HoT Update & Archives Release

Greetings Archivars,

The day has come that the gates to the halls open once more. The free update and The Lost Archives are available now!

You can get the DLC here:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4100210/

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Big thanks to everyone testing new features out on the Experimental branch and giving us feedback. Please write Bugs and Issues you encounter in the Forums or Discord!

Enjoy!

Chasing Carrots

Halls of Torment – Update Notes

This update adds a weekly Challenge Shrine, a new Kill Count mode and lifetime statistics. It also overhauls the game's difficulty: you're faster and stronger, and so are the hordes.

New Features

Weekly Challenge Shrine

A new shrine in the overworld, unlocked by defeating the Lord of Greed in the Vault. Each week everyone gets the same hall, game mode and set of artifacts, and competes for the best score. Artifact Torment Shard bonuses are turned off in challenge runs, but Lords drop 2–10 extra Torment Shards depending on your score.

Kill Count Mode

Instead of surviving the clock, keep fighting until you reach the stage's kill target (18,000–45,000). Agony rises with your kills instead of over time. Unlock it for each stage through that stage's "Berserker I" quest, and switch modes at the Shrine of Torment. In Boglands it's the other way round: Kill Count is the default, and "Boglands Champion I" unlocks Timer mode.

Statistics & Records

The Compendium has a new Stats page with your lifetime statistics. It also keeps records for each character, ability and map, and you can show them on your HUD during a run.

Difficulty Overhaul

Runs are faster and more intense, and builds hit much harder to match.

You move about 20% faster (Norseman about 10%).
Enemies are tougher: +50% health and +20% damage, Bosses and Elites +50%, and more enemies spawn.
Enemy speed was reworked: enemies start faster but speed up much less over time. Torment and Agony no longer make them faster. Each Torment level now adds 10% enemy health and defense.
Most abilities deal far more damage. Some, like Lightning Strike, Morning Star and Radiant Aura, more than triple.
Affliction, Fragile and Slow are much stronger: their stacks no longer wear off, and they have higher caps. Slow can reach 70%, and Affliction spreads to nearby enemies when an afflicted enemy dies.
Health Potions heal twice as much.
Growth items (Chain Mail, Runner Shoes, the common rings and more) gain about twice as much per level.
Torment Score now rewards speed: enemies give less score the longer they stay alive. Leaderboards start fresh with this update.

Boglands: Enemy scaling over a run was reworked. Growth Traits are now optional (turn them on with the renamed artifact "Leash of Growth"). The Crone and Alchemist quest boards unlock step by step, and many Boglands abilities hit much harder.

Quality of Life

Deselect artifacts in the Shrine of Torment by clicking them in the selected list.
The Registry of Halls shows what you need to do to unlock a locked hall.
If your tracked quest can't progress in the current run, the quest tracker shows one that can.
The Tome of Mastery selection now fits all available abilities.
Drifting controller sticks are less likely to affect gameplay.

Fixes & Stability

Fixed several crashes, including with the Norseman, Frost stacking, the Lord of Blight fight and abilities that convert damage types.
Fixed Frost Dragon Helmet builds heavily, slowing down the game in long runs.
Fixed healing triggering after death, and sacrificing HP being able to kill you.
Fixed Lightning Strike and Radiant Aura continuing to fire after you die.
Fixed achievements for already completed DLC quests not unlocking.
Fixed wrong numbers and text in several quest descriptions.
Fixed chest reroll issues and items spawning inside walls.
Updated translations for all languages, with improved Traditional Chinese support.
Plus many smaller bug fixes.

The Archives – DLC Overview

The Archives adds a new hall, The Lost Archives, with two new heroes, three new abilities and a new way to fight: Judgment and Execution.

New Hall: The Lost Archives

A vast, haunted library full of zealots, living armor, living bestiaries, spiders and poltergeists. Unlock it by collecting 3 or more Marks.

Bosses: Face The Lost Court and The Collector. The hall's Lord is the Lord of Deceit, who hides among illusions of himself.
The Book Goblin: Open the tome in the Archives and find the numbered bookshelf it points you to. Do this three times and the Book Goblin joins your fight, hunting down the Lord's illusions.
Defeating the Lord of Deceit unlocks the Shrine of Torment and Kill Count mode for the Archives.

New Characters

Inquisitor

A sturdy fighter with high defense and block. His War Hammer smashes enemies in front of him and applies Judgment. Whenever he's hit, he pushes all nearby enemies back and applies Judgment to them as well.

Unlock: defeat The Lost Court in the Archives.

Blood Apostle

She fights with her own blood. Blood Pulse sacrifices HP to fire a blood beam, and Blood Blight afflicts enemies within her pickup range. She heals when afflicted enemies die near her.

Unlock: complete "Zealot Hunter" (defeat 5,000 Zealots).

New Mechanics

Judgment: A new status effect. Its stacks build up on enemies without doing anything on their own until they are Executed, which detonates all stacks in a single burst of damage. If a judged enemy dies first, its stacks jump to a nearby enemy.
Sacrifice: Spend your own HP to power your attacks. The more you sacrifice, the stronger the effect.

New Abilities & Upgrades

Judging Light: Projectiles that pierce and bounce between enemies, applying Judgment.
Blood Rite: Iron nails burst from the ground and weaken everything nearby with Affliction, Slow and Fragile.
Shields of Vengeance: Orbiting shields damage nearby enemies. When you're hit, a shield charges through you and pushes enemies aside.
Each new ability has 4 upgrades. There are also 15 new upgrades for existing abilities that tie them into Judgment, Sacrifice and Block, such as Blood Lightning, Judging Aura and Retributive Slam.