Balance In All Things

If you're the kind of person who would click into this announcement, you might be aware that the Maiden & Spell Discord has been doing a bit of a balance thingamajig.

That has now ended; thanks everyone for your feedback! I think we've gotten the game to a place where it's pretty okay. There are still a few difficult matchups here and there, but characters got some desperately needed buffs and nerfs.

Also, thanks to a very generous member of the Discord (thank you Alec!), the game has been translated into Brazilian Portuguese.

First, patch notes! Then some other things.

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Wide Attack -Number of bullets 22 > 20 -Attack lock 425ms > 550ms -Takes an additional 75ms to gain a hitbox -Added a visual effect to indicate direction of bullets

Basic Attack -Unfocused bullet speed 12 > 10

Wide Attack -Movespeed Mult x.85 > x.75 -Movespeed Mult duration 800ms > 1100ms -Attacklock duration 700ms > 1000ms -Time bullets are active 750ms > 650ms -Range decreased

Stun Wave -Stun time increased 1200ms > 1400ms

Basic Attack -Spell lock decreased by 300ms (previously went from 700ms > 400ms based on charge, now goes from 400ms > 100ms) -Angle now decreases from 90 > 4 (was previously 90 > 10) -Movespeed Mult while casting .3 > .5

Knife Throw -Focused move color adjusted -Focus knives now fan at an angle of 9 degrees between each shot (36 total)

Basic Attack -Hitbox linger time 600ms > 850ms -Spawns 10% faster when focused

Wide Attack -Attack lock reduced by 100ms (before it was 1000ms > 300ms based on charge, now it is 900ms > 200ms) -Spell lock reduced by 100ms (same as attack lock) -Time until hitbox is active is now a flat 500ms (up from 400ms-500ms based on charge)

Offensive Special -Number of bullets on tap 24 > 28 -Attack lock reduced by 100ms (before it was 1000ms > 300ms based on charge, now it is 900ms > 200ms) -Spell lock reduced by 100ms (same as attack lock) -Cooldown reduced 5s > 4.5s -Movespeed mult on tap increased 1.2x > 1.3x

Wide Attack -Spawn delay increases 600ms > 700ms > 800ms with combo (was previously a flat 600ms)

Basic Attack -Speed increased from 3.5 > 3.75 -Rate at which size increases matches speed increase

Time Stop -Cast time reduced 550ms > 475ms

Basic Attack -Bullet speed at maximum charge decreased 6.5 > 4.5

Wide Attack -Order in which bullets appear has been reversed (shallower angle appears first now)

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Now that's out of the way...

How have you all been spending your year so far? I've been working hard on my next game.

...Uh, I know that I said I would be doing extra character costumes for Maiden & Spell in the past but, unfortunately, I'm not sure that's happening anymore. Maybe in the sequel (my next game is not a Maiden & Spell sequel).

If I'm being honest, I've not done a great job of managing my time and priorities this past year. It's caused me to fall behind on a lot of things, the care and maintenance of Maiden & Spell just being one of them.

It's been over a year since I launched Maiden & Spell, and after a number of game prototypes that I threw out, a personal break that went on a bit longer than it should have, and some Switch port troubles, I have only just semi-recently cobbled together a solid direction and plan for the next game.

It's a roguelike! Featuring cute girls. Cute rabbit-y girls. Also the gameplay is pretty unique, if I do say so myself.

I'm not quite ready to show the game to the world. I'll put out an official announcement a bit closer to when it's actually ready to play this time around. Maybe around 6-8 months out from launch or so!

If I've at all piqued your interest, consider joining either my mailing list or the Maiden & Spell Discord . You'll get a notification one way or another (and maybe a sneak preview or two...?). And the Maiden & Spell Discord is still the best place to find a great community and battle people online! In case you need something to pass the time.

Hope to see you again soon!