Astatos News

To the Crown Mages,

This update includes some minor balance tweaks, bug fixes, and this month’s new Hero Skin. While this patch is light on content, we’re currently working on revisions for Chapter I of the story, including the addition of Story Trials.

After discussing with the community on Discord, most felt it was better to wait until everything is complete rather than release many small patches. We hope that our players will be ok waiting a little longer! For now, you can find a brief preview of the changes below.

For the detailed list of changes implemented with Astatos v0.6.4, please read on below.

- From the team at Studio Klondike

[h2]Upcoming Changes[/h2]
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Coming soon is a variety of changes to the story mode of Astatos including:

• Story Trial gameplay, featuring nearly 2,000 additional lines of dialogue.
  
• Additional story scenes for Chapter I.
  
• Sprites for all named side characters.
  
• Additional backgrounds.
  
• Additional music.
  

While the artwork, music, and the majority of text is complete, we’ve still got lots of scripting work to do. We’ll be doing our best to get this out by the end of the month, but we’ll keep everyone updated on our progress!

[h2]New Features[/h2]
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• Astatos now supports Steam Rich Presence, allowing your friends to see if you’re in a multiplayer room, participating in the Trial, or reading the story from the Steam friends list.
  

[h2]Change Log[/h2]
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[h3]Balance Changes[/h3]

• [Conquest Trial] Exchange can only be performed when you begin the Hero Stage with 0 Energy.
  
• [Takeover Trial] Exchange can only be performed when you begin the Hero Stage with less than 2 Energy.
  

[h3]Game Changes[/h3]

• Improved mouse scrolling speed on Windows.
  
• Any player in a Quick Play/Matchmaking room can now invite friends.
  
• Improved notifications for Lysander’s, Regulus’, Caelius’ and Kyros’ Hero Abilities.
  
• Varius’ Hero Ability will now automatically advance when there is only one player to pick from.
  
• Additional sound effects on the Story Trial UI.
  

[h3]Trial Fixes[/h3]

• Fixed the display of players on Mukaki’s side when using Varius’ Hero Ability.
  
• Fixed an issue preventing card counts from displaying on A.I. players during the Tutorial.
  
• Fixed a rare soft lock when someone disconnects during Alkaios' Hero ability.
  
• Fixed an issue when a Hero too close to your turn in the Hero Stage ending could cause a desync.
  
• Fixed an exploit that allowed you to bypass the Energy restrictions on the Exchange mechanic.
  
• Gaios’ Passive Ability will now take effect if they’re summoned mid-Exchange.
  

[h3]Game Fixes[/h3]

• You can now purchase things from the store when you have exactly enough Monera.
  
• Fixed some display issues on the lobby UI when players leave during Hero drafting.
  

[h3]Known Issues[/h3]

• Occasionally players may be able to pick/ban more Heroes than intended.
  

[h3]Game Content[/h3]

• New Hero Skins have been made available as a monthly reward. The previous month’s Hero Skin has also been added to the in-game store.
  
• Alkaios - Grandmaster
  
  
• Nikos - The Flourishing Chevalier
  
  
• Sulpicius - The Way of The Warrior
  
  

To the Crown Mages,

This update features a new mechanic to Trials, balance tweaks, rewards tweaks, and stability improvements.

Along with this update, we’re pleased to confirm that Hero Pack III, our collaboration with Echo Project’s Adastra, is in the final stages of testing.



For an early look behind the scenes at the development and upcoming abilities of Hero Pack III, we’ve released a new blog on our Patreon. Be sure to join if you’re interested in seeing more behind the scenes posts! patreon.com/StudioKlondike

For the detailed list of changes implemented with Astatos v0.6.1, please read on below.

- From the team at Studio Klondike

[h2]New Features[/h2]
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Exchange: This new mechanic allows players to convert their Cards into Energy once per round during the Hero Stage. This takes the concept behind the commonly used Hero Card, Gaios, and incorporates it as a standard part of the game.

Exchange opens up new opportunities for opening moves, summoning Heroes, and getting out of tricky situations— just be careful not to waste important Cards and fail the Trial Stage!

Note: This mechanic will be introduced in the in-game tutorial at a later patch after some UI adjustments. Gaios’ Hero Ability has also been modified along with this update, see below for more information.



Random Hero Drafting: A randomise picks button has been added to the drafting UI. If you want to have a bit of chaotic fun, or simply don’t have a preference, use this button to make your drafting picks automatically!

[h2]Change Log[/h2]
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[h3]Game Features[/h3]

• The Exchange mechanic has been added to the Trial. Exchange allows you to convert your own Cards into Energy once per round during the Hero Stage.
  
• A randomise picks button has been added to the drafting UI.
  

[h3]Balance Changes[/h3]

• [Takeover Trial] Makari-Hari’s Ability has been changed. The new Ability description reads:
  When Makari-Hari’s side uses a Spell Card, they draw one additional Card. (Passive)
  (5 Cooldown) Lose one Influence, and obtain one Energy per Card held by Mukaki’s side.
• [Conquest & Takeover Trial] Gaios’ Ability has been changed. The new Ability description reads:
  The cost to perform an Exchange is reduced to two Cards for Makari-Hari/Mukaki's side. (Passive) (Once per round)

[h3]Rewards Changes[/h3]

• Rewards given for Training Trials have increased from 70% to 80%.
  
• Reward Points given have been increased by 25% on average per match.
  
• The per match cap for Reward Points has been increased from 90 to 120 for Conquest Trials.
  
• All rewards have been increased by 50% when playing a Conquest Trial with 5 or more players.
  
• The EXP cap has been increased when playing a Conquest Trial with 5 or more players.
  

[h3]Matchmaking Changes[/h3]

• [Conquest Trial] When in quick play/matchmaking, active rooms will be merged with waiting rooms upon rematch if there is enough room to combine them. This means that matchmaking rooms can pick up additional players upon rematch.
  

[h3]Game Changes[/h3]

• Sound effects have been finalised for Hero Card Drafting.
  
• Sound effects have been finalised for the sticker system.
  
• Improved the handling of multiple sounds playing simultaneously.
  

[h3]Game Content[/h3]

• New Hero Skins have been added to the store and/or made available as monthly rewards.
  
• Drusus - Lifesaver
  
  
• Gaios - Culinarian
  
  

[h3]Game Fixes[/h3]

• Toast pop-ups resulting from Hero Abilities would show "[Spell]" instead of "[Ability]".
  
• The Friends menu wouldn't close automatically when Hero Card Drafting begins in a room.
  
• Sometimes the Trials menu would remain open at the same time as the room UI when accepting an invite to a room.
  
• If the Trials menu is opened and closed rapidly it could lead to no menu opening, soft-locking the game.
  
• When creating a new account, the Hero Pack unlock animation would play a second time if you immediately enter the Trials menu and click "yes please" to view the tutorials.
  
• Being invited to a room while in the Deck Menu could cause the incorrect music to play during the Trial.
  
• You can no longer drag the Hero Card list while the artwork viewer is open in the Deck Menu.
  
• Added rollback code, improved stability, and error handling during Hero Drafting.
  

[h3]Trial Fixes[/h3]

• In cases where the game is syncing player Energy and Card counts, players could erroneously receive additional Cards.
  
• Players on Mukaki's side could occasionally appear with the opposite side’s profile image when first joining the Trial.
  
• When your side has the maximum number of Heroes, rapidly clicking an opponent's Hero Card to unsummon them would result in excess Energy being lost.
  
• Improved stability and error handling during the Hero Stage when activating Heroes close to the stage ending.
  

To the Crown Mages,

This update features a rework to Hero Pack selection, sending stickers during Trials, updates to the Rank system, and the addition of Takeover Trial leaderboards.

Additionally, this update marks the 1 Year Anniversary of Astatos entering Early Access on Steam. Since launch over 6000 Crown Mages have joined the Trials, and we couldn’t be happier with all the feedback and support we’ve received over the past year.



Since launch we’ve released over 14 updates and 6 major versions— tweaking balance, gameplay, releasing new skins, and adding the most commonly requested features such as PvE and Playable Tutorials.

Unfortunately, Part 3 of the PvE update could not be completed in time for this occasion, but we’re still hard at work on it. We hope the changes featured in this update will create a fresh experience for players over the holiday season!



If you’re interested in supporting our work and getting a look at features and artwork in production, we really appreciate support on our Patreon. www.patreon.com/StudioKlondike

For the detailed list of changes implemented with Astatos v0.6, please read on below.

- From the team at Studio Klondike

[h2]New Features[/h2]
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Hero Card Drafting: This new feature replaces the Hero Pack Preferences settings in Conquest and Takeover Trials.

Hero Card Drafting determines which additional Heroes show up in the Hero Summon. The drafting process begins in the room prior to the commencement of a Trial.



Players will be asked to BAN and PICK Hero Cards depending on the game mode. Banned Hero Cards cannot be picked by any player.

If you do not own a given Hero, you will borrow it from another player in the room. If nobody owns a given Hero, it will not be selectable. (Hero Cards you borrow and do not own will not display Hero Skins.)

We hope Hero Card Drafting will simplify the selection of Hero Cards, as well as open up new combinations and strategies as we prepare for additional Hero Packs to be added to the game.

Note: Hero Pack Selection remains in place for Training Trials. Additionally, the sound design for this feature is still a work in progress and may be changed in an upcoming patch.



Stickers: Communicate with your fellow Crown Mages using Stickers!



Stickers can be used while waiting in Rooms, during Multiplayer Trials, and on the Victory Screen. Look for the Sticker Button wherever you can send them.



Additional Stickers can also be purchased from the Store for Monera.

Note: the sound design for this feature is still a work in progress and may be changed in an upcoming patch.



Takeover Trial Leaderboard: The Rank menu has been expanded to include a Leaderboard allowing you to compare your Rank and ELO values against the top Crown Mages.

Along with this addition, a new Season will occur every 3 months. With Season I concluding at the end of December.

Upon the conclusion of the current Season, your Rank will be soft reset and the previous Season’s rankings will be finalised. Players within the top 100 will unlock a hidden Title each season.

The Takeover Leaderboard is accessible from: Main Menu > Trials > Takeover Trial > Ranking

[h2]Change Log[/h2]
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[h3]Game Features[/h3]

• Hero Pack Preferences have been replaced with Hero Card Drafting for Conquest and Takeover Trials.
  
• Stickers have been added, allowing better communication between players in multiplayer rooms, during Trials, and on the victory screen.
  
• The Takeover Rank menu has been expanded with a Leaderboard displaying Ranks and ELO ratings.
  

[h3]Game Content[/h3]

• A new category has been added to the Store for Sticker Packs. Additionally, Sticker Pack I and II have been added to the Store, featuring artwork by HAPS.
  
• New content added to the in-game manual to cover changes made in this update.
  
• The Title ‘First Among Equals’ has been added.
  
• A hidden Title for Season I of Takeover Trials has been added.
  
• New Hero Skins have been added to the Store and/or made available as monthly rewards.
  
• Kyros - On Cloud Nine
  
  
• Herclaus - Strength of the Heavens
  
  

[h3]Game Changes[/h3]

• The Story Mode save file format has been updated. Your save file will be automatically converted upon entering Story Mode.
  
• Viewed scene detection has been improved in Story Mode. Allowing you to skip text you’ve seen down to the specific line.
  
• When entering a Tutorial Trial (and future Story Trials) the game will pause when “The Trial Begins” message is displayed— allowing players to take their time reading the objective.
  
• The UI design of the Takeover and Conquest Trials menus have been revised.
  
• The UI when playing on Makari-Hari’s Side during a Trial has been revised.
  
• There is now a delay between a player joining a Takeover Trial room and the game starting.
  
• Players will now be kicked from a Trial if their ping is too high due to an unstable connection.
  
• A notice light will be displayed on the Rewards menu if you have unclaimed rewards, or the monthly reward has changed.
  

[h3]Game Fixes[/h3]

• Resolved cases where the Trials menu would appear multiple times.
  
• The game will no longer soft lock when joining a full room.
  
• You can now join rooms containing Hero Packs you do not own.
  
• You can no longer click the button to attempt to claim the daily reward multiple times in the same day.
  

[h3]Known Issues[/h3]

• Playing a card at the same time as the Trial Card changes elements can sometimes result in you being unable to play any more cards when you should be able to.
  
• Occasionally players on Mukaki's side can appear with a Makari-Hari side profile image when first joining the Trial. This will fix if the player flips sides. This issue is visual only and has no effect on gameplay.
  
• In cases where the game tries to correct the number of cards a player has received when syncing player energy and card counts, they can erroneously receive additional cards.
  

To the Crown Mages,

This update features gameplay additions to Conquest Trials, along with other quality of life improvements to the game. Thank you for all your support while we continue to work on larger content releases!



Players can also head to our Patreon to check out extended development blogs, concept art, and artwork from the game. www.patreon.com/StudioKlondike

Part 3 of the PvE update is still in the works, so we hope players enjoy the changes in this patch in the meantime.

For the detailed list of changes implemented with Astatos v0.5.3, please read on below.

- From the team at Studio Klondike


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Resolve: A new gameplay mechanic has been added to Mukaki’s side in Conquest Trials! We look forward to observing feedback on this mechanic and seeing if any further tweaks need to be made.

Resolve is gained whenever Mukaki's side activates a Hero Ability. Resolve points are displayed along the right side of the screen above the Deck Space. Use your Resolve in order to keep others on your side!



At the end of Mukaki's turn, a corresponding number of players will become Resolved. When Resolved, a player is protected from flipping sides. This effect lasts until the beginning of the next Hero Stage.

The player/s with the lowest power will become Resolved first.
Power = (Energy x 2) + Cards
If tied, a player without Energy will be picked first.


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Hero Cards Update: The user interface of the Deck / Hero Cards menu has been revised. It is now possible to toggle the Hero Ability description between Conquest Trials, and Takeover Trials. Additionally, you can now toggle the side of the card between Mukaki, and Makari-Hari while within the artwork viewer interface. (Including the preview of the monthly reward)

Rematch Changes: Upon completing a Trial, you will now automatically leave once all players have left or made a decision to rematch. If only one player wishes to rematch it will automatically be cancelled.

Story UI Tweaks: You can now advance through small pauses in dialogue faster by mashing the advance keyboard/mouse input. The design of the chapter credits has also been revised.


[hr][/hr]
[h2]Game Features[/h2]

• Resolve mechanic added to Conquest Trials, giving Mukaki’s side more focused gameplay options.
  

[h2]Game Content[/h2]

• New content added to the in-game manual to cover the Resolve mechanic.
  
• Additional sections added to Tutorial II and Tutorial III to cover the Resolve mechanic.
  
• New Hero Skins have been added to the store and/or made available as monthly rewards.
  
• Gaios - Upholder of Might
  
  
• Makari-Hari - Pursuer of Knowledge
  
  

[h2]Game Changes[/h2]

• The layout of the Hero Card menu in the deck has been improved.
  
• A rematch will now begin automatically once all players have picked their options on the victory screen.
  
• Some menus have been adjusted in Traditional and Simplified Chinese to appear closer to the English interface.
  
• The layout and positioning of Hero artwork on the main menu has been reworked. Additionally, performance while on the main menu should now be slightly better.
  
• You can advance faster during some pauses in Story Mode by mashing the input button.
  
• The design of chapter credits has been revised.
  
• You can now see the load progress of other players when entering a Trial.
  

[h2]Game Fixes[/h2]

• You can no longer click and drag the Hero Card menu while the artwork viewer is open.
  
• Certain player titles now show the updated Spell Card names in their unlock conditions.
  
• Fixed a situation where running the game at high-FPS rates, the text appearance animations would fail to appear properly.
  
• Moving back and forth though the Trials menu would cause button sounds to stop playing correctly.
  
• Fixed an issue that would cause notifications displayed in succession to appear out of order.
  
• Fixed an issue that would cause the game to soft-lock if Steam was set to offline mode.
  
• Several server stability improvements.
  

[h2]Trial Fixes[/h2]

• Fixed an issue that caused players to be incorrectly refunded for Energy contributed to Hero Cards in the Summon Menu.
  
• A.I. players using Regulus would discard their own hand as well as their target.
  
• Fixed an issue that would cause popup messages to overlap during a Trial.
  
• Fixed a situation where Alkaios’ Hero Ability would fail to distribute all cards during a Trial.
  

[h2]Known Issues[/h2]

• Playing a card at the same time as the Trial Card changes elements can sometimes result in you being unable to play any more cards when you should be able to.
  
• Trying to enter a room containing Hero Packs you do not own will cause you to soft lock the game.
  

To the Crown Mages,

This update features the next step of the PvE implementation for Astatos. Over the past few months we’ve been hard at work on a scripting system to introduce single player Trials with custom scenarios to the game.

Included with this update are three interactive Tutorial Trials, aimed at introducing new Crown Mages to the gameplay of Astatos. We hope this commonly requested feature serves to make the game more approachable to players of all skill levels!

These Tutorial Trials were the test bed used to engineer the scripting tools required for in-game story sequences and scenarios. Along with our A.I. implementation, we’ve managed to run these Trials locally on your computer while making use of our existing multiplayer framework.



For those curious about the details behind our new single player trials, we released a blog on the subject along with a bunch of concept art and design documents over at our Patreon: www.patreon.com/StudioKlondike

As mentioned, this is Part 2 of our PvE updates. Throughout three updates, we hope to implement the most commonly requested features for the game.

Part 3 will involve the Implementation of Trials into the Astatos story. In the initial update we hope to cover implementation for the prologue chapter (Ab Initio), then expand to cover Chapter I, and the upcoming Chapter II at a later date.

For the detailed list of changes implemented with Astatos v0.5, please read on below.

- From the team at Studio Klondike

[h2]New Features[/h2]
[hr][/hr]


Revamped Tutorials: A series of interactive Tutorial Trials have been added to the game. These Tutorials are designed to quickly get new Crown Mages up to speed on how to play Takeover, and Conquest Trials.



These tutorials involve several thousand new words of dialogue, and include a small teaser for upcoming story content.

Tutorial Trials can be accessed from the new Tutorials menu under, Trials > Training > Tutorials.



Please note: Tutorial Trials are run locally on your computer without assistance from the Astatos game server, therefore they are not included in counts of rooms displayed in the lobby.



Additional Notices: The save data has been extended to allow for one-time popup events. In this update, players will now be prompted to play the tutorial the first time they enter the Trials menu.

As this data is stored locally, these one-time popup events will be reset when installing Astatos on a new device.

[h2]Smaller Additions[/h2]
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New Button Prompts: The keyboard buttons to enable Auto and Skip functions during Story Mode are now displayed in the pause menu.

Title Screen Setting: A setting has been added to select the appearance of the Astatos title screen, variations of which are planned to be implemented as part of future major updates.

[h2]Change Log[/h2]
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[h3]Game Features[/h3]

• Playable Tutorial Trials have been added to the Trials menu. Allowing Crown Mages to get hands-on in learning how to play Takeover and Conquest Trials.
  
• A tutorial popup now displays the first time a player enters the Trials menu, introducing the menu and directing them to play the Tutorial.
  
• When leaving a Trial, you will now return to the relevant section of the Trials menu. (e.g. when leaving a Training Trial, you will return to the Training Trials menu.)
  

[h2]Game Content[/h2]

• New Hero Skins have been added to the store and made available as monthly rewards.
  
• Herclaus - Cyber Justiciar
  
  
• Zermes - Summer Delight
  
  

[h3]Trial Fixes[/h3]

• [Conquest Trial] Sulpicius should no longer cause a Conquest Trial to soft lock under certain circumstances.
  
• [Conquest Trial] Resolved an issue where A.I. teammates would have their contributed Energy refunded at the end of the round if the player finished summoning the Hero Card.
  
• The Spell Card “Divine Favour”, will automatically draw a Card when there is only 1 player to select.
  
• The Summon Menu button will now always appear correctly if the mouse interacts with it during its appearance animation.
  
• When the Hero Card summon limit is reached, the Summon Menu will now close automatically and all unused Energy will be refunded to players.
  
• Improved stability of the “Keep or Redraw Cards” stage.
  
• General stability improvements when players have varying amounts of ping.
  

[h3]Game Changes[/h3]

• Sulpicius has been added as a new A.I. opponent that can appear in Training Trials.
  
• A.I. opponents now display unique titles.
  
• Button prompts for Auto and Skip now appear on the pause menu during Story Mode.
  
• A new setting has been added to select the appearance of the Astatos title screen. “Chapter I” is the only option currently available.
  

[h3]Game Fixes[/h3]

• The level-up reward displayed next level in the Level menu now displays the reward for the correct level.
  
• Improved the method the game uses to detect the correct display resolution upon first boot.
  
• Resolved an issue that prevented password reset and email confirmation emails from being sent.
  
• Added error handling for when the Steam overlay is disabled, which can prevent you from making purchases in the Store menu, or from binding your account.
  
• Fixed some menus not closing correctly when being invited to join a Trial by another player.
  

[h3]Known Issues[/h3]

• Playing a card at the same time the Trial Card changes elements, can sometimes result in you being unable to play any more cards when you should be able to.