Hot Experimental Update - The Bard

[h3]Welcome to the Grand After Show Party![/h3][p][/p][p]On 28th October, just two weeks shy, the bard and the new DLC “The Boglands” will arrive. As a preparation we’ll make the free update available on our Experimental Branch. Aside from the Bard it consists of several smaller changes and improvements, including performance improvements.[/p][p][/p][p]Experimental Update: 14th October[/p][p]Live Update Expected: 28th October [/p][p][/p][p]You can join the experimental branch by right-clicking Halls of Torment in your library and then going into the properties. From there: Betas -> Beta Participation -> experimental[/p][p]
[/p][h3]The Bard[/h3]

• [p]Will greet you for an encore after you’ve seen the outro cutscene.[/p]
• [p]If you have already beaten the game, the Bard will automatically arrive.[/p]
• [p]Along with the Bard there will be a new quest board.[/p]
• [p]The Bard’s Mark lets you select a Bard ability with any other character.[/p]

[p][/p][h3]Bard Abilities[/h3]

• [p]The Bard will have six unique abilities.[/p]
• [p]Each ability will be unlocked from the start.[/p]
• [p]You can unlock additional traits and upgrades through the quest board.[/p]
• [p]Each ability has 2 core upgrades and at least one upgrade related to a status effect.[/p]
• [p]Bard abilities are synchronized with the three new music tracks in the game.[/p]

[p][/p][h3]Metal Power[/h3]

• [p]When selecting the Bard, you must choose one of the three tracks to play with.[/p]
• [p]The beats of the music trigger the bard’s abilities.[/p]
• [p]When leveling up, the music becomes more intense.[/p]
• [p]It is possible to unlock the new tracks for all other characters.[/p]
• [p]On release we’ll add the new tracks to the OST.[/p]

[p][/p][h3]Other Changes[/h3]

• [p]In the “Settings -> Input Methods” a new option “Manual Trait Selection” can be found to change that level up screens open automatically so that they manually need to be triggered.[/p]
• [p]Added 6 new artifacts. 3 related to the bard and 3 new generic ones.[/p]
• [p]Some artifacts can now be obtained through quests.[/p]
• [p]Done a slight rebalancing of the Torment Ranks to have a less drastic increase per level. (Health x1.11 -> x1.09, Defense x1.10 -> x1.09, Movement Speed +1.5% -> +1.0%)[/p]
• [p]Changed that Ancient Signets add +50% Damage to specific abilities they apply.[/p]
• [p]Added rare Ancient Signets.[/p]
• [p]When a PS5 controller is connected, button prompts will swap to match the PS5.[/p]
• [p]Improved settings navigation via gamepad.[/p][p] [/p]

[h3]Bug Fixes[/h3]

• [p]Fixed an issue where pointers to collected objects would be still displayed even if it had been picked up.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue with discarding items during a run with the gamepad and also selecting marks with the gamepad.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where Damage, Health and Force would show the wrong buff amount for shard upgrades.[/p]
• [p]Fix: Master’s Vice artifact would not properly reduce the player’s Max Health.[/p]

[p][/p][p]Stay Fresh![/p]

• [p]Chasing Carrots[/p]

[p][/p][hr][/hr][p][/p][h3]Update 2025-10-15[/h3][p]First Hot Fixes[/p]

• [p]Green Goods Collector should now retroactively complete.[/p]
• [p]Meteor Strike should no longer crash the game when picking it.[/p]
• [p]Rare ancient signets would unlock the Morning Star upgrades when the base hasn't been taken before.[/p]
• [p]Bard's Dance traits would not grant an ability.[/p]

[p][/p][hr][/hr][p][/p][h3]Update 2025-10-16[/h3][p]More HoT Fixes[/p]

• [p]Hotfixes Part II:[/p]
• [p]"Unlimited Power"-Quest will automatically complete if there are enough shards on game start.[/p]
• [p]Confetti Canon and Pyrotechnics now respond to the ability opacity setting.[/p]
• [p]It was possible to have no items in a "guaranteed new item"-chest.[/p]
• [p]> If all common and uncommon items have been retrieved, rare items should now be available.[/p]
• [p]Bard music now keeps playing after the lords spawn[/p]
• [p]Wall of Death trait would apply -20 Base Damage to everything[/p]
• [p]Wall of Death now applies affliction and the stats should now raise properly.[/p]
• [p]Added Bard entry to the compendium.[/p]
• [p]Flame Strike and Radiant Aura can now destroy breackables.[/p]

[p][/p][p]Bog Fixes (not public yet)[/p]

• [p]Crone's plant quests now display proper requirements-[/p]
• [p]Telegraphed area of crones bomb plants matches the grow in area.[/p]
• [p]Undergrowth and Enlightenment abilities no longer show up in the bard ability pool.[/p]
• [p]Disabled the Regeenration Potion, wasn't meant to be in the game.[/p]
• [p]Increase death animation speed of bog beetles.[/p]
• [p]Other tweaks and balancing notches.[/p]