Patch 3: Onboarding Improvements

🎉 Happy New Year from Northwind!

Hello everyone, and Happy New Year! 🎉

As we step into 2026, I want to sincerely thank all of you for the continued support, feedback, and playtime you’ve given Northwind. It genuinely helps us push the game forward in the right direction.

🎉 New Year Sale – 20% Off

Northwind Northwind is currently 20% off on Steam, running until January 6th. If you’ve been on the fence, now’s a great time to jump in or to recommend the game to a friend who loves roguelite deckbuilders.

🛠️ Latest Update: Onboarding Improvements & Major Rebalancing [LIVE - DEC 28, 2025]

Alongside the sale, we’ve rolled out a large gameplay update focused on two main goals.

Better Onboarding for New Players

• The Perk system is now unlockable, helping reduce information overload early on.

• Added a tutorial warning for Focus cards, reminding players that Focus already grants mana when drawn and may not always be the best play.

Card Rebalancing Overview

This update includes a wide rebalancing across Duelist, Pyrotech, Gems, Gear, and Skills:

• Adjusted power curves, costs, and rarities to smooth progression.

• Reduced overly dominant strategies while buffing underused cards.

• Simplified or clarified several effects to make decisions more intuitive.

• Improved late-game scaling and reduced extreme burst cases.

🔎 Full Balance Patch Notes (English Only)

The update is live for all supported languages.

The following section contains detailed, technical card-by-card balance changes and is written in English only for clarity and accuracy.

⚔️ Duelist Card Rebalancing

Power Surge Rarity: Uncommon → Common Ability:Add 10 attack → Add 12 attack

Power Surge+

Add 13 attack → Add 15 attack

Wind Walk Rarity: Common → Uncommon Power: 9 / 12 / 15 → 8 / 11 / 15 Ability: Skip 2 non-Basic cards → Skip 1 non-Basic card

Wind Walk+ Cost: 2 → 1 Power: 15 / 20 / 27 → 12 / 16 / 20

Lunar Eclipse Power: 9 / 12 / 16 → 11 / 14 / 17

Lunar Eclipse+ Power: 12 / 16 / 20 → 15 / 17 / 20

Training Power: 6 / 8 / 11 → 4 / 7 / 10 Create Focus on draw pile → Create Focus into hand

Training+ Power: 7 / 10 / 14 → 4 / 8 / 12 Create Focus on draw pile → Create Focus into hand

Last Chance Exhaust Energy cards → Exhaust any cards Add 7 attack → Add 8 attack per card

Last Chance+ Power: 10 / 14 / 17 → 12 / 17 / 22 Add 9 attack → Add 10 attack per card

Battle Stance / Battle Stance+ Power standardized to 10 / 12 / 15

Take Control Power: 6 / 8 / 10 → 5 / 7 / 9 Now gains Control in addition to switching cards

Push Up / Push Up+ Might gain per Basic card increased

Empower / Empower+ Overpower bonus slightly increased

Execution / Execution+ Locked cost changed to 0

Unburden / Unburden+ Changed from unequip-all to targeted Gear unequip scaling

Replicate / Replicate+ Cost: 0 → 1

Berserker Armor / Slash Armor and Slash power rebalanced for smoother curves

Inner Strength / Inner Strength+ Reworked to recover Energy instead of discard positioning

(Remaining Duelist changes preserved as listed)

🔥 Pyrotech Card Rebalancing

Pipe / Pipe+ Mana gain reduced for better risk-reward balance

Focused Shot / Focused Shot+ Reaction now triggers on Level up or down

Gun Tricks / Gun Tricks+ Reworked from discard scaling to Skill banish payoff

Grit / Grit+ Reworked into cost-reduction utility instead of Surge looping

Reload / Reload+ Cost: 3 → 1

Bomb Throw / Bomb Throw+ Power increased slightly for mid-game viability

Rifle / Rifle+ Flow requirement reduced, Surge gain increased

Ivy Hairpin / Ivy Hairpin+ Changed to Flow-based once-per-turn Poison trigger

Scarf / Scarf+ Formerly Cursed Scarf, reworked to Ascend scaling Surge

(Remaining Pyrotech changes preserved as listed)

💎 Gems Rebalancing

Sapphire Might +4 → Might +3

Chipped Ruby Price: 8 → 10

Amethyst Price: 15 → 12

Onyx Overpower reworked, now trades attack power for debuff control

Chipped Sapphire Price: 8 → 4

Topaz Converted from cost modifier to Defensive Exceed utility

Thank you for your kind support! As always, the journey is far from over! More updates are coming soon!

– The Northwind Team, Barking Kitten Interactive