Dawn of Defiance News

Happy Early Q2, Defiers!

We know players have been waiting excitedly for news on Sisters of the Deep, and we hope this will answer your key questions for now! Starting with: when is the release?!

Sisters of the Deep is now coming in June! We originally intended to get you guys the update this month, but while working on the new content, we decided we needed to move-up changes we originally scoped for later updates, namely additional open world activities like fishing, plus improvements to the new player experience, such as better tutorialization and the Compendium (both which were discussed in our latest DevTalk). Similarly, we’re addressing some story/narrative changes with SotD to set ourselves up for success in the following updates. We know its disappointing to not get a new update this month, but ultimately, we think this will make SotD much more well-rounded and worth a new playthrough! You now will see this reflected on the roadmap!

To give you a glimpse at the work so far, please check out this video-chat with our art director Dwight and environment artist Josiah. They share the behind-the-scenes process working on the environments for the upcoming raid against the Gorgon Sisters in the Temple of Athena, specifically highlighting the first raid room and its exterior. You will get a look at the concept art for this room and a sneak peak of the implementation in-game! Hopefully this gives you an idea of the scale of the new locations coming your way (without spoiling the best bits)!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
With the new date, we’ll have more short previews in May that offer info on other features coming with Sisters of the Deep! Consider joining our Discord to chat with other players and get faster responses to your questions (plus, the “high-quality” deleted intro-reprise to the above video with our Community Manager Monday). Warning, it is not good.



Thank you for your continued support. It means a lot to us! We appreciate the patience for this first major update, so we can set the standard of quality for our roadmap and prove the effort and care we want to bring to Dawn of Defiance. Back in May, Defiers!

Happy March!

Today we have a new episode of our Developer Talk Series, where we sit down to chat about upcoming features on our roadmap! Monday chats with art director Dwight and designer Micah about what players can expect to be changed or improved between menus, widgets, and tutorialization. Here's a glimpse at the topics discussed:

• The current state of the game's UI
  
• Visions for quality of life changes
  
• Needed menu improvements
  
• Design decisions and the implementation process
  
• Visual alignment and art direction
  
• Improving the new player experience
  
• and the Compendium, the in-game "wiki" in development!

YouTube video includes chapters for skimming if preferred. Take a listen:
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
This Talk Series is here to provide transparency on our development in-between major updates, so if you're seeking more detailed information as you wait for Sisters of the Deep, check out the ongoing playlist, including our last two episodes covering character creator, biome-survival, and early access:
DoD Developer Talk Series

This will be the last episode before our behind-the-scenes deep dives for the upcoming Sisters of the Deep, our first major update on our roadmap that's still tracking for early Q2! Make sure to keep your notifications enabled and follow us on social to catch all the teasers!

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Hello Defiers!

Our minor patch this month brings you improvements to our current combat experience with new sword animations, better targeting, changes to ranges and timings, and various tweaks to smooth out multiplayer combat. These changes are to better align us with the major update coming in early Q2, so expect more improvements to combat in the future.

Here are the changes you will see today:



Published (2/7/25 @ 11:20am CT)
[h2]0.1.7.0 PATCH[/h2]
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[h3]Improvements[/h3]

1. Backend adjustments and bugfixes to smooth out player combat in a multiplayer setting, such as addressing client-based desyncs.
   
2. Reworked how enemy targeting works for melee combat
   
3. Added a chevron above your current target to denote who you are actively targeting
   
4. Enemy health bars have also been adjusted to be more responsive and remain visible if you hold that enemy as a target
   
5. New sword attack animations
   
6. Player combat animations, timings, and ranges for gap closing have been adjusted
   
7. Removed the "Gorgon’s Gaze" debuff. Debuff to be revisited when more combat improvements have been made.
   
8. Replaced the Soldier’s "Slow" debuff with "Weak."
   
9. Camera shake has been adjusted for certain scenarios, including the Skeleton spawn event

[h3]BUG FIXES:[/h3]

1. Fixed an issue where combo attacks could occasionally fail after a Sprint attack
   
2. Fixed an issue where certain attacks were still blocking Block and Dodge actions
   
3. Fixed an issue with knockback direction when hit with certain AOE attacks
   
4. Fixed an issue with Abandoned firing off multiple attacks at once
   
5. Fixed an issue with Gorgons entering a passive state when interrupted during combat
   
6. Fixed an issue that could cause the Golem’s boulder to explode prematurely
   
7. Fixed an issue where clients would experience screen shake if Skeleton spawns were triggered by other players
   
8. Fixed an issue with Stone Roofs displaying flickering textures when constructing

Please continue to report your bugs to our Feature Up-Vote! If you have questions about this patch, please visit our Discord or Steam Discussions. You can email [email protected] at any time.


UPDATE (2/7/25 @ 2:30pm CT)
[h2]0.1.7.1 HOTFIX[/h2]

We have submitted a follow-up hotfix to correct a broken "Harvester" quest that had snuck into the patch. If you created a new world since the patch this morning and discovered the broken Harvester quest, you will need to recreate the world after downloading the hotfix.
---

Besides hotfixes, our next update may be our first major content update "Sisters of the Deep!" We'll tease more about this throughout the next couple months. Get excited!

Thank you!

Hello, Defiers!

Wouldn't you believe it, we're already nearly a month into the new year! Our team is currently testing a small patch that will hit you within a couple weeks to continue smoothing out the combat experience. Progressing alongside this, we're deep in production of our Sisters of the Deep update coming early Q2. We're excited to start sharing more teasers of that content in coming months.

For now, we return to our audio series to discuss another feature of the roadmap! For your weekday listening, check-out this episode where community manager Monday chats with Game Director Tony and Art Director Dwight about "biome-based survival," as well as some general thoughts surrounding Early Access. The YouTube video is marked with chapters for anyone looking to skim! In this episode, we address:

• Our thought process around picking features for our roadmap, and how we use player feedback without losing vision for our game.
  
• Why select features are or aren't on our roadmap.
  
• Why we chose to structure our updates around the biomes.
  
• How physical map changes may affect existing players.
  
• Our PvE design for biomes and teasing environmental hazards
  
• The purpose of the locked portion of the map.

We started this series to help you all have a better understanding of our vision for each planned roadmap feature and to provide transparency on our development in between major content updates. So if you are itching for info, please take a listen:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
In coming days, I will post a forum on Reddit, a thread in Discord, and a discussion post here on Steam to source questions for our next episode's talking point. If you want to toss our developers a question, please join us in those places so you can be notified.

If you enjoy this episode, check out our last conversation: Devs Talk Character Creator.

Beyond that, we will be back with the next patch in coming weeks. Stay tuned.
Thank you,

-- Traega Monday

Hello Defiers!

Today, the Steam Winter sale begins, and you can grab Dawn of Defiance for a whole 50% (FIFTY PERCENT) off for the next two weeks only! That's $9.99! Make sure to tell your friends and family!



[h2]Developer Talk Series[/h2]

To celebrate the Winter sale, let's kick off our Developer Talk Series! We've seen plenty of questions following our roadmap announcement, and we want to help you all have a better understanding of our vision for each planned feature and otherwise provide transparency on our development, so community manager Monday will be chatting with the developers in an ongoing audio series, one topic at a time! Our first conversation covers character creator, its progress and challenges! Take a listen here: Developers Talk Character Creator

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Our next episode will touch on early access and biome-based survival. If you have questions you'd like me to ask our developers specifically related to those two topics, please leave them in the linked thread ( open until tomorrow afternoon ONLY) and I will try to have them covered. Steam Discussions Thread

[h2]Other Community Notes[/h2]

Also! Temple Trackers returns for Winter! Join us for a latest build challenge where we create a mountainous tower for the cold wind god Boreas. Please read the details in our Discord. This link will take you directly to the post, but it will only work for existing Discord members. If not a member, use this all access link.

Lastly, prepare your best Poseidon memes! This Saturday marks the Winter Solstice, a time when the Ancient Greeks would celebrate Poseidon. Discord XP will be awarded to participating Defiers who DISHONOR Poseidon on this special holiday. More details will be shared in Discord on the 21st!