SpellRogue News

Today we're showing off one of the new features for the upcoming update: Game Modes!

NOTE: The above Modes & Modifiers are still under development and might be subject to change

At the top of the Game Mode menu is a list of presets of new interesting and challenging ways to play SpellRogue. The Game Modes affect how you build your character during a run, while some even modify the map, giving you a very different experience playing SpellRogue.

Under the hood each Game Mode is simply a list of Modifiers, which are shown below the modes. Using the "Custom" mode these modifiers are freely customizable, allowing you to to set up games exactly how you want to play! Experiment with weird and bonkers combinations, and challenge yourself and your friends to try combinations that are barely possible to win.



Coffee Stain and friends are putting on the streaming event “the SPILL” on October 8th with a bunch of fellow developers like Deep Rock Galactic, Satisfactory, Valheim and many more! We will be there talking about SpellRogue Update 5, the path to 1.0 and a few other interesting topics. So make sure to tune in - it's going to be a ton of fun!

To learn more, check out this video with Snutt from the Satisfactory Team, or head on over to the SPILL website to keep tabs on the schedule.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Finally, we are planning to run the open beta testing for Update 5 in the coming weeks, but we will let you know more in the next Steam post.

May your dice roll true 🧙
Tim, Thorbjørn & Paw

We are still hard at work on Update 5, and plan to start another public test in the near future. Meanwhile, we have updated our Roadmap to the full 1.0 release, so everyone can get a better sense of our current priorities.

A lot of you have been patiently waiting for the new playable character, so we’re happy to let you know we will be starting to implement it after Update 5! However, since this is a huge undertaking we are expecting it to first be ready at the full release of SpellRogue 1.0.

There are several other planned features, including a "True Ending" to the game, adding new and better enemies, as well as a lot of “quality of life” additions.

But without further ado, the revised Roadmap!



May your dice roll true 🧙
Tim, Thorbjørn & Paw

We have been happy to see that Update 4.1 and its changes to loadouts have been quite well received, so with that squared away, we have been working on the next update for the past couple of weeks. So today we’d like to reveal some of the things we have planned for Update 5!

Long before the age of man, a far greater presence roamed the earth. Now, deep within the murky swamps, the ancient remains of this forgotten being have been reawakened, infused with void magic by a meteor's shattered shard. What once was lifeless now stirs with a dark and unnatural power.



We’re in the process of adding another boss to The Deadwoods! Currently the Rib Cage debuffs your dice and lowers your damage output, while the Skull ramps up its Power and attacks every turn. We are still in the design process and will likely change the behavior somewhat. While it is an early boss and shouldn’t overwhelm players in terms of complexity, we believe there's room for some more unique mechanics to set the fight more apart so please let us know what you think!


We have long wanted to create more interesting Achievements, so for Update 5 we are adding a bunch more you can try your hand at. We’re also making a clearer distinction between achievements and unlocking content. This means the old "Vault" achievements that previously unlocked Artifacts are now simply Steam Achievements, to prove your mastery as a true Archmage.

Can you guess what some of the new achievements involve?

At the same time we are revising the unlock system: We felt the old system was needlessly complicated, so first of all we are replacing the old "Tomes"/"Vault” unlocks with a more intuitive set of challenges for unlocking the more complicated Spells, Artifacts and Rituals. We are also removing the "Gold Dice" token system and instead directly unlocking Loadouts and Wizards by leveling up characters.

We’re also making several improvements to the UI, including a new Overview-page that provides a better indication of your progress. The Collection menus have also been improved, with a better indication of Unlockable content and some rudimentary sorting features.

In development - still lots of things to improve!


A major focus of Update 5 will be improvements to the Difficulty/Mutation system. We believe the old system has some flaws that are worth addressing, so we are currently experimenting with different new approaches, but we will reveal further in upcoming posts.

Part of the improvements we are planning is a new/redesigned set of Mutators.

Another feature we are working on is the addition of Game Modes. One particular idea we are planning is “Turbo Mode”, intended for those that want a shorter and more compressed experience. We have several other ideas for different ways to play SpellRogue, but we will let you know more when we get closer to the release of Update 5.

One final thing: We're planning to start beta testing in the near future. However since the update is affecting progression we want to make sure the build is in a relatively stable state first. We will let you know more within the next few weeks.


May your dice roll true 🧙
Tim, Thorbjørn & Paw

Today's patch is not as big as our usual updates, hence the smaller version increment of 4.1. The focus of the update is addressing the recent feedback regarding Loadouts after they were simplified in Update 4. We added new unique starter Spells to each loadout once again, and in addition the “signature” Spell can now be upgraded, for finer control of synergies you are using in your runs.

The dice manipulating signature spells can now be upgraded to fit more strategies.

Each loadout now has a bit more unique identity, but we will likely continue to experiment with new options in character- and loadout (see Dev Blog #6: Loadouts for more).

Besides all this, we have also made some minor tweaks to the Sanctuary and Shop, rebalanced a few Spells and mutators, fixed bugs and some miscellaneous other things.

You can check out all the changes and new content added below!



[h2]General:[/h2]

• Added 18 new unique starter offense and defense spells to Loadouts.
  
• Signature Spells now have upgrades.
  
• Sanctuary “disenchant spell” option also heals for 20%.
  
• Shop: Artifacts incremental cost increase reduced: 50g -> 25g.
  
• Gold economy tweaked slightly.
  
• Redesigned Runes with "On gained X: +1 charge" to "On gained X: -2 countdown".
  
• Removed very slight chance for Pre-Runed spells in Act 1 drafts.
  
• Updated translations and localization.
  

[h3]Balance Changes:[/h3]
Spell (Earth) MULCH Sockets: [2-6] -> [ ]
Spell (Fire) CHARCOAL DAGGER Charges: 3 -> 4
Spell (Fire) ERUPTION Sockets: [3-6]=[3-6] -> [*12*]
Spell (Fire) ERUPTION Damage: 30 -> 25
Spell (Fire) ERUPTION+A Damage: 10 -> 7
Spell (Fire) INFERNO Sockets: [4-6] -> [3-6]
Spell (Fire) INFERNO Banefire: 4 -> 3
Spell (Fire) SOLARITY Sockets: [2-6] -> [ ]
Spell (Water) OVERCHILL Sockets: [Odd] -> [1-5]
Spell (Water) OVERCHILL Deplete fury: 4 -> 5
Spell (Water) TETHER AZUR+B '[ ][ ]' -> '[1-5][1-5]'
Enemy ORB OF INFINITY Action 3: Apply Dice Trap. -> Apply Wound Trap.
Mutator ARDUOUS Value: 3 -> 2
Mutator ARDUOUS+ Value: 5 -> 4
Mutator ARDUOUS++ Value: 7 -> 6
Mutator ARDUOUS+++ Value: 9 -> 8
Mutator BANEFUL Curse: 1 -> 2
Mutator BANEFUL+ Curse: 2 -> 3
Mutator CATACLYSM Damage: 30 -> 25
Mutator CATACLYSM+ Damage: 30 -> 25
Mutator CATACLYSM++ Damage: 30 -> 25
Mutator CATACLYSM+++ Damage: 30 -> 25
Mutator DIMINISHMENT+++ Value: 6 -> 7
Mutator ENGORGE Value: 8 -> 7
Mutator ENGORGE+ Value: 17 -> 16
Mutator FRAGILE+++ Value: 15 -> 13
Mutator HARMFUL TWOS Value: 12 -> 14
Mutator HUSH+++ Value: 8 -> 9
Mutator INHIBITION+++++ Value: 13 -> 11
Mutator OBSTACLE Block: 10 -> 12
Mutator OBSTACLE+ Block: 10 -> 12
Mutator OBSTACLE++ Block: 10 -> 12
Mutator OBSTACLE+++ Block: 20 -> 24
Mutator OFFERING Value: 2 -> 1
Mutator OFFERING+ Value: 5 -> 3
Mutator PERFORATING SIXES Value: 10 -> 12
Mutator SPINY+ Value: 5 -> 6
Mutator SPINY++ Value: 8 -> 9
Mutator STRAINING FOURS Value: 3 -> 2
Mutator TEMPEST++++ Value: 9 -> 10
Mutator TEMPEST+++++ Value: 10 -> 11
Mutator TEMPEST++++++ Value: 15 -> 16
Mutator TOXIC THREES Value: 12 -> 14
Mutator UNWIELDINESS Value: 4 -> 3
Mutator UNWIELDINESS+ Value: 7 -> 6

[h2]Bug fixes[/h2]
Hovering “End Turn” now shows charges being regained next turn (fixes some preview issues).
Fixed cases where combat preview was shown for random effects.
Fixed Unrestorable Spells able to get charge-Runes.
Fixed Liquify killing Undying enemies.
Fixed Stoneheart Amulet + Heavenly Acorn interaction.
Fixed Earthsong half dice affected by Manifold & Exalted Medallion.
Fixed Wound dice affecting Manifold & Exalted Medallion.
Fixed Runes with “on X gained” not triggering if Spell applies X.
Fixed Ritual and Artifact tiles not shown in Summary screen.
Fixed Earth Bane missing description highlight.
Fixed Twisted Scimitar refreshing instantly when ending turn.
Fixed Exalted Medallion & Manifold interaction, +1 added after x2 multiplier.
Fixed Malady playing animation when all spells depleted.
Fixed Epiphany not previewing targeted cast spell.
Fixed Artifact tile draft missing reroll option.


[h2]Upcoming changes[/h2]
A major focus of the following update will be meta-progression, as we will work on adding more ways to play (e.g. mutators/mutation stages, game modes, loadout customizations), and improve the unlock- and achievement system. There are a lot of other planned changes that we are still sorting out, but we will share more over the following weeks.

In other news, our small dev team is growing as we have officially hired our first full time employee this past week. Paw is joining the Guidelight Games team as a Gameplay Programmer, and will be helping us design and implement future content and mechanics!

Finally, a big thank you to everyone who participated in the Public Test and gave us feedback on the new loadouts, it helped us tremendously to get everyone's perspectives!


May your dice roll true 🧙

Tim, Thorbjørn & Paw!

We are opening up a Public Test on Steam today. The intent is to gather feedback and evaluate new content going into SpellRogue before releasing updates.

This first public test is going to be for the Update 4.1 which we explored ideas for in Dev Blog #6. We decided to focus on recreating interesting variants of the basic starter spells, and also give the signature spells upgrades which provide a starting point to build archetypes, better dice control and such. This means Signature spells are generally stronger and more versatile, but you will still need to make the decision to allocate one of your precious Shards. We know that some players still want more shards available, but we have chosen to not make changes on that front (for now).

[h2]Public Test for Update 4.1 (Loadouts)[/h2]

• Added 18 new unique starter offense and defense spells to Loadouts.
  
• Signature Spells now have upgrades.
  
• Sanctuary “disenchant spell” option also heals for 20%.
  
• Fixed Runes with “on X gained” not triggering if Spell applies X
  
• Fixed cases where combat preview was shown for random effects
  

[h2]Feedback and expectations:[/h2]
There is now a Public Test section on our Discord where we will be posting more info about any ongoing changes. It is also the place where you can give us feedback or just discuss the changes with fellow players. So please join and be an active part of SpellRogue’s future development!

We want to stress that edge case bugs and issues may show up during this test, but this is also partially why we run it in the first place. So let us know if you see anything out of place and we will get to fixing things before properly releasing the update!

[h2]How to Access the Public Test on Steam:[/h2]

1. Right click on SpellRogue in your Steam library, and click Properties.
   
2. Select the Betas tab and enter the password “imadebackups”
   
3. Select the ”public-test - for testing upcoming changes (unstable)” from the dropdown.
   
4. Let Steam update SpellRogue and then Run the game.
   

To opt-out of the public test later, simply choose “None” in the dropdown instead.

Please note: Opting-in/out of the Public Test will invalidate any currently active run, while all progression and unlocks is shared between the two versions. If you prefer to keep your current progression and/or active run, please make a backup of your save folder. (make a copy of the “SpellRogue” save folder at %userprofile%\AppData\LocalLow\Guidelight Games\SpellRogue)

This first Public Test is an experiment for us, but we hope to keep it running with continuous updates, to help us make more informed design choices.
Finally, a big thank you to everyone who reports bugs and provides us feedback. We are looking forward to hear what you think about these new loadout changes!

May your dice roll true 🧙
Tim & Thorbjørn