Into the Necrovale News

Today's update is mostly QoL features that I've wanted to get in. Chief among them, is Build Storage. This is a dummy placed near the Forge, which will let you store up to 10 complete builds. With the press of a button, you can swap them on and off. Additionally, you can now compare items to ones you have equipped, and hover over stats to view more details about them in the Stats panel. I hope this makes it a bit easier and more fun to experiment with different builds.

Bugs

• Fixed various random crashes
  
• Lich will no longer start at high level
  
• Umbral Gate doors will no longer stay open after opening them once
  
• Test of Might and Respite now show the correct tileset in the River area
  
• With all 5 Lich Curses, hope will correctly show 0 at the end of a level
  
• Columns no longer spawn in Dockyard, blocking enemies
  
• Spinners in the Spinner Tunnels should spawn behind the door less often
  
• You can no longer use the Scholarium books over and over again
  

Balance

• Hollow Infernus damage reduced, and spawn rate lowered
  
• >100% Slog Resistance won’t send you careening through the River (but it will still speed you up)
  
• Area boss fights are now at the end of a run, like mini-bosses
  
• All blessings, curses, and potions are now lost when dying
  
• On Hit effects (like firestrike, health loss/gain on crit, etc…) now consider the amount of attacks/projectiles you create with each attack
  
• Campfire blessing will now last longer when upgraded
  
• Base Barrier Regeneration rate increased 500%
  
• Increased scaling on Rune of the Boar
  

Misc.

• There is now a Build Storage dummy, near the Forge. This will let you store up to 10 complete builds, and swap between them easily.
  
• Holding Shift/L-Trigger will compare the item you’re hovering on to the one equipped in that slot
  
• Stats in the Stats Panel can now be hovered for more information about their effect
  
• More NPCs will appear in the Prisoners Log
  
• Embers of level 5 or higher can now be upgraded without another Ember. Put them in the Forge’s Ember slot (and make sure the Item Slot is open, for any remainders)
  
• More levels properly track remaining enemies
  
• Made the books in the Library a bit darker, so enemies stand out better
  
• Ronan and Roarke health bars disappear after defeating them
  
• Fished items should now be more reachable
  

All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle. - St. Francis

This week’s update realizes the fourth area of the game, the Halls of Shadow. This place is dark, with strange hopeless creatures crawling about. Figures long lost to the darkness of the Necrovale. There are new enemies, new challenges, new items and experiences. The area is focused on Curses. Throughout the area, enemies might randomly curse you when they die. However, a curse is not simply a bad thing. Every curse is a price you pay for some other benefit. You may find people and places in the Halls of Shadow that feed off of curses, too.

As for what’s coming next, I will start work on the fifth and final area, the Palace of the Witch. In a few weeks I should have that ready to go. In the meantime, I will get out quality of life updates, bug fixes, and additional content. After the fifth area is out, my focus will shift to adding end-game areas. This is where I think the game will really come alive and open new dimensions to the gameplay.

Thanks for sticking with me throughout the process.
CLYDE

Today’s update focuses on balance. Because of the way builds worked, the game would eventually start to get really easy. That’s fun for a while, but it feels a lot better to make a powerful build if there is an actual challenge for it to overcome. So with this update, the first two areas should feel roughly the same. But starting in the River of Souls, the challenge will start to increase more rapidly from how it previously worked. By the time you’re at the Palace of the Witch, there should be some more serious resistance to your machine of destruction.

Possibly the most significant change now, is that defensive stats actually will start to matter. Enemy damage scales differently now, so if you come in to later areas with no defenses, you might get flattened. Remember, this is all a work in progress, things can change. I count on your feedback to let me know how things are feeling. I’m making the game, but at the end of the day, you are the ones spending your time in this world. What you think matters. I hope you’ll give this update a chance, and let me know what you think.

Thanks for playing my game, people.

Bugs

• Cursor properly aligns with potion slots on Gamepad now
  
• Buyback button can now be accessed with the Gamepad
  

Balance

• Increased base ember drop rate by 50%
  
• Curse of Sorrow from the Sorrowell now only reduces attack speed by 20%, and it adds +1 ember quality
  

Misc.

• Levels should repeat less often during a run, especially when using levels like the Sewers
  
• Flameseeker can be upgraded now
  
• Courtyard, Plaza, and Terrace doors cost Hope Crystals instead of Coins now
  

Today’s update mostly spruces up the Hornslack Ruins area. There is a new enemy, the Crusher, and a few new levels. Other levels have been improved in their rewards, notably the Garden. This has long been a stinker of a room, so hopefully the changes make it into an great room. Let me know what you think.

I’m building up to fully releasing the next area: The Halls of Shadow. So about half of my time is currently spent working on that, the other half on weekly content. So apologies if this update is a bit smaller than usual. It will be worth it, I think.

Balance

• The Gardener’s fruits have been significantly improved
  
• Elemental Whirlwind amulet adds more damage for each ailment now (Yggdrasil)
  
• Observatory has fewer waves, with each one being larger
  

Misc.

• Reworked how Rarity Chance works, and increased value from Merchant’s Boots
  
• Circular rooms have a more even distribution of doodads. Thanks to the math gang: November, Evarika, and Pell
  
• Many item rarities have been shifted
  

Additions

• New Ruins levels: Scholarium, Bombardment, Innocent’s Folly, Garrison
  
• New Ruins Enemy: Cretin Crusher
  

Bugs

• Kite Shield icon fixed
  
• Emerald and Sapphire Rune have the correct element strike now
  
• Level text doesn’t overlap the enemy counter now
  
• Bottom-left inventory slots are no longer mixed up on the gamepad
  
• Magna Bestia and Spirithorses no longer one-shot you
  
• Magna Bestia fight is less laggy
  
• Stormtouch gauntlets no longer transfer their lightning to your projectiles
  
• Gobbling potions with the Tosspot will no longer crash the game
  

Balance

• Dart Gun power move poise damage massively increased, and pierce added
  
• Drinking the Cowards’ Tonic now immediately fills your barrier
  
• The Wellspring now fully heals you, instead of just a small heal
  
• Slogging in the River doesn’t slow you down as much
  
• Necrotower spawn rate slowed down
  
• Higher rarity enemies are much more likely to drop things now
  
• Vengeful Amulet causes you to take more damage now
  

Misc.

• Audio now mutes when the game loses focus
  
• Paying a resource cost is faster now
  
• Damage and Attacks per Second now appear at the top of weapon stat lists
  
• Statue of the Watcher upgrade capped at 10 levels. His entrance was also made a bit more visible, and a gate was added.
  
• Items info popup when melding will show the final form of the item when you hover it
  
• Item info popup for the forge should be more consistent in showing the right values