Evercore Heroes: Ascension News

[h2]Greetings Heroes![/h2]

Today we want to give you an early look at our version of power-ups called 'Shards' and how you can use them to complete your run in style!

(Don't these magical creatures look familiar!??)

One of the most fun core gameplay elements of Roguelites is to try a different build every time you attempt a run to see how far you can get. Evercore Heroes is no different, it will offer you different rewards and island challenges every time you play. This means you'll have to learn and adapt if you want to succeed!

Totally unique to Evercore Heroes is that it's not just you working on a build. You will also need to keep your team composition, their builds and your role in mind! Will you pick something that increases your power, go for a combo piece or will you choose something that might work well with what your team is going for? This will be up to you!

We are still working on the game so all the Shards and thematic categories we are discussing today could change as we further develop the game. Do let us know what you think as we love the feedback and ideas!

Let's dive in and see what we can build!

[h3]What actually are Shards?[/h3]

To help you on your mission to beat big baddies, every island will come with some kind of reward to help you on your way to become more powerful. Rewards come in different shapes and sizes but the most common ones you'll encounter will be Shards. These magical artifacts can be compared to items or power-ups in other Roguelite games that will enhance your sentinel with powerful magical abilities!

Some Shards will grant you a total new ability, others grant you a temporarily boost if a requirement is met while others are more meant as combo pieces or grant you raw power. For example, you could find a Shard that lets you put enemies on fire after you dash and combo this with a shard that lets you explode enemies that are on fire with your abilities and compliment this with a raw percentage ability power boost! Keep in mind that party members can assist you with combo's as well!

Outside of Shards we are also working on ability modifying rewards that will change how an ability works, and can be used to create builds around. This will further diversify how you can play your sentinel. More on those in a future blog!

(Do you prefer to shrink enemies or grow allies?)

[h3]Chase your build![/h3]

As you can imagine, there are quite some shards to explore, collect and experiment with! To make it easier to find certain shards and chase builds we've categorized them for you. Every category has a different theme and a set of shards to fit this theme that will show up as choices to pick from represented by a cute and fierce magical creature!

Here are examples of some of the themes you can encounter, but there are more on the way!

Fury; Deal damage and gain raw power from the mountain peaks of Kru!
Wild; Poison your enemies with toxins found in the deep jungles of Moxie and gain its benefits!
Flame; Put your enemies ablaze and explode them in Noktra style!
Invention; Luumtech inventions from Bios. Gain shields, gadgets and utility skills!
Mischief; Do you like chance? We like chance! Roll the dice and try your luck.

This means that when you see a certain theme pop up on the teleporter, you'll know what kind of shard rewards you can expect if you choose to pick this island as your next destination.

(A symbol will showcase what theme pops up next - can you guess which one this is?)

[h3]How does Shard selection work?![/h3]

You might have some questions about receiving one of these awesome mystical Shards! Selecting one works slightly different in a team than if you'd be playing alone.

As you complete an island with a Shard reward, your team is faced with the reward selection. On this screen you can see a multiple of reward options from the pool of shards available for this theme, which both you as your team can pick from. Highlight the Shard you'd like to have and use this time to discuss what you'd like to go for. Just make sure to keep an eye on the timer! Your teammates will see you what you highlight and select to make coordinating easier. Once happy, select the Shard you'd like to have.

And yes, it's possible for party members to pick the same Shard. You will not be locked out if somebody picks the same Shard as you. We can't wait to see what kind of crazy builds you will come up with!

(You can see the selection of your team to help you make your choice!)

We'll talk more about specific Shards and other upgrades in another blog in the future! Until then!

[h2]Greetings Heroes![/h2]

Today we'll have a look at how you traverse and navigate the lands of Lumerea on your run.



Evercore Heroes takes place in a sci-fantasy world called Lumerea, home to many great regions like the snow covered mountain ranges of Kru! Every region will not only have its own aesthetics but will also hold a set of unique content specific to this region. It's not hard to imagine that some enemies that love the snow and ice of Kru won't do well in the deep humid jungles of Moxy!

Although the environment changes between regions, your goal remains: Survive and become powerful enough to get to the end of the run and beat the endgame encounter! So, what does a run look like and how do you get to the end?

We want to add that, as the game is still in development, the content we are showing today might change as we further develop the game and make adjustments based on feedback.

[h3]Hop, skip, and a jump![/h3]

Like in typical Rogue-lite fashion, you'll be traveling from room to room to collect rewards with the aim to get stronger and beat the final encounter. To keep things simple. we will call these rooms 'islands' for now. Every island is a piece of land set in a biome within the region you are visiting where you'll be tasked to do something before you can gather your reward and progress your run.

Some islands will have you face challenging monsters, others will require you to complete an objective while others will let you by without a fight and for example allow you to shop. The amount of islands on a run, aka how long a run is, will depend on which mission you select.

(The sacrifical pit is one of the objectives you can face on your runs ~ you might want to help there Beko..)

[h3]Types of islands[/h3]

With so many different islands to explore, we currently divide them into the following types (not their official names):

• Monster challenges; THE slay-the-monsters type islands. Beat a certain amount, survive a horde, clean out the room or kill as many as you can for gold! You know what to do here!
  
• Objectives; these house an objective for you to beat. Examples would be to hold a capture point against waves of monsters, survive a dark sacrificing ritual or break a tower that shoots lasers at you and more! Cool hero stuff!
  
• Calm islands; these are islands without enemies on them and generally won't offer a reward for completing them. On these islands you'll find something different that will aid you on your adventure. Like for example a shop to spend your hard earned gold in or a way to buff your party for a limited time. You might even meet a familiar face here.
  

(The shop gives you the chance to spend your hard earned gold during a run!)

[h3]Selecting your next island as a team![/h3]

Part of the fun is that you won't know what the next island is going to be. No two runs will ever be the same and you will have to adapt on the fly! But, how will you be able to create the best build I hear you ask?

Every island will hold one or more dormant teleporters that will activate after you complete the island. Each one of them will give a visual clue of what kind of reward you can expect from the next island and will help you make a decision. Unique to Evercore Heroes however is that you are not alone, so you will have to make this choice as a team!

Important to note is that every team member will benefit from an island reward after completing it, but we all know that sometimes you really REALLY want to focus on a certain build or combo and increase the chances of completing it by picking one path over the other.

Once the team has decided which reward to go for, you will have to stand on one of the pads right below the portal along with your teammates. It will open the portal for all team members to teleport to the next island. The journey continues!

(Select the next island as a team - majority wins!)

We'll be talking more about rewards and what they look like in one of our future articles! Let us know what type of island you'd love to see in the game and we'll see you again in the next article!

[h2]Greetings Heroes![/h2]

In todays Steam update we'll dive into the world of flinging fireballs, casting power shields and revitalizing your allies on the battlefield! We'll have a look into casting spells and ability resource (Luum) management within Evercore Heroes.



As you know, in Evercore Heroes you'll have to work together as a team of three to make it all the way till the end to achieve glorious victory. To enhance the teamwork experience, we've been looking into more ways to create moments of teamplay where players have to lean onto each other a little bit more.

One of the ways we did this is by introducing a new resource to the game we call 'Luum' (also the driving magical force in the world of Lumerea!).

[h3]Using your abilities - Pew pew[/h3]

Luum is the magical essence of the world that's giving our heroes their magical properties and allows them to perform their heroic feats! Every sentinel will play wildly different and will have a different set of abilities for you to use, experiment and theorycraft with.

We quickly noticed that without any type of limitation in place, players would use an ability the moment it was off cooldown. And why wouldn't you? They are powerful abilities that have a greater effect than auto attacking (or help enhance them). There wasn't too much thinking involved, you'd cast it the moment you could or would wait on a completed island challenge until your biggest abilities were off cooldown before advancing to the next so you could use it again.

To combat this we introduced 'Luum'! Abilities will have a Luum cost attached to them and depending on the sentinel and the ability this will be higher or lower. You start the game with a full Luum bar (the blue bar under your character) but this will diminish once you start using your abilities.

Your Luum count will however not replenish between island challenges by default. This means that you'll have to start thinking about when you want to use that projectile blocking shield or stun to save your allies, as when the Luum bar is empty, you will no longer be able to use abilities that cost Luum!


(When out of Luum your abilities turn grey)

[h3]I can recharge my Luum, right?[/h3]

Good question! It doesn't sound like too much fun if you can only use your abilities a few times each run. We agree and got you covered! Currently there are two ways to refresh your Luum bar.

The first is by defeating enemies! Now and then a foe will drop an essence of Luum on the floor which you can pick up at any time by walking over it. Some are small, restoring little, while others are big and restore more of your Luum bar. A small orb in the middle of a fight can mean that all of a sudden you can produce a lot more power during that fight, or if low on Luum, can just get you that boost to save your ally in a pinch!

The second way is hidden in destructible objects around the world of Lumerea, currently we have barrels in the mountain peaks of Kru. Outside of it being super satisfying to break them, they will occasionally drop Luum for you to pick up. These barrels could mean the difference between life and death when you run out of Luum!

It's up to you whether you break them all right away or keep some up during the fight in case you need them. Most of them were left empty by their previous owners, while in others you'll find other shinies... So make sure to get them all before you advance to the next island!

The Luum gathering vs usage balance is designed in a way that you get rewarded for smart usage of your abilities versus spamming. This means that if you use your abilities wisely and at the right times, you'll not find yourself short of Luum very often.


(Pick up blue orbs to refresh Luum)

Let us know in the discussion area what you think and whether you can think of other cool ideas to refresh Luum!

We'll see you again in the next article! Do let us know if there's a topic you'd love to learn more about.

~ Evercore Heroes team

[h2]Greetings Heroes![/h2]

In today's Steam update we'll have a look at the death system within Evercore Heroes.

It's a little awkward to say, but we don't expect you to save the world of Lumerea on your first run, nor the second or third.. you get the gist!

(but we'd love to see you try and prove us wrong!)



As Evercore Heroes is an action roguelite, falling down during a run, and standing back up right after to do better next time is expected and an integral part of the core gameplay loop. This loop is what helps you learn, get better at the game and try out new ways to tackle tough challenges. We really want you to feel the progression as you play with your friends, having to adjust your strategy as you aim to beat difficult runs, specific bosses and/or unlock new awesome content together.

As always, everything you read here is still a work in progress and can change over time based on game development and player feedback.

[h3]How does this work in multiplayer?[/h3]

There are two ways to go around 'falling down' in a game of Evercore Heroes.

You have the mission, your selected run, which you are trying to beat by making it till the end and beating its end-game encounter. You will fail your mission the moment all three players within the party are downed and you have no way of getting back up to finish the challenge of the island you are on (these are our randomized 'rooms'). This will automatically trigger the end of the mission and will bring you to the end-game screen where you will be able to view all rewards you gained during that run.

Then you have your sentinel, the character you play, which can get downed during an island challenge. This happens when the hit points (HP) of your sentinel reaches '0' and you have no way to get back up. This results in your character taking a break from combat and being out for the rest of the island encounter. It'll be up to the rest of the team to make up for it, finish the challenge and bring their teammate(s) back to continue to the next island!

This can bring about some pretty intense hero moments for both you as your friends when only one player is left to make it all happen - no pressure, you got this!!

(When all sentinels fall without a way to get up - you will lose the mission)

[h3]Introducing the Phoenix Shard![/h3]

Depending on the type of island you are on, you get a reward for completing the encounter. Originally, it was the rule that as long one of the sentinels made it through an island encounter, the whole party would revive and could pick a reward (depending on the type of island).

We felt this wasn't punishing enough. We noticed players starting to play more reckless as in the end, as long at least one player was still standing, they would all win.

We also tried the opposite, where players that got downed received no rewards at all. We quickly noticed that although you are on the same team and trying to achieve the same goal, it wasn't as much fun when your teammates gained more rewards than you during a run and you couldn't focus on the build you wanted to build.

In the end we landed on a system that lies somewhere in the middle and does a bit of both. Although you won't get to pick a reward from getting downed during an island encounter, you instead receive a magical item called a 'Phoenix Shard'.

This luum-infused shard is automatically used to revive you the moment you select it, but its remnant will remain in your inventory as a shard you can sell at a store during your run. This means that although it's sill not desirable to fall during an island encounter, it still provides you with a (smaller) bonus that you can turn into power and towards your build later down the run.

(When you fall but the rest of the party survives the encounter - you will be offered a Phoenix Shard)

We'd love to hear what you think of this system! Let us know in the discussion area!

For now we hope you enjoyed getting some more insight in how Evercore Heroes is played and we'll see you again next time!

~ Evercore Heroes team

Lotus, the Heiress of Hydris, has the ability to revive herself from death, which is a central theme in the new narrative players will experience in Evercore Heroes.


Hello heroes, this is Volibar, co-founder of Vela Games and game director on Evercore Heroes.

Throughout its life, Evercore Heroes has seen a lot of changes and iterations, along with changes to the team at Vela. In this post, I wanted to take a little time to bring you through our major milestones over the years, and share some of the ups and downs along the way.

Whether you’re new to Evercore or you’ve been with us since the early days, hopefully you’ll have a better understanding of our journey so far, and why we believe in this game so much!

[h3]The Vela Vision[/h3]
When we started Vela Games in 2018, we set out to create games that anyone could play together and have an amazing time, whether they were already best friends or strangers playing together for the first time. As you all know, playing online games can be a very mixed bag in terms of enjoyment with others!

Because of that vision, we have always wanted to build Evercore Heroes into one of the best team games ever. Set in the mythical world of Lumerea, it requires players to collaborate, combine their heroes’ unique abilities to overcome formidable bosses and unravel the narrative mysteries of the sinister Fate’s Blade and the shattered Evercore crystal. The foundation of cooperative play was never just a feature–it was always the core of our gameplay philosophy.

Realizing that vision, however, would turn out to be a quest with a lot of unexpected twists and turns. This is the story of how Evercore Heroes was reborn.

[h3]Our First Step: “Project-V”[/h3]
“Project-V”, the first codename for Evercore Heroes, started out as a team-based PvE experience, with light inclusion of Roguelite design patterns. We wanted to blend Roster Heroes together with PVE session runs. Sounds pretty familiar (as that’s what we have again now)? We had a small team of about 12 and were building the foundations of a multiplayer game, along with the unique roster of heroes. For those curious, Syrus was our first hero we made, because we wanted to be able to test both Damage and Support gameplay!

We experimented with large, open maps that were procedurally generated, and this was fun, but it wasn’t fun consistently. We also had an early version of Shards, which were our gameplay modifiers.

QUESTION: What do you think Project-V stood for? Reply in the comments and we’ll give you the answer.

(Character concept exploration for Syrus)

[h3]Team Play Fusion[/h3]
After we had this initial framework for the game, in 2019-2020 we really wanted to push the teamplay. We knew we didn’t want Evercore Heroes to be “co-optional” (a game where you could technically play at the same time, but didn’t really interact as teammates). Many games have co-optional features, and while they can be fun, we felt like players were really looking for those special moments when you come together as a team and achieve something amazing that you couldn’t do on your own.

We developed tight gameplay between the heroes - so tanks would have to taunt and protect, support would have to heal or shield, and DPS would have to interrupt and pick the right targets. Throughout the game’s life, this has always been a focus for us, and something players have consistently highlighted that they really like - especially as we’ve continued to develop and expand the unique roster of heroes.

(Early gameplay footage of Project-V)

[h3]Innovating with Competitive PvE[/h3]
As the game was coming together in 2022, our team had grown in size, but we were always experimenting with ways to make Evercore Heroes more fun and replayable. Through extensive prototyping of game rules and community feedback, we realised there was room to push the envelope further - to somewhere no one had really gone before.

The introduction of Competitive PvE elements was a decision born from the desire to innovate continuously and introduce a level of competition that was engaging and rewarding, but without hardcore domination (in other words, ending other people’s fun). Players not only had to cooperate with their team but also compete against the environment and other teams. This added a thrilling layer of strategy and urgency to the game, enhancing the variety of each match.

We also really wanted a 4-Team format in this mode. This allowed us to knock teams out through the game - meaning that if you weren’t doing well you wouldn’t be stuck in a long, hopeless feeling match. However, as we added game rules, having 4 teams increased complexity of both the rules and the game’s interface. Also, in this mode, sometimes you could see and interact with other teams, while other times you couldn’t.

During our Closed Beta in Summer of 2023 with this version of the game, too many players found it difficult to access the fun and depth that was there. By trying to innovate in so many areas, we had a game that was promising and fun, but was just too complex for its own good.

(The 4v4v4v4 Competitive PVE in action - there was a lot going on!)

[h3]Embracing the Challenge and the Change with “Project-R”[/h3]
As the games market became even more difficult in 2023 along with the Competitive PVE version of Evercore not resonating with enough players, we had some incredibly difficult choices to make. As those who have followed us already know, the end result was that we dramatically scaled back the team, and chose to reinvent Evercore Heroes.

We decided to call this effort “Project-R'' for both Roguelite, but also Reborn. We furiously designed, tested, and debated for weeks after the closed beta on how to change the game, while many of our Vela team members were leaving around us. It was a heartbreaking time at Vela, but we knew we owed it to our players and our team to set an exciting, new direction that could deliver on the game’s potential (and everyone’s hard work). We knew we couldn’t make a new game, so we decided to take Evercore Heroes back to its roots, keeping all of the best things we had made, but not being afraid to throw something out that wasn’t working.

Scaling down the team to a small number as we refine our focus means that we are even more of an underdog in a fierce industry going through a difficult time. But the challenges have only strengthened our resolve.

(Early gameplay for Project-R with a focus on more intuitive gameplay)

[h3]Evercore Heroes is Reborn[/h3]

Project-R refines our original vision set out in the very beginning, focusing intensely on the strong, roster-based co-op gameplay that our community loves, while perfecting the strategic elements that allow players to experience wide variations in gameplay and deeper team dynamics. Plus, it’s fun to make crazy builds and break the game!

We're rebuilding and enhancing every aspect of the game—from a more intuitive game flow, more polished maps, and refined enemy behaviours to a deeper and more engaging narrative that tells the story of Lotus, Kaine, and the Luum Sentinels. We’ve made significant adjustments to the HUD, the camera, and the art style of the game, while adding full gamepad support. We even completely rewrote the combat system – goodbye MOBA combat, hello direct movement and more responsive action! Then there’s all the meta-progression…

There is too much to cover here, so we’ll make sure to share more details about the changes and improvements in the weeks to come. Let us know what you want to hear about most in the comments!

We are incredibly excited about the future of Evercore Heroes, even though the road ahead is still challenging. The journey has been full of learning and adaptation, but our commitment has never wavered. We're grateful for the community's patience and enthusiasm, and we can't wait for you to play what we have in store with the new Evercore Heroes.

Here's to the next chapter in Lumerea, where together we will forge new legends!

-Volibar