Development Update: Combat Tuning, New Enemy, and Playtesting Soon

It’s been a busy month of development, and things are starting to come together as the game moves closer to playtesting.

New Enemy: Poison Spider

A new enemy type has been added to the game: a poisonous spider that focuses on applying pressure over time rather than direct damage.

This enemy introduces a different kind of threat, forcing players to stay mobile and think more carefully about positioning during combat.

Poison Status Effect

Alongside the new enemy, the poison status effect has been implemented

Poison builds up over time and creates sustained pressure during encounters, especially when combined with other enemies. This system will be expanded further, but it’s already adding a new layer of tension to combat.

Combat Improvements

A large portion of development this past month has gone into improving combat feel and encounter design.

This includes:

• Better enemy behavior across different distances

• Improved attack variety and pacing

• More consistent and readable parry windows

• Ongoing tuning to make fights feel more reactive and engaging

The goal here is to make each encounter feel intentional and less predictable, while still staying fair.

Encounter and Level Refinement

Enemy placement has been revisited to improve pacing and flow throughout the level.

Encounters should now feel more deliberate, with better spacing and a stronger sense of progression as you move through the area.

Systems & Stability

A number of core systems have been improved to support upcoming playtesting:

• Saving for rum flasks

• Saving for NPC dialogue progression

• A wide range of bug fixes and stability improvements

There’s still more to do, but the overall experience is becoming much more consistent and reliable.

UI Improvements

I’ve also started early work on refining the player status menu and continuing general UI polish.

What’s Next

Over the next few days, I’ll be focusing on final polish before moving into a small round of playtesting.

The goal is to get the game into players’ hands soon and start gathering feedback on combat feel, difficulty, and overall clarity. Thanks again for following along. More updates soon.

If you're interested in participating in a small, early playtest and providing feedback that will help shape development, feel free to reach out at:

nathan@guidingmoonlightstudios.com

I’m currently looking for a limited number of players, especially those familiar with Soulslike games.