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Steam News18 December 20256mo ago

Rune Knights Winter Update: Astaroth Rework & Steam Winter Sale

The Winter Update is live! Featuring a total Astaroth rework, new Skill Cores, and major minion buffs. Save big during the Steam Winter Sale! NEW New Item: Skill Core - Grants 1 skill of your choice for free.

In this update5

Full notes

Full Rune Knights update

Read the full published notes in a cleaner layout. The original post stays linked below.

What changed

9 fixes11 additions21 changes0 removals
  • Gameplay
  • Events
  • Balance
  • Server
  • Store
  • UI and audio
addedThe Winter Update is live! Featuring a total Astaroth rework, new Skill Cores, and major minion buffs. Save big during the Steam Winter Sale!
addedNEWNew Item: Skill Core - Grants 1 skill of your choice for free. Exclusively available as a quest rewards for all quests.
fixedNew Skill: Umbral Coil TrapRequires a Staff or Focus equipped Tags: Spell, Trap, Area Effect, Shadow Spawn an Umbral Coil Trap. On activation, creates Desecrated Ground, deals 100% Spell Damage to nearby targets, inflicts 3 stacks of Wicked Resonance, and pulls in Normal enemies. Enemies within the coil take 25% Spell Damage and 2 stacks of Wicked Resonance each second. Max 1 Umbral Coil Trap. Trap becomes armed after 2 seconds. Hold Skill Modifier (default: Left Alt) while casting to dismiss. Mana Cost: 150 Cooldown: 5s Radiant Arsenal Number of projectiles: 4 -> 5 Projectiles now auto-fire Smite Damage: 125% -> 175% Massively increased charge speed Now generates 1 Divine Fury per target hit Storm Cyclone Damage per second: 40% -> 45% Duration: 5s -> 6s Massively increased target detection range Fixed multiplayer weirdness
changedMINIONSImproved minion AI and target acquisition
changedMINIONSSummon Spider : Damage increased 15%.
changedMINIONSSummon Zombie : Damage increased 15%.
Mana Cost: 150 Cooldown: 5s Radiant Arsenal Number of projectiles:45Mana Cost: 150 Cooldown: 5s Radiant Arsenal Number of projectiles: increased, nerfAll offensive Minion stats also apply to you at50%75%All offensive Minion stats also apply to you at increased, buffHorde - Chance for a third minion:30%25%Horde - Chance for a third minion: decreased, nerfVolatile Summoning - Damage:35%25%Volatile Summoning - Damage: decreased, nerf

Rune Knights changes

addedThe Winter Update is live! Featuring a total Astaroth rework, new Skill Cores, and major minion buffs. Save big during the Steam Winter Sale!
addedNew Item: Skill Core - Grants 1 skill of your choice for free. Exclusively available as a quest rewards for all quests.
fixedRequires a Staff or Focus equipped Tags: Spell, Trap, Area Effect, Shadow Spawn an Umbral Coil Trap. On activation, creates Desecrated Ground, deals 100% Spell Damage to nearby targets, inflicts 3 stacks of Wicked Resonance, and pulls in Normal enemies. Enemies within the coil take 25% Spell Damage and 2 stacks of Wicked Resonance each second. Max 1 Umbral Coil Trap. Trap becomes armed after 2 seconds. Hold Skill Modifier (default: Left Alt) while casting to dismiss. Mana Cost: 150 Cooldown: 5s Radiant Arsenal Number of projectiles: 4 -> 5 Projectiles now auto-fire Smite Damage: 125% -> 175% Massively increased charge speed Now generates 1 Divine Fury per target hit Storm Cyclone Damage per second: 40% -> 45% Duration: 5s -> 6s Massively increased target detection range Fixed multiplayer weirdness
changedImproved minion AI and target acquisition
changedSummon Spider : Damage increased 15%.

The Winter Update is live! Featuring a total Astaroth rework, new Skill Cores, and major minion buffs. Save big during the Steam Winter Sale!

NEW

New Item: Skill Core - Grants 1 skill of your choice for free. Exclusively available as a quest rewards for all quests.

SKILLS

New Skill: Umbral Coil Trap

Requires a Staff or Focus equipped Tags

Spell, Trap, Area Effect, Shadow Spawn an Umbral Coil Trap. On activation, creates Desecrated Ground, deals 100% Spell Damage to nearby targets, inflicts 3 stacks of Wicked Resonance, and pulls in Normal enemies. Enemies within the coil take 25% Spell Damage and 2 stacks of Wicked Resonance each second. Max 1 Umbral Coil Trap. Trap becomes armed after 2 seconds.

Hold Skill Modifier (default

Left Alt) while casting to dismiss.

Mana Cost

150 Cooldown: 5s Radiant Arsenal Number of projectiles: 4 -> 5 Projectiles now auto-fire Smite Damage: 125% -> 175% Massively increased charge speed Now generates 1 Divine Fury per target hit Storm Cyclone Damage per second: 40% -> 45% Duration: 5s -> 6s Massively increased target detection range Fixed multiplayer weirdness

MINIONS

  • Improved minion AI and target acquisition

  • Minions now generate a small amount of threat on nearby targets when spawned (keeps newly spawned enemies from running right past your minions to you).

  • Summon SpiderDamage increased 15%.
  • Summon ZombieDamage increased 15%.
  • Summon Zombie WarriorFixed Shockwave not dealing damage.
  • Summon Tormentor

  • -Fixed this guy doing significantly more damage than intended.

  • -Can now retarget a new creature when their current target dies.

ENEMIES

Health scaling in multiplayer increased

Reduced the damage and health of the elemental quadruped enemies by 20%

Boss HP increased by 10%-30%

CHANGED

  • Out of Combat Cooldowns are now a one-and-done thing. Skills that are on cooldown at the end of combat will cooldown quickly (once) and then return to normal cooldown (in or out of combat).

  • Training Dummy Resilience now resets.

TALENTS

ASTAROTH REWORK

Unified Front removed. Steelbound removed. Armor Plating removed. Guardian Core removed. Quick Construction removed and made baseline for Constructs. Improved Flask: Added 'Gain the "Diffusive Flask" Flask Effect.'Forgekin: All offensive Minion stats also apply to you at 50% -> 75% effectiveness.

NEW T1 TALENT - Abdication: Lose 50% of your offensive stats. Minions gain 100% of your remaining offensive stats.

Dev Note: This is for early game summoners who don't want to spend Spheres of Influence on getting Minion stats.

NEW T1 TALENT - Deathless: Minions always have Undying. Undying is a Boon that reduces damage taken by 10%.

NEW T2 TALENT - Conduit: Your Minions gain your on-hit effects.

Dev Note: This one works with everything. Talents, legendary items, skills that grant on-hit effects. Go crazy.

NEW T2 TALENT - Critical Mass: Gain Minion Critical Strike Chance equal to your Boon Intensity. While you are affected by any Boon, Minions gain a random Boon for 4 seconds every second.

NEW T2 TALENT - Inexorable: Minions gain 20% Damage Resistance and become immune to Crowd Control.

CERRIDWEN

Horde - Chance for a third minion: 30% -> 25%

Volatile Summoning - Damage: 35% -> 25%

EHTIRAS

Spellblade: 15% -> 25% of spell damage stored.

ITEMS

Swarmcaller - New Effect

If Horde is allocated, guarantees a third spawn.

Magefiend Grasp

25% -> 50% of your spell damage is stored Spellarch: 25% -> 50% of your spell damage is stored

MISC

  • Added networking feedback to the main menu

  • Flame Nova SFX made louder

  • Frostblink's VFX now more accurately matches the size of the effect

  • Destructibles are back! And they have a chance to drop gold (Still a few levels that are missing destructibles, this is in the works)

  • Reduced VFX intensity on various Desecrated Ground effects for much improved visibility.

  • Improved lighting on Act 3 Icewastes (shit was dark yo)

  • Improved character lighting at main menu

  • Changed Offhand Equip to Shift+Right Click (from Ctrl+Right Click)

  • Improved crosshair menu

FIXED

  • Many networking problems solved (some odd things still with main menu lobbies, but this is much improved)

  • Achievements Fixed!

  • Fixed aberrant boss behavior on River Valtorin in multiplayer

  • Fixed Weather and UI sound not being subject to Master Volume

  • Restored Runestones as a guaranteed reward for each encounter

  • Fixed broken shield materials and missing parry VFX

  • Fixed Earthquake VFX

  • Fixed your mouse becoming hidden when a new player joined

  • LOTS of UI bugs

  • LOTS of multiplayer fixes

Source

Steam News / 18 December 2025

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