1. Across the Obelisk
  2. News

Across the Obelisk News

Hotfix 1.2.01

Hello everyone. This is a fast hotfix to solve some problems that have been reported since we released the patch.

The principal problem had to do with Reginald's trait "Chastise". The charges for it should be consumed as expected.

As always, thanks to all of you for your support, feedback, and understanding.

Across the Obelisk - Update 1.2

Update 1.2 is upon us, and with it comes our first full expansion DLC, the Sands of Ulminin. New systems have been added to the DLC, Sands of Ulminin, that also means balance changes are required in other parts of the game to support the systems.

Without further ado, here are the patch notes of Update 1.2!

  • Sandbox Mode. When you complete the adventure for the first time, a new way to play will open up. Customize your games as you like! This is the first implementation of the Sandbox mode, with time we will improve it, adding more options and adapting it to other game modes. Keep in mind that this mode lets you modify many of the game options with very varied and drastic combinations that affect the balance of the game greatly.
  • Scarab System. Occasionally some lucky scarabs will appear in combat, complete their requirements to obtain additional rewards!
  • 2 new aura/curse mechanics. While the two new heroines specialize in these new mechanics, the other heroes also have access to it.
  • 20 new cards.
  • Many balance changes and improvements to many lesser-used cards, including new mechanics such as damage by speed or discarding cards.
  • 10 new items.
  • Changes in the Obelisk Challenge mode.
  • All the new enemies of the expansion are included in the Obelisk Challenge mode and also in the Adventure mode with random combat activated.
  • Random team generation button.
  • Improvements in combat tooltips according to various perks.

[h2]BALANCE CHANGES[/h2]
Important Note: Due to major changes between the two versions, current games will not be compatible with the new Update 1.2. This does not affect unlocks or game progress.
[h3]Obelisk Challenge[/h3]
  • Obelisk Challenge difficulty levels have been restructured:
    • All resistances have been unified into a single level 5.
    • Added the Impending Doom corruptor at level 3.
    • Added the Decadence corruptor at level 8.
    • The extra starting energy bonus has been removed from levels 5 to 7.
  • Changed the pathing on some Maps, and added new combat nodes to make them more evenly distributed.
  • Changed the event that heals before a boss floor: A place to rest. Made the roll required for foraging easier, and now all classes have a custom option on their own, like removing cards, upgrading cards or crafting new cards.
  • Added one new event with the new mini-card game.
  • Slightly increased the Score bonus for completing Obelisk Challenge level 9 and 10.

[h3]Heroes[/h3]
  • Grukli: Removed Punch (3 cards) from the starting deck, replaced with Blood for Blood (1 card) and Sharpen (2 cards).
  • Zek: Black Death - Reduced the damage of each jump in blue and yellow versions to 20% and 40% respectively (from 25% and 50%).
  • Zek: Death's Embrace - Increased uses to 26 30 34 (from 20 24 28).
  • Zek: Vampirism - Added +1 to Chill and Bleed charges.
  • Zek: Putrefaction - Dark on enemies reduces Shadow resistances by an additional 1.5% (from 1%) per charge.
  • Zek: Absolute Darkness - Changed to: Dark on enemies increases the damage of the Dark explosion by 1% per charge.
  • Heiner: Reactive Lasers - Increased uses to 11 12 12 (from 9 10 10)
  • Heiner: Fusion Lasers (yellow version) - Slightly reduced damage, and removed 1 Burn charge.
  • Ottis: Sacred (Sanctify +3) changed to Sacred Fire (Sanctify +2, Burn +1).
  • Ottis: Solar Flare (yellow version) - Reduced the damage and removed 1 Sanctify charge.
  • Gustav: Ethereal Weapons - Target type changed to Self (from Hero), increased uses to 4 (from 3).
  • Malukah: Yain Ritual - Increased uses by 1.
  • Malukah: Yang Ritual -Reduced cost to 0 (from 1) Increased uses by 1.
  • Malukah: Vaccine - Increased uses to 4 (from 3).
  • Malukah: Shadowform - Bonus to Dark charges increased to 2 (from 1).
  • Nezglekt: Friendly Tadpole - Increased heal to 25 (from 18).
  • Reginald: Archangel - Increased healing done to +40% (from 30%) and received to 20% (from 10%).

[h3]Perks[/h3]
  • Powerful perk that increases the damage by 10% per charge now will also reduce the maximum Powerful charges on that hero by 3.
  • Inspire perk now gives 1 Inspire at the start of a hero’s first turn instead of combat start.
  • Sharp increasing Shadow damage will now only be applied for the hero that takes the perk, instead of all heroes.

[h3]Cards[/h3]
Warrior cards
  • New: Shield Stance - Defense
  • New: Blood Rain - Skill
  • New: Holy Slash - Melee Attack
  • New: Divine Strike - Melee Attack
  • New: Dark Blow - Melee Attack
  • New: Void Crush - Melee Attack
  • New: Tremors - Skill
  • New: Omnipotence - Skill
  • New: All In - Melee Attack
  • Heavy Blow: Increased damage sightly, blue version, added apply 1 crack, yellow version, reduced cost by 1 added suffer 1 Fatigue
  • Skullsplitter (blue version): Increased damage slightly.
  • Skullsplitter (yellow version): Reduced cost by 2, added Suffer 2 Fatigue
  • Shield Throw: Removed Vanish from white version; upgrades now apply 2 Crack.
  • Charge (blue version): Increased damage and Fast to 2 from 1.
  • Carnage: Base card is now Epic, increased slashing damage by 1.
  • Reckless Charge (blue version): Changed to deal damage based on cards discarded.
  • Blood Rage: Increased the HP lost, and Bleed suffered.
  • Burning Blood (white and blue versions): Transform Bleed into Burn and Fury x0.3.
  • Precise Strike: Upgrades changed to apply Bleed or Slow.
  • Hamstring (all versions): Now Rare, reworked to deal damage based on speed difference.
  • Devastate (all versions): Increased damage and Bleed by 1.
  • Whirlwind (white version): Increased cost to 7, increased damage and added Bleed.
  • Whirlwind (yellow version): Increased cost to 7, increased damage and Bleed charges.
  • Shield Slam (white and blue versions): Added 1 Slow.
  • Ground Slam (white version): Rarity changed to Uncommon (from Rare), increased damage by 1, and removed Vulnerable.
  • Safeguard (yellow version): Increased Block gained to x5 (from x4) and added Vanish.
Healer cards
  • New: Perseverance - Defense
  • New: Absorption - Skill
  • New: Deja vu - Mind Spell
  • New: Entomb - Shadow Spell
  • New: Twilight swamp - Shadow Spell
  • New: Omniscence - Skill
  • New: Redemption - Healing Spell
  • New: Divine Guidance - Book
  • Holy Fire (blue version): Increased damage and charges.
  • Holy Fire (yellow version): Changed to work with self-Burn.
  • Sacred Ceremony (blue version): Now also applies Zeal, added Vanish.
  • Sacred Ceremony (yellow version): Reduced cost to 4 and reduced Bless and heal by 1.
  • Holy Nova (white version): Reduced base damage to 4 (from 5), added 1 Sanctify.
  • Holy Blast: Now applies a fixed amount of Sanctify charges and increased damage based on Bless.
  • Divine Power (all upgrades): Rarity changed to Epic.
  • Divine Power (blue version): Increased Powerful to 6 (from 5) and Bless to 4 (from 3).
  • Divine Power (yellow version): Added Overcharge.
  • Divine Ire: Swapped blue and yellow versions, upgrades now also apply Burn.
  • Pain Suppression: Increased heal a bit.
  • Penance (blue version): Now applies 1 Burn.
  • Shining Force (blue version): Now does damage based on cards discarded.
  • Inner Fire: Changed rarity to Uncommon (from Common).
  • Inner Fire (blue version): Removed Innate, changed target to Anyone and increased Burn to 3 (from 2).
  • Black Hole (blue and yellow versions): Removed Vanish and reduced repeats by 1.
  • Condemnation (yellow version): Decay increased to 3 (from 2), Dark reduced to 3 (from 4).
  • Death's Reach: Reworked and added Scourge.
  • Yin Yang Bolt: Increased Dark and Sanctify charges, and now deals damage based on the enemy’s Dark charges.
  • Shadow Mend (yellow version): Increased Dark charges to 3 (from 2) reduced damage suffered to 3 (from 4).
  • Terrorize (yellow version): Now also purges Buffer.
  • Renew (all versions): Increased heal and Regen charges by 1.
  • Holy Aegis (blue version): Increased Vitality by 1.
  • Holy Aegis (yellow version): Changed Vitality for Zeal, increased Shield gained to x5 (from x4) and added Vanish.
  • Dawnlight (white version): Changed rarity to Uncommon (from Common).
  • Dawnlight (blue version): Now has Innate and applies 1 Sanctify.
  • Dawnlight (yellow version): Reduced damage to 0.5 of the cards in your hand (from 1) and applies 1 Sanctify.
  • Vampiric Touch: White version is now Uncommon (from Rare).
  • Greater Heal: Upgrades are now Rare (from Epic), increased overcharged healing.
  • Desperate Prayer (white version): Reduced heal a bit and added dispel Decay.
  • Desperate Prayer (yellow version): Reduced Fast charges to 4 (from 5) and added dispel Decay.
  • Inner Fire: Upgrades are now Uncommon (from Common), blue version removed Innate but now can target anyone.

  • - Mage cards
  • New: Curse of Torment - Curse Spell
  • New: Necropotence - Skill
  • New: Death Coil - Shadow and Cold Spell
  • Darkness Falls (upgrades): Rarity changed to Epic (from Rare).
  • Darkness Falls (blue version): Increased damage and added 1 Dark charge.
  • Darkness Falls (yellow version): Increased cost to 6 from 5, added Vanish, increased Dark charges, and now also applies Scourge.
  • Disintegrate (white version): Now purges Mitigate.
  • Disintegrate (blue version): Increased damage and added Purge Insulate.
  • Disintegrate (yellow version): Now deals damage based on Vanished cards.
  • Life Tap: Increased a bit the HP lost; yellow version added suffer Decay and Vanish.
  • Curse of Agony (blue version): Changed to work with Dark charges on self.
  • Curse of Agony (yellow version): made to be an improvement to white version.
  • Curse of Madness (yellow version): Now does Cold damage instead of Shadow, and applies Chill.
  • Curse of Elements (yellow version): Now purges Insulate; adds Burn, Chill, and Spark based on cards discarded; added Vanish.
  • Replenishment: Removed Vanish from white version; blue version now dispels Fatigue.
  • Book of Nightmares (white version): Rarity is now Epic (from Rare).
  • Blizzard (white version): Increased cost to 6 (from 5) and increased damage.
  • Blizzard (blue version): Increased cost to 7 (from 5), increased damage, and now applies Wet.
  • Drain Life: Now applies 1 Dark.
  • Chain Lightning: Increased the damage in all versions.
  • Endless Abyss (white version): Increased damage and removed Vanish.
  • Endless Abyss (blue version): Increased damage and increased Dark charges to 2.
  • Endless Abyss (yellow version): Increased damage.
  • Shadow Bolt (yellow version): Reduced cost to 2 (from 3) and now deals damage based on your Dark charges.
  • Necrotic Burst (blue version): Removed Vanish.
Scout cards
  • New: Tactical Thinking - Skill
  • New: Revealing Flask - Small Weapon
  • New: Evanescence - Skill
  • New: Storm Javelin - Ranged Attack
  • New: Dark Concoction - Small Weapon
  • Toxic Rain: Now a Skill (from Ranged Attack). Upgrades are now Uncommon; white and blue versions target changed to Global (from All Monsters), yellow version now also applies Wet.
  • Hit and Run (blue version): Increased Fast to 2 (from 1).
  • Hit and Run (yellow version): Now deals damage based on your Speed; removed Evasion.
  • Acrobatic Strike (yellow version): Now deals damage based on your Evasion charges.
  • Disengage: Increased Block; Upgrades are now Rare (from Uncommon).
  • Disengage (yellow version): Removed Draw, and now gives Evasion based on cards discarded.
  • Rupture: Increased damage by 1.
  • Sprint (blue version): Added Vanish.
  • Sawtooth Knife (white version): Added 1 Bleed charge.
  • Sawtooth Knife (blue version): Reduced damage by 1, added 1 Bleed charge.
  • Detection (white version): Rarity changed to Common from Uncommon; removed Sight and added Vanish.
  • Detection (blue version): Added Vanish.
  • Detection (yellow version): Removed Sight.
  • Rain of Arrows (white version): Increased cost to 7, increased damage and added Bleed.
  • Rain of Arrows (yellow version): Increased cost to 7, increased damage and Bleed charges. Added Poison.
  • Debilitate: Increased damage.
  • Burning Shot: Reduced cost by 1, and reduced base damage accordingly.
  • Ambush (blue version): Removed Slow but now deals damage based on Stealth charges.
  • Ambush (yellow version): Added 1 Slow.
  • Sneaky Strike (white and blue versions): Increased Poison by 1.
  • Corrupted Blade: Split the damage between Slashing and Dark, now also applies Dark.
  • Shrapnel Shot: Upgrades are now Rare (from Common).
  • Shrapnel Shot (blue version): Damage and charges increased.
  • Shrapnel Shot (yellow version): Now applies Bleed and Blunt based on discarded cards.
  • Toxic Strike (blue version): Increased Poison charges by 1.
  • Toxic Strike (yellow version): Now deals damage and applies Poison based on discarded cards.
Items
  • Tyrant Necklace (corrupted version): Increased Taunt/Fortify charges to +2 (from +1).
  • Frozen Heirloom (normal version): Now has Chill charges +1.
  • Osmium Feet: Block every turn increased to 18 and 28 (from 12 and 20).
  • Tempest: Added suffer 1 Spark. Corrupted Tempest now applies up to 5 times per turn (from 3).
  • Dream Sphere: Added a minimum cast cost of 3 for a card to be reduced.
  • Emerald Staff and Obsidian Dagger can now drop everywhere but have a minimum card cost of 5.
  • Savant Robe (base version): Increased healing done to 3 (from 2).
Other
  • Removed most of the immunities that were shutting down builds (Burn/Crack in Armageddon, Dark in Putrefaction...) and replaced them with a bit of extra resistances of corresponding type.
  • Orby: changed resistances to Holy and Shadow, from Holy.
  • Lianty: changed resistances to Blunt and Shadow, from Shadow.
  • Increased the thermometer time for excellent rating to round 3 (from 2) in all the combats of Act 4’s upper map.

As always, Adventurers, thank you for your support, and we look forward to hearing your thoughts and feedback on both the Sands of Ulminin and the 1.2 update!

New DLC Released & New Publisher Announcement!

Good day, Adventurers!

A couple of pieces of big news to share with you today, but we'll start with the Sands of Ulminin DLC—which is available NOW!
[h2]DLC Information[/h2]
The Sands of Ulminin is our first major expansion for the game.

You can watch the story trailer right here:
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Having the expansion will give you access to the following exclusive content:
  • Two new dual-class heroines that can use cards from two classes at the same time. Laia, the Paladin, is Healer-Warrior and Navalea, the Fallen, is Warrior-Mage.
  • A completely new zone map that can be played as Act 2 or 3. This zone also has a little secret twist that makes it very special—but we’ll leave it for you to discover!
  • A new sub-zone, the ancient pyramid of Ulminin.
  • Three new pets to unlock.
  • More than 20 new items that can only be obtained in Ulminin.
  • More than 20 new enemies and 3 new bosses.
  • Two new boons and one new injury.
  • A new type of mini-card game.
  • One new cardback.
  • New achievements.

As you may expect, all players in a party must own the new DLC in order to access the new desert zone. Don’t fret, though: this requirement doesn’t carry over to using the new heroes and pets; you’ll be able to use them while playing with anyone, whether they own the DLC or not!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2511580
[h2]Publishing Information[/h2]
Apologies for the clickbait title, but along with the release of the DLC we would also like to announce that Across the Obelisk has been acquired by the main oragnization of Paradox Interactive

Since launching into 1.0 on August 16th, 2022, we have become one of the top 5 deckbuilding games on Steam with more than 350,000 copies sold and demand for more content. This success means that the title will be moved from Paradox Arc to Paradox Interactive and join the portfolio of games like Cities: Skylines and Stellaris.

This is obviously huge news and is a testament to the success of Across the Obelisk. That success was made possible by all of you who supported us and believed in our game. The journey does not stop here, though, because we have more on the horizon and will continue to develop and support the game going forward!

Thank you again for a fantastic first year of full release, and here's to many more!

Much love,
- ATO Team

1-Year Anniversary & DLC Release Date

Fantastic news, Adventurers!

We've been very busy, hard at work trying to get everything lined up and hoping that we'll have everything for the DLC ready for the anniversary of our game going into full release. And we HAVE! That's right, the DLC will be released TOMORROW on our anniversary!

With that comes some activities that we'll discuss in just a minute, but for now you want to know all the details for tomorrow, right?

So, the details are as follows. On 16th August at approximately 17:00 CEST / 08:00 PST, we will be releasing our next DLC, Sands of Ulminin. If you've not already taken the time to read through the dev diaries about what's been cooking behind the scenes, you can find them both here:

  • Dev Diary #1 - which goes over some of the enemies and one new mechanic you'll see in the DLC.
  • Dev Diary #2 - which talks a little bit about our new heroes and their special class types!

We will also post a full set of patch notes tomorrow so you can dig into all the details of that, too.

Along with all of this, we've got a few activities that you can get involved with over on our Discord server.

First, we have a giveaway running. The rules of this are simple, drop a suggestion on what you'd like to see in a future cosmetic pack and we'll select the best and they will win a copy of our DLCs! The big caveat here is that, of course, we cannot promise these will make it into a future cosmetic pack, but we're going to do what we can!

Secondly, if you've got any burning questions for the developers, we will be hosting a Q&A/AMA with them in the very near future. You can ask them in the "Questions For Devs" channel that has been created specifically for this reason. We will announce the date for the AMA/Q&A once everything is organized!

Now, you didn't think we'd leave you without a little sneak peek at a little something coming in the next DLC, did you? Of course not. Here's the cardback that will be available with Sands of Ulminin!



Until tomorrow, have a fantastic day and we'll see you back here with the launch!

Much love,
- ATO Team

Sands of Ulminin: Dev Diary #2

Hello again, Adventurers, and welcome back to the second Developer Diary for our upcoming DLC: Sands of Ulminin.

[h2]The Desert of Ulminin[/h2]
In the desert of Ulminin, we can find many new enemies (more than twenty!), among them two new intelligent enemy races, the herons and the felines.



The desert map is divided into three parts. In the northern part of the map, we can find the herons. They were once the predominant race in the desert long ago, until they had to abandon the lands of the south. Now they can be found taking care of the pyramids in the north.

Along the center of the map is a large canyon where the fennecs, beetles and scolopendras live—we showed them in the previous dev diary!

And last, in the southern areas, there is a large oasis and the Great Pyramid of Ulminin—this is where the felines live!

Speaking of the Great Pyramid—it is the Sub-Zone for this map, so you will be able to enter it and explore!

The great pyramid suddenly appeared one day in the sands of the desert and nobody really knows its purpose. Eventually, the pyramid opened and that is when the omniscient Basthet made herself known. The felines of Ulminin worship Basthet as a goddess and every so often make a special offering to obtain her blessing.



[h2]Two new heroes![/h2]
In this expansion DLC, we introduce two new heroes with a special new mechanic, and that is that these new heroes are multi-classes! Each hero has two classes, being able to craft and use cards of both classes at the same time. In addition, these new heroes always get four cards in each Combat Reward or Divination, two of each type from their classes.

The new heroines are; Laia the Paladin (PAW-ladin?) who is a Healer-Warrior multi-class, and Navalea the Fallen, a Warrior-Mage multi-class.

[h2]Laia the Paladin[/h2]
For generations, the felines of Ulminin, in order to maintain Basthet's blessing, have the ritualistic custom of offering her a young girl when her paladin dies. Laia was chosen to be the next paladin and was raised and trained by Basthet.

Basthet promised her that one day she would be released from her duties and prophesied that she would find a group of adventurers who would prove worthy of her.

Laia is a healer who is proficient in the way of the warrior and she specializes in a new aura, Zeal.



[h2]Navalea the Fallen[/h2]
Navalea, the first paladin of Basthet, broke her oath when she joined her people in the war against the Archons. When she returned from the war, Basthet cursed her and had her locked away forever.

Believing she was wrongfully imprisoned, her hatred grew for centuries, corrupting her body and soul until one day her imprisonment ended, and a group of adventurers helped her.

Navalea is a warrior who is proficient in the way of the mage and she specializes in a new curse, Scourge.



[h2]Two new Auras/Curses[/h2]
With this new DLC, we are adding 2 new status effects: Zeal and Scourge.

Zeal is an aura that greatly increases your resistances, and gives a bonus to healing yourself with Sanctify. Zeal also increases the amount of damage you deal if you have Burn charges on yourself!

Scourge is a curse that increases the damage the target receives from Dark explosions. It also deals damage based on the number of Chill charges on a target, and will spread the target’s Dark charges to any enemies beside it.

Although it is true that the two new heroines are the ones who have easier access to these new auras/curses, the other classes also have new cards to use. But beware! Many of the foes you’ll encounter in Ulminin will also be able to use these abilities!



We hope that with the introduction of these two new heroines and Scourge and Zeal, the possibilities of making themed adventuring groups will grow exponentially!

[h2]And much more![/h2]
In addition to adding more than 20 new cards for heroes, we’ve also made changes and introduced new mechanics (such as damage based on Speed) to many of the existing cards!

More than 30 new items have been added for you to collect and equip your parties with!

New features such as being able to spend supplies to rank up heroes that are already rank 10 or higher when you have the town upgrades fully unlocked!

Or quality-of-life things like a random hero selection button, to test your might with a random group of heroes!

That’s all, folks! We’re getting close to completing the DLC. Right now we’re working on the final polish and will be getting everything wrapped up. No date to confirm just yet, but you know that as soon as we have a date set we will let you know!

For now, we hope you enjoy this look at what’s to come. As always, if you have any comments, feedback, or want to hang out with our community and find folks to adventure with in Across the Obelisk, join our Discord!

Much love,
- The ATO Team