Skul Squad! This Patch welcomes 3 new skulls to the Continent of Harmonia!
The uber-powerful Archlich will strike fear into the hearts of enemies, while the Thief will rob enemies blind and then use their coins against them in the heat of battle. All of the new skulls have their own unique characteristics and skills, so you should experience even more special action and have a great time playing with them.
Also, we have improved and added to the sounds and special effects in the game. So listen closely! See below for more detailed info.
Skulls
New Skulls Added - Archlich - Aqua Skull - Thief
Archlich
Grade: Legendary
Type: Balance
*Gatekeepers of darkness! My agents and soldiers! Obey my command!*
Aqua Skull
Grade: Rare
타Type: Power
*A Skeleton Soldier that fell into the Elemental Lake.*
Thief
Grade: Common
Type: Speed
*When I got Demon Life Insurance, they didn’t pay me, but rather just brought me back from the dead as a skeleton!*
Grim Reaper - Drastically increased the amount of skill damage dealt when swapping
Ninja - Fixed problem where you could cancel a skill by jumping
Quintessence
Archdemon - Fixed it so that projectiles won’t explode even after hitting walls
Sound
Improved and added sound for Adventurers
Improved sounds effects when swapping
Improved overall quality of the sound
Added sound effect to Iron Shoes of Bitter Cold when landing on the ground
The bugs listed below were taken care of with this hotfix for Release Version 1.6g.
Fixed bug where attacking while dashing to the left caused the character to perform an air attack.
Fixed bug where the Gargoyle sometimes didn't jump and just slammed the ground when using the 'Stone Stomp' skill.
(4/20-Additional Alteration) Fixed bug where picking up a Spirit-related item while already in possession of the Elementalist's Blessing caused it to not function properly.
Hey Skul Squad, This patch is focused on ‘System Optimization’ just like we previously promised to update. And while it’s still not perfect, you should experience improved and stabler gameplay during the EA period. As for the next update, we’re planning on adding new content based on your feedback up to this point. Please see below for more detailed information about this update.
System
We’ve optimized the game so that you should be able to play comfortably on lower spec computers from now on!
Vastly improved the performance of the ‘Light Effect’ - Lowered the minimum specs needed to use the improved lighting feature. a. System Memory 16GB+ → 4GB+ b. VRAM 3GB+ → 1GB+ - Use this path to improve the lighting [Pause → Settings → Light Effect]
Improved performance of the physics engine. - This should really lighten the load on your CPU!
Improved speed of map loading.
Fixed a bug where the character sometimes got stuck in the wall.
Fixed problem where the amount of gathered Dark Quartz displayed on the ‘Game Over Screen’ didn’t reset.
Item
Fixed a bug where the Ruby Heart’s effect wasn’t working properly.
This update was focused on improving the game’s overall stability. We also added a wide range of new items to diversify the gameplay. You should experience even more fluid and fast-paced action because some of the new items take effect whenever you take damage or drop to a certain level of HP. Please check them out and let us know what you think! Attention Speedrunners! The playtime will no longer keep running when the game is paused, so this should help you out. We expect to see even more impressive times than we’ve already seen~ During Early Access we’re going to continue working on the game’s optimization.
See below for more details.
System
Changed effect of the Healing Orbs to make it clearer.
Fixed problem where the Character sometimes broke through walls.
Fixed issue where the game sometimes crashed and shut itself down.
Playtime no longer keeps running when the game is paused.
Drastically increased the damage Enemies take from traps.
Skulls
Skul - [Rebone] Fixed it so that the delay in motion can be cancelled by dashing, jumping, attacking or attacking in-air
Skeleton-Shield - Changed effect of the Shield
Rider - Overhauled its looks and design
Skeleton-Bomber - Changed colors of the hat and the bomb
Dark Paladin - Changed effect of the Shield
Item
Jagamon Thorns - Made it so that the fixed damage doesn’t fluctuate
Added New Items
[Common] - Hate Stone - Draft Stone - Bottled Embers - Explosive Ointment
[Rare] - Rake of Fury - Broken Mana Engine - Magic Bead of Darkness - Ancient Incense Burner - Ice Scale Spaulders - Elementalist’s Blessing - Ceremonial Dagger - Sphinx Eye - Giant’s Axe - Coward’s Cape - Iron Shoes of Bitter Cold
Fixed problem where the Blossom Ent’s Attack didn’t damage the Mummy.
Fixed bug where the Blossom Ent’s Attack Effect stacked up.
Changed it so that the shards of the test flasks summoned by the Chp 3 Boss (Chimera) will disappear after some time passes.
Changed it so that you don’t have to clear summoned monsters to move onto the next map (ex. Living Room Maid, Kitchen Maid, Released Spirits, Unstable Spirits)
Skul Squad, Here’s another round of bug fixes based on your feedback. You should experience more fluid gameplay and action.
Thanks again for the support and see below for more details~
System
Fixed bug where the Bomber’s Self-Destruct ability didn’t damage the Chp 3 Boss (Chimera)
Fixed bug where Chp 2 Boss (Leiana Sisters) took damage while not in battle
Improved look of Healing Orbs so they are much easier to spot
Fixed problem where the option to increase number of jumps sometimes wasn’t applied correctly (especially for the Ninja)
Fixed problem where the character kept dropping down little by little after dashing in the air
Background
Improved background of Demon King Castle
Skulls
Increased the time period where you can input another command during every skull’s Basic Attack
In regards to Air Attacks that allow for 2+ attacks while in air, you can now cancel the attack during the later stage of the motion. This allows for more attacks per second and provides better feel for aerial attacks
Gargoyle - ‘Petrify’ is no longer cancelled by a Basic Attack
Clown - Fixed bug where passive markings didn’t work correctly at times
Glacial Skull - Fixed problem where the percentage chance of freezing enemies upon Basic Attack didn’t match the description
Rider - Alleviated hit delay after each attack
Ninja - Changed dash effect
Predator - After jumping from a high place and attacking in air, you can now jump again immediately and attack once more - Alleviated hit delay after each attack - [Whirlwind] Increased max number of attacks and attack speed - [Hack] Increased max number of attacks and attack speed/ Improved feel/ Number of available uses now displayed correctly
Samurai - After inflicting damage with the ‘Single Slash’, you can cancel the motion delay by dashing or using another skill. This will make it easier to string together attack combos after using a skill. - The number of times ‘Spinning Slash’ can be used will appear correctly now
Quintessence
Evil Eye - Fixed problem where the passively increasing Skill Attack Power didn’t match the text
Troll - Fixed problem where the passively increasing Crit Chance didn’t match the text
Shadow Knights - Fixed problem where the passively increasing Attack Power didn’t match the text
Text
Fixed problem where the description of the Clown’s passive ability didn’t match up with the actual effect
Fixed issue where the description of the Manatech Baguette didn’t appear
Some text that was displayed in English for German players will now all be in German
We’re excited to announce that 3 new skulls have been added to the game and are ready for battle in Harmonia! Just like every other skull they have their own unique abilities and skills so be sure to try them all out. You’re sure to find the experience enjoyable and the gameplay even more diverse than before.
We also adjusted a couple of the skulls types and grades. The Clown in particular has received a major overhaul and should be a ton more fun to play with. In addition to that, we fixed bugs and other issues based on your comments. So keep the feedback coming!
System
Fixed bug where the effect of the Yggdrasil’s exploding projectiles were in the wrong spot
Fixed problem where projectiles passed through terrain on some maps
Fixed bug where you could break through the ceiling on the map
Fixed bug with Chapter 3 Boss’ roar knock-back
Fixed bug where the Warrior Adventurer would freeze during an attack or deliver an attack suddenly
Altered background music to play uniformly in all Chapters
Skul
New Skulls Added - Skeleton-Bomber / Grade : Rare
- Skeleton-Shield / Grade : Common
- Carleon Recruit / Grade : Common
Minotaurus - Grade Change: Common → Rare
Werewolf - Grade Change: Rare → Common
Clown - Grade Change: Common → Rare - Attack Speed increased - Increased forward movement while attacking - Changed number of marks for passive explosion: 4 → 3 - Reduced passive explosion’s damage - Increased damage for Basic Attack’s projectiles - Altered Jump Attack - Changed Passive Effects & Sound - Skill: Changed Surprise Knife (effect changed, attack range and damage increased) - Skill: Two in Each Hand (damage increased) - Skill: Highlight (new effect)
Rider - Type Change: Balance → Speed
Items
Eleventh Finger of Lightning - Fixed bug where actual cooldown time didn’t match the item’s description
Text
Fixed problem where a description of the Yaksha’s tackle didn’t appear
Fixed problem where Hidden Dagger’s item description didn’t match the actual in-game effect (for languages other than Korean)
Hello Skul Squad! A long awaited and sorely needed system update is finally ready to go. Of course we’re talking about Steam Cloud Support! Sorry it took so long, but better late than never I guess. Right? ;)
With that being said, there is one thing you need to be aware of. If you’ve already played Skul on several different PCs, you may see a message like the one below. You will be prompted to either download the save files from the Steam Cloud, or to upload the local files instead. So please take your time and think about which save file has the most saved contents!
In addition to that, we’ve fixed a ton of bugs (many of which we found thanks to your feedback). You should notice improved gameplay especially in the battle system.
Please look below for specific details.
System
Steam Cloud now supported
Fixed bug where effects intermittently wouldn’t disappear
Resolved issue with long item names messing with the UI and stretching it out
Fixed problem with Jump Attacks not being affected by Basic Attack Speed
Enemies will chase you down quicker after seeing you (increased movement speed)
Fixed bug where Quintessence and Items caused deadly attacks
‘Reassemble’ Trait added
Skul
Alleviated time slowdown when using a Tackling-type Dash
Fixed bug where Concentration Attack Skill Moves were cancelled out by using them again.
Skul (The OG) - Fixed bug where two skulls sometimes fell after throwing your skull
Clown - Fixed bug where Skills were cancelled by Dashing - Fixed bug where the puppet doesn’t have a marking in the bone pile map
Samurai - Fixed bug where the puppet doesn’t have a marking in the bone pile map
Jinn - Type Change: Balance → Power
Grim Reaper - Type Change: Power → Balance - Now invincible when performing Harvest
Yaksha - Fixed bug where Yaksha Fist was cancelled out by other actions - Changed attack style for Yaksha Fist once Concentration completes - Sorcery: Time slows down for enemies when using Goblin Step to crush them
Mummy - Fixed bug where Mummy Bomb didn’t explode when hitting an altar - Fixed bug where Mummy Bomb didn’t damage altars or other structures
Hunter - Fixed bug where Basic Attack commands were ignored - Attack stiffening time decreased for Basic Attack and Jump Attack once Concentration completes
Items
Fixed bug where some item’s thumbnails didn’t display properly in the scrolls - Hunter’s Boots - Execution Axe - Warrior’s Pauldrons - Dark Spirit Shade
Fixed bug where some item’s additional damage didn’t register correctly - Gunpowder Sword - Clown’s Surprise Box
Thief Armor - Fixed bug where the option wasn’t registering normally
Water Spirit Undine - Attack Range drastically increased
Hunter’s Boots - Fixed bug where item description and actually ability didn’t match up
Mage’s Mana Bracelet - Problem fixed with item grade not registering properly: Legendary → Unique
Gunpowder Sword - Grade Alteration: Rare → Unique - Fixed bug where explosion didn’t match Attack Type
Quintessence
Arch Demon - Damage of Soul Release’s projectile explosion increased
Raven Monarch - Vortex of the Abyss’ multi-hit and explosive damage increased
Centauros - Range of Javelin decreased
Misc.
Fixed bug where some projectile attacks didn’t damage alters
Enemies
Carleon Infantrymen - Hammer Attack Range decreased so nothing behind it is damaged
Carleon Ice Mage - Idle time after Attack added, Continuously attacking pattern deleted
Gold Mane Knight New Recruit - Deleted its ability to block player’s movement with shield
Gold Mane Knight - After performing the Power Wave Attack, idle time is now determined probabilistically - Added idle time for when Tackle Attack is reused
Housemaid - Enemy perception range increased for attacks
Adventurers - Fixed bug that caused strange status effects when casting lethal spells - Energy ball projectiles can no longer penetrate players - Changed hit style for Thief’s large shurikens - Fixed bug where Adventurer Mage kept moving towards the sides of the screen
Bosses
Chapter 2 Boss: Leiana Sisters - Fixed problem where boss stays in a diagonal position after being killed when moving diagonally
Chapter 2 Boss: Transformed Leiana - Added random attack pattern - For full-screen chain attacks, the amount of time attacks do damage has been reduced
Chapter 3 Boss: Chimera - Fixed bug where some attack pattern were skipped due to time slowing or stopping during an attack
Map
Chapter 1 Poison Flower - HP significantly decreased
Fixed bug where some players were forced up into the sky in some Chapter 2 maps due to screen fractures
Increased the chances of the Mysterious Boy providing high grade Quintessence in the later stages
Fixed bug where some enemies continued to get bigger after spawning
Fixed bug where some buff effects appeared to be extra large at times
The plates on the table in Chapter 2 fly more realistically and deal way more damage
Text
Fixed incorrect English text for Mummy
Fixed bug where an outdated version of the the Witch’s Trait Name was incorrectly displayed
We are proud to announce that Skul will be going to 2020 PAX EAST!
PAX EAST (also known as Penny Arcade Expo) is a gaming festival held annually in Boston, United States. This year PAX EAST will be held from the 27th of February to the 1st of March, 2020 (4 days in total) at the Boston convention and exhibition center.
We will be participating as NEOWIZ, and for the location of the booth please review the image below.
We have prepared amazing events with rewards, so please come and visit NEOWIZ booth at the Boston convention and exhibition center.
We will be looking forward to meeting you at PAX EAST!
Hello Skul Community~ Skulites? Skul Squad? Help us come up with a name for this passionate and growing community!
In all seriousness though, thank you so much for your support and helping us successfully launch Skul: The Hero Slayer for Early Access! We were overwhelmed with the response we received and couldn’t be more grateful. We’re looking forward to seeing where this journey takes us and are excited to have the Skul Community by our side.
With that said, we’ve been closely monitoring everything you have had to say (the good and especially the bad). We know there are a lot of bugs currently, so we are doing our best to rectify those problems as quickly as we can. If you experienced any bugs or issues we sincerely apologize for that. Please just know that this game is a work in progress and will only improve from here on out.
See below for the updates included in this patch.
1.)Polishing Some Skulls
Nimble Ninja with Range?!? One word. Unstoppable Flash Slash Attack type changed: melee → range
Cheesing with the Mummy no more! It’s sidearm is going down a caliber or two.
Basic Attack type changed: skill → basic (was ‘skill’ by mistake)
Basic Attack range reduced
Basic Attack damage reduced
Exploding Head damage increased
Exploding Heads now burst upon impact (Humans beware!)
Shooting upwards possible now (Shoot those pesky Adventurers out of the sky!)
Death Itself, made a little less deadly (The not so grim Reaper)
Passive projectile’s homing range increased
Passive projectile’s attack damage decreased
The Berserker Unleashed!
Problem with Basic Attack cancelling out Berserker Tackle resolved
The once frustrating Gargoyle, made playable and actually fun!
The Gargoyle now descends slowly after attacking while in flight
The Rider still rollin’ over foes.
Passive Icon added (displays the additional attack power based on increases in movement speed)
Make the humans howl with fear at the sight of the Werewolf!
Now invincible while performing the Beast Leap
An even more magical Genie.
Now invincible while performing the Fairy Swordsmanship skill
A Spearman with improved D.
Now invincible while performing Parrying action
Fixed problem with attacks for some skulls being cancelled out
2.) System Updates
System language now automatically selected (based on OS language settings and defaults to English)
Controller vibration added
Dated now saved after dying (Some data didn’t save if you immediately quit the game after dying)
If you quit the game right after selecting traits with the Witch, the Dark Quartz you use will not be returned to you
No more freebies! The Witch caught onto your little scheme...
Max frame rate set at 80 (some users experienced overheating due to no limit)
3.) New and Improved UI
Version Info added to top-right corner of screen
Deleted “Don’t Press Anything” warning message from the main screen (loading issues resolved as well)
4.) Items and Quintessence Rebalancing
Slime Quintessence’s Invincibility Period 2secs → 1, Cooldown Time 15secs → 10
Eleventh Finger of Lightning’s Cooldown Time Increased to 10secs, Can now hit up to 3 enemies at once
Added Ritual Staff buff icon
Centauros Quintessence damage range decreased
Medusa Quintessence damage range decreased
Fixed bug of skill cooldown resetting because of Infinite Bone item being used after consecutive skills (Usually happens with the Predator)
Archdemon projectile’s homing range increased
5.) Better Map
Fixed bug where store owners didn’t sell items at times
Sound effects from flame projectiles in Chp 1 & 2 reduced by 50%
Fixed problem in Chapter 1 map where a void space appeared in the background behind the vine decorations
Fixed problem in Chapter 3 map where some layers clashed with each other
Fixed issue with some bone pile maps spawning the puppet in a strange location
6.) Enhanced Sound
Added sound effects to some fire shooting traps in Chapter 2 that were missing it
Sound effects caused by fire shooting traps hitting a wall in Chapter 1 & 2 reduced by 50%
Sound added to spike traps in Chapter 2
Solved problem with Yggdrasil’s 8-directional projectile’s sound overlapping
Got rid of overlapping sound when Yggdrasil appears and grabs the ground.
Added wailing sound to Mongal boss in the tutorial
Sound added for scene after clearing the Chapter 3 boss
7.) Text Improvements
Solved issue with English version of skill acceleration’s description appearing where the name should
Key guide now appears in the appropriate language in the Witch’s skill tree
Chapter 3 Boss
Venom Fall damage reduced
Venom Fall animation properly synced
Venom Fall Chimera now falls forward
Venom Breath’s projectile gravity increased
Occurence of idle time pattern reduced
Idle time after Venom Ball removed
Venom Ball projectile speed increased
Knocked-back action added during roar
Venom Cannon’s gravity increased
Falling speed of wreckage increased
Falling speed of experimental flasks increased
Added sounds effects to experimental flasks that explode on impact
Chapter 2 Boss
Leiana Sisters can no longer take damage during the intro
Fixed bug that slowed the bosses down after getting hit by the Medusa Quintessence
Added sound to part of intro when the Leiana Sisters land
Added sound to Leiana Sister’s Rising Pierce attack
Added sound to Leiana Sister’s Homing Pierce attack
Chapter 1 Boss
Fixed bug that slowed the boss down after getting hit by the Medusa Quintessence
Monsters
Basic Ent’s forward movement increased
Chimera’s attack damage increased
Sound effects for Ice Mage’s attack reduced from 1 → 0.5
Fixed issue with Gold Mane Infantrymen’s attack power surging out of control if frozen while in the act of performing a Power Wave attack
Tutorial Ogre’s Max HP increased
Tutorial Ogre now not stunned by attacks
Reduced idle time for Chapter 3 Golden Mages after attacking
Ogre summoning Golden Mage’s Max HP increased
Adventurers
Solved issue with Adventurers teleporting and getting stuck on the edge of the screen
Edited background music to come after dialogue is completed
From now on 2 Adventurers will appear in Chapter 2-1 and 3 will appear in Chapter 3-1
Higher amount of damage necessary to cancel out casting
We greatly appreciate your efforts and your helpful comments in identifying issues and we apologize for the inconvenience due to this. We will do our best to fix all issues/bugs received as soon as possible.
Updates made on Feb 19 after the EA launch are as follows.
[Bug Fix]
Updated text and image of Quintessences.
Fixed the Gates not opening even after defeating all monsters on the map.
Set English as the default language for the Settings menu.
Set English as the default language for Early Access Notice, and added a text asking players not to input any key at the loading screen as it may make the game crash.
If you notice any bugs, have any suggestions or have any questions for the dev team, please visit our official SNS channels.
We are excited to announce the official Early Access launch for Skul: The Hero Slayer! Give it a go~
The Early Access Period
We plan to keep the Early Access period as short as possible and hope to release the full version of the game in the first half of this year. That being said, the current build of the game does not include every feature or all of the contents that we have planned for it. The overall balancing of the game is still very much a work in progress as well, so your feedback will be invaluable in helping us improve all aspects of the game going forward.
As such, if you find any bugs or would like to make suggestions on how to improve the game please let us know! You can reach us on any of the channels below.
Skul: The Hero Slayer will initially be priced at $17.99, but will be discounted by 20% at launch.
Rookie Mode
Finding Skul to be a little difficult? Don’t give up just yet! Try out our ‘Rookie Mode’ that is geared towards gamers who are a little unfamiliar with the roguelite genre or just want a more casual playing experience. You can find it under the ‘Gameplay’ tab in the menu and it will boost your character’s Max HP by 100!
Thanks again for the support and joining us on this journey!