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5.0.16 - Warp / Frostslayer / Looking Ahead

Before we begin, I have an announcement to make. The Cross of Auria YouTube channel has been deleted. This is not a commentary about the future of the game, but rather a necessity due to the change of copyright legality surrounding the music files used to create the original trailers between 2018-2020. From here on out, any Cross of Auria update videos will be posted directly to my personal YouTube channel @ http://www.youtube.com/Hardytier to its own playlist. An announcement will go up here whenever one of those videos has been posted, so there is no need to subscribe if you're not interested in the other things I do in my non-development time.

As of right now, we're on track to meet the Dec 24th deadline I gave myself for the Yuelslain's Village unless something happens to pull me away. If I am unable to complete the main questline by then, I will push back the release to January 15th. Yuelslain's Monarch is going to get pushed back even if I am able to meet the YV deadline. Rather than add a simple boss for $2, we're changing functionality of one of the YV zones or adding a new one altogether - I haven't decided yet.

Some of this isn't going to make any sense until the village is open, but the patch notes for release day were getting long - so let's chop it up a little bit and deploy what we can right now.

We haven't hit that point yet, but enemies whose HP is greater than the maximum RMMV can handle will have the remaining HP applied as Barrier Points. Also, some enemies simply have a fraction of their HP as Barrier instead. Some enemies in Yuelslain's Village use this concept, so tools to combat this must also enter the fray. For now, only a handful of abilities were added with the new concept: Warp. None of the characters learn these by level-up, so a Guidebook or skill-enabling piece of gear will be needed.

Yuelslain's Village will introduce the greatest challenge in CoA to date, so it should also introduce the greatest pool of rewards. At the time of writing this, there are 14 weapons and 44 armor pieces coded into the game just for the new zone. Of the armor, there are two full sets of gear (Yuel's Set & Festive Set), and one accessory only set (Resistance Set). Gear ranges from uncommon @ 400 points to legendary @ 600 points, marking the highest available set by points in the game. Some time after the release, I'll do another video explaining the gear to points situation, as it has evolved from my last explanation.

With the most recent series of updates, we saw the ability to change outfits for Ruby, Miles, and Riley. With Yuelslain's Village, we will see the first permanent Class change with the introduction of the Frostslayer class, which can be equipped by either Amaya or Eurus. As of right now, once their class has been changed, Wind Warrior and Wind Reaver can not be recovered. Additionally, all wind skills will be unlearned - even those learned by sources other than level up - this isn't a big deal right now, but it's worth noting for later when Guidebooks become more widely available. The highlight of the Frostslayer class is the Ice-Killer Normal Attack, which does greatly increased damage to Ice-type enemies.

Finally, challenges in the Colosseum Basement can be repeated without having to complete the An'ura Rift upstairs.

5.0.16 [Build #111, Release Date: December 19, 2021] New:
- New key term: Warp - used to describe removal of barrier points. A skill that would "remove 200 barrier points if possible" simply shows "Warp (200)" in the tooltip instead. Warp is typically associated with Arcane and has no effect on targets who do not have an active barrier. The warp effect is in addition to regularly calculated damage.
- New key term: Actions - used to describe the chance to act multiple times in a single turn. Formerly called "Act Twice" or "Act Again". A weapon that adds a chance to act another time in a single turn will now say "Actions (+x%)". If a single weapon has this in the tooltip multiple times, it indicates multiple stacking possibilities to act another time as opposed to a combined singular chance to act twice.

Yuelslain's Village (Extra Info):
- Reputation is gained with the village by completing events in the quest chain and may also be lost by giving unfavorable replies. Rep can also be gained by completing repeatable quests which unlock once the NPC's corresponding main quest step has finished.
- The village smiths will create gear for Ruby once her reputation with the town is high enough. They will even expand their shops to accept Risen and Yuelslayer coins as the village reputation gets higher.
- Festive Coins, Risen Coins, and Yuelslayer Coins are the currency for crafted gear in this town.
- Yule Spirits & Festive Coins always drop from Yuel's Lv. 50 minions.
- Risen Coins sometimes drop from Lv. 50 Risen enemies.
- Yule Spirits do not drop from the Risen and only occasionally drop from enemies below Lv. 50.
- Yuelslayer Coins occasionally drop from Lv. 50 enemies throughout all Yuelslain zones and may be disassembled from some of the region's gear.
- Soul of the Frost Slayer can be purchased from the Item Shop if the village reputation is high enough.

Frostslayer Class:
- Soul of the Frost Slayer pemanently changes Amaya's or Eurus's class to "Frostslayer". All wind skills learned by level-up are unlearned in the process. Amaya or Eurus will retain their level.
- Frostslayer's normal attacks are imbued with Ice-Killer which does greatly increased damage to any Ice enemy above level 10.
- Frostslayer learns by level up all of the shared basic ice-type skills, which includes: Frostrike, Icestrike, Avalanche, Frostbolt, Ice Spike, Ice Barrage, Icefall, Freeze, and Shatter. Additionally, Frostslayer learns the new magic abilities Blizzard (ice) and Hailstorm (ice-killer).
- Changing from Wind Warrior to Frostslayer will remove the following passive effects: End of turn TP Regeneration, Increased TP Charge Rate, Increased EXP gain, Immunity to Wind-Weak & Air Current, Resistance to TP Degeneration, and On-Hit Air Current.
- Changing from Wind Reaver to Frostslayer will remove the following passive effects: Immunity to Wind-Weak & Air Current, On-Hit Air Current.
- Frostslayer has the following passive effects: End of turn MP Regeneration, Reduced MP Cost, Immunity to Freeze, Deep Freeze, & Slow, Increased Defense from equipment, On-Hit Bleed, and resistance to ice damage.
- Frostslayer for Amaya has the same stat spread from Lv. 1-100 as Wind Warrior, and for Eurus has the same stat spread as Wind Reaver.
- Frostslayer retains Triple-Strike, Swing, Disabling Slice, Silencing Slice, and Thermite Grenade at the same levels as Wind Warrior for Amaya.
- Frostslayer retains Singlehand Stance, Doublehand Stance, Arcane Shock, Swing, and Arcane Shock II for Eurus.
- Frostslayer allows Eurus to equip Straps and Amaya to equip Scabbards. Currently, no Accessory can be equipped to either Wind Warrior or Wind Reaver.
- Singlehand Stance & Doublehand Stance will select from ice instead of wind skills.

New Skills:
- Warpstrike I - V (Arcane, physical), hits a single target X times where X is the level of the skill. Warp 200 per hit. CD: X.
- Warp (Arcane, magic), hits a target once at regular magic power. Warp 200. Additionally may apply the new Warp states @ Warp I (66%), Warp II (50%), Warp III (33%), Warp IV (10%), Warp V (3%).
- Warpblade (Arcane, physical), hits a target once at regular power. This damage bypasses barriers. Warp 200.
- Barrier Shell (non-elemental, magic) applies a 5000 point barrier to self for 1 turn.
- Warpspark - (Electric, magic) hits a target once at regular magic power, plus 1/4th Electric power. Warp 200. May apply Warp III (33%). Unlike other electric skills, this skill benefits from but does not contribute to Electric Power.

New States (Buffs & Debuffs):
Name: Effect per turn. (# of turns)
- Warp I: Removes 10 barrier points. (5)
- Warp II: Removes 100 barrier points. (5)
- Warp III: Removes 500 barrier points. (5)
- Warp IV: Removes 1000 barrier points. (5)
- Warp V: Removes 2500 barrier points. (5).
- Barrier I: Gains 10 barrier points. (5)
- Barrier II: Gains 100 barrier points. (5)
- Barrier III: Gains 250 barrier points. (5)
- Barrier IV: Gains 500 barrier points . (5)
- Barrier V: Gains 1000 barrier points. (5)

Fixes:
- Gazer Trio now resets all world vents and does not give a game over on defeat.

Updates & Changes:
- Bosses in the Colosseum Basement may be challenged repeatedly and no longer have their respawns tied to completing the An'ura Rift upstairs. Winning any boss fight in this area still resets all world vents.
- Blazerblade reflects the new terminology for players acquiring it new.
- "Chance on Hit" is being converted to "On-Hit".
- "Added Effect" and other preface tooltip texts are being removed.
- Avalance I, II, & III now have a TP cost that matches their MP cost.
- Doublehand Stance has additional effects at level 1 and again starting at level 20.

Schedule - 5.1.X
- Yuelslain's Village is on track to be released on December 24th. If a delay is needed, it will release on January 15th instead. This release will begin the 5.1.X branch of the game.
- Yuelslain's Monarch has not been started due to the time it has taken to create Yuelslain's Village, and is hereby officially pushed back to at least January 15th.
- A preliminary design for an expanded Scarlet Cavern has been created. After some tweaking and integration, the original multi-map system of Scarlet Cavern will be Timelost until they are finally removed from the game. This expanded map was created to serve as the second Colosseum event.
- Orc War main story questline is on hold pending the release of Yuelslain's Village and Yuelslain's Monarch, and following that a revamp of the Quest Log system which is currently unsustainable.
- Quest Log revamp will see dialogue and other non-directional text removed, an overall simplified design, and inclusion of quests which are currently excluded.
- At the beginning of 5.2.0, all zones marked as Timelost will be removed from the game to reclaim Map space. RMMV has a maximum number of "Maps" that can be used before it won't let me make any more, and while I did enjoy the multi-map system of dungeons like Den An'ura, it's an unsustainable system moving forward as the game continues to increase in depth.

5.0.14 [Build #109] - Pre-DLC Fixes

To prepare for the upcoming Yuelslain DLC, I had to start a new save file on the retail branch of the game and then take that file all the way forward through everything currently in game to get to where the DLC would not just be available, but be doable. As of pushing this update, I'm 6 hours in and just reached the Nexus Waterway and have completed all RF and PA sidequests. Along the way, I stopped to fix, update, or otherwise adjust everything that needed attention. There's still a few hours of this playthrough left to go, but unless anything major is broken, those fixes and updates will be held until Dec 24th.

Notable updates with this patch:
- New challenge in Colosseum basement.
- Gauntlet temporarily disabled.
- Many... many fixes.
- Some area redesigns.
- Some dialogue fixes for conditions where characters may not be present.

5.0.14 [Build #109, Release Date: December 12, 2021] Bugs to look for: Report them as a comment to the most recent patch notes or post them directly on the CoA channels using the invite link above!
- If you are able to defeat the Scarlet Cavern boss before it applies its barrier, please reach out and let me know how it's done so it can be fixed! Players who exploit this will permanently miss out on the electric melee abilities for the rest of the game.

Timelost Zones:
- Several locations within the game could not be updated without replacing them altogether to prevent player save issues. If when you load your save file, the map name at the top says "Timelost Zone", simply exit the zone and re-enter to be brought to the new version of the area.
- All four of the original Auria entrance locations have been merged into a single zone, resulting in four timelost locations. They will still transfer between one another. Return to the world map then re-enter Auria to be brought to the new location.

Temporarily Disabled:
- Due to a bug within the Hall of Challengers, the Gauntlet event is disabled.

New (General):
- Mystery Shop now offers a Silver chest in exchange for 3 Mystery Coins. This chest contains tier 2 restorative items, 1k-5k gold, and up to 1 Moderate Tool Kit per box.

New (Colosseum):
- A new blue rift has appeared in the Colosseum basement! Challenge the Gazer Trio for the chance to acquire Jelly accessories for Ruby, Miles, Riley, & Alex! These accessories grant +1 to all stats, +10 to HP and MP, & enable the skill "Slap".
-- Each of the Trio has a 2% chance to drop each individual gear piece.
-- Jelly Earrings also enable the wearer to use Skills even if they ordinarily could not.

Fixes:
- The rain stops when entering the Armory for the first time in Lvell before the dialogue instead of after.
- Adjusted Rose's forest battle zone dialogue to fit in the text window.
- Removed Mao from his house when he should not be there.
- Fixed a dialogue hiccup from when Rose and Jack leave together.
- Fixed a dialogue mistake when talking to Rose at the Phoenix Ash.
- Fixed a condition where the Scarlet cavern boss could be defeated using the Liquefier before Ruby learns Sparkstrike.
- Fixed An'ura Slasher's display level. It's stats were always level 4, but the display for level 12 remained from its original creation.
- Fixed the randomized chest in Den An'ura/Battleground which was giving Oros Weapon Parts and copies of the Expedition Outfit. Basic fruit (apple, orange, grapes, etc) were removed in a previous update.
- Fixed dialogue for the guards who deny entry to Auria after that part of the story has ended.
- Fixed the passability of tables in the Rabbit's Foot.
- Fixed the pickup condition for the recipe book in Rabbit's Foot.
- Removed the free Oros and Dusk items from Caravan Dan's inventory.
- Fixed Depleted An'urs Smogger tooltip.
- Fixed an issue where Ruby may become trapped if she doesn't have any of the Acid-Coated Ring components and kills the Hive Mind second.
- Fixed Dialogue issue for Rabbit's Foot Supply II turn in.
- Frost Fortress battles now trigger on contact.
- Fixed some unintentional portal color changes in the Lighthouse.
- Fixed an issue where Meoh was in Shoreline for the Orc War before she should be.
- Fixed an issue where Ewynn may ignore the Build the Library questline.
- Removed Miles & Riley's dialogue from Amaya's introduction.

Updates & Changes:
- Redesigned the area between Scarlet Cavern and Den An'ura.
- Increased the average step count per encounter in Den An'ura to 45 in all zones. The Expanse area of Frostbrood Lair remains at 55 and Encampment remains at 65. This change will be most noticeable beginning with Den An'ura / North and areas beyond
- Adjusted some inside areas in Auria to be more in line with the current design of the game and reflect what I've learned since these locations were originally made. Most notable change is the Grand Library.
- Redesigned the Auria/Entrance zone.
- Unified the Rabbit's Foot lodge design and removed dialogue which indicated there was a change.
- Disabled max level restriction.
- Adjusted Rose's reaction to Ruby returning to Lvell.
- Adjusted the Lighthouse internal design.

Known Issues:
- If the first enemy with Rose is defeated too quickly, she won't have the chance to introduce herself.
- The skill "Kinetics" may throw an error if used before a target is acquired. This will be fixed in the next update.



Edit: At 7:05 PM EST, the following was also added to the live build:

5.0.15 [Build #110, Release Date: December 12, 2021] Fixes:
- Fixed the units involved in the Nexus Waterway scripted Orc battle.
- Fixed an issue where Eurus or Amaya would appear twice at the campsite if the other character had not been obtained yet.
- Prevented a condition where Ruby could walk backward through Scarlet Cavern during the second Campsite scene.
- Fixed an issue where Kinetics would throw an error after the Miles costume change.
- Fixed an issue where Earthquake would throw an error after the Riley costume change.

Updates & Changes:
- Auria zones during the Orc War now conform to their new pre-OW design introduced in 5.0.14.
- Removed the mixing station from Orc War Auria / Research Shack.

5.0.13 - Fixes

I've begun my new playthrough to look for bugs and ensure the upcoming DLC is functioning correctly. More small patches like this may be applied in the next couple of days.

Blizzard & Hailstorm were accidentally left on Ruby's level-up-tree from their launch test. Anyone who made a new save file in the last few days will have those skills for her at level 1. As of right now, no character on the team is supposed to learn them via level up.

5.0.13 [Build #108, Release Date: December 05, 2021] Fixes:
- Removed Blizzard and Hailstorm from Ruby's level up tree.

Updates & Changes:
- Removed the Debug Unit from Lvell.

5.0.12 - Rockfist Ursid Questline & Crash Fix

This build was deployed as part of a crash fix for Sha'ri Desert. Locations and enemy data for the upcoming DLC are included in the download package but are inaccessible through regular gameplay at this time.

Crash Detail - "Buzz" was calling for "a.mag" damage but the engine can only read the "magic" stat as "a.mat", or "attacker's magic attack" which full crashed the game. This issue is likely to pop up now and again on skills made in early development of the game which haven't been used since, but I'll do my best to be vigilant to prevent this from happening, or at the very least deploy quick patches to fix them!

5.0.12 [Build #107, Release Date: December 02, 2021] Bugs to look for: Report them as a comment to the most recent patch notes or post them directly on the CoA channels using the invite link above!
- We're still monitoring game crashes after receiving a Mystery Coin after battle, please report it on the Steam community forum with as much detail as you can - troop composition, enemy level, exact loot obtained, etc.

Sha'ri Desert:
- Sigrid needs a brave adventurer's help.

Fixes:
- Fixed a crash relating to the bee-type ability "Buzz".
New Elemental Reaction - Ice-Killer!
- Ice-Killer now does 200% damage to future Ice-type enemies and a stacking 300% to enemies affected by Freeze or Deep Freeze.
- New Ice-type skill Blizzard deals end-of-turn damage equal to ((a.mat * 2) + 40). While affected by the Blizzard state, resistance to Ice-Killer reduced by 100%.
- New Ice-Killer type skill Hailstorm deals end-of-turn damage equal to ((a.mat * 2) + 120).

--- "Ice-Killer" clarification. There are four involved states (debuffs) - Freeze, Deep Freeze, Blizzard, and Hailstorm.
- Freeze is a 1 turn unable to act state with 300% Ice-Killer modifier.
- Deep Freeze is a 1-2 turn unable to act state with 300% Ice-Killer modifier. Also reduces evasion by 100%.
- Blizzard is an Ice-type end-turn DoT with 200% Ice-Killer modifier.
- Hailstorm is an Ice-Killer-type end-turn DoT.
- The modifiers from Freeze, Deep Freeze, and Blizzard will all stack together allowing Hailstorm to do the most damage if a target is affected with all 4 states simultaneously.
- Ice-Killer does not exist as a standalone debuff the way other elements do and currently can not be applied to a target from weapon or item effects.
- Current enemies in Frost Forest and Frostbrood locations are unaffected by this change to ice-type enemies and will not react to additional Ice-Killer damage.
- Ice-Killer, Bird-Killer, and other non-elemental infused skills will do unmitigated non-elemental damage to any target without the corresponding weakness

Updates & Changes:
- Enemy-Skill "Buzz" now costs 0 MP & 75 TP, a change from 33 MP + 10 TP, and can no longer land critical hits.

Upcoming Content Bonus - Christmas Edition

I've been cooking up something over the last week or so which will become available during the holiday season - Yuelslain's Village! This will be released as a DLC so I can gauge continued interest in the game moving forward. Though it will be a DLC add-on, it will be free of charge.


As it is currently in development, details are still subject to change, but here is a brief preview:

Yuelslain's Village - Christmas themed FREE DLC
- Zone accessible from the Colosseum Basement. - Without the DLC installed, will teleport Ruby to an empty room.
- Level 50 event area.
- Unique gear -- 525 Point base set, scaling as high as 600 point for the rarest drops.
- All primary gear slots available (Weapon/Shield/Head/Hands/Body/Feet/Ring) with some additional Accessory pieces.
- Features ice enemies, ice-resistant equipment, and ice-infused weapons.
- For full finalized details, visit the store page once it becomes available.
- Unique "XMAS" enemies are not found anywhere else in the game. Their data files have been included with the game package for some time. Overall additional download size shouldn't be more than 10MB and includes the background music for all Village zones.
- Removal of the DLC while the save file is inside the Village will result in the inability to load the game or the inability to move Ruby along the map.



In addition to the above free DLC, an add-on to the DLC will also be available for $1.99.

Yuelslain's Monarch - Nightmare Unleashed
- Requires ownership of Yuelslain's Village to access.
- $1.99.
- Event area inside Yuelslain's Village becomes a level 100 boss challenge arena.
- Boss loot table TBD
- Removal of the DLC while the save file is in the challenge arena will result in the inability to load the game or the inability to move Ruby along the map.


The creation of these new DLC events is currently taking priority over other in-game additions and other DLC mentioned in previous patch notes. Specifically, Battle Series X (free DLC) & Battle Series I ($$$ DLC) will not arrive until sometime in the spring, and updates to Sha'ri Desert and construction of Sha'ri will resume immediately following deployment of the Yuelslain's Village update beginning with the full resolution of the "Legend of the Rockfist Ursid" questline.

Unless a major crash is discovered or reported between now and Christmas, there will probably be silence on my end until the DLCs are ready to ship. Current target release date for both are Dec. 25th, but I will prepare the store page and launch if they happen to be ready earlier.

Happy thanksgiving everyone!