Update #4: “Umbraxis, the Great Lindwyrm”
Greetings Dice Slingers,
Today we are releasing Update #4 for SpellRogue!
This is a big one, with major structural and mechanical changes, new exciting content and a bunch of quality of life improvements across the game.
Our primary focus has been on enhancing the late-game experience by increasing build variety and making player choices more compelling and impactful.
[h2]Umbraxis the Great Lindwyrm[/h2]
The face of the update is the addition of our new Void boss, Umbraxis the Lindwyrm!
[previewyoutube]https://youtu.be/RBIYhZet16Y[/previewyoutube]
The Wyrm joins the pantheon of Void Gods, with a unique new battle to test your skills against. The primary mechanic is his summoned hands. These limbs damage the body once killed much like the Desert Hydra. Beware though, as Umbraxis will re-summon increasingly stronger hands. As you can imagine, Area of Effect or single target nukes are great for bursting down hands with their limited health and thus avoiding their attacks. So make sure you plan and adjust your strategy in Act 3 once you know which Void God you’re up against!
[h2]Spell overhaul and Runes[/h2]
To reiterate the previous dev post, we have made major changes to the balance of Spell rarity and added “Runes” as a modular upgrade system on top.
The important thing to note is that higher rarity spells are now generally stronger than their common counterparts, and that rare Spells are more likely to show up in the drafts of later acts. Sometimes Spells even come with a Rune already slotted in!
The goal is to give more incentive to change your build throughout the game and let Spells continue to be viable options into the late game. Combined with Runes, things should feel more dynamic than ever!
[h2]Loadout changes[/h2]
We streamlined loadouts so that wizards use the same starting attack and block Spells for all 4 of their loadouts. The unused starter spells have instead been converted to common spells available in standard drafts. We are planning further changes for additional loadout customization down the road, but didn’t manage to get it ready for update 4.
We feel like this is not a major change as the affected starting spells are still something you are not intended to keep for long, so it felt unnecessary that each starting spell pair was unique. We also redesigned and balanced a few signature spells to fit the new structure.[h2]Effect changes[/h2]
We have taken a look at a few of the existing mechanics and made them slightly less predictable. We feel that elements of randomness are important to keep players thinking and not just cycling through the same line of spells each turn!
An example is the (somewhat hidden) mechanic of increasing dice value over 6. Previously, we would simply generate another dice with the overflow value, and thus were a very predictable way of generating additional dice with certain values.
We have now changed the “overflow” to instead split the dice in question. This means that if the value would total 7, it is split into 2 dice of random values that total 7 (2 and 5 for instance). While this takes a few runs to get used to, it is way more fun to gamble on what dice you will be getting, and it has the added benefit of splitting an enchanted dice into multiple dice.
We have also made some changes to Spell effects to have more unique effects and combos, and to avoid relying too heavily on Power (at least for Water and Fire). As an example, more Water spells now have “Rain” (which now triggers on dice rolls), and “Hailstorm” being permanent for the combat. There’s more but this post is already long enough so we will let you explore those on your own.
[h2]Map changes[/h2]
We made some changes to map tiles in an attempt to make the path you take more interesting. Maps are slightly shorter with less battles overall. Shards are now given from Elites but Elites are somewhat more difficult, and Shards slightly less important to pick up.
The map generation algorithm has also been improved to avoid unlucky map rolls affecting your run too much.
Sanctuary has been simplified and has the option of “rerolling” a Spell.
Shops have been slightly reworked, with Artifacts replaced with a “choose 1 of 3 artifacts” option.
Random events now often has the option of adding Runes to your Spells.[h2]Balance and difficulty![/h2]
There are tons of changes that affect balance in this update. This means that the game can feel a fair bit more difficult, and although we spent a lot of time balancing there is likely still some overpowered/underpowered Spells and combos. We will continue tweaking content according to player metrics and the feedback you provide us on Discord and the Steam forums.
We are really happy with this direction for SpellRogue and are having a lot of fun playing our game, but we hope you can forgive us if we broke your favorite mechanic or Spell. Please do let us know though!
You can check out all the changes and new content added below!
SpellRogue 0.9.4:
“Umbraxis, the Great Lindwyrm”
“Umbraxis, the Great Lindwyrm”
[h2]General:[/h2]
New Act 3 boss: Umbraxis, the Great Lindwyrm!
New Rune mechanic: Modular upgrades to spells!
Major overhaul of Spells!
9 new Spells, 2 new Artifacts, 1 new Potion, 7 new Mutators!
Spells: Rare Spells more powerful but less frequent in early game
Spells: Rebalanced and reworked Spells to have more unique effects and useful upgrades.
Spells: “Loadouts” now only change the signature Spell.
Potions: Rare Potions more powerful.
Rituals: Rebalanced and added additional actions to some Rituals.
Enemies: Rebalanced some combat encounters and made Elites more challenging.
Mutators: Initial Mutation selection can now be rerolled once.
Mutators: Rebalanced and reworked several mutators.
Mechanics: Redesigned Vex, Hailstorm, Rain, Lifesteal, Icy.
Mechanics: Increasing dice values over 6 now splits the dice randomly.
Map: Slightly shorter maps and improved tile placement algorithm.
Map: Removed random Shard tiles and moved Shard to Elites.
Map: Added random Artifact tile to each act and free Shard tile to act 1.
Map: Sanctuary reworked slightly and forced one before bosses.
Map: Ritual removed from bosses and added free Ritual to start of act 2.
Map: Also added random Ritual tile in act 2 and 3.
Map: Shop Spell costs increased especially for rare Spells and Potions, added guaranteed rare Potion, replaced Artifacts with Artifact draft with increasing cost.
Map: Start with more gold (30->50) and increased gold from combats in act 2 and 3.
Map: Increased draft reroll cost 15->20.
Map: Spell drafts now exclude Spells you have already seen.
Map: Rebalanced and reworked some random events.
QOL: Increased gameplay speed: Quicker dice rolls and visual effects. (We’re still planning to add additional ways to speed the game up for veterans.)
QOL: Added tooltips for a few previously unexplained mechanics and keywords.
QOL: Added "Are you sure?" dialog when leaving Shop.
QOL: Improved and streamlined descriptions for some Spell/Artifact/Mutator/etc. effects
[h2]Bug fixes:[/h2]
Fixed Reinforce applying block multiplier before Sap/Fortfiy.
Fixed Elemental Overdrive Ritual not displaying increased status effect on some Spell.
Fixed Spell Echo + Concoction interaction.
Fixed Spell Echo showing previews for random effects in some cases.
Fixed controller "inspect mode" not working in combat in some cases.
Fixed controller tile selected resetting when opening and closing menu.
Fixed Malady triggering before e.g. Barrier applied.
Fixed Sight Shield + Ossuary's Touch interaction.
Fixed some cases where effects applied to invalid Spell targets.
Fixed Golem action not showing preview of incoming damage.
Fixed Finger of Justice not applying Dazed to all hits.
Fixed back button missing when selling spells in shop in some cases.
Fixed some cases where random effects were shown in previews.
Fixed Lifelink not canceled by Nullify
Fixed some Spells not showing glowing/disabled description when requirement fulfilled
[h2]Full Changelog[/h2]
For the full changelog please visit our Discord or the SpellRogue website, as 20ish pages is too long to fit in this steam post!
[h2]Final Thoughts[/h2]
All of this obviously changes the game dramatically, which is why we are expecting to make a small “companion balance update” fairly soon to address the biggest issues we may have overlooked in the beta testing.
For the future, we do not expect to be making as big structural and mechanical changes to the game, and are instead going to be focusing on tweaking other non-core aspects of the game such as progression, unlocks, achievements (The 45 minute speedrunning one comes to mind), game modes and the Mutation difficulty system in the coming months.
We think update 4 is a ton of fun with the improved flexibility of Runes along with the new boss, but do let us know if there are aspects that you don’t like or think are a poor experience. We will continue to evaluate or roll back things if necessary!
May your dice roll true 🧙
Tim & Thorbjørn
Runes are found in random events and occasionally in Spell drafts.
Some Spells have been reworked to provide more interesting effects and different ways to use them.
Some upgrades, status effects and dice enchantments have been reworked to open up for alternative playstyles.
Certain strong Spells have gotten more specific dice requirements.
We even redesigned a few Signature Spells.
Many Rituals are now usable at intervals with different effects and added choices.
Shards are now randomly placed on the map as well. There’s even an occasional Ritual Tile.
Ending turn with available dice now also destroys the unused ones!
These poor Imp’s act as the vessel of the Master’s fiery magic.
Examples of some of the new event artwork being added.