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Skul: The Hero Slayer News

Release 1.9.0 Patch Notes

An Evil Sword-wielding Demon of tremendous potential has emerged, sweeping across the land of Harmonia.

Today, we're excited to share news about our new Skull "Dominator" and various balance adjustments.

Changes


[h2]Skull[/h2]

[h3]New Skull: Dominator[/h3]
  • Rarity: Legendary
  • Type: Speed


A Demon of tremendous potential returning to the new continent



[h3]Skeleton-Pike[/h3]



Passive

- Adjusted the jump attack of Unique and Legendary grades to match the attack pattern of Normal and Rare grades.

Skill

- Reduced the dash distance increment for the skill [Forward Rush!] across all rarity.

[h3]Mummy[/h3]



Passive

- Changed so it no longer floats in the air during dash.

[h3]Dark Paladin[/h3]



Passive

- Changed the basic combo attack type: Physical → Magic.
- Adjusted the amount of Shield gained from consuming darkness: 10 → 20.
- Increased the amount of darkness gained from attacking enemies with skills.

Skill

- Increased damage for [Dark Charge].

[h3]Slave[/h3]



Skill

- Increased damage for all skills.



Skill

- Increased damage for all counterattack-triggered skills.



Passive

- Increased the duration in which enhanced skills can be triggered after a perfect defense.

Skill

- Increased damage for all counterattack-triggered skills.

[h3]Officer[/h3]



Passive

- Increased damage for all Unrivaled Strike.



Passive

- Gained a temporary effect that increases the casting speed of all Unrivaled Strike after triggering Heroic Unrivaled Strike.
- Changed to become invulnerable while Heroic Unrivaled Strike is active.

[h3]Forgotten King[/h3]

Passive

- Increased basic combo attack damage in King of Heroes state.
- Increased damage for Last Radiance.

Skill

Increased damage for all skills in Forgotten King and King of Heroes state.

[h2]Items[/h2]

[h3]Stigma Leg[/h3]

- Removed cooldown for triggering additional magic damage.
- Reduced additional magic damage.

[h3]Justice Served[/h3]

- Added an effect that increases physical attack and magic attack by 30%.
- Changed the cooldown for inflicting stun: 15 seconds → 12 seconds.

[h3]Rear Blast[/h3]

- Changed the duration of increased physical attack effect: 3 seconds → 5 seconds.

[h3]Explosive Arrow[/h3]

- Changed the cooldown for explosion occurrence: 2 seconds → 0.3 seconds.
- Reduced explosion damage.

[h3]Symbol of Toughness[/h3]

- Removed cooldown for shockwave occurrence.
- Increased the conversion ratio of shield amount to shockwave damage.
- Changed so the damage of the shockwave follows the higher of physical or magic attack.

[h3]Armor of Fear[/h3]

- Added an effect that increases physical attack and magic attack by 50%.
- Increased maximum damage limit for shockwaves.

[h3]Steel Armor[/h3]

- Changed the amount of shield gained from using skills: 3 → 5.

[h3]Crown of Thorns[/h3]

- Removed cooldown for triggering additional physical damage.

[h3]Bloody Crown of Thorns[/h3]

- Removed cooldown for triggering additional physical damage.

[h3]Omen: Irresistible Suggestion[/h3]

- Changed the condition for applying the effect twice: overcoming death at least once instead of triggering Reassemble.

[h3]Omen: Howling Egg[/h3]

- Changed the condition for applying the effect twice: overcoming death at least once instead of triggering Reassemble.

[h3]Demon Sword of the End[/h3]

- Increased damage for cutting wave.

[h3]Magic Boots[/h3]

- Changed increase time for attack speed: 2 seconds → 3 seconds.

[h3]Strategy Book[/h3]

- Changed physical attack buff time: 3 seconds → 5 seconds.
- Changed cooldown for physical attack buff time: 12 seconds → 10 seconds.

[h3]Loyalty Generator[/h3]

- Changed increase amounts for attack speed and physical attack: 35% → 40%.
- Changed duration of attack speed and physical attack increase effect: 2 seconds → 3 seconds.

[h3]Mane of a Red Horse[/h3]

- Changed increase amounts for attack speed and move speed: 20% → 25%.
- Changed additional increase amount for attack speed upon swapping: 20% → 40%.
- Changed duration of additional attack speed increase effect upon swapping: 12 seconds → 8 seconds.

[h3]Evil Sword: Kirion[/h3]

- Changed that the slash effect is now displayed behind the enemies' layer

[h2]Inscriptions[/h2]

[h3]Brawl[/h3]

4 effect

- Increased damage for the enhanced wave.

[h3]Duel[/h3]

4 effect

- Changed maximum damage amplification when damaging enemies: 30% → 45%.

Modification effect

- Changed cooldown for effect occurrence: 15 seconds → 7 seconds.

[h3]Bone[/h3]

2 effect

- Changed the required number of swaps to trigger the effect: 5 → 3.
- Changed invincibility duration upon triggering the effect: 2 seconds → 3 seconds.

[h3]Fortress[/h3]

2 effect

- Changed shield acquisition frequency: 60 seconds → 35 seconds.

4 effect

- Changed damage reduction while possessing a shield: 40% → 50%.

Modification effect

- Changed physical attack and magic attack increase per 5 shields possessed: 10% → 20%.

[h3]Rapidity[/h3]

4 effect

- Increased combo damage.

Modification effect

- Increased enhanced combo damage.

[h3]Fairy Tale[/h3]

Modification effect

- Added an effect that increases Oberon's damage by 15% per possessed Spirit.

[h3]Mana Cycle[/h3]

Modification effect

- Changed damage increase and maximum increase for using skills: 25% increase (up to 200% increase) → 30% increase (up to 300% increase).

[h3]Soar[/h3]

Modification effect

- Changed required airtime for whirlwind occurrence: 8 seconds → 5 seconds.

[h3]Spoils[/h3]

Modification effect

- Increased the effective range of the flag.

[h3]Excessive Bleeding[/h3]

Modification effect

- Changed probability for major bleeding occurrence: 35% → 45%.

[h3]Arson[/h3]

Modification effect

- Increased damage for fire explosion.

[h3]Absolute Zero[/h3]

Modification effect

- Increased additional magic damage.

[h3]Dizziness[/h3]

Modification effect

- Changed stun duration increase: 1 second → 2.5 seconds.

[h3]Chase[/h3]

Modification effect

- Changed physical attack and magic attack increase: 100% → 150%.
- Changed required number of dashes for effect occurrence: 10 → 7.

[h2]Quintessence[/h2]

[h3]Cyclops[/h3]

- Changed so the damage of the Cyclops punch follows the higher of physical or magic attack.

[h2]Monster[/h2]

4th chapter Veteran Adventurer - Thief

- Increased waiting time after attacks.
- Decreased the probability of swap trickery when hit.
- Reduced damage for certain attacks.
- Increased maximum HP.

Bug Fixes


- Fixed an issue where the ‘Broken World’ achievement was not attainable.

- Fixed an issue where in Chapter 6 Demon King's Castle, activating the item effect of 'Omen: Mad Harpoon' on scarecrows would disable the item's effect during the Dark Skeleton boss fight.

- Fixed an issue wich allowed endless stacking of the Inscription ‘Mystery’ under specific conditions.

- Fixed an issue where the Ghoul’s passive effect from the Dark Ability ‘Big Eater’ was not working correctly.

- Fixed a problem where the effect of the Dark Ability ‘Life Change’ was not applied to Healing Orbs obtained from the Black Market.

- Fixed an issue in which parts of the ending credits could be seen after defeating The First Hero at certain resolutions.

- Fixed an issue in which starting the Dark Skeleton boss fight while maintaining concentration with a Warrior Skull of any rarity could trigger an abnormal cutscene event.

- Fixed an issue where the item effect from ‘Stone of the Heir’ were not stack upon defeating The Dark First Hero.

- Fixed an issue where the effect stacks of 'Omen: Unknown Darkness' would reset to 0 after closing the game.

- Fixed an issue where the ‘Say My Name’ achievement was not attainable.

Dev Blog [Supporter Murdoc]

Hello, little skeletons!

The nickname "Murdoc" had been our biggest patron during our fundraiser.
However, he has been listed as TBD (To Be Determined) from the official launch of Skul up until now.

As a crowd-funding reward, we at SOUTHPAW GAMES decided to create an original Skull in honour of Murdoc, but the project had been on hold until recently.

Murdoc wanted to create a Skull that not only respected the game but was also well-designed and fitting for the game. Therefore, Murdoc mentioned that he needed time to gain a higher understanding of the game and come up with better ideas, and we respected his decision and chose to wait.

As both we and Murdoc had to focus on our respective tasks, more time passed than anticipated. However, we both have not forgotten about the project, and finally, Murdoc’s commemorative Skull has appeared in the land of Harmonia.



The name of this Skull is the "Dominator".

It's a Legendary Speed type Skull that uses a living Evil Sword, a demon's Skull.



The Dominator uses the power of the Evil Sword to leave a 'Scar' in the air to attack enemies, and the Evil Sword absorbs 'vital energy' from those hit by the Scar.



When the Evil Sword has absorbed maximum vital energy, the Dominator can awaken the Evil Sword.

When the Evil Sword awakens, it temporarily cannot use skills, but its movement speed increases significantly and its basic combo attack changes to incessantly swinging the Evil Sword in a 'Madness' motion right where it stands.



When the Evil Sword returns to its slumber, the skill cooldown speed increases for a certain period of time proportional to the number of times enemies were attacked with Madness.

We are truly happy to finally create this Skull for our beloved little skeletons and patron Murdoc. The next 1.9.0 update will include the Dominator, along with some balance adjustments and bug fixes. We are targeting April 4th (PT) for the update schedule.

We look forward to your continued interest and support and hope you all have a wonderful day.

Action roguelike Skul: The Hero Slayer has sold more than 2M copies




Skul: The Hero Slayer has sold 2 million copies since release, putting the sidescrolling action roguelike in that top tier of multi-million-selling games. Skul's Dead Cells-esque and Hollow Knight-like action never had a huge single spike in popularity, but has steadily grown in sales since its January 2021 release alongside pretty regular large additions and patches...
Read more.

2 Million Copies Sold!


Hello little Skeletons!

We are beyond excited to announce that Skul: The Hero Slayer has surpassed 2 million copies in sales. This is another huge record achieved since we announced that Skul sold 1 million copies last year.
We would like to express sincere gratitude to everyone for playing Skul and giving tremendous support up until now.

As a thank you, we're offering a special 50% discount until January 18th.

We will continue to work hard to give you a more delightful experience in the future.

Thank you.

Soundtrack Update

Hello little Skeletons, it’s been a long time!

Through today’s update, we have updated BGMs of Rockstar, Dark Mirror, and Demon King Castle Defense. We have also fixed the metadata of certain soundtracks.

With the Dark Mirror and Demon King Castle Defense, Skul: The Hero Slayer’s digital soundtrack has now accumulated over 30 tracks.

This has only been possible through the love and support from our players.

We thank you sincerely, and we hope you enjoy our music with Skul.

Changes Made

- Added ‘Rockstar of Harmonia’ (Track #23)
- Added Dark Mirror OST (Track #24 - 27)
- Added Demon King Castle Defense OST (Track #28 - 35)

  • Fallen Demon Castle
  • Changed track title: Fallen Demon King Castle
  • The Black Lab
  • Changed track title: The Dark Lab
  • Sacred Ground
  • Changed track title: Sanctuary

- Fixed an issue where the tag information was incorrectly matched in some tracks
  • 18. The Sword of Carleon
  • 19. The Incarnation of Light
  • 20. The Last Hero