Update log
Full Gastova: The Witches of Arkana update
The complete published notes, normalized for clean reading and source attribution.
Extracted changes
- Gameplay
- Compatibility
- Balance
Hello Everyone!
We're here once more. A couple of months ago we made an update to tell you of more news about the game. Now, let's start with a few things of notice:
Regarding our original plan of sharing news and updates in mid to late November, we're significantly delayed in delivering that commitment and that is entirely on us, but we actually do have way more things to divulge now thanks to the delay.
The control scheme survey release also got delayed. We will likely postpone it until after we can have everyone test the new default scheme via the upcoming update and in order to have accurate feedbacks due to the myriad of gameplay changes.
For all the constant delays, please allow us to offer once again, our sincerest apologies.
Release of Endgame Patch Date Changes
A couple of weeks ago we were presented with a rather difficult choice. Continue with the already divulged plans of releasing the game on January 6th, or do what we believe to be the best thing for the game and postpone the update once more.
If we released the game as is in the coming weeks, there is a chance some things wouldn't work as we intend it, and we feel like that would be a massive letdown. For that purpose, we're going to suspend the EA patch release for now. The only thing we can say at this point now is that we're working hard and trying our best, and we hope this update will help reassure our players of that, even if only partially.
For now we are unsure what the next best release date would be. We'll do our best to give another heads up as soon as we are firmly in just beta testing territory. We apologize for the disappointing news.
Game Progress: The Overhauls
Now, let us move on to slightly more positive news! We believe it's time to discuss what has been happening to the game behind the scenes and what really changes with the upcoming update. Here we go!
Game Difficulty Rebalance
We have been working to make sure that enemies and bosses would have a more balanced approach as far as damage and placement goes. Our primary objective is to make sure that the easy and normal modes are enjoyable to casual and regular players, while the hard mode would be truly hellish.
The first thing that will contribute to that effect would be to rework the math behind the enemies and their elemental resistances. We're also tweaking and testing the staves to make sure the difficulty is proportionate, but that will also depend on Gastova herself (more about Gastova below).
New Mechanic: Enemy Enchantments
This is a Hard Mode exclusive mechanic. We decided that the enemies are not giving the players enough of a hard time in that mode, so why not make it more chaotic?
This system will place a random elemental enchantment on almost every regular enemy in the game. Depending on the element of the enchantment, the enemy will receive an extra ability that'll make them far more threatening than their regular counterparts.
They will also look different thanks to a visual effect that will be placed on them. Here are the visuals of the enchantments!
Overhaul of Character and Element Progression
In our current build, the game's progression system is based off of collecting money and material drops from enemies and utilizing those currencies in the shop to buy upgrades. The problem with this system is
Source