The Last Spell
New game announced: Dead in Antares
We hope you're okay!
Before we worked on The Last Spell, our previous game was Dead in Vinland, that we released in 2018 (nearly 8 years ago!). Dead in Vinland was a mix of survival and management mechanics with RPG features, and we could never have made The Last Spell without Dead in Vinland.
Working on The Last Spell has been amazing for us developers, but we didn't want to abandon our belloved "Dead in" series, as making a third game (in space!) was always in our plans. And last night, we've announced a new game in the series: Dead in Antares
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2511800/Dead_in_Antares/
Dead in Antares is a turn-based survival management game with RPG elements, set on an alien planet. Lead a crew of survivors sent on a mission to save humanity. Manage their needs, strengthen their teamwork, and explore this mysterious world to find a way back home.
If you want to know more about it, we wrote a little blogpost to introduce you to the game: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2511800/view/508448342467937205
And for those worried about The Last Spell: we're working on both games at Ishtar Games (one team is working on TLS, and one team is working on DiA, so nothing changes on that side ;)
If you liked The Last Spell, you will definitely find a lot to love in Dead in Antares. A sense of doom and gloom, lots of UIs, RPG mechanics, challenging but not unfair... Sounds familiar, doesn't i? ;)
So definitely add it to your wishlist!
Take care! <3
DLC 2 Blogpost: New Weapons!
The release of the new DLC is approaching, slowly but surely… (this spring!)
A very closed beta is taking place as we speak to get some feedback before the release. We’re very happy, because most of the design choices are proving to be a success with players! And we still got some time to make some tweaks to make sure everything is ready for the release.
Today, our main focus will be about WEAPONS. In this Elven DLC, there are 3 new weapons that you’re going to be able to use! They bring even more strategy to the game. (but we know SOME of you will just play the map with punches only, so…).
Claws
Claws are a 2-handed melee weapon focused on isolating targets and killing them. Their weapon perk, Blood Drinker, allows the Weapon to temporarily gain Multi-hit on all attacks after hitting a certain number of isolated units.
- Tearing Grasp is a flippable skill, a new feature introduced in this DLC. It can hit up to 2 targets for a single Action Point, allowing you to create isolated targets or activate Blood Drinker.
- Sharpen Claws is a simple buff that gives Physical Damage and Reliability. Reliability is important on Claws, as the damage range of this weapon is very high.
- Shadow Steps is a Maneuver skill that allows you to move wherever you want in a certain range, and also deal heavy damage to a target.
- Piercing Claws is an AoE skill that is great for creating isolated targets, but can also be insanely strong when combined with the Multi-hit of Blood Drinker.
Boomerang
The Boomerang is a one-handed ranged weapon focused on stunning enemies. Its weapon perk, Strong Throw, will send bonus attacks -named "Ricochets"- at stunned enemies after each Boomerang skill you cast.
- Precise Targeting is a multi-hit skill that has a chance to stun enemies. This attack easily lets you stun multiple enemies to activate Strong Throw.
- Crescent Swing is an AoE attack that can hit and stun many enemies for a low cost, but has a very specific shape, making it harder to use. To compensate, the skill has Vision, allowing you to hit enemies behind Trees or other Obstacles.
- Painful Spin is a large AoE attack that can stun even more enemies, allowing to clear through a mass of enemies at once, and trigger many Ricochets. However, it can only be cast in cardinal directions, making positioning key when using this skill.
Sacred Flower
The Sacred Flower is a two-handed magic weapon focused on poison. Its weapon perk, Blight Blossom, builds up stacks of Plague every time the Hero uses Sacred Flower skills. Plague stacks grant bonus magic damage, but also increas the damage of Cleansing Spores. But be careful : if the Hero is hit by an attack while having Plague stacks, they will cast a botched version of Cleansing Spores, poisoning the Hero.
- Death Flower is a single target skill that also poisons 3 adjacent targets. It can quickly poison many enemies.
- Cleansing Spores is an ability with multiple effects : it applies poison to enemies in a large AoE, depending on how many plague stacks you have, but also removes any negative alterations on the Hero and removes any stacks of plague.
- Contagious Pollen is both a mobility skill, and the first weapon skill in the game that can apply contagion. Since the Sacred Flower has a relatively low skill range, you can use it to get into the midst of battle, but also to get out of it and not trigger Blight Blossom by getting hit.
- Petal Storm is a very large damaging AoE spell. It also removes any debuffs from the enemies it hits, which can be very useful against some enemies. Thanks to its very high AP and Mana cost, you can use this skill to build up a lot of Plague stacks at once, if you have the resources to do so.
We hope you’ll find fun and creative ways to use those new weapons!
The new weapons will be available in the DLC 2 of The Last Spell, coming out this spring!
Sign up for the closed Beta of the upcoming DLC for The Last Spell
As you already know, the upcoming new DLC for The Last Spell is coming very soon, and we're looking for players to try it for our next Beta Test!
It will be a very closed beta, we're looking for ~50 players to playtest the upcoming DLC content and help us iron out the last details before release in the next few months.
The Beta will take place on our Discord server
Dates: February 24th to March 10th!
If we have more than 50 submissions, we may not be able to accept everyone who submits, but rest assured, for the DLC is coming this spring!
If you want to join the beta, please fill the form
Upcoming DLC new race: Elves!
We hope you’re alright! :) We’re VERY happy to finally have the very first blogpost about the upcoming DLC, and this time, it's all about NEW race for The Last Spell: elves!
We’re now putting the last touches on this DLC, betatesting, localizing, and we will sooooon be ready to release it. We’re also incredibly excited by this DLC, as we will also have a free update for the much-anticipated Apocalypse 2.0, that some of you got to try last month!
We also want to thank you for the nice love and support you’ve all been giving us throughout the years. We read every single of your message, positive and negative, and we’re working hard on making the game even better! We hope you’ll like what we have planned for the future of The Last Spell.
Elves are just one part of the upcoming DLC for The Last Spell (releasing this spring!!), and they will be our very first focus!
Elves, the Protectors of Nature
In the world of The Last Spell, elves are NOT the social/fun ones. They would rather live with their dear forest and never hear about any other race or being.
Legends say that elves used to be so strong, a few of them was all it took to annihilate an army of hundreds of humans trying to destroy their dear forest. That’s how strong they were.
When the Cataclysm happened, they all thought they could at least save their dear forest. After all, wasn’t it their mission in this world?
Naturally, some of the surviving elves tried to eradicate those monsters by themselves to restore the forest. Not that they didn’t know about the plan to cast the Last Spell. But they had no faith in those “useless, incompetent mages who can’t even defend themselves”, and quite a lot of them would rather have died than fighting alongside… “inferior races”. But when they saw the vision of the forest completely lifeless and corrupted, most of the surviving elves lost their reason. They got mad and ran into the mist in a vain hope they could still restore what was lost forever. Of course, they were never seen again.
So, the few elves that were still alive did something they did NOT want to do. But if it meant saving their forest, they were willing to do whatever it took. They reached out to humans and dwarves, and reluctantly asked for help. But don’t believe for one second that they’ve become team players or anything that sort. They will just be as arrogant as they used to be. You’ll meet Elves in the city of Amberwald for the very first time in DLC 2.
As you can see, elves are PROUD, FIERCE, and LOVE nature beyond reason. They will do whatever it takes to protect it. Nature is not just their homes. It’s part of them. They believe it’s alive, and must be protected at ALL COSTS.
One thing the elves hate is weakness. You know about survival of the fittest? Well, elves believe in survival of only the strongest. Weak ones shouldn’t have their place in this world.
But even the strongest of them might not be enough against those damned monsters…
New Perks
You know the drill, a new race means NEW PERKS! One thing we like to do for The Last Spell is making perks match the nature of their race.
For the Elves, we kept in mind 3 main characteristics about them to define their perks:
They’re HUNTERS. They consider themselves to be the protectors of nature. And they WILL protect it, killing any soul that would have the audacity to think about hurting nature.
- Deadly Ranger grants Critical or Critical Damage to a Hero depending on what weapons they have equipped, allowing Elves to become strong assassins.
They’re AGILE. Elves have high mobility, and dodging attacks is never an issue for those arrogant warriors.
- Flicker Strike grants bonus damage to skills using Maneuver or Follow, depending on how far the target is. This encourages playing around mobility, which Elves already have a lot of.
They HATE anything that changes their dear nature. Venturing beyond the town walls strengthens them, making them deadly hunters. They THRIVE outside the city.
- Into The Wild is the native perk of Elves, granting them a malus to damage when inside the Haven, but a bonus to Accuracy when outside the Haven.
Those are just a few of the perks that elves will be able to get in the upcoming DLC!
Are you looking forward to playing with the elves in The Last Spell?
Next time, we will tell you more about the mysterious new town: Amberwald, and its many secrets…
See you, Heroes! <3
Hotfix 1.1.6.4
A new hotfix is available for The Last Spell!
- Corrected the "Visionary" achievement to be sure it count all the used omens.
Don't forget to update your game!
Patch 1.1.6.2
The patch 1.1.6.2 is OUT NOW!
Bugfix
- Fixed a bug that caused a crash when loading a game, where a character had the perk organic armor, items with armor maluses and a certain amount of missing health
- Fixed a bug that emptied the omen selection on all cities on the last active save slot when loading a save slot that wasn't the last active slot in the main menu
Don't forget to update your game!
Beta Test: Apocalypse 2.0!
We promised that we would talk to you a lot more from now on, didn't we? ;)
We've Revamped the Apocalypse System!
Our apocalypse system is undergoing a major overhaul to offer a more modular and customizable experience.
We asked you last summer to tell us which improvements were most important to you. What stood out was the need for personalization, with the possibility of modifiers that would have a greater impact on gameplay and change your habits and strategy. You can now fine-tune the difficulty to match your playstyle (and maybe discover new playstyles).
Key Changes:
Modular Difficulty Customization:
The new system allows you to tailor the apocalypse level on any map, providing a personalized challenge. No more one-size-fits-all—adjust the difficulty as you see fit!
- Progressive Apocalypse Modifiers Unlocking:
Previously, you had to complete one apocalypse to unlock the next. Now, affixes unlock progressively as you conquer maps with sufficiently high apocalypse levels. This step-by-step approach ensures a smoother progression and rewards your achievements at every stage.
Yep, that's "Apocalypse 15". You should have fun with that one!
Goals of the New System:
- Tailored Challenges:
Our aim is to help you find the perfect difficulty setting for any map. The modular design also allows us to introduce new levels and modifiers over time, keeping the experience fresh and engaging. - Beta Feedback:
This beta phase will help us gather valuable insights on how you interact with the new system. We want to understand the challenges you face and ensure the tier unlocking speed meets your expectations.
A More Challenging Experience:
The revamped system is designed to be more demanding. For example, what was once Apocalypse 6 is now equivalent to Apocalypse 11. However, you might find a new Apocalypse 15 easier than the old 6, as it can be more aligned with your playstyle.
We’re excited to see how you adapt to these changes and hope you enjoy all the new features!
Apocalypse modifiers :
- Increase enemy Health: Enemies have +15/30/45% Health.
- Higher Building costs: Buildings cost +12/24/36% Gold.
- Less starting Mages: The Magic Circle starts with 75% Health remaining.
- Increase Boss HP: Bosses have +100/200/300% Health.
- More Panic: Increases Panic gains by +100%.
- Negative Affixes: Items can have negative stat gains.
- Increase Wave size: Enemy waves have 15/30/45% more enemies.
- No Defenses around Circle: You cannot build defenses in a range of 3 around the magic circle.
- Higher Defenses costs: Defenses cost +20/40/60% Materials.
- Faster Enemies: Enemies have +1 Movement Points (Runners, Crawlers, and Winged have +2 instead).
- Mist Censers: Mist Censers appear, spreading Thin Mist in the battlefield.
- Heroes Block Vision: Heroes now block vision.
- Building Deadzone: You cannot place buildings in a range of 2 tiles around [Houses]/[Houses, Production Buildings, and Mines]/[each other], instead of 1.
- Start with only 1 Hero: Start with -2 heroes. Doesn't impact hero max capacity.
- Closer Fog: The fog starts closer to the Haven.
- Super Elite Affixes: Elites can have upgraded bonuses.
- Upgraded Enemies: All standard enemies have one of their Skills upgraded.
Known issues
- "No defenses around Circle": It's currently possible to build Teleporters and watchtowers in the exclusion area while it shouldn't be possible
Important note: This is an EARLY BETA of the new Apocalypse system. This means that the UI and the feedbacks are NOT final, and there's NO controller support for the Beta.
How to access the Beta branch?
- Go to your Steam game library.
- Right click on The Last Spell and click "properties".
- Select the tab "Betas".
- Copy/paste this code in Betas to get access to the DLC branch: ApocalypseRework
- In the first dropdown box select "Beta".
- Click close and wait for the upload to finish downloading.
- Start playing.
About the saves
The saves for this Beta will be different than the saves for the main branch. This means that you won't have any risk of losing your current save while changing branch.
To play the Beta with saves, you have two ways:
IF YOU WANT TO USE A PRE-MADE SAVE:
- Go to your Steam game library
- Right click on The Last Spell and click on "Local Files"
- There's a folder called "Saves for apocalypse open beta"
- Inside it, there are 2 archives: SaveAllMetaAllApoc and SaveAllMetaNoApoc
- Now, in another window, head over to %Appdata%/../LocalLow/Ishtar Games/The Last Spell/Save/Steam/[YOURSTEAMID]/Profile 1
- Open the SaveAllMetaAllApoc archive, open the "Profile 1" folder, and copy the "AppSaveBeta.bin" file in your own "Profile 1" folder in %Appdata%/../LocalLow/Ishtar Games/The Last Spell/Save/Steam/[YOURSTEAMID]/Profile 1
- Do the same for SaveAllMetaNoApoc with your "Profile 2" folder.
The SaveAllMetaAllApoc has all the meta of the game unlocked, as well as all the apocalypses, and noted as "Finished".
The SaveAllMetaNoApoc has all the meta of the game unlocked, but not the apocalypse modifiers.
IF YOU WANT TO USE YOUR VERY OWN SAVE:
- In your local files, head over to %Appdata%/../LocalLow/Ishtar Games/The Last Spell/Save/Steam/[YOURSTEAMID]/
- Go to the profile you want to use
- Duplicate the "AppSave.bin", and rename the new file to "AppSaveBeta.bin"
ONLY USE A DUPLICATE OF YOUR FILE. DO NOT DIRECTLY RENAME YOUR SAVE FILE, AS IT VERY LIKELY BREAK IT WHEN YOU GO BACK TO THE MAIN BRANCH OF THE GAME!
One final note: if you want to use your very own save, you can technically continue an apocalypse save in progress. You just need to duplicate the "GameSave.bin" file and rename the copy to "GameSaveBeta.bin".
The beta will be available until January 27th at 16:00 CET!
We made a little feedback form for you, so please fill it once you feel you've played enough of it!
Please fill this form before January 29th at 12:00CET.
If you want to talk with us and the rest of the community about this beta, please head to our Discord server!
Beta Announcement: Apocalypse 2.0 playtest
We have an exciting announcement!
On Monday January 13th, you will be able to playtest the brand new Apocalypse 2.0!
It will be an open beta, so anyone that owns the game will be able to take part in it, and it will be available until January 27th.
Our apocalypse system is undergoing a major overhaul to offer a more modular and customizable experience.
We asked you last summer to tell us which improvements were most important to you. What stood out was the need for personalization, with the possibility of modifiers that would have a greater impact on gameplay and change your habits and strategy. You will be able to fine-tune the difficulty to match your playstyle (and maybe discover new playstyles).
This will be an in-progress version, as this update will be released on the main branch this spring, at the same time as DLC 2.
The playtest will take place from January 13th to January 27th on a separate branch that you will access thanks to a password that we will give you next week. We will also send you a form to fill!
Please note that what you're going to play is still WIP, soo the UI and the feedbacks are not final at all, and the beta will NOT be playable with a controller or a steam deck.
Take care <3
Bye Bye Chrismtas Clawers... And hello again old Prologue!
First of all, HAPPY NEW YEAR!! We're very excited about this new year at Ishtar Games, as we have many exciting things in store that we can't wait to show you:
- The new Elven DLC, releasing this spring!
- Apocalypse 2.0
- DLC 3
We also can't wait to show you what else we've been working on at Ishtar Games!
Bye Bye Christmas Clawers :'(
Those clawers did a great job at trying to kill you bringing you gifts during the holidays, but now it's time for them to put their favourite costumes wherever they belong.
We hope you had fun with them, and we definitely intend to do more seasonal skins for your favourite enemies in the future!
HELLO AGAIN OLD PROLOGUE
As a small holidays present, we wanted to give you a little something that you might enjoy, especially if you played The Last Spell before its release into early-access!
That's right, if you played The Last Spell back in 2020-early 2021, you might have heard about its Prologue.
It was a VERY early version of the game, way before we entered early-access. It only had one map back then! And the musics are a biiit different from how they sound today! :)
How to access the Prologue?
The Prologue is on a separate branch.
- TLS in your Steam Library
- Settings
- Properties
- Betas
The password is happynewyear!
How it all started
Please note that this is a small bonus as a gift for our fans, and it's probably a bit broken, and we won't do any update or support for it.
About the saves
The save for the prologue is in a different folder than the main game, so there's no need to secure your saves on the main game!
We hope you'll enjoy this little present from us! Stay tuned because we have something very exciting for you coming really soon...
Take care! <3
Give us YOUR feedback about the current balancing of the game!
We hope you're okay and that our christmas clawers are delivering you great presents! Or, maybe you've already killed many of them, who knows.
Today, we want to ask YOUR feedback! We know balancing of the game has been a source of great debates in the steam forums and our Discord server.
Balancing the game is very tricky in The Last Spell, especially because players of different skill levels and playtimes have very different opinions on what is strong or not. However, that's a huge subject that we will continue to work on in 2025.
What do you think about the current balancing of the base game?
The next step for us is to ask YOU what you think about the current balancing of the game, more specifically the balancing of the base game perks, weapons and buildings for an upcoming balancing patch.
Please fill out this form before January 13th 2025! This will take you between 7 and 25 minutes, depending on your answer.
Let us know in the comments or in our discord server
Take care <3