Dev Blog #14: Game of the Year & New Combat Mechanics preview
Greetings Dice Slingers!
We are incredibly proud to share that SpellRogue have won Game of the Year and Best Game Design at Spilprisen 2025 (the Danish Oscar/Bafta for games), and we couldn’t be more thrilled 🥳🎉✨
This recognition means the world to us, but more importantly, we want to thank you—our amazing community. Your feedback, discussions, and support have been instrumental in shaping SpellRogue into the game it is today.
New Combat Mechanics
Early Encounters We're refining Act 1 encounters to encourage more interesting choices and introduce Dice Enchants and Spell Buffs earlier. An example is giving the small mushroom enemy, Corrupt Brute, the ability to Wound your dice. Alongside this, we're testing a tweak to the Wound Enchant itself—allowing the damage to be blocked rather than being a direct health loss, making it more interactive to play around.
Chaos Angel Other encounters, like the dreaded Chaos Angel in Act 3, previously restricted all spells to refill a single Charge per turn with Depleting Presence. Now, it applies the new spell buff Fade to random spells, creating a similar restricting but overall less punishing effect—at least at first.
Scaling Spell Debuffs Some Spell debuffs used to scale poorly. Ignite for instance dealt 2 damage to yourself when an ignited spell was cast—punishing early game but negligible later. We're testing it dealing variable damage that scales with Ignite stacks, keeping the pressure on throughout all acts.
These are just a few of the many new and reworked mechanics we are working on, so look forward to a new and challenging experience for 1.0!
The Continued Road to 1.0
As you can see, work on 1.0 is progressing steadily! Most of our features are reaching a solid state, and we are now mainly working on polishing, balancing & fixing bugs.
Although we previously aimed for a Q1 release, we may slightly overshoot that to ensure SpellRogue launches in the best possible shape. One of the benefits of being a small team is that we can take our time to get the game done right. We appreciate your patience and can’t wait to share more soon!
Stay tuned for more updates, and thanks again for being part of this journey!
May your dice roll true 🧙 Tim, Thorbjørn & Paw
Dev Blog #13: Path to 1.0
Greetings Dice Slingers!
The work continues on Air Spells for the fourth character. Air has its own set of new interesting status effects, enchanted dice and mechanics that tie together to form strong combos. A specific goal for upgrades on the new Spells is to have crossover between archetypes, so that mixing different build types is more viable than ever - which is something we are planning to improve on the other classes as well!
Autosave in Combat
Some of you may have discovered that if you exit the game during combat and then later come back to the game, we currently reload the combat from the start. This can both be annoying having to take the same actions again, but also push some players to repeatedly reload combat to get an optimal outcome, which makes decisions less meaningful and dilutes the accomplishment of winning runs or achieving goals. Instead, we now save the state of combat after every action, so reloading simply brings up the exact state you left the game in.
Making the Codex searchable
Although we upgraded the Codex menus in the previous update, it can still be tedius to find exactly what you’re looking for. We’re currently experimenting with a search feature, to help with tracking down specific names or mechanics in the codex.
New features & experiments
A neat mechanic we are testing at the moment is the act of selling/disenchanting Spells being moved to your Spell inventory, and being available at all times. This means you can disenchant Spells at will to refund Shards and pivot your build, and also gain gold for use in events and rerolling drafts!
Another feature we are trying out is receiving Mutators in Random Events, as a way to introduce players to the mechanic before starting to play with Descent mode.
Since we have implemented autosave in combat there is longer the option of reloading combat for any “valid reasons”, e.g. making a mistake or not understanding a mechanic. So we’re looking into an “undo” mechanic, that allows resetting the game to an earlier state (currently the start of the turn, with a limited amount of uses). However since we have a fair amount of “random effects” we are still very uncertain about this feature. Will it push players to undo a reroll- or a “damage random enemy” Spell to get an optimal outcome?
Other news
SpellRogue has been nominated in the danish game award show “Spilprisen” for Game of the Year, Best Debut, Best Design and Best Visuals! Shout out to Spilprisen and the other nominated games.
May your dice roll true 🧙 Tim, Thorbjørn & Paw
Dev Blog #12: Winter Sale, Price Increase & Air Spell Teasers!
Greetings Dice Slingers!
We’re well underway with the work on our fourth character for SpellRogue - a Dice Slinger with a mastery of Air Spells!
Some of the primary themes are lightning and wind magic. These fantasies are informing our choices on how the mechanics should feel: Lightning is tied to raw damage and repeating attacks, while wind’s focus is on flexibility and the nuances of spell placement in relation to each other. Spell positioning becomes a concern but also a resource, so depending on how you build your character, there are some interesting and deep choices for both inventory management and in combat.
There are of course also many other new mechanics and keywords that are coming together to form a cohesive whole, and we’re super excited for how it's turning out already!
As previously mentioned, the Air Dice Slinger is being introduced with SpellRogue 1.0 in late Q1 2025, along with new features, general improvements and other secrets lurking in the deep Void.
Winter Sale & Price Increase
In other news, the Winter Sale is here! And with it a 25% discount is available for SpellRogue right now!
Meanwhile we have decided to increase the base price when the Winter Sale ends, so right now is the cheapest you will be able to grab the game for a while! The price is changing from 15.99 USD to 19.99 USD (regional pricing will see a similar change). We’re doing this now as SpellRogue has improved substantially since the start of Early Access and the amount- and quality of content has greatly increased, which is why we feel the new price is a fair change.
May your dice roll true 🧙 Tim, Thorbjørn & Paw
Update 5.2: "Big Font Energy"
Greetings Dice Slingers,
Before diving into this update, here’s a quick status check on our road to 1.0. Development is now underway for the new Air character, and we're thrilled with the progress so far. While it’s still a bit early to reveal her in detail, we aim to share teasers and previews in the coming months as we approach the full release in late Q1 2025.
As for today’s update, we’ve focused on quality-of-life improvements, addressing several community-reported bugs and tweaking a few balance issues. Additionally, we’ve introduced a new font size scaling option, designed especially with Steam Deck and other small-screen devices in mind. This is part of our ongoing effort to achieve Steam Deck Verified status and ensure a seamless SpellRogue experience for everyone!
Check out the full patch notes below for all the details.
SpellRogue 0.9.5.2
Overview:
New “Big font size” setting in options, try it out on your Steam Deck!
Improved text readability for several UI components and menus.
Combat preview now shows expected reduction for Dodge (and few other status effects) when hovering end turn.
Bug fixes:
Fixes with 🧙 has been reported by the community. A huge thanks to all the testers and players who give feedback and help us make SpellRogue what it is! ❤️
🧙Fixed Lucky Survivor achievement not working. 🧙Fixed Liquify not working on enemies with exactly 30 / 45 hp. 🧙Removed Mutators with 9+ value (fixes 100% Star-completion not possible). 🧙Fixed Coup de Grace able to put Marked on yourself. Fixed Stygian dice not targetable with “enchant target dice” effects. 🧙Fixed Spell given from additional Mutator draft skipped if inventory full. 🧙Fixed Cultivation not hitting lowest dice if it is enchanted. 🧙Fixed Sow Power & Stalk “auto-cast” effects triggering while Broken. Fixed soft lock if in Inspect mode while Spell being triggered to cast. Fixed act 3 combat scene’s water plane being FPS dependent.
Enemy IMP WARRIOR Action 1: Deal 6 Damage 2 times. -> Deal 5 Damage 2 times. Enemy IMP WARRIOR Action 2: Apply Snare on 2 random Spells. -> Apply Snare on random Spell. Gain 1 Power.
May your dice roll true 🧙
Tim, Thorbjørn & Paw
Update 5.1: "Balance Tweaks & New Poison Spell"
Greetings Dice Slingers,
As mentioned last week, we're releasing update 5.1 as a smaller patch to address some imbalances identified over the past week. This patch primarily includes buffs to underperforming content, such as Spell Upgrades with low pick rates, along with adjustments to Mutator values and reduced “frequency” of less popular options to make more choices viable and interesting. We also had a look at the most dangerous foes and toned them down a smidge so they feel more in line with their counterparts.
We’ve also added a new Spell as a bonus! Poison was particularly impacted by the increased enemy health at high Descent levels, so keep an eye out for Putrid Tide or check out the major buff to Trickle.
For full details, see the patch notes below.
SpellRogue 0.9.5.1
Overview:
Added 1 new Spell, balance tweaks to 100+ Spells, Rituals, Artifacts, Runes & Mutators
Rebalanced ~20 enemies and combat encounters (notably nerfed Ancient Skull, Chaos Angel & Desert Golem)
Slightly reduced damage and health loss costs in Mutator drafts
UI: Reimplemented current level shown when hovering character in character selection screen
Bug fixes:
Fixes with 🧙 has been reported by the community. A huge thanks to all the testers and players who give feedback and help us make SpellRogue what it is! ❤️
Fixed rerolling Mutators not same random seed on exit -> continue 🧙Fixed Codex enemy count higher than shown enemies 🧙Fixed Resilience achievement not unlocked when at exactly 100 hp 🧙Fixed Runic Infuser (and other -countdown effects) hitting Spell with Mute 🧙Fixed issue when combining some Custom Mode modifiers affecting rewards 🧙Fixed Sorcery Shift not showing Active Spells 🧙Fixed Liquify showing tooltip for Undying 🧙Fixed typos in some Mutators Fixed using Potion in map while having Dwarven Tankard Fixed Select Profile menu %-values not updating when coming back after a run
Content Changes:
NEW
NEW: Spell (Water) PUTRID TIDE 'Apply diceX Poison to ALL enemies.'
We strive to include all changes made in our patch notes, but a few unaccounted changes may have made their way into 5.1 as well!
May your dice roll true 🧙
Tim, Thorbjørn & Paw
Update 5: Hotfix #1
Greetings Dice Slingers,
Today’s hotfix addresses most of the small issues which you have been reporting the last few days.
SpellRogue 0.9.5 Hotfix #1:
Fixes with 🧙 has been reported by the community. A huge thanks to all the testers and players who give feedback and help us make SpellRogue what it is! ❤️
🧙Changed Threshold Mutator to only limits direct damage and not health loss (fixes Hydra + Threshold interaction) 🧙Merge dice now uses enchant from the first dice. 🧙Fixed “Shard stuck on main screen” (Modifier: Act one only reward bug). 🧙Fixed Descent achievements to complete even when playing on higher stages than needed. 🧙Fixed Stalk B upgrade: Auto-cast now hits summons on turn 1. 🧙Fixed Mutator choice popup, cost/reward text does not get hidden with "show keyword" disabled. 🧙Fixed highlight for no-slot spells (Darkstar). 🧙Fixed Nullify + Incendiary bug. 🧙Fixed Regrowth upgrade B description (“random other spell”) 🧙Fixed typo in “Elusive Foes” Mutator description. 🧙Fixed typo in “Destroy N dice during your turn” description. Fixed highlight for 2-slot spells in Unlock Popup. Fixed layering/masking issues for VFX in Unlock Popup. Fixed Achievements visual grouping in Codex (mutations, discovery etc).
Upcoming balance changes
We’re also considering doing a small balance patch soon as we get more data for Update 5. One thing in particular is the new Ancient Skull Boss being slightly more difficult than intended, so expect some fine-tuning in the near future.
May your dice roll true 🧙
Tim, Thorbjørn & Paw
Do You Dare Descent Into Darkness? - Update 5 OUT NOW!
Greetings Dice Slingers,
Update #5 has just been released for SpellRogue! This is a rather large update for us, full of exciting new ways to play along with new content, achievements, unlocks and a whole slew of improvements and reworks to supporting features and UI.
Ancient Remains of a Bygone Era
First off, Update #5 introduces the new boss Ancient Skull and Ribcage. A harrowing fight that certainly poses a threat. Do you choose to destroy the Ribcage to avoid it Vexing your dice and blocking damage, or is it better to go for the Skull to attempt to end the fight early?
“Descent” Difficulty
As mentioned in a previous post, we have reworked the difficulty system. We now call it “Descent” and there are currently 9 stages, each adding layers of challenges to overcome!
From the first stage a Mutator must be chosen at the start of each act. We really like this approach, as it spreads the difficulty bump and complexity out over a full run. This means you continue to make important decisions throughout a run and are less often pigeonholed into a build from the start. Other Descent stages provide increased difficulty in the form of increased enemy Health and Damage, less player starting Health, increased shop prices and of course increasing the severity of the Mutator draft itself. Mutators sometimes come with a cost or reward attached to it. These can range from gaining Potions, Artifacts and Shards to losing max HP, Spells or Gold and many other types too.
If you end up missing the previous difficulty system, don't worry! It is now available in the new Custom Mode system for those that prefer the large mutator draft at the start of a run.
Custom Mode
Update 5 also includes new ways to customize your experience of SpellRogue. Enabling "Custom Mode" allows you to put together a selection of Modifiers which can substantially change how you play, or you can simply make small tweaks to suit how you want to enjoy the game.
The system also includes a series of "Presets" which are groups of modifiers that go well together, and are a great place to start exploring what the system has to offer. You unlock Custom Mode once you have won 3 times, and more Presets and Modifiers as you continue to win additional games.
Customize your next run by selecting a Preset like Turbo, or mix and match Modifiers to your heart's content!
Note that Steam Achievements and Descent stage progression does not count for Custom Mode runs, as you could otherwise simply put together an easy-mode to reach the top stages - you gotta earn those wins!
The Codex and overhauled progression
The “meta layer” of the game has historically been somewhat confusing, so we put a ton of effort into how we present your progress and unlock new content. We now have a single menu - “The Codex” - that holds all your knowledge and any relevant information.
For instance, The Codex shows what you can unlock by completing objectives (such as “gain 25 Blessing”), or how far along you are in Descent with various Dice Slingers. It also contains the Run History and Catalogs for all the Items, Mutators and Enemies you encounter throughout the game.
We have also streamlined unlocks by removing the Gold Dice tokens and milestones in addition to improving the UI with added feedback such as showing pop ups whenever you complete an objective or achievement:
Each Dice Slinger now has 10 levels, where each “level up” unlocks either Spells and Artifacts you can start a run with.
Unlock Objectives are still available which unlock additional Spells, Artifacts and Rituals.
Steam Achievements - which in general are harder Objectives - no longer unlocks anything, and simply exist for bragging rights.
We also track which items you have seen in previous runs and which of them that you have won Runs with already, allowing you to challenge yourself playing with items which generally see less use. We now also display the highest Descent Stage win when picking loadouts and starter Artifacts, to give you more goals to pursue, while also providing a smoother introduction to the different features of the game.
Player Profiles
With all these meta changes in Update #5, we are also introducing Player Profiles! You can now easily start a new playthrough to experience SpellRogue from the beginning, and also let other people play on their own profile without impacting your progress.
NOTE: While we keep some progress from earlier versions, you might want to start a new profile when starting to play Update 5, if you want to experience the new progression flow in the intended way.
Map Optimization
As described in a previous Dev Blog post, we have made substantial upgrades and optimizations to how we generate maps. With this improved control we are better able to avoid generating identical paths and allow for even more meaningful choices. This is a somewhat subtle change, but we think it’s providing very engaging maps! As a bonus, the new flexibility allows us to make huge and unique maps for the new Custom Mode!
Simple Keywords
And finally a small but heavily requested change is simpler or shorter descriptions for Spells. We have added a setting in the options to toggle “keywords titles” off, which cuts down the text for e.g. Spells and Rituals. So give it a try - we can’t go back after having it on ourselves!
We are also considering increasing text size with this setting, but didn’t get to it in time for update #5.
Translations
We have unfortunately not been able to update other languages yet for all the new UI and content in this version, but rest assured that we will be adding translations for everything in future updates!
There’s a huge amount of changes besides the ones mentioned above, so have a look at the changelog below for more details!
SpellRogue 0.9.5: "Descent Into Darkness!"
Overview
New Act 1 boss: Ancient Skull and Ribcage!
9 new Spells, 7 artifacts!
28 new Mutators + their variants!
38 New Achievements & 29 New Unlock Objectives!
Feature: New “Descent” difficulty system with 9 stages
Feature: Added “Custom Mode” with Presets & Modifiers to customize runs
Feature: Added “Player Profiles” menu
Feature: Starting Artifact is now selected before the run
Overhauled progression: Additional stats and new Unlocks & Achievements
New map generation algorithm: Improved for speed and better results
QOL: Added “Show Keyword Names” option to shorten effect descriptions
QOL: Sanctuaries now auto close after choice has been made
QOL: Removed Shop’s “are you sure you want to leave” popup for mouse and keyboard
QOL: Various status effect icons changed
QOL: Made Yes/No dialog popups easier to read
QOL: Gamepad improvements and changes
QOL: Artifacts, Mutators and Status Effects plays a quick animation when about to trigger
UI: New "Codex" menu (progression & knowledge), accessible in character selection and Pause menu
UI: Overhauled loadout screen
UI: New Settings and Pause menu
UI: Added “Abandon Game” in Pause menu
UI: End Screen and Summary Screens improved
UI: Added “Win” star to Spells, Artifacts, Rituals, Mutators
UI: Added “Won with this Spell” text+icon when inspecting spells where this is true
UI: Added “Shard slot” UI to Signature spells
Balance: Buffed some Spells and Spell upgrades with low pick or win rates
Balance: Mutator values generally decreased across the board.
Balance: Adjusted frequency weights for how often certain Mutators appear in drafts.
Balance: Removed some Mutators that didn’t work well.
Balance: Some Rituals have gotten an earlier cast point.
Patch Notes
Bug fixes
Bug Fixes with 🧙 has been reported by the community. A gigantic thank you to all the testers and players who gives feedback and help us make SpellRogue what it is! ❤️
🧙Fixed Blood Circle not actually costing HP 🧙Fixed Shadowfire “No valid intent” 🧙Fixed Stifle+ only mutes 1 turn 🧙Fixed “No block on turn 2” Mutator 🧙Fixed various “Dice Rotation Issues” Fixed Critical VFX on enemies looking weird 🧙Fixed issue with Spells drafts having Runes they should not have (+2 block on Inner Storm) 🧙Fixed Spell Echo + Rising Torrent interaction 🧙Fixed Glacial triggering instead of Surf 🧙Fixed Stone Meld not being considered a source of Block by Everguard 🧙Fixed Artifact draft + UI menu clipping issue 🧙Fixed Lifelink not specifying it expires on end of turn 🧙Fixed Rod of Resurgence not triggering 🧙Fixed Ashfall + Broken interaction 🧙Fixed red HP loss text in upper left on final boss victory 🧙Fixed some various text and localization issues 🧙Fixed Staff of Lightning + Delicate issue Fixed some descriptions not using Attack-keyword Fixed Alchemy map issue 🧙Fixed Malady + Tempest trigger issue Fixed dice split/overflow weighted result due to bug 🧙Fixed Undying mutator + Djinn interaction 🧙Fixed Decrepit+ triggering only once 🧙Fixed Fluctuates Poison not affected by Elemental Overdrive 🧙Fixed Incendiary + Elemental Overdrive interactions Fixed Sanctuary disenchant spell option not working correctly with save/load Fixed that some Cursed Artifacts not showing up in Codex 🧙Fixed Rampart Upgrade A being able to target muted spells 🧙Fixed Red Minerals + no-charge spells interaction Fixed various unlocks and achievements not being progressed 🧙Fixed random Events being able to softlock game in some cases 🧙Fixed random Events “No valid targets” text issue 🧙Fixed Achievement “Voidstar” being transferred even though its substantially different 🧙Fixed Contamination upgraded tooltip issue 🧙Fixed M’olly and “On dice rolled” interactions Fixed several “Turn N:” artifacts not being previewed correctly
And tons more undocumented bugs.
Content Changes
NEW
NEW: Spell (Void) ANTI-LIFE 'Deal 6 Damage 2 times to all enemies. Receive 1 Vexed.' NEW: Spell (Void) ETHEREAL 'Gain 1 Dodge. Mute for 3 turns.' NEW: Spell (Void) INEXPLICABLE 'Apply 1 Dazed and 1 Marked to all enemies. Destroy random Dice.' NEW: Spell (Void) ONYX LANCE 'Deal 12 Damage. Enchant lowest Dice with Silence.' NEW: Spell (Earth) ANOINTED IMPACT 'Deal 6 Damage. Increase by 9 if able to remove 1 Blessing.' NEW: Spell (Earth) CONSECRATE 'Roll 1 dice1-dice4. Gain 1 Blessing.' NEW: Spell (Earth) INTERVENTION 'Gain 5 Block. Increase by 5 if able to remove 1 Blessing.' NEW: Spell (Fire) BOIL 'Deal 5 Damage. If Weak on target: Increase by 5.' NEW: Spell (Water) TRICKLE 'Apply 1 Poison. Increase by 1 per Attack Spell cast this turn.'
NEW: Artifact MONSOON MANTLE 'Cast 10 Countdown Spells: Gain 1 Rain.' NEW: Artifact NAUTILUS 'Turn 1: Gain 1 Reinforce.' NEW: Artifact SERPENT'S KISS 'Gain 5+ Block from a single Spell cast: Apply 1 Poison to random enemy.' NEW: Artifact TIDEBREAKER 'End of round: Block is converted to Fury.' NEW: Artifact COUP DE GRACE 'Apply 1 Marked to the first enemy that goes below 50% Health in a combat.' NEW: Artifact DUALITY DISC 'Turn 1: Increase a random Spell's Damage and another Spell's Block by 1.' NEW: Artifact IGNIS INSIGNIA 'Cast 4 Utility Spells: Apply 1 Weak to ALL enemies.'
NEW: Mutator ACCELERATED CHANGE 'When entering first 3 tiles, pick a level 1 Mutator.' NEW: Mutator ACCELERATED CHANGE+ 'When entering first 3 tiles, pick a level 2 Mutator.' NEW: Mutator ACCELERATED CHANGE++ 'When entering first 3 tiles, pick a level 3 Mutator.' NEW: Mutator ACCELERATED CHANGE+++ 'When entering first 3 tiles, pick a level 4 Mutator.' NEW: Mutator BOLSTERED 'Normal enemies have +15% max Health.' NEW: Mutator BOLSTERED+ 'Normal enemies have +30% max Health.' NEW: Mutator BOLSTERED++ 'Normal enemies have +50% max Health.' NEW: Mutator DEADLY 'During Normal Battles, enemies start with 1 Power.' NEW: Mutator DEADLY+ 'During Normal Battles, enemies start with 2 Power.' NEW: Mutator DEADLY++ 'During Normal Battles, enemies start with 3 Power.' NEW: Mutator DEADLY+++ 'During Normal Battles, enemies start with 4 Power.' NEW: Mutator DEADLY++++ 'During Normal Battles, enemies start with 5 Power.' NEW: Mutator DULLING 'After casting an Attack Spell, reduce its Damage by -1 until next turn.' NEW: Mutator DULLING+ 'After casting an Attack Spell, reduce its Damage by -2 until next turn.' NEW: Mutator ECHO SNARE 'Every 2nd turn: Receive 1 Suppress.' NEW: Mutator ECHO SNARE+ 'Every turn: Receive 1 Suppress.' NEW: Mutator EVOLVING ELITES 'When entering Elite battle, pick a level 1 Mutator.' NEW: Mutator EVOLVING ELITES+ 'When entering Elite battle, pick a level 2 Mutator.' NEW: Mutator EVOLVING ELITES++ 'When entering Elite battle, pick a level 3 Mutator.' NEW: Mutator EVOLVING ELITES+++ 'When entering Elite battle, pick a level 4 Mutator.' NEW: Mutator FATIGUED 'During turn 4, cannot gain any Block.' NEW: Mutator FATIGUED+ 'During turn 3, cannot gain any Block.' NEW: Mutator FATIGUED++ 'During turn 2, cannot gain any Block.' NEW: Mutator FINAL GIFT 'On enemy death: All enemies gain Undying.' NEW: Mutator FRANTIC 'End of each round: A random enemy gains 1 Power.' NEW: Mutator FRANTIC+ 'End of each round: A random enemy gains 2 Power.' NEW: Mutator FRANTIC++ 'End of each round: A random enemy gains 3 Power.' NEW: Mutator FRAIL MANA 'Combat start: Activate a Sap Trap' NEW: Mutator FUROR 'Combat start: A random enemy gains Frenzy.' NEW: Mutator FUROR+ 'Combat start: ALL enemies gains Frenzy.' NEW: Mutator HARMFUL MANA 'Combat start: Activate a Damage Trap.' NEW: Mutator HYSTERICAL STRENGTH 'Every 3rd turn: A random enemy gains 1 Critical.' NEW: Mutator HYSTERICAL STRENGTH+ 'Every 2nd turn: A random enemy gains 1 Critical.' NEW: Mutator HYSTERICAL STRENGTH++ 'Every turn: A random enemy gains 1 Critical.' NEW: Mutator IMPERVIOUS 'Turn 2: ALL enemies gain Invulnerable.' NEW: Mutator IMPERVIOUS+ 'Turn 1: ALL enemies gain Invulnerable.' NEW: Mutator IMPERVIOUS++ 'Turn 1 & 2: LL enemies gain Invulnerable.' NEW: Mutator LAST ACT 'During turn 1, whenever an enemy dies, receive 10 Damage.' NEW: Mutator LAST ACT+ 'During turn 1, whenever an enemy dies, receive 20 Damage.' NEW: Mutator MALADY+ 'End of each turn: Receive 2 Damage for each Charge left on Spells.' NEW: Mutator MALFORMATION 'Enemies start with 4 Regeneration.' NEW: Mutator MALFORMATION+ 'Enemies start with 8 Regeneration.' NEW: Mutator MIGHTY BOSSES 'During Boss Battles, enemies start with 1 Power.' NEW: Mutator MIGHTY BOSSES+ 'During Boss Battles, enemies start with 2 Power.' NEW: Mutator MIGHTY BOSSES++ 'During Boss Battles, enemies start with 3 Power.' NEW: Mutator MIGHTY BOSSES+++ 'During Boss Battles, enemies start with 4 Power.' NEW: Mutator MIGHTY BOSSES++++ 'During Boss Battles, enemies start with 5 Power.' NEW: Mutator MIGHTY ELITES 'During Elite Battles, enemies start with 1 Power.' NEW: Mutator MIGHTY ELITES+ 'During Elite Battles, enemies start with 2 Power.' NEW: Mutator MIGHTY ELITES++ 'During Elite Battles, enemies start with 3 Power.' NEW: Mutator MIGHTY ELITES+++ 'During Elite Battles, enemies start with 4 Power.' NEW: Mutator MIGHTY ELITES++++ 'During Elite Battles, enemies start with 5 Power.' NEW: Mutator PERFORATING MANA 'Combat start: Activate a Rupture Trap.' NEW: Mutator PYROMANIAC 'Combat start: A random enemy gains Immolate.' NEW: Mutator PYROMANIAC+ 'Combat start: ALL enemies gains Immolate.' NEW: Mutator RALLYING CRY 'Turn 5: ALL enemies gain 3 Power.' NEW: Mutator RALLYING CRY+ 'Turn 4: ALL enemies gain 4 Power.' NEW: Mutator RALLYING CRY++ 'Turn 3: ALL enemies gain 5 Power.' NEW: Mutator REVERBERATION 'Combat start: A random enemy gains Spell Mirror.' NEW: Mutator REVERBERATION+ 'Each turn: A random enemy gains Spell Mirror.' NEW: Mutator SPELLBREAK+ 'Whenever losing Health, apply Broken to a random Spell.' NEW: Mutator STIFLE 'Combat start: Rightmost Spell becomes Mute for 1 turn.' NEW: Mutator STIFLE+ 'Combat start: Rightmost Spell becomes Mute for 2 turn.' NEW: Mutator STIFLE++ 'Combat start: Rightmost Spell becomes Mute for 4 turn.' NEW: Mutator STOUT BOSSES 'Boss enemies have +10% max Health.' NEW: Mutator STOUT BOSSES+ 'Boss enemies have +25% max Health.' NEW: Mutator STOUT BOSSES++ 'Boss enemies have +50% max Health.' NEW: Mutator STOUT ELITES 'Elite enemies have +10% max Health.' NEW: Mutator STOUT ELITES+ 'Elite enemies have +25% max Health.' NEW: Mutator STOUT ELITES++ 'Elite enemies have +50% max Health.' NEW: Mutator STRAINING MANA 'Combat start: Activate a Weak Trap.' NEW: Mutator THRESHOLD 'Reduce Damage and Health Loss enemies take to 25.' NEW: Mutator THRESHOLD+ 'Reduce Damage and Health Loss enemies take to 20.' NEW: Mutator THRESHOLD++ 'Reduce Damage and Health Loss enemies take to 15.' NEW: Mutator THRESHOLD+++ 'Reduce Damage and Health Loss enemies take to 12.' NEW: Mutator THRESHOLD++++ 'Reduce Damage and Health Loss enemies take to 10.' NEW: Mutator TOXIC MANA 'Combat start: Activate a Poison Trap.' NEW: Mutator UNRELENTING FOES++ 'Turn 1 & 2: ALL enemies receive Undying.' NEW: Mutator WILD RAGE 'Combat start: A random enemy gains Berserker.' NEW: Mutator WILD RAGE+ 'Combat start: ALL enemies gains Berserker.'
That's all for now! We hope you enjoy the update, and as always, we’d love to hear your feedback on the changes!
May your dice roll true 🧙 Tim & Thorbjørn
Dev Blog #11: Public Test for Update 5
Greetings Dice Slingers!
We’re excited to open the Public Test for Update 5! Our primary goal is to provide players with firsthand experience of the update, and gather feedback on the changes to the Map, Game Modes, Content and the new UI. Additionally, by participating, you’ll help us identify and report any bugs, ensuring a smooth launch for Update 5!
Public Test for Update 5
Added a new Boss for Act 1
Added ~9 new Spells.
Overhauled progression: new Unlocks & Achievements.
Reworked difficulty system, 9 stages of “Descent”.
Added “Game Modes” and Modifiers.
Reworked the “Codex” book UI to focus on progression and knowledge.
Added “Player Profiles”.
Starting Artifact is now selected before the run.
New map generation algorithm, improved for speed and better results.
Added “Show Keyword Names” option to shorten effect descriptions.
We have already showcased some of these changes in Dev Blog #8, but a ton of things have also been added since, such as the new Mutator Draft for the Descent Stages that you will be drafting at the start of each act!
Descent Mutator Draft: Depending on the Mutator's value, your choice may also come with an added positive or negative effect, providing more variety and strategy to each decision.
The new map generation system is designed to be faster and more efficient, aiming to create more engaging decision points while cutting down on redundant routes and reducing the likelihood of obvious bad choices. We're still tinkering, tweaking and improving it, so please share your opinions on how it works now as we are very eager to hear your feedback on the changes.
There are also a ton of smaller changes, which we will go into further detail about when Update 5 is ready to go live for everyone, but here's a few examples of new spells and reworked Killshot for now:
New spells with the "Show Keywords Names" option disabled for shorter descriptions.
Feedback and expectations:
We are organizing the Public Test mostly through the SpellRogue Discord server where we will be posting more info about any ongoing changes. It is also the place where you can give us feedback or just discuss your favorite Custom Mode setup with fellow players. So please join and be an active part of SpellRogue’s future development!
Please note:Completing the new Steam Achievements won't be registered in Steam during this Public-Test, but we now have ingame popups for unlocks & achievements plus the Codex tracks what you have completed.
How to Access the Public Test on Steam:
Backup your save files! There’s always a small chance of something going wrong while testing!
Make a copy of the “SpellRogue” save folder at: %userprofile%\AppData\LocalLow\Guidelight Games
Steps to Opt-in for the Public-Test
Right click on SpellRogue in your Steam library, and click Properties.
Select the Betas tab and enter the password “imadebackups”
Select the ”public-test - for testing upcoming changes (unstable)” from the dropdown.
Let Steam update SpellRogue and then Run the game.
To opt-out of the public test later, simply choose “None” in the dropdown instead.
Please note: Opting-in/out of the Public-Test will invalidate any currently active run. On the first time running the Public-Test, the game will transfer your progress to unlock most of the things you should already have unlocked apart from new/changed things.
Starting a new Player Profile
Given the significant changes we're making to progression and unlocks, we highly recommend starting a new Player Profile. You can do this by opening the menu located in the bottom-left corner of the Wizard Select screen, as shown below.
Starting fresh will let you experience the improved early game and help us spot any issues. We strongly recommend it for the best experience and to assist us in refining the game.
Thanks for sticking with us this far! We truly appreciate your time and we read all feedback even though we may not always respond to everything. This time around, we're especially interested in hearing how the adjusted map feels, which Game Modes you find the most fun, and your thoughts on the new unlocks and achievements along with any UI annoyances you run into. Thanks for helping us make SpellRogue even better!
May your dice roll true 🧙 Tim, Thorbjørn & Paw
Dev Blog #10: Game Modes and the SPILL
Greetings Dice Slingers!
Today we're showing off one of the new features for the upcoming update: Game Modes!
NOTE: The above Modes & Modifiers are still under development and might be subject to change
At the top of the Game Mode menu is a list of presets of new interesting and challenging ways to play SpellRogue. The Game Modes affect how you build your character during a run, while some even modify the map, giving you a very different experience playing SpellRogue.
Under the hood each Game Mode is simply a list of Modifiers, which are shown below the modes. Using the "Custom" mode these modifiers are freely customizable, allowing you to to set up games exactly how you want to play! Experiment with weird and bonkers combinations, and challenge yourself and your friends to try combinations that are barely possible to win.
The SPILL
Coffee Stain and friends are putting on the streaming event “the SPILL” on October 8th with a bunch of fellow developers like Deep Rock Galactic, Satisfactory, Valheim and many more! We will be there talking about SpellRogue Update 5, the path to 1.0 and a few other interesting topics. So make sure to tune in - it's going to be a ton of fun!
To learn more, check out this video with Snutt from the Satisfactory Team, or head on over to the SPILL website to keep tabs on the schedule.
Finally, we are planning to run the open beta testing for Update 5 in the coming weeks, but we will let you know more in the next Steam post.
May your dice roll true 🧙 Tim, Thorbjørn & Paw
Dev Blog #9: Roadmap Revision
Greetings Dice Slingers!
We are still hard at work on Update 5, and plan to start another public test in the near future. Meanwhile, we have updated our Roadmap to the full 1.0 release, so everyone can get a better sense of our current priorities.
A lot of you have been patiently waiting for the new playable character, so we’re happy to let you know we will be starting to implement it after Update 5! However, since this is a huge undertaking we are expecting it to first be ready at the full release of SpellRogue 1.0.
There are several other planned features, including a "True Ending" to the game, adding new and better enemies, as well as a lot of “quality of life” additions.
