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Halloween Perks Update v1.1

As we embrace the spooky season and celebrate the Scream Fest, Draft of Darkness has been updated to version 1.1. This update introduces exciting additions to the selection of Hero Perks, Trophy Items, Sufferings, and Strong Enemy Perks.

[h2]New Hero Perks[/h2]
The Credits Shop now offers a more extensive selection of Hero Perks, allowing you to diversify your arsenal and approach your runs with unique strategies. We've introduced a total of 23 new Hero Perks to the Credits Shop, including 12 entirely new Perks and 11 adapted Companion Perks.

Engineering: Explore a fresh way to utilize Leo the combat robot. You can scavenge "Scraps", a unique resource, to upgrade, heal, and modify Leo using Mech Mods, granting him various advantages at the beginning of encounters. You can also spend Scraps to re-construct him. Engineering perk is available to Echo, which means that you can combine Leo with any build you want!

Vampiric: Embrace your inner vampire and feast on the blood of enemies and allies alike. This perk greatly enhances your Bleeding strategy.
Perpetual: Put an end to condition wastage and contribute to the fight against global warming. With this perk, you can consistently maintain your Buffs and Abilities.
Haunted: This perk is tailored for those who like to hunt and be haunted, both a challenge and an opportunity.

[h2]New Trophy Items[/h2]
The selection of Trophy Items has been expanded with 17 brand new additions, including 6 that were chosen from ideas submitted by players in our Discord Server!


Magician's Glove (by Yobee): The favored glove of the trickster. This item can become incredibly potent when combined with certain other items and perks allowing you to draw the desired move.
Earrings of Balance: Harness the power of Darkness to your advantage and access formidable moves. Is karma on your side?
Watering Can: This cute prop, used by Bubblegum, the pink bunny mascot, offers sustainability for the entire party, albeit with some associated risks. Don't get caught with a lot of cards in your hand!

[h2]New Sufferings[/h2]
As Darkness descends upon you, new challenges await. We've added 6 new Suffering effects that will test your mettle when the Darkness Level exceeds the threshold.

Soaring: This will force you to reconsider your approach to making moves; otherwise, your actions may leave you with a hole in your pocket.
Concealing: If there's anything spookier than zombies, it's invisible zombies.
Stagflation: Monsters aren't the only scary things; the economy can be frightening too!

[h2]New Strong Enemy Perks[/h2]
The strong enemies have become even stronger with the addition of three new perks to their arsenal.

Spike Growth: The more you strike the enemy, the spikier they become. It's advisable to have some ranged moves at your disposal.
Scrounger: When the enemy is this grueling to battle, will you leave them for last or defeat them first to put an end to the struggle?
Cancerous Might: With each passing turn, the enemy gains more strength. You better make this a swift victory!

[h2]Leo Balance Changes[/h2]
Leo's moveset and mechanics have undergone significant adjustments. While preserving the core concept of his mechanics, we have enhanced his capacity to wield Dark Damage, Block, and Flight.


The new "Core: Dark" move significantly amplifies Leo's elemental damage. By replacing his Physical Damage abilities with Dark Damage, he is now more proficient at delivering potent Dark Damage to enemies and can make better use of moves copied from Ivan.
Additionally, some of Leo's moves now synergize with Flight, providing advantages when he is airborne. Leo also gains two unique condition effects through his moves. One of these effects is "Wormhole," which effectively prevents condition decay for a period. For example, you can pair this effect with "Aerial Dive" to use it without consuming Flight. You can also apply it to enemies to maintain effects like Bleeding, Corrosion or other conditions.

[h2]Up Next: New Game Mode and Plans for Localization[/h2]
For the v1.2 patch, my primary focus will be on the upcoming new game mode, which will introduce fresh events and challenges, providing you with a new way to experience Draft of Darkness.

I have also made the decision to explore Localization and consider implementing it, making it possible for a broader audience to enjoy Draft of Darkness. Regrettably, I won't have the means to afford professional translation services. Instead, I will be setting up a framework that will facilitate easier localization, allowing those who wish to translate the game themselves to do so more easily. The translation I can offer will, at best, be machine-generated. Nevertheless, I believe that having even machine translations is better than having no translation at all. The specific languages to be supported have not yet been determined, and I will provide further updates once I have delved deeper into the technical aspects.

[h2]Update Notes for Patch v1.1.0[/h2]
[h3]Content[/h3]
* (Perk/Pavel) Robo-Raged: Whenever you lose Health below 40%, gain Bloodlust 1, if you don't have Unstoppable, also gain Unstoppable 1.
* (Perk/Ivan, Echo) Engineer: Collect exclusive Scraps from encounters and loot events. Use Scraps to construct, upgrade, repair and configure Leo.
* (Perk) Savant: You can't draw extra moves during your turn. After each time you make a move, draw moves until you have a number of moves equal to your Hand Size.
* (Perk) Brusque: Inflict Injury 1 when dealing direct damage to enemies. If it's a critical strike, inflict Injury 3 instead. Suffer Injury 4 at the start of your turns.
* (Perk) Vampiric: Whenever you draw an extra move, add a "Vampiric Bite" move to your hand. At the start of your turn, if anybody has Bleeding 10 or more, add a "Vampiric Drink" move to your hand.
* (Perk) Assimilator: At the end of your turn, consume Block to restore up to 50% of your missing Health.
* (Perk) Spartan: Your moves cost Health equal to resource cost instead of resources during encounters. Reduce Mend Power to 0 at the start of encounters.
* (Perk) Charismatic: Shop goods are discounted by 33%. Stats are reduced by 1, gain +5 to all stats during decision events.
* (Perk) Depressed: At the start of encounters, weak alternatives of moves, including those without alternatives, are randomly replaced with Depression moves.
* (Perk) Haunted: Start every area at 10 Darkness Level.
* (Perk) Perpetual: At the beginning of encounters, restore conditions from the previous encounter (up to 3 layers per condition.)
* (Perk) Sagacious: Intelligence is increased by 3. At the beginning of your turns, select and discard up to 3 moves and draw new moves.
* These perks are adapted from companions to heroes: Beacon, Berserker, Crusader, Dissolver, Gladiator, Juggler, Muscular, Opportunist, Resilient, Stimulated, Versatile.
* (Strong Enemy Perk) Spike Growth: Gain Riposte 1 upon receiving direct damage.
* (Strong Enemy Perk) Scrounger: Whenever you are targeted by a foe's move, increase Energy cost of that move by 1 (max. 10) until the end of the encounter.
* (Strong Enemy Perk) Cancerous Might: At the end of every turn, gain 25% Power.
* (Suffering) Concealing: Enemies are invisible during exploration.
* (Suffering) Hostile: Enemies gain random Buff or Ability at the start of encounters.
* (Suffering) Hindered: Allies suffer random Debuff or Disability at the start of encounters.
* (Suffering) Soaring: Whenever you activate a move, increase the resource cost of that move by 1 until the end of the encounter.
* (Suffering) Challenged: Normal encounter enemies also start with strong encounter perks.
* (Suffering) Stagflation: Shop prices are increased by 100%.
* (Item/Trophy) Magician's Glove (@yobee): At the beginning of the possessor's turn, the first drawn move activates on a random target without any costs.
* (Item/Trophy) Metal Die (@rustydelusion): Roll the die: Face positive or negative effects. Can be used once per turn.
* (Item/Trophy) Gold Star Sticker (@guru_jr): Strong encounters and area bosses drop an additional move choice. Slightly increase chances of finding rare cards in card choices.
* (Item/Trophy) Sniper Scope (@guru_jr): Crit. Chance is increased by 50% when the possessor is in range for a critical killing blow.
* (Item/Trophy) Heart Pendant (@rustydelusion): During looting, gain more combat resources for weapons allies can use (+1, +3); gain less combat resources for weapons allies can't use (-1, -3).
* (Item/Trophy) Tainted Pen (@oftomelf): Above Darkness Level 7, Gain 20 extra experience from encounters per Darkness Level.
* (Item/Trophy) Nettle Leaf: When an ally loses Health during their own turn, they gain Energy equal to half of Health lost.
* (Item/Trophy) Watering Can: At the end of their turns, allies restore 1 Health for each move missing in their hand, but lose 1 Health for each move exceeding their Hand Size.
* (Item/Trophy) Golden Scale: Equalize all Power attributes, then increase all Power by 200% until the end of turn. Can be used once per encounter.
* (Item/Trophy) Sadhu Board: At the start of encounters, increase the condition layers of moves of the possessor by 100%, but reduce their base damage by 30%.
* (Item/Trophy) Recycling Bin: Whenever the possessor discards a move, increase the move's damage or mending by 30%.
* (Item/Trophy) Bug Spray: The possessor deals 50% more damage to pests, zombies and humans; but take 50% more damage from robots and dark enemies.
* (Item/Trophy) Penetrating Oil: The possessor deals 50% more damage to robots and dark enemies; but take 50% more damage from pests, zombies and humans.
* (Item/Trophy) Earrings of Balance: Gain Demonic charges with increased Darkness Level, gain Angelic charges with reduced Darkness Level (max. 10 charges). Spend Demonic or Angelic charges to add the selected move to your hand.
* (Item/Trophy) Blood Die: Roll the die: Increase your Power by 2 times the die until the end of turn. Can be used once per encounter.
* (Item/Trophy) First Aid Kit: Restore 20 Health to the targeted ally. Can be used 3 times.
* (Item/Trophy) Can Opener: The possessor gains Opener 1.
* (Card/Robot) Aerial Dive: Deal 2x(4x). If you have Flight, this move costs no Energy or resources, but consumes Flight instead.
* (Card/Robot) Core: Dark: Gain Core: Dark 1 and Dark Armor 1.
* (Card/Robot) Crescent Barrier: Until the end of turn, every time you deal damage, give 1 Retained Block to other allies.
* (Card/Robot) Unstable Core: Deal 1x. Every time you activate this move, double the damage of all copies. Every time you lose Health, halve the damage of all copies. (Min. 0.25x, Max. 16x)
Changes
* (Condition) Bolt: Serrated: Reworked to "Shots apply Bleeding 1 plus Punctured layers applied. When Punctured effect triggers on a target, decay Bleeding on the target."
* (Condition) Stance: Defence: Added maximum limit of 50 to Defence increase.
* (Perk) Iron Fist: "Once per turn, when another ally receives damage, increase Dark Power and Mend Power by 50%; when another ally deals damage, increase Physical Power by 100%. Lasts until you activate a move.
* (Perk) Inorganic: Also negates incoming Disabilities and increases Physical Defense and Dark Defense by 20.
* (Card/Spray Gun) Wildfire: Burn Dmg. & AcidDmg. 0.75 -> 1.25 (+1: 1.5->2.5)
* (Card/Spray Gun) Make Fuel: Chemical gain increase per use 1->2. Effect now applies to all copies of the move.
* (Card/Dark Cannon) Sap Life: Now restores Health equal to half the damage.
* (Card/Crossbow) Cluster Shot: Primary Physical Dmg. 1.5->1. Secondary Physical Dmg. 1->0.7.
* (Card/Shield) Active Armor: (+1: Removed Kickstart effect. Added 100% Energy Cost reduction.)
* (Card/Unarmed) Recovery: Drawn move Energy Cost reduction 3->2 (+1: Energy Cost 0->3. Increases drawn move Energy Cost reduction to 3. Now keeps the effect from the original move which reduces Energy Cost to 0 when unarmed.)
* (Card/Robot) Dark Flame: Reworked to "Deal 1.5x(3x) dark damage. If you have Flight, target all enemies."
* (Card/Robot) Focused Energy: No longer a 2-Step move. Energy Cost reduction: 100%->66% (+1: Increases Energy Cost reduction to 100%.)
* (Card/Robot) Peace of Darkness: Renamed to "Night of the Machine". Reworked to "Give Frenzy 2 and Stability 1."
* (Card/Robot) Shield Up: Fuel Cost 1->0. Block 6->4 (+1: 10->6)
* (Card/Robot) Wormhole: Reworked to "Give Wormhole 3 to anybody."
* Cian now uses Superposition earlier after using Collapse move.
[h3]Bugfixes[/h3]
* Fixed Levers event showing wrong character selection choices.
* Fixed a hang that occurs when player tries to walk using the mouse after a decision event encounter triggers.
* Fixed Hidden Doors event showing "Recall the solution" choice for wrong characters.
* Fixed an issue where selected preserved card isn't re-ordered as first in the preserved card list.
* Fixed "Pay the Price" card effect not being removed at the end of turn.
* 2-Step effect is now counted mutually for all copies of the move.
* Repeat effect now correctly applies Health Cost of cards for every repeat.
* Fixed various missing tooltips.
* Fixed Melt Iron move's effect not working.
* Fixed encounter item sprite animation not appearing correctly.
* Fixed some item costs being wrong.
* Entities can't have a Hand Size smaller than 1.
* Fixed Daemon prowling SFX getting stuck when encounter starts.
* Fixed an issue where resource cost of moves became negative.

Post-Release News

[h2]v1.0.4 Patch is Out[/h2]
The v1.0.4 patch has been released (last week), containing several fixes, balance adjustments and QOL additions. Take a look at the patch notes to see all the individual changes:

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1380650/view/3749867242861854507

[h2]Soundtrack[/h2]
After numerous requests, the Draft of Darkness OST is now available on Steam for free. The soundtrack includes a total of 14 tracks, comprising 5 encounter tracks, 7 boss tracks, and the menu and rest screen tracks, all in 320kbps bitrate MP3 format. Enjoy!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2633130

[h2]Demo Update[/h2]
After receiving frequent player and crash reports for issues that have already been fixed in the full version, I've decided to prepare a new demo. The demo version has been updated to version 1.0.4 and should provide a more accurate representation of the current state of the game. If you encountered problems with the previous demo, please feel free to give it another try. Content-wise, it should be the same as before, but it now includes various fixes, changes to combat flow (such as card queueing), and improved gamepad support.

[h2]Post-Launch Updates[/h2]
Aside from the bug-fix patches, I have begun working on some additional content, which I plan to release as major updates. Currently, I have outlined two updates:
  • v1.1 Halloween Update: Featuring New Perks & Items
  • v1.2 Custom Game Mode Update: Introducing Custom Game Mode & New Events

Although the dates are not set in stone, I aim to release the v1.1 update at the end of October, as the name implies, and I will strive to have v1.2 ready for the winter season.

In version 1.1, I aim to broaden the selection of perks available to heroes by introducing new ones in the Credits Shop. Existing perks will also be reviewed and adjusted. This expansion will offer players more choices for varying their builds during different runs. Similarly, new items will be added, including player-suggested items.

As I work on finalizing the specifics of the Custom Game Mode, the primary concept behind it is to enable story-free gameplay with various challenges and objectives that allow players to enjoy the game mechanics in distinct ways. If you have any suggestions for what you'd like to see in this mode, please don't hesitate to share your ideas on the forums or the Discord server!

Thanks for supporting Draft of Darkness. See you on the next update!

Update Notes for Patch v1.0.4_p2

* Fixed an issue causing old save files from before save slots were implemented to not properly import, causing loss of save data.
* Fixed Darkness Remains starting item not appearing for Jake.

Update Notes for Patch v1.0.4_p1

This is just a small hotfix patch for a few bugs that needed fixing. I wanted to get this out before I can switch my focus back to content.
* Fixed an issue with the Beast Claw item causing a crash.
* Fixed an issue where items were getting stuck in the "selected" state, causing them to be activating repeatedly upon clicking.
* Fixed "Crusader" perk increasing Power for the current card (which activated combo) as well.
* Fixed "Distraction +1" applying Stealth to enemies instead of Slowness.
* Fixed infinite loop caused by Cat Collar and Cube/Fragment items.
* Changed the placement of the scroll buttons which appear when too many items were in inventory. They were previously unclickable.
* Trivial fixes.

Update Notes for Patch v1.0.4

* (Card/Pistol) Heat of Anger: Phys. Dmg. 1->0.75x. (+1: Phys. Dmg. 1.75x->1x.)
* (Card/Shotgun) Sinner's Kiss: Mend healing is replaced with unscaled Health Restoration (3 Health).
* (Item/Trophy) Fly Trap: Health Restoration 4->3.
* (Status/Perk) Muscular: Physical Power increase per move 0.2->0.4.
* (Status/Perk) Crusader: On combo, also increases all Power by 50% for the next move.
* You can now pet Bubblegum.
* Abandoned runs and run wipes now give partial completion credits. Only applies to save data above a certain version. Run wipes with older (pre-1.0) save versions will give 0 credits due to some changes in the save structure.
* Companion equipment will be added to the inventory when the companion is killed or sacrificed.
* Entity type flags (Robot, Pest, Human etc.) are now shown in tooltips and detail screen.
* Decision event choices which involve Status effects now show their tooltips.
* Added a hint to the Brain Artifact fight, where characters who receive "Negate Barrier" will speak to point to it.
* Equipment earned from the "Knight Armor" event is now "Decent" instead of "Pristine".
* Reduced "Darkness Remains" printing batch count from 2 to 1.
* "Unseen" indicator icons are now properly cleared when Library window is closed.
* Fixed a bug where Alt weapons didn't sync to character level unless swapped to the main slots.
* Fixed a bug where Alt weapons aren't destroyed with the "Defective Enhancement Machine" event.
* Fixed issues with the "Daemon Helmet" equipment.
* Fixed a bug where status effects aren't cleared when "Old Rollerblades" and "Tape Recorder" items are sold.
* Fixed "Sapphire Cube / Fragments" item not dealing damage.
* Fixed an issue with "Punch +1" card causing damage to be calculated wrongly.
* Fixed some item counters not visually updating in certain cases.
* Fixed "Fanny Pack" counter not updating on use.