Evercore Heroes: Ascension News

[p][/p][p][/p][h2]Straight from the stars - meet Ace Everstar![/h2][p]Some say he came from the stars, others claim he's always been around offering the best goods in the galaxy! One thing is for sure, Ace Everstar never misses his mark and always gets paid![/p][p][/p][p]With dual energy blasters and an irresistible charm, Ace isn’t in it for the glory of saving the world. He’s here for the thrill of the hunt and a nice paycheck at the end of it! Whether he’s chasing bounties or dodging the consequences of last night’s decisions, Ace moves fast, hits hard, and disappears with a big fat tip![/p][p][/p][h3]New to the roster![/h3][p]We’re excited to give you a first look at our next playable hero - Ace Everstar. You might know him as the shopkeeper but there’s way more to him than meets the eye! He’s flashy, he’s deadly, and he’s not above bending the rules if it gets the job done.[/p][p][/p][p]In this sneak peek we'll dive into his playstyle and what you can expect from him joining the crew to save the Evercore.. well, all for a price of course![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]Playstyle[/h3][p]Ace Everstar is a high-mobility ranged damage dealer - perfect for players who like to stay on the move, pick off key targets, and stay one step ahead of danger.[/p][p][/p][p]Ace focuses on eliminating targets he deems his ‘nemesis’ - every hero needs one after all - and any enemy marked this way will receive increased damage from his basic attacks and abilities. Being the bounty hunter he is, Ace has multiple ways to make sure his targets won’t escape and can put on a chase by jumping over enemies and stopping them in their tracks before delivering the final shot![/p][p][/p][p]What separates a good Ace player from a great one is the ability to mark the right enemies, staying on the move while blasting your nemesis and staying out of danger doing it. His burst damage isn’t as high as Shade nor are his AOE capabilities anywhere near that of Cynder, but you’ll have a lot more consistent damage to play with as well as mobility options to utilize to change the flow of combat in your favor![/p][p][/p][p]As a ranged gunslinger with access to a guaranteed crit ability you’ll do well focusing on (crit) damage and shards that offer on-hit effects. You can’t go wrong with any shard that either uses or compliments your mobility as well! It might be wise stocking up on at least one defensive shard to avoid that unfortunate situation where you do get caught out of position - you'll thank me later![/p][p][/p][p]If chasing down your nemesis with two - pew pew - dual blasters sounds like fun, then he’s the ‘Ace’ up your sleeve![/p][p][/p][h3]Let us know what you think![/h3][p]While working on Ace Everstar we asked ourselves - what do you think? Does Ace fit your playstyle? Do you already have a build in mind? Let us know![/p][p][/p][p]Next week we’ll keep exploring what’s coming next in the major update by taking you on an adventure to to our new game mode, The Frozen Path...[/p][p][/p][p]~ Vela Team[/p][p]
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[p][/p][h2]Greetings heroes![/h2][p][/p][p]With the release of this patch we complete our most requested feature (duo mode), add a highly requested quality-of-life change as well as a limited-time bonus event we think you’ll appreciate![/p][p][/p][p]We've halved the in-game cost to unlock Core Powers from now till the end of the weekend! It's the perfect time to jump in, play and unlock some more of the more expensive powers![/p][p][/p][h3]Patch summary[/h3]

• [p]2+1 matchmaking is now live! You can now queue up together with your friend and find a third player via matchmaking![/p]
• [p]You can now hold down your basic attack key to keep attacking; No more button mashing! [/p]
• [p]We've added Tons more bug fixes![/p]

[p][/p][h3]What's next?[/h3][p]With the full launch of Duo Mode now live, we're happy to share that development is moving steadily - and we're currently ahead of schedule on our roadmap!
[/p][p]We're already gearing up for our next major update, which will introduce a variety of new features, including an entirely new game mode and the debut of our first new hero: Ace Everstar.
[/p][p]As always, thank you for your continued support and valuable feedback![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]NEW FEATURE[/h3][p]2+1 Matchmaking – Full Duo Support is Now Live![/p]

• [p]Simply go to the Match Start screen by visiting the Portal in Castle Everae, add one friend to your match screen, and you will be presented with “Play as a Duo” or “Matchmake”.[/p]
• [p]For Duos that join the Matchmaking Queue, they will be matched with the first Solo Queue player available, regardless of region.[/p]

[p][/p][h3]QOL Improvements[/h3][p]Updated Basic Attacks. Another point of feedback we wanted to address was improving the Basic Attack feel for all heroes.[/p]

• [p]We’ve added support to “hold” the attack button now for Basic Attack as well as allowing more movement. [/p]

• [p]We’ve also tuned some Heroes’ attack timing and VFX.  In some cases, we’ve compensated for changed attack timing with updated damage values. [/p]

• [p]This is a medium level change, and we’ll be continuing to look at more combat improvements in the future![/p]

[p]Core Keys and Core Gems are now granted immediately upon completion of the Encounter.[/p]

• [p]Originally, we had designed Gems and Keys to be granted at the end of the game (to help cut down on Leavers in Co-Op), but wanted to be more forgiving and ensure you keep all the Gems and Keys you earn![/p]

[p]The Abandon Run option is now available in Co-Op runs. Originally, we had designed this to help prevent Leaving during Co-Op runs, but we’ve enabled this to make game restarts easier on everyone.[/p][p]Enemies will now Scale automatically on the next Island after a Disconnect. This will ensure that should you lose a player on your run, the balance of the game will adjust accordingly.[/p]

• [p]NOTE:  If a player is in Co-Op and eventually drops down to one solo player, they will still encounter Co-Op specific objectives.[/p]

[p]Solo Mode now has its own screen on the Mode Selection button, indicated at the top of the screen.[/p][p][/p][h3]Bug Fixes[/h3]

• [p]\[SHARDS & SOULBOUND BLOOMS] We’ve done a large amount of work to ensure that rewards earned at the end of encounters are granted correctly, as well as improving the performance of the menus themselves under high latency.  This should fix several of the issues players were seeing before.[/p]
  • [p]NOTE: We are aware that sometimes some players might see instead of the correct name, and are continuing to track these issues down.[/p]
• [p]\[ENCOUNTERS] Fixed a bug where occasionally a small set of Surge encounters would not spawn enemies correctly in Shiverforge Mines.[/p]
• [p]\[ENCOUNTERS] Fixed a few various issues related to the wrong reward category being granted, and a few encounters that had too many enemies.[/p]
• [p]\[ENEMIES] Improved behaviour of Enemies so that they should spawn more reliably and stop moving less frequently.[/p]
• [p]\[SOUND] Hero Attack and Take Damage VO should now respect the VO Volume Slider as expected.[/p]
• [p]\[SOUND] Fixed a bug that was causing unintended music to play on repeat games.[/p]
• [p]\[UI] Continued to fix several “loss of focus” issues.[/p]

[p][/p][h3]Balance[/h3]

• [p]\[BASIC ATTACKS] all heroes have had their animations tuned slightly, with some very minor and some a little more significant.  Shade and Cynder have had base damage turned up to compensate.[/p]
• [p]\[WALLUMPS] has had his Co-Op Overshield values in each phase increased, making the fight closer to how it was originally intended.[/p]
• [p]\[CO-OP ENEMIES] several more difficult enemies in Duos and Trios have had their Hitpoints reduced slightly.[/p]
  • [p]NOTE: We’ll be doing a large re-balance in our Starstruck Update to improve game pacing in a more comprehensive way, but for now we’re continuing to touch down enemies that have a longer fight time.[/p]
• [p]\[SHADE] increased the Critical Strike Chance granted by Blink from 8% to 15%.[/p]

[p][/p][p][/p]

[p][/p][h2]Greetings heroes![/h2][p][/p][p]Thank you all for continuing to play and give us feedback on Ascension![/p][p][/p][p]This patch really focuses on finding and squashing some bugs that you've helped report - we've now fixed over 20+ issues that YOU have helped report, on top of our own list! [/p][p][/p][p]In the meantime, we hope you're continuing to enjoy the game, and keep giving us more and more feedback, as we're committed to improving the game as fast as we can. We're continuing to work on some new features, which we'll have more information on soon![/p][p][/p][p]See you in-game![/p][p][/p][h3]BALANCE[/h3]

• [p]\[TAUNT] Increased the duration of Taunt effects from 5 seconds to 10 to help Tanks control the flow of a fight more.[/p]
  • [p]NOTE: We are working on some further improvements to this system for a future update.[/p]
• [p]\[SOLO PLAY - ENEMIES] We have reduced the HP of most enemies in Solo Play slightly, to help increase the pace of combat.  Additionally, we have slightly reduced the damage output of most of the Golem enemies in Solo Play.[/p]
  • [p]NOTE: We are continuing to make balance changes to solo mode to bring the pace of encounters up for all heroes. We will continue to make improvements to this mode in coming updates.[/p]

[p][/p][h3]BUG FIXES[/h3]

• [p]\[REWARDS] We have improved the reliability of the Rewards system, and you should see fewer errors in getting the proper reward or getting stuck on the screen.[/p]
  • [p]NOTE: We are continuing to make this system more reliable and more fixes are being worked on for a future patch.[/p]
• [p]\[SOCIAL] The Leave Party functionality on the Friends List should work reliably now, enabling you to leave a premade group while in the Hub.[/p]
• [p]\[UI] Fix for scaling issue on the Post Match screen in the Hero Info tab (hero panels were scaling huge on wider resolutions).[/p]
• [p]\[UI] Some safety netting around focus issues on the Post Match screen[/p]
• [p]\[UI] Fix for cursor getting stuck on right click (press & hold) abilities after interacting with some screens (e.g. Options, some Hub screens, inventory in game) [/p]
• [p]\[UI] Fix for the Abandon Run button appearing where it shouldn’t.[/p]
• [p]\[UI] Fix for focus getting lost on screens where there’s a scroll bar, such as Options and Hero Unlock screens. Previously, clicking on the scroll bar would result in losing focus and not being able to use the Escape key to close until focus was set again[/p]
• [p]\[UI] Some navigation fixes on the Core Power screen when unlocking, which could result in not being able to cancel the unlocking process until you navigate back.[/p]
• [p]\[UI] Fix for ability text not updating on language change on in-game Hero Ability Info Screen.[/p]
• [p]\[MAPS] Fixed various collision issues in some of the Shiverforge Mines maps.[/p]
• [p]\[MAPS] Fixed an issue that was preventing some Battlehorn encounters to spawn in solo runs of Stormspire Summit.[/p]
  • [p]NOTE: there is still a known issue where players can enter into the Battlehorn object. This will be fixed in an upcoming patch, but we thought it was important to ensure the encounters were working reliably as soon as possible.[/p]
• [p]\[MAPS] Breakable Crystals in Shiverforge Mines are no longer displaceable. [/p]
• [p]\[FYN] Reworked the input for Fyn’s “Get Behind Me” skill which should make his shield come up in the correct direction more reliably.[/p]
• [p]\[HEROES] Fixed an issue where sometimes Luum pickups could interfere with player movement in high latency scenarios.[/p]
• [p]\[ENEMIES] We have improved spawning behaviour on some encounters to help ensure enemies do not spawn in bad locations. We are continuing to improve this and will have more updates in future patches.[/p]
• [p]\[SOUND] Fixed a bug where some ability sounds were not respecting the Sound Effect volume slider.[/p]
  • [p]NOTE: we will have more fixes for sound related issues, and VO in the next patch.[/p]

[h3][/h3][p][/p]

[p][/p][p]If you’re discovering this game and thinking:[/p]

• [p]“That’s a pretty rough review score…”[/p]
• [p] “What happened here?” [/p]
• [p]“Wasn’t Evercore Heroes a different kind of game?”[/p]

[p][/p][p]You’re not wrong to be confused. We want to be upfront and clear with you - whether you’re new, returning, or somewhere in between.[/p][p][/p][h3]🎮 What is this game?[/h3][p][/p][p]Evercore Heroes: Ascension - or just Ascension, as we’ll be calling it more going forward - is a brand-new co-op roguelite, built for 1 - 3 players.[/p][p][/p][p]Pick from one of 6 unique heroes (with more coming) and go on challenging PvE runs. Face co-op specific encounters, collect rewards, and build powerful loadouts. Think action, challenge, repeatable runs, and learning-as-you-go.[/p][p][/p][p]There’s no PvP. No team competition. Just you and 1 or 2 friends vs. the world of Lumerea.[/p][p][/p][h3]🧭 Confusion & Frustration - Legacy Expectations[/h3][p][/p][p]We previously released a different game: Evercore Heroes - a competitive, team-based PvEvP MOBA experience for 16 players at a time. That game was big and ambitious, but did not find the success it needed to be sustainable, so it was shut down in 2023.[/p][p][/p][p]When we started building Ascension, we kept the world, the characters, and the name - because we still believed in what we had built creatively. We thought we communicated a clear departure from the first game, but it didn’t land, and led to endless confusion.[/p][p][/p][p]We launched Ascension into expectations that were never going to be met - and for a lot of players who were around for the first game, that was jarring and disappointing, which is never what you want as a Developer.[/p][p][/p][p]We needed a cleaner break between the first two games, and we’ll be doing that going forward.[/p][p][/p][h3]👥 Duo Mode – A Big Miss on Day One[/h3][p][/p][p]When we did launch Ascension last week, our initial feedback immediately highlighted a pretty big gap: no Duo Mode![/p][p][/p][p]Duo Mode was a key part of the “play solo or with friends” experience we envisioned. Not having it at launch was an oversight - and we know it held players back from fully diving in. We really do regret missing this on Day 1 and have definitely learned another valuable lesson.[/p][p][/p][p]While it was already on our roadmap to deliver soon, we pushed it to the top of the priority list for a quick rollout the morning after launch. Good news: Duo Mode is live now, two days after launch, so you can team up with a friend for full runs.

Read more here! [/p][p][/p][h3]🚧 What’s happened since launch?[/h3][p][/p][p]Even with a rough start, we’ve already been making fast updates:[/p]

• [p]✅ Duo Mode is live - play full runs with a friend[/p]
• [p]✅ Bug fixes and movement improvements already rolled out[/p]
• [p]✅ Listening hard - feedback is shaping what comes next[/p]

[p][/p][p]We’re also working on:[/p]

• [p]More bug fixes and QoL improvements to come in Patch 2, later this week.[/p]
• [p]And after that: more content and build variety, as well as a new mode[/p]

[p]We know the game still needs more work, and we are dedicated to keep improving the experience! We hope to earn your trust with frequent communication and patches.[/p][p][/p][h3]🙌 If you're a potential new player - here's what we’d say:[/h3][p][/p][p]Ascension is a game we believe in - a co-op PvE roguelite built for unique hero-driven action, by a small, passionate team.[/p][p][/p][p]If you're even a little curious, give it a shot![/p][p]And if you're enjoying it? A positive review right now helps more than you know.[/p][p][/p][p]We know first impressions matter, and we’re doing everything we can to earn a second one.[/p][p][/p][p]Thanks for reading - and if you stick around, thanks even more.[/p][p][/p][p]~ The Evercore Team[/p][p][/p][p][/p]

[p][/p][p][/p][h2]Greetings heroes![/h2][p][/p][p]Play as Duo is HERE![/p][p]Team up with your best friend, sibling, or partner, and experience the world of Lumerea together. This beta feature will let you and one other player play as a two-person team - no third player required! Simply invite a friend to your party, and start the game from the Match Start Portal! You can find more details in the Patch Notes below.[/p][p][/p][p]Why didn't we include this with Early Access release?[/p][p]Our original plan was to introduce both Play as a Duo and Duo (2+1) matchmaking together, but your feedback told us loud and clear that you wanted a way to play as a duo right away. So we've released this version first, while we continue working on the 2+1 matchmaking system for a future patch.[/p][p][/p][p]Is full duo (2+ 1) matchmaking coming later?[/p][p]Yes! We're actively developing full duo matchmaking, allowing pairs of players to matchmake and join with a random third player seamlessly. It's a challenging feature to implement reliably, but we're committed to getting it right. Stay tuned as we'll keep you updated on our progress![/p][p][/p][p]Alongside Play as a Duo beta, we've also included bug fixes, balance adjustments, and quality-of-life improvements just in time for the weekend![/p][p][/p][p]We can't wait to see how you and your duo partner take on Lumerea, let us know what you think![/p][p][/p][h2]Patch notes[/h2][p][/p][p]Play as a Duo (BETA)[/p]

• [p]Players can now start a match with just two players in our Play as Duo BETA.[/p]
• [p]Simply go to the Match Start screen by visiting the portal in Castle Everae, add one friend to your match screen, and start the game![/p]
• [p]Players will still have the option to start a game as a Trio in the same way as before.[/p]
• [p]Duos will work like Trios, in that a random map will be selected, set at the "Co-Op difficulty" level, meaning both maps should provide similar levels of challenge.[/p]
• [p]The Party Leader's REGION setting will be used when starting the match.[/p]
• [p]KNOWN ISSUES:[/p]
  • [p]When you are in the Matchmaking Queue, and get invited to a party, you might still see the "Searching for Match" UI element, but you are NOT in the Queue.[/p]
  • [p]When in Hero Select with a Duo, you will still see a 3rd, empty slot with the name "PlayerName" above it.[/p]
  • [p]If you are in a duo party, and invite a third person who accepts right when the party leader starts the game, some players may get stuck on the Match Found screen.[/p]

[p]QOL Improvements[/p]

• [p]All movement abilities should be much smoother now when playing online and rubber-band less, greatly improving the feel of these abilities in co-op.[/p]
• [p]If a player drops during a co-op game for any reason, on the next island, monsters will scale down to the appropriate difficulty settings.[/p]
• [p]The Cosmetics and Cooking Station previews have been removed, and are planned to be reintroduced in the future when functional.[/p]
• [p]Frenzy buff clouds should have a very short slow down after you exit the cloud.[/p]
• [p]We have added a short note on the Hero Unlock screen that mentions Hero Pricing will increase after each purchase (we made no actual changes - it's just to clarify) NOTE: we implemented this system to make it so getting your first hero was fairly quick and easy, but then further unlocks require more mastery from players.[/p]
• [p]The default Volume level for Music has been increased on a fresh install so that it's more audible.[/p]
• [p]Some Hero VO ability sounds during attacks have had their levels adjusted.[/p]
• [p]Hero VO ability and damage sounds should now respect 3D space.[/p]

[p]Bug Fixes[/p]

• [p]\[Encounters] Fixed a bug where occasionally a Battlehorn encounter would not spawn enemies correctly on Stormspire Summit.[/p]
• [p]\[Core Powers] Fixed a bug where Energise Level 2 reverted to Level 1 on taking Damage. It should now revert correctly to Level 2.[/p]
• [p]\[Enemies] Fixed a few issues with Kraggor Thrashclaw's laser not working as intended.[/p]
• [p]\[UI] Fixed a few issues with the cursor jumping to different parts of the screen.[/p]
• [p]\[UI] Fixed a bug where the Shard Reward screen can lose one option if a player disconnects.[/p]
• [p]\[UI] Fixed a bug where a Beko Tip message would stay on the screen in the HUB occassionally.[/p]
• [p]\[UI] Fixed a bug where the shop vendor screen would sometimes not open and cause the game to hang.[/p]

[p]Balance[/p]

• [p]PLAY AS A DUO: we've put in an initial balancing pass for Play as a Duo. Duos will face co-op specific objectives, and larger numbers of enemies than in Solo play. To compensate for a greater number of monsters, the enemy HP values are relatively lower. Basically, more enemies, but squishier for Play as a Duo.[/p]
• [p]IRONCRAG HOLLOW: this run has been rebalanced to provide a smoother difficulty ramp up for this EASY Solo run.[/p]
• [p]Kraggor Thrashclaw's eye beam into the centre Crystal cannot be blocked by Fyn's shield. We felt like this was diminishing the fight too much. The beams emitting from the Crystal can still be blocked.[/p]
• [p]Fyn and Cynder Ultimate costs have been raised by about 30% as they're extremely powerful and were occurring more than intended for their relative power levels.[/p]
• [p]Fyn's Overshield gain from Get Behind me reduced from 5 per projectile blocked to 3.[/p]
• [p]Fyn's Shield Toss now stuns enemies it hits for 1 second, down from 2.
  This change is intended to still provide interrupt utility for Fyn, but allow enemies to respond quicker when used as an opening move on a camp.[/p]
• [p]The large Roller enemies have had their health reduced slightly.[/p]

[p][/p][p]Let us know what you think and consider leaving a review if you like what you play!
[/p][p]See you in-game![/p][p][/p][p][/p]