Skul: The Hero Slayer News

It's a new month, which means there's a new wave of games to join and leave Game Pass. As of today, we know of a new set of leavers, and it includes head-turning action platformer Skul: The Hero Slayer and the wonderfully destructive Besiege.

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Six games are leaving Xbox Game Pass, and if you are interested in them, you'll want to download the titles as soon as possible.

Microsoft announced the following games will leave the service in the next couple of weeks: Recompile, Skul: The Hero Slayer, The Last Kids on Earth and the Staff of Doom, Besiege Console, CrossfireX: Operation Catalyst, and Infernax.

Developed by Dear Villagers, the atmospheric, Metroidvania-inspired hacking adventure game Recompile lets you take control of a semi-sapient program struggling against deletion. Within the 3D world of the Mainframe, you will engage in intense combat, 3D platforming, super-powered abilities, and an environmental logic-based hacking mechanic.

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• Reduced the visual effects when entering the Dark Mirror
  
• The effects of enemy spawning or dying will not cover the player's character
  

• Enemy HP is reduced in Dark Mirror and HP reductions are greater at higher levels.
  

Originally posted by author

Developer Comment
Providing the new contents of the Dark Mirror to only skilled players was never our intention. But at the same time, we believed skilled players would also enjoy the satisfaction after beating a tough challenge.
The 1.7.0 version of the Dark Mirror had conflicting issues between providing new accessible content and challenging content. Our predictions failed to predict this conflict and caused a huge spike in the game's difficulty.

Through this patch, we still plan to keep the Dark Mirror as a challenging content, but also aim to reduce the pressure the players receive while playing the Dark Mirror contest by decreasing the difficulty curve.

• Reduced the HP of some enemies which were hard to hit including some Dark Enemies.
  
• A cooldown has been added to the Dark Enemy ability 'Penance'
  
• The normal enemy 'Root Ent' will no longer be stuck in its attack animation if the attack has been canceled
  
• The normal enemy 'Ultimate Golem' will now be closer to the ground when its weak point is exposed.
  
• The normal enemy 'Ultimate Golem's weak point will now have a bigger hitbox.
  
• The normal enemy 'Ultimate Golem's weak point will now be exposed for a longer duration.
  
• The HP of the 'High Alchemist' who summons the 'Ultimate Golem' has been decreased and the time required to summon the 'Ultimate Golem' has been increased.
  
• The HP of 'Sticky Subject' has been decreased and reduced the duration of the poison pool after splitting
  
• The HP of the normal enemy 'Transcendent' in Chapter 3 has been decreased
  
• The HP of the normal enemy 'Demon Hunter' in Chapter 4 has been decreased
  
• The HP of the normal enemy 'Arbiter' in Chapter 4 has been decreased
  
• The Invincible time during the Dark First Hero's every special attack pattern has been reduced.
  
• The damage of 'Dark First Hero's grab-and-tear attack has been decreased
  
• The damage of 'Dark First Hero's all thorn attacks has been decreased
  

• The basic attack damage amplification dealt to enemies is increased from [10/20]% to [15/25]%
  

• The skill cooldown speed while a shield is active has been increased from [20/40/60]% to [25/50/75]%
  

• The physical and magic attack increase rate has been changed from [10/15]% to [10/20]%
  

• The physical and magic attack increase rate upon evading enemy attack by dashing has been changed from [70/140/210]% to [80/160/240]%
  

• The name and effect of this Dark Ability will be changed as below:
  
  • Lightweight
    
  • Dash cooldown speed drastically increases for 1 second after defeating an enemy.

Originally posted by author

Developer Comment
The Dark Ability ’New Beginning' allowed the players an overly high chance of survivability and made the game to be rather dull. Yet, still, we did not want to take away the joy of dashing through many enemies. Therefore, redesigned the ability as 'Lightweight' which will still grant the ability to dash around the battlefield after meeting certain criteria.

Popular rogue-lite 2D platformer Skul: The Hero Slayer recently got a big upgrade with The Dark Mirror and it looks pretty great.

Read the full article here: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2023/01/skul-the-hero-slayer-adds-a-whole-new-dark-mirror-mode-for-a-new-challenge

Originally posted by author

Developer Comment
We would like to say the Dark Mirror update is not just a hard mode that has increased the health and damage of the enemies. It is more of a new DLC, which includes a new story and content. We highly recommend that players personally experience the DLC's full content rather than experiencing it through written texts and images. For these reasons, further details related to the Dark Mirror will be included in the Dev Blog.

• Players will now be given 3 reward options to choose from after clearing the Item Map.
  
• Players will now be able to loot Adventurers after defeating them.
  

• Now damage inflicted on enemies by summoned characters will be recognized as the overall damage the player has inflicted.
  

Originally posted by author

Developer Comment
Our initial intentions were to have a clear and separate identity for both the player and summoned characters. However, the changes were made because we did not think the summoned characters had a clear identity. We plan to add a unique effect and content for summoned characters and will review separating the player and summoned characters again.

• Added a new effect for destroying Skulls, Items, and Quintessences.
  
• Destroying a Quintessence will now increase the player's Max HP, the increasing value will differ based on the rarity of the Quintessence.
  
• Removed the 'Title Screen' option from the Pause menu
  

• Adjusted the layout of several maps across all chapters.
  
• Decreased the HP of normal enemies and Adventurers in all chapters.
  
• Increased the drop rate of healing orbs in all chapters.
  
• Increased the drop rates of Dark Quartz in chapters 1, 2, and 3.
  
• Decreased the drop rates of Dark Quartz in chapter 4.
  
• Decreased the number of cleared stages that are required to clear chapters 3 and 4.
  
• Increased the reroll cost for repeatedly rerolling the Collector's items.
  
• Now the player's chance to encounter more field NPCs has increased in chapters 1, 2, and 3.
  
• Now the player's chance to encounter the field NPC 'Odd Dark Priest' has increased in all chapters.
  
• Changed the HP recovery rate and appearance rate of the type of herbs the field NPC 'Halfling Girl' offers.
  
  • Changed the HP recovery rate of 'Fruit of Love': 15% → 20%
    
  • Changed the HP recovery rate of 'Moonlight Herb': 25% → 30%
    
  • Changed the HP recovery rate of 'Inferno Flower': 60% → 50%
    
  • 'Halfling Girl' will now offer the 'Fruit of Love' less frequently.
    
• The buffs casted by the field NPC 'Spokesman of the Mist' will now have decreased amplification values to the Physical and Magic Attacks.
  
• The buffs casted by the field NPC 'Spokesman of the Mist' will now have an increased value to Attack Speed.
  
• A new device called the 'Ballista' and the 'Launch Pad' has been added to chapter 4.
  
• The event map 'Dang-Ka Defense' has been temporarily disabled.
  

Originally posted by author

Developer Comment
The event map 'Dang-Ka Defense' has been temporarily disabled due to an issue that was found. 'Dang Ka Defense' will be enabled as soon as the issue has been resolved.

• Reduced the attack duration time of Blossom Ents.
  
• Improved the attack animations of Carleon Assassin for better clarity.
  
• Reduced the stabbing distance of Gold Mane Spearmen.
  
• Reduced the projectile speed of dishes thrown by Dish Maids.
  
• Reduced the number of Maids the Chief Maid can summon to 3.
  
• Reduced the number of flasks the High Alchemist and Dark Alchemist can throw to 1.
  
• Players will now have to defeat the Dark Golem summoned by the Alchemists to move on to the next map.
  
• Reduced the projectile speed of daggers thrown by Catechists.
  
• Reduced the ability to track players for the spears thrown by Leonia’s Spearmen.
  
• Increased the attack wind-up time for Leonia’s Priests
  
• Leonia’s Assassins will now attempt to use the slashing down attack more frequently.
  
• Reduced the number of followers the Missionary can summon to 3.
  
• Now enemies summoned by other enemies will have a brief invulnerability time right after being summoned.
  

• Adjust the AI to be less aggressive when 2 or more Adventurers appear.
  
• The Rookie Hero will no longer be able to be knock-backed during an energy blast attack.
  
• Added new attacks to the Warrior.
  
• Adjusted the speed and hit detection for the Warrior and Veteran Warrior's leap attack.
  
• Added a stun effect to the Hunter's traps.
  
• Added new attacks to the Mage.
  
• Added new attacks to the Cleric.
  
• Removed the trail of flames the Veteran Mage would leave after using her leap attack on players.
  

• Reduced the damage of Leiana Sisters' dash attack (Mid-air -> Ground dash) and now they will inflict damage upon landing.
  
• Changed the hit registrations of the black orbs summoned by Awakened Leiana to be one single attack rather than multiple attacks.
  
• During the First Hero's energy orb summoning, the bolts of lightning will now be more accurate when attacking the player.
  
• Decreased the detection range of magic fields when the Leonia Grand Priest casts multiple magic fields.
  

• Increased the dash range of Tackle type dashes.
  
• Increased the damage of Tackle type dashes
  
• Increased the invulnerability time of Tackle type dashes.
  

• Adjusted the Physical Attack amplification values based on the player's current shield value: 50% → 30%
  

• Adjusted the Physical Attack amplification values based on the player's current shield value: 50% → 30%
  
• Increased the attack damage for successfully blocking an enemy attack from the front while concentrating on basic attacks
  
• Increased the attack radius for jump attacks
  

• The gold being dropped when attacking enemies has been visually decreased but the overall gold acquisition will remain the same.
  
• Increased the damage of gold explosions.
  

• Decreased the concentration time for all skills.
  

• Added a brief invulnerability time after using skills.
  
• Increased the dash casting time and invulnerability time.
  

• Increased the attack range of clones created after a dash.
  
• Increased the cast speed of the skill Genie Swordsmanship.
  

• Increased the attack radius of clones created after a dash.
  
• Increased the cast speed of the skill Genie Swordsmanship.
  
• Increased the attack radius for Genie Lamp clones.
  

• Increased the damage of the skill Ground Shatter.
  

• Adjusted the shield duration when Darkness is full: 20 seconds → 30 seconds
  
• Increased the damage of jump attacks when Darkness is full.
  
• Decreased the delay after casting Dark Cross and adjusted the hit registration mechanism.
  
• Successful Dark Wave hits will now generate more Darkness.
  
• Successful Dark Charges will now generate more Darkness.
  
• Successful Dark Cross hits will now generate more Darkness.
  
• Dark Rush will now generate less Darkness.
  

• Successfully hitting a swap skill will now increase the swap gauge.
  

• Now landing a single attack on one enemy will only generate up to 5 cells.
  

• Now a few specific inscriptions will be categorized as Special Inscriptions.
  
• Special Inscriptions will have a distinguishable coloured icon.
  
• Special Inscriptions can be only obtained through items that possess these inscriptions. Players will not be able to obtain Special Inscriptions through other methods.
  
• Therefore the Masterpiece inscription will no longer appear on the items 'Prince's Box' and 'Clone Stamp' and players will no longer be able to obtain the following items of 'Doubled Prince’s Box' and 'Clone Clone'.
  

Originally posted by author

Developer Comment
Using the 'Doubled Prince's Box' and 'Clone Clone' was a blast. However, these items had issues that conflicted with the Dark Mirror contents. Holding back our tears we made a difficult decision to temporarily exile them from the land of Harmonia. We promise these 2 items will make a triumphant return once we make adequate preparations.

• Added new effects: increase Physical Attack and Magic Attack by 30%.
  

• Added a 1-second cooldown for the item effect.
  
• Increased the required shield value to activate the maximum attack bonus.
  

• Added new effects: increase Physical Attack and Magic Attack by 40%.
  

• Adjusted the Physical Attack increase values that could be obtained after defeating an Adventurer: 25% → 20%
  
• Adjusted the maximum Physical Attack bonus value that could be obtained after defeating an Adventurer: 150% → 140%
  

• Changed the method of restoring HP: Percentage of Max HP -> Fixed HP value.
  

• The item's effect of increased dash distance and cool time will no longer be stackable with this same item.
  

• Increased the maximum damage of Apocalypse explosions.
  
• Damage dealt to enemies will now have a lower conversion rate to Apocalypse explosion damage.
  

• Changed the VFX for this item effect.
  

• The Grand Alchemist and Dark Alchemist's unstable Summoning effect layer has now been placed behind the enemy layer.
  
• The Gambler's Roulette of Destiny effect has now been placed behind the enemy layer.
  
• The Quintessence Archdemon's blackout effect and layer have now been placed behind the enemy layer.
  
• Spirit King Oberon who can be summoned after obtaining 5 inscriptions of Fairy Tale will appear behind the enemy layer.
  

• Fixed a bug in which the effect of the item 'Magical Choker' could be activated through other items
  
• Fixed a bug in which the 'Guardian' and 'Guardian Commander's Physical Attack increase based on their shield value had no maximum threshold
  
• Fixed a bug in which the 'Minotaurus's Body Smash would not inflict damage to enemies
  
• Fixed a bug in which the 'Elder Ent''s enhanced Rapid Growth could not cancel other actions
  
• Fixed a bug in which the effect of the item 'Jagamon Thorn' could be activated through other forms of attack rather than basics
  
• Fixed a bug in which the item 'Warrior's Pauldrons' activated the stat 'Decrease incoming damage'
  
• Fixed a bug in which possessing more than 1 'Symbol of Toughness' item could cause an abnormal amount of bonus damage
  
• Fixed a bug in which the effect of the item 'Ceremonial Dagger' could not be activated by dash attacks and critical attacks from swap skills
  
• Fixed an issue in which the description for the item 'Master Fighter' was incorrect: 45% → 55%
  
• Fixed an issue in which the description for the item 'Master Brawler' was incorrect: 45% → 55%
  
• Fixed a bug in which the effect of the item 'Clone Stamp' only increased by 20 HP instead of 30 HP
  
• Fixed a bug in which enemies affected by the effect of the Quintessence 'Banshee' had to be damaged more than once to return to their normal state
  
• Fixed a bug in which having 4 Courage inscriptions amplified Physical Attack by 40%
  
• Fixed a bug in which activating and deactivating 2 or more Fortress inscriptions repeatedly allowed the players to stack shields
  
• Fixed a bug in which the treasure chests that would appear as an effect of possessing 2 or 4 Treasure inscriptions had different animation timings when appearing and opening the chest
  
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