Demo Update — Stage 1's New Road, the Stranger at Wave 7, Rewind

New

• Stage 1's new road — Stage 1 is now a single road along a river. Starting from the Crash Camp, you cross three bridges and walk through six sections — Riverside Fields, Oldwood Path, Wardstone Upland, Lakeside Village and on to Giant's Shore, where Vesper, the final foe, waits at the water's edge. Clear a section's waves (or bring down its mid-boss) and the veil blocking the way lifts; the next wave starts when you step into the next section. Every section has one map feature.
• The Stranger at Wave 7 — In Stage 1, once you clear wave 6, the Stranger walks out from behind the crashed ship and speaks to you. Each hero has their own fully voiced conversation. At the end you choose one blessing that lasts for the rest of the run. In a party, everyone chooses their own.
• Ember Edge — Damage dealt +10%
• Warmth of the Fire — Damage taken -15%
• Memory of the Fallen Star — Experience +15% (also applies to hero experience after the run)
• Wayfarer's Fortune — Gold +25%

Rewind — In Stage 1, a difficulty you have already cleared starts from wave 11 (LV 6), and one 5 or more steps below your best starts from wave 21 (LV 11). A party follows its lowest record. Skipped waves give no rewards, and rewound runs don't count for the Hall of Fame or guild best times. You can turn it off under Depart in the lobby. Three new places in Stage 1 — Each stands in its own section of the road.

• Ward Stones — Strike a stone to light it; when all three corners of a triangle are lit, the enemies inside are sealed. The more you trap, the more experience shards and healing orbs you get, and a perfect seal blesses the whole party.
• Resonance Prisms — Split your blows into beams, and every fifth blow bursts. The beams can light Ward Stones too.
• Sleeping Giant — Sleeps at Giant's Shore at the end of the road and wakes when a crowd gathers or its face is struck, then slams, sweeps and quakes the ground. It hits players too.

3D Weapon Forge — Each hero's weapon (Asterian Blade, Asterian Bow, Vajra Gauntlets, Starmoon Tome) now floats above the altar in 3D and lights up with the enhancement effects. The enhancement preview shows "Skill damage +A% → +B%". Stage 1 ending — Rewritten with different lines for each hero.

Changes

• Straight into combat — Every stage and dungeon now starts without a core skill pick; you choose your core skills at your first level-ups. Stage 1's opening conversation has moved to wave 7.
• Stage 1 requests — Silence the Rite is gone and your interrupt skill is available from the start. The Fire Keeper's requests now come randomly every 3–6 waves from wave 8.
• Difficulty per stage — The next difficulty opens only by clearing that stage, and first-clear chests are now per stage. Difficulties you have already unlocked stay unlocked.
• Mid-boss chests — Stage mid-boss chests are claimed after the run ends. If you don't clear the run, the items of the last mid-boss chest you opened are lost and only its gold remains.
• Pause — "Return to Lobby" now shows the gold and experience you would lose by leaving.
• Dark Slayer — Emberveil cooldown 28s → 56s, Wildfire 22s → 44s.
• Clearer screen — Party members' skill effects are drawn fainter, and Wildfire's spreading effects are capped. Emberveil's aura, Quaking Stomp cracks and the Energy Wave charge-up are toned down (damage and range unchanged).
• Click to attack — Clicking a monster or an explosive object now walks you into range and attacks. Monster legs and small bodies can be clicked too.
• Marketplace — Opens on all listings.
• Loading — Stages load in the background, and the ring on the departure card fills as it loads.
• Shorter descriptions in the Growth Map and god window, with numbers shown in your game language. Completion icons are now centred in their frames.

Fixes

• Seamist Mark explosions did not scale with weapon enhancement.
• The ends of Vanguard's Soaring Charge, Ki Wave and Breaking Fist beams looked cut off.
• Snare Shot lost its follow-up effects when the first enemy died; Soaring Charge's dome let some projectiles through.
• Wrong values when heals and shields overlapped (Emberveil's embers, healing over time, Sanctuary Veil, Star Sanctuary).
• Unsaved boss chests were lost when a run was abandoned.