Dev Blog #47: Elder Spirits and Combat Updates

Hello Voyagers! Stephiroth here with another development update. Throughout Early Access, one of the most common pieces of feedback we’ve heard is that players would like more variety in combat, both in the enemies they face and in how fights play out. We agree, and we’re really excited to make some big updates to combat. Today we’ll be talking about some changes coming in 1.0, including new enemy variations, a rework to bleed, and updates to the Elder Spirit encounters.

This is just a small slice of the combat updates we’ve been working on, so expect to hear more in upcoming dev blogs!

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Enemy variations are coming to more biomes

In our last dev blog, we introduced Enemy Variations: enemies you’ve come to know, with modifiers that make them more difficult or give them an entirely different play pattern. The Unstable Wisp, the Unstable Brawler and the brand-new Shattered Elite are coming to the Embrace with the Players’ Most Wanted patch in December.

For 1.0, we’re expanding enemy variations into the rest of the biomes. Here’s a sneak peek at a couple of them!

Make them Bleed

A new red Reef Hobb variant is lurking in the Reef. He’s big, he’s spooky, and he has a thirst for blood.

When we thought about what a new enemy variant could do in the Reef, we wanted to lean into the biome’s core friction: bleed. However, bleed as a mechanic wasn’t working the way we wanted, so we decided to take this opportunity to update its design too.

Why change bleed?

Bleed used to be a damage-over-time effect, and it was difficult to balance. If it was too strong, it felt punishing, but if it was too weak, it felt more like an annoyance than a source of tension. It also meant the items for dealing with bleed weren’t very valuable.

How does bleed work now?

Bleed now works like poison and corruption. Certain enemy attacks, like those from our new Reef Hobb, fill a buildup bar. Once the bar is full, players take 50% of their current health as damage. A player at 100 health would take 50 damage, and a player at 20 health would take 10. Bleed won’t kill players outright, but you’ll definitely need a bandage.

Cloth bandages and bleed potions reduce buildup or grant resistance to it, so coming prepared will make a big difference.

Poison Bomb

The Greatwood is getting a new Hunter variant that leans heavily into poison. They throw poison flowers that blanket the area around them for a short time, and their melee attack is a wide acid spray that poisons everyone caught in it.

We’ve heard feedback that poison doesn’t feel like much of a threat in the Greatwood. We hope this will help ramp up the challenge and make poison items and mitigation feel more useful.

This Hunter is the most work-in-progress of our new variations, so their look will change quite a bit before 1.0.

What types of opportunities do variants add?

Variants give us the chance to experiment with more extreme mechanics that can shake up gameplay. For example, players could previously approach the Hunters in the Greatwood head on. Now the poison Hunter can shut off parts of the battlefield for a short time, so players need to think more about their positioning and how they approach a fight. We’ve also been using variants to lean further into each biome’s specific mechanics, like bleed in the Reef and poison in the Greatwood.

Variants also give us a chance to experiment with mechanics that are interesting but would feel frustrating if we used them everywhere in the game. For example, under normal circumstances, filling the Greatwood with so many poison plants would be overwhelming. Introducing them through an enemy variation’s special attack instead creates a gameplay opportunity that players can make decisions about and have fun playing around.

Elder Spirit encounter updates

Now let’s talk about the Elder Spirit fights. We have some general improvements based on player feedback, and some changes curated to each fight.

What’s changed across all Elder fights?

• Shorter, burstier fights: Encounters have fewer waves, but more enemies spawn in each one. Fights should be quicker while staying about as challenging as before.
• No more unnecessary loot bags: Enemies in Elder encounters no longer drop loot. Elder fights had become a bit of a loot bag bonanza, and walking over items would automatically pick them up. This could cause players to pick up something heavy like Tidemetal mid-fight and become overencumbered and unable to dodge, and that is SUPER frustrating.

What’s new for each biome?

We’ve heard feedback that the Elder encounters felt too similar to each other, so for 1.0, each Elder fight will have its own special mechanics to make it feel distinct.

• The Embrace: The Elder fight now features our new enemy variations. It’s a shorter fight with curated waves that mix explosive enemies and elites, making it more challenging and fun than before.
• The Reef: Tornadoes now spawn around the arena and knock back anyone they touch. They aren’t all bad news, though: tornadoes also block enemy projectiles, so players can use them as cover if they’re quick on their feet.
• The Greatwood: This encounter leans into poison, using it to cut off areas of the arena so players have to stay on the move.

More combat and quality of life updates

Spear and Bow Buffs

The spear is now one-handed, which means players can finally pair it with a shield! This has been a long-requested change, so we’re really excited for this change!

The bow had fallen behind the other weapons over time, so we’re giving it a significant buff in the December patch.

Faster revives

We’ve shortened the revive timer, so players can get their crewmates back into the fight sooner.

No more floating loot!

This one has been a long-time complaint: bags now drop to the ground with a little animation instead of floating in midair. No more loot left hovering out of reach after defeating a wisp on a high platform!

What’s next?

We still have more combat updates we’re excited to share, and coming up soon we’ll be talking about the long-awaited round building kit! Stay tuned for future dev blogs where we’ll share more about what’s coming in 1.0!

Which new enemy are you most excited (or scared) to face? Let us know in the comments below