SOULCASTING AND NEW CHARACTERS
The dead have arisen! This update brings a new type of playable character - the undead. Undead characters have a new keyword: Soulcasting. Whenever characters die, the undead collect their souls. In between rounds, souls can be spent to trigger special abilities known as Soulcasts. Harvest the souls of your enemies - and even your allies - and use them to cast powerful magic!
This update brings a total of nine new characters and a new hero - one of our largest updates yet:
Elsbeth, From Beyond. Our newest hero! Elsbeth can spend souls in between rounds (or even at the start of battle) to deal damage to enemies.
DEADEYE. Begins unlocked and can be found at L1, L2, and L3.
FALLEN ADEPT. Begins unlocked and can be found at L1, L2, and L3.
FALLEN BANNERMAN. Can be found at L2, and L3.
JUGGERNAUT. Begins unlocked and can be found L3.
NECROMANCER. Begins unlocked and can be found at L1, L2, and L3. Skeletons are 1 attack, 3 health characters.
SOUL CONDUIT. Begins unlocked and can be found at L2, and L3.
SOULDRINKER. Begins unlocked and can be found at L1, L2, and L3.
SOULMANCER. Begins unlocked and can be found at L2, and L3.
TARUS GUARD. Begins unlocked and can be found at L1, L2, and L3.
ALLIANCES
Each hero now begins with two alliances - one based on the hero, and one randomly chosen. Your alliances will increase the odds of seeing certain characters at campfires, helping you put together strategies easier. You'll be able to see a hero's alliances before starting a game, giving you more control over how you want to play.
There are currently nine alliances:
- Skull. Undead are more likely to appear at campfires.
- Heart. Characters that gain and use health are more likely to appear at campfires.
- Metal. Characters that gain and use Armor are more likely to appear at campfires.
- Hammer. Dwarves are more likely to appear at campfires.
- Branch. Characters that use and benefit from summons are more likely to appear at campfires.
- Sun. Characters that gain and use Power are more likely to appear at campfires.
- Poison. Characters that use Poison abilities are more likely to appear at campfires.
- Scale. Lizardfolk are more likely to appear at campfires.
- Death. Characters that use Doom abilities are more likely to appear at campfires.
Dev note: As more characters are added to the game, it becomes increasingly difficult to find the characters you need to make a specific strategy work. Alliances help address this concern - while still adding enough randomness to result in interesting builds. Whenever you visit a campfire, there's guaranteed to be at least one unit from your alliances.
NEW EQUIPMENT AND ARTIFACTS
- New equipment - Skull Charm. After a character soulcasts, gain +1 Armor.
- New equipment - Cracked Soul. Battle Start: Gain 1 Soul. Max souls +1.
- New artifact - Soul Vessel. Max souls +6.
- New artifact - Summoning Bell. Battle Start: Summon two Spectral Hammers.
QUALITY OF LIFE FEATURES
- Characters that summon now show their summon's stats and abilities.
- More UI and in-game features have auditory feedback when hovering over them, or interacting with them.
- The Book of Champions is now accessible from the title screen.
- You can now preview the abilities of upcoming dungeon bosses by hovering over their icon.
- You can now delete your save file from the settings menu. Be careful - this is permanent!
- ...and many small tweaks!
LOCALIZATION
The Dungeon Beneath is now playable in German! But that's just the start. We plan to add more languages in upcoming versions.
Note that the German translation is only 95% complete. Interested in helping finish it? You can help translate The Dungeon Beneath (into German, or any number of languages) by visiting our Localizor.com page. A special thanks to Stephan for his help with this!
Dev note: we're testing out community-driven localization because we've found that community translations are often more accurate than professional translation. Additionally translation can be expensive and time-consuming. That said, this is still a work-in-progress. Expect more updates in future!
CHARACTER AND HERO UPDATES
- The following characters are now undead: Sanguinist, Wrath Conduit, and Taz'gyn (Ascended Summoner).
- Hunter now has "Follow Up: Deal 1 damage to the lowest health enemy once / two times / three times" at L1/2/3 but now only has 1 attack.
- Aguatilis now has "When an ally dies gain +2/3/4 Power" at L1/2/3 but now only has 2 attack.
- Night Marksman, Aguatilis, Ranger, and Elder Gryx (She Who Swims Alone) are now inexhaustible.
- The hero Xandos III, Golden Emperor, has +1 Attack for every 5 gold (up from every 4 gold).
- Nyx of the Old Moon now has 3 attack (up from 2).
ENEMY UPDATES
- The Primordial Flame has been reworked.
- The Hand of Abaddon has slightly lower health but its minions have slightly more health.
- Nazzatoth - increased the damage of several shadows from 1 to 2.
- Illifar - increased the health of several demons.
- The Harbinger now has 5 health (down from 6).
OTHER UPDATES
- Reworked how score is calculated. Defeating the final boss is now worth more points. Unspent gold now counts for fewer points, and each round played subtracts from the final score. Dev note: the average run should have roughly the same final score. These changes are meant to add more nuance to high-score attempts. Previously, the highest scores could only be obtained by gold farming. (That said, this is still a work-in-progress - let us know your thoughts!)
- Increased the cost of the Potion Belt from 10 to 12.
- Increased the cost of the Holy Scepter from 12 to 14.
- Updated some daily challenges.
- Changed the speedrun achievement to require reaching a final boss in 40 rounds (down from 60). Dev note: runs have gotten much faster since the game launched, making this achievement trivial. The updated achievement should be a bit more challenging - but still very manageable for specific comps.
BUG FIXES
- Fixed a bug where the Midas Belt (and other items) wouldn't trigger when used by a hero.
- Added the correct pricing for some items that were missing increased pricing at higher difficulties (Midas Belt, Death Cap, Immortal cap).
Do you have thoughts for what you'd like to see in-game? Let us know on our forums!
As always, thanks for playing!
