Big update: Act IV, controller support, the Pyre, pets that grow and much more

Thank you again for every Raven you sent from the pause menu! A lot of this update comes straight from your messages. It is a big one, so here is everything that changed since the last update.

A new act: the Frostspine

• Act IV, the Frostspine: snowy passes, an old keep and the town of Hearthwatch with four new people to meet.
• Three new bosses: the Rime Matriarch, Old Rimeback and the Summit Warden.
• Frostbite: the cold zones slowly chill your hero. Stand near a camp fire or a warm light, or use a fire skill, to thaw out.
• Tempered and Ashforged items: stronger versions of the item bases for the high levels, and affixes now go up to level 60.
• The hero level cap is now 99.

Endgame: the Pyre and daily bounties

• The Pyre: an endless dungeon. Each tier is the burning memory of a place from the four acts, with its own monsters and its own boss. Go down the stairs to the next tier.
• A guardian waits on every tenth tier, with its own unique items. Every five tiers of your record give a permanent mark, and the deepest divers earn titles.
• Daily bounties: three new tasks each day from the elder, with gold and items as the prize. Finish all three for an extra cache.
• Players in the same game can join each other's Pyre tier.

Controller support and new key settings

• Controller support (new and experimental): walk with the left stick, aim with the right stick, attack the nearest enemy with A and use your skills with X, Y, B and RB. In menus, the stick moves the cursor and A clicks.
• Menu > Keys: you can now change every key: the skill bar, the potions and every panel. A second tab changes every controller button. If you pick a key that is in use, the two keys swap.

Pets that grow

• Your Soot Fox now grows from pup to alpha (levels 1-30). Feed it the junk it would sell. A higher level means faster pickups, a longer reach and shorter trips to town.
• Four hounds join the fox, each with its own perk. Find a pup as a rare drop, then keep your pets in the kennel and take the one you want.
• Pets wear a collar and a pack. The act bosses drop them.

Playing together

• Chat: press Enter. /p talks to your party, /w name whispers, /r answers.
• #Trading and #LFG: chat channels across all games, with a link to the game of the writer.
• Friend list (N): see which Steam friends play, where they are, and write to them, invite them or join their game.
• Player trade: offer items and gold side by side. Both players accept before the swap.
• Hardcore heroes: tick the box at hero creation. One death is the end.

Quests and maps

• A new quest log: one section for each act, your current act open and the others folded. Done quests show with a check mark.
• Track: each quest has a Track button. Pick which quests show under the minimap.
• New map layouts: every zone now uses one of many layouts: valleys, rings, clearings, tunnels, river caves, crypts, halls and mazes.
• Landmarks: each zone has one big landmark, such as a fallen colossus or a drowned bell tower, and an elite guards it.
• Monster packs are smaller near the entrance and bigger in the narrow places deep inside.

Items and loot

• Unique synergies: uniques now change how a skill works with another skill, not only your stats.
• Shiny uniques: a rare chance for a unique with every power at its top, its own colour and a glitter.
• Forge Temper: three gems of one kind steer a reforge at the smith.
• Hireling gear (H): give your hireling a weapon, armour and a helm.
• Spears and javelins are now thrown.
• Stacks of potions, scrolls, gems and runes now go up to 99.
• Rare, unique and set items drop with a pillar of light in their colour.
• Item requirements now count the stats from your charms.

Combat

• Boss turns: at half life every boss gets a new move, a battle cry and faster drums.
• Bosses and elites hit harder in sound and feel, and a very heavy blow lands with a thump.
• Kill streaks and a new Records tab on the character sheet.
• A horde can no longer lock your hero in place: after a hit, your hero gets a short grace time.
• Skill keys now work while the mouse is over the skill bar.
• Seeking Arrow is back, and several Huntress skills now show more clearly when they hit.

Other changes

• The Raven Wall: the camp towns now have a wall with the names of players whose ravens shaped the game (only if they said yes).
• If the game closes in a bad way, it offers to send the end of the log on the next start, so I can fix the crash.
• Play data (only if you say yes): the game can send anonymous play data, such as frame rate and where heroes die. Nothing is sent before you accept, and you can change it in Settings.
• The demo shows an end panel when you reach the level cap, and the pause menu has a wishlist button.
• The tip box no longer hides under an open panel.

Note: a multiplayer game needs the same version on every computer. Update before you play with friends.

The free demo covers all of Act I. Keep the ravens coming, and a wishlist helps a lot!