Backpack Battles News

[h2]Hey everyone,[/h2]

It’s time for another patch! It’s the first week where Pyromancers were not on top of the charts, so rejoice, Pyromancer players, there won’t be major nerfs for you this time.

While this does not mean that class balance is perfect, we are getting closer. This patch will mostly focus on subclass balance now and start a journey to get them all viable!

Found a bug or just want to talk about the game? Join our Discord server!

[h2]Patch Notes for 0.9.6 - Balancing Changes[/h2]
[h3]Neutral[/h3]

• Rainbow Badge: Activation delay 6s -> 7s
  
• Stone Badge: Item value 2g -> 1g
  
• Skull Badge: Cooldown 3s -> 2.5s
  
• Flame Badge: Heat 2 -> 3
  
• Magic Staff: Cooldown 2.0s -> 1.8s
  
• Hero Longsword: Damage +2
  
• Falcon Blade: Cooldown 1.9s -> 1.8s
  
• Stone: Cooldown 3.2s -> 3s
  

[h3]Pyromancer[/h3]

• Dragon Nest: Luck 3 -> 2, Heat 3 -> 2
  
• Dark Lantern: Debuffs 7 -> 8
  
• Friendly Fire: Heat required for 100 damage 80 -> 70
  
• Flame Whip: Stamina Cost 1.7 -> 1.5
  
• Staff of Fire: Damage gain 5 -> 6, base damage -2
  

[h3]Berserker[/h3]

• Brass Knuckles: Cooldown 2.3s -> 2.5s
  
• Chain Whip: Cooldown 2.2s -> 2.3s
  
• Anvil: Damage bonus 1 -> 2, stamina bonus 3% -> 4%, number of
• slots 9 -> 7
  

[h3]Ranger[/h3]

• Yggdrasil Leaf: Number of
• slots reduced from 10 to 8
  
• Piercing Arrow: Block removal 10 -> 15
  
• Big Bowl of Treats: Food speed bonus 10% -> 15%
  
• Belladonna's Shade: Damage 2-3 -> 2-6
  

[h3]Reaper[/h3]

• Nocturnal Locklifter: Vampirism 3 -> 4, lifesteal per Vampiric item 7 -> 8
  
• Mr. Struggles: Bonus trigger speed 100% -> 120%
  
• Miss Fortune: Cooldown 1.8s -> 3.0s, buffs gained 2 -> 3
  
• Snake: Cooldown 2.6s -> 2.5s
  
• Cauldron: Mana 4 -> 5, Heat 4 -> 5
  
• Staff of Unhealing: Heal 16 -> 18
  
• Reverse!: Buff Steal 2-> 3
  
• Jimbo: Random buffs 5 -> 6
  
• White-Eyes Blue Dragon: Cold 3 -> 4
  

[h2]Fixes and Other Changes[/h2]

• Death Scythe now affects Dark Lantern
  
• Item library now uses icons for classes
  
• Moved reroll rope up so it does not cover larger items
  

[h2]Hi everyone![/h2]
Last week, we added 6 Unique Badges to the game and we’re happy that you guys are having fun with them! In this patch, we play around with their drop distribution a bit. Let's see how we all think about this in a week!

Balance-wise, subclass variety goes in the right direction. But we can clearly see that Pyromancer is still a bit too strong and Berserker also performed very well, so there will be some nerfs. Don’t worry, if we find something was over-nerfed we will be quick to bring it back up! We also keep an eye on Eggscalibur builds, but at this specific point in time, we don't see the need to adjust them again.

[h2]Balancing Changes[/h2]
[h3]Neutral[/h3]

• Badges now have a 10% chance to appear in the first 3 rounds (previously 25%/3%/3%)
  
• Wolf Badge: Trigger speed bonus 20% -> 15%
  
• Rainbow Badge: Activation delay 5s -> 6s
  
• Stone Badge: Block 5 -> 4
  
• Steel Goobert: Block 14 -> 13
  
• Fancy Fencing Rapier: Cooldown 1.4s -> 1.3s
  
• Hero Longsword: Damage +2
  
• Falcon Blade: Cooldown 2.0s -> 1.9s
  
• Crossblades: Cooldown 1.5s -> 1.4s
  
• Strong Health Potion: Regeneration 2 -> 3
  
• Vampiric Potion: Lifesteal 12 -> 14
  
• Pandamonium: Damage +1
  
• Impractically Large Greatsword: Buffed stamina cost 2.5 -> 2.2, cooldown 2.5s -> 2.2s
  
• Protective Purse: Block 8 -> 10
  

[h3]Pyromancer[/h3]

• Dragon Nest: Heat 5 -> 3, Heal 5 -> 4
  
• Burning Sword: Heat chance 50% -> 40%
  
• Burning Blade: damage -1
  
• Phoenix: Health loss 10 -> 12
  
• Molten Spear: Damage 6 - 10 -> 4 - 9
  
• Sun Armor: Heal 15 -> 12
  
• Staff of Fire: damage +2
  
• Flame Whip: Cooldown 2.0s -> 1.7s
  

[h3]Berserker[/h3]

• Brass Knuckles: Cooldown 2.1s -> 2.3s
  
• Anvil: Damage bonus 2 -> 1
  
• Chain Whip: Cooldown 2.1s -> 2.2s
  
• Busted Blade: Battle Rage stamina cost 3.0 -> 2.8, cooldown 3.0s -> 2.8s
  

[h3]Ranger[/h3]

• Yggdrasil Leaf: Mana 1 -> 2, Heal 10 -> 5
  
• Piercing Arrow: Bonus crit damage 30% -> 35%, Block removal 8 -> 10
  
• Belladonna’s Shade: Chance 60% -> 70%
  
• Critwood Staff: Duration 1.0s -> 1.2s
  

[h3]Reaper[/h3]

• Staff of Unhealing: Heal +1
  
• Nocturnal Lock Lifter: Lifesteal per Vampiric item 5% -> 7%
  
• Cauldron: Heal 12 -> 15, Heat 3 -> 4
  
• The Fool: Speed boost 40% -> 50%
  
• Holo Fire Lizard: Heat 3 -> 4
  
• Darkest Lotus: Cost 8g -> 7g
  
• Strong Divine Potion: Random buffs 7 -> 8
  
• Strong Vampiric Potion: Vampirism 2 -> 3
  

[h2]Bugfixes and Other Changes[/h2]

• Fixed Stone Badge preventing class items from showing up in the shop after selling it
  
• Fixed an issue causing items to be non-interactable
  
• Fixed wardrobe button still saying “Close Wardrobe” after closing the wardrobe
  
• Blue crafting lines now also show for recipes from a different class
  
• Reworded Badges to make clear only the shop is affected
  

[h3]Hi everyone,[/h3]

We released Backpack Battles exactly 4 weeks ago, and we can say that it's been a massive success! The game means a lot to us, and we will continue to make it the best game we can 🤍

Today we have some more experimental changes for you! This patch adds badges, which are unique items that can be found at any point during a run, but have an especially high chance in the first round (25%!). They are designed to add variety and give you runs that otherwise would be impossible.

We add 6 badges, and all of them alter which class items you have access to. Let’s all test this out, and see how we like it. It is to be expected that we adjust the frequency, and if we all decide we like the feature, we will probably add more badges as well.



Also, we are having a poll on Discord and in our Chinese community. So far, there are 3 main takeaways for us:

• You guys want a high variance class - so the Adventurer will be made to cover this!
  
• You want more Uniques - so we will keep adding those!
  
• And you want more items in the base pool - which we already started designing!
  

Balance-wise, Ranger, Reaper and Berserker seem even. Pyromancers still perform very well, but the gap isn’t large, so we will adjust very carefully.
The goal of this patch is to lift up the subclasses and items that don’t see a lot of play yet.
We will continue with weekly patches until we feel like every subclass is viable in some situation!

- Dorothea and Mario



[h2]New Content[/h2]

• ADDED 6 UNIQUE BADGES - They can appear in every round, with an increased chance of 25% in round 1. You cannot obtain a Leaf Badge as a Ranger etc.
  

• Leaf Badge
  
• Skull Badge
  
• Flame Badge
  
• Wolf Badge
  
• Rainbow Badge
  
• Stone Badge
  

[h2]Balancing[/h2]

• Base Unique chance is increased to 3% (old Uniques can still only appear from round 4 onwards)
  
• Balance relevant fix: Shields did not remove stamina when the opponent had less than the amount that should be removed, missing chances to remove stamina. Reduced Block chance to 30% to compensate (keep in mind this is hard to predict and might require more adjustments in the future)
  

[h3]Neutral[/h3]

• Burning Torch: Damage 2-4 -> 2-3, Heat required for bonus scaling 8 -> 12
  
• Eggscalibur: Cooldown 1.5s -> 1.6s
  
• Steel Goobert: Block 16 -> 14
  
• Impractically Large Greatsword: Buffed stamina usage 3 -> 2.5, buffed cooldown 3s -> 2.5s
  
• Fancy Fencing Rapier: Cooldown 1.5s -> 1.4s, stamina cost 1.0 -> 0.8
  
• Fanfare: Cooldown 4.5s -> 4.0s
  
• Health Potion: Heal 11 -> 12
  
• Strong Health Potion: Heal 18 -> 20
  
• Vampiric Potion: Life steal 10 -> 12
  
• Platinum Customer Card: Unique chance 10% -> 15%
  
• Heart Container: Health bonus 80 -> 90
  
• Heart of Darkness: Health bonus 80 -> 90
  
• Gloves of Power: Block 4 -> 5
  
• Stone: Cooldown 3.5s -> 3.2s, Block removal 3 -> 4
  
• Protective Purse: Block 7 -> 8
  
• Pineapple: Heal 3 -> 4
  
• Thorn Whip: Cooldown 2.4s -> 2.2s, stamina cost 2.4 -> 2.2
  
• Bloodthorne: Cooldown 1.7s -> 1.6s, stamina cost 1.8 -> 1.6
  
• Hungry Blade: Cooldown 1.7 -> 1.6, damage +1
  
• Pandamonium: Damage +2
  
• Hero Longsword: Damage +1
  
• Falcon Blade: Damage +1
  
• Lightsaber: Damage +1
  
• Magic Staff: Damage +1
  

[h3]Pyromancer[/h3]

• Burning Sword: Damage -1
  
• Draconic Orb: Cooldown 3.0s -> 3.5s
  
• Sun Armor: Heal 17 -> 15
  
• Obsidian Dragon: Heat required for bonus attack 22 -> 26
  
• Dark Lantern: Debuffs per Dark item 6 -> 7
  
• Molten Dagger: Damage +2
  
• Molten Spear: Block removal 4 -> 5, bonus damage 3 -> 5
  
• Flame Whip: Heat 3 -> 4, cooldown 1.7s -> 2.0s
  
• Staff of Fire: Damage +2
  

[h3]Berserker[/h3]

• Brass Knuckles: Cooldown 2.0s -> 2.1s
  
• Chain Whip: Cooldown 2.3s -> 2.1s, Stamina Cost 2.3 -> 2.1
  
• Deerwood Guardian: Battle rage bonus duration 0.5s -> 0.6s
  
• Wolf Emblem: Empower requirement 5 -> 3
  
• Elephant Rune / Badger Rune / Hawk Rune: Cost 5g -> 4g
  
• Dragonskin Boots: Block 8 -> 12, Cold resistance 25% - 20%
  
• Busted Blade: Bonus damage per Empower 4 -> 5
  
• Forging Hammer: Cost 6g -> 3g. If you sell your Forging Hammer or have a Wolf Badge or Rainbow Badge, you can now find it again in the shop.
  

[h3]Ranger[/h3]

• Big Bowl of Treats: Trigger twice chance 25% -> 20%, Food speed bonus 5% -> 10%
  
• Yggdrasil Leaf: Heal 8 -> 10
  
• Piercing Arrow: Block removal 5 -> 8
  
• Fortuna’s Hope: Luck chance 60% -> 70%, accuracy 85% -> 100%
  
• Belladonna’s Shade: Inflict chance 70% -> 60%, Poison 1 -> 2
  
• Belladonna’s Whisper: Damage required to generate Poison 9 -> 8
  
• Tusk Piercer: Start of Battle Spikes 2 -> 3
  
• Carrot Goobert: Empower Duration 4s -> 5s
  

[h3]Reaper[/h3]

• Snake: Cooldown 2.2s -> 2.6s
  
• Miss Fortune: Cooldown 2.0s -> 1.8s
  
• Cauldron: Now heals 12, gains 4 Mana or 3 Heat, has “Magic” type
  
• The Fool: Cost 5g -> 4g
  
• Jimbo: Cost 6g -> 5g
  
• Staff of Unhealing: Heal +1
  
• Ruby Chonk: Damage +2
  
• Reworked Nocturnal Lock Lifter: No longer lifesteals through Poison, increases weapon lifesteal based on Vampiric items now
  
• Mrs. Struggles: Now triggers 10% faster for each
• Dark item, cooldown: 3s -> 3.5s
  
• Strong Demonic Flask: Now also triggers when you fall below 25% health
  

[h2]Other Changes[/h2]

• Improvements to item trigger order, nothing should work based on buy order now, identical trigger conditions either have a static priority (Dark Lantern triggers before other reincarnates) or are randomized
  
• Djinn Lamp now shows the used buffs as “used” in the log
  
• The game now supports rich presence, so you can see what your Steam friends are doing in the game
  

[h3]Hi everyone,[/h3]

Time for more balancing! The last 2 patches brought us closer, but there are still things to do.

While Ranger, Reaper and Berserker seem even, Pyromancer still overperforms despite the previous nerfs. So Pyromancer gets another rounds of nerfs until it is in line with the other three. Don’t worry, Pyromancer players, if this shows to be too harsh, we will buff them back up next week!

For Ranger, Reaper and Berserker we now even out the subclasses, mostly by buffing the weaker ones.

[h2]0.9.3 Balance Changes[/h2]
[h3]Neutral[/h3]

• Pineapple: Cooldown 4s -> 3.5s
  
• Fanfare: Cooldown 5s -> 4.5s
  
• Pandamonium: Now has one more
• slot, damage -3
  
• Ice Dragon: Cold threshold 20 -> 12, Block gain 50 -> 35
  
• Burning Torch: Damage gain chance 30% -> 25%, damage -1, Heat threshold 15 -> 8
  
• Thorn Whip: Stamina usage 2.5 -> 2.4
  
• Dancing Dragon: Damage per Heat: 1.0 -> 0.5, Heat / Luck per Magic item: 1 -> 2
  
• Sapphire (Weapon): Chances reduced
  

[h3]Pyromancer[/h3]

• Fire Pit: Health bonus per Fire item: 5 -> 4
  
• Frostbite: Chance to inflict Cold 70% -> 60%
  
• Obsidian Dragon: Heat needed for bonus attack 15 -> 22
  
• Phoenix: Health per Heat: 7 -> 6
  
• Burning Sword: Change to gain Heat 60% -> 50%
  
• Draconic Orb: Critical hits 4 ->3, cooldown 2.5s -> 3s
  
• Sun Armor: Heal 20 -> 17
  
• Flame Whip: Cooldown 2.0s -> 1.7s, stamina usage 2.0 -> 1.7
  
• Staff of Fire: +1 damage
  
• Molten Dagger: +1 damage
  
• Molten Spear: +1 damage
  

[h3]Berserker[/h3]

• Axe / Double Axe: Cooldown 1.9s -> 2.0s
  
• (Armored) Courage Puppy: Cooldown 4s -> 3.5s
  
• Power Puppy: Cooldown 4s -> 3.5s
  
• Armored Power Puppy: Cooldown 3.5s -> 3.0s
  
• Badger Rune / Elephant Rune / Hawk Rune: Cost 6g -> 5g
  
• Chain Whip: Cooldown 2.5s -> 2.3s, stamina usage: 2.5 -> 2.3
  
• Ranger
  
• Mega Clover: Bonus sale chance: 6% -> 5%
  
• Hedgehog: Spikes 1 -> 2
  
• Rat: Chance to inflict Poison 50% -> 70%, chance to inflict Blind 15% -> 10%
  
• Yggdrasil Leaf: Heal 5 -> 8
  
• Poison Ivy: Poison threshold 19 -> 18, bonus damage 20% -> 25%
  
• Belladonna’s Shade: Poison/debuff inflict chance 60% -> 70%
  
• Fortuna’s Hope: Luck chance 50% -> 60%
  
• Carrot: Luck requirement: 5 -> 4
  

[h3]Reaper[/h3]

• Snake: Cleanse resist chance 5% -> 4%, Cooldown 2s -> 2.2s
  
• Nocturnal Lock Lifter: Vampirism 2 -> 3
  
• Cauldron: Cooldown 4s -> 3s
  
• Strong Mana Potion: Mana 7 -> 9
  
• Strong Vampiric Potion: Lifesteal 13% -> 20%
  
• Strong Divine Potion: Cleanses 12 -> 13, random buffs 5 -> 7
  
• Staff of Unhealing: Heal +1
  
• Mrs. Struggles: Cooldown 3.5s -> 3s
  
• Miss Fortune: Cooldown 2.5s -> 2s
  
• The Fool: Speed bonus 35% -> 40%
  
• Ace of Spades / Reverse! / White-Eyes Blue Dragon / Holo Fire Lizard: Cost -1
  

[h2]Other Changes[/h2]
Fixes:

• Stamina usage can no longer get negative
  
• Strong Mana Potion / Divine Potion now mix colors correctly with other potions
  
• Wardrobe now works with controller
  

Other:

• Tutorial prompts now show controller buttons when played with controller
  

We have a special surprise for you today!

[h2]Can't Put It Down![/h2]

To celebrate our participation in Steam's Deckbuilders Fest, we collaborated with Balatro for the "Can't Put It Down" bundle - and it's live now! Get both Backpack Battles and Balatro for a 10% discount - or complete the bundle if you already own one of the games.

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/38429

Balatro is a roguelike deckbuilder where you play illegal poker hands, discover game-changing jokers, and trigger adrenaline-pumping, outrageous combos. We love it!

[h2]Jimbo is here![/h2]

That's why we decided to add our version of Balatro's most prominent Joker Jimbo to Backpack Battles:



Jimbo is a Playing Card, which means you can buy him in the shop when you play as Reaper and have a Deck of Cards in your inventory. His effect changes based on the cards before him in the card chain - you need sets of two, three, or four of the same playing cards. To make the most use of him, place him late in the card chain and count the number of pairs, triplets, and quads.

[h2]Harlequin Reaper Outfit[/h2]

And that's not all - this update also comes with a new Poker-themed outfit for the Reaper - dress her up as Harlequin! As always, you can unlock it in the Wardrobe with trophies, and mix-and-match it with the other outfits!




Both Jimbo and the outfit are part of version 0.9.2c which is live now!

[h3]Changelog 0.9.2c[/h3]

• NEW ITEM: Jimbo
  
• New outfit for the Reaper
  

Fixes:

• Death Scythe now affects Belladonna’s Shade
  
• Armored Courage Puppy can no longer be blocked by Sun Shield and Moon Shield
  
• Potential fix for combat log appearing at random positions, let us know if it still happens
  
• Fixed items not lighting up when grabbed from a distance from storage box
  
• Pyromancer’s first Chibi skin now shows the correct icon