The Doors of Trithius News

Blooming Dread introduces a new dungeon event: the creeping menace of the Nyris Vine, along with a quest to uncover its secrets.

Save files from version 0.5.11 are compatible.

[h2]Nyris Vine[/h2] A mysterious vine of otherworldly origin has begun appearing throughout the wilderness and within dungeons.

While most commonly found in forests, this strange vine can also spawn in other biomes, such as deserts and mountains, as well as inside dungeons like castles, temples, and ancient crypts.



(Warning: spoilers and mechanics explanations below.)

A Growing Threat
The plant begins as a single seed and slowly grows, spreading its vines and spawning Virelings to defend itself. Initially weak and easy to manage, the Nyris Vine becomes exponentially more dangerous if allowed to grow unchecked. Destroying seeds clears nearby vines and weakens the plant's overall strength.



Mutation
Entities stepping on the vines risk being strangled and mutated by the plant. Attacking the vines frees them from entanglement, but their mutation remains (how to remove mutation we'll leave to you to discover!).



Nyris Maw
If the central seed fully matures and is destroyed, it summons the Nyris Maw, a powerful elite enemy. The Maw's strength scales with the size of the vine network, making it the highest level monster in the game when fully empowered.



Key Mechanics

• The Nyris Vine begins as a single seed, gradually spreading over time.
• Destroying seeds weakens the plant and clears nearby vines.
• Virelings spawn to protect the plant and assist in spreading its growth.
• Entities stepping on vines may become overgrown and mutated, turning hostile and gaining enhanced abilities.
• Flowers bloom near the vines and can be harvested for new crafting ingredients.
• The Nyris Maw spawns when the central seed matures and is destroyed, presenting a high-risk, high-reward encounter.
• New items and crafting recipes tied to this event provide valuable rewards.

[h2]New Quest: Blooming Dread[/h2]
Accompanying the Nyris Vine is a new quest, available to all adventurers. A local town in Greenhaven is seeking assistance to investigate the growing threat.

The quest is added to a random town in Greenhaven. If you're continuing from a previous save, it will be added automatically upon loading your game.

[h2]Insanity[/h2]
Insanity is a new mechanic that causes illusions to appear. The higher your insanity, the more likely you are to see things that aren't really there.



This effect can currently be gained through the Nyris Plant but will be integrated into more areas of the game in future updates.

Expect the insanity mechanic to evolve over time, with new types of illusions and surprises being added as development continues.

[h2]Other Changes[/h2]

• Items in your inventory that apply an effect even while not equipped, such as Decay Orbs, now will display a wound icon to clearly show an effect is being applied, and have had their tooltips updated to clearly state their "Carried Effect".
• Flying creatures (Hawks, Bees, Dune Flyers) will no longer set off traps.

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]

• Fixed displayed energy cost on toggle ability tooltips not taking into account energy reductions.
• Fixed "Sparks" enchantment giving 100x too much stun chance (500% instead of 5%, 700% instead of 7%).
• Fixed weapon swap speed stat displayed as a flat number instead of a percent.
• Fixed "Mindmeld" enchantment giving 10x too much weapon swap speed.

The new Athletics skill tree is here!

Save files from version 0.5.10 are compatible.

[h2]Athletics[/h2]
The Athletics skill has been reworked into a skill tree format with new abilities, icons, and improvements.


New abilities emphasize positioning and movement efficiency. For example, "Room to Maneuver" grants a dodge bonus when at least three adjacent tiles are empty.


Or take "Wall Jump," a faster and more efficient jump that requires you to be next to a wall.


At the top of the skill tree, you'll unlock "Shadow Mirage," allowing you to leave behind a shadow copy of yourself when dashing, jumping, or lunging—enemies will waste their attacks on this decoy.


Summary of Changes:

• Added 11 new abilities.
  
• Removed: "Evasive Maneuvers", "Feline Reflex", "Endurance Training", "Fleetfoot".
  
• Reworked: "Evasive Fury", "Sprint", "Tumbling", "Jump", "Aeralist", "Trap Reaction".
  
• Added upgrade path to Sprint.

This is part of the ongoing effort to convert all skills to a skill tree structure. With Athletics updated, only Travel, Reading, Alchemy, and Weapon skills remain to be reworked (plus new skills on the horizon).

Need to reset your skill tree?
If you need to reset your athletics skill tree from v0.5.10, enable debug mode in options, open console commands using F8, and enter the command "skillreset athletics" to refund your focus points (its recommended to turn off debug mode after).

[h2]Dodge and Accuracy[/h2]
Dodge and Accuracy mechanics have been updated. We’ve transitioned from a percentage-based accuracy system to an accuracy rating system, introducing a more dynamic curve.

To help explain everything, tooltips have been updated, showing example values and your hit chance against your last target:


Early-game balance remains similar, where a single point of accuracy converts to roughly 1% hit chance. However, stacking accuracy and dodge now introduces diminishing returns, allowing for late-game bonuses without breaking the game.


Special thank you to myrix for help crunching the numbers and refining the system. Couldn’t have done it without you!

[h2]Save/Load Stability[/h2]
Fixed several issues related to save files.

• Added a new option, "Save Log," to enable detailed logging of save and load events.
  
• Zone files are no longer copied if no changes have occurred to that zone, improving performance.
  
• Added a 10-second timeout on auto-saves. If the auto-save fails for any reason, the save is skipped.
  
• Fixed the initial save directory being titled "player" instead of the player's name.
  
• Improved file handling to prevent corrupt files if an issue occurs during the save process.
  
• Added small millisecond delays between save file updates to improve compatibility with AntiVirus software and other processes.
  
• Improved error handling during save/load events. The error screen now provides more detailed information if something goes wrong.

[h2]Other Changes[/h2]

• Added key bindings for zoom in and zoom out ("-" and "="). These can also be modified in options.
  
• Ability "Achilles Bane" - increased cooldown by 2 turns.
  
• Added new dash/jump animations to the following abilities: "Sliding Strike", "Duelist Advance", "Vicious Lunge", "Mighty Lunge", and "Gutting Reave".
  
• Updated open and close sound for doors.
  
• When a stun is applied due to a Knockback ability, "Wall Stun" text now appears above the player or monster's head.

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]

• Fixed game crash that could occur during dungeon load due to attempting to place an entity before the map exists. (Exception: Cannot invoke "dot.tilemap.TileMap.isInBounds(int, int)" because "activeMap" is null).
  
• Fixed Dreadheart abilities "Savage Bleed" and "Savage Efficiency" missing upgrades.
  
• Fixed lore book "Voice of Khualexx" incorrect reading requirement; fixed "A New Magic" missing XP reward.

This update introduces the new Desert Crypt dungeon, along with balance changes and bug fixes.
Save files from version 0.5.9 are NOT compatible.

[h2]Desert Crypts[/h2]
The Aridax, a fiercely independent desert faction, have long forgotten the ways of their ancestors. But now, their ancient tombs stir with a sinister energy. Something has awakened deep below.



These crypts are scattered across the desert and feature some of the highest-level enemies in the game. Be prepared for a challenge as you encounter 13 new enemy types, 20+ new items, new sounds, music, traps, and more.



[h2]Dungeon Difficulty[/h2]
Dungeon difficulty is now represented by skull icons.

The scale ranges from 1 to 5 skulls, with 5+ (black) and 5++ (red) for the most brutal challenges.



[h2]XP Rebalance[/h2]
We've reworked the skill XP curve and investment system to improve balance and progression, ensuring both specialized (tall) and generalist (wide) builds remain competitive, while fixing the issue where heavily invested skills would level faster at higher levels.



What's Changing:

• XP Curve Adjustments: Increased the XP required per level after level 15 to smooth progression.
  
• Dynamic Skill Caps: Skill caps are now tied to character level, with an additional +3 per skill point invested.

Special thanks to user myrix for their suggestions and help with balancing.

[h2]Equipment Animations[/h2]
Torches are now animated, marking the introduction of animated equipment items.


[h2]Activated Items[/h2]
We've updated the game engine to support items with activated effects and cooldowns, giving items the full range of functionality as abilities. Kicking this off is the Squirrel's Hand:


This necklace triggers when you're low on health, summoning a scurry of friendly helpers to turn the tide in battle.

Expect more items with powerful and interactive effects in future updates.

[h2]Other Changes[/h2]

• Wound icons now stack if there are 5 or more of the same wounds.
  
• Added unique effect to Sun Amulet item (starting item for the Commoner).
  
• Blood pools now increase in size (up to 5 times) as more blood is added to a tile.
  
• Summon Brambles (Nature Magic ability): Bramble bushes can no longer stack multiple times per tile.
  
• Increased accuracy of Vile Gremlins (from 0.85 → 1.10).
  
• Gremlin Shamans now deal hex damage for their primary attack.
  
• Gremlin Shamans hex tiles now apply a status effect that increases damage taken instead of dealing direct hex damage.
  
• Gremlin Trapmaster will place a maximum of 5 traps while out of sight of the player, preventing floors from being overrun with traps.
  
• Elderberry wine now grants mental warding.
  
• Fear status effect (Fayde's Fear) adjusted: -20 attack speed → -10%, -20% dodge chance → -10%, and now reduces vision by 1.

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]

• Major fix for dungeon generation, resolving a longstanding issue where rooms would sometimes fail to connect to the rest of the dungeon.
  
• Fixed arrow hit animations displaying in the wrong direction.
  
• Fixed Commoner Ascended icon not showing after beating the game with the commoner.
  
• Fixed Surge of Replenishment and Renew abilities granting momentum stacks.
  
• Fixed incorrect percent values shown on attack speed and movement speed tooltips.
  
• Fixed a crash caused by saving the game during a temporary animation.
  
• Fixed misaligned HUD status effect icons.
  
• Large monsters can no longer be hit multiple times with AOE abilities.
  
• Fixed piercing skewer animation showing in the wrong direction.
  
• Fixed a quest dialog bug in the Gremlin War Plans quest, making player unable to accept the quest.
  
• Fixed Leafborn shops having far less currency than intended.
  
• Notification log now supports line wrapping, preventing text from being cut off.
  
• Fixed unable to join Aridax settlement battles.
  
• Fixed overworld tile faction info UI glitch, not showing faction influence.

[h2]v0.5.9b[/h2]

• Fixed game launch issue on Arch Linux due to "undefined symbol" error.

[h2]v0.5.9c (MacOS only)[/h2]

• Fixed an issue migrating save files, causing new saves to be overwritten when the game is launched.

This update enables Steam Cloud saves on all platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, and Steam Deck. Please report any issues you encounter.

• Only save files are synced, not game settings. This allows you to maintain different configurations on Steam Deck and other platforms.
  
• macOS: Previously, save files were stored inside the app bundle. They are now located in the same folder where the game is installed. Existing saves will be moved to the new directory the next time the game is run.