Skills Mastery Update

Hello Knights!

Before we dive into the Skills Mastery Update, we have some huge news!

Ember Knights 2.0 - Wrath of the Architect

The store page for Ember Knights 2.0 - Wrath of the Architect is now live!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2948140/Ember_Knights__Wrath_of_the_Architect/

We'll be updating the DLC page as we continue with the development and the best way to stay on top of the news is by Wishlisting!

Ok, now on to the Skills Mastery Update details!

Skill Upgrading

Skill upgrades are something we've wanted to implement for awhile now so here we go! With Evee's help, every skill can be upgraded in multiple ways and once they're unlocked, they can be equipped in any order.
Mix and match upgrades for awesome and powerful synergies!

PAX Competition Mode

The PAX Competition was such a big success in Boston that we decided to make it available for everyone! Access the new mode via the Main Menu!

Watch on YouTube
Be sure to practice as we'll be introducing some contests related to the Competition Mode closer to 2.0!

Complete Patch Notes

Note: items marked with 🔥 are a result of player feedback.

New Content and Features

Skill Upgrades

Upgrades include 3 specific upgrades and 1 Ultimate upgrade for each skill as well as a handful of general upgrades that can be applied to any skill.

General Upgrades

• Upgrade 1 - Increases crit chance
• Upgrade 2 - Increases damage
• Upgrade 3 - Adds 1 additional charge
• Upgrade 4 - Defeating an enemy with a skill heals
• Upgrade 5 - Reduces the number of hits to refresh

Ember Fire

• Upgrade I - Increases the range
• Upgrade II - Burst an additional cone of mystical flame behind the Knight
• Upgrade III - Shoots 3 fireballs in a spread shot
• Ultimate Upgrade - Whenever you burn an enemy with Ember Fire, your burn effects deal increased damage

Blast Bomb

• Upgrade I - Enemies hit by your Blast Bomb are rooted
• Upgrade II - Your bombs pull enemies towards them before exploding
• Upgrade III - Throws 3 bombs in a row
• Ultimate Upgrade - Bombs explode into 3 smaller cluster bombs

Arcane Bolts

• Upgrade I - Your bolts become ghosts. Whenever you defeat an enemy with a ghost bolt, another is summoned to seek and damage additional enemies
• Upgrade II - Your bolts are imbued with a random element of burn, freeze, poison, or lightning
• Upgrade III - Your bolts release in an expanding circle
• Ultimate Upgrade - Arcane Bolts refreshes quicker

Rupture

• Upgrade I - The ground is ruptured dealing damage over time
• Upgrade II - Whenever you cast a perfect Rupture, the outer ring is cast an additional time
• Upgrade III - You gain Max HP for each enemy defeated by Rupture. Enemies have a chance to turn into a potato
• Ultimate Upgrade - Enemies below a certain HP are instantly defeated by Rupture

Chakram

• Upgrade I - Increases crit chance of Chakram. Whenever Chakram crits, it freezes
• Upgrade II - Whenever Chakram bounces off the Knight, their next weapon attack is a guaranteed crit
• Upgrade III - Whenever you cast a perfect Chakram, your first hit is a crit
• Ultimate Upgrade - Chakram hits count towards refreshing skills

Knight's Charge

• Upgrade I - Whenever you cast a perfect Knight's Charge, a meteor is summoned at the target location that deals damage and burn
• Upgrade II - Leaves a trail of fire that burns enemies
• Upgrade III - Your Knight's Charge is a decoy projectile that stuns enemies
• Ultimate Upgrade - Whenever 3 or more enemies are hit by a perfect Knight's Charge, it refreshes

Warrior Wisps

• Upgrade I - Increases max Wisps by 1. Wisps no longer have a lifetime
• Upgrade II - You gain weapon damage for each Wisp you have
• Upgrade III - Whenever a Wisp is defeated, each Knight is healed
• Ultimate Upgrade - Increases damage, speed, and HP for all Wisps

Frost Wall

• Upgrade I - Whenever an enemy is defeated by Frost Wall, they explode dealing damage and freeze enemies behind them
• Upgrade II - Increases Frost Wall damage and freezes enemies that contact the Frost Wall
• Upgrade III - Your Frost Wall is an expanding ice ring dealing damage and freeze
• Ultimate Upgrade - Your Frost Wall permanently freezes elite and champion enemies

Cyclone

• Upgrade I - You gain move speed for each active Cyclone
• Upgrade II - Whenever a Cyclone dies, lightning is summoned
• Upgrade III - Your Cyclone stays with the Knight and no longer pulls enemies
• Ultimate Upgrade - Chunks of earth are thrown dealing damage

Hailstone Armor

• Upgrade I - Thrown snowballs create an ice spike dealing AOE damage around the target
• Upgrade II - Gain a passive aura that slows enemies around you
• Upgrade III - Whenever you cast a perfect Hailstone Armor, you become temporarily invulnerable
• Ultimate Upgrade - Whenever you cast a perfect Hailstone Armor, you gain armor. Also releases a frost nova that freezes

Ballista

• Upgrade I - Your Ballista is imbued with a random element of burn, freeze, poison, or lightning
• Upgrade II - Your Ballista shoots a spread of 3 arrows
• Upgrade III - Whenever an enemy is damaged by Ballista, you heal
• Ultimate Upgrade - Ballista can be picked up. Whenever it's picked up, it refreshes

Phantom Spear

• Upgrade I - Deals bonus damage for each poisoned enemy
• Upgrade II - Your Phantom Spear explodes dealing AOE damage
• Upgrade III - Enemies hit by Phantom Spear are dealt max poison stacks
• Ultimate Upgrade - Enemies hit by Phantom Spear are haunted and spawn a ghost when defeated by Phantom Spear

Arcane Orb

• Upgrade I - Arcane Orb refreshes quicker
• Upgrade II - Arcane Orb is a cone of damage
• Upgrade III - Whenever Arcane Orb refreshes, 3 seeking orbs are summoned
• Ultimate Upgrade - Whenever charging, multiple seeking orbs are released

Judgment

• Upgrade I - Summons an additional set of lightning bolts
• Upgrade II - Enemies in the cast radius are rooted
• Upgrade III - Whenever you cast a perfect Judgment, your next 6 weapon attacks have lightning
• Ultimate Upgrade - Gain a static aura that deals AOE damage

Seek and Destroy

• Upgrade I - Your drill stays in place and deals AOE damage
• Upgrade II - Whenever an enemy is defeated with your drill, each Knight is healed
• Upgrade III - Enemies hit by your drill are rooted
• Ultimate Upgrade - Your drill will seek indefinitely until it fails to defeat a target

Cloak and Dagger

• Upgrade I - Your Dagger is replaced with 3 Daggers that attack in a cone
• Upgrade II - Whenever entering or exiting invisibility, conjure up to 3 lightning bolts
• Upgrade III - While invisible, unleash ghosts to seek and damage enemies. Enemies hit by your Dagger attack are haunted
• Ultimate Upgrade - Whenever entering or exiting invisibility, your next weapon attack is a guaranteed crit and deals increased damage

Arlan's Lucky Dice

• Upgrade I - Rolling a 1 also conjures a food and rolling a 2 also conjures a gem
• Upgrade II - Rolling a 3 also summons a Wisp and rolling a 4 also summons a Ballista
• Upgrade III - The chance of rolling a 5 or 6 are doubled
• Ultimate Upgrade - Rolls a second of Arlan's Lucky Dice

Soul Siphon

• Upgrade I - Whenever an enemy is defeated by Soul Siphon, it refreshes quicker
• Upgrade II - Conjures 3 beams
• Upgrade III - Enemies defeated by Soul Siphon leave a damage AOE where they were defeated
• Ultimate Upgrade - Whenever Soul Siphon refreshes, permanently increase skill damage

Gravity Well

• Upgrade I - Conjure a beam to pierce and pull enemies towards a black hole
• Upgrade II - Enemies hit by Gravity Well are frozen and no longer stunned
• Upgrade III - Gravity Well ends with an explosion of chain lightning that seeks other enemies
• Ultimate Upgrade - Gravity Well destroys enemy projectiles

Quasar Orbs

• Upgrade I - Quasar Orbs refreshes quicker
• Upgrade II - Your Quasar Orbs deals 3 cones of damage
• Upgrade III - Whenever Quasar Orbs refreshes, 3 seeking orbs are summoned
• Ultimate Upgrade - Whenever charging, multiple seeking orbs are released

Skill Upgrade Achievements

• Apprentice - Unlock skill upgrading
• Shaman - Unlock all upgrades for a skill
• Wizard - Unlock all upgrades for all skills

PAX Competition Mode 🔥

Access this fun new game mode via the Main Menu!

Balancing & Minor Adjustments

In addition to the new content and features, we’ve also made the following changes.

Skills

• General
  • Increased the presence of skill rooms in all map layouts

• Eruption
  • Renamed to Seek and Destroy
  • Updated travel distance based on charge amount
  • Added a knock-up to enemies in its travel path
  • Added a burst of AOE damage to the end of its travel path
  • Updated to seek another enemy if an enemy is killed with its AOE damage

• Cloak and Dagger
  • Updated the HUD to show the time left for being invisible
  • Updated to allow the Dagger portion of the attack to be used with the attack button while invisible

Relics

• General
  • Increased frequency of legendary relics appearing
  • Added the ability to upgrade relics that are limited to being owned by one player. Applies to Pristine Band and Withercore

• Pyroguard - New Relic
  • "Enemies that you burn deal reduced damage"
  • Epic rarity
  • Damage reduction of 20%
  • Max owned of 1

• Empowered Bangle
  • Reworked to "Your first skill hit on an enemy deals skill damage"
  • Damage of 30 * skill damage %
  • Damage growth of 10
  • Max owned of 2

• Shock Troop
  • Reworked to "Whenever you defeat an enemy with lightning, you gain armor."
  • Increases max armor of 10 on pickup
  • Armor gain of 3
  • Max armor growth of 5
  • Max owned of 4

• Withercore
  • Reworked to "Whenever a player defeats a poisoned enemy, they drop a Withering Core that heals"
  • Healing growth of 2
  • Max owned of 4
  • Dropped item applies to all players
  • Can only be equipped by one player

• Creature's Bond
  • Reworked to add flat bonus damage to Wisps
  • Damage of 15
  • Damage growth of 10
  • Increased duration from 6s to 8s
  • Duration growth of 2s
  • Max owned of 2

• Rejuvenation Glove
  • Changed from common to epic
  • Can no longer be upgraded

• Recovery Ring
  • Increased healing from 1 to 10
  • Increased growth from 1 to 5

• Glacier Necklace
  • Increased damage from 5 to 15
  • Increased growth from 5 to 10

• Plasma Ball
  • Increased proc chance from 25% to 75%
  • Max stacks of 2 for 100% chance

• Shocking Revelation
  • Increased damage from 3-15 to 15-30

• Flawless Brace
  • Increased damage from 25% to 30%

• Pristine Band
  • Increased HP from 1 to 5
  • Increased growth from 1 to 2
  • Increased max owned from 4 to 5
  • Can only be equipped by one player

• Decayed Scepter
  • Increased skill damage from 15% to 50%
  • Increased poison stacks from 1/2/3 to 3/4/5

• Surge Pendant
  • Increased bonus skill damage from 50% to 75%
  • Increased max owned from 2 to 4
  • Increased duration from 3s to 8s

• Magic Tome
  • Increased damage from 5 to 25
  • Increase growth from 5 to 10

• Spell in a Bottle
  • Increased damage from 15 to 25
  • Increased max owned from 1 to 4
  • Increased base projectiles from 1 to 2
  • Added projectile growth of 1
  • Increased frequency of appearing

• Meteor
  • Increased HP threshold from 20% to 50%

• Ornate Glove
  • Increased bonus stats from 5% to 10%

• Steel Greaves
  • Increased max armor growth from 5 to 10
  • Increased gained armor from 2 to 5

• Infested Mind
  • Increased damage from 40 to 70

• Trusty Wizard's Hat
  • Increased bonus skill damage from 25% to 50%
  • Increased duration from 6s to 8s

• Impact Charm
  • Increased damage from 15 to 25

• Giant Mace
  • Increased bonus damage multiplier from 50% to 100%

• Clobbering Mace
  • Increased damage from 25 to 40
  • Decreased growth from 25 to 15

• Ember Seed
  • Increased HP threshold from 15% to 50%
  • Increased healing per enemy rooted from 2 to 5
  • Increased tick damage from 3 to 10 * skill damage %

• Doom Shell
  • Removed cooldown

• Mimic King's Consort
  • Increased damage from 15 to 30
  • Increased HP from 100 to 550
  • Increased attack rate from 1s to 0.75s
  • Removed lifetime

Curses

• Bane of the Deal
  • Updated to preserve rarity on swap

• Boon of Shrouding
  • Updated to apply to all players

Void Mantle

• Dark Clone
  • Cooldown resets when entering a new room

• Charge Attack
  • Reduced charge time based on the number of orbs that are stored
  • Removed charge requirement when 5 orbs are already stored

• Dark Spells
  • Prioritized enemies hit by the charge attack
  • Removing targeting on invulnerable enemies

• Dark Spell: Black Hole
  • Increased damage from 30 to 50
  • Updated to work like Darkening. Deals base damage or 10% enemy health damage; whichever is higher
  • Updated visuals

  Dark Spell: Celestial Tear

  • Removed requirement of hitting an enemy to activate

Scoggfirth

• Champion Rotworm
  • Reduced spawn count

Wightsbury

• General
  • Added a green glow to indicate when the next room is a Wight room

• Pox Rat
  • Reduced attack speed
  • Reduced range
  • Reduced number of projectiles

• Weald Wolf
  • Added a max spawn count

Anville

• General
  • Reduced the number of traps
  • Reduced the max number of supercharged enemies
  • Various visual improvements

• Cleaver
  • Reduced range to match its champion version
  • Reduced attack radius

• Shocker
  • Added a max speed to its chase attack

• Defense Bot
  • Reduced active range for its projectile attack

Champion Enemies

• General
  • Reduced HP on various champions
  • Reduced the number of additional enemies that can spawn during the fight

• Champion Rotworm
  • Reduced the number of regular Rotworms
  • Removed the additional spawning of regular Rotworms

Tyrant Difficulty Mod

• General
  • Reduced attack speed
  • Decreased spawn rate for some attacks
  • Improved attack visuals
  • Updated to show Praxis with each attack

• Void Vortex
  • Added a short delay before attack
  • Improved attack visuals

Misc

• Adjusted and balanced the HP of most enemies
• A bunch of memory optimizations and improvements 🔥
• Various localization improvements 🔥

Bug Fixes

Last but not least, we fixed a bunch of issues.

• Fixed a bug that was preventing some weapon challenges from being completed if a player is dead when a boss is defeated 🔥
• Fixed a multiplayer bug that could cause a crash if a client is webbed when Arachna Za dies 🔥
• Fixed a multiplayer bug that was preventing players from reconnecting in Netherra if all the stat gem rooms were cleared
• Fixed a bug that was causing players to get stuck when their controller disconnects the moment a boss is defeated and the north door opens 🔥
• Fixed a visual issue with Praxis where he would leap offscreen if he loses his target at the start of his claw attack
• Fixed a bug with Guardian Angel where Praxis enemies could still kill the player 🔥
• Fixed a bug that was occasionally causing frozen enemies to appear invisible when spawning 🔥
• Fixed a bug where the SFX for the Healing Fountain would stop playing
• Fixed a bug that was preventing the SFX from playing for the Ember Blade’s Whirlwind mod
• Fixed a bug that was preventing the Ember Dust popup from appearing for A Greater Power
• Fixed a bug that could cause the player to get softlocked if skipping the Ember Dust unlock sequence before identifying a Skill with Evee 🔥
• Fixed a bug that could cause the Suppression Obelisk to spawn when exiting a secret room 🔥
• Fixed a bug that was causing the glow of an enemy to turn white when stunned
• Fixed a bug that was causing the Doom Shell to stop spinning on the double roll
• Fixed a bug that was preventing the VFX from appearing on Shade’s leap attack
• Fixed a bug that was causing animations on the tear in the Architect’s Realm to stop playing
• Fixed a bug that was causing DoT attacks to stop the Whirmaw from doing its spin attack
• Fixed a bug that was causing Aim Assist to target the invincible traps in the Overtime Scrapper’s room 🔥
• Fixed a bug that was preventing the Rift Hammer’s Combat Slam from converting apples into apple sauce 🔥
• Fixed a bug that was only pausing the Mimic King’s record player after being hit 🔥
• Fixed a few issues with boss health bars while having Pantheon active 🔥
• Fixed a few issues with navigating the Ember Tree UI 🔥
• Fixed a few issues with navigating the Weapon Mod UI 🔥

That's it for now. Thank you for your continued support!
-Doom Turtle

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