Part of the work we’ve been doing in the background between hero releases is reevaluating how the game evolved and where we want it to go. As of now, the game isn't as challenging as we want it, we think that the "normal" difficulty of the game should ask for more tactical choices, be it on party composition, items, or path choice in the combat map.
To reach our vision, we needed better tools to calibrate the game, stronger enemies to keep the challenge in the mid-late game, and a way to bring more agency to choose the best fights for each party beyond "Am I strong? Y: Elite - N: Normal".
In this beta we are only testing the first zone, with the 12 original heroes and with basic status items + healing/defensive items.
The difficulty is locked on "normal", this might be harder than the experience you are used to, but please try this out to see how the new systems interact. We will do our best to integrate feedback and make a cool "fun" difficulty and an absolute nightmare "wicked" difficulty.
We hope you like the changes, we have been having a blast internally!
Feedback
Feedback is crucial for this next step, we want to hear your thoughts after engaging with the new systems so we can adjust and polish the changes.
We’ve set up a Google Forms to get some structured data, but also feel free to jump on the Discord and speak your mind directly to us.
Combat
Scaling
Enemy nanas and heroes get stronger as layers go by, keep up the pace!
Common nanas starts with 25% less health, but ends with about 250% more.
Melee nanas start with 100% more damage and end up with 400% more.
Shadow heroes are even more powerful!
Elites
Elite nodes now show you beforehand what kind of enemy you will face, a node with an Archer will only contain Archer themed waves. The number of waves was also reduced from 3 to 2.
Elite node’s final wave will always have a level 3 shadow hero/miniboss that DOES have access to their level 3 abilities (or something equally as devilish), good luck and plan ahead!
Boss
The first boss received a few touch ups, nothing too drastic. He will be throwing more shrooms around in the second phase to make the fight more engaging.
Length
The map has been increased and split into two acts: The first act is easier and ends in a treasure chest; The second act has a lot more elites and ends with the boss.
The total number of nodes has roughly doubled, with this increase the need to save runs got even needier, this feature will come in the future and has been started.
Items
Damage and Heal Power items have been replaced by Strength and Intellect items, these will provide flat values (2/5…) instead of percentages (25%/50%...).
Strength increases the damage of physical attacks, from Knight’s cleaves to Archer’s arrows. Intellect increases the effectiveness of magical magics, from Mage’s fireballs to Paladin’s heals
Heroes now will have scales on each skill so we can better fine tune each one. If a skill has a 120% strength scale on its damage and you have 10 strength, you will do 12 extra damage.
Item costs have changed as well to better match the extra income from additional waves and force more tactical choices, from 1/2/3/5 to 1/3/5/9.
Heroes
All heroes’ skills have been adapted with the new Strength-Intellect item system, the new calculation looks like this: (Base_Damage + (STR/INT * Scale)) * DMG_Multipliers
Hoplite
-At level 3, can hold up to two empowered spears
Other changes
-Lots of calibrations for the synergies, check the tooltips! -Ranged enemies run away when near danger -Pets will stay close to the party when there are no enemies around -Buff icons have been remade for better readability
How to access the beta
Right click Just King in your Steam Library
Click on “Properties…”
Select “Betas” on the sidebar
Select the “beta” branch
Close the window, Steam should download the beta branch
Bard Fools!
Artificer: Welp, I have to rework this AP/AD converter, but things seem somewhat stable now...
Enzo the Bard: Heeeeeeey buddy, what do you have over there? Seems expensive!
Artificer: Oh this? This is the reality warper I've been working on, don't touch it!
Enzo: Hmm, ok ok... you like scrap metal, right?
Artificer: ... yes?
Enzo: The Knight will give you his helmet if you manage to take it off, it has a cupholder and everything.
Artificer: Say less. ~Runs out of the room
---
Enzo: Well well well... now it is timer for JUST BARD!
P.S. If you want to play the normal version of the game, go to the "normal" branch in Steam config, the special April Fools mode will be up for 24h, have fun!
Patch 0.3.9 - Early Access
The King announces new Patch Notes!
I’ve finally convinced the dude from the patch notes to join the party! He is a genius (just like me), so he will be a valuable addition to our efforts! He likes to plant these turrets that zap enemies, and he is really keen on recycling the iron left in the battlefield, so eco-friendly!
Also, the Artificer told me he is calibrating the very foundations of the realms in his spare time, whatever that means. Don't be surprised if we find some… instabilities… in the future.
Heroes
*NEW* Artificer
A genius that crafts static defense and scavenges armor! [Unlocks by beating a boss with 4 Strategists]
-After standing still for while, spends 2 armor to craft a Turret -Turrets deal ranged damage and slow enemies -Destroyed Turrets leave behind scrap metal that gives 1 armor to the Artificer that collects it -Defeating an enemy grants Artificers 0.2 armor -Lvl 3: Nearby Turrets gain bonus Haste based on the Artificer’s Haste -Lvl 3: Turrets also explode when destroyed, dealing damage and stunning nearby enemies
Items
Wagon Blueprint - now gives stats at the Left position instead of Front
Systems
Hero Pool
The hero pool order is fixed and now shows the synergy symbols of each hero under them. Thanks for the suggestion Alissa!
Minor Adjustments
-Skills with fixed cooldown have a new icon. Thanks for the idea Lamp! -Fixed some missing characters in Japanese. Thanks ikutaN!
Patch 0.3.8 - Early Access
The King announces new Patch Notes!
What is that in the sky? Is it a plane? Is it a bird? No... it is The Sun! Our new Protagonist hero is the literal Sun and Moon! Can't get any more protagonisty than that, eh? Like a super hero, he is mighty, a bro, and have a terrible weakspot: the afternoon.
New music!
Our minstrel Tad has brought us 5 new amazing songs! These will be added to our soundtrack for a total of 10.
Heroes
*NEW* The Sun
Powerful hero that is powered by the Sun and Moon
-Changes forms based on the time of the day, each day has 24 seconds -Morning form (8 seconds): Powerful attack that converts all haste into damage, gains 3 additional armor -Sunset form (4 seconds): Has a very weak attack -Night form (8 seconds): Ranged attack that converts all damage into haste -Sunrise form (4 seconds): Has a very weak attack again! -Level 3: Sunrise form is replaced. The Sun will rise to the sky and bombard the battlefield with solar beams that burn enemies for 4 seconds!
Items
-High Quality Baguette: now gives 50% party damage on the right instead of on the front
Minor Adjustments
-Mouse will now be bind to the screen to avoid it slipping in the second monitor, you can unbind it by opening the pause menu with ESC -Defeated heroes are also greyed out in the MVP post combat screen
Bug Fixes
-Fixed numeric error taht made the Ronin attack slightly slower at level 3
Patch 0.3.7 - Early Access
The King announces new Patch Notes!
Small patch!
-Updated localization files -Polish font has been changed to the same most languages use -Portuguese localization was done by us, on a post carnaval binge, with lots of jokes. Espero que gostem <3 -There will now be an "X" on heroes that died in the post combat screen
*NEW* Perma Death Mode!
-If a hero dies, it stays dead! -You can enable this mode on the difficulties menu. -Clerics can be used to revive your fallen hero just fine, just don't forget: if you move to the shop before the ritual is complete they will stay dead!
Hotfix
-FIXED A DIRTY, DIRTY AND EVIL DEAD PIXEL MAKING THE GAME UNPLAYABLE EWWWWWWW -Fixed an issue that swapped heroes' tooltips in the MVP screen -Tooltip text is now aligned to the left to avoid weird spacing -Made this patch note more beautiful
Patch 0.3.6 - Early Access
The King announces new Patch Notes!
Happy Valentine’s heroes! In this climate of roses and smooches we bring the third Heavenly hero: The Cupid! Pray he gets you a cute pair, because this mad man is throwing arrows at random over here.
Heroes
*NEW* Cupid
It is a match! Couple enemies and support allies through the power of love! You can unlock the Cupid by getting the Heavenly achievement!
-Fires arrows that bounce around madly until two enemies are hit, they become lovers! -Lovers that get too close become a couple! …for 3 seconds at least… -Witnessing a couple forming heals all allies! -Level 3: The cupid shares his burning passion arrows with the hero on the other side of the party, giving them extra damage based on his heal power! That’s way better than chocolates and flowers.
Plague Doctor
Now applies The Cure on all allied heroes whenever he unlocks a new tier.
Slayer
First target damage (3/4/5) -> (2/3/4) -Lvl 3: Secondary first target damage 2 -> 1 -Lvl 3: Catches to activate 3 -> 6
Systems
*NEW* First Shop Buttons
-Added buttons to randomize starting items, first hero pick, and hero pool to the screen, just under the Continue Button!
*NEW* Just King Just King Run
-Yep, literally just the King. Good luck with that one lol -Unlocks after defeating a Shadow King with the one and only King!
Languages
-New text font -Improvements in the language selection screen -Added Polish and Russian to language options -We are adding languages as soon as they hit a reasonable % in Localizor, if you want your language in the game and want to collaborate feel free to join the localization community! (Link in the game, in the languages menu)
Minor Adjustments
-Return option in the zone selection screen -More heroes can appear in the menu doing the happy little dance
Credits
-We’ve added a Credits screen in the menu with the many amazing people that helped us along the way <3 -If you did some cool stuff and we forgot about you, please remind us in the discord! -If you want to appear in the credits, do something cool!
An apology to our localization community
In our recent announcement regarding our partnership with IndieArk, the phrase “bring more professional language localization” (rough translation) was used referring to IndieArk’s future contributions to this project in the Chinese version of the post. This can be read as a jab to our localization community members who have worked so hard to make this game more accessible to their friends and compatriots.
We must reiterate that the idea that our localization community has been anything but professional is deeply wrong. What we’ve seen are readily available, quick, and incredibly well-organized individuals that not only took it upon themselves to make the game playable in their languages, but also had the care to ask for the context of every joke and reference and even improve and correct the text that we have written in the English version of the game.
Our partnership with IndieArk comes firstly for their publishing capabilities and support in China, Korea, and Japan. IndieArk’s secondary role is to provide localization for new content and necessary corrections, such as reworked content.
We will not discard the work already done by the community.
The plan going forward is for IndieArk to provide us with an initial translation (currently done by Google Translate/Deepl) and then open this for community feedback and adjustments. We will keep using Localizor and Discord as the direct bridges between the localization community and us, we believe this is the best way to improve the game.
Just King is working with IndieArk!
We’re so glad to announce that Just King is now working with IndieArk. We are working on bring the game to players in China, Japan& Korea and look forward to meeting the players in the Asian region in the best possible condition!
This will greatly improve the experience for Asian players: - Improved translations by native speakers - Building a community for the Asian players - Answers to your questions & support
Our next hero is the Slayer! This veteran shock trooper from the Golden Harpy army will turn the tides of battle and guarantee victory for the King! Her unique weapon works as a boomerang that damages enemies and returns towards her, if you catch it, its cooldown is reset! So remeber: the cannonical way to play her is to *not* miss the catches, if you are missing catches you are doing it wrong, don't do that, you are ruining the organic story telling here, she is supposed to be skillful, ok? Good.
Heroes
*NEW* Slayer
[Unlocked by beating the Good Troublemaker achievement (win with 4 Frenzy heroes)]
Skillful (remember) ranged fighter that makes enemy more vulnerable
-Throws a revolving axe that deals damage to enemies in a line and then returns -Catching the axe resets the skill's cooldown -Damage units have their armor reduced for a short duration -Level 3: Catching axes 3 times in a row makes you throw 2 smaller additional axes
Berserker
Reworked to better scale in the late game
-Melee attack now reduces its base cooldown to 0.5s from 1.5s while Enraged
-Enrage:
Duration (6/8/10) -> 8 seconds
Heal 5 -> (5/7.5/10)
Haste 200% -> 0%
Movement speed 0% -> 30%
Cooldown now scales with Haste, starts at the end of the transformation
-Bloodboil:
Damage 5 -> 5 to 10 based on how low your hp is
Cooldown resets when Enraged
Knight
-Visual adjustment, he has a bit more of armor -Armor 2 -> 3, literally!
-Dark Pauldron required enemies 10 -> 7 -Golden Harpy Brooch (Archer interaction item) status restriction right -> left
Systems
New run modifier: No roll
Now you can choose to disable the roll button on your runs for added difficulty!
Heal status
Now the healing status will fully stack between different entities If a Paladin with (50% heal) heals a Knight with (50% heal), the healing increases by 100%. If the same Paladin heals himself, the healing is increased by 50%.
Minor Adjustments
-Champ now resets cooldowns when the stamina recharges to avoid weird pauses between slow and fast punches -Updated many tooltips in Localizor to the new variables system -Updated Red Vulture's Mask's description to match the new effect (Thanks Minako o/)
Bugs
-Cloned Kings on zone 4 no longer become perfect copies during Christmas
Happy Chinese New Year!
Hi all,
As you may know, the year of Rabbit is around the corner! Best regards and wishes to everyone for the new year ahead!
Looking back on the past year, we'd like to thank all of our players for supporting “Just King”. We're working hard now on new content hoping to deliver you the experience as best as we can. Stay tuned!
