[h1]Greetings Dice Slingers![/h1] We have been happy to see that Update 4.1 and its changes to loadouts have been quite well received, so with that squared away, we have been working on the next update for the past couple of weeks. So today we’d like to reveal some of the things we have planned for Update 5! [h1]Death stirs in the swamps[/h1] [i]Long before the age of man, a far greater presence roamed the earth. Now, deep within the murky swamps, the ancient remains of this forgotten being have been reawakened, infused with void magic by a meteor's shattered shard. What once was lifeless now stirs with a dark and unnatural power.[/i] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42483590/b4e8e54a22842c0dbff869d4669948ee40572bfd.gif[/img] We’re in the process of adding another boss to The Deadwoods! Currently the Rib Cage debuffs your dice and lowers your damage output, while the Skull ramps up its Power and attacks every turn. We are still in the design process and will likely change the behavior somewhat. While it is an early boss and shouldn’t overwhelm players in terms of complexity, we believe there's room for some more unique mechanics to set the fight more apart so please let us know what you think! [h1]Achievements, Unlocks and Progression[/h1] We have long wanted to create more interesting Achievements, so for Update 5 we are adding a bunch more you can try your hand at. We’re also making a clearer distinction between achievements and unlocking content. This means the old "Vault" achievements that previously unlocked Artifacts are now simply Steam Achievements, to prove your mastery as a true Archmage. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42483590/d5e5cc33583212cbfa7510bab7f62212200452bf.png[/img] [i]Can you guess what some of the new achievements involve?[/i] At the same time we are revising the unlock system: We felt the old system was needlessly complicated, so first of all we are replacing the old "Tomes"/"Vault” unlocks with a more intuitive set of challenges for unlocking the more complicated Spells, Artifacts and Rituals. We are also removing the "Gold Dice" token system and instead directly unlocking Loadouts and Wizards by leveling up characters. We’re also making several improvements to the UI, including a new Overview-page that provides a better indication of your progress. The Collection menus have also been improved, with a better indication of Unlockable content and some rudimentary sorting features. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42483590/b9718be3eb2b9fb36365394df1b48f5e011c1446.gif[/img] [i]In development - still lots of things to improve![/i] [h1]Mutators, Descent and “New Ways to Play”[/h1] A major focus of Update 5 will be improvements to the Difficulty/Mutation system. We believe the old system has some flaws that are worth addressing, so we are currently experimenting with different new approaches, but we will reveal further in upcoming posts. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42483590/34cc63e7787c78b105e56ea2cd0f87877d1df9bc.png[/img] [i]Part of the improvements we are planning is a new/redesigned set of Mutators.[/i] Another feature we are working on is the addition of Game Modes. One particular idea we are planning is “Turbo Mode”, intended for those that want a shorter and more compressed experience. We have several other ideas for different ways to play SpellRogue, but we will let you know more when we get closer to the release of Update 5. One final thing: We're planning to start beta testing in the near future. However since the update is affecting progression we want to make sure the build is in a relatively stable state first. We will let you know more within the next few weeks. May your dice roll true 🧙 Tim, Thorbjørn & Paw