Steadfast Steward's Update - 5th Build Live!

Welcome to the fifth Steadfast Steward’s experimental build! In order to test out these changes, head over to our public beta branches on Steam, Epic or GOG. 

For full details on what to expect from our Steadfast Steward’s Update and how to participate, please check out our Participation Details blog post, or see our intro post in the #general_info channel on our official Discord.

You may notice that these patch notes are more detailed than usual. We have included a number of ‘Developer Notes’ beside many of the entries here, to better express the intent behind the changes. By outlining our goals we hope that this will help measure if our intent is matching our implementation.

This update features work on the Runaway’s Arsonist path, as well as a number of trinket updates.

HEROES

RUNAWAY

Survivor

• Hearthlight and Hearthlight+ share Cauterize's FX and animations on this Path as the skill no longer targets enemies

Arsonist

• This Path no longer has a 25% chance of gaining 3 Burn on Turn Start

• This Path no longer reduces DMG on various skills

• This Path no longer increases CRIT on various skills

• This Path no longer inherently increases Burn RES Piercing on various skills

• This Path gains +1 Burn Dealt and +2 SPD, to a max of 3 stacks, if the Arsonist has Burn at the end of a round. These buffs are lost if the Arsonist has no Burn at the end of a round.

  • Dev Note: Much of the previous Arsonist's consistency with Burn application has been folded up into Wanderer's adjusted Hearthlight and Stealth synergies, so the Arsonist has been retooled as a high risk mid-ranks damage role that leans into the self-immolation angle with guaranteed self-Burn effects that fuel other skills. Stealth synergies and certain consistencies have been sacrificed for damage and unusual Burn manipulation options. As her Path seal says: "Everything burns."

• Backdraft is now a Path skill

• Backdraft and Backdraft+ launch ranks are 2 3

• Backdraft and Backdraft+ target all enemies with Burn

• Backdraft and Backdraft+ do not interact with DMG modifiers such as tokens or trinkets

• Backdraft and Backdraft+ double the Burn on the Runaway after use

• Backdraft deals 50% of remaining Burn on the Runaway as DMG to all targets

• Backdraft+ deals 75% of remaining Burn on the Runaway as DMG to all targets

  • Dev Note: Backdraft is one of the primary outputs for the Arsonist's self-Burn, gaining DMG based on her own immolated state.

• Controlled Burn is no longer a Path skill

  • Dev Note: Controlled Burn, true to its name, does not engage with the self-Burn mechanics of the Arsonist. We felt it was important to retain a method of safely applying Burn without igniting the Arsonist as well, just in case.

• Dragonfly and Dragonfly+ no longer have 33% Burn RES Piercing

• Dragonfly and Dragonfly+ now apply 2 Burn to the Runaway per Target hit; this cannot be resisted and is affected by any DOT modifying buffs and effects

• Dragonfly CRIT reduced from 15% to 5%

• Dragonfly+ DMG increased from 1-2 to 1-3

• Dragonfly+ CRIT reduced from 15% to 5%

• Firefly and Firefly+ no longer have 33% Burn RES Piercing

• Firefly and Firefly+ now apply 2 Burn to the Runaway; this cannot be resisted and is affected by any DOT modifying buffs and effects

• Firefly DMG increased from 1-3 to 2-4

• Firefly CRIT decreased from 15% to 5%

• Firefly Burn reduced from 3 to 2

• Firefly+ DMG increased from 2-3 to 3-4

• Firefly+ CRIT increased from 20% to 10%

• Firefly+ Burn reduced from 5 to 4

  • Dev Note: Dragonfly and Firefly have been adjusted to support Arsonist's self-Burn mechanics.

• Firestarter is now a Path skill

• Firestarter and Firestarter+ target all enemies with Burn

• Firestarter and Firestarter+ copy the Burn from all targets to the Runaway

• Firestarter+ grants 1 Stealth

• Firestarter+ grants 1 Speed

  • Dev Note: Firestarter has been reworked to provide an alternative method of accruing large amounts of Burn on the Arsonist at a risk.

• Hearthlight is now a Path skill

• Hearthlight and Hearthlight+ target a single enemy

• Hearthlight and Hearthlight+ require that the Runaway have Burn

• Hearthlight and Hearthlight+ have a cooldown of 2

• Hearthlight and Hearthlight+ transfer the Runaway's remaining Burn to the target

• Heathlight consumes any Arsonist buffs to heal 10% per buff

• Hearthlight+ consumes any Arsonist buffs to heal 20% per buff

  • Dev Note: Hearthlight has been reworked as an emergency exit of sorts, displacing any remaining Burn and sacrificing accrued Arsonist buffs to quickly recover health.

• Ransack is no longer a Path skill

  • Dev Note: The Wanderer version of Ransack provides a degree of self-defense that's otherwise missing from this Path and it no longer needs to suffer the previously reduced DMG.

• Searing Strike and Searing Strike+ no longer have 33% Burn RES Piercing

• Searing Strike & Searing Strike+ launch ranks changed from 1 2 to 2 3

• Searing Strike and Searing Strike+ now match the new Wanderer version's Burn values and Combo effect

• Searing Strike and Searing Strike+ do not benefit from Stealth

• Searing Strike and Searing Strike+ now apply 2 Burn to the Runaway; this cannot be resisted and is affected by any DOT modifying buffs and effects on the Runaway

• Searing Strike DMG increased from 3-4 to 3-7

• Searing Strike CRIT reduced from 15% to 5%

• Searing Strike+ DMG increased from 3-5 to 4-9

• Searing Strike+ CRIT reduce from 20% to 10%

  • Dev Note: Searing Strike has been adjusted to not only serve the Arsonist mechanics but to allow use from further back in the ranks, as the Arsonist is less suited to rank 1 combat. This does give it a bit more overlap with Firefly, but the two remain differentiated by their reach and differences in direct damage output when needed.

Runaway Trinkets

• Carved Toy: Reworked to +15% when self has Stealth, +25% Debuff RES Piercing when target has Burn, and Gain When Moved by Enemy: Daze or Taunt

• Knitted Blanket: Reworked to Gain on Burn Resist: Stealth, +1 Burn Dealt when target has Negative Token, and When Stress Damaged: Burn 1 (15%)

• Pile of Ash: Reworked to When Moving: Dodge (50%) or Dodge+ (15%), Apply to Attacker When Missed: Shuffle, and Gain when Hit: Knockback 1

Gameplay

• Disabled the 1.5x combat audio when increasing the game speed and moved it to the Dam as a toggleable option

  • Dev Note: We wanted to start testing the game speed feature with sync'd audio. Many players reported that it sounded a little too goofy and thus we want to try it out for a week where the audio remains at 1x. This means that some of the animations will be out of sync with audio. Please play and let us know if this is more distracting than the audio being sped up. If you want to try it with the audio sped up, we put that as an option now in the Dam.

• Weak tokens applied to heroes on entering Death's Door is reduced from 2 to 1

  • Dev Note: There are a handful of changes to compensate for the new Weak token functionality. There will be additional changes in future builds.

• Obsession Max Loathing effect chance for Random Negative Quirk reduced from 100% to 50% and no longer has a chance to apply Shattered Will

• Spiked Barricade and Weapon Rack can no longer gain positive tokens

• Escalation Max HP buffs will no longer affect enemy corpses or Ancient Adversary

• Now after defeating Military enemies at Military Barricades they will be “driven out” resulting in other factions taking over the barricades for 3 regions

  • Dev Note: There will likely be some awkward mashes in the first iteration, please provide feedback if you come across any mashes that are particularly frustrating or result in unpleasant gameplay.

• Slight increase to Military Barricade route weighted chance

  • Dev Note: Military Barricade routes had a weight of 1/28 since they lacked variety. With the change to factions appearing at Military Barricades, the weighted chance has increased from 1 to 2, while Gaunts weighted chance was reduced from 3 to 2 in order to maintain the same ratio of combat routes to other routes.

• Shambler's Eye Trinket: Increased Crit buff per stress from +2% to +5%

• Selfish Motivation Trinket: Now only applies Blind, Immobilize, Taunt, or Vulnerable on turn start

• The Goops applying Slimed when targeting hero has been changed to targeting ally instead

• Mustache Cream Trinket: Extra action when targeting hero has been changed to targeting ally instead and chance increased from 33% to 50%

• Junia's Head Trinket: Removing 1 Negative Token and removing Combo when targeting hero has been changed to targeting ally instead

• Busker's Haul Trinket: Add Dodge when targeting hero has been changed to targeting ally instead and chance increased from 20% to 33%

• Undeserved Commendation Trinket: Add Crit when targeting hero has been changed to ally and chance increased from 10% to 15%

• Man-At-Arms Kingdoms final hero upgrade: Removing all Weak tokens when targeting hero has been changed to targeting ally instead

• Annotated Textbook Trinket: When targeting hero has been changed to targeting ally instead and chance to invert 1 negative token reduced from 100% to 65%. Reduced chance for Vulnerable token from 100% to 33%.

  • Dev Note: Buffs that provide effects when targeting a hero were always intended to target allies, we didn’t have the functionality at the time. It created unintuitive situations such as Passing turns, as that’s considered a skill that’s targeting the performer. They’ve all been updated to function similarly, with some chances adjusted to compensate for the reduced targeting options.

• Entropic Enemies Battle Modifier: Chance to add a random token on turn end reduced from 100% to 50%

• The Jinx Quirk: Now more rare and can no longer be obtained from Inns

• Disarmer Quirk: Now less rare and can be obtained from Inns

• Shattered Will Quirk has been removed from quirk options when choosing to fight the Shambler

  • Dev Note: We are considering removing all quirk options when choosing to fight the Shambler

• A Lesson Learned Memory: CRIT increased from +3 to +5

• A Long Recovery Memory: Disease RES increased from +15% to +25%

• Cat Food Combat Item: Purchase price reduced from 6 to 4

• Invigorating Intoxicant Combat Item: No longer provides a SPD or CRIT buff while on Death's Door. Now has remove all Weak on use, Deathblow RES buff duration increased from 3 to 5 turns, and When Entering Death's Door remove all Weak

• Added Dam option for Battle Advantages modifiers to always appear where appropriate

• Current Confession icon now displayed at the Crossroads

• Death's Head Trinkets: Reworked effects that are now randomized including On Kill effects. Each trinket will now have one On Entering Death's Door effect, one On Leaving Death's Door effect, and one On Killing Blow effect (ineffective against corpses).

• Mortal Ward: Now has On Leaving Death's Door: Crit Token, Dodge+ Token, and -2 Stress

Fixes

• Fixed Weak token description to better describe new functionality

• Fixed token glossary not displaying tokens for reserve heroes

• Fixed unnecessary duplicate tokens from token glossary and necessary duplicate tokens now have path name added to their description

• Gamepad fixes for character sheet navigation

• Fixed issues affecting renaming memoried heroes in certain conditions

• Fixes to repeating hero goals

• Fixed short hero stat strings inconsistent character length

• General tooltip and Academic View fixes and improvements

• General animation fixes

• Updated Battle Advantage icons with proper assets

• Fixed missing SFX on Spearman’s Spear Toss when targeting a hero with combo

• Fixed Lair combat start heals displaying poptext

• Fixed missing UI after Lair fights

Known Issue: When retreating in Confessions, the maximum loathing presentation will not trigger. Loathing will still be applied correctly however.