Vellum News

Today, we're releasing our first major update - Chapter I: The Endless Saga! Let's take a quick peek at our updated roadmap, then dive into what The Endless Saga has in store!


The content of this first Chapter was heavily influenced by community feedback over the last month since launch, as well as discussion in the few weeks since we dropped our first Interlude Patch: Duels & Demise.

Looking at the roadmap above, you'll see we also moved an extra Spell to this update - so we're adding both a new Spender Spell and Movement Spell!

In addition to the major features of Chapter I, we've made sure to hit some special extra content pieces - including a much-requested "Apply Previous Bindings" button and a rework of the Yellow Signature Spell.

We're eager to see how you fare against the Torn in Chapter I: The Endless Saga - so let's get started!

[h2]Endless - Face the Appendices[/h2]

It's time to test the true might of Ink!

Once unlocked (after your first game with Bindings), you'll be able to Face the Appendices when defeating a boss at the end of a Tome!

You and your fellow Scribes will be presented a difficult choice: pick 1 of 3 Appendices - randomly rolled groupings of Bindings! Beat the next three Chapters (2 standard, 1 Boss), then pick from additional Appendices and keep the run alive - if you can!

[h2]Prestige - Become Ascendant[/h2]
When all the Ink has been researched - the cycle of Scribes will continue! Reaching Ink Level 30 unlocks the ability to Ascend - granting a new cosmetic and emblem to show your status as Ascendant.

You'll then get to start your Scribe journey anew! You'll keep Cosmetics, Gildings, and Codex progress. We've also added the Lifetime Quillmarks tracker in the Codex for all Scribes, regardless of Ascendant status.

[h2]New Spell - Blossom[/h2]
Blossom is our first melee Spender Spell - coming fresh off the heels of Foil and a lot of feedback of "now let us blast the area around us".

Blossom spends 2 Mana to create a field of flowers, dealing a burst of damage to nearby foes in an area centered on the caster.

[h2]New Spell - Ghostwrite[/h2]
Ghostwrite, our first new movement Spell, allows Scribes to become incorporeal for a brief moment - taking reduced damaged and knockback effects.

[h2]A Rework and Some Quality of Life Features[/h2]
With this new Chapter, we're reworking how Yellow's Signature Spell behaves. It will now guarantee ALL your spells Flourish for the next 3s, as well as adding an extra 50% extra damage on top of the existing Flourish bonus. We think this will be an easier iteration to get good, predictable value from!

We have a few Quality of Life features we're sneaking into this update as well: an "Apply Previous Bindings" button, The Codex Lifetime Quillmark Tracker, and a clearer sequence when auto-reviving!

[h2]New Pages & Balance[/h2]
The Endless Saga introduces new Pages of Power: a selection of new pages for the two new spells - as well a several pages related to movement spells and invoking signature inks.

Balance and Tuning wise, we've adjusted the way defensive damage reduction is calculated - and have also brought Varnish down a bit in overall effectiveness. Additionally, with the introduction of Endless, some effects that could previously scale indefinitely now have caps.

We've adjusted Inscriptions to accommodate these changes overall, as well as adjusting two of Blue's first row options.

Our sincerest thanks to you all for your continued feedback; knowing what is important to you is important to us.

See you in the Library - and the Endless Appendices beyond!
- The Vellum Team


[h3]Features + General[/h3]
Endless Appendices
-- At the end of a Tome, Scribes can choose to delve into the Appendices to continue the fight against the Torn - but face increasingly dangerous choices.
Ascendant Prestige System
-- At Ink Level 30, Scribes can become Ascendant - restarting their Scribe journey and awarding a new cosmetic and emblem. Scribes keep their Cosmetics, Gildings, and Codex progress when Ascending, but will reset all other progress.
Blossom
-- Cost: 2 Mana
-- Damage: 75
-- Call forth a Meadow of flowers to thrash nearby enemies.
Ghostwrite
-- Cooldown: 4s
-- Take on a Spectral Form for 0.85s, gaining increased mobility and immunity to damage and knockback effects.
Yellow Signature Spell rework
-- Enlighten your Spells for 3s, making them all Flourish and deal +50% Bonus Damage.

- Lifetime Quillmarks Tracker is now available in the Codex
- There is now an "Apply Previous Bindings" button when setting up Tomes
- Movement keys are now able to be customized
- The Last Stand mechanic now has a limited number of times it can be used in Solo play (still iterating on this - let us know how it feels!)
- Scriptorium Revives have a new UI icon and visual sequence when activated in combat
- When reviving, there is now an additional immunity period (extended by Ink Level bonuses)
[h3]Balance and Tuning[/h3]
- Cooldown reductions now respect minimum cooldowns
- Torn Page: Takedown is now capped at 10s
- Torn Boss: Golgor will no longer hit nearby Scribes with multiple sword projectiles at once
- Torn Elite: Mummy's tethering ability can now be broken via line of sight
- Tome Mechanic: Waves Upon Rock now stacks up to 500
- Status Effect: Varnish is now capped at 65 (was 80)
- Red Signature Ink now properly leeches for 5% of damage taken by Tethered foes
- Blue Inscription: Wicking now displays a 15% chance of double Blot damage
- Blue Inscription: Contagious gives Blot damage a 10% to Spread
- Page of Power: Mana Back Guarantee now has adjusted clarity and rarity
- Page of Power: Genesis now activates on hit, not damage done
- Page of Power: Oversharer explosions will no longer crit
- Page of Power: Undertow now affects Bosses correctly
- Page of Power: Shared Pain now deals damage split amongst all tethered foes
- Page of Power: Block Quote now lasts for 1s (was 2s)
- Page of Power: Blood Shield effectiveness reduced while above 200 Barrier
- Page of Power: Barred now tagged as "trade-off" (will not drop from Elites/Bonus Objectives)
- Page of Power: Aftermath detonates after 1s (was 1.5s)
- Page of Power: Writer's Flock is now capped at 200% bonus damage
- Page of Power: Ephemeral Rush will now infuse Movement Spells with effects from Signature Ink Mana if they deal damage
- Page of Power: Torn Asunder now has an upper limit of 50,000 (was uncapped)
- Page of Power: Plot Armor now has an upper limit of 30s (was uncapped)

[h3]Aesthetic[/h3]
- The Library's Spell selection book now shows damage numbers
- The Library's Spell selection book is now decorated appropriately
- Floating Combat Text is now more organized
- Cryosleep Pods and Restorative Waters have improved healing effects
- Added extra VFX on select Book cosmetics
- Sound mix adjustments to the Library
- Sound Effect improvements to Rattlespikes, Huntsman, Lizards, and Spiders
- Physical status effects on Dire Zombies should now be more visible
- Binding: Amorphous now shows the 'applies to boss' icons on all applicable Torn Pages
- Torn Page: Dogwalk visibility improvements
- Torn Bosses: Golgor & Harvest have visibility improvements for several abilities

[h3]Minor Adjustments + Fixes[/h3]
- Yellow Signature Ink should now properly behave when used with low-cooldown Generator Spells
- Green Signature Ink should now properly behave with multiple Green Scribes in the same game
- Scribes should no longer find themselves in a strange Tome called "Fast Test"
- Torn Boss: The Council should no longer refuse to summon more Elites
- Torn Boss: Harvest's Death Winds will now dissipate after being defeated
- Torn Boss: Harvest has performance improvements
- Fixed several status effect icons to match their source Pages
- Fixed floating combat text rendering through geometry
- Leaving during chapter transition should no longer break the camera
- Fixed an issue with Scriptorium audio persisting when closing
- Various fixes for errant teleports/bonus objective spawns
- Various typo and text fixes

Happy Earth Day, Scribes! We're taking a quick stroll while cultivating the next Major Chapter on our Roadmap: The Endless Saga!

It's a great time to join the Vellum Discord - come discuss with other players, give feedback for the dev team, and even test upcoming content.

More info on that this week. In the meantime, keep it Green!
- The Vellum Team

Today, we're releasing our first Interlude Patch: Duels & Demise! Check out our Roadmap for more!

We're fresh off launch and are continually surprised and energized by the feedback and reception of Vellum. The palpable joy in the reviews, streams, comments, and more have been incredibly heartening.

Feedback continues to fuel our process - sharing details about how your experiences in the game met/didn't meet your expectations will always be useful to us. Thank you!

Duels & Demise includes three core items: Foil, Death Recap, Pages & Balance

[h2]Foil: Mightier Than The Pen?[/h2]
Foil is a Generator Spell with up to three hits; summon an inky blade to slice twice, then lunge forward to damage many foes at once. Each swing restores some Barrier when hitting foes (but will not overflow).

[h2]Quality of Death Feature: Death Recap[/h2]

As the ever-evolving mission for more clarity and feedback in Vellum continues - we landed on the Death Recap as a useful addition.

You'll now be able to see the name, ability used, and damage dealt from the Torn who defeated you.

[h2]New Pages & Balance[/h2]
Overall, this Interlude Patch introduces 12 New Pages of Power: a selection of 5 Foil-specific and 7 Signature Ink-specific pages.

We won't spoil them here, but some of these new pages play into the balance changes we're making with this patch - specifically looking at defensive options and potency available for different Signature Inks. We're keeping an eye out for over-performers and adjusting/redistributing strength in specific areas.

We're still collecting data and feedback from the first few weeks of launch - so we're not making a huge number of balance changes in this patch, but a more surgical selection. The introduction of Foil as a brand new combat area will surely add some new pressure and unlock new combinatoric strengths, so we'll be spending keen attention on balance and feedback.

[h2]Full Interlude Patch Notes: Duels & Demise[/h2]
0.31.0
[h3]New Content & Balance[/h3]
- New Spell: Foil - A melee Generator Spell, summoning a sword to deal a three-hit combo
- New Quality of Life Feature: Death Recap - Will show the specific Torn who dealt a killing blow (along with ability and damage value)
- 5 New Pages of Power - Foil
- 7 New Pages of Power - 1+ per Signature Ink
- Page of Power: Wards Wards Wards can now only activate once per ability, now generating 20 Barrier (was 30). (Dev Note: We pulled power from this overperformer and have added another Page to the pool that still incentivizes Yellow's 'defense via offense' feel)
- Page of Power: Phoenix now hatches new Swoops much faster
- Page of Power: Spread the Word now also heals
- Page of Power: New Author now takes 45s to deal 1,000,000 damage (was 60s for 10,000)
- Blot damage now starts at a higher base value, but scales more predictably and linearly on the same target as stacks increase (Dev Note: This is a slight buff to the lower stack counts, and a nerf to higher stack counts)
- Signature Spells can no longer have cooldowns reduced lower than 4s
- Binding: Toxic now reduces Torn damage by 75% (was 90%). (Dev Note: Toxic should be an intriguing trade off of danger profiles, but shouldn't be as strong a boon as it is currently)
- Torn Page: Warped now has an internal cooldown
- Torn Page: Blood in the Air now has a lower difficulty rating
- Torn Page: 5 Second Rule now heals Bosses for 10% (was 15%), lasts 15s (was 20), and has an adjusted hitbox
- Tome: Quarry should no longer buff multiple Torn - there can only be one!
- Tangent Boss: Tserak will now be stunned when Scribes destroy all crystals

[h3]General & Fixes[/h3]
- Controller and Keyboard & Mouse switching improvements and fixes
- PlayStation Controller glyphs will now appear
- FPS is now uncapped when vsync is off
- Added Texture Quality setting
- Improved Resolution Setting options (1440p)
- Binding Selection UI now has some improved elements
- Binding Book (at the Obelisk) has additional info on Attunement
- Attunement is now actually capped at 20
- Yellow's passive has a new visual indicating progress toward the next Flourish
- Inklings' basic spell is now more visually striking
- Inklings should no longer multiply without permission
- Signature Spell: Blue projectiles can no longer be intercepted
- Scribes should now auto-revive if they are dead during inappropriate times
- Scribes should maintain the correct number of Rewrites when reconnecting
- The Ink Research button has some improved interactions
- Knockback effects will no longer interact poorly with slows on Scribes
- Raving: Lizard should know how to land after leaping (perhaps it was falling and missing the ground)
- Adjusted the visibility of some Torn effects (Rat, Zombie, Minor Tangent projectiles)
- Fixed duplicate Page of Power choices after some Font interactions
- Fixed specific bonus objective spawns in Snowy/Desert maps
- Improved performance when saving the game (e.g. Boss kill)
- Various UI fixes specifically related to Torn Page selection in multiplayer rooms
- Various UI navigation fixes

Welcome, Honored Scribes!

As custodians of the Illuminated Library and protectors of its Tomes - you've already been hard at work pushing back the Torn! You've grown, your foes have grown.
[h3]Time for Vellum to grow![/h3]

This shows the structure of our planned updates - and we'd like to go into more detail on our first Interlude Patch and our first Major Chapter! The timeline of these will become more solidified as we refine our update cadence.

This is very fluid, will definitely change, and will be driven by your feedback as we continue through Early Access.

[h2]Interlude Patches & Major Chapters[/h2]
Our plan for Vellum's Early Access development is split into two, alternating content types: Interlude Patches & Major Chapters.

Below, you can see the kinds of items you can expect from these updates. These items won't all appear in every update; we want to create a compelling (and feasible) selection each time. Our goal is to release a variety within these updates where you can always come back to the Library to check out something new.
[h3]Interlude Patches include content like:[/h3]

• Pages of Power
  
• Torn Pages
  
• Bindings
  
• Cosmetics
  
• General Font Powers
  
• General Bonus Objectives
  
• Quality of Life Features
  
• Balance & Tuning

[h3]Major Chapters include content like:[/h3]

• New Major Features
  
• Spells
  
• Tomes
  
• Torn: Bosses
  
• Torn: Elites & Standard
  
• Map Sets
  
• Binding Sets

Let's explore what this looks like in practice! Here's a preview of our first Interlude Patch and Major Chapter!


[h3]Release Date: April 10th[/h3]
[h2]New Spell - Foil[/h2]
We're immediately, and stylistically, bending some rules to bring you a new Generator Spell in our first Interlude Patch. Normally, as you can see above, we'd wait for a Major Chapter to drop a new ability - but we want to cover an attack profile we've been eager to expand on: melee.

Foil is a three-hit combo generator ability - summoning an inky blade to slice twice, then lunge forward to damage many foes at once.

We're pumped to bring our first melee spell to the game, and are looking forward to hearing and iterating on your feedback!

[h2]New Pages of Power[/h2]
To continue on the feedback thread - we're planning to add a selection of new Pages of Power to be found in Tomes. We want to expand the coverage of defensive pages for some Signature Inks. We'll also be redistributing the power of a few over-performing pages to spread strength and make different angles more accessible (rather than too many feast or famine feelings).

There's bound to be some fun shenanigans, as well!

[h2]New Quality of Life Feature - Death Recap[/h2]
Dying is bad - but a death recap helps make resurrection that much better! Seeing who dealt you a killing blow should help with directing your vengeance - or simply learning a bit more about the dangers of those 37 extra Bindings you threw on because "how bad could they be, really?".


[h3]Release Target: Late April[/h3]
In the week since launch, we've heard a lovely piece of feedback: more. We're planning to address that feedback with two new features.

[h2]New Major Feature: Endless Runs[/h2]
An endless mode has been suggested and asked about quite often - so we're making it the centerpiece of our first Major Chapter. Have the perfect build? Want to throw out just a few hundred more Swoops with that busted combo? Time to shine!

Once unlocked, you'll be able to Continue the Saga when defeating a boss at the end of a Tome!

You and your fellow Scribes will be presented a difficult choice: pick 1 of 3 Appendices - randomly rolled groupings of Bindings! Beat the next three Chapters (2 standard, 1 Boss), then pick from additional Appendices and keep the run alive - if you can!


[h2]New Feature: Prestige![/h2]
When all the Ink has been researched - the cycle of Scribes will still get to continue! We'll be adding the ability to Prestige, resetting your Ink Level, Binding Attunement, Quillmarks, and unlocks - but you will keep your Gildings and Cosmetics!

Reaching higher levels of Prestige will yield cosmetic rewards - show off all that research you've done! You'll also get the chance to admire your Lifetime Quillmarks - so don't worry about that stockpile you might be accruing!

[h2]New Spell: ???[/h2]
We're raring to get more of our spell ideas out into the wild - each with their own upgrades and specific combat profiles. With a new Generator (Foil) coming soon, we're going to be looking toward the other spell categories to start rounding out more of the roster.

This is a great area for your feedback to help us decide what's next in line - what are you interested in? What combat profile do you really want to spend all your mana on? How do you want to use a new movement spell to strategically enter/avoid combat? Let us know!


For us, Early Access is all about making new, exciting discoveries. The feedback process is pivotal in helping us make those discoveries together - it has already helped us immensely in shaping the outline for the future of Vellum.

There's no better time to join the Vellum Discord and tell us of your grand victories and heartbreaking defeats - we love to hear about them!

Thank you all and we'll see you in the Library!

- The Vellum Team