Ziggurat 2 News

Hi! It's barely been a day since the game entered Early Access, and we're glad to see you're enjoying the game!

In just one day, 25,000 Carrots have been killed! Poor things

Today we're releasing a quick hotfix update, fixing most of the minor issues and nuisances that have been reported.

We haven't fixed them all yet, so expect another update next week!

Changelog:

Bugfixes:

• Fixed Lost Soul not having a portrait icon
  
• Fixed "DungeonName" showing upon main quest completion
  
• Fixed missing wall in a room.
  
• Fixed auto configuration getting stuck.
  
• Fixed wrong behavior upon opening/closing the Steam Overlay.
  

Improvements:

• Dash button is disabled when you're unable to use it (for example while Frozen).
  
• Increased max Mouse Sensitivity value from 20 to 40
  
• Added a way to skip auto configuration
  
• Added settings to disable View Bob & Enemy Health Bars
  
• Increased a bit the Nostalgia effect resolution.
  

Ziggurat 2, the long awaited sequel to the successful roguelike FPS dungeon crawler, is now available on Steam Early Access.



Check it out now!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1159560/Ziggurat_2/

We're going to do a series of articles focusing on specific parts of the game's development, explaining a bit how they work and their changes compared to the previous game.

Today's the last day before we'll finally push the button and release the game for everyone to try! Our last article covers weapons and amulets.

[h3]Weapons[/h3]
In Ziggurat 2, an unarmed wizard is a dead wizard. Magic weapons are the best way to deal with all that nasty creatures dwelling the deepest dungeons, and there's plenty of variety!

Weapons are split in 4 big categories:



Magic wands are a special category, as you'll always have one and their energy quickly refills over time. However, they're weak compared to the other ones, and it's meant as a backup weapon when you run out of mana for the other categories.



Spells usually feature short ranged, slow firing attacks, that can either pack a punch or inflict nasty elemental effects on enemies.



Staves tend to have a high fire rate and good accuracy, but a slightly lower damage throughput.



Alchemic weapons are a bit more exotic and range from an assault rifle to hand grenades.

All weapons have an alternate fire that can help in specific situations. For example the Freezing Hail will fire a mist that will freeze most enemies in front of you.

On top of that, after some use, you can level up a weapon's Mastery level, and then upgrade it to increase their damage and unlock some passive effects that will be applied just for having the weapon in your inventory.

[h3]Amulets[/h3]

Amulets are trinkets that will grant you additional powers and skills, similar to wizard skills, but they can be equipped by anyone.

As a change from Ziggurat 1, now you'll always start with an Amulet, and they have a fixed cooldown with a limited number of uses. We think that this way you'll find it easier to use them at the proper time.

Amulets can also be upgraded to make their effect more powerful, as well as unlocking new passive buffs.

We're going to do a series of articles focusing on specific parts of the game's development, explaining a bit how they work and their changes compared to the previous game.

Today we'll be talking about guardians, the bosses you'll be facing at the end of each dungeon.

[h3]Guardians[/h3]

Guardians are the final challenge in every floor of the dungeon. Waiting to overwhelm you with their powers and might, on top of bringing their minions to aid them.

While the Early Access release features a limited amount of guardians, they still pose a threat even when you learn their patterns.

[h3]Changes from Ziggurat 1[/h3]

In Ziggurat 1, most guardians had a weakness in the form of "one-shotting": With specific builds an amulets tailored for burst damage, you could deplete the life of guardians before they could even start their attack. On top of that, they spend some time spawning minions before attacking, so this could be also exploited.

On Ziggurat 2, minions show up by their own, without any special cast animation from the guardian. On top of that, when reaching specific thresholds of health, guardians will cast a shield preventing additional damage, until the spawned minions are dealt with. While this shield is active, the guardian can still attack you, so you better deal with those minions quickly!

To compensate for all that, minions are only spawned once: They won't come back once you deal with them, so clearing the arena of the smaller enemies before heading for the big guy is a perfectly valid tactic.

We've also removed their "personal rooms", and "spawn level" (at least for now), so now there's no way to know which boss you'll face until it's in front of you. Of course their health, damage and number of minions spawned will vary depending on the dungeon's threat level, the current floor and difficulty setting.

We're going to do a series of articles focusing on specific parts of the game's development, explaining a bit how they work and their changes compared to the previous game.

Today we'll be talking about wizards, the main characters of the game and the ones you'll be controlling.

[h3]Wizards[/h3]

Before starting a mission, you'll get to choose which wizard you want to play with. Initially there will be two available (Argo and Carina, old acquantaices from the first Ziggurat), but as you keep advancing on the main storyline, you'll unlock more.

Every wizard can have different strengths and weaknesses, and preferred playstyles. Argo and Carina, being the starter characters, are well balanced and don't sport any weaknesses, but others may be faster but weaker, or have limitations in exchange for strong skills, etc.

All wizards have one skill that only they can use, usually with a cooldown time between uses. They can also earn mastery levels once a mission is complete, and unlock stat boosts and new unique passive skills.

We don't want to spoil the surprise on many characters, so here's information on Argo and Carina:

[h3]Argo[/h3]
Argo was the last apprentice admitted in the Brotherhood of Daedolon, and one of the few survivors to the Downfall. His goal is to bring the old splendor back to the order.

His basic training confers him a set of balanced skills, with no specific strengths or weaknesses.

Argo's main skill is Syphon, which instantly attracts all items in range dropped by enemies. This allows him to pick mana and experience from afar, without risking getting damaged.

On top of that, he can unlock a passive skill that grants him a permanent experience boost, and another that grants him barrier points (a new kind of temporary health) for every item syphoned.

[h3]Carina[/h3]
Carina was the youngest member to ever be accepted in the Brotherhood, which is proof of her great talent. Ashamed by the infights that led to the order's demise, she intends to start over and avoid repeating the same mistakes.

Her talent allows her to summon an energy wave that repels nearby enemies.

Carina's main skill is Shove, which pushes and damages enemies around her. It's specially useful to gain some breathing space when surrounded by enemies, but can also be used as a finishing move for enemies with low health.

She can unlock a passive skill that reduces mana usage for all attacks, and another that Curses enemies being pushed by Shove (Curse is a new effect which temporally halves damage inflicted and doubles damage received).

[h3]More characters![/h3]
On the first Early Access release, we'll have three more characters (for a total of 5) that will be unlocked by playing the main quests. The other characters are more suited for specific playstyles, such as hit-and-run tactics, or soaking up damage in order to gain an advantage. So make sure to progress in the game to find them all!