Dark Envoy News

Get ready for an epic update packed with thrilling content! Prepare to tackle new challenges in the Challenge Arena, explore revamped random dungeons, and experience a multitude of improvements across the board. One of the main changes in this update is the shortening and standardization of player ability cast times, ensuring smoother gameplay.

We're committed to making Dark Envoy as close to perfect as possible, so please continue sharing your feedback with us. We appreciate your support and input.

Thank you for being an integral part of this journey!

Should you have any issues in this patch, or want to play through the game with previous balance, you can always continue your journey on the public beta branch “previous_version”.

[h2]New Features / Highlights[/h2]

• Player ability cast times have been shortened and standardized for greater responsiveness. Most skills will now cast faster and it should no longer be possible to accidentally cancel a skill before it is cast, resulting in a waste of mana and cooldowns.
  
• Added 6 new challenges to the Challenge Arena:
  
  • Explosions? Explosions! - Face off against waves of explosive drones. Don't let them get too close!
    
  • Krannite Troops - Stave off an attack of empowered krannites, whose weapon damage and attack speed have been increased. You can rely on your increased movement speed within the challenge.
    
  • Armageddon - Face off against waves of enemies while dodging the constant shelling from above that only affects your party.
    
  • Miniboss Showdown - Face off against a selection of minibossess accompanied by their allies.
    
  • Boss Showdown I - Face off against the joint forces of Technomancer Atia and a pair of Vault Guardians in this boss rush challenge.
    
  • Boss Showdown II- Face off against the joint forces of Technomancer Ragna and the Rogue Agent, followed by Madman and Theran in this boss rush challenge.
• Introduced new rewards for the challenges, both new and previous ones, including unique items that can only be found there. All rewards have been reset on your current playthroughs so even if you already finished a challenge, you can replay it now to gain the new rewards.
  
• Added a new side objective that can now generate on random dungeons - the Ancient Generator that rewards the player only if they successfully protect it against incoming enemies.
  
• Added 4 new miniboss units for the Scorpion, Wild Elementals, Manaless and Crazed Robots families that can now spawn on randomly generated dungeons.
  
• Added 4 new biomes for randomly generated dungeons: Mountain Pass, Dark Mountain Pass, Caves and Shattered Lands.
  
• Overall cutscene and animation polish including a complete overhaul of top down dialogue cameras to minimize issues with view-blocking environment pieces as well as general camera work and atmosphere improvement.
  
• Updated run animations on all humanoid characters.
  

[h2]Balance[/h2]

• Warrior: Guardian’s Juggernaut Passive skill now grants increased Physical Resistance and additional Elemental Resistance.
  
• Warrior: Guardian’s Shieldmaster Passive skill now grants Knockdown chance on weapon attacks on level 1/2 in addition to Weapon Damage increase.
  
• Warrior: Blademaster’s Inner Vitality Passive skill now scales with user’s missing HP and grants greater bonuses.
  
• Warrior: Fixed an issue with Assassin’s Shadow Gift buff remaining on a unit indefinitely.
  
• Ranger: Sharpshooter’s Bipod Passive skill now grants increased Attack Speed and Skill Power in addition to Critical Chance increase.
  
• Ranger: Bounty Hunter’s Priority Target Passive skill no longer grants guaranteed 2s. Marked on Weapon Attacks. It was vastly outperforming all other Passive skills. It now has a low chance to inflict Marked for its default duration (10s) but grants its user additional Critical Damage and Armor Piercing against Marked enemies.
  
• Ranger: Sharpshooter’s Sniper Training now grants greatly reduced threat generation in addition to Weapon Damage increase.
  
• Ranger: Sharpshooter’s Extended Range Passive skill now correctly applies only to 2-handed ranged weapons.
  
• Adept: Overcharge Passive skill is now only active in combat.
  
• Adept: Elementalist’s Frost Aegis will now correctly trigger only once per combat.
  
• Adept: Spirit Wolves summoned through Summoner’s Call of the Wild skill will now correctly apply Taunt.
  
• Adept: Summoner’s Arcane Backup Passive Skill had its Skill Power boost reduced.
  
• Adept: Summoner’s Arcane Scavenger is no longer stackable. Its bonuses were extremely powerful when combined with Call of the Wild and cooldown decreasing items.
  
• Adept: Summoner’s Colossus now checks if there is a valid target before attempting to cast Entangling Roots.
  
• Adept: Elementalist’s Fire Breath and its upgraded versions will now automatically turn the caster in an attempt to catch the most units within its cone.
  
• Engineer: Mana Absorb Passive skill will now apply its bonuses correctly.
  
• Engineer: Technomancer’s Mana Conduit Passive skill now grants an increased Mana Regen boost and is stackable.
  
• Elemental Air Lord’s Chained Lightning skill will now split to fewer units.
  
• Titan and Fire Elemental units can now turn while using their flamethrower skill, greatly increasing its effectiveness against mobile targets.
  
• Increased movement speed on Valkyrie, Scavenger miniboss.
  
• Increased attack range on the Phoenix Turret, League miniboss.
  
• Increased attack range on Gear Spider, Revenant unit.
  
• Research Nodes that upgrade crafting level will now increase it by 1 instead of setting it to a specific value. It will no longer be able to reach max crafting level without researching all corresponding upgrades.

[h2]Quality of life[/h2]

• Player ability cast times have been shortened and standardized for greater responsiveness. Most skills will now cast faster and it should no longer be possible to accidentally cancel a skill before it is cast, resulting in a waste of mana and cooldowns.
  
• Players can now reorganize their party order when traveling to a location and can change it at will using the new Party Order option in the game menu.
  
• Players can now change their currently selected unit on the merchant popup, allowing them to compare items equipped on different characters.
  
• Current equipment weight will now display over the weight bar and the bar itself will dynamically change its color to clearly indicate which weight tier the character is currently in.
  
• Player’s party pathfinding was improved - they will no longer regularly bump into one another and will attempt to stick together when issuing orders to multiple units instead of getting separated by obstacles.
  
• Enemies now display a line showing their current target for better aggro clarity (only in tactical mode by default, it can be changed or disabled in the settings).
  
• Updated and more responsive Gamepad controls. Most screens and popups can now be navigated without the use of an emulated cursor. Further improvements coming soon!
  
• Camera should no longer occasionally get stuck outside of the level’s bounds after loading a location.
  
• Weapon Skills are now described as such and a placeholder weapon skill icon is now displayed on the skill bar in the ability window even if the weapon skill has not been unlocked yet.
  
• In single player the game will now pause while the player is reading a lore note.
  
• Previously visited locations will now remain on the world map and appear grayed out, showing a map of the team’s previous endeavors.

[h2]Gameplay[/h2]

• Added 6 new challenges to the Challenge Arena.
  
• Introduced new rewards for the challenges, both new and previous ones, including unique items that can only be found there. All rewards have been reset on your current playthroughs so even if you already finished a challenge, you can replay it now to gain the new rewards.
  
• Added a new side objective that can now generate on random dungeons - the Ancient Generator that rewards the player only if they successfully protect it against incoming enemies.
  
• Added 4 new miniboss units for the Scorpion, Wild Elementals, Manaless and Crazed Robots families that can now spawn on randomly generated dungeons.
  
• Added 4 new biomes for randomly generated dungeons: Mountain Pass, Dark Mountain Pass, Caves and Shattered Lands.
  
• Added 2 sets of turrets to the Training Room useful for testing unit tankiness against various elements.
  
• Tweaked the AI of ranged intelligent units - they should now be more responsive and make decisions faster, while also wasting less time looking for cover if it’s suboptimal.
  
• Upgraded melee unit pathfinding when chasing an escaping enemy. They will now attempt to predict its destination and adjust their path to intercept it.
  
• Ranged units should no longer occasionally hit a wall in front of them when shooting from around the corner.
  
• Added more item recipes to Faction Quartermasters’ stock.
  
• Standardized recipe costs.
  
• Reduced the amount of lengthy wave-based fights in the second half of the game.
  
• Enemies will now stay in combat longer after breaking line of sight.
  
• Fixed Duelist’s Gloves bonus applying when not dual wielding.
  
• Added cast effects on certain Bosses’ skills for increased clarity
  
• Enchantments that inflict Damage or spawn AoE effects will now only be in effect during combat to avoid needless clutter and accidental triggering of non-aggressive units.
  
• Fixed the order of the speaker's lines in the arena fight before Joe Mana’s boss fight.
  
• Shelter Global Skill can now be used correctly even if there are no covers placed on the current dungeon.
  
• Fixed an issue that could occasionally cause permanent movement speed decrease on characters.
  
• Mind Control status will no longer cause mismatch in the order of character selection hotkeys.
  
• Fixed an issue that occasionally caused static units to spawn in a wall, locking players in an endless combat.
  
• Ranged units will no longer crowd a spawn point they appeared on as long as they have a valid target. They will now attempt to find a good position nearby, causing them to spread more.
  
• Skill cost reduction can no longer result in negative Mana costs.
  
• Krannite Stone Keepers will no longer use their chains to pull enemies standing right next to them.
  
• Fixed marking on Elemental Air Lord’s Lightning Storm skill.
  
• Fixed an issue with Hybrid Rotmorph's Entropy Beam skill not applying Damage and Statuses correctly and not scaling with unit level.
  
• Rogue Agent Boss will now be accompanied by rogue Troopers coming in as reinforcements.
  
• Fixed an issue that could have resulted in the Ancient Pillar Side Objective not granting a reward upon reloading a save made immediately after destroying it.
  
• The pipeline in Project Terminus/Doorkeepers quests can no longer be sabotaged multiple times resulting in an unlimited amount of mana spill AoEs.
  
• Fixed Benedict’s starting shield having 0 Armor.
  
• Fixed some incorrect status effect names on enemy units.
  
• Fixed an issue causing challenge rewards to display lower stats on the challenge menu.
  
• Fixed an issue that could have resulted in player characters getting stuck in a prison cell by using a waypoint in the “Not everything that glitters…” quest.
  
• Updated some unique item icons to differentiate them further from regular drops.

[h2]Graphics[/h2]

• Overall cutscene and animation polish including a complete overhaul of top down dialogue cameras to minimize issues with view-blocking environment pieces as well as general camera work and atmosphere improvement.
  
• Updated run animations on all humanoid characters.
  
• Fixed an issue causing certain background environment elements to appear in cutscenes with a visible delay.
  
• Added dynamic rendering of unit, destructible and clutter asset shadows.
  
• General graphical update to story NPCs including upgraded textures and unique complexions.
  
• Added micro normals and Ambient Occlusion on all Armors and NPCs clothing.
  
• Improved lighting and mood on multiple main story locations and random dungeon themes.
  
• Improved enemy unit details on close-up.
  
• Overall polish of enemy units skill animations.
  
• Adjusted and normalized Health Bar height on all units.
  
• Fixed and adjusted LOD on enemy units.
  
• Improved VFX fading on dying units.
  
• Added blood VFX on unit death.
  
• Updated and improved animations and textures on Hybrid, Scorpion, Elven and Elemental units.
  
• Updated materials on miniboss units for a more unique look.
  
• All units including Bosses now use textures with Ambient Occlusion
  
• Fixed an issue in character creation causing starting equipment to display a fist in the main slot instead of an actual weapon.
  
• Fixed an issue with some submeshes not being rendered correctly to the unit mask.
  
• Fixed status vfx size on the Matriarch miniboss.
  
• Added micro normals and Ambient Occlusion on environmental assets in the City of Bones, Free Phoenicia and Pablo’s House locations.
  
• Fixed start points and visual timing on Hybrid units’ skills.
  
• Fixed an issue occasionally causing graphical glitches shortly after loading a new level.
  
• The hidden passage in the “Not everything that glitters…” quest was updated visually to look less like a passageway until the player learns its location by making specific choices.
  
• Unique items found in the “Where it all began” quest have had their models updated for a more distinct look.
  
• Keycards will no longer slightly sneak away from their original position.

[h2]Audio[/h2]

• All dialogues were updated to 3D sounds ensuring more immersive audio placement in cutscenes.
  
• Overhead dialogues will now fade as the camera moves away from their source.
  
• Overhead dialogues will no longer comically increase their pitch when time flow is sped up.
  
• Overall ambient sounds and location specific audio improvement.
  
• Added missing footstep audio and normalized footstep volume across the board.
  
• Improved and polished sfx in cutscenes.
  
• Fixed audio glitching occasionally on skills inflicting Taunt.
  
• Upgraded barks on the Summoner while in Colossus form.
  
• Smoothed audio on skills spawning multiple instances of the same audio event (such as multi-hit attacks)
  
• Standardized volume of buff and aura sounds.
  
• Fixed sfx on the black hole generator.
  
• Updated sfx on player skills, including Healer’s Peace, Fire Weapons, Power Shield, Wind Stance, Iron Skin and Liquid Skin.
  
• Fixed disappearing music track during the “Doorkeepers” quest.

[h2]Performance[/h2]

• Fixed several cases of memory leaks and decreased memory usage in some additional areas.
  
• Improved overall performance in multiple combat scenarios across the game
  
• Reduced CPU bottleneck caused by inefficient render batching
  

The Dark Envoy team 🛡️✨

https://store.steampowered.com/app/945770/Dark_Envoy/
Discord | Twitter | Facebook | TikTok

Patch 1.3 for Dark Envoy is just around the corner, bringing exciting new features to your adventure.

[h3]New unique weapon types[/h3]
With Patch 1.3, we are introducing a new set of unique weapons. Each of them will equip you with a unique weapon skill that sets them apart from the previously obtainable unique weapons.



The new type of weapons with unique enchants that replace the default weapon skills will be available as a reward for completing challenges in the arena. Let us know what you think about them -- in the future, we might expand the unique weapon arsenal even more!



[h3]Random Dungeon Changes[/h3]
With the 1.3 Patch, we're also updating random dungeons. Upon release of the update, you can expect new biomes, minibosses, and a new random event where you must protect a generator from revenant attacks.



[h3]What else?
[/h3]
Of course, these are not all the changes that await you with the 1.3 update. If you haven't seen it yet, be sure to check out Preview 1 and Preview 2 where we wrote about the other major changes in patch 1.3.

The realase for this patch is planned for next week so stay tuned. We are committed to making this game as good as it can be.

The Dark Envoy team 🛡️✨

https://store.steampowered.com/app/945770/Dark_Envoy/
Discord | Twitter | Facebook | TikTok

Patch 1.3, in addition to the new changes mentioned in our, previous post on Steam, below we present some of the improvements requested by players.

[h3]Training Room Changes:[/h3]
With the previous game update, the Training Room was added, allowing you to test your builds. It was met with warm reception, including requests to expand the Training Room with tools for testing your defense, not only just offense. With Patch 1.3, you will be able to test your resilience against brand new attack dummies.



[h3]New Animations:[/h3]
In the upcoming update, we are also improving animations, including the one shown below, where you can compare the old running animation with the new one:

Old: New:


We didn't just change the visual aspect of the animations; we also changed how they function. In Patch 1.3, we enhanced the responsiveness of the animations to provide a more fluid gaming experience for players. Now, characters won't need to finish the entire animation to complete before before they can perform another action.

Old: New:

[h3]Other Quality of Life Changes:[/h3]
Update 1.3 will also bring minor yet highly requested changes to the UI. Among other things, with the Update 1.3, you will be able to choose the order of team members. Additionally, when visiting the shop, you will be able to compare items with other characters in the team. We've also made slight changes to the character's inventory UI, where you can now see the current weight of the items.



We wanted to thank everyone who shares their feedback with us, both on Discord and on the Steam platform. If you want to share your ideas regarding the game elements, remember that you can easily reach usthrough the in-game "report issue" tool. This way, your feedback goes directly to the team members responsible for potentially implementing them into the game.

We are committed to making this game as perfect as it can be.

The Dark Envoy team 🛡️✨

https://store.steampowered.com/app/945770/Dark_Envoy/
Discord | Twitter | Facebook | TikTok

It's time for our first sneak peek at the upcoming changes that will be introduced in next Patch 1.3. In addition to addressing the issues you've reported and making adjustments to the game’s balance, one of the main features that Patch 1.3 will introduce is new challenges for our more seasoned players. Let’s take a look at some of them. some of them.

[h3]Explosions? Explosions!
[/h3]
To complete this challenge, Crowd Control abilities will be crucial. With the escalating threat of exploding drones, keeping them unmoving and at an arm’s length will be your best bet.



[h3]Krannite Troops[/h3]
In this challenge the enemies are significantly stronger than they usually are; they deal 50% more damage and attack twice as fast, while our characters move 100% faster. While in this challenge enemies attack only in melee, they have their ways to close the gap. A momentary distraction, and even the best tank won't stand a chance. In this challenge, it is especially important to be vigilant and maintain focus.



[h3]Armagedon[/h3]
This is a level 18 challenge, where the players will face off against a neverending meteor shower. The combination of falling meteorites and enemy attacks (which are immune to meteor impacts) will require constant monitoring all of your characters.



Apart from the challenges mentioned above, we have also prepared a few more encounters designed for characters at the maximum level of 20. However, there is nothing stopping you from taking on the challenge earlier.

Hope you enjoy the new challenges coming to Dark Envoy. If there's anything else you want to see in the future updates, let us know in the comments! And remember, we are committed to making this game as perfect as it can be.

The Dark Envoy team 🛡️✨

https://store.steampowered.com/app/945770/Dark_Envoy/
Discord | Twitter | Facebook | TikTok

Similarly to our previous post on Steam, this time we decided to delve into one of the game mechanics that might seem straightforward at first glance but possesses deeper layers. Since the following section will explore one of the first choices players encounter during their playthrough, a spoiler alert is in order!



One of the earliest decisions that directly impacts the narrative is our initial encounter with bandits Jeremy, Jeff, and Johnny, who guard the entrance to ancient ruins.

As it turned out, over 60% of players decided to stand up against them instead of striking a deal. This decision, as you can imagine for obvious reasons, prevented their appearance in the future steps of your journey.



If, however, you choose to parley with them, you’ll cross paths again in the City of Bones. There, you must once more decide whether to fulfill your agreement. It turns out that 81% of players chose to pay them, thus causing Jeremy, Jeff, and Johnny to remain in the city and embrace their ‘heroic’ side, as they aid in its defense later on.



Their story doesn't end there. You can encounter them again in Act 3 of the game. Just before the upcoming battle with one of the bosses, depending on whether you paid them, they can either join forces with you in the fight or support the enemy side.


While certain choices may initially appear inconsequential, they hold the potential to significantly impact the game world, shaping the moral compass of your characters and influencing the game’s ending. The final outcomes depend on whether the player leans towards altruism or pragmatism in their decisions.

So, as you can see, one playthrough of the game is not enough to explore all the possibilities. Hope we've managed to encourage you to further explore the game, and remember, we are committed to making this game as perfect as it can be.

The Dark Envoy team 🛡️✨

https://store.steampowered.com/app/945770/

Discord | Twitter | Facebook | TikTok