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Evercore Heroes: Ascension News

Our demo is live - play now!



[h3]Our demo is LIVE right NOW - go and PLAY!![/h3]

[h3]The best part? Everybody can play![/h3]

The demo is live from now on until the end of Steam Next Fest!

[h3]HOW TO SIGN UP:[/h3]
  • Go to our store page
  • Click on the big green demo button to add it to your library
  • Download the demo
  • Get ready to save Lumerea!

[h3]WHAT CAN I EXPECT?:[/h3]
In this demo you can expect:
  • 3 playable heroes across 3 different classes!
  • one run per mode, can you make it till the end?
  • play co-op with friends or dare the world of Lumerea alone in Hero mode!
  • unlock core powers by playing & experiment with new builds!
  • play with either keyboard + mouse or controller (customizable keybindings!)

We can't wait to hear from you! Provide feedback by using the in-game survey, post it on our Steam forums here or on Discord in the dedicated channels!

This demo is huge for us and we'll be once again be relying on your amazing feedback to make the game the best it can be!





Maxx is challenging you all to compete in his GREATEST EVENT EVER!!!

Compete in one of his challenges and be at the top of the list by the end of Next Fest and WIN naming one of the future shards in the game - how cool is that!?

You can read all about this event by [CLICKING HERE TO READ THE STEAM ARTICLE]

The event will run from Monday the 17th till the 3rd of March 2025



Compete during Next Fest and win!

Are you the number #1 hero?




[h3]Be a true hero and write history![/h3]

HEY HERO! Yeah, YOU! Big news- like, HUGE!"

To celebrate our demo we are running a contest from Thursday until Steam Next Fest ends on the 3rd of March!

The goal is simple, get your friends together and be the team or player at the top of one of the challenges at the end of the event to win the grand PRIZE!

You can find our ground rules [HERE!]

[h3]What can you win?[/h3]

Every player (solo or that is part of a party) that wins any of the challenges will get a shard/power-up named after them in a future update of the game! How cool is that?!!

[h2]Co-Op Strike Team Challenges[/h2]


The whole team wins, regardless of who placed the submission.

Gold is counted for one player on the team and only at the end of a finished run. We do not count what was collected during the game, only what's left at the end!

If two teams tie on time - the team with the player on it that holds the most gold at the end will win!

[h2]SOLO Hero Mode Challenges[/h2]


Achieve the fastest finish time possible as Fyn, Cynder or Lotus! Pick your favorite or try all of them!

On a tie - we'll go for the player with the most gold at the end of a run!

[h3]HOW DO I COMPETE?[/h3]
To compete we ask you to make a video recording of the victory screen that holds:

  • The completion time of the run
  • The amount of gold owned at the end of the run
  • The names of all players in the party - you can do this by clicking the 'hero info' at the bottom right.
See the gif below as example of what we'd like to see - but then, don't get defeated like me!

Once done you can upload this as public/unlisted video on Youtube and share the link in the dedicated space on our Steam forums by replying to the correct challenge discussion.

[h3][CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE STEAM FORUMS][/h3]

For recording you can use any program you are comfortable with. Some options are OBS, The Win11 snipping tool, Xbox Game Bar and/or Nvidia Experience recording. We will not be able to accept screenshots!



Demo Patch Notes 1.0.1



Thank you so much for getting in and playing the first Demo of Evercore Heroes: Ascension! Your feedback has been really valuable, so keep it coming. There's more to come in the demo as well, so stay tuned!

We've got our first patch for you today, mostly focused on some bug fixes and quality of life improvements, with a few small balance changes as well.

[h2]Bug Fixes & Quality of Life Improvements[/h2]
  • Fixed various issues with menus not behaving properly while using Keyboard.
  • Fixed an issue preventing AZERTY Keyboard users from being able to rebind controls.
  • Fixed a rare issue that was causing players to lose some functionality after interacting with an NPC.
  • We've temporarily removed the Abandon Run button from Hero mode.
  • Note: this is related to why you must quit the game each time, as sometimes players are getting into a bad state after a run, allowing them to matchmake, but preventing them from getting into the match (and thus ruining it for all players). We're working hard on a fix for this issue and will share more updates as they become available.
  • Fixed a rare issue where a player might go through a teleporter and straight back to the main menu in Hero Mode.
  • The Contest of Fortitude and Gauntlet objectives should no longer progress while a player is dead.


[h2]Balance[/h2]
NOTE: we're preparing a larger set of balance changes when we introduce Core Powers, but these are just some quick changes in response to early feedback.

  • Wallumps the Wicked should be slightly more wicked now.
  • Snowgobblers should now correctly ranged attack, making the Thrashclaw fight more difficult.
  • Increased Fyn's basic attack slightly
    Note: we'll keep an eye on the big guy for a larger balancing pass, but for now this is just to help Fyn players a small amount.
  • Increased the duration of the Stun effect applied on Fyn's Shield Toss ability.
    Note: we want Fyn to be able to effectively disable in co-op, as well as have windows of opportunity to apply damage in Hero Mode. We will continue to refine his core ability loop in future patches.
  • Increased the base damage of the Poison status effect (found in Wild).
    Note: while Wild has a lot of shards that play off one another, we felt like the base damage of the effect needs to come up. We will make more changes to this tree in an upcoming patch.
  • Poison Pop (Wild) should now apply 2 stacks of Poison on application.
  • Diamond Cells (Invention) has had its refresh rate lowered from 15 seconds to 10 seconds.


[h2]What we're working on[/h2]
  • The team is working on fixing an issue that will allow us to get rid of the pesky forced "Quit Game" flow. This is a tricky one, but we'll keep you posted - thanks for your patience!
  • We're aiming to get the Core Powers system enabled soon. You can currently gain Core Keys and Core Gems in runs, which will save to your account if you want a head-start.
  • When we enable Core Powers, we will have a large set of balance changes at the same time, taking the game from Rogue-like to its intended Rogue-lite and allowing progression.

We are coming to Next Fest soon! Read more!

Greetings Heroes!


The holidays are coming up and besides the smell of freshly baked cookies it's the perfect opportunity to look at what we all achieved this year but above all..

What's coming next for Evercore Heroes: Ascension!!

We've got some big plans coming up! So let's kick off and start big right away with quite the treat...

Yes, that's right!

  • We are participating in the upcoming Steam Next Fest in February!
  • Evercore Heroes: Ascension is planned to come to Early access in 2025!
  • Playtests are returning!

Mark the dates as you all will be able to try out Evercore Heroes real soon!

To prepare for Next Fest we'll be looking into other opportunities to have you test the game, so keep an eye out for that as we roll into the new year by signing up for the playtest and adding us to your wishlist!

Let's wrap up the year in style!


2024 has been a super busy year for us here at Vela Games as not only did we turn a proof of concept into a full fledged hero co-op first action roguelite we also revealed our first gameplay to the world and brought all of that to here ~ on Steam, for you all!

Since begin this year we've added a lot of new shards, built random world generation so each run feels different, reworked heroes up to 6 playable characters with more to come and held our first playtests with you all (and more of you are showing interest every day - thank you!).

Your voice has helped us a lot to make sure we move the needle into the right direction and we've been working hard on the feedback you've been providing (like keyboard controls and custom keybindings - yes they are there!) and we hope we can count on your support once again in the new year!

We also decided to show our face and run our our very own live Q&A dev streams showing full playthroughs of the game!

[h3]Missed our live streams or want to see them again?[/h3]
We've made a playlist with all the videos which can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ql-zQ2LCFps&list=PLofkUog4ebZp0e0sbq8O7P_g_iPzgGTFW&index=1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYFXzf5H7aI&list=PLofkUog4ebZp0e0sbq8O7P_g_iPzgGTFW&index=2

Until then we want to wish everybody Happy holidays from everybody here at Vela Games and we will see you next year!!

Introducing Hero Mode

[h2]Greetings Heroes![/h2]

Last week we launched our new trailer (go check it out if you haven't yet!) and announced a new way to play the game we call:

'Hero Mode'

Today we'll talk a bit more about this new mode and further development of the game.



Hero Mode is what we call an experimental new mode. It came to be as a side project when we asked ourselves the question: 'what if?'

Many of you have been suggesting a solo-play feature ever since we started and over time we've gotten quite curious and started to explore how it could look if we tried to put it into the game.

We were not disappointed and we think you all might have been onto something!

[h3]So.. What is Hero Mode?[/h3]

Hero mode is a new single player mode where you get to challenge yourself and go on an adventure to face the dangers of Lumerea on your own.

That's right, it's all up to you to save the world and it won't be easy!!

This is our way of providing you with a way to play when you boot up the game and are waiting for your friends to come online, want to challenge yourself on a speedrun for bragging rights or want to practice a hero before queueing up for the real deal. Of course, if you don't feel like playing with anybody else that day, we think that's totally cool too!

We felt there was a real need from players to be able to jump into a game alone before queueing up with others and decided to take the plunge. Check it out!

(Lotus facing a new mini-boss on her own - are you ready?)

[h3]How do Hero Mode and Co-Op mode differ from each other?[/h3]

It comes to no surprise that the biggest difference between the two modes is that you'll be playing alone rather than in a party of three.

This means that nobody will swoop in to save you if you need some emergency heals or somebody to peel some enemies away from you. Hero roles act differently and you will find yourself prioritizing different powerups than before. On top of that, Health will become a precious resource that you will want to hold onto at all costs as it will not replenish by completing islands...

Picking a hero is the first important step! Will you want to focus on playing a hero with more health and overshield to absorb the damage, pick a healer so you can sustain yourself or deal more damage so you never get hit to begin with?

Every hero comes with its own benefits and unique way to play and you might even learn a new thing or two about the hero you never utilized before in Co-Op mode.

There are however other differences that are worth noting!

To accommodate for solo play, we'll be making slight adjustments to the islands (rooms) and the enemies that spawn. You'll encounter different objectives and will face lower numbers of enemies than you would in the Co-Op mode.

But don't be fooled! This will not mean it'll be any easier and it'll be more crucial than ever to learn what each enemy does so you can avoid taking damage and strike them back!

(Health is a precious resource.. Be careful!)

[h3]Will your main focus shift away from Co-Op mode?[/h3]

We've always said Co-Op is in our DNA and that hasn't changed! We still believe that Co-Op is the most fun way to play the game and that it's our most unique selling point compared to other games in the genre. We aren't changing direction, Co-Op mode is still our main focus going forward

Hero mode is currently still at this experimental stage where we are figuring out how we'd like to implement this mode next to the 3-man co-op mode without having to create and maintain two separate games when it comes to content, balancing, etc.

Expect more information on the new Mode as we work towards the next playtest, and who knows.. you might even get a chance to test it!

Do let us know your thoughts on our forums as it'll help us a lot to further develop it!

Till next time!