It's Friday Y'ALL, let's get this party started! This week GR-18 decided to make amends and start the spring season with celebration. Get one and all ready for a grand picnic to enjoy the weather and lovely colors of nature!

As always, remember to click the level names to bookmark them for later on. HERE WE GO!


GR-18 has ruffled some fins in Whee23's fantastic level Take Back The Party! Will GR-18 get all the frenemies together for a rocking celebration!


GR-18 carries on the quest of bringing frienemies together in Noob Jr's thrilling level Haunted Vacrat Castle. Can GR-18 cross this draw-bridge of Frenemy to BFF?


GR-18 experiences the joys of midwest weather in GRM's blazing level City On Fire. Will GR-18 and the frenemies survive the crazy weather changes in a matter of minutes on the picnic day?


GR-18 needs all the help in Sabre's exciting level Power Build: Ramshackle Life. Will GR-18 get all the help to enjoy the picnic on a beautiful day with its Soul-Package?


GR-18 enjoys the pretty colors and frolics in SocksFox's charming level Funk Ruins. Will GR-18 find the key to turning scrubs into frenemies?
Time to sit back on your blanket and enjoy the open theatre on the picnic day! We present to you the three back-to-back shows of Levelhead streamers. Check out their twitch pages for the schedule and past videos!





Seth declared on the podcast that he'd be streaming for Ludum Dare, which is this weekend. Check out the Bscotch Twitch Channel for the streaming schedule. Subscribe to make sure you get alerts.Log in to say hello and watch his Gamedev Sorcery!


The Picnic Park is booked for a private event to celebrate GR-18's birthday! So here is the call to the community to join the celebration by creating the following:
You can post levels, artwork, and videos that you think are worthy of the Community Spotlight with the newly updated nomination form. The nominations for the birthday celebration will be open until April 29th and will be highlighted as we close in on the big day!

Now the only question that remains is: What will you bring to the celebration?

Our upcoming BL visual novel, Monstrous Lovers, is hitting steam on June 24th! Play as Christopher Wells, a young office worker who moves to a town full of the supernatural and finds himself involved in the lives of four monsters inspired by classic horror movies.

Wishlist it here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1596820/Monstrous_Lovers/

• New levels added into rotation, fixed a couple blacklisted levels from last week and re-added them
  
• Fix for initialization error that would cause the "6v3" bug
  
• Factory exterior raised windows reverted to old behavior where shooting them does not allow the UAV to see through them, grenades should still pass through as before
  
• Moved castle drawbridge/gate kill volume from being in a position where players can't run into it when passing underneath

Welcome to our third major DEATH STRANDING PC photo mode event! The response to our previous two events has been overwhelmingly positive, so we’re delighted to be back with another special guest.
We’re super excited to announce that Tommie Earl Jenkins (AKA Die-Hardman) will be the judge in our latest virtual photography event. Early next month, Tommie will be selecting his 10 favourite captures from all the submissions we receive in response to this announcement. Tommie will also be providing a short explanation as to why they made his final selection, so be sure to take part and stay tuned for the results.

We can’t wait to see your captures!



• Jump into DEATH STRANDING, explore your surroundings and start snapping with the in-game photo mode tools!
• Upload your best photo mode captures here on Steam.
• Link us up to your photo mode captures in response to this news announcement before May 3rd (23:59 BST)
• Tommie Earl Jenkins will take a look at your submissions and pick out his top 10 shots, which will be unveiled here on Steam, over on our DEATH STRANDING website and across our social channels (505 Games and KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS) on May 7th 12:00 BST.

• You're welcome to submit as many screenshots as you like!
• Photos must be uploaded to Steam and linked in response to this announcement.
• Think outside the box! We want to see our community put the photo mode tools to the test.
• Got involved last time? Get involved again! The more submissions we receive, the better.

Don't worry! There's a lot of information out there to help you get started, including this handy community blog and the below video from award-winning landscape photographer, Pete Rowbottom.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TB_n7RsD1XM
https://youtu.be/0bjdiZgt6-8

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1190460/DEATH_STRANDING/?utm_campaign=LunarSale&utm_source=SteamNews&utm_medium=ST_organic

Greetings Fellow Forerunners!
It’s been a while since we last met, and we are thrilled to present NARAKA: BLADEPOINT again to our community! We truly appreciate all the comments and feedback from the previous closed beta; they have undoubtedly helped NARAKA: BLADEPOINT evolve into a more dynamic and complete “Unchained Multiplayer Combat” experience.

What’s New

• Heroes:

We aim to offer our players not only an enhanced in-game experience, but also the ability to fully customize their character to their liking. Our in-depth customisation options literally allow you to mould facial characteristics like clay; offering almost limitless possibilities.

- Full Customization on Characters’ Facial Appearance.
- Brand-New Cosmetics
- Heroes Proficiency System
- New Voice Over

• Map:

We have upgraded the map of Morus Island, enriching it with more interactive elements and other objects. Remember, the NARAKA’s battles are hugely diverse, can span large swathes of the landscape and present players with many routes to victory.


- Interactive Environment Elements
[Poisonous mushrooms]
[Plaque]
[Ballista]
[Bushes] that grant invisibility to those who hide inside them
[Others] fruits, fireflies, dandelions, birds, bats, and butterflies that buff player specific abilities.

• Merchant

Players are expected to visit the Rift Dealer more often in this Beta as they now offer powerful items to help turn the tides of battle!
- Earth Charm
Summon BaneBreath in a location of your choice.
- Lucky Souljade Bags
Randomly generate a Souljade from all rarity levels.

• Souljade System

Souljade has always been one of the essential elements in the game, it is fundamental to NARAKA’s core “Unchained Multiplayer Combat” gameplay.
- Functional Souljades
Newly added Souljades with functionality, i.e., change weapons animation, items effects, characters’ movements, etc.

• General Updates:

We have also added some new features that players will experience in this Beta.
- Quest Scrolls
Give players various Quests that grant them a large number of Dark Tide Coins after completion
- Talents System
Variants of Skills and Ultimates that offer players flexible battle styles.
- New Mode - Proving Grounds
Players can train their combat ability with an AI bot, with access to all items & Souljades.
- Tidal Crates
- Referee & Spectator mode in Custom Matches
- 3D Home Page

Optimization

• Weapon Designs:

NARAKA is unique for its combination of both melee and ranged weapons; hence achieving an effective balance between the two remains a top priority.
- Melee Weapons
Balanced Damage & other stats of all melee weapons.
Improved animations of the Longsword and Katana
- Ranged weapons
Decreased damage ratio for headshots
Decrease weapon’s damage dealt if the target distance is too close or too far.
Flamebringer and Swarm are now only available for purchase at the Rift Dealer
Targets in the center of the explosive area will receive 100% of the damage dealt, while others will only receive a part of it.

• Grappling Hooks

The flexible grappling hooks offer players unbounded movement possibilities; hence its performance is especially important.
- Enhanced the fluidity of grappling hooks’ animation.

• General Updates:

Based on the feedback from the previous Closed Beta, we have made the following general optimization changes.
- Optimized Map Settings
Enriched the map environment and its visual performance.
Adjusted the distribution of loot.
- Fully Upgraded Tutorial
- Sound effects
Improved both weapons and environments in-game sound effects
- Spawn-Location
Allow players to spawn in the same location as enemies before that location reaches its capacity. Players could also invite teammates to spawn at the same location.

- Matchmaking System
- Improved AI Bots performance
- Upgraded In-Game Notifications & Kill Leader Announcements
- New Spawning Animation
- Refined Survival Modes Settlement Page
- New In-game Achievement Badges

Patch 0.9.0 is now available on our test branch! As with many of our previous patches, I've decided to release this patch on a separate branch that you must opt-into before you can download it.

Please expect some bugs and crashes associated with this patch today. I will update the game pretty aggressively over the next few days to fix any issues that come up. With that said, if you feel like some hiccups might frustrate you, I suggest you wait until this patch is released to the main branch before playing it.

In order to download the patch, please do the following:

1) Make a backup of your save folder. You'll find it in C:\\Users\\YOUR_USERNAME\\AppData\\Local\\SiralimUltimate. Save the entire "save" folder somewhere else on your computer. Please do not skip this step.

2) In your Steam Library, right-click Siralim Ultimate, go to Properties, then the "BETAS" tab. Enter the code "falsegodsandguilds". Click the "check code" button and then you should be able to select "test" from the list of betas in the dropdown menu.

3) The patch should download automatically now. If not, restart Steam.

Unless some major issues appear, I will move this patch to the main branch in a day or two. Also, please note that this test is only for Windows; I'll release a Linux version when we're ready to send the patch to the main branch.

Please let me know on our support board if you run into any issues!

___________________________________________

- IMPORTANT: The game now runs on GMS 2.3.2, an updated version of the game engine. You shouldn't notice any major changes from this upgrade, but it could introduce new bugs and crashes to the game that weren't there before. Please let me know if you come across anything weird.
- IMPORTANT: Several perks and traits have been rebalanced. You'll find all the changes at the bottom of these patch notes. If one of your specialization's perks had their maximum number of ranks adjusted, you should reset your perks at the Wardrobe in your castle to ensure you have the correct number of ranks. Please note that this balance pass focused more on specializations than anything else - I'll take a closer look at traits and spells in a future patch.
- IMPORTANT: A significant amount of backer content was added in this patch. However, we are far from finished with all backer content.
- ADD: Guilds of Rodia. After you defeat each Nether Boss twice, you'll be able to take on 5 new Projects that allow you to unlock Guilds. There's one for each class. You can take on Bounties to hunt for False Gods and earn reputation with these guilds to unlock new creatures, spells, and decorations. More features will be added to Guilds in a future patch.
- ADD: False Gods. After you unlock one or more Guilds of Rodia, you can take on Bounties which allow you to hunt down False Gods - large, powerful bosses that comprise some of the most challenging content in the game. After you take on a Bounty, you'll be asked to travel to a certain Realm Depth. In that realm, you must defeat enemies until the False God appears to challenge you. After you defeat an enemy, you'll be able to choose from 1 of 3 runes that either power up your creatures or make the False God more powerful (but also more rewarding). If you manage to defeat a False God, you'll earn reputation with a guild, new spells, and your choice of an Anointment.
- ADD: Anointments. After you defeat a False God, you'll be presented with a list of Anointments, and you can choose one to keep. The more challenging the False God was (based on the runes you selected and your Realm Instability), the more Anointments you'll be able to choose from. Anointments allow you to equip and utilize a perk from a different specialization. You can have up to 5 Anointments equipped at a time.
- ADD: New specialization: Royal. Authority is passed down through generations, but true power must be earned. A master of all professions, the Royal possesses the unique ability to combine the powers of other specializations at will. This specialization can only be unlocked after you've unlocked all the other 29 specializations in the game. Royals do not have perks of their own, but instead can combine 15 Anointments from any of the specializations to create their own, unique specialization.
- ADD: New specialization: Dreamshade. Dreamshades blur the line between dreams and reality. This mystical magi is adept at redirecting his foes' efforts for his own benefit. This specialization cannot be chosen at the start of the game and must be unlocked via a Project instead.
- ADD: New specialization: Siegemaster. The Siegemaster is a stalwart protector who amplifies the defenses of his creatures to keep them strong in battle. This backer-designed specialization cannot be chosen at the start of the game and must be unlocked via a Project instead.
- ADD: New specialization: Windrunner. Windrunners are vigilant sentinels who imbue their creatures with unmatched speed and vigor, allowing them to move so quickly that their opponents can't ever catch them. This backer-designed specialization cannot be chosen at the start of the game and must be unlocked via a Project instead.
- ADD: New specialization: Witch Doctor. Witch Doctors are spiritual warriors who cast deadly hexes and curses on their enemies, forcing them to fight against each other. This backer-designed specialization cannot be chosen at the start of the game and must be unlocked via a Project instead.
- ADD: 2 new projects that allow you to increase the number of specializations you can use to fill the Goblet of Trials. You need to unlock the Goblet of Trials and 2 or 3 specializations (respectively) to begin each project.
- ADD: Search function for the Spells and Traits reference lists in the Codex. For example, you can filter out any spells that don't contain the word "poison".
- ADD: Once you gain enough Mana to summon a creature, a yellow exclamation mark (!) will appear next to its name in the summoning interface and bestiary to show that it's new.
- ADD: New sorting option for the summoning interface and bestiary to go along with the addition mentioned above: "New".
- ADD: Audio option: Menu SFX. This allows you to disable the menu scrolling, confirmation, and cancel sound effects while in menus.
- ADD: Gameplay option: Hide Values of Zero. This allows you to hide battle text that contains a value of 0, such as 0 damage or 0 intelligence gained from an effect.
- ADD: Gameplay option: Battle Animations. This allows you to disable attack and spell animations.
- ADD: Bestiary now tells you where most creatures in the game can be found (realm, shop, etc).
- ADD: Perk descriptions now include descriptions of relevant buffs, debuffs, minions, and spells.
- ADD: Trick Material descriptions now include a description of what its property does.
- ADD: Artifact socketing interface now includes a description of what each Trick Material does.
- ADD: If you're using a gamepad, gamepad icons will now be used instead of keyboard icons to show controls in the user interface.
- ADD: Creatures that don't have obtainable cards now show a unique symbol in the Bestiary.
- ADD: New debuff that is used exclusively by the new Dreamshade specialization: Inverted. Inverted creatures heal instead of dealing damage, and deal damage instead of healing. This debuff is removed after enough damage or healing has been done to offset its potency.
- ADD: 65 new creatures.
- ADD: 65 new trait materials.
- ADD: 100 new spells, 50 of which can be obtained by defeating False Gods and the other 50 can be obtained by gaining reputation with guilds.
- ADD: 220 new decorations, 69 of which were designed by backers.
- ADD: 54 new skins, 5 of which were designed by backers.
- ADD: 26 new costumes, 11 of which were designed by backers.
- ADD: 220 new achievements.
- ADD: 100 new Steam achievements that are awarded based on the amount of in-game Achievement Points you've earned.
- ADD: 1 new Prophecy.
- ADD: The game version number is now displayed in the options menu.
- ADD: More backer names have been added to the Tome of Credits.
- ADD: More backer NPCs have been added.
- ADD: New tutorial popup that explains the concept of all events in battle happening at the same time.
- ADD: New tutorial popup that explains what Fortune does.
- ADD: Your current Fame Rank is now displayed when interacting with the arena decoration.
- ADD: Confirmation menu to reset castle decorations.
- ADD: Codex entry for "Guilds and False Gods".
- ADD: New section to the "Spell Gems" Codex: "Ethereal Gems".
- ADD: New menus under the "Character" category: Anointments, Guild Reputation, and Bounties.
- ADD: Map now shows how many enemies remain in the current realm.
- CHANGE: Major adjustments to the game's story dialog.
- CHANGE: Changed the order of some start-of-battle effects: traits are now granted first, and then classes/races are changed. Previously, it worked in the opposite order. This turned out to cause major balance issues. The Codex has also been updated to reflect this change more clearly.
- CHANGE: If too much floating battle text is displayed during the same turn while Turbo Mode is enabled, it will progressively speed up the rate at which these messages are cleared.
- CHANGE: Relic stats now scale to their owner's stats in battle. They should be much more useful now.
- CHANGE: Enemies at low realm depths now have a lower chance to dodge attacks. This should make the start of the game less frustrating for certain specializations.
- CHANGE: Creatures can now manually cast Dark Ritual, Death Siphon, Reincarnation, and Sudden Death on themselves.
- CHANGE: Dark Ritual, Death Siphon, and Sudden Death spells can no longer be generated through random spell effects in battle.
- CHANGE: Creatures can only be moved on the Timeline once per turn. This change won't be noticeable to most people, but it should prevent infinite loops that some players were experiencing with certain traits.
- CHANGE: Rebalanced the amount of Health enemies have in all irregular battles (mini bosses, mimic, nether bosses, etc).
- CHANGE: Rodian Creature Masters have more health based on how many times you've defeated them.
- CHANGE: Re-rolling the Goblet of Trials no longer increases the amount of resources it costs to do so again.
- CHANGE: Improved the readability of the Goblet of Trials interface.
- CHANGE: Paladin, Druid, Tribalist, and Trickster specializations have been replaced with Bloodmage, Pyromancer, Warden, and Witch Doctor as starting specializations. Note that you can still unlock any of these specializations early on in the game.
- CHANGE: "Hunt" missions now always give the highest tier of Knowledge pages (100 Knowledge per page). Also slightly decreased the average amount of pages you'll receive. The net result of this change is that you'll receive slightly more knowledge than before, and the amount of knowledge gained will be far more consistent than before.
- CHANGE: Players will now be asked to complete Assassination missions for Prophecies a bit later in the game to ensure they're more likely to have at least a few Rank S knowledge creatures available.
- CHANGE: Reduced the number of scriptures required to complete "Pilgrimage" missions from 12 to 10.
- CHANGE: Reduced the number of times you need to play dwarf mini-games for prophecies from 1-3, down from 3-5. This change is not retroactive, so you won't see this change until you receive a new Rune of Prophecies.
- CHANGE: Prophecy that asks you to gain a favor rank with the gods has been replaced with a new prophecy that asks you to gain a certain amount of favor points instead. This change is not retroactive, so you won't see this new prophecy until you receive a new Rune of Prophecies.
- CHANGE: "Reflect Damage Taken" realm property now caps reflected damage at 100% of the enemy's maximum health.
- CHANGE: Significantly increased the amount of treasure received from completing Prophecies.
- CHANGE: After dying in the Infinite Arena, different text is now displayed which also includes your win streak.
- CHANGE: Mimics can now spawn starting at realm depth 10. Previously, it was at 2.
- CHANGE: Reduced the cost to enter the arena from 10000 crystal to 5000.
- CHANGE: Codex now explains what the red/green arrows mean next to a creature's stats (personality modifiers).
- CHANGE: Several improvements were made to perk descriptions to make their effects more clear.
- CHANGE: Creatures' turn counts are now increased at the start of their turn rather than at the end.
- CHANGE: Spell Gems no longer receive a penalty to their potency when they're Ethereal.
- CHANGE: Enemies can no longer spawn with the "Inner Destruction" spell.
- CHANGE: Divination Candle will now attempt to spawn enemies close to the player.
- CHANGE: Everett now gives the player 10,000 Essence after the Fusion Station is unlocked to allow players to fuse some creatures earlier on in the game.
- CHANGE: The Court Jester and his associated project has been removed from the game. You can still find his costumes via loot. His associated achievement will be replaced with something else in a future patch.
- CHANGE: Nethermancer Ned's shop now sells skins for only 1 Brimstone, down from 100,000. He now sells materials for 25,000 Brimstone, down from 100,000.
- CHANGE: If battles drag on for a very, very, very long time and the game believes you're stuck in an infinite loop, your creatures will be killed instantly. This should prevent soft-locks from occurring.
- CHANGE: Effects that equate to "The first time your creatures are killed in battle, they resurrect" are now prioritized over all other on-death resurrections effects.
- CHANGE: "Chaos Orbs" spell has been renamed to "Chaos Spheres".
- CHANGE: Master of Grimoires' creatures now spawn with minion-summoning spells so their traits work correctly.
- CHANGE: Most buff, debuff, and minion icons have been adjusted for better readability.
- CHANGE: Most specialization project items have new/improved art, and many have new names as well.
- CHANGE: Most specializations have new or improved icons.
- CHANGE: "Decoration Mode" menu option has been moved to the bottom of the main menu (above "Save Game").
- CHANGE: Truncated numbers no longer show anything past the decimal. This should improve readability.
- CHANGE: A creature's base stats are now determined after start-of-battle stat gains/losses are calculated. This will most likely not be a noticeable change for most people, but it was done to help balance some of the new specialization perks that were added in this patch.
- CHANGE: Major performance improvements and optimizations.
- FIX: Several effects that were only supposed to increase Maximum Health also increased Current Health.
- FIX: Several cases where the "Life After Death" perk didn't work.
- FIX: "Pact of the Gods" perk didn't work.
- FIX: "Empowered Soul Sacrifice" trait worked on dead creatures.
- FIX: Indirect sources of the Burned and Poison debuffs caused their potency to be 60% higher than intended.
- FIX: "Eldritch Strike" trait worked on all spells, not just Fireball.
- FIX: "The Truth" allowed duplicate traits despite claiming it didn't.
- FIX: "Book of the Elder" trait could sometimes erase properties from a permanent spell gem.
- FIX: "Eve" trait caused an incredible amount of bugs related to spell gems.
- FIX: Parry, Viper's Mind, and Psychic Barrier traits didn't always work.
- FIX: "Graceful Spirits" perk didn't work.
- FIX: Traits and other effects that were supposed to make a certain buff or debuff last forever didn't work.
- FIX: Burned, Poison, and Bomb debuffs that were received from an indirect source (perks, etc) were sometimes far more powerful than intended.
- FIX: Nemesis affix "Champion" prevented the champion creature from gaining buffs or minions.
- FIX: Vulcanar's Gate of the Gods trait didn't work.
- FIX: "Periphery" trait didn't apply to attacks made on your own creatures.
- FIX: Casting "Evolution" (spell) on your Herbling allowed it to evolve beyond tier 6.
- FIX: It was possible to not get any rewards from slot machines if you spammed the confirm key too much.
- FIX: Crash when attempting to skin or unskin a creature when you didn't have any creatures in your party.
- FIX: "Rough Recovery" trait didn't work.
- FIX: "Tumble" trait worked on non-cascading spell gems.
- FIX: Display issue that caused some creatures in the bestiary to show you had Rank E knowledge instead of Rank F.
- FIX: Crash related to the Xyrxzy's Subversion trait.
- FIX: "Temperance" trait calculated stats incorrectly, resulting in much higher stats than intended.
- FIX: Several cases where effects that copied spell gems also copied the gems' properties.
- FIX: "Phantasm" trait didn't grant as much damage as its description claimed.
- FIX: Healing and resurrection floating battle text would sometimes not appear.
- FIX: After a creature is sent to the top of the Timeline, the creature whose turn it is will now be sent to the bottom of the Timeline.
- FIX: "Jinx" spell didn't deal any damage.
- FIX: Crash related to "Army of the Damned" perk.
- FIX: Master of Apises used Apis Protectors even though their traits gave them debuff resistance already.
- FIX: Customizable NPCs and Creatures could sometimes move outside the bounds of the castle on their own.
- FIX: "Phobos' Grip" trait only worked for the creature that had the trait.
- FIX: "The Barrens Oasis" decoration had the wrong sprite.
- FIX: "Halloween Rug" decoration had the wrong sprite.
- FIX: It was possible for creatures to obtain a dummy trait that should have been inaccessible.
- FIX: Crash related to "Awakened Nether Orbs" spell.
- FIX: "Master of Shades" trait didn't work.
- FIX: Several creatures couldn't be chosen for Assassination missions.
- FIX: Achievement that counts number of resurrections sometimes counted incorrectly.
- FIX: It was possible to crash the game if you tried to create a casting macro before receiving your first spell gem.
- FIX: Knowledge tutorial panel told you to go to the "Knowledge" menu to view information about it, but it should have said "Bestiary".
- FIX: Music, Wall, Floor, and Background decorations showed the wrong category name in the loot window.
- FIX: Wrong Codex icon was used for Realm Properties.
- FIX: Several cases where creautres should have been immune to debuffs but weren't.
- FIX: Your creatures could be immune to boss' debuffs in some cases.
- FIX: Scylla and Charybdis had their sprites swapped. This includes their skins as well.
- FIX: "Division of Morality" trait description was worded incorrectly.
- FIX: "Sanguine Fortitude" perk had the wrong icon.
- FIX: "Master of Dumplings" trait didn't work on dumplings that didn't have skins.
- FIX: Several typos in perk descriptions related to the % symbol.
- FIX: Several cases where no floating battle text was displayed when 0 damage was dealt.
- FIX: Several cases where battle text wasn't added to the battle history log if you had miscellaneous battle text disabled.
- FIX: "Master of Demigods" trait didn't work correctly.
- FIX: Under certain conditions, you could talk to your creatures in the Menagerie even while outside of the Menagerie.
- FIX: Display issue related to the "Temple Jewel" decoration.
- FIX: It was possible to find Nether Realms that spawn favor candles before you met the god of that realm.
- FIX: Enemies benefited from the "Cusp" perk.
- FIX: All three tiers of Chroma's nether boss trait only protected Chroma, not its allies.
- FIX: Display issue with "The Old Witch" painting.
- FIX: Some perks didn't take effect immediately, such as increased spell gem count.
- FIX: Shop sorting inconsistencies.
- FIX: Rare crash related to notifications.
- FIX: "Meaningless Mind" trait prevented all stat gains, not just the first time.
- FIX: If you remapped your in-game keyboard controls, it could sometimes cause issues with gamepads.
- FIX: "Apprenticeship" trait description incorrectly claimed that it didn't work for the creature that had this trait.
- FIX: Crash related to Colorwave (Nature) spell.
- FIX: "Closure" trait activated at the end of each creature's turn.
- FIX: "Justice For None" trait didn't work.
- FIX: "Limitless" and "Simulation" traits didn't interact with each other as expected.
- FIX: Customizable NPCs, creatures, and other NPCs always turned south when a menu was open.
- FIX: Shops showed the wrong amount of materials you owned.
- FIX: Interacting with multiple stacked decorations in your castle didn't work correctly.
- FIX: God altars could very rarely spawn in a way that could block you into a corridor.
- FIX: "Relish In Blood" perk description was incorrect - it should only work based on missing health.
- FIX: "Cyclone Strike" spell did more damage than intended.
- FIX: "Horde" trait benefited enemies.
- FIX: Aurum's relic that changed your creatures' classes had the incorrect priority and should now correctly activate before effects that grant traits.
- FIX: "Blend" trait had a problem similar to the issue with Aurum's relic mentioned above.
- FIX: Lister's allies could resurrect themselves after the fight ended, resulting in the player being forced to forfeit.
- FIX: Floor tiles could sometimes have the wrong size when placing them in your castle.
- FIX: Effects that granted creatures an extra turn didn't count them as extra turns for the purpose of calculating Reaver perks, Apocalypse traits, etc.
- FIX: "Skyttels" trait caused gems to lose their properties temporarily.
- FIX: Gods could sometimes be fused when fighting them at the Gate of the Gods.
- FIX: "The Competent Purgatorian" achievements were duplicated - the duplicated set has been replaced with Witch Doctor achievements instead.
- FIX: "Ransack" trait could sometimes cause Spell Gems to be deleted.
- FIX: Imp Sacrificer had the wrong associated trait material.
- FIX: "Book of the Lost" trait ignored ethereal gems and gems without any charges.
- FIX: If you had multiple creatures with the "Righteous Concession" trait in your party, only one of them worked.
- FIX: Cerberus traits prevented automatic casting in addition to manual casting.
- FIX: Wild Arena Rule that caused creatures to all belong to the same race made all 5 arena opponents use the same race.
- FIX: Color display issues in the Godforge interface.
- FIX: "Rupture" spell did far more damage than intended.
- FIX: "Torn Between Scylla and Charybdis" trait didn't work.
- FIX: "Ultimate Arsenal" achievement unlocked simply by equipping the same relic to all the creatures in your party.
- FIX: Display/overlap issues related to geysers in Bastion of the Void and Titan's Wound.
- FIX: Master of Cockatrices no longer converts its Griffons into Cockatrices as this made them useless.
- FIX: "Efficiency" perk wasn't compatible with certain traits such as "Master of Occultists".
- FIX: Several traits that needed to work outside of combat (example: Proof Is In The Pudding) didn't work at all.
- FIX: "Flourish" perk cast Shellbust on a random target but it should have cast it on the defender.
- FIX: "Desensitization" perk had a 3% chance to grant debuff immunity for no reason.
- FIX: "Group Therapy" trait caused far too much healing.
- FIX: Crash related to the "Heartrage" trait.
- FIX: Waspid Slicer had its old overworld sprite.
- FIX: "Resolve" trait worked on buffs.
- FIX: Crash if you entered a single space as a mailbox code.
- FIX: Some stat scrolls had the wrong icons.
- FIX: "Admire the Gods" trait didn't always mitigate the correct amount of damage.
- FIX: "Buffet" trait didn't work for the creature that had the trait.
- FIX: "Bounce" trait didn't work the way its description implied.
- FIX: Hidden realm properties are no longer randomized when you re-roll your properties at the teleportation shrine.



- Battle From Within: damage is now based on missing health, and increased the amount from 15% to 25%.
- Big Boned: decreased health bonus from 50% to 35%.
- Book of the Lost: now has a 40% chance to activate, down from 100%.
- Brothel: reworked - At the start of battle, your other creatures with the same class as this creature share their innate trait with the creatures adjacent to them. This trait does not stack.
- Carnal Genesis: now has a 10% chance to activate, down from 30%.
- Chrysaor's Ambition: reworked - After this creature attacks, it gives a random ally 2 random buffs.
- Closure: now only increases maximum health. Increased amount from 25% to 35%.
- Darkness Surrounding: decreased health bonus from 250% to 125%.
- Deadly Instincts: now works based on current health instead of maximum health.
- Detonation: decreased damage from 50% to 25%.
- Diabolic Link: no longer has a damage penalty. Now decreases Maximum Health by 75%.
- Final Excretion: now only casts Corpse Explosion once.
- Division of Morality: now only works with attacks and spells.
- Hate And Other Triumphs: no longer works in boss battles.
- Ianne's Eccentricity: the 100 damage dealt by this trait is no longer mitigated by Defense.
- Incandescence: decreased health bonus from 150% to 100%.
- Kindness: reworked. At the start of this creature's turn, your other creatures gain Attack, Intelligence, Defense, and Speed equal to 5% of this creature's respective stats.
- Long Live: reworked - This creature takes 1% less damage from attacks for every 1% Health it is missing.
- Lust: now works on a maximum of 3 spell gems.
- Master of Kolosses: decreased amount of health from 30% to 20%.
- Monster Crown: decreased stats gained from 30% to 20%.
- Overcome: reworked - After this creature attacks, its Artifact's Spell Slot has an independent 35% chance to activate.
- Piercing Focus: reworked - This creature's attacks ignore 1% of the target's Defense for every 1% Health this creature is missing.
- Resolve: reduced damage reduction from 65% to 50%. Reduced health threshold from 70% to 50%.
- Reticence: reworked - Enemies gain 35% less benefit from their Artifacts' Stat Slots (other than Health). This trait does not stack.
- Spiral Ward: reworked - This creature takes 1% less damage from spells for every 1% Health it is missing.
- Touched By The Gods: reworked - Your creatures' "Chance to Cast Twice" Spell Gem properties now activate 1 additional time.
- Woe: decreased damage from 50% to 30% of maximum health.



Animator:
- Death and Decay: now only casts Corpse Explosion once, and this spell now deals 50% more damage for each dead enemy.
- Desensitization: now makes the Animatus immune to debuffs in normal battles instead of resistant to them.

Astrologer:
- Cusp: now requires 3 debuffs, up from 1.
- New Moon: now also includes the following effect: The number of buffs required for this perk to activate increases by 1 each time it activates.
- Stars Align: now has an effect in non-normal battles as well - attacks deal 100% more damage.

Bloodmage:
- Blood Clot: reduced Barrier potency from 3% to 2% per rank and increased the maximum number of ranks from 20 to 25.
- Bloodrage: reworked - Your creatures' damage with attacks is based on 50% of their Maximum Health instead of their Attack.
- Bloodthirst: reworked - The potency of your creatures' spells is based on 50% of their Maximum Health instead of their Intelligence.
- Endless Slaughter: increased amount of Health required for each additional attack/cast from 15% to 20%.
- March Toward Death: decreased the amount of Health added to damage from 100% to 50%. This perk now only works with attacks and spells.
- Transfusion: now only grants Maximum Health, not Current Health.
- Voracity: decreased damage from 3% to 2% per rank. This perk now only works with attacks and spells and is based on Current Health instead of Maximum Health.

Cabalist:
- Quickdraw: increased chance from 2% to 5% per rank.
- Spellweaver: renamed to Flow of Magic.

Defiler
- Lingering Sickness: now causes enemies' debuffs to last forever.
- Nighttaker: now has a maximum of 90% damage reduction.

Doombringer
- Detainment: reworked. Your creatures take 5% less damage (up to 90%) for each time their on-defend and on-provoke effects activated in the current battle.
- Derogation: renamed to Domination and reworked. Your creatures have a 3% chance to avoid damage (up to 50%) for each time their on-buff, on-debuff, and on-minion effects activated in the current battle.
- Recklessness: reworked. Your creatures have an independent 5% chance to deal critical damage and dodge attacks for each time their on-critical and on-dodge effects activated in the current battle.
- Siegebreaker: reworked. Your creatures deal 10% more damage for each time their on-attack effects activated in the current battle.
- Soul Rending: reworked. When your creatures are killed, they have a 5% chance (up to 50%) to be resurrected with 50% Health for each time their on-heal, on-death, and on-resurrect effects activated in the current battle.

Druid
- Disengagement: increased chance from 7% to 10%.
- Guerilla Tactics: increased chance from 7% to 10%.
- Killer Instinct: increased chance from 7% to 10%.

Evoker
- Arcane Fortitude: increased damage reduction from 1% to 2% per rank. Now has a cap of 90% damage reduction.
- Arcane Power: increased damage from 1% to 2% per rank.

Inquisitor
- Admonish: now also decreases enemy Sorcery creatures' Intelligence by 30%.
- Berate: now also decreases enemy Life creatures' Maximum Health by 30%.
- Castigate: now also decreases enemy Chaos creatures' Attack by 30%.
- Condemn: now also decreases enemy Death creatures' Defense by 30%.
- Contrition: increased chance from 2% to 4% per rank.
- Defy Evil: increased amount of defense penetration from 1% to 2% per rank.
- Heresy: reworked - When your creatures deal damage with an attack or spell, they deal 30% more damage for each debuff and Sealed Spell Gem the enemy has.
- Judgment: increased chance from 2% to 4% per rank.
- Rebuke: now also decreases enemy Nature creatures' Speed by 30%.
- Shining Force: reworked - At the start of battle, your creatures gain Rebirth.

Monk
- Blurred Strikes: increased chance to activate from 1% to 2% per rank.
- Dampen Harm: chance is no longer tied to Serenity perk. "When your creatures would receive fatal damage, they have a chance to prevent that damage equal to their chance to dodge."
- Good Karma: now also includes the effect "Your creatures always have Agile."
- Spiritual Attunement: chance is no longer tied to Serenity perk. "When your creatures take indirect damage, they have a {1}% chance to prevent that damage."

Reaver
- Onslaught: if you're not in a realm, this perk acts as if you've won 8 battles, up from 5.

Rune Knight:
- Ruse: now grants your Rune gems the "Defense Penetration" property instead of "Cast On Attack".

Sorcerer:
- Calcify: increased chance from 3% per rank to 5% and changed the maximum number of ranks to 10.
- Perplex: increased the maximum number of ranks to 25.
- Unity: increased damage from 1% to 2% per rank.

Spellweaver:
- Prismatic Barrier: revamped. While you have at least 1 Infusion that matches your creatures' classes, those creatures are resistant to debuffs.

Trickster
- Feint: increased chance from 2% to 4% per rank.
- Hidden Hand: increased the maximum number of ranks from 10 to 15.
- Subterfuge: increased amount of defense penetration from 1% to 2% per rank.
- Whetbone: reworked - Your creatures always have Proficient.

Warden
- Grove Ward: now activates when your creatures lose stats instead of gain them.

Howdy Folks!

I had originally planned for Update 29 to focus on additional options when starting a new game as well as training equipment for colonists. While this content is still in development I got a bit side tracked with various other tweaks, changes and fixes. Let’s take a look at what I’ve been doing.




A new copy paste feature is being added that will allow you to copy settings from one object to another. This includes the ability to copy storage container filters, crop settings and lighting.

I’ve dug into the mouse drag selection code to make selection more consistent and improve performance. Visuals related to object selection has been updated including area highlighting during mouse drag, selection visuals and more.



When selecting objects for deconstruction, mining or harvesting the selection graphics are now colored separately to make it more obvious which mode you are in.

Stasis capsules can no longer be selected for deconstruction if their is an occupant.




Colonists and vehicles now have a new selection circle. This should improve the user experience, especially on the planet map where vehicles can be hard to spot even when selected.

A big complaint has been the inability to move the camera using the mouse without it snapping back to a selected colonist or vehicle. This was an oversight on my part as this already worked correctly when using the keyboard to move the camera. This has now been fixed.

Many other minor changes and improvements have been added or are being worked on. I plan to release this update next week on the experimental branch.

Thanks for all the support, feedback and bug reports. Hope everyone has a great weekend! 🙂

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S.W.A.N.: Chernobyl Unexplored release date is getting closer and closer.
Your Institute admission date is the 26th of April.

In just 3 days you'll be able to cross the threshold of the S.W.A.N. facility, discover the place kept secret by USSR authorities, and experience the incident that history books remained silent about.
The 35th anniversary of the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster would be a perfect day for a little Zone trip.

S.W.A.N.: Chernobyl Unexplored will go live at 4:00 PM UTC.
Be ready...

Trial #21's winner is... *drum roll* Sperbs! Absolutely SUPERB time, literally getting the #1 with a STRONG lead and using the gamepad no less! Looks like the new sensitivity sliders have truly equaled the playing field between gamepad vs mouse & keyboard!

This means Trial #22 is now up and the next portrait can be won by ANYONE!
(Disclaimer: If the winner won previously, the next entry will be the winner for the portrait instead!)

Trial #22 features some deep snow, odd balls, plenty of shortcuts and some slippery slopes! Wowza that's a lot! Good luck out there!!

PS: We might drop one more small patch next week that will include a few more fixes/polish as well as a few new settings like GUI sliders, freezeframe toggles, dribble options and more.

Hi everybody!

The past month was very fruitful. We can give you the revamped Rage mode, new obstacles, health pack vending machines, and many other things.

Let’s take a closer look at each.

The Rage Mode

It’s not new, it has existed in the game for a long while. However weird it may sound, there was not enough rage in it. We tweaked it a bit, and the effect was astonishing: for a short period, the Rage kicks in, making the characters so strong that enemies simply blow up. Three marks on the Rage scale restore over time. The rest of it must earned in combat or found elsewhere.





New Obstacles

There are doors that can let you in but won’t let you out! But once you switch them off, you can freely enter and exit through them as you please.



Health Pack Machines
You spend hit points to mine resources from monsters. Now you can spend resources to restore hit points. This is the natural resource cycle.



Locations

New cool screenshots of the ongoing Presses locations development.







Bear in mind that fast reaction, quick decision-making, precision and accuracy in characters control are the main survival factors on ARK!



We’ll see you soon!