As We Descend News

[p]We're rolling out some additional improvements and fixes.[/p][p][/p][p]This update will NOT clear your in-progress runs from Update 3 (Patch 0.8.0) and forward.[/p][p][/p][p][v.438203][/p][h3]Changes[/h3]

• [p]Librarian: Lantern card purchases now replace Lantern cards (as expected) with the option to cancel them before finalizing the purchase[/p]
• [p]Lantern Card upgrade purchases from shops can now be canceled[/p]
• [p]Unit Card forget purchases from shops can now be canceled[/p]

[h3]Fixes[/h3]

• [p]Fixed a bug where you a card name could stay "unknown" if you drafted the upgraded version of the card directly[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where you could preview the upgraded version of "unknown" cards in the Codex[/p]
• [p]Fixed a rare crash issue that could happen when using a splash attack[/p]
• [p]Fixed a crash that could occur when right-clicking cards in the Codex (when accessed from the main menu)[/p]

[p]We're rolling out some minor fixes and improvements.[/p][p][/p][p]This update will NOT clear your in-progress runs from Update 3 (Patch 0.8.0) and forward.[/p][p][/p][p][v.437439][/p][h3]Runic Card Names (until you discover them by drafting them)[/h3]

• [p]Yes, this is an intentional (but experimental!) change. You can find out the name of combat cards by drafting them for your units, which also adds them to your collection in the Codex.[/p]
• [p]Cards that have never been drafted before will now always show mythion runes instead of their actual name, even outside of the card draft screen.[/p]
• [p]Card tooltips will now show a reminder on how to reveal the card name as the top tooltip.[/p]

[h3]Changes[/h3]

• [p]Aurora Beam+ adjusted[/p]
• [p]Riptide buffed [/p]
• [p]Temporarily disabled a few more City events that could allow you to forget Lantern cards [/p]
• [p]Changed powered-up Lantern Researcher to only allow Lantern upgrades (and not Forgets)[/p]
• [p]Adjusted the Replace Card button visual for the Lantern Card Replace screen[/p]
• [p]Holding right mouse button on codex cards will now also show their upgrade preview when possible[/p]

[h3]Fixes[/h3]

• [p]Fixed an issue where the Shopkeeper wasn't restocking properly[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where cards in the unit inspection screen no longer showed their upgraded version when holding right mouse button down[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where the codex lantern page was not showing all possible lantern cards [/p]
• [p]Removed triple pulse VFX when hovering cards in hand[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where the Forgetfulness event could show a duplicate card for each side of the forget option[/p]
• [p]Fixed various additional City locations that could sometimes prevent your Envoys from returning to you [/p]
• [p]Fixed a crash bug[/p]

[p]Hail Wardens,

Update 3 for As We Descend is now live. This update has a substantial system rework, so your current runs in progress will NOT be compatible with the new patch!

This update focuses on a bit of different things than the previous two updates. Rather than being a major content adjustment or expansion, we've focused on core gameplay adjustments to the Lantern, better functionality on retreating, improved sense of existing content in the game, and a pass on balance for both cards and enemies.

[v.437055]
Changes are below, along with additional design notes.

[/p][h2]Steam Achievements[/h2]

• [p]There are now 5 Steam Achievements that can be unlocked.[/p]
• [p]They are not backwards compatible, so you'll have to satisfy their condition after this patch to unlock them.[/p]
• [p]We'll be adding additional Steam Achievements throughout Early Access as mechanics are solidified, and we can guarantee that an Achievement can be forward-compatible.
  [/p]

[h2]In-Battle Retreat[/h2][p]Design notes: As We Descend is not a game about winning every battle, it's about picking and choosing your engagements. A key to reinforcing that idea is the ability to retreat; retreating from expeditions is now more straightforward to use. While you can still retreat during the deploy screen if you think the encounter is unfavorable, you can test your luck in battle first before deciding to do a tactical retreat. Warning: In order to retreat, you'll have to do it before you play any cards for that turn, and your enemies will get to use one final action.[/p]

• [p]You can now retreat from battle during a battle[/p]
• [p]You can only retreat before you play any cards on a turn[/p]
• [p]In-Battle Retreat is unlocked alongside the deployment screen retreat option (after you unlock emergency power, and every run thereafter)[/p]

[p]
[/p][h2]Lantern Draft[/h2][p]Design notes: This change is quite a substantial deckbuilding change that causes Lantern cards to now be continuously replaced rather than added on. While this means early game Lantern decks are slightly larger at eight cards, they won't scale out of control into the later parts of the game. This is a more experimental change, so I'm going to keep an eye on how this one plays out.[/p]

• [p]Instead of drafting a new card for the Lantern, drafting new cards for the Lantern now replaces an existing card so you always stay at 8 cards[/p]
• [p]Several Market Events have been temporarily disabled (Dispersal, Size Quandary)[/p]
• [p]Several achievements have been adjusted accordingly so they don't add new cards, and instead replace existing Lantern cards (though the text descriptions may be slightly incorrect)[/p]
• [p]Shopkeeper, Atelier now sell Lantern Upgrades instead of Lantern Removals[/p]

[p]
[/p][h2]Units[/h2][p]Design notes: Unit and card changes are a mix of balance changes to some underperforming cards and the adjustments that come as a part of the Lantern Draft change. The Vanguard now starts with one fewer card, since the Lantern starts with one additional one.[/p]

• [p]New portraits/icons for Vanguard, Bombardier[/p]
• [p]Improved portraits/icons for most Guild units (Ranger, Shock Trooper, Chemist, Custodian, Cataphract, Herald, Navigator, Docent, Surgeon)[/p]
• [p]Vanguard no longer starts with Shield Slam[/p]
• [p]Forge Smith squad size increased from 2/4 to 3/5, and health per squad member decreased from 13 to 11[/p]
• [p]\[Votive] Lantern – Now starts with the additional new Aurora Beam attack x2[/p]
• [p]\[Guild] Lantern – Number of Flow Barriers increased from 4x to 5x[/p]

[p]
[/p][h2]Cards[/h2]

• [p]Enhanced Barriers cost decreased to [/p]
• [p]Oath of Thorns buff stacks increased from 3(4) to 4(6)[/p]
• [p]Thorn Skewer damage increased from 6(8) per hit to 7(10)[/p]
• [p]Whistling Spear damage increased from 6(10) +6(7) per zone to 8(12) +6(8) per zone[/p]
• [p]Well-Greased Engine barrier increased from 6(8) to 8(10)[/p]
• [p]Opening Salvo damage increased from 10 to 14[/p]

[p]
[/p][h2]Encounters[/h2][p]Design notes: Multiple enemies in various encounters have reduced health overall, with reduced base health and some percentage of that health being moved into scaling health. Scaling health denotes increased stats on enemies on higher Descension levels or when faced later in a Depth on a given run.[/p]

• [p]Hermitage (Depth 2: Hermit & 2x Vermin) made slightly easier[/p]
• [p]Sand Trap (Depth 2: 2x Spikers & 2x Debaser) made slightly easier[/p]
• [p]Death Watch (Depth 3: Assassin & 2x Watcher) only shows up on higher Descension[/p]
• [p]\[New] Deadly Silence (Depth 3: Assassin & Watcher)[/p]

[p]
[/p][h2]Enemies[/h2][h3]Dire Skitterling[/h3]

• [p]Base health reduced from 42-46 to 40-44[/p]
• [p]Stagger threshold slightly increased
  [/p]

[h3]Molter King[/h3]

• [p]Base health increased from 145 to 150[/p]
• [p]Increased visual size of weakpoints
  [/p]

[h3]Watcher[/h3]

• [p]Base Health reduced from 51-54 to 45-48[/p]
• [p]Scaling Health increased from 6 to 8[/p]
• [p]Gaze the Abyss intent (Unbroken Gaze debuff) cooldown increased from 1 to 2
  [/p]

[h3]Assassin[/h3]

• [p]Base Health reduced from 61-65 to 49-53[/p]
• [p]Scaling Health increased from 7 to 11
  [/p]

[h3]Molter Queen[/h3]

• [p]Molter Queen now appears visually flying when Flying buff is active[/p]
• [p]Blood Terroir now uses melee attack anim[/p]
• [p]Glamour now displays an Exhaust intent rather than Debuff intent (to match the effect)[/p]
• [p]Increased visual size of weakpoints[/p]

[p]
[/p][h2]The Codex[/h2]

• [p]The “Units” button can now be used to view units and cards![/p]
• [p]All units for all available origins can now be viewed, as long as you encountered the unit in-game[/p]
• [p]All cards for each unit can now be viewed, as long as you found the card in-game[/p]
• [p]As part of this change, cards now have mythion names until you draft them! [/p][p]
  [/p]

[h2]Settings Menu[/h2]

• [p]Fixed the issue where the Default button was clickable, but wouldn’t do anything[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where the game could become ultra-blurry upon exiting the settings menu[/p]
• [p]Updated the visuals of the menu[/p]
• [p]And a bunch of smaller bugfixes and QoL changes[/p]

[p]
[/p][h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]

• [p]Fixed issue where Envoys could disappear when used in certain City events[/p]
• [p]Fixed Battle Focus being self-target only instead of friendly target[/p]
• [p]Fixed Earthbreaker AOE not affecting all enemies[/p]
• [p]Fixed some French localization issues[/p]
• [p]Cards are less blurry when using a lower render resolution than display resolution[/p]
• [p]Fixed Death Moth's intent bubble positioning[/p]

[p]
Sincerely,
Kev and the Box Dragon team

P.S. This patch is a great time to jump into the game if you haven't already.
[dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]P.P.S. We've heard from a lot of people that they're interested in full Steam Deck support for the game. The game is already Steam Deck playable, though we're aiming to get it Steam Deck verified. It's ultimately up to Valve to decide which games are Steam Deck verified, but two major points will be controller support and appropriate button glyphs; we'll prioritize these things as we're able to. Thanks for your feedback![/p]

[p]Hey everyone,[/p][p]This is Kev with a bit of different news. Along with my co-founder Karl plus Anton from Coffee Stain Publishing, we’ve made a decision that we'd like to share with you. [/p]

• [p]After the current sale period, we are lowering the base price of As We Descend to the current discounted price of $19.99.[/p]
• [p]The change will take effect on October 6th at 10AM PDT/ 19.00 CET.[/p]
• [p]The price for other regions will also be adjusted accordingly.[/p]
• [p]This will be the new base price for the duration of Early Access, though we may revisit it with the launch of the future 1.0.[/p]

[p]Early Access is a time of iteration. We aim to make big changes if we think it can impact the final game experience in a positive way. During the launch, we saw comments mentioning the price as a cause for hesitancy. We’ve listened, and made this change as a result. This price adjustment will lower the barrier of entry and allow us to bring more people along for the ride and help us craft As We Descend to its full potential. Our existing community's support has truly been invaluable to us and we look forward to continuing developing together with players old and new. [/p][p][/p][p]As a small token of appreciation for everyone who’s been an early supporter of us and the game, everyone who bought As We Descend prior to the sale yesterday has received a free additional copy of the game to give to a friend or do with as they wish. This was added automatically to your Steam inventory yesterday, so you don’t have to do anything to receive it. (Some of you may have noticed this in your inventory already!)[/p][p][/p][p]Again, thank you for going on this journey with us. There’s much more to come in the future as we work our way to 1.0. In fact, we’ve got our next monthly patch for you tomorrow, so stay tuned.
[/p][p]Sincerely,[/p][p]Kev, Karl, and Anton[/p]

[p]Hej, Karl here.[/p][p]I'm cofounder of Box Dragon, and I mostly work on writing code for the game.

Today I step out of the shadows and replace Kevin's regularly scheduled fun updates with real talk and a reminder to take care of what's most important: your health, your family and your friends.

I know you were expecting an update to As We Descend this week. We tried, but with our personal struggles we just don't have enough exciting stuff ready. Don't worry, we're still working on the game; but this summer has had it out for both Kevin and me.

We had planned an alternating schedule for our glorious mandatory Swedish vacation time to always have someone preparing updates for you, albeit smaller ones. Unfortunately, illness slapped me hard and combo'd me out of vacation, and I'm just now getting back into the flow of things.

Kevin's had a family health emergency which had him back in the States for a while, and then last week he suffered a physical injury that's got him incapacitated. He's getting better, and if all goes well, you'll be reading his posts again in a week or so.

This summer had us thinking about our mortal selves, and how important it is to appreciate and nurture the good health of our own and those near us.

We know you've been patient with us during these struggles, and we don't take that for granted. We'll be back to regularly scheduled updates in September to bring you the best As We Descend that we can make.

I also want to thank you all for the feedback and bug reports that you've been sending in-game. We're up to about 800 submissions so far, and we read every single one. We've been addressing the most reported bugs and will continue to improve the game based on your input.

Stay healthy,
Karl[/p][p][/p]