Astral Ascent News

Hello everyone,
Whole Hibernian Workshop team is wishing you a great 2023 ahead! 😊 We are back from holidays and are ready to do our best for this coming year!

On our side 2023 is very promising & exciting, we will have the final release of Astral Ascent with physical and console editions, the 12 Zodiacs & the final boss, Calie, Yamat & even more things coming!
We wish Astral Ascent to be one of the best roguelites experience of 2023, count on us to do our absolute best to reach your expectations for the game! ✨

While we released the exporter update in December 2022, we also made great progresses on the World 4 update - The Crimson Highlands, please check below some of the exciting new features coming very soon!


Calie is the last of the heroes to be released for Final Release and she is coming very soon. She fights with stones that she can shapes into very varied weapons. As Octave she fights from a longer range but her attacks go through all enemies leaving stones there. Her utility spell, calls back the stones to her dealing extra damage and effects on the way back.




We personally really love her gameplay and wish you will like her as much as we do!


This is the final world of the game, the wind world and the closest to the final boss. The Zodiacs there (Libra, Aquarius & Gemini) are the most dangerous of all.
The enemies are also more dangerous and more intense as you can see below -

New traps & new enemies

Deadly Enemy


We are sure you are impatient to fight against Libra, one of the 2 bosses from next Update, we have to tell you she is extremely strong right now and she will be your toughest challenge in the game so far.



This was a quick sneak peak update, this update will be released Q1 2023, hopefully very soon. Also, we wanted to tell you that we are aware of some elements that need polish in the game right now, there is so many things that we want to improve but we decided to start with the world 4 update and do a lot of polish between world 4 and final release.

Having the whole game experience will make things much easier for us to balance the game and have the most appropriate design changes.

Have a great day,

- The Hibernian Workshop Team

Surprise update 0.39 to celebrate holidays season, we hope you like our little gifts! ːtaffyː


[h2]13 New Common Spells[/h2][hr][/hr]
All elementals, all nice to use and satisfying! More Signature Spells will be added before final release!




[h2]New Visual Area for Zim-Zim[/h2][hr][/hr]
She deserves a nice and cozy place, we hope you like it as much as we do!


[h2]Visuals Improvements of some Signature spells from Ayla & Kiran[/h2][hr][/hr]
GROUND POUND Before

After


N°249 UNRELENTING TORNADO Before

After


ENERGY PROJECTILES Before

After

[h2]Game is now playable on MacOS & Linux![/h2][hr][/hr]
This includes Steamdeck with very stable performances, first loading can take a while and you should not use Proton Experimental for now.

That's it for the 2022 updates, we have a lot of very exciting updates coming for 2023, thanks so much for the great reception of the game! ːzagplsː

You can check the more detailed version of the update below -

[hr][/hr]
⭐Changes inspired by our community!

[h2]Major Features[/h2]

[hr][/hr]
• Linux & MacOs: Game is now available for Linux & MacOS
  [hr][/hr]
• New Common Spells!: 13 New spells already unlocked for you to play with!
  

[h2]Small Features[/h2]

[hr][/hr]
• Itinerant Merchant: Itinerant merchant resets now also reset already bought slots
  [hr][/hr]
• Itinerant Merchant: Itinerant merchant resets are now possible when all elements have been bought
  [hr][/hr]
• Players will now dodge damages when autoclimbing for 0.3sec
  [hr][/hr]
• Some of Kiran & Ayla signature spells behavior changed a bit
  

[h2]Balancing[/h2]

[hr][/hr]
• Kiran Signature spell Buff: Buffed Kiran Signature spell damage and Reduced its cooldown
  [hr][/hr]
• Fire Portals: Now instantly reset your dash for better mobility
  [hr][/hr]
• Octave small drone spell: Drone is now more aggressive, attacks more frequently and from longer ranger
  [hr][/hr]
• Spells level: Random spells in worlds start level 0 instead of level 1
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• Spells level: Sun Room spells are 1 level higher
  [hr][/hr]
• Itinerant Merchant: Itinerant merchant reset cost slightly more than before
  [hr][/hr]
• Itinerant Merchant: Itinerant merchant spells are of higher quality
  [hr][/hr]
• Sagittarius giant boomerang attack has more cooldown between hits on players
  

[h2]Level Design[/h2]

[hr][/hr]
• Removed the W4 LDI that appeared in some exploration room when they were not supposed to.
  

[h2]Visuals[/h2]

[hr][/hr]
• Pisces summon visual polish
  [hr][/hr]
• Zim-Zim new Area: New botanist area in the Garden
  [hr][/hr]
• Improved visual feedback of flying world 2 enemy
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• Reduced particles quantity in Pantheon for performances
  [hr][/hr]
• More yalees in the hub!
  [hr][/hr]
• Updated spells previews for previous spells
  [hr][/hr]
• Some of Kiran & Ayla signature spells have been visually improved
  

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]

[hr][/hr]
• Wrong ground visuals in certain special Rooms
  [hr][/hr]
• Random Damages of enemies were not counted in some cases
  [hr][/hr]
• Spells level was incorrect
  [hr][/hr]
• Flying world 2 enemy would rarely launch melee attack if player was on ground
  [hr][/hr]
• In Andromeda's Trials, sometimes there was undesired lasers between laser sources
  [hr][/hr]
• Fixed an issue with small chest not opening in one of the secret rooms.
  

- The Hibernian Workshop Team

• Discord Server
• Twitter Account
• Official Store

⭐Changes inspired by our community!

[h2]Major Features[/h2]

[hr][/hr]
• Sun/Moon room cost adjustement: We changed the way sun and moon rooms work, now both the Sun and the Moon room will cost you MAX HP to enter, the only difference between the two rooms will be the spell pool.
  In future updates, we intend to split the zodiac spells pool in two to have some zodiac spells exclusive to sun room and the others exclusive to moon room.
  We also adjusted the cost to enter the moon room from 100 in every world to:
  -50 HP in World 1
  -75 HP in World 2
  -100 HP inWorld 3
  [hr][/hr]
• Signature spells - Replace the Utility spells: Each hero will now start the game with a unique Signature spell, this system completely replace the old utility spell system that we removed from the game.
  [hr][/hr]
• Level Up system: This new system will allow you to make use of the XP gained during a run, it will now improve your character, every level granting an additional 20 HP and 15% more damage on your basics attacks.
  Every level will also give you a new perk choice that will improve your basic attacks and signature spell giving it new unique properties.
  [hr][/hr]
• Andromeda's trials - New puzzle rooms!: Added new Andromeda's trials, they are unique puzzle room focus entirely on platforming skills instead of combat as it was something missing in the game until now! Completing those trials will grant you one of the famous rainbow drinks from Andromeda!
  

[h2]Small Features[/h2]

[hr][/hr]
• Affinty gambit context tutorial: Added a small tutorial the first time you equip a gambit with an affinity.
  [hr][/hr]
• Ayla/Kiran summon trigger on Signature spell cast: With the new signature spell system, we made it so Ayla and Kiran summon are triggered on signature spell cast like Octave summon.
  [hr][/hr]
• Zim-Zim ability change: We removed the Zim-Zim ""Bonus loot on intro room"" ability and replaced it with a new ability that gives you reroll possibility for the new level up perks!
  [hr][/hr]
• community inspired ⭐ Sounds now work for the second player in Remote play together.
  

[h2]Balancing[/h2]

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• Enemies Power and HP balancing: The power of and HP of Enemies of the red barrens and the coral archipelago have been readjusted to overal be weaker.
  [hr][/hr]
• XP Gain from enemies has been buffed: You will now gain more Xp from defeating enemies overall, this change was made to make the progression of the new level up system smoother
  [hr][/hr]
• XP required to level up Hub levels has been adjusted: The price per level has been adjusted, you will now need more XP BUT Xp gain in run has been improved so overall progression shouldn't feel too different than before.
  [hr][/hr]
• Nerf damage output of Octave spell ""Laceratio"".
  [hr][/hr]
• Reduced Capricorn ultimate Cooldown time to 40 seconds instead of 60.
  [hr][/hr]
• Life stone nerf: Reduce Max HP given by lifestone to 15 instead of 25.
  [hr][/hr]
• Life Boost aura nerf: Reduce mMax HP given by the life boost aura from 100 to 50.
  [hr][/hr]
• Virgo summon nerf: Nerfed the damage output of Virgo summon to match the rest of the Zodiacs summon
  [hr][/hr]
• Reduced the chances for elites to get the gravity orb effect as it is quiet deadly compared to other effects.
  [hr][/hr]
• Sun/Moon room spawn rate changes: We made it so every run you'll get at least 1 Sun or Moon room spawn to give you a better access to the unique zodiacs spells.
  [hr][/hr]
• Overall effects nerf: We nerfed the overall effects in the game, they won't always add 1 stack of a set effect on hit but instead has a % chance to add the stack on hit.
  [hr][/hr]
• Nerfed damages of several Zodiac spells:
  -Capricorn meteor rain
  -Virgo light sword
  -Scorpio trident
  

[h2]Level Design[/h2]

[hr][/hr]
• Special exploration room visual reworks: We reworked the visuals of the special exploration rooms to instead look like Yalee nomad villages, enjoy your yalee friends company!
  

[h2]Music & SFX[/h2]

[hr][/hr]
• Unique SFX plays when you equip a gambit on a spell with the same affinity.
  

[h2]Interface[/h2]

[hr][/hr]
• The Main menu option will no longer display the ""Back to main menu"" and ""Glossary"" options - ☄️ hotfix 0.38.4
  [hr][/hr]
• Add a new desc for the ""Thunder Dash"" effect in glossary. - ☄️ hotfix 0.38.4

[h2]Visuals[/h2]

[hr][/hr]
• Added an additional feedback to pegasus bubble attack.
  [hr][/hr]
• Removed the Legacy portraits: We decided to remove the legacy portrait as it became an hindrance for the future character visuals yet to be done and we will now fully commit to pixel art portrait instead.
  [hr][/hr]
• community inspired ⭐ Fixed Hint text in merchant room. - ☄️ hotfix 0.38.1
  [hr][/hr]
• community inspired ⭐ Fixed the issue with the new zim-zim perks where the title wasn't fully displaying. - ☄️ hotfix 0.38.1
  [hr][/hr]
• Fixed a small artefact issue in the hub. - ☄️ hotfix 0.38.1
  [hr][/hr]
• community inspired ⭐ Fixed the Sun appearing green in World 2 and other context. - ☄️ hotfix 0.38.4

[h2]Narrative Design[/h2]

[hr][/hr]
• community inspired ⭐ Fixed Ayla and Kiran Echo description to fit their new effect.
  

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]

[hr][/hr]
• community inspired ⭐ Softlock coop revive: Fixed an issue where if one player died the moment another was revived, the other player would losce control of it's character resulting in softlock.
  [hr][/hr]
• Fixed an issue with the order of display of Player 2 aura that sometimes appeared behind the aura background.
  [hr][/hr]
• Fixed several issues where some of the auras didn't work for Player 2.
  [hr][/hr]
• community inspired ⭐ Scorpio start of combat bug: Fixed the issue where Scorpio would sometime start the combat by doing 2 attack at once resulting in a very weird behavior where he'd be flying in the air.
  [hr][/hr]
• Capricorn Ulimate bug: Fixed an issue where Capricorn could still launch his ultimate when he was killed while casting it.
  [hr][/hr]
• community inspired ⭐ Fixed an issue where ordan summon could go the wrong way if player is not facing the target direction.
  [hr][/hr]
• community inspired ⭐ Fixed an issue in coop play where Player 2 get stucks in the vine spawning in fights rooms.
  [hr][/hr]
• community inspired ⭐ Fixed an issue where Ikki summon could create softlock during boss fights.
  [hr][/hr]
• community inspired ⭐ Fixed an issue where frame rate would drop whenever you interact with an NPC.
  [hr][/hr]
• community inspired ⭐ Fixed an issue where you could change the animation of your character when defeated and waiting to be revived.
  [hr][/hr]
• community inspired ⭐ Fixed an issue where it would display NaN when you try to buy an upgrade.
  [hr][/hr]
• community inspired ⭐ Fixed an issue where Player 2 could trigger basic attacks aura of Player 1 instead of the one he got.
  [hr][/hr]
• community inspired ⭐ Fixed an issue where you could enter the 4th world wich is not yet suppose to be available.
  [hr][/hr]
• Some saves could be lost being of wrong naming convention. - ☄️ hotfix 0.38.2
  [hr][/hr]
• community inspired ⭐ Game could display a D3D window and prevent loading. - ☄️ hotfix 0.38.2
  [hr][/hr]
• community inspired ⭐ Players using legacy portraits option would not see dialog portraits. - ☄️ hotfix 0.38.2
  [hr][/hr]
• community inspired ⭐ Level-up interface could show 999999 when being level 4. - ☄️ hotfix 0.38.2

- The Hibernian Workshop Team

• Discord Server
• Twitter Account
• Official Store

Hello everyone!

After the launch of the Coral Archipelago Update we immediatly started working on the next major one: the Crimson Highlands Update. This upcoming one will make possible to visit the 4th world with the most dangerous Zodiacs as long as playing Calie, the Geomancer.

We have already made great progress on this update and we should be able to release it early Q1 2023. But do not worry, we will take our time to polish it as much as we did for all previous updates. We will share more about the Crimson Highlands Update in next newsletter as we have exciting news to share in this one!


Once again we had ambitious & promising new features ideas for the next upate but instead of releasing everything at once as we did for the Coral Archipelago Update, we decided to release part of it for you to play right now on Steam!

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1280930/view/3651886500302273659 Game should display version 0.38.0 or higher on main menu, you can relaunch Steam if it's not.

This new content is getting available alongside the long awaited New Exporter version provided by our partner MP2 Games and we would like to thank them again for the tremendous work porting the whole Astral Ascent game from our game engine to C++ for the best possible performances!

This new exporter fixes a lot of crashes and issues (like Steam Remote sound issue) & massively improves FPS allowing you to play at constant frame rate with almost no loadtimes.

This new version will change your game experience by making it much more comfortable and fluid, in particular for smaller settings. The game is also now playable for Steamdeck with very stable 60fps, you can even do Remote Play co-op with 2 Steamdecks without issues.



However expect some inconsistencies (badly oriented elements, small visual glitches etc.) as this build is very close but is not yet the same as the main build, we are still working on it!
If you see anything wrong please let us know on our Discord Server in the #bugs-report channel.

• Basic attacks issue - Basic attacks do not become more powerful with time unlike your spells with levels & gambits so the more you progress the weaker your basic attacks feel and are. Also, getting Auras for your basic attacks was preventing you to have Auras for other purposes so you would sometimes sacrifice interesting builds to get them.
  
• Utility Spells issue - Utility spells were very inconsistent as it was rare (and occasionally too frequent) to get one. Sometimes they were strong, sometimes they were too weak and it was easy to forget to use them as they were not really part of our build.
  

From these questions emerged new systems

• Signature spells - They completely replace the Utility Spells that we removed from the game, they are new and unique spells based on cooldown different for each Hero. You will have many synergies to discover and play with from one run to another as you can improve them with the Level up system!
  Kiran signature spell is "Parry then Punch!", making you temporary invincible!
  
  
• Level up system - Defeating enemies will now grant you experience points, filling an experience bar above your HP, when it reaches a certain threshold, your character will level up gaining maximum Health, Basic attacks damage and the possibility to claim a Prowess.
  Octave, level 7 with 9/40 xp points to level 8
  
  
  
• The Prowesses - They are a set of passive skills that can be claimed in intro rooms of each world, including first world, when interacting with the giants there. Every level, you will be able to claim 1 additional prowess to a max of 8 in a run. These prowesses are of two kinds: Basic attack (right) & Signature Spell (left)
  

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

The Prowesses for Signature spells are unique to each hero, there is a lot to try out! Also, Zim-Zim now has an ability to make you reset the choices of Prowesses.

Ayla's signature spell "Shadow Mark" (teleports behind enemies) with reset on kill Prowess



Another fun addition to the game are the Andromeda's trials!

In the exploration rooms, sometimes you will find a purple altar, interacting with them will teleport you to a new room where you will have to face a platforming challenge without being hit to get one of the famous rainbow drinks poured by Andromeda herself!

Do not worry, if you get hit you are simply teleported outside but you will not lose HP so feel free to try them as many times as you want! We personally love them and we hope you will too!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


A smaller addition has been made to the Discord server, the Astral Ascent Digital Trading Card game!

Every day Barbecue offers you a new card from his fine collection! You can trade them with everyone or merge them to gain rarer cards (4 rarities for the 39 existing cards) and get the greatest collection!


Hop on our discord to get a card whenever you want!

There was no newsletter last month but be sure we are working our hardest to make the game the best it can be and we are still active on the Discord Server for any of your suggestions and feedback!

Oh, and here are some extra elements!

We added a Glossary that you can check anytime while ingame!

Merchants culture is ancient and not very well known but they remember it through these statues

Oloon wanted her place to feel more precious as you can imagine

More improvements are coming later!

Don't forget our Backerkit shop and our Discord Server to speak with the community and give us feedbacks on the game!


Have an excellent week ahead and next time we will share about the upcoming world 4!

The Hibernian Workshop Team

⭐Changes inspired by our community!

[h2]Major Features[/h2]

[hr][/hr]
• Sun&Moon room: Sun/Moon portals are announced a few rooms before they appear - ☄️ hotfix 0.37.1

[h2]Small Features[/h2]

[hr][/hr]
• Spells on sun room can have a minimum of 2 gambits on it
  [hr][/hr]
• Octave unlocking condition: Octave is unlocked after meeting with any world 2 zodiac instead of beating them.
  [hr][/hr]
• Voice Over: Integrating missing lines of Sagittarius
  [hr][/hr]
• The Garden: Adding a teleporter to navigate faster in the hub
  [hr][/hr]
• Enemies: W3 small snake attack feedback improved
  [hr][/hr]
• community inspired ⭐ It's not possible anymore to start runs through NG+ menu by pressing ""down"" when the start button is selected. - ☄️ hotfix 0.37.1
  [hr][/hr]
• Malice cost increased by 1 (total of 3) per level - ☄️ hotfix 0.37.1
  [hr][/hr]
• Ember effect spreads itself in a smaller area - ☄️ hotfix 0.37.1
  [hr][/hr]
• Added cooldown to auras that had triggers related to player taking damage - ☄️ hotfix 0.37.1
  [hr][/hr]
• Zodiac lines during battle are played a little bit louder - ☄️ hotfix 0.37.1
  [hr][/hr]
• Spell cycle is reseted after respawning on hub - ☄️ hotfix 0.37.1
  [hr][/hr]
• Smoother autoclimb - ☄️ hotfix 0.37.6
  [hr][/hr]
• Zodiacs on bar: - Zodiacs found on bar has a bigger minimum chance to join you
  - Zodiacs found on bar has now 50% increased chance to join you if they have zodiac affinity - ☄️ hotfix 0.37.6

[h2]Interface[/h2]

[hr][/hr]
• LB/RB Navigation in menus of hub
  [hr][/hr]
• Changed Collect All input for Achievement UI
  [hr][/hr]
• Added a Collect ALl input for Papa Yalee UI
  

[h2]Narrative Design[/h2]

[hr][/hr]
• Typos fixed
  [hr][/hr]
• Extended translations for Russian & Korean
  

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]

[hr][/hr]
• Malice that spawn extra enemies on zodiacs fight wasn't working in world 3
  [hr][/hr]
• It was possible to unlock memory fragments of undefeated zodiacs
  [hr][/hr]
• Old save files would get player to be stuck into the loading screen
  [hr][/hr]
• Name of worlds could be wrongly displayed in the level progress UI
  [hr][/hr]
• During coop mode it was necessary to press inputs twice to move through relics in the inventory
  [hr][/hr]
• Starpiece multiplier could wrongly be enabled for save files prior to the ""The Coral Archipelago"" update - ☄️ hotfix 0.37.1
  [hr][/hr]
• community inspired ⭐ Zodiac lines during battle are played a little bit louder - ☄️ hotfix 0.37.1
  [hr][/hr]
• Oloon reset input would not always be displayed - ☄️ hotfix 0.37.2
  [hr][/hr]
• community inspired ⭐ Virgo Electric orbs could remain on ground - ☄️ hotfix 0.37.2
  [hr][/hr]
• community inspired ⭐ Virgo electricity particles could remain after defeat - ☄️ hotfix 0.37.2
  [hr][/hr]
• Draco could have a wrong behavior during meteor attack if ultimate comes up - ☄️ hotfix 0.37.2
  [hr][/hr]
• community inspired ⭐ The game could not save game progress properlly in some users computer - ☄️ hotfix 0.37.3
  [hr][/hr]
• Fix on game save files path in computers with unusual setup - ☄️ hotfix 0.37.5
  [hr][/hr]
• community inspired ⭐ Basic attack icon wouldn't change after swaping characters in the hub - ☄️ hotfix 0.37.6
  [hr][/hr]
• community inspired ⭐ Players could get stuck during some bosses fight (Scorpio and Sagittarius) after being revived by Ikki summon - ☄️ hotfix 0.37.7
  [hr][/hr]
• community inspired ⭐ It was possible for players to get stuck into fight room walls during co-op mode - ☄️ hotfix 0.37.7

- The Hibernian Workshop Team

• Discord Server
• Twitter Account
• Official Store