Update 0.6a - The Arcanum Obscura Update - is Now Live!

[h2]Key changes:[/h2]

• Magic and spells have been revised and expanded (see below)
  
• The HUD has been revised and expanded (see below)
  
• All playable characters and NPCs have updated portraits (and their in-game appearance has been updated to match)
  
• The Barbarian and the Rogue have been removed from the game - they will return as part of the Mighty Weapons and Dual Wielding content updates after the Early Access launch (respectively)
  

[h3]Magic changes[/h3]

• Pyromancy has been revised and contains 6 spells: Firebolt, Fireball, Ignition, Bonfire, Fireforge, and Mantle of Fire
  
• Cryomancy has been revised and contains 6 spells: Snap Freeze, Winterchill, Iceshatter Mine, Blizzard, Frozen Needles, and Mantle of Frost
  
• Tempestry has been revised and contains 6 spells: Step of the Wind, Static Spark, Lightning Bolt, Wind Blast, Sparkdash, and Thunderstorm
  
• Divination has been revised and contains 6 spells: Starlight, Starsight, Cartography, Intuition, Clarity, and Astral Projection
  
• Iasotrophy has been revised and contains 6 spells: Heal, Regeneration, Bolster, Inoculate, Blightbolt, and Toxic Mist
  
• Most spells can now be "charged up" to cause a "better" version of the effect with different properties
  
• Charging up spells causes your character to chant, which is audible to nearby enemies
  
• If your spell is disrupted before it is properly unleashed, it is "disrupted" and appropriate effects indicate that you lost the charge
  
• Spells that create an effect at a target spot can be more precisely placed with a mouse
  
• More effects now have magical auras that can be percieved
  
• Magical auras now (once revealed) can display text that explains what a given effect or aura "does"
  
• Spell Tomes are now held items that passively increase your knowledge of a selected spell while equipped held
  
• There is no longer a way to spend Vitae to permanently learn a spell; this feature will return in an upcoming update that will revise character progression
  
• There are now additional popup tutorials explaining the above during gameplay
  
• "Heroism" invocations - Battlecry, Flicker Dodge, etc - have been removed from the game and will be reworked in a later update.
  

[h3]HUD changes[/h3]

• The look and feel of the on-character menu + HUD has been entirely redone
  
• Your player character's portrait now appears in the HUD "root menu"
  
• There is a new on-character submenu - "Invocations" - that explains the effects of all invocations a player currently has access to (including those castable from items)
  
• There is a new on-character submenu - "Active Effects" - that shows a description of any active status effects/debuffs on your character
  
• Buffs/sustained effects are now dispelled via the "Active Effects" menu
  
• Status bars/icons now appear above the player during active gameplay
  
• The HUD is now colorized with your player color
  
• You can now change your player color during character select
  

[h3]Other Changes:[/h3]

• Invocation order and focused carried item/invocation now properly persists between levels
  
• Bleed is now more dangerous
  
• Bloodfly clouds now apply bleed at a much faster rate
  
• Shock now damages entities that have negative lightning defense (such as from metal armor)
  
• The gates of the cages in the Prologue can no longer accidentally trap the player
  
• The shortcut in the Prologue can no be opened from the other side of the wall
  
• Knight Lossaire no longers cares about allies outside the boss arena
  
• Map generation should be more tolerant of rare errors
  

This is actually a giant update that brings the core game much closer to the "final" state for Early Access! Go give it a try!