The Doors of Trithius News

XP Rebalance + QoL and bug fixes.

Save files from v0.5.2 are compatible.

[h2]XP & Wisdom Adjustments[/h2]
We’ve extended XP rewards to include all abilities and recipes. The majority of abilities grant XP during use, with some offering unique approaches to XP gain, such as the athletics ability "Tumbling," which bestows XP when successfully dodging an attack.

XP Log
Added an XP log. By clicking the "XP" tab in your notification log, you can review all recent XP gains for both skill experience and wisdom.


Tooltip Display
Additionally, a new setting "Show XP Gain" has been added. Enable this option under General -> Tooltips to show exact XP gains for all abilities and recipes.


Additional Changes

• The XP log will show a warning when no XP gained due to the soft level cap being reached (keep in mind, the level cap can be raised by investing skill points).
  
• Doubled the amount of experience gained while travelling.
  
• Discovering new tiles while travelling will now reward travel XP, provided the travel skill is unlocked.
  
• Reduced Wisdom Gained when killing a monster.
  
• Reduced/tweaked Weapon Mastery XP granted on attack.
  
• Modified the Weapon Mastery XP awarded upon attack, with a general decrease.
  
• Added a new mechanic to reward bonus wisdom for defeating enemies higher than your level, at a rate of 10% per over level. This is shown in the XP log as "dangerous fight".

[h2]Java Version[/h2]
Updated Java version from Java 14 to Java 21.

This gives significant performance improvements on some systems, and also fixes lag issues experienced by some users.

[h2]New Player Experience & Polish[/h2]
Some initial steps to improve the experience in subtle ways. This is part of an ongoing initiative which includes UI modifications, providing clearer starting guidance, and ensuring consistent storytelling.

• All classes now start with basic clothing. While there is something to be said for the classic roguelike experience of starting with nothing, for our story which starts you off as a bold adventurer, it was not fitting to begin barefoot!
• An escape ladder has been added to the starter dungeon, and the "Escape" tutorial message will now appear upon first entering a town or dungeon. This change is to create a more dramatic exit. The dead-end felt just wrong. Ascend from the depths; your journey is just beginning!
• In character creation, equipment and supplies are now displayed side by side, reducing the need for a scrollbar. Items are now sorted by type so you can quickly see what weapon you are getting which should be helpful if you are rerolling many times.
  
• Rebalanced the volume of all music tracks to ensure a consistent audio backdrop to your adventures.
  
• The volume levels of loud sound effects (doors, barrels, dog deaths) have been reduced for more uniform audio balance.

Improved loot User Interface (UI). This redesigned UI will not obscure the object being looted. We want you to see what it is you're looting!


[h2]Stat Sources[/h2]
To provide clearer insight into your character stats, contributing factors to a stat's total value are displayed within the stat tooltip.


[h2]Other Changes[/h2]

• Show "real damage" in hit splashes and in the notification log, instead of showing overkill damage. For example, if a creature has 5 health left, the maximum you can hit is a 5. This was necessary to make damage gained from XP consistent with the damage visually dealt.
  
• Reduced ability "Sidewinder Style" energy cost from 5 per turn to 2 per attack, and point cost from 3 to 2.
  
• Tweaked Sagohai's dialog to make it less silly (it will be changed again in the future).
  
• Increased Duudahl's health from 180hp to 240hp.
  
• Added new item "Scroll of Discovery: Warrapt", which can be purchased everywhere the Chivalry scroll can be purchased. This item was meant to be added with the Warrapt update but was missed. Note - scrolls of discovery are temporary until a proper in-game method of discovering each skill is implemented.
  
• Any character with the "Oath of The Fallen" passive can now use Ahnais statues, not only the knight.
  
• On loading screen show what module is loading during "Loading Modules" phase, for example "Loading Module...Abilities"

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]

• Fixed issue where enemies dying out of sight due to bleed damage were still displayed on-screen with 0 HP.
  
• Fixed recipes Machinist Amulet, Machinist Ring, and Snake Dice not appearing in the Study Bench, despite the necessary books being studied.
  
• Fixed blocked corruption status effect becoming unlocked when switching to your alternative loadout, despite still having the necessary enchantment active.
  
• Fixed recipe tooltips in smaller resolutions cut off due to screen size limitations.
  
• Fixed inconsistency in the display of decimals and decimal rounding across all tooltips (items, status effects, stats).
  
• Fixed toxic plume's required level and required point values were swapped, causing the ability to need 12 focus points instead of 3!
  
• Fixed nature magic ability "Renew" removing wounds on self instead of on target, when used on an ally (you can now remove wounds from your summoned creatures).
  
• Fixed nature magic ability "Symbiotic Growth" limited to 50 stacks, instead of the described 100.
  
• Fixed a glitch that made the character sprite invisible after consuming a Blink potion until the next move.
  
• Fixed a UI glitch that allowed extra items during character creation.
  
• Fixed issue where harvested plants would no longer block movement.

Significant performance improvements, faster NPC pathfinding, and new debugging tools.

Save files from v0.5.1 are compatible.

[h2]Major Performance Boost[/h2]
We've revamped our game draw loop for incredible speed gains.

• The ground layer is now recreated as needed, instead of every frame, yielding a massive ~200-220% FPS boost.
  
• Information about how on-screen entities should be rendered is now cached and recreated only as needed, boosting FPS by another ~10-15%.

[h2]Code Efficiency[/h2]

• Smarter handling of turn-based updates, which were a significant cause of slowdown when many entities are loaded. These events don't run every frame, but could be a cause of jitter while moving.
  
• Optimized redundant code that ran on every frame for a ~2-4% increased FPS.
  
• Entities with animations or timers are now managed separately for minor (

[h2]Pathfinding[/h2]
NPCs are smarter and more efficient in how they find their way.

• Reduced frequency of NPC path requests, relying on cached paths, or using alternative faster methods if it makes sense to do so.
  
• NPCs now stop pathfinding early if the attempt is taking too long, given the expected distance, and will instead rely on a faster method.
  
• A* pathfinding algorithm - we now use a hashmap to check if a node has already been visited, for far faster performance.
  
• A* pathfinding algorithm - updated main heuristic used for node selection, for up to 10x performance boost on long paths (Closest Heuristic -> Manhattan Heuristic).

While providing generally faster performance, these changes should also address the lag sometimes felt in towns or crowded areas, where many entities are blocking each other and attempting to path-find at the same time.

[h2]Debugging Tools[/h2]
New game option for those who like to troubleshoot or are facing performance issues.

• Added option "Performance Log".
  
• Enabling this creates a 'performance.csv' file in the game folder to track resource-intensive tasks. Use with caution as it could impact game speed.
  
• If you are having performance issues, please enable this setting and send your files to [email protected].

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]

• Fixed crash refreshing quests when leaving the inn.
  
• Fixed Altar of Ahnais health bonuses lost on save.

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]

• Fixed crash when destroying Gremlin Totem Poles as a Knight.
  
• Fixed Altar of Ahnais dispensing more XP than intended.
  
• Fixed loop in Gremlin's Grief quest causing endless couriers.
  
• Fixed crash when interacting with power crystals while Tangled Web quest is active.
  
• Fixed Gremlin Grief quest initiating when a creature kills a decay root off-screen, instead of the player.
  
• Fixed crash when player attempts to move beyond map boundaries use keyboard movement.
  
• Fixed gremlin potion mechanics:
  • Removed auto-learning of gremlin recipes.
    
  • Added potion recipes to alchemy shelves in Gremlin Fortress.
    
  • Introduced crafting requirements for Gremlin potions; Mudmilk has none.
    
  • Tweaked drop table for Gremlin alchemy shelf.
• Fixed Potent Purifying Elixir negating its own status effect.
  
• Fixed recipes not highlighting as craftable in menus when alternative crafting options exist.
  
• Fixed XP reward glitch for crafting Snake Dice, Machinist Ring, or Machinist Amulet.

Introducing the Desert - a whole new biome with exotic creatures and new items & mechanics.

Also included is a new melee skill "Warrapt", an overhaul to the Chivalry skill, and changes to character creation.

Save files from v0.5.0 are NOT compatible.

[h2]Desert Biome[/h2]
This new biome is teeming with danger, with predatory Wyrms and Scorpions lurking beneath the sands.

Staying safe requires strategically navigating between the smaller rocky islands amid a vast ocean of sand.


Map Generation
The world map generates with at least one expansive desert region, interspersed with smaller desert patches.



The Desert Dwellers
The desert is now home to seven new creatures: Sand Wyrm, Dune Flyer, Silt Strider, Sandscale Viper, Sandshell Prowler, Sandshell Titan, and Desert Scorpion.



Surviving the Heat
Be wary of accumulating "Sunscorched" wounds, which can be cured by consuming cactus fruit, or through a medicine item. Sunscorch accumulates as you traverse the scorching desert but dissipates quickly in cooler biomes.



Plants & Potions
Four new harvestable plants can be used to brew five newly-added potions: Bulwark Extract, Fireflash, Sunhorn Elixir, Dalaar Deflection, and Blossomguard Brew.



[h2]Warrapt[/h2]
We've added a new skill "Warrapt", which includes 20 new abilities and passives.

• Designed as a generalist melee skill, Warrapt synergizes well with all melee weapon types and offers new build paths with both defensive and offensive options.
  
• The skill is available for all background types.

[h2]Chivalry[/h2]
Chivalry has received a significant update, featuring new abilities, upgrades, and a unique "Oaths" mechanic.

• Added abilities: "Oath of the Fallen," "Vanguard's Edge," "Last Stand," "Otherworldly Protection," and "Knight's Challenge."
  
• Removed "Shield Bash", "Parry", and "Riposte", which are now included in the Warrapt skill.
  
• The Knight now starts with the item "Letter to a Fellow Knight," directing players to the nearest Altar of Ahnais.

As part of this change we've refined the Knight's background lore for better coherence with the game world, removing all references to Arthurian knighthood—no more 'Sirs,' Squires, or medieval titles. Instead, Knights are now envisioned as defenders of good, intrinsically linked to an ancient order called the Knights of Ahnais (more to be revealed as we progress on the main story and add Knight NPCs to the game world).

[h2]Altar of Ahnais[/h2]
Forests, Plains, and Deserts now have a chance to spawn an Altar of Ahnais.



These Altars are closely related to the new "Oaths" mechanic in Chivalry. By slaying beasts, the Knight can collect "Oaths of the Fallen," which may be offered at the Altar for rewards.



This Altar is the first of many special map features to come. We imagine a world filled with relics and altars, each offering unique effects or services, relating to specific guilds, quests, and world lore.

While currently only usable by the Knight, future updates will introduce a secondary effect to the Altar of Ahnais, accessible by all classes.

[h2]Character Creation[/h2]
Starting items are now shown as part of character creation, and can be rerolled an unlimited times.



Other Changes

• Added new music for Character Creation.
  
• Updated the UI to better match in-game art.

[h2]Warding[/h2]
We've introduced three new stats: Physical Warding, Mental Warding, and Magic Warding.

• Physical Warding offers a percentage chance to negate physical-based debuffs like temporary poisons or blindness during combat.
  
• Mental Warding provides a chance to shrug off mental-based impairments such as shouts or fears.
  
• Magic Warding protects against magic-based negative status effects, including hexes.
  
• Added +5% physical warding to the knowledge ability "Stoic Perspective".
  
• Added new knowledge abilities "Astral Repel" (requires a book to unlock), and "Bodily Sutra" which both reward warding.
  
• Added 2 new enchantments "Mindmeld", "Stalwart", which give warding.
  
• Added a physical warding bonus to the enchantment "Resilience".

In addition to the aforementioned enchantments and Knowledge abilities, these new warding stats have been included in abilities within both Chivalry and Warrapt.

We recognized a gap in the combat system—players had no way to defend against various debuffs that didn't qualify as wounds. These warding stats aim to address this.

[h2]Ability Time[/h2]
All activated abilities now show their use time in the tooltip.



Since several passives now give increased ability speed, it felt right to show the exact time cost on all ability icons which can be seen on the bottom right.

As part of this change we've standardized how ability activation speed works, going through all abilities and specifying how their speed works in a more precise way. Note that some abilities are based on the speed of your equipped weapon, while others like 'Reload' or 'Mark Prey' have their own intrinsic.

[h2]Other Changes[/h2]

• Added new option "Log Weapon Used". Enable this option to show details of the weapons used by both the player and enemy units in the text log.
  
• Added 3 new enchantments: "Quickdraw", "Celerity", and "Mindmeld". Changed crafting costs and stat balance of various other enchantments.
  
• The notification log now shows deaths-by-status effects so that monsters in players vision that bleed to death, succumb to poison, or touch an "Essence Conduit" result in a notification.
  
• Removed reduced energy recovery from Frostbite wound.
  
• Updated medicine item Soothing Balm to also cure sunscorch
  
• Rebalanced potion prices.
  
• Added new lore book "Dreamer's Tryst with the Ether".
  
• Removed stat "Tenacity Resist". In all places "Tenacity Resist" was used, replaced with "Stun Resist", and "Knockback Resist". This stat was originally intended to do what warding now does (and did not work correctly).

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]

• Fixed text-wrapping issues in the notification log. Lines of text too long to fit now wrap to a new line.
  
• Fixed issue with drop down menus, where clicking an item in a drop down menu would sometimes select the UI element below the drop down menu.
  
• Implemented more robust handling of zone state changes. This fixes issues, related to quickly changing zones or reloading the game.
  
• Fixed UI scaling not working during character creation.