v1.1 Combat Patch

I am pleased to present a major update to the combat system in Dead Ink. Based on a careful reading of all feedback, this update provides better tools and more options to avoid taking damage. This includes significant improvements in responsiveness and fluidity, a reworked parry system, as well as boss rebalancing. Check out the trailer:

A faster starting weapon

The Sword is faster and more responsive, with a three-move combo as the primary attack. The faster timings make for a precision tool, letting you better exploit windows of vulnerability and expose yourself less. To balance this the damage per hit is lower. Some of the other weapons have been tweaked too.

Quicker rolling and repairs

The new roll has almost no warm-up time, allowing you to just get out of the way when needed. Repairs are also significantly faster to perform allowing for mid-fight heals.

Poise and stunning

When you deal an enemy more than half its health bar in damage, you will stun it. When performing a heavy attack from behind, the enemy will no longer be able to spin around quickly and retaliate.

Reworked parry & riposte system

Greater emphasis is placed on the parry and riposte system in this version. Telegraphing of incoming attacks is now clearer and more consistent, and parry windows are bigger. To balance this, not all attacks are parryable, and those that are not are highlighted in red (thrusts, overhead attacks). Parried enemies vulnerable to riposte are also highlighted.

A fixed camera mode

Enabling this mode prevents the camera from auto-rotating when locked on, but you can still spin the camera manually. This is intended for those who had issues with motion sickness or vertigo due to the camera motion. In another quality of life improvement, there is also now a "last chance" warning system, which warns when you are in danger of running out of ink, allowing you to plan to avoid permadeath.

Armed with the new set of combat tools described above, increased starting ink, and a rebalancing of bosses, I hope many of you will be able to experience all that the tower has to offer. Thank you to everyone who gave feedback and I hope you enjoy the new combat in Dead Ink.

Cheers, Ben

v1.1 Full patchnotes

reworked primary weapon:

• faster attacks

• primary attack consists of a 3 move combo

• minimal wind up animation

• lower damage per swing

parry overhaul:

• new parry animation and timings

• larger parry windows on all enemies

• clearer and universally consistent telegraphs

• can parry without shield

• some attacks are unparryable, highlighted in red

poise and stagger:

• new poise and stagger system

• poise set to 50% of max HP for both enemies and player (zeroing poise causes stagger)

other combat adjustments:

• quicker roll

• quicker repairs, so it can now be used during a fight

• shielded enemies don't hide for so long

• recovering lost ink restores full health

• Cloudgazer boss rebalancing

• Keeper of Keys boss rebalancing

• Foundation Steward boss rebalancing

quality of life:

• added a "last chance" warning system for running out of ink and reaching a gameover state

• added the option to disable camera autorotate when locked on, to help those experiencing motion sickness / vertigo

• reduction of post-death cooldown timer

tower changes:

• new floor in the tutorial area for parrying

• more early game enemies

• more starting ink

item changes:

• Fighting Chance is now a consumable item, granting buffed damage on the next 10 hits

• Small Key value reduction, Chamber Key, Cloud Key value increase

• Recovery Warrant ink value reduced from 1000 to 250

• Halberd damage output reduced by 15%

cosmetic changes:

• riposte-able enemies become highlighted following a parry

• added more haptic/rumble events: landings, wall hits, weapon swings

• more ink splatter particles

• improved camera impacts: hits, damage, and landings

• more CRT menu effects/sounds

• new camera dynamics when falling, printing out

• improved menu navigation between print job and printer select on controller (use RB / LB to quickly toggle)

• renamed "light attack" and "heavy attack" to: "attack" and "alt. attack"

bugfixes:

• removed a spurious extra floor between the antennae

• increased controller right stick dead zone

• missing music cue in Foundation area