Rivals of Aether II is OUT NOW! We're extremely excited for launch after 4 years of hard work. This last year has been an amazing development journey as we held beta weekends and gathered player feedback. Now after months of limited play periods, and your help making us one of the top games of Steam Next Fest, Rivals II is finally in your hands! Servers are up and it's time to get battling. https://youtu.be/83cu7cs5aM0 [h1]What's Next[/h1] If you haven't been following along, we want to share that this game is planned to be a long term project. One we keep updating and balancing for years to come just like the original Rivals of Aether. Our plan is for all future gameplay content to be free (like characters and modes) and to support development with optional cosmetics only. [i]No grinding for characters[/i]. You can learn more about our approach in our [url=https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL87hb-q85AByBs6NYvj596KusY0Fmumof]Deep Dive Series on YouTube[/url], and also a peek at what's on the horizon with our roadmap. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43889344/df5ffcec51ec0fa00e0ad17292b6e1d96608c119.jpg[/img] [h1]New Player Resources[/h1] If you're just getting into the game, welcome! Make sure to stop by our [url=https://discord.gg/RoA]discord[/url] and [url=https://steamcommunity.com/games/2217000/announcements/detail/7516036132727640640]check out our tutorial article[/url] that offers tons of resources to get started with any character or skill level. We've also just released a new video series today aimed at beginners that covers each character's basics. You can [url=https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL87hb-q85ABzwCWZsoFczkASc6i69vjMa]view them all over on our YouTube[/url]. [url=https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL87hb-q85ABzwCWZsoFczkASc6i69vjMa][img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43889344/5966cf0ee2e8fb52bc6329dd70355e89544cae06.png[/img][/url] [h1]Feedback, Bugs, and Suggestions[/h1] We're always taking suggestions and making improvements to the game. If you'd like to give us your feedback, we have a suggestion board that's live over at: [url=https://rivals-of-aether-ii-launch.nolt.io/]https://rivals-of-aether-ii-launch.nolt.io/[/url] We try our best to respond directly there. We've also got a [url=https://discord.gg/RoA]very active discord[/url] that's a great place to chat with other players. Our discord is the best place to report bugs. The devs are there too and we have a ticket system in place where you can log an issue and hear back from us on a fix! Make sure to use this if you need help, since it's the best way to ensure we've seen your problem. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43889344/bd541e16cccd7c5e8897dbce83eb6871377435f8.png[/img] [h1]Patch Notes[/h1] While we were hard at work during Next Fest making sure things went going smoothly we also made some small balance changes to the game. This article includes just a few patch notes for brevity's sake, but you can [url=https://aetherstudios.com/news/launch-patch-notes/]view the full notes on our website[/url]. Expect future patch to be available on Steam and designed to be more digestible. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/43889344/b65473604587106570de41420247643e640edb20.png[/img] [list] [*] Players now receive coins as they gain XP, allowing additional Aether Coins to be earned outside of character levels and event progression. [i][list] [*] We want to make sure players are getting enough coins, so we're adding a new way to earn coins via XP and keeping an eye on these values. Reminder: Events also give players coins and our first event doesn't start until November. Keep in mind the normal rate you earn coins at will be higher once our final system for earning them is live. [/list][/i] [*] Tap jump joystick threshold lowered while dashing/running. [list] [*] [i]This allows you to tap jump with full forward momentum.[/i] [/list] [*] Landing after being launched downward will no longer cut your hitstun in half. [list] [*] [i]Previously, spiking aerial opponents would often end up leaving the attacker disadvantaged. This change should make aerial spikes feel much better to land.[/i] [/list] [*] You will no longer incur 25% extra hitstun when spiked off the ground. [list] [*] [i]The reward for landing a grounded spike was disproportionate to how easy it was to find, often leading into a charged strong attack at low kill percents.[/i] [/list] [*] Early-knockback gravity reduction frames are now dependent on the character’s hitstun gravity instead of always being 5 frames. [list] [*] [i]This means floaties will reach full gravity faster, while fastfallers will take longer to reach full gravity. It’s a very small change, but the goal is to make floaty characters slightly more susceptible to being comboed while also helping fastfallers not get juggled quite as bad.[/i] [/list] [*] Shield DI can no longer cause you to leave a platform. [list] [*] [i]This removes the ability to shield DI a recovery move at ledge to automatically ledgehog it.[/i] [/list] [*] If all four players are on the same team when readying up on the character select screen, then they will be assigned random teams. [list] [*] [i]There will be an actual “Randomize Teams” setting for this eventually once we have a more fleshed out match settings menu, but this workaround will allow players to randomize teams for now.[/i] [/list] [/list] [h1]Known Issues[/h1] We're also watching a few known issues from the Next Fest demo last week. We don't have a fix yet, but wanted to make people aware that we are tracking Steam Deck lobby issues and controller/mouse and keyboard support issues to address. If you encounter any bugs, please report them and let us know over in our [url=https://discord.gg/RoA]official Discord[/url]. Thanks for supporting us and checking out the game!