Happy holiday season Duelists!​ We're thrilled to announce the launch of NeoDuel: Backpack Monsters’ the [b]"So much content it should be a remaster"[/b] major update. This follows November’s “Swamp” update, a major content drop for the highly-rated PvP auto-battler blending monster taming with strategic inventory management, from the Turkish indie duo of Rogue Duck Interactive and DiceHit Games. The Swamp Update (v1.1), released November 27th, introduced a fresh new fusion Element created by merging Nature and Water elements, with over 10 upgrades and Cosmions empowered by that same muddy power, alongside reworked Haste buff and Clumsy debuff. With the [b]"So much content it should be a remaster"[/b] major update, NeoDuel continues to evolve by adding over 20 QoL updates ranging from UI changes to better user experience, brand new Steam Community items, and finally, a singleplayer mode, offering Duelists the space to refine their strategies, learn elemental counters, and take on curated challenges without affecting Elo ranks. On top of all, to celebrate this major update and the Steam Winter Sales, we're putting NeoDuel: Backpack Monsters on a 30% discount, just in time to treat your friends our game before the holiday break ([i]prices are regionally adjusted, check your local store for exact pricing below[/i]). https://store.steampowered.com/app/2693940/NEODUEL_Backpack_Monsters/ There's a lot to cover in this update, so grab a drink, and let's get to it: [b][u][h1]NEW CONTENT FOR THE GAME:[/h1][/u][/b] [h3][b]Singleplayer Challenges: A Community Favourite[/b][/h3] With the arrival of Swamp, NeoDuel: Backpack Monsters also introduce a highly requested feature: single-player challenges. Duelists willing to learn the ropes, practice or even challenge themselves will be able to do so without losing any Elo ranks. The single player challenges bring a set of predefined Elemental “riddles” or "puzzles" where you must tackle a single run against a series of singular elemental themed builds, with more themed challenges to be added throughout the year. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44786371/e981e677b69d20bceea5c7da88e2c89772706c3a.gif[/img] Each challenge will include both a Normal mode, perfect for practicing, and a Harder version, designed for veteran Duelists. Upon completion, Duelists will be able to adorn an elemental challenge completion player card themed after the Element they've won, showing off their accomplishments. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44786371/186816e42bf2195a2c7ab436d16a3784beb1b490.jpg[/img] We've had lots of fun designing these challenges, full of pop culture and even meme references, and maybe some jokes that certain NeoDuel veterans will get. In any case, it's a fun yet challenging experience for solo duelists, and completely free of charge for all players. [h3][b]Steam Community items now available in Steam[/b][/h3] Celebrate this update with the launch of NeoDuel five trading cards, connected to our main core elements - Neutral, Fire, Air, Nature, Water, Electricity - combined with the ultimate Evolution form of its corresponding starter Cosmions. As you play, you may earn those cards, which will ultimately unlock profile badges (themed after the 5 highest Elo ranks in the game), and even emoticons and profile backgrounds. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44786371/4d3c634058e40f6fc4612bf508974880055970af.png[/img] [b][u][h1]QUALITY OF LIFE UPDATES[/h1][/u][/b] This major update also adds to the range of new QoL updates, features, and balancing, including the following highlights: [list] [*] New duelist avatars themed after the Air and Water Elements, DiceHit and Rogue Duck dev team [*] Custom name tags, 10 in total based on the singleplayer challenges (Air, Water, Electric, Fire and Nature) [*] Refined Cosmions: balancing tweaks for better gameplay [*] A new upgrade slot so you can pick out of 4 options instead of 3 [*] Enhanced Tutorial: Guidance for overtime mechanics and a new onboarding process [*] New Tooltip adding much more details and readability to the stats, evolutions, fusions and changes in the game [*] Stats Live Calculations: Real-time buff and nerfs stat displays in the shop for better strategy and planning [*] Upgrade Screen & Customization Shop UI [*] New Buff/Debuff Effects & Avatar Animations [*] Polished Main Menu Assets [/list] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44786371/7798963ba6458aaeea46079680ab5f6800a6ef17.png[/img] [u][b][h2]COSMION & UPGRADE BALANCING AND CHANGES[/h2][/b][/u] While the game has been quite solid in terms of balancing, based on almost a month of monitoring, we did find some little tweaks to push. The majority of it is mainly to give you some incentives to pick some of the least used Cosmions like n30 c0sm10n or even Belestra. [b]AIR BASED COSMION[/b] [list] [*] Air Khepre and Khepira: Cooldown reduced from 4 to 2.5. [/list] [b]ELECTRIC BASED COSMION[/b] [list] [*] Belestra [b][REWORK][/b]: Previous passive removed, and now each time Belestra deals damage, it gains 1 strength [*] Wasbuzz: Critical hit chance upped from 20% to 30%. [*] Z.E.U.S.: Added extra 10% critical chance stat. [*] Tokmak: Energey cost reduced from 3 to 2.5. [/list] [b]NATURE BASED COSMION[/b] [list] [*] Rockeon: Damage range upped from 15-18 to 16-20. [/list] [b]NEUTRAL BASED COSMION[/b] [list] [*] n30 c0sm10n: Damage range upped from 7-9 to 8-11. [*] Knod: Damage range upped from 5-6 to 6-8. [/list] [b]SWAMP BASED COSMION[/b] [list] [*] Squelcho: Energy cost reduced from 3 to 2. [/list] [b]WATER BASED COSMION[/b] [list] [*] Artwo: Energy cost reduced from 3 to 2. [*] Serenius: Link effect upped from 5 to now 10 Flow [/list] [b]CHANGES TO UPGRADES[/b] [list] [*] Rook Upgrade: Reduced value of shield to 50% from 100%. [/list] [h2][u][b]BUGFIXES AND KNOWN ISSUES[/b][/u][/h2] [list] [*][b]Steam Deck bugs - KNOWN ISSUE [/b]: Steam Deck running on Linux means that lots of those OS bugs are affecting Neoduel "on the go". Expect to see black bar in places where some animations are not loading correctly, and there's small instances of cloud save not working as intended, creating a different instance of your save on the machine. We're currently investigating a fix. [*][b]Achievements - KNOWN ISSUE [/b]: We received small reports of certain complex achievements like "Fusion Complete" are not triggering upon completion. We're currently investigating a fix but require more data so don't hesitate to open a support ticket on Discord. [/list] That’s it for now Duelists! We’ll be constantly monitoring how you will be playing this new version of the game, before taking a short break for the holidays. From our small but dedicated dev team, our publisher and other partners, we would like to thank you all for supporting us! Until then, for the most recent news, join the NeoDuel community by following us on [url=https://x.com/neoduel]Twitter[/url] or hopping into the [url=https://discord.gg/invite/the4winds]T4W Discord server[/url]. Please contact our support channel on the [url=https://discord.gg/invite/the4winds]T4W Discord server[/url] if you need assistance with typical technical issues or if you are unable to resolve your problem. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44786371/a20e7c6918495f4967a0fc97502b21d3f191a705.png[/img]