Boons & Burdens News

Patch 0.11 smoothed out a lot of issues players had with pacing, balance, etc. But then I got to thinking...why not really amp it up even more? So along with bringing a bunch of new content, Patch 0.12 completely overhauled the burdens systems, and tons of other things related to pacing, balance and intensity.

The next big update will be the promised meta upgrades. It's a huge undertaking, but I'm hoping to have it done before the month of March is over. It will likely bring with it a few extra surprises, but we'll see. I need to rest a bit after the mad rush leading up to and after launch. I'll post a patch preview when that's closer to release.

Some other notes: Another small patch should follow this one on Monday or Tuesday, and will fix the issues with rebinding left and right trigger, adjust and add some more new sounds, and fix a few other bugs I didn't get to yet. I won't be around tomorrow, so I wanted to get this big patch out now, before the weekend is over.

Big thank you to everyone that tested and gave feedback on the beta versions of this test. If you want to try out new content before its released and give feedback, join the discord here!

TL;DR: I organized the patch notes a little different this time because there's a lot to cover and grouping things by area of focus made more sense than big lists of balance, bugs, etc.

• 2 new bosses
  
• 3 new levels
  
• 2 new boon trees, 14 new boons
  
• Completely revamped game speed/duration/balance.
  
• All burdens rebalanced and updated. Many with altered mechanics.
  
• Lots of additional balance changes
  
• 5 new burdens
  
• 5 new achievements
  
• Interface updates to boon menu, burden menu, and combat
  
• Bug fixes
  
• PORTAL PHANTOMS ARE NOW VIRTUALLY UNKILLABLE
  

[h3]New Tier 1 Boss: [/h3]
The Squllboar

• The big boy version of the basic green and red enemies, but not as big as the end boss. More than any other boss, this guy loves to chase.
  
• Can appear at level 4
  

[h3]New Tier 2 Boss:[/h3]
The Qrystle Queen

• A uniquely stationary boss with more than a few surprises
  
• Can appear at level 8
  

[h3]Game Flow and Balance[/h3]

• All burdens have been redesigned to be significantly faster and more fun (see Burden Updates Below)
  
• 3 new levels have been added to the game, bosses are now on stages 4, 8, and 12.
  
• Portals now passively and actively charge even faster
  
• Threat now scales slightly faster by default.
  
• Chests spawn slightly faster, and more chests can spawn at later difficulties. Chests take fewer hits to open.
  
• Gem Deposits take only 4 hits to destroy now, but can grant extra gems per hit and when destroyed
  

[h3]New Burdens[/h3]

• Burden of Many: 4 additional smaller portals appear around the map. Stand inside the radius to charge them, move outside and the progress starts to drain if not complete. Each must be fully charged up to unlock the center portal.
  
• Burden of Defense: Corrupted fairies with 30+ base health move rapidly toward the portal. Destroy 16+ before they reach the center. Lose 8+ gems and 10 theurgic power each time a fairy gets by.
  
• Burden of Survival: The portal is unlocked from the start, but charges slower, and enemies appear in overwhelming numbers.
  
• Burden of Slimes: Like burden of swarms but with slimes
  
• Burden of Constraint: The only safe space is the portal area. Moving outside of the marked area will cause you to take 2 damage per second. Remain inside the area for 30 seconds to unlock the portal.
  

[h3]Burden Updates[/h3]
Burden of Blood

• While in the totem's area, enemies will spawn more rapidly around that area
  
• Blood Totems grant some gems when they are destroyed
  

Burden of Swarms

• Lots of smaller swarms are now spawning all the time
  
• You no longer lose progress if sqyds escape
  
• Slightly more needed now that it's this fast and progress isn't lost
  
• Sqyds no longer slow down
  

Burden of Restraint

• Fairies can no longer be killed. When damaged their radius shrinks and they slow down temporarily.
  
• Faster fairies while in their radius, but slightly smaller radius
  
• Fairies drop gems upon reaching the portal
  
• Fixed an issue with Divine Fairies being counted as Totems, causing totem related abilities to work on/target them
  

Burden of Patience

• Now reduced to 90 seconds. With round times much, much faster, 90 seconds feels patient enough.
  

Burden of Brevity

• Now 15 seconds.
  

Burden of Traps

• Mines now spawn in more regularly, and don't wait for you to clear all of them first
  
• Slightly fewer mines required
  
• Mines now drop a few gems
  

Burden of Bounties

• New bounties are marked nearly instantly
  
• Missing an enemy does not reduce your progress, but costs you a small amount of gems
  
• Bounty timers have been reduced from 8 seconds to 7
  

Burden of Hunger

• Multiple chickens can spawn at once
  
• The hunger timer has been reduced
  
• Chickens only heal for 3 while this burden is active
  

Burden of Phantoms

• Portal Phantoms are now unkillable in the game, and only die when they detonate. So you'll no longer be at risk of killing them in the late game.
  
• Phantoms spawn faster, and detonate a little faster, making them more dangerous than before.
  
• 1 more phantom required at the lowest threat, but fewer required at higher threat levels
  
• Phantoms drop a few gems
  

Burden of Haste

• Haste now lasts 5 seconds, up from 3.5 seconds
  
• Slight reduction in haste totems needed
  

[h3]Sacrifice Updates[/h3]

• Sacrifice Divinity now reads: Lose all theurgic energy. Your next theurgic ability requires 600/700/900 additional theurgic energy to cast. Old Text: Lose all theurgic energy. You can not gain theurgic energy or use your theurgic power this round.
  
• Sacrifice Loot should no longer be circumvented in some circumstances
  
• Sacrifice Savings now drains more gems per second. As gems have steadily increased with updates, the previous version had virtually no impact.
  
• Fixed a bug where a certain combination of sacrifices taken in a specific order could sometimes result in gems and other collectibles no longer appearing (IKR?)
  

[h3]Boon and Ability Updates[/h3]
New Boon Trees (each has 7 total new boons)

• Blazing Bird
  
• Runeblade
  

Boon Updates

• You may now only equip a maximum of 42 boons (tutorial has been updated to explain this). A popup will trigger if you are at the maximum amount. The interface now shows your current count on the side bar under your other stats while in the shop.
  
• Both classes have a brief 0.5 second invulnerability window when they cast their theurgic ability
  
• Omega Ray now moves and deals damage more quickly. It now also fades out of view rapidly so as not to obstruct your view for so long.
  
• Fixed a bug that was causing Omega Ray to be created every 4 seconds regardless of beams created
  
• Infusing Curse's text no longer reads "NA"
  
• Phantom Fire Cursed Boon now spawns a Portal Phantom after 66 enemies have been burned, up from 30.
  
• Phantom Frost Cursed Boon now spawns a Portal Phantom after 66 enemies have been frozen, up from 30.
  
• Crystal Constructs will no longer target each other.
  
• The Turret Totem from the Tag Toteam boon should no longer be able to move
  
• Swirling Salvo will now properly trigger on the Pyromancer
  
• Chargelight Curse now reads: Every 200 beam damage you do, a random enemy takes 50 damage. Expend 1 staff charge whenever this triggers. 1 second recharge time. Previously, this triggered after creating X number of beams with no cooldown, and did 30 damage. It was beyond broken.
  

[h3]Enemy Updates[/h3]

• Bosses now stop the round clock. This will keep portal phantoms from getting out of control after beating the boss, if the fight goes long.
  
• The Infested Pyromancer Boss and the final Boss will now be more likely to use their other abilities before you can trigger their damage threshold state (an invulnerable attack state after taking a certain amount of damage)
  
• Enemies spawn slightly faster once the portal unlocks
  
• Portal Phantoms now begin showing up at 1:30 in a level, down from 2 minutes
  
• Portal Phantoms are now invulnerable to damage, and only die when detonated.
  
• Sqyds: These swarming creatures now no longer suddenly slow down
  
• Basic enemies begin transforming a little earlier, and more often at lower threat levels.
  
• When basic enemies transform into their more powerful red selves, they will no longer remove any runes.
  
• Phasers (the eyeball enemies that dash in a line) will now show up more frequently at the highest threat levels
  
• Fixed a bug that was causing the the increased portal phantom spawning and danger (from remaining in a level too long) to carry over to the next level without resetting
  
• Updated how boss health bars work, so they shouldn't get stuck at full anymore even though they're properly taking damage
  

[h3]Achievement Updates[/h3]

• The Ice Age achievement will now accurately count enemies frozen by the Cryo's Theurgic
  
• The "Ice Age" achievement now requires 100 enemies be frozen, up from 50. Previously a bug was causing it to require as many as 300 enemies, but once the bug was fixed it became clear 50 wasn't enough for an achievement.
  
• The Achievement Triple Threat should no longer trigger if you lose the game with 3 cursed boons equipped
  
• Portal Dancer achievement will no longer keep counting while the game is paused
  

[h3]New Achievements[/h3]

• Flawless Victory: Complete the burden of defense without missing a single dark fairy.
  
• High Beams: Deal 150,000 beam damage in a single game
  
• Beastmaster: Summon 250 units in a single game.
  
• The Answer: Equip 42 boons in a single game.
  
• Gold Rush: Destroy 15 Gold Deposits in a single game.
  

[h3]Auto-Aim Updates[/h3]

• When using Auto-Aim, a new icon will show which toggled targeting you're currently using: Standard Targeting or Highest Threat (useful for forcing your attacks toward the boss while you dodge enemies)
  
• Auto-Aim will prioritize nearby Crystal Constructs over nearby enemies when in Standard Targeting
  

[h3]Interface Updates[/h3]

• Purchased boons now get a check mark on their icon so it's easier to tell you own them
  
• Your innate ability now has an icon on the bottom bar that will show when it's ready in addition to the swirling orb around you
  
• An enemy counter has been added to the UI
  
• Added the current stage number to the UI in the Burdens menu
  
• A boons equipped counter now shows up in shop, letting you know how close you are to the maximum amount. It disappears during battle.
  
• Fixed a bug that allowed a single click to skip through intro tutorial texts
  
• You can no longer select empty boons in the talent trees when a cursed boon is selected in the shop or inventory
  
• Auto-Fire toggle should no longer trigger when exiting the burden/boon menus
  

[h3]Sound and Visuals[/h3]

• Screenshake low and high settings have been adjusted. You'll get a bit more feedback on the low setting. On high, the maximum amount of shake has been slightly reduced, and the fall off is a bit quicker.
  
• Added a sound to signify that the portal has been fully charged
  
• Added a countdown timer alert sound once the portal is charged
  
• Fixed a bug that would cause some recently evolved/transformed enemies to play their spawning animation
  
• Fixed a bug that caused the "innate ready" sound to play when returning from pause or menu
  

The response to patch 0.11 has been wonderful, and I've been happy to hear from so many people that the game is really clicking with them now, and it's highly motivating to get more content into your hands!

Patch 0.12 will be the last patch before the big (really big) Meta Upgrades patch, so I wanted to make sure it had a bunch of new stuff to play with while you wait for that.

The exact details are still in flux as I work through many of these changes, so I'll save the full patch notes for release, but here's roughly what to expect later this week.



Key Features:

• 2 new tier 1 bosses can show up at the first boss fight on level 3
  
• A number of new boons have been added to help round out the Rune type upgrades (with many more to come)
  
• The previously teased burdens will be making their way into the game, alongside a couple more
  
• A small infusion of new achievements to give you some extra goals to work toward
  
• A bunch of requested User Interface updates have been added for combat, shopping, and burden selection
  

Pictured: UI updates show the current enemy count, a new icon and timer for your innate ability (for those that have trouble seeing the swirling orb), and when auto-aim is active a current targeting mode icon.

That's it for now, but the patch will arrive later this week! If you're enjoying your time in the game, please leave a positive review. Early positive buzz can only help this game grow!

Hotfix 0.11b

A few more bug fixes. Heading out for my first mostly day off in many moons, but back at it tomorrow. New content very soon!

• Made changes to prevent rare instances of bosses flying far off screen and not returning
  
• Opening inventory will no longer delete the burden title on the UI leaving "Burden of "
  
• Fixed an issue where In rare instances a cursed boon could leave you permanently slow
  
• Made some changes to how burdens are selected to prevent empty burden selections near the end of the game. This problem may not be fixed. In my tests It didn't happen, but this bug doesn't happen every run.
  

Hotfix 0.11a

Just covering a few more reported bugs. Still a few more small things I'm working on fixes for. Thanks for the wonderful response so far to patch 0.11! Can't wait to add more content very soon!

⦁ Holding left mouse button should no longer prevent using abilities on right mouse button
⦁ Sacrifice Dinner should no longer prevent chickens from counting on Burden of Hunger
⦁ Burden of Blood should hopefully no longer get stuck with too few points and no totems left
⦁ You can no longer trigger the title screen start sound multiple times if you rapidly click or press a button

I thought I'd have a couple days to relax after release, but I heard the feedback, and I immediately got to work to address every issue from bug to balance that I could. It can be easy to get lead astray by my own mastery of the game from months of testing, and forget how it might feel to be a new player. That's why I like to enter Early Access so - well - early. It's much easier to rapidly iterate when 90% of the game isn't locked in from years of work.

The next update will be adding the first unlockable meta upgrades for you all to play around with, and I'm excited to build on it further in future updates beyond. I'll also be trying to add more content to every aspect of the game that's already available with smaller patches along the way. Keep the feedback coming, and please leave a review if you're having fun with the game.

On with today's patch!

[h2]Patch Overview[/h2]
Across the board, changes have been made in this patch to speed players along in the game. In testing the launch build, average stage times were around 1.5-2.5 minutes, but many players seem to be in levels for 5+ minutes. It's important to the gameplay that players still have to focus on balancing level completion speed (to mitigate the ever increasing threat meter) with need for resources, but these changes should keep players from feeling stuck.

Burdens, Sacrifices, and Portal mechanics have also seen a large rework and rebalance, and hopefully they'll offer a more consistent, smoother difficulty curve. See the notes below for all the ways these have changed. Oh, and you no longer slow down when you recharge your staff!

Beyond that, you can expect a menu/gamepad control overhaul, simplified and clarified tutorials, even more balance changes, and bug fixes, and even a few small optimizations.

One last note (before more patch notes): The 2 new burdens have been moved to patch 0.11a. They need a little more time cooking, I need a little more sleep, and I really wanted to get all these other changes out ASAP. There are still a pile of burden updates, and all the new/revised sacrifices to keep things interesting.

[h3]Patch 0.11 Notes[/h3]
Note: You can always just jump into the new, simplified tutorial, to learn about most of the major changes

Video Update

• A small number of users, including those that previously had no issues with my last game Gunlocked, have reported frame stuttering issues. I've made an adjustment to see if there is an improvement. If your gameplay experience improves (or gets worse) please let me know.
  

Portal Update

• Portals now always passively charge after burdens are completed, and no longer reset if you step outside of their radius. The passive charge is very slow.
  
• The base charging radius is slightly smaller. Because the portal auto-charges, and sacrifices are no longer permanent (see below), this change is not the increase to difficulty that it might seem.
  
• At each major portal checkpoint, extra gems spawn around the portal itself, and extra portal phantoms appear. The amounts scale with the level you're on.
  
• Being directly on the portal will charge it slightly faster
  
• Threat increases ever so slightly faster while the portal is unlocked to account for how much faster the game speed can be.
  
• Achievement Update: The Portal Dancer achievement now says "Spend a total of 45 seconds standing directly on the portal while it is charging in a single game."
  

Burden Updates

• Burden of Blood: Required kills is reduced at higher threat levels.
  
• Burden of Restraint: Fairies now move much faster when you're inside their radius, and slightly faster when left alone. They take +2 hits to destroy. Required fairies reduced at higher threat levels.
  
• Burden of Traps: Mines take -2 attack to trigger, and detonate much faster. This should make them less tedious and more dangerous. Mines needed reduced at higher threat levels. Note: Mine damage was previously not registering properly, but this should be fixed. With that fix in place, and the rapid detonation time, damage from the mines has now been decreased from what was previously stated.
• Burden of Haste: Haste totems now spawn faster, and grant 3.5 seconds of haste up from 3 seconds. Required totems is reduced at all threat levels.
  
• Burden of Patience: Now always 120 seconds at all threat levels, and no longer increases.
  
• Burden of Bounties: Bounties required reduced at all threat levels. Bounty Runes spawn twice as fast.
  
• Burden of Phantoms: Needed phantom triggers reduced across all threat levels.
  
• Burden of Brevity: Now always 25 seconds at all threat levels. The passive portal charge speed is increased to account for the new portal changes.
  

Sacrifice Updates

All sacrifices are now either temporary, or have a goal/limit that will remove them. Note: In the future I may add permanent sacrifices back into the mix at higher difficulties.
• Each burden will now be paired with a unique sacrifice. Duplicates should no longer appear in a single burden selection screen.
  
• Sacrifice Choice: -2 boon choices for the next 3/4/4 rolls. This effect can stack, but you will never go below 1 boon choice.
  
• Sacrifice Destinations: -1 burden choices for the next 2/2/2 rounds. This effect can stack, but you will never go below 1 burden choice.
  
• Sacrifice Almost Everything > Sacrifice of Half: Lose 50% of your current health. If you survive the round, you're restored to 100% health.
  
• Sacrifice Space: The portal radius is 15% smaller this round, and portal phantom damage radius is 50% larger.
  
• Sacrifice Time: The portal will not charge passively and takes 20/25/30% longer to charge this round.
  
• Sacrifice Rerolls: Rerolls cost 30/50/100 more in the upcoming shop phase
  New Sacrifices
  
• Charges: You only get a maximum of 2 charges for your next 20/35/40 staff recharges.
  
• Loot: The next 5 chests you open are empty. This effect can stack.
  
• Dinner: The next 5 chickens don't heal you. This effect can stack.
  
• Speed: While recharging your staff, your movement speed is reduced by 50% this round
  

Gamepad Controls

• You can now freely move between menu zones where it makes sense, no longer requiring the quick swap zone buttons, but they still work to speed up the process
  
• You can now press cancel in any menu with a side bar to jump to the side bar
  
• D-pad should now be properly functioning for movement/menus
  

Mouse and Keyboard

• Left click should no longer skip texts or the end game menu if you bind it to both "shoot" and "accept"
  
• Esc should now properly quit from all menus even if not bound to menu cancel
  

Misc. Balance

• Gem collection range has been increased 60%
  
• You no longer slowdown while recharging (but there are cursed boons and a sacrifice that can add this back in)
  
• Portal Phantoms now detonate after 1.5 seconds, down from 2. Note: With no movement slowdown while recharging, escape is now much easier, and this may need to be even faster.
  
• Chargelight Curse: Every time a beam is created, there's a 50% chance a random enemy takes 30 damage. Expend 1 staff charge whenever this triggers. This will not trigger if only 1 charge remains. Old Ability: 100% chance to do 25 damage, and could reduce your charges to 0.
  
• Final boss has had his health slightly reduced
  

Tutorials and Text

• All texts for the starting area and the in-game tutorial have been streamlined and simplified. New information has been added, especially regarding some of the gameplay updates while flavor text has been mostly removed (except the very first intro text) for brevity's sake.
  
• New tutorial tip added to explain the talent tree previews in the Boon menu, and how talent pools/unlocking work
  
• Some of the early battle tips are a bit more spread out
  
• When you pause in-game, you'll now see a text box explaining the burden goal and the current sacrifice
  

Quality of Life

• The Exit button is now clear in the boon menu
  
• The "press keyboard key" prompt has been adjusted so it's not confusing. I currently do not have sprites for every available keyboard binding, so the game uses a generic "accept" key.
  
• New visual effects and sound triggers at each portal checkpoint
  
• Your class portrait will now flash red while your health is at or below 20
  
• If you have the popup health bar enabled, it will remain on screen when at or below 20 health
  
• A sound now plays when your innate ability is available, in addition to the swirling orb visual
  
• Various enemy sprites have been optimized in memory
  
• The game icon has been updated on windows. Was using accidentally placeholder, instead of the icon seen in Steam.
  

Bugs

• The game should no longer remain dim after beating the final boss and returning to the main menu
  
• Auto-Aim should no longer default to chickens and chests that are too far away, when enemies are close, and has better respect for various threats
  
• Fixed an issue causing the recharge meter graphics to desync
  
• Boons that have been purchased can no longer be locked
  
• You should no longer need to press accept twice when text boxes first pop up.
  
• The boon "Solicitotem" should no longer break collectibles, leaving them floating around you
  
• Pyromancer could dash in the wrong direction when using keyboard. Not able to replicate the issue, but attempted to put in a fix.