Shadowstone 0.6.0 Update

What's New

Corruption

• The Corruption System has been added.

• An initial suite of Corruption Consequences have been added.

• Bargain Runes have been added to the pool.

All are fated to fall to Shadowstone.

We've been wanting to add a pressure system to the run that makes every round and decision more meaningful and strategic, so in this patch we are introducing Corruption.

Corruption is a value that goes up at the end of every round. When enough Corruption has accrued, a Corruption Consequence will be applied to the run. These consequences will increase the difficulty of the run the longer it goes. Be mindful and strategic of how many rounds you choose to spend in each room lest Corruption and its Consequences overwhelm you. 🌡️

Just sign on the dotted line...

...but what if you could use the sinister power of Shadowstone's Corruption for yourself? 😈 With the onset of Corruption appearing in your runs, you may also chance upon some Bargains.

Bargains may appear alongside other options when making a choice. These Bargains offer you a unique power at the cost of accruing some Corruption immediately when taken. Will you choose to take these dark deals? Or cling to whatever light you still have left? Can't wait to see what you all pick~

Let us know on Discord !

New Act 3 Boss >> The Gatekeeper

• Prepare to face the final boss of the run: The Gatekeeper.

• The Gatekeeper prototype is now available to fight in this patch. It's rough as we continue to give the boss more iteration, but for now, please enjoy the concept and what the boss could bring to the game!

• This unique boss can summon Biome Hazards encountered throughout your run, unleash a new variation of Charge, and alter one of its actions within its default Spell Card.

New Monster >> The Wurm

• The Act 3 Sand Biome now features a deadly new monster alongside the Cactus and Mummy, creating powerful displacement and decay synergies against Heroes.

• Like its counterpart from Sunderfolk, the Wurm can pull nearby Heroes toward itself, but have been reimagined and redesigned for Shadowstone.

Monster & Biome Updates

• Monsters and Biome Hazards across the game have received balance updates, including buffs and nerfs to their kits.

• These changes are aimed at helping monsters better keep pace with heroes while preserving the core focus on teamwork, cooperation, and problem-solving.

• Updated Monsters: Spider, Sentinel, Yeti, Skeleton, Wraith, Clam, Crab, Mold, and Mummy.

• FixedNoteClam's passive is currently not functional, but will be addressed in the next patch.

Updates to Death

Death comes tempered with mercy. While players will still collectively lose a run on their second death, we've made changes to the consequences of the first death:

• On defeat, Corruption now increases significantly.

• After defeat, a hero now revives at full health.

• After defeat, a hero now revives at the end of the round (this will often mean they no longer miss a turn).

Crystalline Concerns

• The Crystal of Cleansing has been added. Heroes and Monsters can cleanse most buffs and debuffs within its radiant shine.

• The Crystal of Bloodthirst has been added. Heroes and Monsters may recover one health when they deal one or more damage within its hungry glow.

• The Crystal of Fortification has been changed. It now only prevents one incoming damage, and no longer has any effect on dealing damage outward.

Changes to Optional Objectives

Optional Objectives (the Waylaid Medic, the Thirsty Beetle, and the Sigils of Power) have been iterated based on feedback. They've also been given a text pass to clarify their functionality and reward.

Tutorials And Onboarding

• Added tutorials to help new players learn controls and gameplay

• Added thematic intro sequence to establish context of the game

New Actor Hover/Inspect Functionality

• New look with more information surfaced with the board visible

• New tech: right click to pin tooltips for further inspection

• Keywords on cards can now be hovered over to view tooltips (we're slowly rolling this improvement out to other places in the UI)

Movement Pathing Changes

We’ve received feedback from some that our hover-based pathing felt unintuitive or prone to incorrect paths, particularly for players accustomed to other tactical turn-based games.

With this patch, we are experimenting with a new movement system:

• Shortest-Path Calculation: Hover-based pathing is now replaced by simply clicking a destination hex to automatically calculate the shortest route.

• Waypoints: You can extend your path by clicking additional hexes after your initial selection.

• Confirmation: Confirm your movement by clicking your final hex a second time, or by pressing the confirm button.

We understand this may feel unfamiliar to players who became accustomed to the previous system, but we want to test this approach to help us decide the final direction for Shadowstone's movement mechanics.

We are closely monitoring your responses, so please let us know if this update feels more or less intuitive!

New Character Select

• Character select has been revamped to support future hero additions to the game.

• Players may now claim and drop slots in the hero select screen, and select heroes for any slot they control.

Choice Weighting System

• Additional systematic work has been done to help ensure that rewards offered to heroes are generally rewards that they CAN make use of.

  • EX: You will not get a rune that improves charges if you do not have a charge.

More Runes

• 10 new runes have been added, including more runes providing Slow and Retaliation effects.

Miscellaneous

• Improved lighting pass on Sand, Coast and Fungal biomes.

Bug Fixes

• Adjusted the description of Pyromancer's Blazing Bank spell to accurately describe how to gain Permanent Strength.

• Fixed an issue where players could not hover over spell cards during the reward screen.

• Fixed an issue where Ranger's 3rd upgrade for Snaring Vines was creating 2 vines per create action instead of 1.

• Fixed an issue where hexes in non-playable spaces could be highlighted

• Fixed an issue where players would be unable to target an actor if they were hovering over the actor whilst another action was being performed.

• Fixed an issue where Berserker's 3rd upgrade for Long Haul was not granting the correct Pull range.

• Fixed an issue where using a potion that increased damage per buff was not successfully removing the buff afterwards as expected.

• Fixed an issue with multiple potions granting players double the number of buff stacks than expected.

• Fixed an issue where the reward for beating the Act 2 boss was only granting +3 max HP instead of +4.

• Fixed an issue where the Map Screen was incorrectly appearing for clients who reconnected to a session.

• Fixed an issue where the Act 2 Boss's Ultimate Spell Card was not appearing on the screen as expected.

• Fixed an issue where the emission tiles for the Charge action from the "End Turn with Shield" Rune was incorrectly showing 3 hexes instead of 2.

• Fixed an issue where Berserker's 3rd Brace upgrade was showing the incorrect text.