Across the Obelisk News

Hello everyone. This is a hotfix for some of the bugs that have been reported. Also, with this hotfix, we are working on solving the desync problems that the latest patch seems to produce.

- Fixed a bug that was giving a bigger amount of score than expected after a combat corruption was completed when the card reward selection was restored.

- Fixed a problem with the corrupted versions of Power Coil and Nullifier not granting the proper amount of maximum charges.

- Fixed a problem with the corrupted version of the Endless Bag not being activated under some circumstances.

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

Greetings adventurers!

It's already been more than a month since Across the Obelisk left Early Access, and so much has happened since then! Between bug fixes, feature updates, hotfixes, and patches, there are almost too many things for us to cover. So, we will go over some of the changes in Patch 1.0.2 and give you some juicy info on some things planned for the future.

Today we'd like to present to you the first of what we hope will become a regular part of how we communicate our progress and upcoming plans with you, our players – our very first official Dev Diary! There has been a lot of work between balancing the current game with tweaks for our cards and heroes, while also trying to add in nice little quality of life changes to make the game just that little bit better for you.

After a short break since Patch 1.0.1 and our very short stay in Stockholm, Sweden to meet the team at Paradox Arc and attend PDXCON, it is now September and we are back in full swing squashing bugs, tweaking some of the cards and heroes, and poking at the code to make it all silky smooth. That means making improvements to make it more user-friendly, improving stability, and giving the game a general balance pass across the board.

[h2]Quality of Life[/h2]
We have now implemented a system that allows the game to save with each round of combat so you can exit at any time and come back even closer to where you ended previously. Along with that, we’ve added quality of life features to make the game more user-friendly to everyone, such as tracking active quests when selecting the next zone for your adventure (see image below,) or highlighting auras and curses that are already active on characters when hovering the cursor over a card; for example, hovering over Poison Dart will highlight all poison stacks on heroes and enemies.



Furthermore, we have improved the stability of online connectivity and gameplay while also implementing features to make getting back into the game after suffering a disconnect to be as fast as possible. When a user that is not the host disconnects from the game, the host is taken back to the lobby with the game already set up and ready to go for that user to rejoin, or to reassign hero control. Coupled with saving the game between each round of combat, it will be very quick to get back into it.

[h2]Balancing Act[/h2]
As always in each patch, we try to give a balance pass based on feedback from our incredibly dedicated community. Balancing a game with the level of complexity we have across all of the game modes is no easy task, but little by little we hope to achieve it and reach a point where we are all happy (you included!) You can read the full list of balancing changes in the Patch 1.0.2 notes we published yesterday.

[h2]So, What’s Next?[/h2]
After Patch 1.0.2, our intention is to finish the combat log and get you up to speed with the revamp of the Obelisk Challenge draft system.

What we want to improve with the draft system is that our heroes are currently quite different from each other and each has a different quirks and features, so when you select a hero you have a general idea of how you want to play them. With the current draft system, it is possible that you don't get any of the card packs you wanted for that hero, often leading to frustration or even redoing the game and draft phase.

What we intend with the new system is that each hero will have a set of card packs assigned to them – which will always appear and be available to choose from. These packs will contain a variety of cards that means whether to choose a pack and which ones to choose will add a strategic element to the drafting. The idea is to avoid the previously mentioned situation where none of the packs you want appear.

We also want to improve the weekly challenges and add a cosmetic reward – a card back – to encourage you to come and compete each week.

[h2]Rats to That![/h2]
Finally, we have started working on the Frozen Sewers – which as many of you will know was Zek's home before he was exiled. Now the sewers are frozen and, just like up in the city, almost all the remaining rats are frozen or turned into the frozen walking dead.

Here you have the sketches of the new enemies of this sub-zone and one of the backdrops for the combat!



We are also working on the Black Forge and other surprises that we will reveal a little at a time as we continue our development!

[h2]Before You Leave[/h2]
If you’ve been on the sidelines watching the development of the game but haven’t made the dive into adventuring Across the Obelisk, now is the perfect time to do so because the game is 20% OFF until September 26!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1385380/Across_the_Obelisk/

As always, we would really appreciate it if you enjoy the game to write a review and give it a recommendation on Steam. It is something we really appreciate from our wonderful community.

Until the next Dev Diary which will be aimed for roughly every month or so (no promises,) we bid you adiós, hej då, and see you on Discord.

[h2]Follow Across the Obelisk[/h2]
@AcrossObelisk Discord /r/AcrossTheObelisk

[h2]Follow Paradox Arc[/h2]
@PDXArc Website

Patch 1.0.2

Greetings and salutations, fine adventurers and heroes! Today we bring you a cart-load of balance changes, fixes, and quality of life improvements to Across the Obelisk. The prophets foretold this day, and now it is here. We ignored the comments in the code that read "Here Be Dragons" and ran in like a certain Paladin from the days of yore, brandishing our sword and board and screaming our own names at the top of our lungs. Thankfully, these dragons were not as terrifyingly devastating as the ones in that fabled tale.

In Patch 1.0.2, we focused on adding several features to help games that were in progress and improve the performance of the game in multiplayer, as well as trying to make it as fast as possible to reconnect and continue playing in the event of a disconnection.

Also in our effort to balance the game we have made a pass on several heroes that always seem to be overperforming and bopped them on the nose a little. We've also made several changes to improve some of the cards that saw less use to give more viable options for deckbuilding!

• Games are now saved during each turn of combat. Now, you will be able to exit a game and come back to the exact point that you left it. On the other hand, if you suffer a disconnect or quit the game mid-combat you will be able to restore the game at the same turn.
  
• Modified the way game packets are sent through the network and increased the buffer for packet resend to improve the stability of multiplayer games.
  
• Now when a user is disconnected from the game, instead of closing the game, everyone will go back to the lobby (with the room already created) so you can wait there for that member to reconnect or continue the game without them.
  
• We have added a new option when creating the game, "Looking for members". This will let people know that they are welcome to join your game.
  
• Now when you have an active quest (hero or normal) it will appear with an icon in the portal selection when changing zones. To make it easier (specially for new players) to know where you have to go.
  
• In the window to give gold and shards, added an incremental option of 1000, and now you will also see the name of the hero (in addition to the player) to whom to give the gold or shards.
  
• Now, if you hover over a card that applies an aura or curse, it will be highlighted in the effects bar of the possible targets if the aura or curse already exists.
  
• Improved the performance in Faeborg's combat encounter.
  
• Sound pass to some of the game sounds and some new soundtracks have also been added.
  

[h2]Heroes[/h2]

• Gustav base speed reduced to 15 (from 17).
  
• Ottis Dome of Light (talent), Shield granted increased to 9 (from 6) and added a 2 times/round cap.
  
• Sylvie base speed increased to 16 (from 15).
  
• Sylvie Keen Sight (talent), reduced Piercing resistance reduced by sight to 0.3% (from 0.5%).
  
• Sylvie removed 1 multishot from the starting deck, replaced with another rapid fire.
  

[h2]Cards[/h2]

• Burning Blood upgrades changed to uncommon (from rare)
  
• Burning Shot increased Piercing damage
  
• Butchering decreased the damage and increased the Bleed applied
  
• Camouflage reduced Sharp charges by 1
  
• Chant of Accuracy reduced Sharp charges by 1
  
• Colossal Blow increased damage, Blue version gains 2 Powerful (from 1), Yellow version reduced cost to 2 and values adjusted
  
• Corrupted Blade increased the damage and increased Decay charges by 1
  
• Curse of Shadows (Yellow) increased Shadow damage by 1
  
• Explosive Shot now also applies Burn to the main target
  
• Far Shot increased Bleed and Mark charges by 1, and by 2 for the Yellow version
  
• First Aid increased the healing done
  
• Grinding Wheel (Yellow) number of possible repeats reduced to 2 (from 3)
  
• Ice Shot increased Piercing damage by 1
  
• Lethal Shot reduced Poison and now also applies Bleed
  
• Mana Shield increased Block and Shield, Yellow version can target friendly heroes
  
• Neverending Story increased damage by 1 and reduced the number of possible repeats by 1
  
• Poisonous Shot increased Poison by 1 on the upgrades
  
• Profane applies Dark in all versions
  
• Sharpen reduced Sharp charges by 1
  
• Shield Breaker increased Crack charges by 1
  
• Skullsplitter increased the damage, Crack and Mark charges in all versions
  
• Song of Celerity upgrades changed to uncommon (from common)
  
• Song of Quickness (yellow) reduced fast to 2 (from 3) now it also grants Stanza I
  
• Standard Bearer (Bree starter) no longer grants Powerful
  
• Stoneskin white version changed to common (from uncommon)
  
• Toxic Strike increased damage
  
• Terrorize increased Insane and Dark charges by 1
  
• Vampiric Touch applies 1 Dark in all versions
  
• Volley changed to rare (from uncommon)
  
• Whirlwind (Yellow) Fury gained reduced to 1 (from 2)
  

[h2]Enchantments[/h2]

• Command and Conquer changed the +Block charges to +3/+5/+7 (from +4/+5/+6) removed the +1 Powerful
  
• Double Bubble changed the Shield gain to 0/5/10 (from 0/8/16) depending on the color version of the card
  
• Double Shot changed the Sharp gain to 0/2/4 (from 0/3/6) depending on the color version of the card
  
• Dual Wield changed the Fury gain to 0/4/8 (from 0/7/14) depending on the color version of the card
  
• Elven Agility removed the +1 Sharp and +1 Fast charges in the Blue/Yellow version, added +1/+2 flat piercing damage done respectively
  
• Encore changed the Regeneration gain to 0/3/6 (from 0/4/8) depending on the color version of the card
  
• Melodic Rhythm added +1 Regeneration charges to the White version, and added +1/+2 flat healing done bonus to the Blue/Yellow versions. Removed 1 Regeneration to all heroes and the health recovery is 5% on all versions
  
• Spell Echo changed the Powerful gain to 0/3/6 (from 0/4/8) depending on the color version of the card
  
• Target Shooting (Yellow) reduced Piercing resistance decreased by 10% and increased the Sight applied to 3 (from 2)
  

[h2]Perks[/h2]

• New Sharp perk Sharp on heroes also increases the Shadow damage by 1 per charge
  
• Burn perk Burn on enemies deals Cold damage and reduces Fire and Cold resistance by 0.3% per charge
  
• Reinforce/Insulate/Courage perks changed to give them at the start of the combat instead of at the hero's first turn
  
• Vulnerable perk Maximum charges of Vulnerable on enemies increased by 1 (from 2) and Charges are reduced by 1 at the end of the turn. Does not stack
  
• Cold perk that grants Reinforce, reduced charges required to 14 (from 16)
  
• Spark perk that applies Slow, reduced charges required to 14 (from 16)
  
• Crack perk that applies Vulnerable, reduced charges required to 14 (from 16)
  
• Stanza perk that grants Stanza at the start of the hero turn, changed to, Stanza on heroes increases all damage instead of only mind damage
  

[h2]Items[/h2]

• Faeborg Scale removed the suffer 1 Insane when applying chill
  
• Nullifier now increases maximum Vulnerable charges by 6 and 8 (corrupted version)
  
• Power Coil now increases maximum Powerful charges by 6 and 8 (corrupted version)
  

[h2]Corruptors[/h2]

• Resistant Monsters now increases all monsters' resistances by 10% (from 15%), and max Vulnerable charges on monsters set as 6
  

[h2]Madness levels[/h2]

• Rescaled the monster damage taken values in the madness levels, so that in madness base lvl 8 it becomes -2/-3/-3/-3 (from -3/-3/-3/-3)
  

[h2]Ylmer[/h2]

• Increased Ylmer's HP in madness/despair
  
• Sightly reduced the Bleed and damage of some of Ylmer's damage-dealing cards in madness/despair
  
• Blue and Yellow versions of Blossom reduced dispel to 2 (from 3)
  
• Moon Catalyst (Yellow) reduced Powerful to 5 (from 6)
  
• Wild Roots (Blue - despair) reduced charges to 2 (from 3)
  

[h2]Dryads[/h2]

• Overgrowth in madness/despair, reduced the Powerful charges by 1
  

[h2]General[/h2]

• Improved several errors with text
  

Along with this, we have cleared through a lot of the reported bugs backlog! If you have any issues, remember to report them to our Bug Report channels on Discord.

--- Updating the post making a dev-repply to several comments more visible ---
Hello everyone again.

Regarding nerfs and buffs, we try to read all the feedback that you have been giving to us (Discord, Forums and Reddit). And everyone have been telling us the feedback that Sylvie and the sharp setup were performing well above average when doing a group composition based on buffing her. In general, the vast majority have asked us to lower their performance a bit and we have done that.

For those of you who that don't know it, we have an open Beta branch in which we have been testing the changes gradually and our intention has never been and never will be to completely erase a playstyle from the game (reducing 1 sharp from 3 cards should not be "removing the fun from the game"). In fact, everyone who has been testing the beta keeps saying that sharp and the Sylvie/Gustav/Bree composition is still one of the strongest, but at least less at distance from the rest.

The rest of the patch, aside from small nerfs to the aforementioned composition, there are buffs to lesser used cards, new perks or buffs to perks that will open up more possibilities for different builds, as well as many new QoL features.

Also, If someone has problems with the new patch, it is most likely that the game has not been connected properly to steam, we recommend closing the game and steam, and then reopening everything again. in case the error persists, tell us in the bug channel of our discord.

Regarding "new content", we are still 2 developers and 1 artist, and it's only been a month since we released the game... if we had new content we would have released it already and not saved it for later. That said, being only 3, making new content takes time and we're working on it.

Tomorrow we will post a Developer update explaining and showing what we are working on.
---------

There you have it, folks! Patch 1.0.2 is available for you to play right now. Remember to leave a review on Steam if you like the game, it helps us a lot.

As always, we appreciate your support, feedback, and understanding.

Hello everyone. Fast hotfix to solve the problem dealing cards at the beginning of the turn (back to 5 instead of 6). It also fixes some things reported here and there.

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

Hello everyone. Fast hotfix to solve some of the problems with cards that draw based on energy used that were leading to desyncs. We are still investigating these kinds of interactions, and it may still happen with a really weird combo.

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