The Awakener: Battle Tendency — Version 2.0 Major Update Roundup!

Hello Awakeners!

Thank you all for your continued support and feedback for The Awakener: Battle Tendency!

We're excited to bring you our Version 2.0 Major Update, one of the biggest content updates we've released since launch!

This update introduces two new playable characters, tons of new skins, player rooms, an affection system, recruitable companions, collectible pets, new merchant NPCs, additional accessories, and more build options. We've also made extensive improvements to co-op mode, combat, stage rewards, and overall performance.

Following Version 2.0, we've also released Versions 2.01 and 2.02, addressing player feedback and further improving the new features.

We hope these updates bring you even more fun through combat, progression, collecting, and exploration!

Also, there's so much new content this time that even we almost forgot everything we'd added while putting these patch notes together (lol). If we've missed anything in this announcement, please bear with us!

Below are the complete update notes, separated into Versions 2.0, 2.01, and 2.02.

Version 2.0 — Major Update

1. Two New Playable Characters!

This update introduces two new characters with completely different combat styles!

· New Character: Warrior Tierdagon

Specializes in charged heavy attacks, unleashing devastating greatsword strikes when enemies leave an opening

· New Character: Sword Dancer Henrik

Focuses on rapid dual-blade combos, with precisely timed skill inputs triggering enhanced skills

2. New Character Skins and Skin System

We've added plenty of new skins for multiple characters and improved the skin selection interface.

· Added a large number of new character skins · Updated the skin selection UI · Added skin name displays · Added multilingual support for skin names

New Caelynn Skins

· Veil of Night · Azure Feather · Crimson Sakura · Forest Dew · Song of the Deep Sea

New Gerasso Skins

· Twilight Edge · Rose Oath · Raven Knight · Golden Glory

New Henrik Skins

· Lightless · Golden Child

New Sola Skins

· White Feather · Night Watcher

New Zhou Kuang Skins

· Stormcloud Armor · Verdant Scale Armor

New Qin Yuntang Skins

· Azure Moon · Azure Luan · Crimson Maple

New Wuxuan Skins

· Jade Celestial · Dark Celestial Sage

New Tierdagon Skins

· Sinwalker · Golden Martyr

3. New Player Rooms and Character Camps

· Added personal player rooms · Backpack, skin customization, and other features are now accessible after unlocking the player room · Added individual camps and tents for characters

4. Elfia Affection and Character Interaction System

· Added Elfia's affection system · Added new dialogue interactions with Elfia · Added collectible items for Elfia: Holy Grail, Staff, Crystal, and Key · Elfia can now roam freely around the island · The Red Panda can now roam freely around the island · The camera now smoothly transitions toward NPCs during conversations · The player character now automatically turns toward NPCs during conversations · Added head-turning and body-turning animations for most character NPCs when approached · Added in-place turning and head-turning animations for NPCs · Fixed issues with Elfia's dialogue UI · Fixed missing animations for Elfia · Fixed an issue where Elfia would not teleport after reaching the required affection level · Fixed issues where some NPC dialogue text was missing or flickering

5. New Companions and Collectible Pets

· Added the ability to recruit companions at Shrines · Added Elfia as a recruitable companion · Improved companion AI behavior to make combat more varied · Companions can now use potions during combat · Improved companion pathfinding · Improved companion teleportation and follow behavior

· Added a new collectible pet: Red Panda · Players can now interact with the Red Panda in the lobby after collecting it

6. New Merchants and NPC Features

· Added dialogue for the Panda Merchant, allowing players to participate in equipment draws · Added dialogue for the Bandit King, allowing players to exchange skin fragments · Added dialogue for the Treasure Merchant in stages, allowing players to participate in weapon draws · Added the Chest Hunter NPC, who can randomly appear in stages and the lobby · Added an NPC who sells Divine Shards, allowing players to purchase them directly with currency · Added the Element Tome NPC · Added elemental information in the lobby · Added staff credits and acknowledgments in the lobby

7. Stage Rewards and Chest Adjustments

· Added loot chests to Boss stages · Chest rewards now increase as players progress through stages · Adjusted chest reward logic so certain rewards scale significantly with stage progression · Divine Shards are excluded from chest reward multipliers · Added collectible drops around the lobby · Added statues in the lobby that increase potion capacity · Fixed several Boss room portal issues · Fixed portal collision issues

8. New Accessories and Equipment Build Features

· Added six elemental counter accessories · Added a new accessory: Execution Emblem · Added a new accessory: Omni Prism · Added a new accessory: Martial Ribbon · Added a new accessory that increases damage against enemies affected by elemental status effects · Added a new accessory that increases damage against stagger-broken or knocked-down enemies · Added equipment stat comparison · Added affix value range displays · Adjusted the Reforge UI position · Improved backpack data loading to reduce repeated loading when changing equipment

Backpack loading speed still has room for improvement, and we'll continue working on it.

9. New Achievements and Challenges

· Added affection-related achievements · Added collection-related achievements · Added new challenge content

10. Combat and Balance Adjustments

· Adjusted execution damage for all characters · Increased weapon elemental follow-up damage to 20% of attack damage · Weapon elemental damage now receives the full physical damage bonus · Increased the hitbox sizes of Scatter Eidolons and Beam Eidolons · Reduced Beam Eidolon attack frequency by half · Fixed an issue where monsters could no longer be hit after death · Fixed an issue where certain smaller monsters repeatedly triggered hit reactions and effects · Nerfed the Feather of Soaring Sky accessory

11. Performance Optimization

· Optimized performance during attacks to reduce frame stuttering · Made general performance improvements · Improved companion AI, pathfinding, and teleportation logic

12. Steam Deck and Graphics Improvements

· Added controller vibration options: Off, Default, and Enhanced · Added descriptions to graphics settings · Improved support for widescreen resolutions · Added graphics API options, allowing players to switch between DX11 and DX12 · The Steam Deck graphics preset now runs using DX11 · Improved image clarity under the Steam Deck graphics preset · Improved shadow quality under the Steam Deck graphics preset

13. Interaction and Lobby Improvements

· Added a map button prompt in the lobby · Interaction prompts are now hidden when players move too far away from NPCs or interactable objects · Added animations to NPC and object interaction prompts · Improved upgrade statue confirmation logic, making upgrades much faster when holding the confirm button · Fixed an issue where the UI would disappear after canceling teleportation · Added navigation meshes to maps that previously lacked them

14. Major Co-op Improvements and Fixes

We've made extensive fixes to co-op mode to improve stability and the experience for both players.

New Features and Improvements

· Added split-screen dialogue UI in co-op mode · Added split-screen skin customization UI in co-op mode · Added P1/P2 indicators when switching menus · Made initial fixes to various co-op lock-on control issues, with further testing still ongoing

Combat and Controls

· Fixed an issue where P2 could not perform executions · Fixed an issue where P2 could not change equipment · Fixed an issue where P2 could not switch weapons · Fixed revival issues in co-op mode · Fixed an issue where character meshes disappeared during P1/P2 rescue interactions

Interaction and UI Fixes

· Fixed lobby map teleportation issues in co-op mode · Fixed interaction prompt display issues near NPCs and objects · Fixed control conflicts during dialogue choices · Fixed an issue where the other player could not move during dialogue choices · Fixed skin customization UI conflicts · Fixed character switching UI conflicts and black screen issues · Fixed UI conflicts caused by opening the equipment menu during conversations · Fixed an issue where item pickup UI only appeared on P2's screen · Fixed abnormal UI display after entering the lobby or stages · Fixed camera and lighting conflicts in co-op mode

15. Controller and Input Fixes

· Fixed various controller button mapping issues · Fixed device input icons flickering between keyboard/mouse and controller when both were connected · Fixed pickup animation issues for Sola and the Assassin · Fixed an issue where character name UI remained visible after switching characters

16. Crash and System Fixes

· Fixed an issue that could cause the game to crash during dialogue · Fixed a possible null pointer crash during DataManager initialization

17. Localization and Text Fixes

· Fixed various localization text issues

Version 2.01 — Patch Notes

Following the 2.0 update, we've continued making improvements based on player feedback, focusing on affection, NPC indicators, Eidolon issues, and localization.

1. Affection and Interaction Adjustments

· Adjusted affection changes during affection story events · Increased affection gained after clearing stages · Changed the Red Panda interaction prompt to "Pet"

2. NPC and Map Indicator Improvements

· Added a POI indicator for the Chest Hunter to make it easier to locate

3. Eidolon and Reforge Fixes

· Fixed an issue where Eidolon reforge counts were displayed incorrectly

4. Localization Fixes

· Fixed inconsistencies across different language localizations · Standardized previously inconsistent terms and translations

Version 2.02 — Patch Notes

Version 2.02 focuses on further improvements to character appearance rates, combat mechanics, skill combos, stage rewards, and system stability.

1. Character Availability and Combat Skill Adjustments

· Added more spawn locations for Sword Dancer Henrik and increased his appearance rate · Improved the execution system to increase the chance of successful executions · Fixed an issue where some of Warrior Tierdagon's skills could not combo into other skills · Fixed an issue where Sword Dancer Henrik's dual-blade Battle Skills could not combo into other skills while airborne · Fixed incorrect descriptions for some of Gerasso's weapons

2. Stage and Chest Reward Adjustments

· Adjusted stage chest reward multipliers · Updated Divine Shard drop logic so they are no longer affected by drop multipliers · Improved the visibility of enemy spawn points in stages · Fixed missing collision on certain walls

3. Eidolon and Reforge Fixes

· Fixed an issue where Eidolons continued ticking while the game was paused · Fixed an issue where the cursor jumped to an incorrect position during reforging

4. New Gameplay Guides

· Added the "Companion Book" to explain the basic mechanics of the companion system · Added the "Co-op Book" to explain the basic mechanics of co-op mode

5. Affection and Collection Improvements

· Improved the visibility of affection collectibles under low graphics settings

6. Achievement and UI Fixes

· Fixed issues with Chest Hunter achievement triggers and progress tracking · Fixed an issue where the confirmation input could be repeatedly triggered rapidly on the stage results screen

7. Localization Fixes

· Fixed additional translation and localization issues

Future Development Plans

Following the release of Version 2.0 and the subsequent 2.01 and 2.02 patches, we've received plenty of feedback about the new characters, skins, affection system, companions, and co-op mode.

We'll continue focusing on combat balance, character skills, companion AI, equipment builds, performance, and co-op stability.

We know there are still areas of the game that need more work. Whether it's the newly added systems or existing issues, we'll keep making improvements based on your feedback.

If you run into any problems while exploring the 2.0 update, or if you have ideas for future content, feel free to share them with us through Steam Discussions, reviews, or our community!

Thank you again to every Awakener for playing, sharing feedback, and supporting us!

We'll keep working hard to bring you more fun content and make The Awakener: Battle Tendency better with every update!