Greetings, witches, warlocks, and magic lawyers who talk to cats!
This update is a gently cursed cornucopia - we've got bug fixes, deck balance changes, reward structure changes ... and another all-new optional questline.
Narrative
We've added optional story content to Vollem's chapter, which allows you to investigate the origins of a character who hasn't had much time in the spotlight yet. Also, for the first time, we've added the ability to catch up with a demon lord - other than the Devil himself - outside of the Trial / Fanghella challenge. The new content can be accessed after the second ritual of Vollem's chapter (Valravn offers a little prompting).
In-progress Vollem runs should be ok, but there may be visual bugs, characters not being where expected and the things of that sort. To best experience the new content we recommend starting a fresh Vollem chapter.
Balance
On the gameplay front, we have moderately rebalanced Rasmine's starter deck. Your feedback indicated that there were a few too many swerves from what players had learned during Malthe's chapter of the game, so getting a Rasmine run started felt like too steep a climb. The new deck, we hope - will provide a higher "floor" for Rasmine runs - and help you cope with dangers that only appear from the 2nd chapter onward.
We also have enhanced the rewards for Elite battles. To defeat a Boss was self-evidently rewarding, of course. Choosing a Trial path through a Minion was inherently advantageous because it reduced fiction, some decks weather those with Armor, or heal back to full after such a fight. Elite nodes, though - are serious fights, they can be dangerous or thrilling ... but didn't offer intrinsic rewards. Payers didn't want to risk their long-term goals after trying one or two out. Depending on the map layouts, there often just wasn't a reason to put up with Elites.
Now, each Elite card battle awards Revelations. These either allow you more reroll chances at any other node like Pact or Forge - or a lot more currency to take away the bids of Demon Lords while bargaining for permanent changes to your Banes and Boons.
General Polish
We improved feedback for assets that are turned to "Traitors", improving fx transitions in/out and when in the state. We also fixed a few cards that weren't behaving as expected or which were missing proper VFX feedback for their actions.
We are hungry for your feedback on any of these changes - story, gameplay, or both if you'd like to put an even bigger smile on One Eye's face. Thank you all for helping The Killing Stone find the right sweet spot of mystery and challenge. Enjoy, and there's still more to come!
-Question
Full change list for the curious:
New questline in Vollem's chapter focusing on Black Milk.
Elite battles now award 6 Revelations on victory.
Updated tutorial to introduce Revelations before Elite battles and properly train that Elite battles now have Revelation rewards.
Added Nith to dollhouse void, appears during Black Milk quest.
Added Valravn prompt to Mr. Chops questline in Rasmine's chapter.
New post process fx for Black Milk quest.
Tweaks to interaction settings to make some cases more reliable.
Fixes to some bad fade transitions during Vollem and Rasmine witching hours.
Fixed Herald visibility in Ras witching hour pre-cinematic.
Fixed Font of Inspiration to work with Vardøgr Omen.
Full rework of Renunciation to not slide reserves to dead figurines, as well as move reserves in the proper direction indicated by the card (was often incorrect).
Added representative FX to Spectral Bomb.
Added death SFX/VFX to chants to make it more clear when they are killed.
New SFX/VFX for transitions in and out of "Traitor" state, as well as light Vardøgr OmenFX while "Traitor" is active.
Fixed lighting build error for "Morning" time of day.
