Frozen Flame News

[h2]Main Changes[/h2]

[h3]Sanctuary and Prologue Update[/h3]



Prologue Changes:

• Reduced the amount of ghosts in the “Asylum of Faceless” location. They no longer respawn after death.
  
• Removed the Prologue intro cutscene.
  
• Removed all spells from the Prologue.
  

Sanctuary Changes:

• The portal to the Broken Valley is initially closed. You’ll need to talk to Chronos to activate it.
  
• Mithra now meets players in the Sanctuary.
  
• Flight ability unlocks after traversing the Broken Valley portal.
  
• The Broken Valley main quest ends when you turn in the Portal Core in the Sanctuary.
  

[h3]Player Progression[/h3]

Once upon a time, dragons shared the secret of the magic flame with humanity. The key to its power was Flame - the enegy permeating through the lands of Arkana. And throughout the years pilgrims have been using it to master various crafts.

• Flame is gained by gathering resources, cooking food, performing rituals and slaying monsters.
  
• After accumulating enough Flame, characters will gain a level and the “Frozen Flame”, which can be spent on unlocking and leveling various Ability Tree classes using the Altar. Leveling up will also increase characters’ max HP.
  
• Ability Tree has been simplified in favour of clarity. For now it only has 3 classes: warrior, ranger and mage. Classes unlock their respective choice of weapons.
  
• After death characters lose all Flame they gathered on the current level, but they can retrieve it at the place of their demise.
  
• Lost Flame can now only be gathered by the character who lost it.
  

[h3]New Approach to Receipe Unlocks[/h3]



We’ve simplified the crafting system. From the start you’ll only have access to a few basic recipes. New recipes can be found by clearing the Cursed Camps, exploring various locations or buying them off the NPCs.

[h3]Building Update[/h3]

• Hard to believe, but over the course of a single update there’s been an entire revolution in the way we approached the building system!
  
• Improved the building UI.
  
• Removed “extra” modules.
  
• Intorduced two new module tiers: wood and stone.
  
• Crafting stations can be packed within the Construction Core area of effect.
  
• Optimized the stability and cost of modules.
  
• Crafting stations can only be placed indoors or in a shelter.
  
• You can only place one Construction Core.
  
• Construction Core barrier can only be seen by its owner.
  

[h3]Improved Navigation[/h3]

As the members of our team say: “Give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day. Give a man a main quest marker, and he’ll get out of the Broken Valley”.

Compass changes:

• Marked the cardinal points.
  
• Thickened up the edging.
  
• Main quest and death markers stand out a bit more among other objects.
  

Map changes:

• Reduced the size of marks, removed the redundant ones.
  
• Added landmark names to the Cradle of Keepers.
  
• Added main quest marker.
  
• Quest log now only displays main quests.
  

[h3]“Fresh Faces” of Arkana[/h3]



We’ve introduced plenty of new NPCs to the Cradle of Keepers and the Broken Valley isles, all with their own stories and trouble.

• Added 5 new NPCs: "Genie in a Bottle”, "Titan’s Head”, "Talking Tree”, "Chest” и “Philosopher-Bubble”.
  
• Added 2 new quest chains.
  

Fully reworked the visuals of the “Asylum of Faceless” and “Sanctuary” location.

[h3]New Tutorial Approach[/h3]



This update brings a change of approach to our main tutorial systems: during the game you’ll now get short video tutorial tips. If you feel like you’re experienced enough - you can just disable them in the game settings.

[h3]Updated Lighting[/h3]



Lighting in Arkana has become more realistic and colorful.

[h2]Other Changes[/h2]

[h3]Gameplay[/h3]

• New item: “Gold Coins”.
  
• New recipe: “Fresh-Soup”.
  
• Added 3 new Rituals and 1 secret activity to the Broken Valley isles.
  
• Rebalanced the heavy attack energy gain.
  
• Reduced the default energy cap.
  
• Temporarily disabled some power attacks.
  
• Reduced the amount of Flame gained for cooking.
  
• Nerfed the Furious Grunt’s damage.
  
• Completely removed stamina.
  
• Increased the drop-rate of pestilent boar’s hide to 100% for player groups.
  
• Temporarily disabled spears.
  
• Changed the first Ritual’s runic stone placement.
  
• Changed the Hornhead’s placement.
  
• Images on memorials with outdated mechanics changed into broken ones.
  
• Added the ability to abandon Rituals.
  
• Titan-destroyer devices no longer require Flame for activation.
  
• Fixed resource node damage for tools, fists and arrows.
  
• Bonfire now requires logs to function.
  
• Increased the fuel burning time.
  
• Reduced the decay time of bulding modules.
  
• Reduced the weight of branches.
  
• Removed branches from bonfire recipe.
  
• Portal Core is contained in the Titan Bastion chest, and can be gathered by all party members.
  
• Added armor level requirements. The better the armor, the higher is the level requirement.
  

[h3]Map[/h3]

• New resource model: “Medium geode”.
  
• New model: “Air stream”.
  
• Upon placing a waypoint on the map, it will be illuminated by a ray of light.
  
• New Cradle of Keepers area: “Mountainous zone”.
  
• Two islands has been reworked for building purposes: monster camps have been removed, and the number of resource nodes - increased.
  
• Visual update for areas around the teleportation circles in the Cradle of Keepers.
  

[h3]UI[/h3]

• Updated the UI for NPC dialogues.
  
• Map can no longer opened while falling.
  
• Added inventory filters.
  
• Expanded control settings.
  
• Added teleportation confirmation.
  
• Potions are now automatically added to the hotbar.
  
• Updated save file information.
  
• Reduced the icon size in the crafting menu.
  

[h3]Sounds[/h3]

• Pressure plate and iron door.
  
• Female character meal.
  
• “Chain lightning” spell.
  
• “High jump” spell”.
  
• Gold coin pick up sound.
  
• Construction core activation.
  
• Mithra’s voice in Prologue.
  

[h3]Other[/h3]

• Expanded the hair color choice.
  
• Aerial turning animations became smoother.
  
• Changed the size and color of teleportation circles.
  
• Added crafting animation.
  
• Updated construction area effect’s description.
  
• Added a new history book to the Bard’s house.
  
• Updated heavy attack visuals.
  
• Increased staff heavy attack damage.
  
• Increased the interaction distance for some objects.
  
• Removed the visual hint for pressure plates.
  
• Increased the waypoint effect view distance for Rituals.
  
• Added flying bubbles to the lakes of the Broken Valley.
  
• Added falling leaves effect to some oaks of the Broken Valley.
  

[h3]Fixes[/h3]

• Fixed facial animations.
  
• Fixed character eyes.
  
• Fixed the “Adventurer” NPC’s animations.
  
• Removed the ability to directly interact with secret passages.
  
• Fixed the gear break-rate formula errors.
  
• Fixed some localization and item description issues.
  
• Fixed the issue when characters’ hair clipped through headgear after flight.
  
• Fixed dialugue icons above NPCs.
  
• Fixed the ghost’s behaviour.
  
• Added staff durability damage.
  
• Fixed close-range bow aim.
  
• Fixed object collision issues.
  
• Increased the object rendering distance.
  
• You’ll now properly die if you fall off the Broken Valley isles.
  
• Fixed female character’s cloth pants.
  
• Fixed sitting animations.
  
• Fixed home altar’s packing.
  
• Fixed Skelly’s dialogue.
  

We look forward to seeing you in the world of Arkana!

If you would like to know more about the game, join us on Discord, check out all of our other Social and Community channels.

Greetings, everyone! We've recently released our biggest update in a while, and, as the tradition demends, we'll talk more about it on our upcoming stream! If you want to know more - arm yourself with questions and join us, we're always happy to share fresh information and giving the answers you want.

Want to know more and keep a bit more in touch with our team and the development process?
Join us on Discord!

[h2]Main Changes[/h2]

[h3]Bard’s Story[/h3]



The lonely Bard inhabits one of the Broken Valley islands. We advice you pay him a visit, as he can guide you to the key to the Titan Bastion.. for a small favour, of course.

• Introduced the Bard’s quest to the Broken Valley.
  

[h3]Updated map[/h3]



Our finest cartographers have improved the map’s design! Fresh and new, it’s now perfectly adapted for traversing the floating islands!

• Updated map’s design.
  
• Updated icons and their placement on the map.
  

[h3]Fast Travel[/h3]

You can now fast travel from anywhere in the world through your map. Removed the now redundant “stone of teleportation”.

[h3]Rage Bar[/h3]



Combat system has received a brand new rage bar, which fills up during the fights. It can either be partially used to make strong attacks, or depleted fully to make a power strike.



[h3]Progression and Crafting Changes[/h3]

This update overhauls the way character progression resources work, especially the related activities, and things you can spend those resources on.

• Ability Tree nodes are unlocked with Dragon Stones. You can find those in various camps’ chests.
  
• Flame can now be used to unlock various recipes. It can be gained by participating in the majority of in-game activities: collecting resources, slaying foes, cooking food, activating memorials. You can gain a large amount of Flame by completing quests and Rituals.
  

[h3]Ability Tree Spells[/h3]



Ability Tree has been expanded with 9 different spells:

• Sky Jump - spring into the air, ascending to hard-to-reach areas.
  
• Arcane Trap - create an ensnaring aura around yourself.
  
• Haste - boost your movement speed.
  
• Water Walk - traverse bodies of water on foot.
  
• Chain Lightning - send out a lightning that would jump from foe to foe.
  
• Heal - heal yourself or your target.
  
• Light Orb - create an orb of light to illuminate your surroundings.
  
• Stone Skin - reduce the incoming damage to yourself or your target.
  
• Fire Breath - ignite the foes in front of you.
  

You can have up to 3 active spells at a time. To change the active spell - pick it in the Ability Tree and press “activate”.

[h3]Titan Bastion[/h3]



Somewhere among the Broken Valley isles there’s the Titan Bastion. It is not easily reached, but rumors tell it is more than worth it. And what is the harm? Noone has seen a functioning Titan for years anyway.

• Introduced a new island.
  
• Added a “Titan Destroyer” device.
  
• Fixed the behaviour and animations of Titans.
  
• Titans can now destroy some elements of the environment.
  

[h2]Other Changes[/h2]

[h3]Gameplay[/h3]

• New resource: “Aerial Flame”, which can be found in the air around the floating islands.
  
• New monsters: spirit boars and pestilent boars.
  
• New NPCs: “Treasure Hunter”, “Bard’s Wife”, “Skeletal Musician”, “Ku”.
  
• New recipe: “Burning Broth”.
  
• New secret activities: tavern basement in the ghost village, and rune-sealed chest.
  
• New ritual: follow the path of magic emanations
  
• Fixed camera shake and visual effects for Titan’s attacks.
  
• Added the “Hunger” status, which regulates the food consumption limit.
  
• “Dodge” and “Jump” separated. Default binding for “Dodge” is “Alt”.
  
• Camp monsters’ health now scales with the amount of players nearby.
  
• Added a delay between Skull Hunter’s “Arcane Trap” activations.
  
• Added rewards for completing NPC quests.
  
• Introduced changes to bow aiming.
  
• Increased starting maximum carry weight by 50%.
  
• Increased resource node respawn rate.
  
• Reduced the amount of gathered berries and apples.
  
• Rebalanced some weapons.
  
• Slowed down the mimics.
  
• Blue crystals no longer drop from geodes.
  
• Chests in common camps no longer drop items.
  
• Removed the tent recipe.
  
• Rebalanced the crafting recipes.
  
• Changed the mystic cubes’ rewards.
  
• Removed the stamina restoration delay after leaving combat.
  
• Increased the safe fall distance.
  
• The Cradle of Keepers is once again open to builders.
  
• Introduced cooldown to the “Flight” ability.
  
• Spells no longer consume Flame on activation.
  
• Changed Idols’ activation requirements in the Cradle of Keepers.
  
• Removed the rare blueprints.
  
• Changed the spell in the Prologue.
  
• Spear has been temporarily disabled.
  

[h3]Map[/h3]

• Added a basement to the tavern of the ghost village.
  
• Fixed the placement of emanations for the Cradle of Keepers frozen area Ritual.
  
• Added new abandoned buildings to the Broken Valley isles.
  
• Removed landmarks from the map.
  
• Increased the amount of fireflies in the Cradle of Keepers forest.
  
• Added more teleports to the Cradle of Keepers.
  
• Added a poisonous area to one of the Broken Valley isles.
  
• Removed the poisonous temple from the Broken Valley.
  
• Changed the “place marker” button from LMB to RMB.
  

[h3]UI[/h3]

• Introduced the first batch of keybinding options.
  
• Updated the spell-bar visuals.
  
• Updated the Ability Tree visuals.
  
• Introduced visual improvements to the player UI.
  
• Added an option of activating spells in the Ability Tree.
  
• Improved gamepad controls.
  
• Added a new animation for the “Flight” ability unlock.
  
• Improved the teleport interactions hints.
  
• Updated the “Flight” ability icon.
  

[h3]Sounds[/h3]

• Fully updated female character’s voice acting.
  
• Added a new sound for the “Flight” ability unlock.
  
• Improved Ritual and quest sounds.
  
• Reduced the distance from which the altar can be heard.
  
• Added sounds to Bonehead and Woodhead NPCs.
  
• Updated the main menu theme.
  

[h3]Other[/h3]

• Bonehead NPC gained a few new lines.
  
• Hornhead NPC gained new lines about the Dragon Stones.
  
• Added the “rotting” effect visuals to buildings.
  
• Improved visuals of the Titan’s crystal.
  
• Updated barrel and crate breaking effects.
  
• Updated Eagle’s flight animation.
  
• Updated sawmill’s textures.
  
• Increased the amount of time given to read Mithra’s birds’ lines.
  
• Changed Crysta’s flight tragectory.
  
• Improved the Sanctuary’s atmosphere.
  

[h3]Fixes[/h3]

• Fixed Woodhead NPC’s visuals and animations.
  
• Fixed ghosts’ behaviour in the Prologue.
  
• Fixed elemental’s behaviour during its AoE attacks.
  
• Fixed the Blacksmith NPC’s animations.
  
• Fixed the Ancient Sword’s attacks.
  
• Fixed the intro cutscene.
  
• Fixed the Ice Zombies’ behaviour.
  
• Fixed the Smoldering Warlock’s behaviour.
  
• Fixed the fog in the main menu.
  
• Fixed the Flame-attacks’ effects.
  
• Fixed the stairs’ collision in the Prologue.
  
• Fixed the issue of monsters leaving their designated camps.
  
• Fixed the sarcophagus collision.
  

We look forward to seeing you in the world of Arkana!

If you would like to know more about the game, join us on Discord, check out all of our other Social and Community channels.

[h2]Eagle Update[/h2]

We’ve fully updated the model and visual effects for the Eagle used during the “Flight” spell. General approach has changed too - now, instead of being carried by the Eagle, characters transform into the Eagle themselves.

The ability is also initially blocked. Characters can receive this gift from Chronos in his Sanctuary.

[h2]Storm Warning[/h2]

The guardian of the Frozen Citadel, dragon Crysta, travels from biome to biome, summoning snowy blizzards in her wake. Beckoned by her call, frozen monsters awaken amidst the impenetrable storm.

Travelers would be wise to hide away in their houses during such harsh periods, only hoping that their shelters will withstand the unrelanting icy knocks.

[h2]Cradle of Keepers Pillars[/h2]

Camps of the Furious Grunt, Smoldering Warlock and Skull Hunter got an update and were transfered back into the Cradle of Keepers. They all still keep the masks needed to activate the portal to the Sanctuary. The last mask can be received as a souveneir from your old pal Bonehead.

On top of that, the first floating island biome has received its own name - “The Broken Valley”. Among those islands players will be able to find objects, holding the story of Arkana.

[h2]Magic Abilities Display[/h2]

UI has received a new addition - the spell bar. It will display all abilities, that consume Flame.

[h2]New Approach to Building[/h2]

The functionality of the Sentinel has been completely reworked, now providing all 3 functions needed to make a proper household: it now acts as a point of respawn, teleportation and a building area. Once you place the Sentinel, it will set and display the boundaries in which you can build your shelter. Needless to say, Sentinels now completely replace the building hammers.

Building “by hand” has also been changed. Now all crafted stations must be immediately placed on the ground, and can no longer be packed. The list of crafting stations has also changed.

[h2]Ability Tree Update[/h2]

The ability tree is getting closer to its finalised state. This time we’ve set the intended design and the positioning of nodes within the tree, while also adding more passive abilities.



[h2]Gameplay[/h2]

- Dodge roll speed increased by 20%.
- Rebalanced the Flame consumption during the Flight.
- Allowed players to teleport and fly while being encumbered.
- Fixed the staff special attack.
- Replaced the greataxe power attack with the flame attack.
- Increased the starting Flame limit from 100 to 250.
- Reduced the spear sprinting attack damage.
- Reduced the stamina consumprion of jumps and dodge rolls.
- Fixed the stamina consumption of flame attacks.
- Boars can now retreat to their allies.

[h2]Map[/h2]

- Fixed the design of the ritual in a snowy area of the Cradle.
- Added frozen zombies to the map.
- Updated visuals of the Cradle’s Dungeon.
- Updated the visuals of a couple of islands.
- Updated Elite enemy camps in the Cradle.
- Increased the distance between the islands, the Cradle, and the Citadel.

[h2]UI[/h2]

- Added UI tips for learning new recipes, crafting and cooking.
- Changed the animations and sounds of Flame Essense consumption.
- Special attack tips transfered to the spell bar.
- Added a tip to the building area.
- Added a task log and task notifications to the game.
- Switched the positions of the hot bar and the spell bar.
- Changed the Flame icon in HUD.
- Updeted spell key bindings.

[h2]Sounds[/h2]

- Added new sound effects to the islands.
- Updated the game’s main theme.

[h2]Other[/h2]

- Updated the visuals of ruins.
- Changed Mandrake’s name.
- Blizzard visuals no longer affect the indoors.
- Updated the fog on the map.
- Added a new station destruction effect.
- Updated the terrain visuals.
- Updated the fish visuals.

[h2]Fixes[/h2]

- Fixed the flickering location names.
- Fixed the waterfall’s position on the Woodhead’s island.
- Fixed the purple effect nerby the Air Pads.

[h2]Stories of Arkana[/h2]

Arkana. As mysterious as it is ancient. Its every detail holds its own story. Now players will be able to get to know Arkana a bit better, by interacting with the environment, notes of fallen warriors, and remnants of the Keeper.

The remaining heroes of the war against the cursed have their own stories to share. They’ll watch over the players, reacting to their accomplishments and telling tales. Their locations are marked on the map.

[h2]Memories of Crafting[/h2]
Warning! Experimental change. Can cause swift addiction.

We’ve significantly changed our approach towards crafting. The number of Memory Shards required to unlock recipes has been increased. On the other hand, memorials and waystone, which replaced the hidden stellas, now reward players with a greater amount of Shards. On top of that, Shards can now drop from destructible objects, like vases and boxes.

More advanced recipes require you to get rarer green Memory Shards, either dropping from Elementals, Titans and mystical cubes, or crafted from the regular Memory Shards.

[h2]Cunning Strikes of Titans and Elites[/h2]

Elites and Titans received new dangerous attacks:

- When reduced to low HP the Furious Grunt and the Ironbound fall into rage, becoming faster and much more dangerous.
- The Smoldering Warlock can now perform a powerful Fire Ball attack to scorch enemies in a large area of effect.
- The Skull Hunter now deploys traps, that knockdown and inflict slowness on their victims.
- Battles with Titans now have two phases. During the second phase they use their Star Fall attack, summoning numerous magical projectiles from the skies.

[h2]Skybox Update[/h2]

Sometimes it’s better to see once than to hear a hundred time. This is exactly such a time.

[h2]Arkana’s Secrets[/h2]

You can now find hidden chests, sealed by magical locks. To unlock them you’ll need to pay some extra attention to your environment.

[h2]Ritual Hints[/h2]

You can now receive pretty noticable hints from Rituals involving runic stones. If you pay a small Flame fee first, of course.



[h2]Gameplay[/h2]
- Re-balanced equipment effectiveness.
- Changed effects involving heavy and medium armor.
- Updated dialogues for Cradel of Keepers NPCs.
- Enlarged the bottom area of effect of air streams.
- Re-balanced cursed camps’ chest drops.
- Raw food can now be consumed, but not without consequences.
- Changed “Skull Hunter’s” idol requirements.
- Cursed archers now try to retreat in face of immenent danger.
- Reduced the frequency of blizzards.
- Cooked dishes with same effects now stack.
- Reduced damage for boars and cursed.Снижен урон от атак кабанов и проклятых.
- Changed Rituals’ descriptions.
- Increased the amount of Flame dropped by ghosts in the Prologue.
- Tent recipe is no longer unlocked by default.
- Roots can now be destroyed by any weapon.
- Strong attacks now consume Flame.
- Stellas now give Flame with a 5 minute recharge time.
- Changed the Memory Shard icon.

[h2]Map[/h2]
- Added two new bigger islands: one with a forest, and one with an abandoned market.
- Changed runes of the starting Ritual into the runic stones.
- Removed the dungeon Ritual.
- Added marks for potential NPC dialogues.
- Removed Cradle of Keepers landmarks.
- Transfered the Hermit’s tree onto a separate island, improved its visuals.
- Transfered the Bard’s house onto the island near the Cradle of Keepers, imroved its visuals.
- Added a natural ascent to the crag near the entrance to the Cradle.
- Added a hint regarding teleportation to the map.
- Removed extra markers for teleportation.
- Removed a camp between the two towers in the Cradle.

[h2]UI[/h2]
- Fixed Elites’ names display.
- Added the “Collect” button to cooking UI.
- Added Ability Tree skill effects.
- Updated Ability Tree visuals.
- Updated spell-bar visuals.
- Updated dialogue window visuals.
- Added UI tutorial tips.
- UI now displays the armor type.
- Added flying tutorial tips.

[h2]Sounds[/h2]
- Added fish sounds.
- Added sounds for “Destination Point” Rituals.
- Added floating platforms sound.
- Added cooking and recipe unlock sounds.

[h2]Other[/h2]
- Removed the mage’s tower top segment in the Cradle.
- Fixed “Earthquake” spell smoke effects.
- Increased the /unstuck use timer to 20 seconds.
- Optimized virtual textures.
- Updated interactive hints’ texts.
- Increased the draw distance for interactible objects.
- Renamed the NPCs.
- Updated sprinting animation.
- Added various visual effects for crystals.

[h2]Fixes[/h2]
- Spell-bar is now properly displayed in different UI windows.
- Re-entering building mode now properly highlights last picked module.
- Bubbles are now less aggressive.
- Fixed monsters’ stunned behaviour.
- Fixed female model’s cloth pants issues.
- Fixed monsters getting stuck in place on islands.
- Fixed light sources in the Prologue.
- Fixed the functionality of the small Sentinel.
- Fixed level disign errors.
- Fixed the delayed idol activation sound.
- Fixed drum’s collision in the Bard’s house.
- Fixed blizzard sounds during the teleportation.
- Removed unused Obelisks.