to defaults
- Added a button to open the escape menu through the help screen
- Added category to the help screen that allows you to see all of your status effects at any time
- Daily Missions are now visible from the help screen
- Implemented the foundation of localization support
- Added translation support for item names and descriptions
- Added translation support for mods
- Remaining game strings have yet to be mapped to external files - more to come soon
- Reworked several prestige rewards to accommodate new endgame
- Prestige 3: "Gain another Daily Mission slot"
- Prestige 6: "Small chance to find a Glint when you level up"
- Prestige 9: "Starponds will have an additional item for sale"
- Windows only: Added a video setting that lets you simplify the effects in the Customize screen for better performance
- Windows only: Added an option that lets you confine your cursor to the game window
- Added achievements for new masteries on Steam
[h2]Quality of Life[/h2]
- Tooltips that mention items will now produce item descriptions at the bottom of the screen
- Improved design of lists shown in tooltips
- "Timelord Chronos" renamed to "Chronos"
- "Lost Shaman" renamed to "Spellbinder"
- Improved readibility of stage title against Endless Multiverse background
- Added dropshadow and rounded corners to stage thumbnails
- The Silenced stage mod now disables music
- Timeless stage mod now slows down the music, Withering mod speeds it up
- Values exceeding 999 will be shortened to "1K" to conserve UI space in many places
- Reversed the default direction of board panning controls based on user feedback
- If DemonCrawl crashes during quest load, you will be prompted to start a new quest on your next load attempt
- Added new animation when activating certain landmarks (e.g. Meteorites, Vaults)
- Added new animation for strangers that "go away" (e.g. paying a Harbinger)
- Added a "chain warning" system to indicate which cells can complete a chain-related effect
- Added animation when an object moves to another cell
- Updated question mark button sprite
- Updated Wizard and Commander mastery sprites to differentiate them from new masteries
- New sprite for Viking Helmet
- New sprite for Shinobi Veil
- Reloading a stage in Hard Mode will create a help menu entry about the 60-second timer penalty
- Improved appearance of directional arrow on strangers (Pyro, Waterboy)
- A quantity alert will appear after collecting rare loot from a chest
- When you beat a classic stage, automatically reveal all monsters
- Adjusted Beyond quest background image for better readability
- The Codex no longer hides legendary items that were unlocked on a past prestige
- Setting the toast lifespan to 0 will disable alerts entirely
- Minor improvements to the following stage graphics: Womb, Arctic, Metropolis, Skies, Wonder
- The inbox system now supports holograph and paint reward types
- Adjusted bottom HUD spacing to prevent UI overlap
- Limited the number of visible status effects in stage view, may improve performance slightly
- Empty help menu pages now display "no results found" message
- New player profile names are now capped to 50px in width (~12 characters) to prevent UI overlap
- Clarified Double XP tooltip to let players know that it only affects Victory Award points
[h2]Balance Changes[/h2]
- Commander I rework to reduce accidental activation: "Unflag a cell to recruit a familiar to a nearby empty cell for 5 coins."
- Commander II rework: "Whenever a familiar collects loot, perform a unique action based on the type of loot."
- Rare loot now scales with Endless Multiverse dimensions
- Rare loot modifiers now affect secondary chest rewards as well (artifacts, sigil materials)
- Bosses now have a chance to dodge explosions: 50% + 5% for each boss mod
- Bosses now have a chance to burst out of Frozen cells: 5% per turn + 5% for each boss mod
- Bosses now have a chance to pop themselves out of bubbles: 5% per turn + 5% for each boss mod
- Converted Godly Goblet from passive to magic: "[200 Mana] Lose a legendary item and gain a revive."
- Pheromones rework: "Every 300 cells opened, gain a copy of an item that you have two or more of."
- Chainsaw rework: "Spawn a Sawblade on target empty cell and set its lifespan to the length of your chain."
- Magic Smoke Bomb mana cost increased from 150 to 200
- Divine Watering Can mana cost increased from 250 to 400
- Shadow Siphon mana cost increased from 90 to 120
- Thornseeker mana cost increased from 70 to 90
- Nightmare Gut price increased from 24 to 29
- Transendence price increased from 40 to 50
- Paragon Rod price increased from 50 to 80
- Ouroboros price increased from 75 to 90
- Evermetal price reduced from 28 to 22
- Cullstone price reduced from 14 to 11
- Buckshot price reduced from 17 to 14
- World Wonder price reduced from 19 to 16
- Wyrm Scale price reduced from 20 to 13
- Holy Ring price reduced from 27 to 15
- Ankh price reduced from 35 to 27
- Wizard Boots price reduced from 16 to 13
- Witches Brew price reduced from 23 to 17
- Bloomberries price reduced from 25 to 23
- Second Wind price reduced from 50 to 40
- Blind Justice price reduced from 24 to 15
- Reduced the base difficulty of Endless Multiverse
- Items that increase the drop rate of certain strangers (e.g. Bindle) have been toned down slightly
- Items that auto-complete stages (e.g. Dreamborne) no longer work in the Metagate
- The "restore life" Hungry Plant now gives souls instead
- Shiny monsters are less common
- The item trigger script no longer evaluates items that were received during the same trigger sequence
- The "Computer Simulation" emblem has a new divine reward; the old reward has been moved to the "Original Sin" emblem
- Opening a chest now counts as collecting loot for the purposes of item effects
- Adjusted several item crafting recipes
- The chance for Explosive mod to proc has been reduced from 50% to 30%
[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]
- Fixed buggy interaction between Truthsayer Quill and Leftovers
- Fixed a bug when blowing up Frozen cells containing objects
- Fixed Wizard armor not counting for "Matching Metals" achievement
- Abandoning a Classic stage through the escape menu will no longer remove ongoing quest data
- Divine Watering Can no longer has a targetable selection
- Speculative fix for rare crash involving orbs that were not initialized properly
- Capped the number of simultaneous orbs to 1000 to prevent potential softlocks
- Fixed Sawblade lifespan not persisting between loads
- Codex profiles can no longer be switched during a quest
- Fixed a crash that could occur if the alert log was full
- Fixed Dark Chests not persisting between loads
- Fixed Witch ability incorrectly activating on stage reload
- Fixed Pyro and Waterboy direction not saving to disk in some cases
- Fixed Hunter ability not saving to disk
- You can no longer click on Burning cells behind the help menu
- Treasure chests can no longer trigger the Explosive mod during their opening animation
- Fixed level indicator not updating on end stage screen after leveling up
- Fixed Beyond Mode not utilizing secret alt stages
- Fixed a typo on Trust Buster
- Fixed a crash related to Supply and Diamond activating when there is no space for loot
- Fixed level-based legendaries interfering with the completion of "Infinite Wisdom" achievement
- Fixed Shop Key activating "coins lost" script instead of "coins spent" script
- Fixed Medusa Head not always unsealing the correct number of inventory slots
- Fixed Divine Voucher not working correctly when used on a divine shop item
- Fixed a rare issue that could cause Divine Lantern to lose its mana regardless of the gleaned cell value
- Fixed a hard lock related to consuming an Extravagance while holding another Extravagance
- Fixed Flawless mod not triggering "on mistake" effects when kicking the player out of the stage
- Fixed Mirror not activating a few item effects such as Alcohol
- Fixed a crash related to collecting a heart when you have Book of Faith without its status effect
- Fixed an issue related to projectile positioning while panning and zooming at the same time
- Fixed Book item effects not stacking
- Fixed a couple bugs in the board autosolver that caused it to miss some solvable scenarios
- Fixed tooltip flickering while panning the board
- Fixed Sun Bomb not working on Frozen cells
- Fixed some status effect messages not showing up after completion
- Fixed Golden armor not counting toward "Matching Metals" achievement
- Fixed a visual issue that could cause loot to appear above the UI layer
- Fixed an issue that could cause buttons to incorrectly appear as hovered
- The minimum stage size is now 4x4 to prevent weird stuff from happening
- The Timeless mod now prevents the reset of mistake-based status effects
- Brotherhood Crest now uses the standardized "loot move" script
- Recoded a number of passive items so they may utilize the standard item trigger script
- Recoded a number of status effect items for better flexibility with other effects
- Updated Blessed Clasp description to clarify that it only triggers on mistakes, not other sources of damage
- Improved flexibility of "auto discharge" magic item script
- Fixed a glitch that allowed a Hero Trial score to be submitted even if the trial had already changed to a new one
- Fixed targeted magic items with status effects becoming re-held if you managed to recharge the item before its status was over
- Fixed Tunnel mod size and density persisting after stage completion
- Fixed an issue with the help screen that could cause the bottom hud to become slightly misaligned
- The main chest item will always appear on the left, before other possible rewards (e.g. Herbs' Potion)
- Fixed fake values over 8 not showing up correctly
- Fixed Contagion bypassing omen immunity
- You can no longer acquire an heirloom with a full inventory
- You can no longer activate Nomads that sell items if you have a full inventory
- Fixed "destroy all objects" curse from Dark Chest not affecting Strangers or Landmarks
- Fixed a bug related to Divine Shadowbind creating blank inventory spaces under very specific circumstances
- Fixed a hard lock that occurred when a Bagman was sacrificed by a cursed cell on a stage with Baglord
- Speculative fix for crash related to Shade movement on same turn as getting kicked out of stage
- Clarified Steam mastery achievements by specifying that they only unlock on Normal or above
- Fixed Wyrm Scale showing wrong sprite in alerts
- Fixed open keybind bypassing Burn damage
- Fixed Thought Bubble not deleting orbs properly upon exiting game view
What's Next?
We will spend the next couple days closely monitoring Discord and the Steam Forums for new bug reports. With an update this large, there's a good chance we will need to release a hotfix or two. We are ready to act quickly if any serious issues are discovered.
Once the dust has settled, we will turn our attention to finalizing the Android build of Sweeping Heights. Our hope is to have it ready by the end of the week. However, if we run into any unforeseen issues, we will be sure to let you know!
Finally, we wish to embark on the following projects very soon:
- Translations (we have already implemented the foundation of localization support by allowing DemonCrawl to read item strings from external files.)
- Additional ports (likely Nintendo Switch or iOS for starters)
...Both of which will probably require the bulk of our attention for the second half of 2020.
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Thank you for reading, and we hope you enjoy the expansion!
