Keeper's Toll News

Hi Everyone,

Build 0.5.11 is Live, and with it comes a bunch of improvements to the game. There's a lot to discuss so let's begin with some major points:

[h2]PERFORMANCE[/h2]

As of version 0.5.11, The game runs very well, even on low end machines and the Steam Deck. We've made some huge performance boosts with some recent changes. If you feel you are getting some FPS drops below 60 on your device just go into Options and disable damage text and this should resolve the problem. In the future, we'll continue to optimize the game so you don't have to do this on low end hardware, but for now this will solve any issues.

[h2]SAVE DATA[/h2]

In the next major update we'll be updating some game settings, so we wanted to inform players ahead of time to make sure their data is up to date. If you haven't played the game since it launched in Early Access or prior to version 0.4.20 then you will probably sign in sometime in the future to realize your data is apparently gone. It's not actually "gone" but could be missing due to some changes we're going to make. Anyone who has played the game within the past month will not be affected by our upcoming changes.
There is a problem with Steam Cloud syncing if you play on multiple machines. We have threads on this in the forums. We've even filed a bug report with Valve as we believe there may be an issue with Steam Auto Cloud and certain directories in Windows. We have a workaround should you run into any issues while playing the game on multiple devices and can be found in the forums. The next update will address this issue.

[h2]PATCH NOTES[/h2]

Here's what's new in version 0.5.11

- Ranger: Arrow Volley skill has been revamped. The attack is no longer a line attack, instead it's now a targeted AOE attack with high damage. Arrows will rain down in a circular formation inflicting high AOE damage.

- Ranger: Kiting Mode is now off by default, but can still be toggled on at any point during gameplay

- Usvit Depths: Tombs and Statues are now destructible and will drop souls

- Drop rate of purple souls from destroying objects such as Gravestones has been increased from 20% to 50%

- Performance Boost: Revised text and tweening systems to boost performance with damage text and enemy death logic

- Bug Fix: Corrupted Souls Curse should no longer be drawn in to the player unless already in transit before the color switched

- Added checks to Corrupted Souls Curse that should enable proper sync with all souls in the scene

- Bug Fix: When pressing A / Confirm on the Items menu while the Ranger is active, Kiting Mode will not be toggled until gameplay is fully resumed

- Sorted effects icons above enemy heads so they don't overlap

- Adjusted enemy damage text positioning to improve readability

- Code refactoring


[h2]COMING SOON[/h2]
For the remainder of version 0.5.x we will be adding the following content to the game:

[h3]Merchant/Items[/h3]



We're getting close to releasing the Merchant, Likho, into the game. The Merchant will provide the next leap forward in the game's core gameplay loop as dozens of new items will be on offer for players to purchase throughout their runs. There will be 3 tiers of items: common, uncommon and rare. We will be rolling out the Merchant / Item system in multiple phases. We hope to launch Phase 1 by the end of next week. This will include common and uncommon items that the merchant will sell. It's time to put all that gold you've been saving to work! Phase 2 will include rare items and phase 3 will include items that can also drop within the game world itself as we revamp and add more additions to the environments.

[h3]Hard Mode[/h3]

After the Merchant is in we will be adding a Hard Mode for each stage. Once you complete the stage on regular difficulty you will unlock a hard mode version of that stage which is, well, harder to say the least. There will be many new encounters as well as modifications to existing enemies and mechanics in Hard Mode. It will not be easy. It will not be for everyone and is not required to complete the game. But there are special encounters and bosses that you won't find anywhere else and they will be challenging. Putting together an awesome build and utilizing the Merchant/Item system will be very crucial to winning this mode. We will be rolling out the Hard version of Linden Forest and later Usvit Depths.

[h2]JUNE CONTEST [/h2]
There is still time to enter!



Want to design an Elite for our next environment of the game: Castle Usvit?

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2002220/view/3683427732701626663?l=english

Read about the contest and submit your idea today for a chance to win some prizes, including your design added to the game + a Steam Gift Card! You have until July 1 to submit.

We would like to thank everyone for joining us on our adventure through Early Access. There is loads more to come and we look forward to continue building the game with you all.

Stingbot

Hi Everyone,

Build 0.5.9 is Live. Here's what's new:

- New Curse: Heretic's Embrace

- New Curse: Torches (Usvit Depths only)

- New Achievement: Max Ranger Talents

- Ranger: Burst Shot Active Ability has been revamped. It now shoots out a burst of arrows in a cone
shape in front of the ranger. Upgrades increase arrow count and large boosts to effects at later ranks

- Ranger: Removed Poison Ivy Passive Ability

- Ranger: Modified Active Ability: Nature's Snare. Upgrades now inflict poison damage as well as slow

- Ranger: Created a new Passive Ability: Emberdust. Burst Shot and Explosive Trap will now inflict a delayed secondary burst of damage when this passive is active

- Ranger: Improved collision detection with the Quick Shot Arrow

- Ranger: Minor tweaks to balance skills and talents damage output

- Ranger: Revised Multi Shot Passive. Double Shots will now inflict 2x base Quick Shot damage. Triple shots will now inflict 3x base Quick Shot Damage

- Ranger: Fixed an issue with Burst Shot collisions sometimes not triggering on specific mobs

- Ranger: Burst Shot and Soul Arrow wind ups will now change direction to face the player's look direction, until the shot is fired

- Necromancer: Fixed a bug with Bonecaster. All ranks now spawn correct. Also reduced initialization time by 1 second

- All bosses are now immune to knockback

- Usvit Depths: Improvements and optimizations to the enemy spawn system

- Usvit Depths: slightly lowered HP for the fire mage, spectral sword and beggar enemies

- Bug Fix: Necromancer: Effigy will now properly inflict damage against enemies

- Bug Fix: Mimic should no longer attack when stunned. attack timer will now be reset

- Bug Fix: Poison Shroom can no longer spawn a poison cloud, if dead

- Poison Shroom now plays SFX when emitting his poison cloud

- Bug Fix: Boss Souls will no longer spawn out of bounds in Usvit Depths

- Bug Fix: When speed powerup is active and player levels up and upgrades speed, the powerup boost will no longer be deactivated

- Bug Fix: when spamming enter at game startup, the game would take you to a failed to load page and shut down the game. This has been fixed and will not occur if the data is loaded correct

- Modified Audio Management system to add a slight cooldown on audio clips to prevent multiple clips of the same type to overlap and play at the same time

- Improved enemy navigation when hitting obstacles

- Code refactoring


We have a seemingly endless list of requests/fixes that we're contsantly working on knocking down, while we continue to add new content. If you have any requests, bug reports or suggestions, please don't hesitate to reach out to us.

[h2]Coming Soon[/h2]

We'll be releasing a Merchant/Item system to the game with all sorts of unique items players will be able to purchase during runs to enhance their experience. We are going to roll this system out in phases. More details to come in the next week or 2!

[h2]June Contest[/h2]
Just 1 week left to enter our Design an Elite for Castle Usvit Contest! Prizes up for grabs, and we'd love to see some more submissions, despite the great entries so far:

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2002220/view/3683427732701626663?l=english

Thanks for following along and showing your support as we continue development on Soul Survivors.

Stingbot

Hi Everyone. Due to the number of requests to control the Ranger classic style (same as Bogatyr and Necromancer), we added an in-game Toggle feature to do so. You can toggle "Kiting Mode" on/off at any time during the game now simply by pressing "A" on your controller, Spacebar or Right Mouse. Although we designed to her to keep distance and focus on long range, we understand the controls feel awkward for some of you, and so I wanted to push this out early this week as opposed to later in the week. There will be another build coming later in the week as well, with lots more ability modifications, bug fixes, and improvements to come! We have some new passives coming for Bogatyr, Necromancer and Ranger, and some new Curses too. There's lots to come, and we'll continue to roll out changes in several updates over the coming weeks. After this, we'll be adding in the Merchant/Items system. It's fully designed and we are now working on all of the Art assets to put it together. Lots of cool features to come.

Here's the full release notes for the latest build (0.5.3):

- Ranger: Players can now toggle between 2 movement modes: Kiting and Regular movement. This can be toggled on/off at any time during gameplay by pressing the Action Button (Controller button A, SpaceBar or Right Mouse)
- Update text description for the Ranger on character select screen
- Usvit Depths: Bug Fix on Velya Fight where blue fire FX was not properly deactivating, or some fire was being left active when it shouldn't have been
- Ranger: Summon Wolf collision detection improvements
- Ranger: Fixed a bug where exploding traps were auto-detonating during Velya boss fight
- Bug Fix: some incorrect gameplay settings were being applied during Warden Grainloch fight when Ranger was active character
- Bug Fix: SFX no longer can be played over and over again when spamming the play button on level select
- Ranger: Fixed a bug with Burst Shot where it wouldn't explode at close range from the player
- Added some gold sparkles to the bonus gold text on the end round menu
- Ranger: Elites will now be marked as targets based on enemy level, to match game difficulty
- Linden Forest: - Poison Shroom Elite's poison cloud hitbox will no longer linger on the battlefield longer than the graphic is present
- Warden Grainloch - Can no longer be knocked back

Lots more to come! Feel free to reach out with any questions or feedback. We document everything and we're always working through a huge list. Expect another build towards the end of this week with some nice improvements and new features!

Stingbot

Hi everyone,

Thank you for all the feedback on our latest update! I wanted to push a small update out that addressed a few things mainly for the Ranger. There will be a lot more in next week's build, but I just wanted to get this live for the time being. Enjoy!

- Ranger: When mouse hovering above the skills on the pause menu, the correct ability names and descriptions will now be displayed
- Ranger: Fixed a rare bug when loading a marked target into the world that would spawn incorrect enemy types
- Ranger: Soul Arrow should no longer consume red souls while the Corrupted Souls curse is active
- Ranger: Updated ability text descriptions
- Ranger: Reduced the idle time needed to set an explosive trap by 15%
- Sacrifices altars will no longer deactivate if the player declines to sacrifice health
- Usvit Depths: Albino Gator - Reduced damage by 10% and attack range by 25%

Stingbot

Hello, fellow adventurers!

Exciting news awaits in the realm of Soul Survivors! We’ve just achieved a major milestone in our Early Access journey with the arrival of version 0.5.0. This update brings you an all-new character class: The Ranger. If you thrive on lightning-fast heroes armed with rapid-fire skills, then the Ranger might be for you.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Our character classes are akin to those found in classic RPGs like Diablo, each boasting a distinctive play style. No sharing abilities, mechanics, talents, or stats between characters.

Unlike the Bogatyr and Necromancer, the Ranger operates by an entirely different set of rules. As a seasoned archer, she relies on maintaining a safe distance from her foes due to her relatively lower health and defense. Attempting to wield her like a Bogatyr would only lead to imminent defeat. However, when played to her strengths, the Ranger becomes an unstoppable force of nature.

Swift and fearless, the Ranger moves with unparalleled agility, deftly evading danger while laying traps and peppering enemies with an unrelenting barrage of arrows. With her unique attack style, she tactically positions herself to engage foes from afar, ensuring precision and distance as she obliterates her targets.

Unlock a plethora of talents that elevate your gameplay experience, such as the ability to track down marked targets and take them out for a temporary cooldown boost.

Embrace the thrill of the hunt as the Ranger takes Center stage in Soul Survivors. We look forward to seeing what you all think about our new class. Feel free to discuss in the forums, or join our Discord server and never hesitate to reach out to us. We read everything and do our best to respond to everyone.

Version 0.5.0 also brings a large amount of QoL improvements, fixes and balancing updates.



- Rerolls will now take into account previously omitted abilities, improving the odds of getting the ability you desire

- Added a Gold Bonus to the End of Round based on time survived

- Further modifications/improvements to the collisions system to boost performance

- Fixed an issue where the hitboxes for some Elite Attacks were being left active for too long after the attack took place

- Reduced HP and DMG of Bilee by 10%

- Reduced Movement Speed of Chancellor Autlaic by 15%

- Reduced HP of Chancellor Autlaic by 10%

- Reduced Damage Output of Chancellor Autlaic by 40%

- Reduced HP of Velya by 5%

- Reduced DMG of Flesh Golem by 10%

- Reduced HP of Warden Grainloch by 10%

- Reduced HP of Warden Grainloch's Druids by 40%

- Bogatyr: Boosted Quick Strike Damage by 20%

- Bogatyr: Boosted Butcher's Blade Damage by 15%

- Fixed a rare bug where the level up panel would not fully initialize before the game is paused

- Improved stump mimic transition spawn logic

- Added a shadow to the Firebomb

- Necromancer: Increased Skeleton Enemy targeting range by 5%

- Necromancer: Boosted skeleton pet damage against all bosses by 5%

- Necromancer: Boosted Flesh Pile drop rate chance during Chancellor Autlaic Fight by 20%

- Necromancer: Slightly increased the Soul collection range of the Skeletons

- Modified the coin burst effect, boosting performance

- Slowed the dmg rate for the Open Wound Curse by 20%

- Reduced the Wiggle requirement to break free of Bloodsap's Root Traps by 33%

- Increased Flesh Golem's short range strike attack cooldown from 2 seconds to 3 seconds

- Added an extra check to ensure enemy projectiles cannot collide with the player more than once in a single frame

- Fixed the fog covering Chancellor Autlaic to fill the screen space on 16:10 Displays (Includes Steam Deck)

- Modified various UI elements to properly support 16:10 Aspect Ratios (Includes Steam Deck)

- Fixed an index check issue for screen resolutions if monitor has changed since the last startup

- Fixed a bug to prevent player from leveling up if game state is not registered in a play state

- If an enemy is killed by the Necromancer's Invoke Fear talent and the souls curse is active and a soul is hazardous, it will no longer be consumed and inflict damage on the player

- Fixed a bug with the mimics that was applying an incorrect amount of HP

- Various text updates






Don’t forget, we are running a contest for the month of June. Design an Elite for our next environment, Usvit Castle, and enter for a chance to win some prizes! Submissions can be made via the contest thread or in Discord. Check out the contest page for more details.

CONTEST PAGE



There’s a lot more to come in version 0.5.x moving forward, including the Merchant/Items system, new Curses, new features, and lots more requests. We plan to continue to release at least 1 new build every week. If you have already made a request to us, please understand we have noted it. There’s been a lot of requests and we’ll work things in as we continue development in Early Access. There’s much more to come and we’re excited to build Soul Survivors, together!