Changelog: Bug Fixes, Malediction Seed & Vein Whip Shot

Bug Fixes

• Level-up golden wave particles are visible again. A skipped system registration caused the entire particle system update to never run, which silently broke level-up VFX, allowed "zombie" particles to accumulate, and suppressed secondary burst effects.
• Fixed a memory leak caused by world-pickable spawn attempts. Tome pages, artifacts, urns, and scrolls could burn up to 180 entity IDs per spawn attempt when positions were rejected. Long runs with frequent pickups (e.g. Soul Harvest builds) eventually crashed with max entities reached.
• Fixed a memory leak in Corpse Explosion. Each explosion left behind a non-recycled VFX marker. Builds that chained many corpse detonations over a run could hit the entity cap and crash.
• Fixed a memory leak in Crimson Rain. Every cast created a permanent rain-controller entity. Spammy casts over a long session contributed to the entity cap crash.
• Fixed a memory leak in spell entities. Scroll pickups and spell swaps permanently burned entity IDs instead of recycling them — the effect compounded over many scroll pickups.
• Reduced stale state carrying over between runs. Spell-system bookkeeping now fully clears on game shutdown so old entity references can't affect a freshly started run.
• Increased the level-up particle budget so rapid, back-to-back level-ups no longer run out of golden burst particles mid-celebration.

New Spell: Malediction Seed

A new cursed projectile spell joins the Curses school!

Malediction Seed

• Curse category — fires a homing cursed seed at a random enemy within range
• On impact, plants a Malediction Circle — a persistent AoE field that corrodes all enemies caught inside with damage-over-time ticks
• Circle has three visual phases: prewarm (growing summon), active (full damage), rest (fadeout)
• Base stats: 24 damage per tick, 140 radius, 5s duration, 2.8s cooldown, 500 range
• Smart active-cap system prevents map spam when cooldown drops to zero — new casts are gated by how many Circles are active near you

Upgrades

• Damage / Cooldown / Radius — standard tuning
• Circle Duration — extends how long each Circle stays active
• Max Active Circles — raises the cap on simultaneous Circles near you

7 Synergies

Status synergies (Malediction Circle ticks apply effects):

• Burning Malediction (+ Soul Burn) — ticks apply Soul Burn, +15% damage
• Bleeding Malediction (+ Hemorrhage) — ticks apply Hemorrhage, +20% damage
• Weakening Malediction (+ Weaken) — 20% chance to Weaken, +1 active Circle
• Icy Malediction (+ Slow) — 20% chance to Slow, +1 active Circle
• Terrifying Malediction (+ Terror) — 20% chance to Terrify, +1 active Circle
• Confusing Malediction (+ Confusion) — Confuses enemies, +1 active Circle

Unique synergy:

• Armored Malediction (+ Bone Armor) — each active Bone Armor orb raises the Circle cap by 1 and adds +15% damage

Fully translated into all 28 supported languages.

New Spell: Vein Whip Shot

A new active spell joins the Blood Magic school!

Vein Whip Shot

Vein Whip Shot is a fast, agile sibling of Tentacle Lash. Instead of an alternating left/right sweep, it lashes a sanguine tendril in your current movement direction — each shot retargets to where you're headed and adds a slight random spread so no two strikes land identically. Shots also overlap: the next lash begins while the previous one is still mid-swing, giving a rapid, flowing combo rather than a slow windup.

Highlights

• New active spell in the Blood Magic category
• Attacks in your latest movement direction — sweeps stay in sync with how you're playing
• Overlapping cadence: each sweep starts before the previous finishes
• ±12° random spread per sweep for satisfying variance
• Roughly one-third the size of Tentacle Lash, but quicker and more nimble
• Custom sprite, skill icon, and cast SFX
• Full localization across all 28 supported languages
• Dedicated Vein Size upgrade parameter

Synergies

Pairs with status-effect spells exactly like Tentacle Lash:

• Burning Vein (+ Soul Burn) — applies burn, +15% damage
• Bleeding Vein (+ Hemorrhage) — applies bleed, +20% damage
• Weakening Vein (+ Weaken) — 20% chance to weaken, +1 sweep per cast
• Icy Vein (+ Slow) — 20% chance to slow, +1 sweep per cast
• Terrifying Vein (+ Terror) — 20% chance to fear, +1 sweep per cast
• Confusing Vein (+ Confusion) — 20% chance to confuse, +1 sweep per cast

Unlock it from the Blood Magic school.

The dead god watches. Death awaits.
— GROLAF & CRUNCHFEST