Ayy! What's crackin', fellow puppers?

Pupdate powers, activate! Lots of ground to cover this week, so let's start with this week's patch, shall we?

Patch #11 Changelog

• Various changes to enemy defenses to account for changes in magic system
• Added a new default magic spell, Arcane Bolt
• Arcane Bolt is effectively the default attack, but Magical instead, and as such will be more effective against certain targets
• A small batch of unique items has been added to the game
• These unique items introduce new spells and abilities for the player to use
• Fixed passability issues in a multitude of spots in the Corrupted Castle (Thanks, Laminus!)
• Fixed an issue w/ how a particular map rendered in the Corrupted Castle
• Fixed an issue where Jellies couldn’t be eaten
• Added a few new secrets :)

The list this week is a bit more concise than previous weeks, as I'm trying to balance between letting you guys know what has changed, and keeping the list interesting! No one wanted to read 25 lines of "well I changed the formatting of text in this very specific instance," now do they?

Anywho, the goal of this week's patch and these changes was to encourage more diverse builds, and a wider build variety than existed before. Consider this a first pass on magic. We'll do more as necessary, but it felt important for these changes to be the foundation we build on. To delve into it a little bit more, there are already quite a few unexpected items that can be used for magic builds (Turtle Shelmet and Swiftstrike, as examples), but I felt it necessary for magic users to have different options than normal damage dealers. Specifically, I targeted archetypes that didn't exist prior to this update for builds, and aimed to fill some of those.

Without giving any item spoilers, there's a new spell that will enable Magic AOE builds. You can now be a more dedicated Healer than before, as well. Between existing spells and new spells, a Magic glass cannon build should be plenty viable now. I'd also like to note that last week, I had mentioned that I was considering the player being able to learn the signature abilities of the companions. That did not make it into this patch, but isn't out of the question for a future patch-- it's just about ensuring that if we go that route, we do it right, and that we do it in a way that adds to the game. The short of it is "I want to do it right, and didn't have enough time to put it together in a week." Any feedback that you guys have on Magic, or item requests, feel free to drop 'em on me! I'm open to any suggestions that make the game better :)

Into the Deep

You guys have been so patient with me, as I've worked out the kinks of the game and continue to build onto it! I told you a couple weeks ago that I like to be transparent (to a degree) about what's coming next, so I think it's time we unveil the next major patch, titled Into the Deep.

Major Patch #2: Into the Deep is our first major content patch for Ephemeral Tale, bringing with it a new zone, new enemies, a new boss, and a handful of new pieces of equipment! This will be the first optional zone of Ephemeral Tale, and won't be the last. I'm not quite ready to reveal everything about this update yet, but here's a screenshot to hold you over for now:

Next week, you and I will talk more about Into the Deep, and we'll start a conversation about difficulty in Ephemeral Tale, NG+, and how it all ties together.

Until next time, have fun!

-- Ryan