Hive Blight News

- Fixed Morgana character (AOE Poison) unpickable in drafts
- Fixed map generating elite or potion maker nodes in the first few nodes
- Chapter 2 fights with new enemies will have less enemies (The game is less hard from chapter 2 overall)

Hello everyone!

Its' been a while! Hope you've been feeling great!

As you might know we've been beesy updating our other game, Bounty of One, for it's Daily Deal (it starts today, the 15th, at 7pm CET by the way). Check it out here:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1968730/Bounty_of_One/

However, that doesn't mean that Hive Blight has been put aside in the meantime! Indeed, we've made a lot of change to this update and we have been hard at work advancing on new mechanics and the 3rd chapter.

First off, what we are adding to the game in this update:

• Music-wise, we have updated the music for the Boss fight, they should now feel more epic than ever
  
• We have added specific sounds to all insects, they will say things in a insectoid language when you draft them or place them on the board. This should give them more personnality and make them more unique.
  
• We'have change the fight background for Chapter 2 to be more ominous and make more thematic sens with the 3rd chapter we are working on. It is subtle but quite noticeable in game
  Before:
  
  After:
  
• We've added new enemies that will start appearing at the end of chapter 2. They each come with a specific mechanic and should give you a glimpse at what awaits you in chapter 3.
  
• For those who have access to the Closed Beta: We have completely overhauled the poison system. It now deals damage equal to the stack amount of poison and reduce the stack by half every second. Therefore, we've rebalanced every units, items and trinkets linked to poison.
  

Secondly, what we're working on. At the moment, we are mainly working on two things:

• The 3rd chapter - we are working on finishing creating the 3rd and final chapter of the game: getting the vibe right, the enemies, the balancing and finally, the final boss. Here is a sneak peak of the 3rd chapter's background:
  
• The challenge system - we are working on specific map node where you can fight enemies while taking on an extra difficulty challenge in the hopes of getting something in exchange.
  

In addition to that, we've made balancing adjustments and quality of life improvement as usual:

[h3]Quality of Life:[/h3]
• Changed background battlefield of Chapter 2 to be more Blighted
  
• Map improvement, 2 path with the same nodes should happen less often
  
  [h3]Units:[/h3]
• New enemies with new mechanics for Chapter 2
  
  [h3]Music and sound:[/h3]
  
• Boss fight now have updated fight music
  
• Each insect now has a voice
  
  [h3]Balancing:[/h3]
• Hector - base Attack Power buffed (T1: 10 -> 12, T2: 15 -> 18, T3: 20 -> 25)
  
• Gustav - evolution rework, it now gives +0.1 Attack Speed with each evolution
  
• Mothzart - evolution rework, it now gives +1 Attack Power with each evolution
  
• Nikolai - evolution rework, it now gain one more Attack Power when it get heal with each evolution
  
• Increased the difficulty of chapter 2
  
• Spiky enemies now start with more spikes
  
• Closed Beta: Poison Overhaul
  

[h3]Hey everyone![/h3][p]
Steam Next Fest is now over, and we just wanted to say a massive THANK YOU to all of you who played the demo, wishlisted Hive Blight, or left a review, it means the world to us! Your support gives us the energy to keep pushing forward.


Good news: the demo will stay live all the way until release, so if you haven’t tried it yet (or want to play more), it’s not going anywhere.

Now, onto the actual update, both the demo and Beta have just been updated to match the current playtest version (if you don't know what I mean, go read the part "Want to try new stuff early?" at the bottom) ! But more fresh stuff is coming very soon...

Here’s what’s new in this version:

Quality of Life

• [p] Enemies now reposition better during fights, reducing big enemy clusters and improving readability.
  [/p]

Balancing
[/p]

• [p] Fight Club can now be bought twice
  [/p]
• [p] Mycelium Herald (Boss)
  Old → “Invincible while elites are alive. Bloom: +1 Spike from Chubristle, +15 Chitin Grimhusk, and +3 Damage from Pale Apostle.”
  New → “While elites are alive: Gains Invincible and Bloom: +1 Spike, +15 Chitin, and +3 Damage”
  Attack speed: 1 → 0.7
  [/p]
• [p] Big mushrooms should now appear a bit less often
  [/p]

[p]
Visuals
[/p]

• [p] New shop animation when buying items
  [/p]

[p]
FX Overhaul- New FX for:
[/p]

• [p] Enemy deaths
  [/p]
• [p] Berserk activation
  [/p]
• [p] Tempo triggers
  [/p]
• [p] Poison-spreading trinkets
  [/p]
• [p] Morgana’s area effect
  [/p]
• [p] Heartbreaker effect
  [/p]
• [p] Vignette when you're close to losing a fight
  [/p]
• [p] Fight intro for elites and bosses (to help highlight their effects)
  [/p]

[p]
Bug Fixes
[/p]

• [p] Fixed some UI buttons not showing correctly
  [/p]
• [p] Fixed Blight Levels unlocking when they shouldn’t, or not unlocking when they should
  [/p]
• [p] Fixed exploit with Rockamouflage and Ricin Infusion triggering during the setup phase
  [/p]

[p]
Testing Further Beyond
[/p]

• [p] Press ⬆️ during a run to unlock a very, very early version of Chapter 3. Curious? Go for it.
  [/p]

[p]
A few days ago (as some of you on Discord already know), we decided to slow down a bit when pushing new content to the main version. Just like we did for Bounty of One, we’ll now use a playtest branch to test features ahead of time, for both the demo and the main game! That way, we can make sure not to break our game when bringing new features to it!

Want to try new stuff early?
[/p]

• [p] Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/optizonion-games-915538608969101372
  [/p]
• [p] Grab the “Entomologist” role in the #role-here channel
  [/p]
• [p] In your Steam library, right-click Hive Blight or Hive Blight Demo, go to Properties > Betas, and select WIP-Playtest from the dropdown
  [/p]
• [p] Steam will update to the playtest version
  [/p]

[p]
Enjoy, and thanks again for all the love!\[/p]

[p]Hey everyone![/p][p][/p][h3]Big news first - Steam Next Fest starts today, and Hive Blight is part of it!
[/h3][p]If you want to help us gain visibility, the best thing you can do is play the demo, tell your friends, stream, make videos, or just spread the word in whatever way you can. It really makes a difference for us, thank you! [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Also, during the Fest, you’ll be able to watch a beautifully awkward replay of me (Kobal) trying to explain the game while stuttering my way through it 😅 [/p][p]Not exactly pro streamer material, but hey, it’s honest work. Hope you still enjoy it![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Now let’s talk update. We’ve been reworking the map, both visually and in terms of game design. It now offers more varied paths and choices, and should feel way more interesting across runs. It’s still a work in progress, we plan to add new node types and continue improving variety, but it’s already in a much better place, and we wanted you to try it out right away.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]We also took the ooportunity to add our native language, French, to the game! This should rejoice those who speak the "langue de l'amour". [/p][p]Please give it a try if you're a fellow french speaker because, as most people, we are very bad at not making mistakes in our own language....[/p][p][/p][p]After this, our next focus will be adding more variety with enemies and nodes, to keep the experience fresh and strategic.[/p][p][/p][p]Hope you enjoy the update! As always, we’d love to hear your thoughts — feel free to share your feedback here or on Discord ![/p][p][/p][p]Enjoy![/p][p][/p][h2]Update Content[/h2][p][/p][h3]Quality of Life:[/h3]

• [p]Map rework (New node for evolution, new generation)[/p]

• [p]French Added[/p]
• [p]Boss rewards now include Starting Trinkets[/p]
• [p]New fight for elites[/p]

[p][/p][h3]Balancing:[/h3]

• [p]Cloaked Dagger (Equipment) - Ambush ammount: 3 -> 4[/p]
• [p]Cloaked Dagger (Equipment) - Attack Speed gain: +0.2 -> +0.1[/p]
• [p]Toxic Pollen (Trinket) - Poison inflicted: 4 -> 8[/p]
• [p]Ricin Inusion (Trinket) - Poison inflicted: 4 -> 5[/p]
• [p]Rockamouflage (Trinket) - Chitin received: 5 -> 4[/p]

[p][/p][h3]Bug fixes:[/h3]

• [p]Myrtle bow and Webbed Harp now show the correct tooltips[/p]
• [p]Multiple grammatical and understandability fixes [/p]

[p][/p]

Hey everyone!

For this first update of the demo, we bring you a mix of important progression changes, quality-of-life tweaks, and the usual balance and polish to keep Hive Blight smooth and shiny.

Let’s talk about the biggest change first.

Originally, our goal was to create a tutorial that didn’t feel like one. We’d drop players straight into a run, limit the mechanics to simple ones (like Heal and Spikes), and guide things gently through the quest system. The first boss marked the end of that intro, and behind the scenes, it helped ease players in without overwhelming them.

But it backfired. Many players thought beating that boss meant the end of the demo, and stopped playing—missing out on nearly 70% of the actual content.

So we’ve adjusted the flow:

• The first run is still simplified, but you can now go beyond the first boss and challenge Chapter 2 right away.
• Whether you win or lose your first run, you unlock the clan selection;
  
• You’ll also start earning experience and unlocking content immediately, right from the first run instead of starting progression beyond that point.
  
• Clan levels have been increased to 20 instand of 5

This should make progression feel more natural and help avoid confusion. Let us know how it feels!

Anyway, all this to say that if you've played the game and are reading this, you should probably give it another go cause you might have missed a bunch of content.

Outside of this main issue, here are the others changes we have made:
[h3]Fixes, balance & Improvements:[/h3]

• Pebble Axe now inflicts 3 Shatter (was 2).
  
• Fixed Sharpened Shell not showing the Spike tooltip.
  
• Fixed Spike Elite not losing spikes correctly.
  
• Small visual improvements across the board.
  
• Changed Trinket and Equipment holders to look more distinct.
  
• New end screen when you leave the game — now featuring tiny insect devs!
  
• Fixed Chapter 2 levels sometimes having too high difficulty.
  
• Changed end screen messaging so it doesn’t sound like “game over.”
  

[h3]Game System Updates:[/h3]

• Removed the Introduction Chapter – you now start directly in Chapter 1.
  
• Clan levels increased to Level 20 (was 5).
  
• Units that leave your team are now returned to the draft pool.
  
• Blight Level unlocks are now visible in the Unlocks screen.
  

Let us know what you think of the new flow and all the tweaks. As always, your feedback is a big part of shaping Hive Blight!

Enjoy!