Build 26285179

## Major Loot Overhaul, Better Equipment Progression & Quest Improvements

Hello everyone!

With Hollow's November 3 release approaching, I've been working through the feedback received during Steam Next Fest.

One of the most common concerns was that equipment drops, particularly during the early dungeon floors, didn't always feel rewarding enough.

After investigating the loot system, I discovered several issues that were preventing certain equipment rarities and higher-quality modifiers from appearing as intended.

Patch 3.3.0 addresses those problems with a substantial overhaul of equipment generation, loot quality, and item progression.

There are also improvements to quest navigation and a new introduction to help players understand what's happening beneath the town.

Here's what's changed!

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## 💎 MORE REWARDING EQUIPMENT DROPS

**Named Enemies**

Named Elite and Champion enemies now have a 10% Rare-equipment chance on eligible equipment rolls.

Previously, an issue with enemy classification prevented these enemies from generating Rare equipment through their intended loot rules.

This has been corrected.

Named enemies remain a reliable source of Magic equipment, but now have a chance to reward players with more powerful Rare items.

**Improved Boss Rewards**

Boss Unique equipment generation has been corrected.

Previously, the game could successfully roll for Unique equipment but fail to produce it because the selected equipment base didn't have an eligible Unique version.

Bosses now select directly from available, level-appropriate Unique equipment when the Unique roll succeeds.

This makes boss victories more rewarding while preserving existing rarity probabilities and item requirements.

**Improved Equipment Progression**

Higher-level enemies now favor stronger equipment bases.

Lower-level equipment remains obtainable, but its selection becomes less likely as players progress into more difficult content.

This improves equipment progression without simply increasing the number of items dropped.

**Special Loot Corrections**

Corrected issues preventing certain special enemy rewards from appearing through their intended loot tables.

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## ⚔️ MAJOR AFFIX SYSTEM OVERHAUL

Hollow's equipment affix system has received extensive improvements.

**Higher-Quality Equipment**

* Increased the maximum dungeon affix quality from 30 to 60.
* Made 21 previously inaccessible high-quality affixes available through appropriate dungeon loot generation.
* Improved equipment progression throughout Normal, Hard, and Terror.
* Higher-level enemies can now generate equipment with more advanced modifiers.

**Affix Compatibility**

* Introduced improved affix-family restrictions.
* Prevented multiple tiers of the same affix family from appearing together on newly generated equipment.
* Preserved compatible combinations of different affix types.
* Improved hybrid affix compatibility.
* Improved generation behavior when high-level equipment has too few eligible modifiers.

**Equipment Requirements**

* Corrected equipment-level requirements that could exceed Hollow's maximum character level of 50.
* Improved consistency between generated equipment and Affix Altar upgrades.
* Preserved existing equipment compatibility and restrictions.

**Affix Altar Improvements**

* Improved affix compatibility checks.
* Prevented conflicting affix tiers from being added.
* Strengthened equipment-affix capacity restrictions.
* Preserved the existing one-upgrade-per-item limitation.

**Additional Corrections**

* Adjusted King's affix progression to quality level 50.
* Corrected the classification of a beneficial damage-reduction affix.
* Preserved reduced-light-radius modifiers as valid stealth-oriented properties.
* Corrected jewelry generation behavior that could bypass equipment-quality restrictions.

Existing saved equipment is preserved. Previously acquired items are not automatically rerolled or removed.

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## 🗺️ QUEST OBJECTIVE MINIMAP ICONS

Quest-related items and objectives now have minimap icons.

This should make it easier to locate important quest objectives while exploring the procedurally generated dungeon.

Players should spend less time searching for required items and more time exploring, fighting, and progressing through their quests.

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## 📜 NEW OPENING INTRODUCTION — MOTHER VEYRA

Mother Veyra now welcomes players when they first arrive in town.

Through a new introductory conversation, she explains the troubling events surrounding the mines, the disappearance of miners, and why the town desperately needs help.

The introduction provides additional story context and gives players a clearer understanding of their initial objective.

The conversation follows Hollow's existing NPC dialogue style, inspired by the original Diablo.

**Existing Characters Are Supported!**

Players continuing from older saves, including demo characters, can experience the introduction without starting over.

The conversation only occurs once per character.

Afterward, Mother Veyra returns to her usual location in town and resumes her normal interactions.

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## 🔧 ADDITIONAL IMPROVEMENTS

This update also includes several underlying corrections:

* Improved named-enemy loot eligibility.
* Corrected equipment rarity generation.
* Improved high-level item-base selection.
* Preserved existing equipment-category distributions.
* Improved equipment-affix compatibility.
* Strengthened Affix Altar restrictions.
* Corrected special-item generation eligibility.
* Preserved existing character progression and saved equipment.

The goal is to make equipment rewards feel more meaningful throughout the game while maintaining the challenge and progression that Hollow is built around.

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## ❤️ THANK YOU FOR THE FEEDBACK!

I want to sincerely thank everyone who played the Hollow demo during Steam Next Fest.

As a solo developer, reading your feedback, bug reports, and suggestions has been incredibly valuable.

Some of the issues corrected in this patch were things I might not have noticed without players taking the time to explain their experiences.

I know Hollow won't be everyone's idea of the perfect ARPG, but I'm committed to making it the best game I can.

Your feedback is helping me do exactly that.

**Hollow officially releases November 3, 2026!**

If you've enjoyed the demo and would like to support the project, please consider adding Hollow to your Steam wishlist.

Thank you for being part of this journey.

**— Ded Hed Studios**