Hey Everyone, This is mostly a part 2 to the small bug fix patch I released 2 weeks ago. While that update focused on fixing more immediate bugs, this update I focused on fixing up the adventurer and adding some quality of life changes.
Potion Usage
I've had a lot of feedback asking that potions can be used in inventory, rather than taking up an inventory slot. This update adds this feature, as technically it was possible before via a bug! Now potions can be used in your inventory, and they all stack!
Giant Bloat change
The Giant Bloat was the only boss that was not considered "defeated" until all the summons had been dealt with. I've changed this so that the summons will die when the boss is killed, which should make this boss a lot easier for mages who sold their daggers!
Adventurer Fixes
The adventurer got most of the love this update, as I found a few bugs that together combined into making it impossible to complete the adventurer! These are all the adventurer changes:
Fixed bug where spell upgrades were not unlockable in the Adventurer tree
Fixed bug where Rogue's Mark for Death was not unlockable
Fixed bug where Adventurer would not unlock achievements after completing all spells
Fixed bug where Adventurer achievements would check for completion only once
Poison Mushroom + Armor Spike changes
Finally, the poison mushroom and armor spikes have been fixed. Previously these would trigger twice, once when you took damage and once when you hit the enemy. Now they have been fixed to trigger only once. They also no longer hurt the gameshow skeleton and will no longer destroy boxes and jars.
Next Update
The next update will be focusing on cleaning up all of the remaining bugs and should be out in late September!
Small Patch for August 17
Hey everyone! This is a small bug fix patch to address some more critical bugs that people have been having. I also improved potions and bombs, and enabled the feedback system to be always on
Changes
Potion & Bomb Improvements
Potions will now stay equipped so long as you have another of the same kind of potion. This is the same for bombs, which now remain equipped until you run out of them.
Feedback System
There is a feedback system that is disabled by default, but can be toggled in the settings. Instead, I decided to just enable it permanently by default. Any time you press F10 in the game a form will open and allow you to submit feedback or bug reports!
Bug Fixes
Fixed bug where casting Mass Call Lightning as the adventurer could crash the game
Fixed bug where Nightmare mode was not being saved properly on first unlock
Fixed bug where some Achievements were not being checked properly
Fixed bug where the Amulet of Shielding achievement was not unlockable
Fixed bug where Adventurer would not always receive health on level up
Plague Breaker is now available!
After nearly 2 years in Early Access, Plague Breaker is finally out! Thanks everyone who helped along the way, your feedback has been invaluable in making Plague Breaker awesome.
Improvements in Depth
Before I show off each of the individual changes, I wanted to highlight why the full release is an improved experience over the previous Early Access versions.
More and better loot
One problem that was common was reaching a plateau in your items, especially at later levels. With limited money from enemies and only one chest per level, runs generally gained only 2 or so items per level. In theory this was a fine amount of items, but many items simply don't work per build and had to be sold for a small amount or just ignored.
Once you made it to the later and longer levels it became optimal to simply rush the boss and ignore the level itself due to this restraint. The Alchemist Lab can take generally 10-15 minutes to fully clear, which is enough time to start a new run and just hope you get better items. This isn't what I wanted the later levels to be, but this is what most runs turned into as players got better at the game.
I solved this problem in two ways: More loot, and better loot.
More Loot
First, more loot. This is an obvious solution, if it isn't worth it to spend 15 minutes exploring a level just to get 1 item then how many items would have to be in the level for it to be worth it? Simply adding more chests as the levels go on might work as well, but it can also result in chests feeling a lot less special if there are too many of them. It also has a side effect of potentially causing each run to be overpowered simply through receiving so many items.
So how do I add more loot without reducing the "special" feeling from chests? I added a new type of chest: Common Chests
A Common chest is a lower tier treasure chest that contains a common item, money or a potion. This variety of "simpler" items means that each common chest is beneficial to pick up, but not so beneficial that you'll find your character growing overpowered through just common items. Common chests are now scattered throughout the level, with more appearing in later levels to provide some reward for exploring.
This also has the added benefits of making potions far more viable, as previously they were too expensive to spend your limited money on over a full item. Now each run tends to have a lot more basic items and more money, without having so much that you no longer have to think about what you want to buy.
Better Loot
Common chests means more basic loot, so to contrast this the Treasure chests have had their loot pools improved greatly. A treasure chest will now contain one of the three categories of items: Class optimized items, Rare items or Legendary items. Once you've reached the Castle Peak, there is also a new type of item rarely available at Treasure chests: Cursed items.
This makes every treasure chest far more important than they were previously, where a treasure chest could give any item. Getting a useless common item from a Treasure chest really sucks, but improving the loot pools means they are always viable. The right legendary item at the right time can save a ruined run or greatly improve an already awesome build.
Overall, these two changes mean that your runs will have more items and more money, but not so many more items that you find that all runs are the same or that you are always flush with cash.
Better end game
With each individual run being improved through more items, the next issue was what do people do after they beat the final boss? Having 5 classes means that there is always some replayability, but without a specific goal it's a lot less exciting to play again. I alluded to a new boss in the previous update, while I won't spoil the boss here I will highlight how to actually reach it!
New Boss
The final boss is unlocked from beating the game with every class. This means you'll get to play every class fully through without feeling like you aren't making any progress. Be warned though, the final boss is not easy! You'll need skill and a good build to fully beat Plague Breaker now!
Once each class is on the mantle, you'll unlock the final boss. You'll have to beat the game on Normal or higher however!
Cursed Items
I also wanted to throw in some late game specific items that can totally change how the game plays, just to add some variety to replays or to potentially save a failing run. This is totally optional since each cursed item changes the game in some manner, which may not be what you want. For example, the Cursed Gem item replaces all items in all chests with Gems while buffing each gems power.
Cursed Items are only unlocked once you beat the Plague Herald.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I think Plague Breaker is in an awesome state right now. Each run is fun and exploring the castle at each floor is rewarding, the game is still challenging without being unfair, and there is enough content and unlockables to keep you coming back for more! I look forward to hearing everyones thoughts on the full release, so go have fun and try it out!
Other New Stuff
The above covers all of the major features I've added to improve Plague Breaker, while below is covering new items and general improvements to the game that aren't covered previously.
New Items
Plague Breaker now has 102 items! I'm not going to list all of them here, but I'll cover a few of the new special items that I think are pretty fun:
Titanium Anvil - Rerolls at the Armor Shop are free
Gem Ring - Gems are more effective, gain a free gem when you get this item
Item Box - Gain 2 random common items
Greater Elemental Rune - Enemies take 15% more damage for each status effect afflicting them
Phylactory - Your maximum health is 10. On death, resurrect with 1 less max HP.
Pandora's Box - Remove all of your items and your gold. Gain a random item in each slot and a random amount of gold.
Gem Bag - Gain 1 of every gem
Elemental Potion - Gain resistance to elemental damage for a short window
There are a lot more new items than that of course but you'll just have to play Plague Breaker to find them!
New Buffs
I've also added new armor and weapon buffs to improve the variety in the Armor shop. These include, but are not limited to:
Hearty and Greater Hearty - Increase max HP when equipped
Dueling weapons - Increase armor while equipped
Greater and Lesser resistances - 33% and 66% resistance to a specific elemental type
Holy and Smiting weapons - Deal increased damage to undead, or light them on fire!
Sharp weapons - Deal extra backstab damage
Keen weapons - Have a small crit chance
General Improvements
This is a list of other changes I've made that aren't covered above:
Zombies now have 10 hp instead of 12
Poison Bloats have a smaller poison pool and much less HP
Shield Armor now have much less HP
Bats can only hurt you during their charge
Healing Mages now heal much more than before
Font can be changed to non-pixelated font
Shops have more items and coins are more common
Adventurer now unlocks after beating the final boss
Nightmare Mode now unlocks after beating the game on Hard once
Added some steam achievments
Bug Fixes
This is a non-exhaustive list of bug fixes, mostly just highlighting the major ones:
Steam cloud saves now work as intended
Fixed bug where Greater Armor would get stuck against the wall if you were rogue
Fixed a lot of UI spacing
Fixed cameras in boss fights
Enemies will no longer target a dead player in co-op
Fixed bug where the player could get stuck in the idle animation
Fixed bug where the Plague Rider could bounce around trying to reach his destination
Fixed bug where stunned flying enemies would fly all over the place
The Acolyte no longer attacks while stunned
The Flute, Crown, Elven Cloak now works as intended
Many, many, many other small bugs
Thanks Everyone
Finally, I wanted to say thanks to everyone who helped out with Plague Breaker along the way. I hope you all enjoy the game!
Plague Breaker full release announcement
Hey Everyone! It's been a couple months since the last update and I have been busy putting the finishing touches on Plague Breaker in time for its full release, which is officially going to be July 5th! This post is intended to highlight a lot of the new features that are coming soon, and I'll post a full patch notes with all changes when the update is actually released.
What to expect
This final update has a lot of awesome new changes that I'm excited to show off! This update brings in some simple meta-progression to unlock the true final boss, adds a ton of new items and weapon effects, rebalances how many items the player receives and of course fixes a lot of bugs!
Additionally, I will be removing the Demo off of Steam. I simply don't have the time to bring the demo up to the current standards of the game, so this decision is going to help ensure that the game releases on time.
New Boss
There is a brand new final boss, which is only unlockable after beating the game with all 5 classes. This boss is going to be a serious challenge so bring your best builds into the fight! I won't show any spoilers on who or what the boss is, but I will show you the battlegrounds!
New Items
Plague Breaker now has over 100 items! In addition to the magic items, there are new Armor and Weapon effects that appear in the weapons shop.
More loot
Later levels can feel a bit unrewarding for exploring a large floor only to take some damage from enemies without anything to show for it. I've added common chests throughout the levels, appearing more frequently in later levels. These chests can contain common items, potions or just coins.
Cursed Items
These items only unlock after you've reached the final boss at least once, occasionally you will be offered items instead of the chest. If you accept, you'll get a powerful new item that has some unwanted side-effects!
Non-Pixelated Font Choice
I've had some users complain about the font choices, so I've added an option to use a non-pixelated font for those who prefer that.
Timeline
With the release only 7 weeks away I am doing my best to make sure the game is as bug-free as possible for the full release.
If you'd like to help, I'll be posting regular updates in the Discord and on Twitter.
Plague Breaker Update for March 2023
Hello again everyone! As I mentioned in the previous update, this update had a big focus on improving the UI. I've also added 4k and 1440p support, fixed a ton of bugs, added a new item and more!
UI Changes
This update had a lot of major UI changes! Every UI has been recreated to be scaled properly for all 16:9 resolutions. I've also added a lot of quality of life improvements to these UIs such as dimming the background UI for popups, ensuring that all selectable abilities have green outlines for clarity. All fonts should be consistent within UIs as well.
Old Inventory
Here is an example of the old UI, it's so difficult to tell which item I have selected! The outline is also not pixel perfect, you can see a seam around the item.
New Inventory
Now it's so much easier to see which item I have selected and which I don't, my cursor has the white outline and seamlessly blends into the item.
Changes
The first major change is 4k and 1440p support! The new UI overhaul combined with a better pixel perfect calculation means that all 16:9 resolutions should be supported soon, for now I've added just 4k and 1440p.
Quick Restart
There is now a Restart button on the death screen. No more returning back to the main menu just to restart with the same class!
Other Changes
Complete Map now shows rooms you haven't visited yet
Battery now recharges at 50% instead of 35%
Holy Water now lights undead on fire
Equipped potions now ask if you want to consume them when interacted with when equipped
Doubled the attack range for Call Lightning
Potions now cost 50 gold for small and 100 gold for regular for the Adventurer
Bug Fixes
Fixed dialog boxes that had text popping out
Fixed bug where scrollbar didn't work in shops
Fixed autoscrolling in co-op
Fixed bug where adventurer and trade menus would show the wheel of chance health gain/loss
Potion and poison effects now end when the boss has died
Fixed bug where getting killed by the Greater Armor would show Spikes as cause of death
Fixed bug where Adventurer could not cast Call Lightning
Fixed bug where adventurer could not be reset back to 0 hp
New Item
A new item has been added! The Purple Gem increases spell damage, similar to the other gem items.
Next Update
I plan on releasing a new update shortly with a few more UI fixes and various other bugs, and then it will be a month or two of working on the final boss. Hopefully that update should be live before May for a full release of the game in June or July if all goes as planned!
Plague Breaker Update for February 2023
Hey everyone! As I mentioned in the last post, this update is focused on bug fixes! Thanks to everyone who has provided feedback and bug reports I've been able to clear up quite a few bugs. I also added a few quality of life improvements and balanced the Holy Water better.
Changes
Player can now skip boss intro videos by pressing Jump
Conversations can be advanced by Jumping instead of just interact
Holy Water now deals more damage in general and even more damage to Undead
Bug Fixes
Arrows fired from skeletons will always fire the same distance, previously the first arrow would fly short
Fixed issue where abilities were not properly being auto-equipped after leveling up
Player is no longer always warrior during loading screens when playing as Adventurer
Tutorial now fades in instead of cutting from black
Pause menu can no longer be unselected when in a boss fight (forcing you to use the mouse to close it)
Health gained or lost from the Wheel of chance is now permanent, previously it would reset at end of level
Fixed a jump in Library that was impossible and could soft lock your progress
Cutscenes are now replayable
Fixed issue where player could not vault onto single tile platforms on lower end PCs
Player can no longer use abilities after defeating a boss
Fixed bug where player could be stuck in an idle animation if they get hit when attacking occasionally
Save button now correctly navigates to the Confirm Shop Purchases prompt in the options menu
Fountains at the start of a level after beating a boss now appear on the map
Fixed misaligned tiles in Library
Fixed issue where UI for a new ability would not allow you to properly navigate to select the slot to equip to
Next Update
This update was all about bug fixes, the next update will have bug fixes as well but will be more focused on UI centric bug fixes and general improvements to the UI. There might be a followup bug-fix patch after that as well, but afterwards it's onwards to the final few updates before release!
Thanks everyone for continuing to support Plague Breaker, keep filing those bug reports and providing feedback!
Plague Breaker Update for January 2023
Hey everyone! Plague Breaker is starting the new year strong with a new NPC and a new Tutorial, which adds story elements to the game. There are also some new transitions and bug fixes galore.
New NPC
I've started working on adding some story elements to the game. This update has a mysterious new NPC who you can meet after defeating each boss for the first time, and they'll be in the new tutorial as well.
I intend to have the story be revealed through dialog but also by exploration, more on that in a future update!
New Tutorial
I've had a few people be "confused" as to what to do in the game, even after beating the old tutorial. I think adding the new NPC along with some encouraging dialog will help with that confusion, it also adds some allure to see what comes next!
Polishing
I've starting focusing on polishing the game a bit more, I've added some fade to black transitions which I think greatly improves the loading screens. No more jarring jumps between scenes!
I've also tweaked every dialog box so that the shape is consistent and the text doesn't wobble when you move, and I've fixed a few minor visual issues with the UI.
Item Drop Pools
There are now item pools per class, which increases the odds of you getting an item that will synchronize well with the class you've picked. You're still able to get every item randomly, but there's a 30% chance that every item you find will be linked to your class in some way. This is to help prevent useless items from dropping too often for classes that can't or don't want to use them, but I don't want to remove them entirely as that could ruin unique character builds.
Bug Fixes
Fixed bug where the Flute would prevent you from defeating the giant spitting corpse
Fixed bug where your class skill would not always be selected when leveling up
Fixed start button not always being selected at the main menu
Fixed player 2's new item window being stuck open during a boss fight
Fixed new item button not always being selected properly
Fixed bug where game could crash when changing to windowed mode
The next update
The next update I have planned will be bug-fix patches with no new content. I've been collecting bug reports that users have submitted, and some that I've noticed, and I aim to fix as many of them as I can before the full release! I will probably release a few 'smaller' bug-fix updates in the coming months before working on one final major update before the final release date.
Thanks everyone for continuing to support Plague Breaker!
Plague Breaker Update for November 2022
Hey everyone! It's been a few months since the last update but I'm back with some major balance changes, some serious bug fixes and a few new items. I also have some news regarding the future of Plague Breaker.
Balance Changes
This update has a big focus on re-balancing a lot of the game, most notably the order each class is unlocked. There is also some stat changes which should make some elements a bit easier.
Adventurer Unlocks Earlier
The Adventurer class was originally a reward for those who fully beat the game, but after reviewing the progress that a lot of players achieve I've decided to unlock this character much earlier.
The intention behind this is that if the game is too difficult for players to beat with the stock classes then they can at least feel some progress behind their lost runs through new items added to experiment with on the Adventurer. Plague Breaker can be a very difficult game, and I intend to keep it that way, but I don't want people getting discouraged or finding themselves in a boring rut where they keep failing with the same classes.
The Adventurer is now unlocked after defeating the Acolyte, instead of after beating the game with all other characters.
Other Class Unlocks
With the Adventurer being unlocked after the Acolyte I've moved the Mage to be unlocked after defeating the Lich.
Stat Changes
Here is a list of some minor changes to the gameplay:
Hunter receives 4 hp per level instead of 5
Bats deal 1 less damage
The acolyte has 25 less health
Shop discounts now work with the armor smith as well as the black market
New Items
I've added 3 new items this time:
Flute
The flute makes rats your allies! They'll now follow you around (although they can't jump) and they'll attack nearby enemies.
Holy Water
I've always wanted to add an "Arc" weapon to the game, now you can toss the Holy Water at enemies. Deals extra damage to undead!
Coupon
The final item is the Coupon, which gives you one free item from either shop.
Bug Fixes
There have been quite a few bug fixes this time, most notably around the Co-op mode.
Ice Ring now has a proper price
Warrior Belt now increases the difficulty as expected
Descriptions are now formatted properly in co-op
Fixed an issue where the game could crash when starting co-op
Item unlock prompts no longer appear when player 2 selects their level up ability
Fixed bug where save data could be lost if the player quits immediately after starting the game
Controller icons should now remain in the button instead of sticking out
Elemental Resistances could previously negate damage from other elements
Fixed a bug where the Adventurer achievement would not be unlocked
The Path Forward
Working on Plague Breaker has been an awesome journey. I've had a wonderful artist help me create all the assets along the way, and he is unfortunately no longer able to work on Plague Breaker. This has changed a lot of what I had planned for Plague Breaker and I've decided to expedite the release date.
Currently I have two remaining updates planned before releasing the full game. The next update will add story, which will have to be done though interacting with fallen adventurers throughout the castle. The final update will include the final boss, which will be unlocked through beating the game with all characters. I'm hoping to release Plague Breaker out of early access in June 2023.
Thanks for supporting Plague Breaker! I'm looking forward to hearing everyone's feedback!
Plague Breaker Update for July 2022
Hello everyone! This update is a big one with improved visuals thanks to the new camera system, darkened backgrounds and improved minimap. I've also fixed a ton of bugs and added some new items!
New Camera
After a lot of experimenting, I've decided to zoom the camera out a fair bit. This should help with the visuals a lot, as well as make it easier to navigate the dungeon.
Check out the screenshots below for what the new camera looks like!
Foyer
Library
Alchemist Lab
Boss Fight Camera
The boss fights don't work as well zoomed out as the rest of the game does, so I've kept the camera zoomed in for the boss fights. Check out the images below to see which you prefer:
Zoomed Out Boss
Zoomed In Boss
What if I liked the old camera?
Good News! I've added menu options under Video which let you set the camera as you like.
Minimap Changes
The minimap has also been updated with darker graphics and a brighter player icon. I've also added icons for interactables, such as fountains, shops and treasure chests.
New Minimaps with Icons
New Items
There are two new items this update!
Leather Cap: Gain +1 armor against projectiles Warrior's Belt: Gain Armor, Damage and self heal. Tougher enemies appear much more frequently
Other Changes
Here is a complete list of all other changes:
Hammer is now much rarer
Removed old loading screen
Resized dungeon loading screen
Boss variants will appear on Normal as well as Hard
Doubled area of effect for Book of the Dead
Book of the Dead now pierces shields
The poison bloat boss is now resistant to poison
Reduced twin doctors health slightly
Bug Fixes
Fixed inconsistent backgrounds
Fixed bug where Token of Greed and Token of Charity could not be unlocked in easy mode
Acid Arrow spell now shows its damage in its description
Fixed bug where cloud saves could delete class progress
Fixed bug where ice damage resistance could carry over into armor
Fixed bug where certain items would cause the game to crash when quitting co-op
Fixed bug where player 2's potions would be infinite
Fixed a few abilities that would only affect player 1 in co-op
Fixed issue where character creator would not work with a controller on first open
A note on saves
I intend to re-balance the game in a future update, and this update includes some background work which affects how the game loads its save data. If you have any issues with your game saves please file a bug report!
Next Update
As mentioned in the note on saves, I intend to do some major re-balancing next update. There will be some new items and abilities, and some rebalancing on how classes are unlocked.
Plague Breaker Update for June 2022
Hello everyone! The update I previewed in the last bug fix patch is finally here! Featuring a new loading screen, a new enemy, some updated graphics, new menus and more! Thanks to everyone who have been providing feedback and helping Plague Breaker grow into a great game!
New Progression Screen
The old progression screen was very basic and rather boring, now there's a flashy new map of the castle that shows your progress and how much further you have left to go. The final 4th level is still blocked off for now, but keep and eye out for an update later this year that will add it.
New Enemy
The Bat is here! These flying monsters will hang out on the ceiling and attack if you come too close. I think flying enemies add a lot more variety to the game, and I'm excited to add some more in the future as well.
New Options Menu
The options menu and control rebind screen have been merged into a single menu, with different pages to separate them.
Updated Tileset
The tilesets fade to black much faster in backgrounds, which should make the levels more visually appealing and be less distracting.
New Dialog Boxes
The dialog from characters was previously a bit hard to read, so now they've been revamped with much easier to read boxes.
Balance Changes
The Acolyte and the Twin Doctors bosses have been some pain points for a few players. Here are some changes I've made to balance them.
Acolyte Changes
The Acolyte fights went on for a bit too long, and had some slow parts where the player just had to sit and wait for the pillars to disappear. I've tried to make this boss a bit faster now with these changes:
Reduced HP slightly for Easy and Normal difficulty
Zombie spawns have been staggered much further on Easy and Normal difficulty
Pillars will appear less often, usually only when Zombies are on screen
Twin Doctors Changes
The Twin Doctors have ended far too many runs, usually requiring a combination of very high damage, high armor and high healing to survive. I've attempted to fix this boss to make it a bit faster paced and less punishing:
Dramatically reduced both Doctors HP
Increased spawn rate for the spawning doctor while both doctors are alive
Bug Fixes
Fixed UI bug which sometimes caused players to get locked in an idle animation after exiting a shop
Fixed bug where enemy HP was scaling based on level, rather than off difficulty
Future Updates
This update took a while as I had to deal with a lot of tech debt from old code, especially around flying enemy AI and the options menu fix. I hope these changes will mean my next updates won't take as long. I intend to have a smaller update next, with a few new items and some visual changes. The next major update will be in a few months, where I intend to add a new boss and a new level!
