Interlude Patch: In The Edit

Welcome, Scribes!

We hope you've been enjoying all the cozy additions to the new Illuminated Library! Today, we're publishing Interlude Patch: In The Edit! With the sheer amount of new goodies in our previous Major Chapter - today's patch was the perfect opportunity to take a hard look at every nook and cranny of Vellum, dip into the magic ink, and come up with a myriad of improvements.

This update takes a massive step in the Performance, Balance, Reworks, Polish, and so many aspects of Vellum!

Performance, Art

We're addressing one of the Torn's greatest weapons against the Scribes - Framerate.

We've made absolutely massive strides in the performance of the game. Playing through a Tome, picking upgrades, waiting for the enemy to begin a battle, casting spells - there are thousands upon thousands of connections between the host of systems in Vellum.

Reducing the performance cost in any single item could have huge gains.

We've reduced the cost of: Projectiles, Area Effects, Scribe Passive Stats, Torn Passive Stats, Status Effects, Pages of Power, Signature Ink core mechanics, User Interface items, Screen Effects, Fog, Lighting, every action Scribes and Torn take - oh and the small item of networking all these things.

Multiplayer Games, High Appendix Runs, Steam Decks, PCs of varying power - no matter how you enjoy the magic ink, Vellum just became that much smoother to play!

Balancing Spells and Ink

Spells and Ink... dripping with potential!

We're buffing many spells in many ways based on feedback and the continually awesome community discussions! This also comes with some strategic redistribution of power of some spells (Eclipse) and a handful of minor (but needed) nerfs (Ghostwrite, Vault). You can read the huge amount of changes in the patch notes a the end of this blog post.

Affected Spells - Punctuate, Quip, Draw, Swoop, Passage, Blossom, Eclipse, Foreshadow, Flutterstep, Ghostwrite, Vault

Our goal with these changes is to make these spells all more competitive, while opening up their viability when combined with different signature inks (e.g. Draw)!

On the Signature Ink front, MANY inscriptions have been rebalanced and Green Ink has been the recipient of several quality of life changes (like a hud indicator) and significant buffs.

Remastering Tomes and Pacing

The Scribes explore magical strengths, collecting powerful Pages - and the Torn rise to meet them...

Tomes are the battleground of our colorful conflict with the Torn! Bigger and more compelling threats invite stronger choices and more dynamic strategies.

We've refactored the way encounters happen throughout the Tomes - strangely, it's a lot of work that hopefully fades into the background! You'll see a larger variety of foes as you play and the danger ramps up - setting you and the Torn up for more dramatic, compelling, and fluctuating battles!

For new players - we're also opening up the choice to jump into Appendices from the very start!

The Clarity of Bindings and Bosses

Deeper evils fester and brood!

Bindings have been rebalanced - we're upping the point values to give you more customization AND clarity in the ever-evolving battle with the Torn. Many Bindings now contribute much more to the Attunement goal while playing - though be warned, the Torn still grow stronger!

At the end of these newly re-organized Tomes, held together with reevaluated Bindings - who better to test your rebalanced Spells and Ink against than the Torn Bosses?

We'll be focusing (and talking) more on