Arkheron News

[p]Update 0.17 is now live on our Experimental Client! You can jump in now via Custom Games, or join us for our Friday Night Fights playtests. Want to play? Learn how to access the Experimental Client here![/p][p][/p][p]This build includes custom games functionality, a new consumable and anchor abilities, and (under the hood) Ranked Mode, which we may be running short tests of in the coming weeks.[/p][p][/p][p]We’re still working on digesting the bulk of the feedback coming out of Steam Next Fest \[see our update on that here]. Expect more changes and iterations to come as we make our way towards Closed Beta. 
[/p][h3]NOTABLE CHANGES[/h3]

• [p]Custom Games have been added to Arkheron. [/p]
• [p]Ranked Mode has been added to Arkheron in .17 - information and testing news to come![/p]
• [p]New Consumable: Healing Mist[/p]
• [p]New Anchor Abilities: Full Heal & Self Revive (Mending Hands & Rescue rotated out)
  [/p]

[h3]ETERNAL ROTATION[/h3][p]We’re making a change to the eternal rotation in .17 - there’s a few tuning changes & bug fixes we’d like to make to Leodin’s items, so we’re pulling him out of the pool. Y’all love Hollow, so she’s back![/p]

• [p]Leaving: Leodin[/p]
• [p]Returning: Hollow[/p]

[p]0.17 Eternal Item Sets currently in rotation: [/p]

• [p]Dahla [/p]
• [p]Irenna[/p]
• [p]Edani[/p]
• [p]Ravah[/p]
• [p]Hollow[/p]
• [p]Karriv[/p]
• [p]Rynshi[/p]
• [p]Grimwold[/p]
• [p]Tsu’Bo[/p]
• [p]Penelope
  [/p]

[h3]\[New!] CUSTOM GAMES[/h3][p]The ability for players to create their own custom games have been added to Arkheron. Players are now able to create games with up to 45 players and 5 spectators with direct friend invites or party codes. [/p][p]
[/p][h3]\[New!] CONSUMABLES[/h3]

• [p]\[New Consumable]  Healing Mist - A ranged consumable that heals Health and Fortitude in a targeted area. Caster will be also healed upon successfully healing allies.[/p]
• [p]Healing wards no longer block line of sight or attacks for NPCs
  [/p]

[h3]\[New!] ANCHOR ABILITIES[/h3][p]Similar to eternal rotations, we’ll look to rotate out Anchor Abilities, Consumables, and more from time to time to keep the gameplay of Arkheron feeling fresh. [/p]

• [p]\[New Anchor Ability] Full Heal - Channel for 2.5 seconds to heal yourself to full.[/p]
• [p]\[New Anchor Ability] Self Revive - Channel for 2 seconds when knocked down to pick yourself back up with 100 health[/p]
• [p]Anchor Abilities rotated out: Rescue and Mending Hands
  [/p]

[h3]ETERNAL ITEMS[/h3][p]VATON[/p]

• [p]Payback Crown will now reflect damage over time. [/p]
• [p]Payback crown can now reflect damage to enemy summons (Grimwold’s Static Turret, Tsu’Bo’s Yah'towa, etc)[/p]

[p]PENELOPE[/p]

• [p]Penelope’s Correction Amulet now displays a meter with the tether's remaining health.[/p]
• [p]Damage from the parasol now correctly counts towards interrupting interactions.[/p]
• [p]Monsters are now affected by the Correction Amulet.[/p]

[p]TSU’BO[/p]

• [p]Forefather Crown’s Yah'Towa can now pathfind to pinged targets if they don't have direct line of sight.
  [/p]

[h3]GAMEPLAY MISC[/h3]

• [p]First Blood and Revenge will no longer trigger in the tutorial or training mode.[/p]
• [p]We’ve added low walls in the main area of the training room so players can try out leaping over walls more effectively.
  
  [/p]

[h3]FRONT SCREEN[/h3]

• [p]Character lighting in the main menu has been updated so characters fit better with the background. 
  [/p]

[h3]MONSTERS[/h3]

• [p]We’ve made a few improvements to destroyer movement - they should now more reliably and more smoothly path toward the intended target. 
  [/p]

[h3]UI / HUD[/h3]

• [p]Updated skin icons in the front end to display the default anchor and have a consistent pose. [/p]
• [p]We’ve taken a polish pass and updated all in-game consumable icons. 
  [/p]

[h3]AUDIO[/h3]

• [p]End of game victory and defeat screens have new music.
  [/p]

[h3]CONTROLS & SETTINGS[/h3]

• [p]We’ve upgraded Nvidia’s DLSS upscaler from version 2.0 to 4.0. You can expect significantly reduced ghosting + increased image clarity when using this upscale mode on Nvidia GPUs that support it.
  [/p]

[h3]MISC[/h3]

• [p]We’ve updated graphics options to be simpler and more intuitive.[/p]
• [p]Voice and channel indicators are now in a footer and party view in front end screens.
  [/p]

[h3]BOTS[/h3]

• [p]The Bots in practice grounds are no longer rivals so players can test out Hollow’s amulet ability, Mark the Outcast.
  [/p]

[h3]BUG FIXES[/h3]

• [p]Fixed an issue where Dahla’s Dancing Blade Twisted Thorn would not deal damage on the second hit, and would sometimes fail to stun invulnerable players.[/p]
• [p]Fixed inconsistent behavior of Edani’s Banish on Oracles, Reavers, and Scorchers.[/p]
• [p]Updated Edani’s Outburst Crown description to correctly reflect the fixed 15 damage.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where the Destroyer could intercept Edani’s Lunging Hook Startling Lunge. [/p]
• [p]Fixed an interaction where teleporting using Grimwold’s Oscillating Regeneration Crown while taking lethal damage and sprinting allowed players to stay alive for longer than intended.[/p]
• [p]Resolved an issue where Irenna’s Caretaker Krurian Handshake would fail to stun invulnerable players.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an intermittent issue with Grimwold’s Static Turret targeting. [/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where the Destroyer could go out of bounds while chasing a player who went underground during a Skyslam ability.[/p]
• [p]Updated placeholder VFX the Destroyer sometimes would play during Petrify cast.[/p]
• [p]Fixed animation issues with Penelope’s Looking Glass and Vaton’s Seeing Eye while moving and attacking. [/p]
• [p]Fixed an intermittent issue where ally voice chat UI would sometimes fail to display, or sometimes display permanently. [/p]
• [p]Fixed several SFX inconsistencies when swapping weapons or dodging with specific timing during attacks.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where damage numbers would not appear when attacking Frost Armor from Irenna's Frost Armor Crown.[/p]
• [p]Resolved an issue where Vaton's Seeing Eye Orb VFX were sometimes missing at point-blank range.[/p]
• [p]Adjusted placement of crowns on the player's head to address offset inconsistencies across different assets.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an instance of SFX spam when using Vaton's Payback Crown against Scorcher.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where Irenna’s Frost Armor HUD sometimes remained visible after the effect timed out.[/p]
• [p]Updated a loading tip to display the correct fragment costs for reviving an ally at the Shrine.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where Karriv’s Flaming Lantern SFX can trigger incorrectly after swapping weapons mid-attack. [/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where Rynshi Bracer’s attack SFX could cut off when casting. [/p]
• [p]Fixed a few inconsistencies with visibility of embedded projectiles while blinded or invisible, and from teammates perspectives. [/p]

• [p]Fixed multiple collision issues throughout the tutorial sequence.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where players could reach out-of-bounds areas in Sanctuary of Stone using abilities.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a wall in Scholar’s Nook that failed to dissolve properly.[/p]
• [p]Corrected several lighting issues.[/p]
• [p]Fixed “see-through” bugs in various rooms.[/p]
• [p]Added missing collisions to table assets and fixed various dissolve bugs.[/p]

• [p]Fixed a bug where players would get stuck on a loading screen after completion.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where Xbox controllers would rumble constantly when joining the tutorial on Steam.[/p]
• [p]Fixed scrolling issues in the social menu.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where the party leader's game mode could be changed by non-leaders.[/p]
• [p]Customization: Updated the Penelope player icon, which was incorrectly titled "Tsu'Bo."[/p]
• [p]Fixed various font size inconsistencies in sound settings. [/p]

• [p]Resolved an issue where frontend music would persist into Ascension matches or sound muffled.[/p]
• [p]Fixed various VO issues, including VO not playing in the beacon phase and VO playing at incorrect times.[/p]
• [p]Added missing selection sounds for the "Add Teammate" button and transitionary audio for loading screens.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where the Destroyer’s second healing cast was inconsistent in healing people. [/p]

• [p]Fixed an issue where green sidebars were appearing on ultra-widescreen displays.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where Tutorial VO played unlocalized.[/p]
• [p]Resolved an issue where waterfall VFX appeared black for specific graphics cards. .[/p]
• [p]Optimized several shader graphs.[/p]
• [p]Fixed several crash scenarios.[/p]

[p]Didn’t get enough of Arkheron during Steam Next Fest? Neither did we, so we’ve decided to reopen the tower for a few hours every Friday![/p][p][/p][p]Starting Friday, March 13th, we’re kicking off weekly Friday Night Fights on our Experimental Client. While we’re heads down working toward Closed Beta, we wanted a dedicated time every week for the community to jump into Ascension and play together. 
[/p][p]How to Join In [/p]

• [p]Step 1: Grab the Arkheron Experimental Client by signing up here. [/p]
• [p]Step 2: Join our Discord for live updates and a place to drop your feedback.
  [/p]

[p]Regional Play Times
[/p][p]To make sure the ping and matchmaking time stays low, we’re setting up designated windows where Arkheron will be live in each region. A quick heads up: Queuing up during these times will connect you to that specific region’s servers, no matter where you are in the world.[/p][p]
Asia / Pacific - 12PM - 2PM UTC[/p]

• [p]9PM - 11PM JST/KST[/p]

[p]Europe - 8PM - 10PM UTC[/p]

• [p]8PM - 10PM GMT[/p]
• [p]9PM - 11PM CET[/p]

[p]South America - 11PM - 1AM UTC[/p]

• [p]8PM - 10PM BRT[/p]
• [p]7PM - 9PM AST[/p]

[p]North America - 2AM - 4AM UTC[/p]

• [p]7PM - 9PM PDT[/p]
• [p]10PM - 12AM EDT
  [/p]

[p]Custom Games are Here!
[/p][p]We’re also officially deploying our .17 Update, which introduces the Custom Games feature. Want to run your own lobby outside of Friday Night Fights? Now you can. Plus, Training Mode will be live 24/7 so you can run mini-matches and polish those skills whenever the mood strikes. [/p][p]

[/p][p]Expect Things to Be… Weird. 
[/p][p]Because these Friday playtests happen on our Experimental Client, you’re seeing the game exactly as it is behind the scenes - scrappy prototypes and all. 
[/p][p]This is live development, which means we’re iterating on Arkheron in real time with you. Things will break. Sometimes they’ll break in hilarious ways; other times, they might just crash. We’ll be adding, removing, and tweaking things constantly. Matchmaking and modes may be different week to week - we'll look to keep teams balanced, and may split up high skill trios if that means a better experience for the community. If you’re okay with a little chaos in exchange for helping us shape Arkheron, you’re in the right place.[/p][p][/p][p]A note on language: Because we’re iterating so quickly, new experimental features might not be localized yet. We usually handle translation closer to a feature’s final “shipping” state, so thanks for bearing with us in English for now. 

[/p][p]Can I share this? 
[/p][p]Yes! There’s no NDA to sign or anything like that. You’re welcome to stream your matches, clip your best (or buggiest) moments, and talk about it openly. We love seeing what you all get up to in-game. 

[/p][p]Jump In Now[/p][p][/p][p]The Experimental client is live right now if you want to get some training in. We’ll be deploying .17 with custom games in the next day or two![/p][p]
[/p]

[p]Thanks so much for playing Arkheron during Steam Next Fest! Our team had a blast seeing all the new item combinations you came up with, and all the hectic Beacon fights you conquered! This playtest gave us a huge amount of insight, and we want to share what we learned and what’s coming next. 
[/p][p]The Fun Stuff
More than any previous test, we saw players really dig into Arkheron’s depth. Players were theorycrafting builds, breaking down item interactions and sharing discoveries with each other across the community.

We saw: [/p]

• [p]Detailed discussions around build synergies and item trade-offs[/p]
• [p]Players iterating on strategies after tough beacon fights. [/p]
• [p]Early signs of a competitive meta beginning to form.
  [/p]

[p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]
[/p][p]Seeing people engage with gameplay in this way is incredibly motivating for our team. The next step for Arkheron is unlocking deeper competitive play and progression, which we’ll begin exploring with Ranked during our upcoming closed beta. 
[/p][p]What Needs Work [/p][p]Next Fest also helped us clearly identify where Arkheron needs improvement. [/p][p]
The biggest area is performance. We knew going in that we had some work to do on optimization. You can read more about our optimization goals in this post. This test gave us much clearer data across a wide range of PCs and setups. The information will directly guide our optimization work going forward.[/p][p][/p][p]Performance issues were sometimes compounded by crashes, disconnects or high ping. In a fast-paced game with a steep learning curve, technical issues can make learning and improving much harder. Reducing these problems across the board is a big priority for us. 
[/p][p]The new player experience can be challenging. There’s a lot to learn and it’s hard to learn it real-time in fast combat. To be clear, we're not looking to sacrifice or water down what makes Arkheron fun at a high skill level, but we do want to figure out how to make the new player experience more approachable. This was our first playtest with a tutorial in place, and so we’ve got some good insights on how we can improve this alongside other things we can try.

We also received consistent feedback around hit clarity and UI. At times, it’s unclear whether hits are landing or why they miss. Players have also asked for clearer HUD information about items to support faster decision-making during combat. [/p][p][/p][p]We are digging deeper to get a very specific list of where players are experiencing these issues. If you have thoughts on these topics, we’d really appreciate them in the dedicated Discord threads here. [/p][p]
Beyond this, we received a wide range of feedback covering balance, modes, queuing, matchmaking and more. We're reviewing all of it, even if it’s not called out directly in this post. [/p][p][/p][p]The Road Ahead[/p][p]This week, our team will regroup to assess everything we learned from Next Fest and lock in our plans for Closed Beta. We will share more details soon about what to expect next.

In the meantime, if you want to sign up for Closed Beta, go to our steam page and click ‘Request Access’. If you already have a key from our Alpha Playtest weekends, you won’t need another one.  
[/p][p]Keep an eye out for more updates on our website, steam announcements, and Discord. [/p]

[p]We’re deploying an update to the game tomorrow at 10AM PT to make changes to the Eternal Set Rotation and optimize off-peak matchmaking logic.[/p][p]Note: This update will happen automatically, and requires no downtime or new download.[/p][h3]
Eternal Set Rotation[/h3]

• [p]Leaving: Hollow & Vaton[/p]
• [p]Returning: Ravah & Leodin[/p]

[p]One of the ways we have for impacting Arkheron’s meta is Eternal Set Rotations - expect us to use these to shake up how the game plays at a macro level. We'll use them regularly during our pre-launch phases as we test and showcase the ways these shifts will change play. Long-term, we expect the frequency of these rotations to be less regular, and expand past items into mechanics like Anchor abilities, PVE, Quests, and Consumables. [/p][p]We’ve decided to rotate out two ranged-heavy Eternal Item Sets - Vaton and Hollow. This move will reintroduce Leodin, whose set features anti-ranged capabilities, and Ravah. We expect this to shift the meta away from favoring ranged comps and builds.[/p][p]If you haven’t spent much time with Hollow or Vaton’s items, make sure to try them out before they leave the loot pool tomorrow.[/p][p][/p][h3]Eternal Items[/h3][p][/p][p]Ravah[/p]

• [p]Talonflight Crossbow’s Unload stun duration has been reduced to 1s (from 2s), and now applies across all levels (instead of Upgrade III)[/p]
• [p]Talonflight Crossbow Piercing shot now passes through targets at Upgrade level III. [/p]

[p]Leodin[/p]

• [p]Radiant Crown Radiant Shield now includes Crushing, and now displays lifesteal values (7.5–15.0).[/p]
• [p]Eclipse Hammer Joyous Pummelling now includes an additional strike. Damage is updated to (20 / 20 / 30 / 30) from (20 / 20 / 30).[/p]
• [p]Eclipse Hammer Righteous Swing damage increased to 35 (up from 30).[/p]
• [p]Glint Spear Divine Thrust now deals Piercing damage.[/p]
• [p]Glint Spear Reflect channel time reduced to 4s (down from 5s).[/p]

[p][/p][h3]Updated Matchmaking Logic in Off-Peak Hours[/h3]

• [p]If players experience excessive queue wait time during off-peak hours, they now may be matchmade into a nearby region with a healthier queue population. Naturally, this change will be felt by very few players.[/p]

[p]We’ve been keeping a close eye on the player experience during off-peak hours - when most players in the region have logged off. To improve the experience of those few players, we’re applying logic that allows those players to be placed in a nearby region with a higher queue population.[/p][p]This change aims to reduce overly lengthy and ensures those few affected players will spend more time in the Tower and less time in the lobby. In those instances, players will experience higher ping.[/p]

[p]We are deploying a small patch that includes improvements to loading times, a bug fix from yesterday’s patch and a warning system for people who leave matches early.[/p][p]
Improvements to Loading Times[/p][p]In our Performance and Matchmaking post from last week, we mentioned that loading times can be slow after leaving a match and add to the overall requeue time. We have made a fix to drastically reduce this load time. This means that queuing up for another match will be much quicker.

Longer load times were affecting a minority of players, however if one player had a long loading time it meant that everyone else would be waiting for their load time when getting into their lobby. Improving these load times for the players experiencing them will make getting into a match much faster for everyone.

We still have further improvements to make for our initial loading times when you first open the game but we wanted to try to improve the reloading time as quickly as possible. [/p][p]
[/p][p]Tsu’bo Bug Fix[/p][p]Yesterday, we put out a hotfix to rebalance the following Eternal Sets: Penelope, Tsu’bo and Rynshi. We had reports that the following change did not take effect. Today’s update fixes that.

TsuBo’s Yah’towa ability (Wolf Summon) has had its hitpoints reduced when upgraded to Level 3. The hitpoints are now 100 (down from 125)[/p][p]
[/p][p]Warning for Leaving Early[/p][p]If you’re downed in a match, it’s possible to be revived by your teammates. The match isn’t over until your whole team is eliminated. Leaving early can put your teammates in a tricky position. [/p][p][/p][p]The new warning will let players know that it’s possible to be revived and ask them not to leave. This also includes a warning that there may be future penalties for repeatedly leaving early.[/p][p]
[/p]