Mage Tower: Call of Zadeus News

2.1.1.8 Patch Notes

-Small hotfix to the Bazaar patch today to fix a soft lock.

2.1.1.9 Patch Notes

*(Some more small changes and bug fixes after the massive Bazaar patch.)*

Balance Changes:

-You can now only equip the artifacts Enchanted Bow, Leather Quiver, or Warlord's Quiver (which increase a card's arrow damage) to Ability or Wizardry cards. So you can no longer equip them to Permanents or Defenders. (Overpowered with Battlement and Flameception.)
-Marshknight health reduced when upgraded reduced from 30 to 25.

Bug Fixes:

-Fixed a bug where Sword of Midas combined with Bow and Arrow was only giving 1 gold per monster destroyed instead of 2.
-Fixed a bug where Equipments would stop attaching to Defenders after 6 were attached.
-Fixed a bug where sometimes cards' text reminder bubbles for artifact effects didn't cover the full reminder text.
-Fixed a bug where Siege sometimes wasn't doing Enflame damage and could sometimes crash the game. (Note: It's still missing its text sometimes, this will be fixed in a future patch.)

This massive patch is the final piece of the puzzle for Mage Tower 2's main gameplay loop! It adds Bazaars, which let you attach artifacts to your favorite cards. This lets you Frankenstein your favorite cards into uniquely powerful monstrosities, making every run and every deck memorable. The patch also improves the new player experience, with two new easier Mastery levels and many changes to simplify and improve gameplay for new players.

New Content:

Bazaars - There are now three Bazaars in the world. Bazaars sell normal cards, risky "Black Market" cards, and new artifacts that enhance specific cards. With the 13 black market cards and 33 card-modifying artifacts, you'll be able to customize your deck like never before. Bazaars are like a worktable where you can craft your deck and make it more unique to you. Take your favorite Defender and make it attack infinitely while spawning explosive barrels on each attack. Or take your favorite Wizardry and reduce its cost and make it reusable! Bazaars make each run and each deck more unique and memorable.

New Cards - Added 12 new main set cards. (Several of which add a new strategy of "burning" the opponent's deck to death.)

New "Black Market" Cards - Added 13 new "black market" Bazaar-exclusive cards.

New Bazaar Artifacts - Added 33 new Bazaar-exclusive artifacts that modify cards.

New Player Experience:

New Masteries - Two new easier Mastery levels have been inserted before the current ones, so now there are now 8 mastery levels instead of 6. This should make the game much more accessible to new players. Your completed Mastery levels for each class will get bumped up by 2 as long as you've completed at least one run with that class. (So if you've already won Mastery 6 for a class in the old version, it will count that you've completed Mastery 8 in the new version, because they are identical.) Your Zadeus Tentacles will be bumped up by 2 as well when this happens.

Traveling Merchant - Now after every time you defeat an enemy, the Traveling Merchant will visit you. The Traveling Merchant lets you purchase cards or a get a dungeon clue from a faraway town. (So you now automatically get to draft a card after every battle, which makes things easier for new players and helps with bad world spawns.)

Enemy Spawn Time - Enemies spawn less frequently at all Mastery levels. (33% more time between spawns.) This will let players explore more easily without being swamped by enemies.

Basic Monsters - The original basic monsters (Orc/Warlock/Demon/Giant/Demonspawn) were removed and replaced with Goblin, Fel Wyrm, and Goblin Barracks. Goblin and Fel Wyrm have no abilities, and Goblin Barracks shuffles 3 Goblins into the monster deck when it attacks you. This change is to simplify the monster board and make the game easier to understand for new players. It also lowers pressure from cards like Warlock and Demon (which had abilities that triggered when they got angry.) Goblin Barracks also gives you some room to breathe for a turn, as it only threatens 2 immediate damage.

Simpler Encounters at Low Masteries - At Mastery Levels 1 and 2, most enemies now have only 2 unique monster cards in their deck. (So that new players don't have to read so many new cards every battle.) The rest of the monster cards are rolled out over successive Mastery levels.

Lower Monster Stats at Low Masteries - Many monster cards now have lower stats at lower Mastery levels. This should make the lower Mastery levels much more accessible to new players.

Life Regen - You now recover an additional 2 life after battle up to Mastery 6, then an additional 1 up to Mastery 8.

Quality of Life/Interface:

-Made the player's hand of cards fan out more, and made the cards easier to mouseover and select.
-Added a key to the map screen (click the Map button or press A to access the map.) You can overlap location types in the key to find and highlight all the corresponding locations on the map. (Important for finding Bazaars and Obelisks.)
-Fixed a visual bug that sometimes caused arrows to look like they missed their targets in battle. (The damage was always being assigned correctly, this was just a visual bug fix.)

Other Changes:

-The requirements for most achievements have been halved. (So you should unlock them twice as fast now.)

-All one-time-use cards (Defenders, Equipment, Permanents, Schemes, and Wizardries) now have a slightly increased chance to be shuffled higher in the player's deck compared to other cards. It's only a small chance to get shuffled one slot higher, but it helps mitigate bads draw ending a run, which was a slight problem when using these cards. It's only a small change in variance, so it still feels like a randomized deck.

-There is a new resource called "Magic Dust" that is exclusively used to escape from enemies before battle. This replaces the option of paying with Bloodrunes. This lets a player run from battles without worrying about spending Bloodrunes they could be saving for the Bazaar.

-Max hand size reduced from 9 to 7. (Remember you trash the excess cards, not discard them. In practice, you will almost never be forced get rid of a card you would have wanted to play later. This change is to clean up the UI and make it more apparent to new players that they can thin their deck by holding cards in hand. People were already holding unwanted cards in their hand to thin their deck, this isn't really going to change how that plays out.)

-Trading Posts - (Late game unlockable feature.) You must now select a single Trade which will only let you buy cards from Trading Posts that correspond to that Trade. The simple explanation is "If you want to buy a specific Wizardry card, you must now select the Trade that lets you buy Wizardry cards." There's a new "Trade" button next to the dungeon and map buttons that lets you do this. You also get extra resources for your selected trade. (This change is to lessen the analysis paralysis of having to keep track of five trade resources at once and all the potential cards you could buy with them. Now it's just a single impactful decision instead of having to constantly re-analyze things.)

-On the new Trade screen, which you can access once you unlock Trading Posts, you can also see all the buildings you've built.

-Added temporary title screen music.

-Player life and life regeneration values changed around. 5 less life at all Masteries. You now get +2 health regen at early Masteries (as mentioned in a previous bullet point), but -2 at the highest Mastery. This is mostly to compensate for the easier achievement unlocks adding a lot of extra health and health regen and making the highest mastery level too easy.

Card Changes:

-Royal Treasury was changed from a Common to a Rare.
-Removed Ascending Essence and Circus Bear.
-Golden Golem now no longer gives 2 gold when discarded, only on death. (It was extremely overpowered with Enchanted Tome, and didn't synergize with much else.)
-The "Siege" prize card you can get from an artifact now deals 4 "Enflame" damage instead of it generically dealing 4 damage to the monster deck.

Achievement Changes:

-Added four new achievements that count the number of buildings you've built. These achievements are to unlock The King's Banner, Blast, Wicker Man, and Poison Daggers.
-Wizard's achievement for 500 points now unlocks Doom Bolt instead of giving +1 Bloodrunes.
-Brewmaster's achievement for 500 points now unlocks Flare instead of giving +1 Bloodrunes.
-(Note: These new achievements will only unlock after you win or lose a run.)

Enemy Changes:

-Kobold Captain's "Greck" monster is now 5 for a 6/6 (was 2 for a 4/4.)
-Phase Bats' "Pincer" monster is now 5 for a 7/2 (was 2 for a 4/1.)

Bug Fixes:

-Fixed some weird bugs that could happen in the following run if you died against Irko.
-Fixed a bug where sometimes the Class Select screen music wouldn't stop playing after you left that screen.
-Fixed a bug where Sea Wyrm's card draw amount would be doubled if it started the game in play from Outpost.
-Fixed a bug where the resource/cost icons on "Trading Post" screens were misaligned.
-Fixed other miscellaneous bugs that may not have been listed here.

The HUGE 2.1.1.7 patch is almost here! (With Bazaars, new cards and artifacts, and an improved new player experience.) In the meantime, here are all the patch notes from 2.1.1.0 to 2.1.1.6!

Patch Notes 2.1.1.0

Major Bug Fixes:

-Fixed a bug that could occur with Flying monsters that froze the game (happened most often in the Zadeus battle.)
-Fixed a bug where spawning cards from outside the game could freeze the game in a long battle.

Bug Fixes:

-Fixed a bug where the game would try to spawn dungeon clues when entering a town under attack.
-Fixed a bug where it was possible for the game to try to conquer the same town twice. (Hopefully this fix and the one above will also fix some crash bugs that have been happening.)
-Fixed a bug where some cards' upgraded versions would have misaligned text on the Blacksmith screen.
-Fixed a bug where the game would crash if Necromancer (the card) tried to resurrect a Beetle from Beetlemorph.

Patch Notes 2.1.1.1

New Content:

New Elite Enemy: The Headhunters

This enemy has no monster deck. You start the battle with three huge enemies already on the monster board. These include the orc Ryndax, the blademaster Sylla, and the duplication mage Martus. In the story, this group of assassins is hunting Gideon, though Gideon doesn't know why or who sent them.

The Headhunters replaces the Grand Slime elite enemy that would appear on days 3-4 when saving towns under attack. Grand Slime was a bit overly complex, but that complexity didn't make the fight much more strategically interesting. It may return and be reworked. The goal is for all the elite battles to have focused themes like Temple Guardian and Living Mountain, making them really test your deck and reward you for knowing how to fight them.

New Enemy: Gravel Monster

This enemy spawns a horde of Ferocious Pebbles. It's a new level 0 enemy to go along with Kobold Captain and Phase Bats to add more variety to the start of the run.

Class Changes:

(Most classes besides the Brewmaster were buffed a little.)

Wizard - Sanguine Sight now deals 2 damage instead of 1.
Starcaller - You now gain 3 life when you play Summon Comet.
Rune Warrior - Runic Strike now deals 3 damage instead of 2.
Hunter - Concentrate energy cost reduced from 5 to 4.
Beast Tamer - Beast Companion is now a 2/5 instead of a 2/4.

Gameplay/Balance Changes:

-The "Visit 1 Town" Achievement now gives 2 health regen instead of 1. The player should now cap out at 10 health regen after battle. (You must finish a run for this stat to update. You can either play a run or start a run and let the enemy kill you. This is because there have been technical difficulties getting the achievements to update elsewhere in the code.)
-You can no longer get the same level 0 enemy twice in a row. (The level 0 enemies are Kobold Captain, Phase Bats, and Gravel Monster.)
-Spore Spewer now only reduces the damage of your cards next turn, rather than for the rest of the battle.
-The Lava Gel and Skulk dungeon monsters both had the sizes of their monster decks reduced very slightly (1 monster, maybe sometimes 2 depending on Mastery level.)

Bug Fixes:

-Fixed a bug where killing Cosmic enemies would freeze the game if you already had every common artifact.
-Fixed a bug where if you had every artifact (that isn't attachable to cards) the game would freeze if you got more. (The game will now just give you additional Gold Coin artifacts which give +1 Gold at the start of battle.)
-Fixed a bug where Yod'ithrul'ix would still delete extra monsters when destroyed. (Hopefully this helps fix potential Zadeus battle freeze bugs.)
-Fixed a bug where Fae Rabbit would crash the game if there were no spiders on the monster board.

Patch 2.1.1.2

Bug Fixes:

-Fixed a crash bug that could happen when a town tried to generate dungeon clues for a dungeon that had already been visited.

Patch 2.1.1.3

Balance Changes:

-Empyreal Lance now costs 3 instead of 4.

Major Bug Fixes:

-(Hopefully) fixed a bug that would crash the game if you collided with two towns/enemies/obelisks at the same time or returned from battle overlapping one of these objects.
-Fixed a bug where Element Cannon would often crash the game when used.

Bug Fixes:

-Fixed a bug where Runic Strike wasn't actually dealing its new damage numbers (3 normal/4 upgraded.)
-Fixed a bug where the Irko's Gift card removal effect wasn't happening.
-Fixed a bug where the Ratfolk bounty achievements weren't unlocking.
-Fixed a bug where the game would crash if you tried to use the "Abandon Run" button on the title screen.
-Added text to indicate that the life loss from Entropic Mind had happened, since the damage number was easy to miss.
-Irko's Gift now costs 0 when upgraded (instead of 1.)
-Fixed a bug where the Enchanted Bow artifact (which doubles the arrow damage of a card) was not working with Battlement or Flameception.
-Fixed a bug where Conjury wasn't working correctly with Bow and Arrow.
-Fixed a bug where after stopping a boss wizard from conquering its third town, the countdown timer would still display.
-Fixed a bug where Longsword didn't have the Void Stone symbol (that shows it's removed from the game when it leaves play.)
-Fixed a bug where Solar Wand was triggering off of gaining Glorsyeeking prize cards from Quest, when Solar Wand is not supposed to trigger off of prize cards.
-Fixed a bug where the tooltip for Secrets said "Scrolls" instead of "Secrets".
-The new pebble and headhunter monsters will now correctly count towards your total monster count in the "Beastiary" achievements.

Patch 2.1.1.4

Bug Fixes:

-Fixed a bug where the game would crash when you had more than 30 artifacts.
-Fixed a bug where the game would crash if you tried to activate Poison Bomb while the monster board was empty.

Patch 2.1.1.5

Balance Changes:

(Many players were frustrated with the early game Agile monsters so we're removing Agile from those monsters. We're also removing Forest Glade (the card that summons Gladeharts) from Glade Nymph's monster deck. Forest Glade was a deceptively powerful monster that when ignored made the battle seem overly difficult.)

-Phase Bats, Pincer, and Gladehart no longer have Agile. (They now have no ability.)
-Gladehart changed from a 3/2 at low Mastery and 3/3 at higher mastery TO: 3/3 at low mastery and a 3/4 at high mastery.
-Forest Glade (the card that spawns Gladeharts) was removed from Glade Nymph's monster deck and replaced with an Orc.

Other Changes:

-Added a new very short tutorial letting players know they can skip battles, and that it's a good idea to do so and draft a lot of cards from towns.
-Edited the tooltip for Bloodrunes to let players know it's a currency for buying cards and skipping battles.
-Several cards like Astronomer that gain you cards from outside the game have had text added that notes that card is gained for this battle only. (So that new players don't think they're drafting cards permanently into their deck.)

Bug Fixes:

-Fixed a bug where most Elite enemy achievements were requiring you to defeat the enemy 4 times instead of 1. Now they should unlock after defeating 1.
-Fixed a bug where Training could sometimes crash the game.
-Fixed another bug where playing Training right after playing your last Level Up card could soft lock the game.
-Fixed a bug where monsters weren't slowing down when you were in a "soft pause" at higher masteries (where you were just standing and not moving.)

Patch Notes 2.1.1.6

Bug Fixes:

-Fixed a bug where if you get an artifact from the Artifact Merchant that attaches to a card, it wouldn't let you attach it.
-Fixed a bug where Lost Cities' special condition would only give 1 gold instead of 3.
-Fixed a bug where the game could crash in the scr_draw_cardsorclue() script when entering a town sometimes.
-Removed Enchantress from the Chimera fight because she was causing bugs. Chimera still has 7 possible monsters for that slot.
-Fixed a bug where Circus Bear would incorrectly appear to keep its buffs when returning to hand, only to lose them when playing it. (It now correctly doesn't keep its buffs when returning to hand.)
-Fixed a bug where once Circus Bear had returned to hand once, it would always return to hand even if it didn't attack.
-Fixed a bug where cards that were semi-transparent while asking if you're sure you want to play them (due to Creativity being in play) would stay semi-transparent the rest of the battle.
-Fixed a bug where Flameception was counting as an "Ability" card, making certain artifacts and some cards like Thuridian Colossus not work correctly with it.
-Fixed a bug where Reckoning could kill The Tidebringer (The Tidebringer can only be killed with arrow damage.)
-Fixed a bug where the Flame Blast (from the Flame Tablet artifact) wasn't removing a Madness card when you gained it.
-Fixed a bug where the mouseover locations for some tooltips were incorrect. (Current life total and bloodrunes.)

Hey everyone, thanks for playing! You've given a lot of great suggestions and feedback, and I'm taking it all into consideration as I plan the first content update. For now, here are all of the patch notes since the July 31st release!

Patch 2.1.0.1

Note: Other smaller issues will be resolved in another hotfix update soon, for now I have to get this out to fix the resolution bug.

Major Bug Fixes:
-Fixed a major bug that glitched the game out if you picked any resolution besides 1920 x 1080.

Gameplay Changes:
-Unlocking Dungeons on the Achievements screen now only costs 800 Achievement Points instead of 1000. (Dungeons are unlockable in the bottom left of the Achievements screen.)

Other Bug Fixes:
-Fixed a bug where Gladehart had no text indicating that it has Agile (arrow damage skips over it.)
-Fixed a bug where Alter World was not a Wizardry and was going to the discard after being played.
-Fixed a bug where the Beastiary achievement to kill 75 monsters was unlocked after 35 monsters.
-Fixed a bug where Bandit Camp said it was casting "Lurking Army" when it was supposed to say "Reinforce".

Patch 2.1.0.2

(Another quick bug fix patch.)

Other:
-Music added to the class select screen.
-Added a box that says "Unlocks" on the Achievements screen so it would be less likely for people to miss unlocking dungeons etc.

Bug Fixes:

-Pickpocket now correctly gives you 2 gold instead of just 1.
-Trade Routes now gives you the correct amount of gold instead of just 1.
-Fixed Venom Blast so that its text and effect are correct (It makes all poisoned monsters non-angry, then adds Poison 1 to all monsters, then you gain a Spell Charcoal.)
-Lowered volume of Poison sound.
-Fixed a bug that could sometimes cause a crash after battle because of a "onechoiceflag" variable.
-Fixed an issue with War Camp's text not being shown correctly.
-Reclusive Homunculus should no longer be able to revert to being a Knowledge Blast.
-Fixed a bug where attack/health upgrades weren't showing up at the Blacksmith.
-Fixed a bug where you could get the "Trader's Fortune" start-of-run boon even when you didn't have Trade Resources unlocked.

Patch 2.1.0.3

Major Bug Fix:
-The display issue that was causing things to be shown in the incorrect places or for mouse clicks to not work SHOULD be fixed. Make sure your version says 2.1.0.3 in the bottom left of the title screen to ensure it's updated, if not you may have to restart Steam to update. (If your mouse is being only slightly offset that is a separate issue I'm looking into. Restarting the game or using fullscreen mode may fix that issue in some cases.)

Other Bug Fix:
-Upgraded Insight now correctly costs 1.

Patch 2.1.0.4

Bug Fixes:

-Fixed a bug where class score achievements would not be unlocked until the following run.
-Fixed a bug where Summon Comet was adding four Spell Charcoal to your discard instead of one.
-Hyperion now correctly displays its ability (Stationary - It can't get angry or attack.)
-Bodysnatcher's text box now correctly notes that it deals its damage as —> damage.
-Fixed a bug where an enemy's unique monsters on the "prebattle" screen were being shown with empty text boxes.
-The score values on the achievement screen were displaying incorrect values. They should be about 95% accurate now... I will get them 100% accurate at a later time. Note that this is only a display bug and that you're receiving the correct points and final score.
-Fixed a bug where the "Explorer" achievement would be given for receiving a dungeon clue, when it's supposed to be received when you enter a dungeon.
-Fixed a bug where the class select screen music would play even if you had the music volume turned down.
-Alter World now correctly counts as a Wizardry for cards that care about that.

Patch 2.1.0.5

Major Bug Fixes:

-Fixed a bug where sometimes the game would crash when getting a dungeon treasure.

Bug Fixes:

-Fixed a bug where Conjury was doing nothing sometimes.
-Fixed a bug where when Thuridian Colossus was destroying Defenders like Golden Golem or Stalwart Knight, their on-death effects weren't happening.
-Fixed a text bug for Rogue's Dagger where it didn't say it draws a card.
-Fixed a text bug for upgraded Training where it didn't say it draws a card.
-Fixed a bug where Constellation Beast was visually missing its Void Stone.
-Equipment are no longer supposed to have the "pay 2 to discard and draw a card" ability from the physical game but it was sometimes popping up, so that was fixed. Quick details on why this was removed: The player now has access to a lot more card draw so it's not as necessary, it could be confusing to new players to have two modes on a card (and these are supposed to be simple cards a new player sees when they boot up the game), it added a lot of text to cards, it would sometimes confuse players into thinking an equipment was playable when it's not, it would often make players "miss" their defender/equipment pairing which would dilute the effect and weight of the equipment cards, and it would lessen the impact of some card drafting and deckbuiling decisions. It's possible it could return but we'll see how things shake out, for now the player will need a plan for how to utilize and work with equipment cards just like with other context-sensitive cards.

Patch 2.1.0.6

Major Bug Fixes:

-Fixed a major crash bug that would crash the game whenever the Irko card was killed. He is temporarily losing his "damage all monsters" ability since that was causing the bug. He was reduced from an 8/8 to a 2/2 to help compensate. He will be returned to his original form later.

Patch 2.1.0.7

Known Bug:

-I'm surprised it took me this long to notice this, but apparently the first 5 damage taken in each dungeon battle is being prevented. It's easy to miss because animations make it look like you took the hit and your life was lowered, then the life reverts. This 5 damage shield mechanic was leftover from an old system. Since all the dungeon enemies were balanced with this in place, I will likely just keep this mechanic and add a UI element for it soon in a patch, so just keep playing as normal knowing it exists. Dungeons have been playing well and do have the desired level of tension and push-your-luck elements.

Bug Fixes:

-Fixed a bug where the cards from Starmap were displaying incorrectly.
-Fixed a bug where Golden Golem was only giving 1 gold instead of 2 when discarded.
-Fixed a bug where Circus Bear wasn't returning to hand at end of turn after it attacked.
-Fixed a bug where Runic Grove could sometimes crash the game.
-Fixed a bug where Banish was sometimes not available in the card pool.
-Fixed a bug where Plaguemaster's (ratfolk enemy) Plague ability wasn't working.
-Fixed text on Grand Slime to say that it has Finale (always the last card in monster deck) and not Slow (takes 2 turns to become angry.)
-Fixed a bug where Grand Slime was destroying Slime's Trinket/Mace/Lance when it activated the Slime's Mace ability.
-Fixed a bug where Grand Slime appeared to be dealing 2 damage to Permanents as well as Defenders when it used the Slime's Mace ability.
-(Note: Now Grand Slime's abilities should be working correctly mechanically, at some point additional animations will be added for them.)
-Fixed text on The Fathomless to say that it has Hulking (immune to Destroy, Transform, and Purge effects) and not Slow (takes 2 turns to become angry.)
-Dungeon monster cards weren't being counted for beastiary achievements (the achievements that count the number of differently named slain monster cards.) This has been fixed.
-Unicorn and Ultademon (from Fae Rabbit), as well as Cosmigorius (a player card that turns into a monster), are now also correctly counted in the number of slain monster card types.
-Fixed a typo on Orc Archer.

Patch 2.1.0.8

Monster Aggression:
(These changes are to stop new players from being overrun by monster spawns, and to ensure they are given time to draft cards as they learn the game. These issues can be a huge problem for the new player experience.)

-The first enemy in a run now takes longer to spawn.
-(Mastery 1 and 2 only) If a player hasn't drafted many cards from towns (as is often the case with brand new players), enemies will see the player as less of a threat. That means the enemies won't be as aggressive towards the player, and not as many enemies will spawn. This will give brand new players more time to get their bearings.
-If you stop moving, you'll go into a "soft pause" where time stops, enemies will not spawn, and existing enemies will move more slowly. This is so that new players (or any player) will no longer be punished so much for stop-and-go movement or stopping to think.

Bugs:
-Fixed a visual bug where Lightning Arrows incorrectly said it's a Permanent rather than an Ability.
-Fixed a bug where Slice could sometimes do nothing if you'd just killed a monster at nearly the same time.

Patch 2.1.0.9

(Not every reported bug has been fixed yet, but these are most of the major ones. More bug fixes coming soon.)

Bug Fixes:

-Fixed a bug where class achievements for 4000 points and 8000 points weren't unlocking when they should. (Note: Achievements are only unlocked right after a run. So if you already have 4000+ points on a class pre-patch you can either play another run, or just start a run and let a monster kill you, then it will unlock when you go to the achievements screen. For players under 4000 points it will just unlock normally when you get there.)
-Fixed a bug where you couldn't see your class's points by overlapping their achievements.
-Fixed a bug where Fae Rabbit was crashing the game when it tried to transform a Spider into a Unicorn.
-Fixed a bug where Mana Eater, Circus Bear, and Relic Seeker were missing their void stone icons (the icon that shows they'll be removed from the game when they leave play.)
-Fixed a bug where Yod'ithrul'ix was deleting other monsters sometimes.
-Fixed a bug where Beetlemorph could trigger Flameception infinitely.
-Fixed a bug where the Zadeus Tentacles from Tangle of Tentacles didn't have Slow and were getting angry immediately.
-Fixed a bug where Clash of Lightning was dealing 4 arrow damage instead of 6.
-Fixed a bug where Poison Bomb (from Contagion) wasn't dealing 1 damage when you poisoned a monster with it.
-Fixed a bug where Crawler's ability did nothing when it attacked you.
-Fixed a bug where 0-cost cards were unplayable at negative energy.
-Demon was missing its text still, this has been fixed.
-Fixed a bug where Pause (the card) wasn't working in the Irko and Zadeus battles.
-Fixed a bug where the Craggling achievements were displaying the kill count for Glade Nymphs instead.
-Corrected Bolt text to say it adds a Spell Charcoal and not a Confusion.

That's right, after 3+ years of development, including multiple betas and gameplay overhauls, Mage Tower 2 is FINALLY releasing into Early Access on July 26th, 2023!

If you wishlisted this a long time ago, or played one of the old betas from 2021-2022, here are the new gameplay features that have been implemented in the 2023 version:

[h3]A Complete Combat Overhaul[/h3]

We removed the 2nd player, and now it's just you against a deck of monsters. Each turn a new wave of monsters attacks, just like in a tower defense game. Use your spells to fight them off, and survive against all the waves to achieve victory. New monster types (such as "Spellcaster", "Familiar", and "Miniboss") change things up from turn to turn.

[h3]New Card Mechanics[/h3]

Now you can cast "Level Up" cards which grow in power each time you play them. Or play "Scheme" cards which take several turns to activate, but have overpowered effects. Then there are "Wizardry" cards, which are one-time-use spells, but offer huge effects. Think of Wizardries as "mini-ultimates" that you save for just the right moment each battle.

[h3]Overworld Overhaul![/h3]

Visit towns to build buildings, and buy cards. Collect trade resources for special effects, or to draft any card you want (allowing for targeted, creative deckbuilding.) Discover Obelisks which give you powerful Artifacts. And more!

[h3]Dungeon Overhaul![/h3]

Dungeons now have specialized enemies that test specific facets of your deck (for example, an enemy whose monsters are immune to a certain damage type, or which summon 16 small enemies every turn.) A smart player plans their dungeon delves and routes based on their deck's strengths and weaknesses, and of course on which treasures they seek!



So you DID play in the 2023 beta test and think you've seen it all, huh?!?! Wrong! Here's what's coming in release that wasn't in the beta:

[h3]Achievements[/h3]

A robust achievement system with over 110 Achievements that tracks your stats, and rewards you for your progress. This gives the game a sense of progression, and makes losing more fun as you get to see how you've progressed on the achievement board.

[h3]Zadeus[/h3]

After completing a run, you'll battle Zadeus itself... which has a massive monster deck of progressively increasing difficulty. While most bosses have 6 or 7 different monster cards in their deck, Zadeus has over 30! It's an epic end-game boss that truly tests the mettle of your deck.

You'll still "win" the run even if you die to Zadeus, so your goal is to see how far your deck can make it against the creature. Only the most overpowered and synergistic (or exploitative) decks will be able to conquer the otherworldly monstrosity known as ZADEUS.

[h3]Upgraded UI[/h3]

Your hand of cards is now fanned out, easier to read, and offers the standard "drag and drop" interface to avoid misclicks. Monsters now forecast their abilities and spells, so it's easier to see what's going on. Many spells now have visual and sound FX. Overall the game is cleaner and plays more like a modern game.

[h3]Dungeons Upgraded (Again??)[/h3]

There is a brand new pool of dungeon-exlusive "legendary" cards and artifacts. These offer super-powered effects that may make you rethink the entire structure of your deck. We've also made dungeons less empty. So now each dungeon delve is a run-defining decision with great risks and even greater rewards!

[h3]More Info Soon...[/h3]

Right now we're developing and finalizing these new changes and systems. Leading up to release, we'll release more screenshots and gameplay footage. So stay tuned, and get ready for July 26th!!

-Brett
supermegagames.net