Last Epoch News

• The waypoint for Crumbling Ruin now unlocks as soon as you complete the Shard quest in the Keeper’s Camp, allowing you to continue the campaign even if the transition to Crumbling Ruin fails.
  
  • If you have a character that got stuck at the end of Chapter 1, going back to Keeper’s Camp should unlock the Crumbling Ruin waypoint in the Ruined Era, allowing you to proceed.
    
• Fixed a bug where making quest progress in a Town, then creating a new offline character could have the quest progress of the new character fast-forwarded to the quest state of the old character.
  
• Fixed a bug where Hardcore characters that died in Arena were not forced back to the Character Select screen.
  
• Fixed a bug where Hardcore characters that have died were still posting results to the Hardcore Arena leaderboard.
  
• Hardcore characters now connect to Standard chat channels after dying.
  
• Fixed a bug where Weaver Uniques did not immediately apply their newly gained affixes to the player when added or upgraded by the Weaver.
  
• Fixed a bug where creating a Weaver unique with a Rune of Ascendance could cause it to have 0 Weaver’s Will.
  
• Fixed a bug where stationary minions such as totems would stop attacking if given a move command via the A key.
  
• Fixed a bug where Lethal Mirage's Rending Darkness would cause mirages to sometimes target the player that cast it, accomplishing nothing.
  
• Fixed Stashes in the Keeper’s Camp not having minimap icons.
  
• Fixed some of Grael’s voice lines not playing in The Burning Forest in Online mode.
  
• Fixed sounds for Lethal Mirage not playing in Online mode.
  
• Fixed footstep sounds not playing correctly for summoned Bears.
  
• Adjusted some music and dialog mixing for Chapter 1.
  
• Added final 2d art for Dedication of an Erased Primalist and Code of an Erased Sentinel.
  

[h2]Towns[/h2]
The new Towns functionality was disabled a few hours after 0.9.1 launched yesterday, meaning you will not see other players outside of your party in Town zones.

Our service for processing requests to join Town servers was overloaded with the influx of players after launch, and this caused almost all requests to join a Town to be stuck. We investigated the problem and were unable to find a quick solution to resolve the problem, so we took down the new Towns system to unblock players.

We have performed a root cause analysis and have a path forward that we are investigating. Our priority is to take our time with this so that the re-launch of Towns is smooth.

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]
As always, we are monitoring bug reports. Here’s what bugs we are working on now:

• Item Linking is not currently working - there is a configuration issue between our testing environment and the live environment that we need to resolve
  
• Weaver Uniques being upgraded causes a lag spike.
  
• Rarely, a failed attempt to transition to another zone can become completed after loading a different character.
  
• The window for reducing corruption in the Sanctuary of Eterra does not disappear after being used.
  
• Missing terrain visuals in the Shrouded Plateau.
  
• There isn’t a quest marker prompting you to walk to Balthas after defeating Orian and Emberwing in the Summit in Chapter 1.
  
• Cosmetics and armor visuals are sometimes invisible (usually fixed by re-equipping or going to the next zone).
  
• Echo Completed portals don’t use equipped Portal cosmetics.
  
• Epoch Points are always shown as costing USD in the Shop, rather than local currency (the correct price is used when purchasing).
  

Rising Flames, Patch 0.9.1, is coming Thursday, May 25th, 2023 at 11:00 AM CT!

Welcome everyone to the Patch Notes for Beta Patch 0.9.1 Rising Flames! Over the last week we’ve been going over some of the major features to expect in this patch. With a completely recreated Chapter 1, Last Epoch now starts off the experience adventuring in Eterra on the right foot. With new zones, creatures, and improved tools we draw ever closer to our 1.0 release.

Last Epoch Beta Patch 0.9.1 - Rising Flames will introduce:

• Complete Overhaul of Chapter 1
  
• New "Weaver's Will" Item Type
  
• New Uniques
  
• New Ambush Monolith Activity
  
• Online Arena Leaderboards
  
• Town Functionality
  
• New Models and Animations
  
• New Enemies
  
• New Music
  
• And more!
  

Check out the full Patch Notes here!

Welcome Travelers to the final day of the Pre-patch Blog Post Hype Week!



One of our biggest goals closing in on our 1.0 launch of Last Epoch is getting existing content up to our latest standards. These improvements have been coming in across the board: Models, Animations, VFX, and UI updates. Over the years, we’ve been adding additional chapters to Last Epoch, and with that constant pushing of our standards for the campaign, our oldest chapters needed to be brought up in quality. With Rising Flames, we are pushing those standards even further with a complete overhaul of Chapter 1!



Some of the most common feedback we’ve gotten regarding the campaign and story is that it’s hard to track why you’re embarking on a journey with the shard of the Epoch. In overhauling Chapter 1, we are setting the stage for the epic adventure the Traveler is about to embark on. In the revised Chapter 1, you, the Traveler, will now cross multiple zones, meet key NPCs, and explore multiple new and fantastic areas, as the story of the Epoch and the land of Eterra start to unfold. No longer just a few zones, Chapter 1 will now take you from level 1 to level 9 with chapter 2 and onwards being adjusted accordingly.



With the update to Chapter 1, the Traveler will know a world of peace as they begin their journey during the Divine Era. Learning about the plights and problems of the people of the time, and ultimately watching the destruction that war has brought, and the ushering of end of the Divine Era.





In the new Chapter 1, you will face off against Rahyeh’s forces as they begin their invasion of the Ulatri Cliffs. Along the way you’ll be introduced to essential story characters, including the Hero of Heoborea, Grael. Fighting your way through both flora, and fauna, you'll have the chance to interact with these characters and learn more about the world of Eterra.



After learning of the reason for Rahyeh’s invasion, you will make your way through his forces to reach The Keeper’s Vault, where this god’s true objective lies. While what’s kept safe within may be unknown, what is known is that if this war-mongering god is willing to go to such lengths to get to it, it must be kept from him.





The newly redesigned Chapter 1 pushes our design standards even further with improved lighting, shaders, textures, assets, and more. Using these new technologies and tools, we are continuing to enhance Last Epoch's visual design to be more distinct and beautiful. Before the void corrupted everything, the world was full of vibrant colors and stretching vistas. With Rising Flames, we are bringing that vision to life. We’d like to share a few screenshots of just a few of these new areas you’ll encounter in 0.9.1.









While the addition of a new Chapter 1 was a big focus for this patch, we plan to apply the lessons we learned and the tools we developed to other scenes, both old and new, in upcoming patches. Here are some examples of the updated scenes that will be included in this patch.



One of our main goals for our existing scenes is to improve the overall quality of assets and lighting. Additionally, we aim to increase the readability of the character models and monsters by reducing the complexity of ground textures.



By applying these new systems, even to existing scenes, we continue to provide more distinct visual identities between the different Eras.









Beta Patch 0.9.1 will also introduce our first iteration of Towns, starting with the first town in Chapter 1: Keeper’s Camp. Towns are non-combat social spaces found throughout the campaign, including the End of Time. Towns feature major amenities, such as a Stash access, and a Vendor allowing you to take care of your out-of-combat needs.



Upon entering a town, you will be able to see other Travelers making their way throughout Eterra, be able to meet and form parties with strangers, then continue on your journey with renewed force in allies. There is also dedicated town chat channels allowing you to connect with other users in the area, or perhaps even just hang out.

(note the view in this capture has mini-map icons for each player. In 0.9.1, only party members will have mini-map icons)

The first iteration of towns is mainly technical in nature (making the server process of being placed on a server with non-party members, leaving the area to be assigned different servers, and all that good backend stuff). In future patches, we will be continuing to expand town functionality with more to do in towns, and empower the social aspects offered with a physical connection to other Travelers.



While somewhat related to towns and perhaps a little off-topic of the Chapter 1 Rework, we felt this note still demands higher attention than being relegated to just a patch note.

While we continue to work on improving automatic server selection and server performance, we’ve heard your requests for the ability to manually select a server region to connect to. Even with perfect automatic selection, there were many good arguments made for being able to manually select a server region, such as wanting a middle ground for playing with friends in distant regions.

As such, we are happy to say that with Beta Patch 0.9.1 Rising Flames, you will now have the ability to manually select your server region!



You can do this in three places. From the main login menu, in the settings where you can select your preferred server region that will carry over between sessions, and when in a party, you can go into the party screen and select a server region to transfer to and it will take effect on the next transition.



With Beta Patch 0.9.1, Last Epoch has taken a significant leap forward in terms of visual design standards. The new patch brings about numerous improvements, resulting in environments that are more striking, memorable, and immersive than ever before. From the stunning vistas to the vibrant gardens, everything feels more vivid and alive than ever before.

We’re excited to see everyone get their hands on this brand-new experience in just a few days, and we’ll see you all again tomorrow for the Patch Notes for Beta Patch 0.9.1 Rising Flames!

Hello Travelers, and welcome back to the Pre-Patch Hype Week Blog Posts - Weekend Edition!

For today’s post, we’re going to be taking a look at some of the new enemies and models you’ll be encountering in Beta Patch 0.9.1 Rising Flames.



[h2]Quill Hog[/h2]
The first one up is a very colorful fellow which you may have spotted during the Reaper Form post. The Quill Hog is a new enemy which will be encountered as early as the first chapter of the game. Like many things in nature, bright colors may look pretty, but more often than not indicate danger. That is certainly the case with the Quill Hog, which is able to use its quills as both tools for burrowing and as projectiles.



[h2]Bolroth[/h2]
The next new enemy we’re taking a look at is the new Bolroth. This large and lumbering creature sports some very odd adornments. The coral-like structures contain a sickly-sweet substance attracting small prey, which then become entangled and pulled down into digestive fluids deeper within the structure to be consumed by the Bolroth.



[h2]Rahyeh Soldier[/h2]
Rahyeh’s forces are also getting a facelift in 0.9.1. Today we’re showing one of his common foot soldiers. A zealous servant of Rahyeh, this soldier is more than happy to meet blades with you.



[h2]Vine Crawler[/h2]
The flora inhabiting Eterra has also grown more deadly in the Rising Flames with our last new enemy we’re showing off for today. Most often found in heavily vegetated areas, with sharp thorns and a temperament to match, the Vine Crawler is one plant with 6 foot deep roots.




Alongside new enemies, some other models are getting visual updates bringing these models up to our current standards in preparation of our 1.0 release. Starting off for all the Primalists out here, we present to you the new Primal Wolf and Primal Bear companions! These new models feature adornments and armor helping them stand out as companions, alongside new animations to give them more personality. Who’s a good doggo? All Primal Wolves are good doggos!

[h2]Primal Wolf[/h2]


[h2]Primal Bear[/h2]


[h2]Unique Item Models[/h2]
We are very pleased to announce, that as of the release of Patch 0.9.1 Rising flames: every unique Weapon in Last Epoch now has its own 3D Model! We want to share a few of these with you today, and hope you enjoy the beauty of these new models for uniques we’ve been familiar with for so much time without them.

[h3]Storm Breaker[/h3]


[h3]Acidfletch[/h3]


[h3]Soul Bastion[/h3]



That’s all for today’s look at new Enemies and Models coming in Patch 0.9.1 Rising Flames. We’ll be returning with the Pre-Patch Hype Week Post on Monday and look forward to seeing you all there as we release with our final, and biggest Blog Post for 0.9.1 Rising Flames, coming May 25th!

Travelers, as you are likely already aware, yesterday’s announcement has given us another chance to earn our reputation as the community-driven ARPG, and the studio that listens. We’ve spent the last 24 hours reading your feedback, discussing it internally, and deciding what to do next. I want to thank our community for challenging us to be better. We’re here today to say we hear you, and want to answer that challenge.

We are making three immediate changes.





Admittedly, we ended up leaning too hard into following the established and successful models in the industry. The operational cost of EHG as a studio has risen sharply with the increasing team size, quality of the game, server expenses, etc., and our current price tag of $35 for the game was never designed to be the only source of income to ensure that we’re able to continue operating. So, when we were evaluating our options, we leaned on advice designed around previous titles, and that was a mistake.

Last Epoch fans aren’t here because they want something that’s already been done; you are here because you see how much we have to offer the genre. Over time we hope to bring that same innovation and player focus into the monetization space.

New Pricing and Purchase Experience
As echoed in our community yesterday, the experience of purchasing currency bundles and then managing leftover funds is not an enjoyable one. So moving forward we will have a new structure of currency bundles at the following price points:

• $4.99 USD = 50 EP
  
• $9.99 USD = 100 EP
  
• $19.99 USD = 200 EP
  

*note the 1c offset on these prices is not something within our control to adjust at this time, as it is powered by Steam’s localized pricing model. Also note Steam will automatically convert USD into your local currency.

Additionally, items for sale in the store will always be equally divisible in 50 EP increments, meaning that if you see an item in the store that you want, you will be able to purchase exactly enough currency required to buy that item, and no more.





We are now also ready to announce our Supporter Pack pricing for Rising Flames. For players who choose to purchase cosmetic MTX, we want the Supporter Packs each cycle to be the reveal that is most looked forward to and the place you can go to get the most value for your money spent each cycle. We hope that value is recognized below, but we of course will be keeping an ear out for your feedback.

• Eternal Traveler - $20 - (includes 150 EP)
  
• Eternal Templar - $30 - (includes 150 EP)
  
• Eternal Vanquisher - $40 - (includes 150 EP)
  
• Eternal Legend - $50 - (includes 150 EP)
  

As with all things, art and design are subjective in nature, so what’s fantastic and exciting to one person may not be to the next. There can be some levels of understanding of “This item is more grandiose than this item,” but at its core, humans are so varied and unique in their perceptions that we’re never perfectly aligned in what we think is “cool” or “worth it”.

We say this because we understand this concept, and so when some players say, “That’s ugly, I would never pay X,” or they say, “That’s way overpriced for that garbage,” you also have to recognize that there are others who say, “Wow that’s awesome and fits the character I’m making perfectly” and think it’s a good choice.

With that in mind, we understand that the price points proposed initially were met with a general sentiment of being too high, and we’ve made adjustments to our inventory that will be ready to share fully for 0.9.1 - Rising Flames.


As for EP itself, we have seen confusion around why we need a separate currency at all. Which is a completely fair question, and it does have good reason. This is a larger conversation, but it’s important to break it down because the answer is many-layered.

First, using an intermediary currency is very much necessary from a transactional / functions standpoint. This includes things like being able to award EP for community events, being able to refund EP when there is a hiccup with the actual transaction process, and being able to resolve payment disputes with Steam/sellers.
A big part of this is our ability to reward our player base in ways that give them freedom of choice. We want to make cool things, but “what’s cool” when it comes to cosmetics to incredibly selective. It’s much better if we can use EP as a reward and allow you to get the things you would want, instead of being saddled with something that you felt wasn’t worth it. Though, there may be some specific cosmetic rewards in the future as well.

We have done a lot with our community in the past, and we have plans to do so much more. Utilizing EP is just one of the ways that we can continue to do so.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, Epoch Points are something that we have offered from the very beginning of the Last Epoch existence. They were initially called Cosmetic Coins as a placeholder, but there are quite literally millions of them distributed to our players already. We have always intended to use a secondary currency as a reward system, and again, this just puts it in a place where any other option just could not work.


To sign off, Last Epoch is a passion project being made by fans of the ARPG genre and gaming as a whole. When our community tells us in unison that we have made a mistake, we have always worked to correct it. We hope that if you’ve been part of our community for long enough that we’ve shown that to be true, but we know many of you have joined us recently and we look forward to the next 10 years of proving it to you.

We sincerely thank you for your passion in what we’re creating here at Eleventh Hour Games and taking your time to provide us with your feedback. We hope and aspire to always rise to the occasion to correct our mistakes when we’ve planned or introduce something that isn’t well received by our fantastic fans - the fans who have taken us from a small after hours group on Kickstarter to the studio we are becoming.

Appreciate you all,
Judd.