Equin: The Lantern
Two Year Anniversary Giveaway!
Has it really been 2 years since ETL's Steam release?
But of course!
To celebrate this, I'm holding a giveaway for the game. I have 10 free copies for whoever's interested, just post here it'll be first come first serve.
(Limit one per customer)
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Thanks and here's to another 2 years of roguelike fun!
Xtoli Point Reward System / XTP
Xtoli Points
New to the game as of right now are Xtoli Points (or XTP for short). You earn them from defeating bosses in battle and these carry over from game to game. The absolute max XTP is 99.
But don't take my word for it:
It's important to note that any XTP you earn during a run will only be added to your overall total after you-
- Die or
- Win the Game
So if you quit and save during a current run your earned points won't count quite yet.
Xtoli Point Rewards
And also this:
Upon begining a new game you'll be whisked away to this new screen below. Spending XTP for that run is completely optional, so selecting "GO will just take you to the dungeon like normal.
Each and every Xtoli Reward can be purchased for any character's run, and the benefits are immediate and final (no take backs here, folks!) I'll now explain what the 9 current rewards are and what they do:
LIGHT 'EM UP
XTP Cost: 1
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Start the game with 2 torches and a bag of fire salts.
BIG BUCKS
XTP Cost: 2
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Start the game with $500 in your wallet.
SPELUNKER
XTP Cost: 3
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Start the game with a pickaxe and compass.
QUICK STUDY
XTP Cost: 4
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Start the game with +3 in all stats.
LUCKY DUCK
XTP Cost: 5
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Start the game with a four leaf clover and +100% gold earned.
BOMB SQUAD
XTP Cost: 8
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Start the game with a blast suit and 2 grenades.
XENOMORPH
XTP Cost: 10
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Start the game with a morphing scroll.
EASY PEASY
XTP Cost: 12
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Level much easier than ever before! (Starting 'to next level' reduced to 3).
THE MASTER
XTP Cost: 15
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Start the game with both a dragon ring and a fist of fury.
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Some things:
Both the Morphing Scroll and the Dragon Ring were taken out of the general loot pool for drops in the normal game, and are now only available through this new point system. They were both pretty rare, so chances are you wouldn't have found them already.
My Steam Boss guide has also been updated to reflect how many XTP each defeated boss is now worth:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=802050563
Hopefully you guys'll like this, have a good one!
-Del_Duio
The Potion Dump!
Toeli had a great suggestion on the forums: The ability to empty out your potions to give you an empty bottle (but without drinking them). This has to do with the Stagnant Water's negative effects on any non-Cultist character, though I also think it'd be a great way to safely dispose of Black Potions too.
This was a great idea and I really ran with it tonight. First off, this is how the item command screen looks when you now select any potion:
As you can see, the old (and useless in this circumstance) "EQUIP" option has been replaced by a new "DUMP" one. Additionally, the "USE" command of old has been replaced with "SIP", though these both perform the same task.
I chose the term 'dump' over 'empty' because it looked too similar to 'equip' at a quick glance. And the term 'sip' really helps the player know that HEY this item has some different commands to it, yeah!?
- SIP: You will drink the potion, just like old times. Think of it as a fancy "USE" command.
- DUMP: You will dump the contents of the potion on the ground of the spot you're standing on, giving you an empty bottle without having to drink the contents.
But wait, there's more!
Dumping any potion while standing on a floor fire trap now puts it out.
This can be really handy if a pesky fire is blocking a narrow hallway that you need to travel back and forth a few times through.
Dumping a Fire Water on a twig now creates a campfire
I can't tell you how great this is. You'll know the twig when you see it, they spawn pretty commonly throughout the dungeon. This will only catch fire if it's not raining of course. Fire Water is very useful to resist fire magic (and traps), so think carefully on how you want to use it. And look Ma, more strategy!
Dumping a Purple Potion on a bone pile brings it back to life!
Purple Potions will bring a bone pile back to life in the form of a Skeleton Champion. Your new thief can try this right away by choosing this potion as one of his starting gifts. But.. Yeah, good luck with that!
NOTE: The only stipulation is that a Coven Floor Event can't be going on at the same time, otherwise the potion will be wasted!
Dumping a Black Potion in a pond causes massive pollution
Black Potions- as anyone who's ever gotten one will tell you- are pretty dangerous items as they have a high chance to kill you when ingested. By dumping one in a pond instead it will have the same effect as a Pest Scroll and kill all of that floor's plantlife. This includes all Killer Plant enemies and even the Plant King himself.
However, it's not all good: Killing every plant also means every edible flower and pot of spazz weed will also be killed and unusable to you. Additionally, the pollution even kills the fish! Make sure you get all your fishing and flower eating done before dumping your Black Potion!
Dumping a Golden Flask on a bone pile summons the Ghost
If you don't want to drink that rare Golden Flask for that sweet +2 permanent MDEF you can always dump it on a bone pile to summon the Ghost boss. I don't THINK this is too OP, as #1) the Ghost is pretty hard and #2) it's not like Golden Flasks grow on trees or anything.
Dumping Stagnant Water on a web will disolve it
This is a really great way for the other non-Cultist classes to get some use out of any stagnant waters you may find. If you get stuck in a web, simply dump the water to instantly disolve it- And waste no stamina in the process!
Dumping a Yellow Potion on a regular chest changes it gold
A great GREAT way to potentially gain good loot. You can use it on both locked and unlocked regular chest varieties. You'll have to consider whether it'd be more useful to save your yellow potion until you find a ton of chests all in a row (drink it for the +100% gold find, for lots of $$$) or use it on a single chest for a potentially great item.
The cauldron section in the tutorial has adjusted a bit to reflect the new dumping mechanics as well, along with a new page directly addressing dumping potions:
I think this is a pretty good addition however of course if you guys run into problems or maybe it IS too overpowered don't hesitate to let me know and I'll try to do some more rebalancing.
And now since it's almost 2am...
Time for bed!!
-Del_Duio
October 2018 update!
If you are new to the game, I regularly update Equin: The Lantern with new content on a regular basis. This is because I feel roguelikes especially can always benefit with new mechanics, gear, or other things like items and monsters.
And so, without further ado..
ADDITIONS
- New floor event: Storage Floor! Here's a new early event that can happen from floors 2-6. These places have a ton of barrels and increased number of chests and doors. The only enemies you'll face are plague rats and were rats, which makes sense right?
Storage floors could be a great source of early food supplies due to the number of barrels you'll see. One last bit is any chests on a storage floor have a slightly higher chance of being locked / trapped (+10%)
CHANGES
- You'll notice this right away. I just thought there were too many colors going on before.
FIXES
None this time!
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And don't forget, this entire week is Blocktober! All shields will gain an extra 10% chance to block and it only happens once a year!
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See you next time!
Equin: The Lantern, 80% off this week
Thanks for your continued and future continued support!
P.S: Don't be like this guy who waited around too long.. and look what it got him!
D-Pad Support for 360 controllers
Though I've still been playing Dragon Quest XI and Etrian Odyssey V on the side I've been farting around on ol' Equin here and there this past week too:
ADDITIONS
- The main gist of this update is to let you know that I've incorporated D-Pad support for Xbox 360 controllers now. It actually was a bigger pain in the ass than I expected, but everything is playing great for me. As far as I know, this may only work with a 360 controller (Clickteam Fusion has an XBOX 360 Object, I have no idea if this'll enable D-Pad on any other controllers as I don't own any others myself.)
You can still use the default right analogue stick of course!
- I've incorporated a cool maze-like level generator for the game, which occurs roughly 1/3 of the time. These have randomly placed entrance and exit points, and they can even be close together potentially. Aside from this, they act exactly like all the other floor maps per usual.
CHANGES
- Eggs now only have a chance to hatch when you're on an inferno floor. This was done for a couple reasons, but mostly it's because it just makes more sense. Heat the egg up, hey it hatches! Plus this also keeps new characters starting out away from any unexpected chicken-y dangers early on.
FIXES
Not a one!
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That's all for this time. If you prefer to play your old schooly games with the D-pad hey well now you can.
Have a good one!
-Del_Duio
Of Fixes and Frog... And Maps
There were a few things I had to fix though while in here I decided to add some more things to the game as well. And since I'm probably going to be locked in my room playing Dragon Quest XI for the foreseeable future this had to come out tonight.
ADDITIONS
- New Boss: Plague Frog! This little jumpy bastard takes the place of the Fuzzy Chicken as a 10th floor Troll alternate. He has a, you guessed it, plague attack as well as ice magic and some other goodies. The Plague Frog is always accompanied by a Rain Floor event, so that's going to be a likely giveaway on which boss you'll see when you get to floor 10.
NOTE: Fans of the Fuzzy Chicken, fear not! This little guy still makes an appearance of sorts in the game as Klucka-Kaze, just in another location and not quite as powerful. I mostly changed Fuzzy Chicken because he was so similar to Klucka-Kaze and I don't want to be super redundant if possible.
- And there's 7 new base maps too. Constant variety is the key!
CHANGES
- Grenades are now a LITTLE more common to get out of chests. Just a little though.
- Grenades were also added to the Cultist Den's possible stock, at a cost of 4 Max HP for non-cultists and 2 Max HP for the little jerks.
- Blast Suits were also added to the XGA Shop (i.e. red phase shops) for Warriors, Clerics, Thieves, and Wizards. The cost is $3000, which is actually a steal when you consider how useful they can be vs. Timebomb Floor events!
- Fuzzy Chicken's loot pool was changed to accommodate the Plague Frog: Vitrox B, Bag of Bees, Watermelon, Blue Potion, Silver Flask, and Frog Rune are all possible steals if you can get your Thief to level 7 or better by then.
FIXES
- The Pro Rod's Left Hand battle icon wasn't displaying properly but now it's been fixed.
- The Hawk Rune's icon in the "remove gear" section of the subscreen also wasn't displaying properly and that was fixed too.
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So there it is again! You know all these updates really add up, holy crap you guys should see my friggin' changelogs they are ridiculous.
Have a good night!
The September 2018 Update!
ADDITIONS
- There is a new "surprise" enemy in the game, which I won't reveal how to fight, but like those who were surprised by the Water Dragon while fishing this should be right up your alley.
- 20 New Items! Here are a few of them to give you an idea of what's in store-
Gloves of Bravery: Aquamarine gloves that allow you to deal more than 1 damage while at zero stamina in battle. Possibly a godsend when paired with a weapon or effect that deals elemental / poison damage on strike naturally.
Flanged Mace: A nice 1 handed blunt weapon, especially designed to go with a shield. Holding both this and a shield will give you a shield block % bonus. Another nice option for all ye Clerics out there.
Treasure Map: "X" marks the spot for this puppy. Just hold it in your inventory and climb down the ladder for a guaranteed Treasure Floor. Best of all the floor event triggered by the treasure map is not restricted to floors 21+, so if you can somehow get this early enough you can grab awesome loot and battle Death Boxes with much lesser stats than usual (but with the same rewards!)
Thunder Sword: Potentially one of the game's most powerful 2 handed weapons, you can cast all manner of electric spells in battle with it. Additionally, use it as an item from your pack to summon a giant thunderstorm and call lightning bolts down from the sky. While raining your sword will inflict higher damage too. Did I mention this sword will never break and can be reused until the end of time? Hoorah!
The 2nd Ring: Incredibly rare and powerful, equipping this cursed item will give you both unlimited invisibility and allow you to see secret walls. The catch? With each step there's a small chance you'll premanently lose 1 max HP! Will you equip the ring and basically become invincible to monsters and risk the curse??
- There's a new tutorial page on how to remove your equipped gear (in case you didn't know you could before).
CHANGES
- Lightning bolts can now appear at two different frequencies during thunderstorms. Using the Thunder Sword will trigger the more frequent type.
- The new Black Rune was added to the Guild Master's mystery rune grab bag-o-rama.
- Added some of the new items to both the shop and the cultist den's stock.
- Put some little vines on the Items Found Log and increased it to accomodate 440 items over 22 pages.
FIXES
- The enemy FLAMES spell wasn't dealing the correct damage during Rain Floor Events (-50%).
- Fixed a few minor activity log entries.
- Fixed it so you shouldn't pull up the Water Dragon while fishing until you've caught at least a couple fish first. Provided your pole's line doesn't break now of course!
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And that's it for today! Remember, next month it'll be two years since ETL has been up on Steam. It sure has come a very long way!
-Del_Duio
Small Stuff
[H1]ADDITIONS
- Your fishing line can now snap when you go to try your hand at fishing. This was necessary mostly because after the water dragon has been killed you can fish willy nilly until the end of time, making for a super OP run. The odds that your line will snap is roughly 1 in 21 casts however having a high DEX will improve the odds that your line won't break as much. Broken lines of course spell doom for the pole itself, which in turn gets destroyed.
[H1]CHANGES
- The gear overlay has been improved a lot when you go to remove stuff. It shows your ATK, DEF, MDEF, and LOCKS on the right side.
FIXES
- Using a Plant Scroll now appropriately kills all edible flowers and pots of spazz weed. This was an oversight before!
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That's all for today. The fishing pole thing was necessary, especially since adding runes most likely made the game a bit easier. ːsteamhappyː
CHALLENGE!
BALANCE!
ZEBCO!
-Del_Duio
Graphical Improvements
Anyhow the look of the subscreen and all that got to me too much so it had to be changed. I think most people will dig the changes.
Backpack Screen Before
Backpack Screen After
Added more lines, shadows, and etc. I think it's way better this way but that's nothing:
Removing your items, Before
Removing your items, After
For so damn long I hated the look of the squished tiny equipped gear icons, but it was necessary for a long time. Those are still here however now we have their full pictures below in a whole new gear overlay at the bottom. The new rune slot's here too.
And it even tells ya' what to press to remove stuff in case you forgot!
..You guys did know you can remove your items, right? From the backpack screen just move the cursor up to open the overlay below. Then use the arrow keys / gamepad stick to select an item and press the appropriate key / button to remove it (if the item's not cursed, of course).
So there we have it. About 3 hours of work tonight and a big improvement, even if it's only looks-wise. I've been an artist for over 40 years I may as well put it to use more often!
-Del_Duio