Patch 028

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Early Access Patch 028

The SUPERSTAR Update - October 8, 2019

Welcome to our seventh Major Update, which we think is our most game-changing one yet! Due to the number of new systems and features here, we're expecting to follow up on this initial launch with several smaller patches. We'll be watching your feedback closely as we go. Hope you enjoy it!

Highlights

Weapon Aspects: unlock specially-enchanted alternate forms for each of your different weapons
Pact of Punishment, 2nd Edition: an overhauled Pact is central to a newly revised endgame
Eurydice: the muse of Orpheus is out there, somewhere; can you find her?
New Resources: look for Gemstones, Diamonds, & Chthonic Keys as you make your escape
House Contractor: unlock a variety of new cosmetic items for the House of Hades, such as the...
Music Stand: unlock music pieces heard throughout the game, & change the music in the House
Underworld Renovations: look for new & improved visuals in the House of Hades & all of Asphodel
New Song: listen for the melodious voice of our longtime musical collaborator, Ashley Barrett!

General Gameplay

Added Weapon Aspects, revised Pact of Punishment, and House Contractor systems
Heat: removed as a collectible resource (part of the Pact rework; you will get 5 Darkness for each Heat lost)
Gemstones and Diamonds: newly added resource used with House Contractor and Wretched Broker
Chthonic Keys: newly added resource used with Weapon Aspects and some other interactions
Your first boss clear with each weapon earns you a Bounty, i.e. a Chthonic Key or Diamond
Your Death Defiance effects remove any poison effects

Weapons & Powers

Each weapon can now be permanently upgraded in the Courtyard, once you reach a certain point
Stygian Blade: reworked Nova special; updated Dash Attack (new timing and animation)
Shield of Chaos: updated Dash attack (new animation); improvements to input buffering
Eternal Spear: adjusted Attack combo timing and damage; updated Dash attack (new timing and animation); Throw special now staggers foes

Boons & Blessings

Zeus' Aid: reduced damage
Athena's Aid: increased duration; Greater Call duration multiplier reduced to compensate
True Shot (Artemis): added a chance to deal Critical damage

Hunter's Mark (Artemis): dealing Critical damage to foes with the 'Marked' Status Curse clears the effect
Exit Wounds (Artemis): reduced power scaling from improved rarity
Fully Loaded (Artemis): rarity set to Legendary
Support Fire (Artemis): no longer Legendary; effect now scales with rarity
Lightning Phalanx (Zeus x Athena): reduced max. number of bounces and bounce range
Shatter Shot (Aphrodite): reduced power scaling from improved rarity
Life Affirmation (Aphrodite): slightly reduced power level
Rapid Cast (Hermes): now also increases Cast homing effects to compensate for the speed boost
Stabbing (Chaos): cut from game (Master Chaos has decided not to punish you simply for dashing)
Boons with 'Revenge' effects now trigger when your Death Defiance effects activate

Daedalus Hammer Upgrades

The following upgrades are no longer offered: Empowering Nova (Blade), Mirage Flight (Shield), Heavy Slug (Rail), and Invigorating Blast (Rail); their spirits live on in some of the new Weapon Aspects
Piercing Wave (Blade): newly added! A long-range wave with every slash
Charged Shot (Shield): newly added! Your Bull Rush fires a projectile instead
Multi Skewer (Spear): now pierces through the last foe it hits
Rocket Bomb (Rail): newly added! Fire a rocket instead of bombarding
Inescapable Blast (Rail): newly added! Foes are slowed while targeted for bombardment

Foes & Encounters

You can no longer run into multiple mini-boss encounters in a region in a single run
Increased the size of Elysium by one chamber
Trial of the Gods encounters can now take place in Elysium
Reduced max. types of Elite foes that can appear in Thanatos encounters
Erebus challenge chambers now contain Champion foes (tougher than Elite foes)
Champion foes no longer drop money
Megaera and the Furies: learned some new tricks via the Pact...
Bone Hydra: slightly reduced health; updated ranged flurry attack; learned some new tricks via the Pact...
Exalted Longspear: now leap off impassable terrain
Flame Wheels: groups spawn in quicker succession
Soul Catcher: reduced appearance rate in Elysium; reduced Elite health; no longer completely immobile and now susceptible to knock-away effects
The Minotaur: updated some animations and attack timings
Theseus: updated some animations and attack timings
Gigantic Vermin: poison puddles expire faster
Final Boss: reduced damage; reduced health; reduced tracking of homing attack; reduced health of some Champion summons; summoned urns now invulnerable while spawning; overall, still a pain

Keepsakes & Items

Wells of Charon no longer offer Bedroom Decor items; the House Contractor has a monopoly on them
Evergreen Acorn (Eurydice): newly added! Take no damage from boss attacks for some number of hits
Old Spiked Collar (Cerberus): slightly reduced power level
Black Shawl (Nyx): increased power level
Lucky Tooth (Skelly): increased power level
Lambent Plume (Hermes): tuned fast-clear durations for some encounter types
Charon now offers one of the two new rare resources for sale in the Temple of Styx

Pact of Punishment

Overhauled the system; now linked to Bounties (look for more details when you first get to it)
Rescaled Heat as a measure of difficulty (1 unit now is equivalent to about 5 units before)
Reworked and renamed the various Conditions
Middle Management: newly added! Raises number of Elite foes in mini-boss encounters
Tight Deadline: newly added! Gives you a limited amount of time to clear each region
Heightened Security: newly added! Boosts damage from traps
Underworld Customs: newly added! Forces you to purge a Boon as you leave each region
Extreme Measures: newly added! Influences the final battle in Tartarus
Snake Oil: newly added! Influences the final battle in Asphodel

Level Design & Environments

Added two new chambers in Asphodel
Added a Pool of Purging to the final chamber in each region
Added several new Erebus challenge chamber variants
Made some renovations to the House of Hades (others are ongoing)
Other minor fixes and improvements to various chambers

Art & Visual FX

Updated visuals all throughout Asphodel
Updated visuals in the House of Hades
Updated portrait for Orpheus
Updated visuals for the Wretched Broker
Updated visuals for wretched shades and spirits in various environments
Updated visuals in first chamber of Elysium
Added unique Zagreus run animations with the Blade, Spear, and Bow, and other weapon details
Added some animations for Megaera and the Furies to accompany their aforementioned new tricks
Updated textures for Alecto and Tisiphone
Updated some of the visuals for the Bone Hydra
Updated some animations for Theseus and The Minotaur
Updated various visual FX in Final Boss encounter, including the Status Curse effect
Improvements to the look of the Exalted once separated from their weapons
Updated UI and visuals for Death Defiance effects
Increased transparency of Dionysus' Festive Fog effects
Improved feedback for the deactivated state of the Mandragora Cure Pools in the Temple of Styx
Removed slight animation from Dionysus and Ares portraits (due to various issues; they still blink, though)
Unified the look of Elite foes' armor outline
Updated main menu based on new Major Update (including our studio logo, for our 10th anniversary!)
Other minor visual changes, fixes, and improvements

Menus & UI

Updated Health Bar UI for foes
Updated visual FX for Boon selection
Underworld Map presentation when traveling between regions now shows earned Bounties
Added new Death Defiance UI indicators based on the source of the effect
The backing for interact prompts now scales with the prompt
Added alternate dialogue prompt for key early-game character conversations that unlock new systems (specifically, the Codex from Achilles and Mirror respeccing from Nyx)
The Fallen Warrior's HydraLite Gold premium good now shows your life total in the tooltip
The warning pop-up for deleting save data defaults to Cancel instead of OK
Text clarifications to some Boons and upgrades
Other minor fixes, changes, and improvements

Music & SFX

'Good Riddance': added new music track, featuring the voice of Ashley Barrett!
Added various new sound effects for the new resources, systems, and other contexts
Adamant Rail now has a distinct fire sound while low on ammo
Battle emotes from Zagreus and others now affected by SFX Volume rather than Voice Volume
Minor fixes and mix improvements

Voice & Narrative

Added many narrative events with characters (including Eurydice, Orpheus, Hades, and Achilles)
Added many new Zagreus voice events for various gameplay contexts
Added Codex entries for Eurydice, Gemstones, Diamonds, and Chthonic Keys
Added to Codex entries for each of the Infernal Arms
Added specific captions for ambient voice lines from the Fallen Warrior
Updated requirements for some narrative events
Fixes and tuning to some contextual voice events

Miscellaneous

Updated Development Roadmap to reflect our plans for our next Major Update, and beyond
The Wretched Broker now offers additional resource trades, and has fixed all his prices...
Some later Mirror of Night upgrades now require Chthonic Keys
Skelly: increased health (stationary jumping can be an effective form of cardiovascular exercise)
Rescaled Heat requirements to earn Skelly's unlockables
Credits: Eurydice added to voice cast; other updates, including new Community Contributors!

Bug Fixes

Fixed issues with some Zeus lightning effects not taking upgrades correctly
Fixed an issue causing Vicious Cycle (Ares) to ramp up damage more than expected
Fixed Positive Outlook (Dionysus) not gaining benefits from more than one Pom of Power
Fixed Spent Spirit (Athena x Aphrodite) not affecting accelerating projectiles
Fixed Heart Rend (Artemis x Aphrodite) unintentionally applying additional chance for Critical damage
Fixed an issue sometimes causing Chaos Gates and Infernal Gates to be invisible
Fixed an issue sometimes causing parts of the Health UI to not show correctly
Fixed Skull-Crushers being susceptible to Backstab damage from the front
Fixed issues related to vanquishing Theseus and the Minotaur in close succession
Fixed an issue causing Gigantic Vermin poison puddles to not always clear after encounters
Fixed an issue where you could build up your God Gauge by hitting pillars while fighting the Final Boss
Many other minor fixes

Quote of the Patch

“	There remained but little more to climb till they would touch earth's surface, when in fear he might again lose her, and anxious for another look at her, he turned his eyes so he could gaze upon her.	„
	~ Metamorphoses, Book 10: Orpheus & Eurydice (Ovid; B. Moore translation)

Note: You should see v0.21731 in-game once you have the update.