As We Descend News

As We Descend - Week 1 of Early Access

[h3]Hail, Wardens.[/h3][p]For all of you that have delved into As We Descend since launch last week, thank you! And if you've left feedback or reviews, a special thanks to you. We've read 'em all, and since we aren't able to reply to all the individual posts and discussions, this post will cover some of our thoughts.[/p][p]If you haven't delved in yet, the 17% discount is still ongoing for a few more days. We've already patched the game six times since it launched, and we've got plenty more in stock for you with regular updates anticipated every 3-4 weeks.[/p]
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1769830/As_We_Descend
[h2]What's next?[/h2][p]The next slated update arrives in about a week. We're testing a whole slew of changes:[/p]

[p]Max Descension Level increased from 5 to 18[/p]
[p]5 Major Descensions will become 9 Major Descensions[/p]
[p]In addition, there will be 9 smaller modifiers[/p]
[p]New unlockables in the meta-progression[/p]
[p]A set of new alternate innates for various units[/p]
[p]Improved loot yields during Scavenges, increasing the chance you see Upgrade and Forget rewards[/p]
[p]Unit adjustments to hone each unit to their role, expanding combo potential across multiple units[/p]
[p]Fleeting Buffs turned into Fading Buffs, which have greater lasting power[/p]
[p]New tech, new perks, and new cards[/p]
[p]The beginnings of the Codex, an in-game encyclopedia[/p]

[p]As mentioned before, we'll be aiming to bring a bigger update to the game every 3-4 weeks in a steady fashion. That way, you can consistently check back into the game to play with new content and adapt your strategies over time.[/p][p][/p][h2]Our plan after that[/h2][p]This next update will only be the first of many as we improve pacing, power curve, progression and agency over deckbuilding. Some bigger topics we're thinking about tackling include:[/p]

[p]Speeding up runs a bit[/p]
[p]Offering more meaningful and impactful choices in the City[/p]
[p]Unfolding the narrative a bit further[/p]
[p]Improving consistency of synergy for multi-unit combat[/p]
[p]Expanding the Codex so you can peruse all the content that you've unlocked[/p]

[p][/p][h2]Feedback and Discussions[/h2][p]Your feedback comes first for Early Access. Make sure to join the Discord to discuss with players and developers there, or post right here in the Steam Community forum.[/p][p]If you've got questions about roadmap or other things like that, you can read the full FAQ here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1769830/discussions/0/591772621004108662/[/p][p][/p][p]I'm looking forward to developing the game further alongside you and the rest of the community over the course of the Early Access. If you haven't left a review yet, do consider leaving one - we're almost at 200 reviews! May AVA bless your descents.[/p][p][/p][p]Best regards,[/p][p]Kev and the Box Dragon team[/p]

Patch 0.5.1.1

[p]We've managed to solve many of the crash bugs players have been getting. However if you're experiencing odd crashes (GPU related), make sure to enable the launch option for "GPU crash debug" (the third launch option). We're tracking a GPU-related crash on certain devices and if you experience it, please use this option and click "Send" in the crash reporter to help us provide more information so we can figure it out.[/p][p][/p][p]This will update NOT clear your in-progress runs.[/p][p][/p][p]\[v.416877][/p][p]✦ ⇒ Community-inspired change[/p][p][/p][h3]General Gameplay[/h3]

[p]Empowered Echo and Empowered Flame now activate immediately, rather than the turn after the Lantern is Empowered[/p]
[p]When playing as Votive, Lantern drafts during Scavenges will now always offer an Empowered card option[/p]

[h3]UI/UX[/h3]

[p]✦Added a small lightning bolt icon on Empowered Perks to visually connect it to the HUD[/p]
[p]✦The Sacrosanct button in the Metaprogress screen now says "Not Yet Available" to reflect its development status[/p]

[h3]Fixes[/h3]

[p]✦Fixed an issue with Wounding Perk / Wounding Upgrade / Wounding Forget where you could choose a unit that did not have a Perk slot / Upgradable card / Forgetable card respectively[/p]
[p]✦Fixed an issue where you could get more Manuscripts than you had learning slots[/p]
[p]✦Fixed an issue where the Noble only gave you 2 Copper instead of 30 Copper for helping him on his quest[/p]
[p]✦Fixed an issue where Revelator applied Armorshred rather than Armor Break[/p]
[p]✦Fixed an issue where units could get stuck between certain regions in Depth 3[/p]
[p]✦Fixed an issue where Rapid Fire Beam could go infinite if you played it at 0 Flow while the Lantern was Exerted[/p]
[p]Fixed an issue where Descension I was unlocking even if you lost the first run[/p]

Patch 0.5.1

Hey, Kev here. It's great to see all the reviews and discussion about the game so far, so keep 'em rolling! We've got our first slightly bigger patch here that makes some baseline difficulty adjustments to enemy encounters and shop quality. In addition, there is improved performance optimization for the later Depths.

This update will NOT clear your in-progress runs.

[v.415681]
✦ ⇒ Community-inspired change

[h3]✦Encounter Scaling[/h3]
Design notes: Enemies in As We Descend scale their stats based on how many battles you've taken before in a Depth. With this change, enemies now scale their stats slower in all three Depths, and at low Descension the early fights stay easy for longer. At Descension+3 (D+3), it will be closer to the values pre-patch although it may still generally be slightly less challenging.

Depth 1 enemies scale slower with encounters fought and there's an extra easy encounter (until D+3; previously this was no longer the case at D+1)
Depth 2 enemies scale slower with encounters fought, and there's an extra easy encounter (until D+3)
Depth 3 enemies scale significantly slower with encounters fought, and there's an extra easy encounter (until D+3)
Depth 3 elite enemies no longer scale with the number of battles you've taken in Depth 3 (their stats are now pinned as if you've done about 2 battles rather than fluctuating from 0-5)

[h3]Enemies[/h3]

✦Hermit has slightly less base health
✦Tank has slightly less base health, slightly lower base attack power, slightly lower attack scaling, and slightly lower stagger threshold scaling
Tank slightly prefers healthier targets when initially selecting a lock-on target
Warlock Queen slightly prefers healthier targets when selecting a lock-on target for Chest Burster

[h3]Units & Cards[/h3]

Hyperbeam: Damage and Stagger both increased from 25 to 30
Beam Strike: Stagger increased from 12 to 18
Seeker Beam: Favor cost reduced from 1 to 0, and now has limited charges 2(3) instead
✦Fixed an issue where Pilebunker (with active bonus) did not receive bonus attack from attack power

[h3]City & Events[/h3]

✦Collector: Now restocks the Perk Draft between Depths (at a slightly higher cost).
Librarian: Now sells Mythion rarity cards and Enhanced(+) cards. Higher chance for Enhanced cards in later Depths. Normal cards are slightly cheaper than they were before, and these new high rarity or pre-upgraded cards are more expensive.
Apothecary: Upgrade and Perk items now remain in stock between Cycles, and restocks up to 2 between Depths.

[h3]Optimizations[/h3]

✦Improved a common issue with performance in later Depths

Patch 0.5.0.4

A quick patch for some more fixes and minor improvements. This patch also contains a few run-progression changes in the form of greater baseline Scavengers per expedition and tech drafts that are biased in the player's favor.

This will update NOT clear your in-progress runs, and should actually fix an issue where some runs may have been cleared.

[v.415663]
✦ ⇒ Community-inspired change

[h3]Tech[/h3]

✦During Boss tech drafts, you are guaranteed to get an option that draws you cards and an option that grants additional Command
During tech drafts, you will not see repeat tech again (until you've seen all tech)
Signal Booster has been moved from artifact tech to boss tech

[h3]Scavenging[/h3]

Base Scavenger count on expeditions increased from 5 to 6
Bonus Scavenger count on expeditions from empty deployment slots decreased from 2 to 1

[h3]Units[/h3]

During perk drafts, you will not see a repeat perk again (until you've seen all perks)
Added victory animations for the Bell Maiden, Navigator, Purifier, and Lancer
Field Ingenuity: Fleeting Attack value increased from 1(2) to 2(3)
Back to Back: Fleeting Armor value increased from 3 to 4