Update v0.2.8 — Combat Overhaul, Coven Treasury & Daily Soul Marks
Release Date: September 5, 2026
Overhauled enemy damage, accuracy, and elite scaling across Zones 1 through 7 to establish meaningful gear checks and preserve long-term progression. Resolved a critical progression bug where tier-shifting equipment in the Crucible reverted back to Tier 1 +5 upon saving gear sets or server sync. Decoupled Coven Treasury from personal Soul Marks, introduced guaranteed daily quest Soul Mark earnings with jackpot bonuses, and ensured minimized gameplay always progresses your character.
Update Highlights
Combat Overhaul: Progressive Gear Checks
Overhauled base damage, accuracy, and scaling across all 42 enemies in Zones 1 through 7. Base damage is scaled up by roughly 2x to 2.5x to prevent players from trivializing mid-to-high tier zones in early-tier gear, transforming what would have been a weeks-long sprint into an authentic months-long progression journey.
Tier-Scaled Elite Threats & Tri-Archetype Variance
Tier 1 through Tier 3 Elites now deal 1.5x damage, while Tier 4 through Tier 6+ Elites deal 2.0x damage. Every zone now features three distinct enemy combat archetypes (Swift Stalkers, Balanced Combatants, and Heavy Crushers), rewarding players for choosing the right targets for daytime versus overnight farming.
Crucible Tier-Shift Persistence Fix
Eliminated the bug where ascended Tier 2 items reverted back to Tier 1 +5. Equipped gear mapping now enforces strict tier priority, preventing ascended items with 0 refinement from being overwritten by old lower-tier +5 items.
Real-Time Crucible Progress Sync
The server now authoritatively reconciles real-time combat kills accumulated in the browser when tier-shifting or refining in the Crucible, eliminating insufficient kill progress errors during active play sessions.
All 21 Coven Upgrades Fully Wired
Every single Coven upgrade across Clan Perks, Mastery Boons, and Event Modifiers is now authoritatively connected across both client and server calculations with complete end-to-end integration.
Coven Treasury & Soul Marks Economy Decoupling
Cleanly separated clan progression from individual rewards. Coven Quests, Donations, and Events now deposit marks directly into the shared Coven Treasury for Leaders and Officers to build Domicile fixtures. Individual Daily and Weekly quests award personal Soul Marks for the Soul Broker, preserving personal balances when leaving covens.
Guaranteed Daily Soul Marks & Jackpot System
Every completed Daily Quest now guarantees base Soul Marks (Easy: 3, Medium: 5, Hard: 8, Extreme: 12), with a chance to trigger a jackpot bonus (total strictly capped at 25). Soul Marks are now prominently showcased in the Quest Completed celebration modal and in quest detail previews.
Soul Broker Cleanup & Rebalanced Endgame Cloaks
Removed placeholder items from the Soul Broker and rebalanced prices for endgame rewards: Void Conduit Band (2,000 Soul Marks), Shadowweave Cloak (8,000 Soul Marks), and Sovereign Void Cloak (10,000 Soul Marks).
Detailed Breakdown
Combat Overhaul & Enemy Stat Scaling
- Rebalanced all 42 enemies across Zones 1 through 7 on both client and server to establish an authentic progression ladder.
- Scaled base enemy damage by roughly 2x to 2.5x so that incoming damage is no longer reduced to the 1-damage floor by low-tier flat armor.
- Introduced tri-archetype combat variance in every zone: Swift/Light Attackers (1.4s–1.8s attack interval), Balanced Combatants (2.2s–2.6s), and Heavy Crushers (2.8s–3.2s with armor-bypassing crush/pound profiles).
- Configured tier-scaled Elite encounters: Tier 1 through Tier 3 Elites scale to 1.5x stats, and Tier 4 through Tier 6+ Elites scale to 2.0x stats with major health and damage upgrades.
- Enhanced Scent of Fear scaling: With higher base damage values, high Scent of Fear is now a genuinely lethal threat rather than negligible chip damage.
- Preserved offline idle viability: Players with tier-appropriate armor can sustainably idle overnight with a standard stock of blood vials, while under-geared players burn food rapidly, preventing tier skipping.
Crucible & Equipment Ascension
- Resolved issue where tier-shifting an item from Tier 1 to Tier 2 reverted back to Tier 1 +5 after saving gear sets, changing areas, or logging out.
- Fixed client equipment deduplication to prioritize gear tier first, ensuring Tier 2 items with 0 refinement take precedence over duplicate Tier 1 items with 5 refinement.
- Reconciled real-time client combat kill progress with server checks during tier-shifting and refining in the Crucible.
- Removed deceptive silent client-only fallbacks for authenticated players; failed server operations now trigger descriptive user notifications.
- Implemented systematic database equipment slot cleanup on equip, refine, and tier-shift to purge zombie and duplicate equipment records.
Coven Architecture, Daily Quests & Offline Play
- Decoupled Coven Treasury Marks from personal Soul Marks: Coven Quests, Donations, and Events now deposit marks directly into the Coven Treasury.
- Domicile upgrades are now built exclusively using Coven Treasury Marks by Clan Leaders and Officers, benefiting the entire coven.
- Coven-bound buffs: Leaving or being kicked from a coven immediately strips Domicile buffs while preserving all personal Soul Marks.
- Soul Broker store cleanup: Removed placeholder relics from the Soul Broker.
- Rebalanced Soul Broker prices: Void Conduit Band reduced to 2,000 Soul Marks, Shadowweave Cloak adjusted to 8,000 Soul Marks, and Sovereign Void Cloak adjusted to 10,000 Soul Marks.
- Added Soul Marks balance indicators across the Quest Log Modal header, Sanguine Exchange Soul Broker banner, and Inventory currency bar.
- Guaranteed Daily Soul Marks: Every completed Daily Quest is now 100% guaranteed to award base Soul Marks (Easy: 3, Medium: 5, Hard: 8, Extreme: 12) on both client and authoritative server.
- Daily Quest Jackpot Bonus: Daily Quests now feature a chance to roll a lucky jackpot bonus: Easy (+5 bonus at 15% chance, total 8), Medium (+10 bonus at 25% chance, total 15), Hard (+12 bonus at 35% chance, total 20), and Extreme (+13 bonus at 50% chance, total 25). The total reward is strictly capped at 25 Soul Marks.
- Quest Completed Modal Celebration: Awarded Soul Marks are now prominently showcased in the Quest Completed rewards modal with badge styling, so players immediately see their daily and weekly earnings.
- Quest Details Transparency: The Quest Log sidebar now displays both the guaranteed Soul Mark base and the exact jackpot percentage/bonus before embarking on or completing quests.
- Guaranteed Minimized Progression: Fixed an issue where minimizing the game with power save disabled or for short durations stalled quest progression. The engine now universally tracks elapsed time and silently awards combat kills, skilling actions, and daily quest progress the instant the game window is restored.
- All 21 Coven upgrades across Clan Perks, Mastery Boons, and Event Modifiers are now authoritatively wired and tested.