Hello, this is Robe of Fire.
This update rebuilds how the game feels to play.
Dash and stamina, the impact of your hits, the weight of movement, and the numbers behind enemies and gear have all been reworked from the ground up.
Dash and Stamina Added (Space key)
You dart a short distance in the direction you are facing. Walls still stop you, but you can pass through enemy bodies, so it works as an escape when you get surrounded.
Maximum stamina grows with Dexterity (DEX), and a single dash costs half of it. Dashing repeatedly leaves a short gap during which stamina does not regenerate. An amber stamina bar sits above the belt.
Rebuilt the Feel of Landing a Hit
On impact the picture freezes for an instant, the enemy flashes white and is shoved in the direction of the blow. There is now a beat between the wind-up and the hit, so the swing and the connect are separated in the audio too.
Criticals make the number bounce larger, with their own sound and a small screen shake. An enemy you finish off always falls away from you, and is blown back hard if the damage is more than twice its remaining HP. Nearby enemies of the same kind freeze in place for a moment.
A missed attack is no longer nothing at all. A graze lands for 40% damage, and a whiff sound plays. Accuracy keeps every bit of its value.
Gave Movement Some Weight
You slide to a stop for a very short moment, but only when you release the key. Starting to move and changing direction are still instant. Your footstep speed now matches your actual movement speed, and the walk animation stays connected when you turn.
A next attack pressed during an attack is remembered briefly and swings the moment your hands are free. Skills can be queued the same way.
A Full Balance Pass
Base movement speed is now 1.3x, and enemies were sped up by the same ratio. The chase between you and them plays out as before.
Enemy health and attack power on floors B1 through B5 were rebuilt from first principles, role by role. Enemies that come at you in numbers die in 2-3 hits, the real threats in 3-6, and ranged enemies in 2-4.
Gear sell prices now add the value of the affixes on top of the base price, so a good affix on a cheap item is finally worth money. The Hand Axe used to share the same numbers as the Short Sword; it is now the slow but heavy-hitting option.
Rebuilt the Shrines
The Blood Altar no longer fully repairs your gear. It now grants +25% movement speed for 60 seconds, and its look has changed to an altar pulsing with blue light.
While a shrine effect is active, a symbol floats above your head: wings for the Blood Altar, an eye for Clairvoyance, a fist for the Shrine of Flame, and a scroll for the Shrine of the Compass. It disappears when the effect ends.
Changed How Damage and Danger Read
Taking a hit makes the edges of the screen glow red, stronger the heavier the damage. You only flinch on a heavy blow, so light attacks from weaker enemies no longer stop you in your tracks.
Below 30% HP a heartbeat starts, beating faster as your health drops. The screen edges stay lit red as well.
Gold picked up and health restored by potions now float above your head. The music briefly steps back and the chime comes forward the moment a purple or gold item drops.
An enemy noticing you is heard from the direction it is standing in. A pool of blood is left where an enemy falls.
About the Next Update
New floors beyond B6, the skill tree unlock, and a mastery system that makes you better with a weapon the more you use it are coming in the next update.
The skill tree can already be opened with the T key as a preview screen.
Please bear with us just a little longer.
Detailed Changes
Tutorial
・Completing an objective now shows it being crossed out with a pen
・Warriors get an objective to open the skill tree instead of the spellbook, and no healing magic objective appears
・Enemies defeated before the objective comes up now count toward the kill total
・Rewards are shown by name instead of by picture
Interface
・Moved the HP and MP numbers to the center of the orbs
・Added a stamina bar
・Added Dash and Skill Tree to the on-screen control list
Saving
・Ghost status is now kept in the save. Loading puts you back at the town entrance still a ghost
・Loading a corrupted save no longer freezes the game; it always returns to the title screen
・The game can no longer be launched twice at the same time
Text and Voice
・NPC lines, lectern texts, and guard conversations were rewritten. The lectern and guard voices were re-recorded
・Translations were reviewed across the board
・Sound effects now vary slightly every time, so repeated sounds no longer feel mechanical
・Enemies that had not noticed you now also have a voice line for spotting you
Other Fixes
・Fixed Hellspawns collapsing in a single frame; they now play a falling animation
・Fixed enemy attacks that missed producing no sound and no feedback at all
・Fixed the door sound being exactly identical every time
・Fixed identical sounds overlapping and clipping
・Fixed the archer hunt objective becoming impossible when the count ran out before you defeated them
Thank you so much for walking this far with us.
If anything caught your eye or felt awkward to play, tell us any time.