ZpellCatz
ZpellCatz "Time Distortion" Update (1.5.0)
Experimental: Time Distortion
Compared to other (modern) ARPGs, it's noticeable that ZpellCatz plays a bit slower. That's generally okay, but I want to start a test in version 1.5 to see if a speed boost would benefit the game. Therefore, the general pace has been increased quite significantly for this version (and this season). Feel free to try it out and please let me know what you think of the change. Should we keep the new game speed or revert back to the original after the season?
Less Grind, More Variety
I enjoy unlocking new dungeons and bonuses in the Intermediate Realm. However, it sometimes feels very grindy to fight the same enemies and bosses over and over again before you're "allowed" to move on to the next dungeon. For this reason, there are several small adjustments intended to further improve the end game of ZpellCatz.
First, enemies, their mods, and bosses are rerolled after each successful Intermediate Realm dungeon (so after each boss kill). This makes each new run feel fresh.
Additionally, the size of the Intermediate Realm dungeons has been reduced, and the required clears for the third bonus have been reduced from 7 to 5. These changes allow you to move from one dungeon to the next much more smoothly. The experience curve has been adjusted so that even with the new values, you'll always have the appropriate level for the corresponding dungeons.
"Time Distortion" Update (1.5.0) June '25
*** Experimental ***
- Greatly increases movement speed of players (+35%)
- Increased movement speed of enemies (+20%)
- Increased shot speed (+20%)
- Reduced cooldown of offensive skills for heroes and Familiars (15% faster)
- Flat cooldown reductions (e.g. Coropuna) have been adjusted accordingly
*** Intermediate Realm ***
- Enemies, enemy room bonuses and bosses are now randomized after every IR dungeon clear
- Generally reduced dungeon size (about -25%)
- Third reward for clearing Intermediate Realm dungeons has been reduced from 7 clears to 5 clears
- Adjusted late game exp curve for a good leveling flow when clearing IR dungeons only 5 times
*** Epic Items ***
- 'Stake of Wounds': Increased 'Storm Totem' points gained
- 'Master's Shield': Increased block chance
- 'Wooden Scourge': Increased nature damage bonus
- 'Greedy Roots': Increased minimum all damage bonus
- 'Shield Enhancer': Added 'Radiance' and 'Fear' bonus points
- 'Reflector': Increased storm res and lux res
- 'Chilled Pages': Buffed with a focus on cold dmg and cold res to 'Leaf Shield'
*** Balance ***
- Increased rare gem drop chance from 7% to 9%
- Level 8 enemies (Mushroom Cavern) deal 10% less damage
- 'Burning Pyramid' boss: Summons deal 10% less damage
- 'Skull Cave' bosses deal 10% less damage
- 'Ancient Bloom' season tree skill: Reduced required rooms by 1
*** Bug Fixes ***
- 'Frailty': Fixed a bug with curse resistance level scaling
Full Changelog
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Season 1 ends soon
Season Dates
- Season 1 end: May 18, 2025
- Season 2 start: June 6, 2025 (a day after ZpellCatz' first birthday!)
All info about the changes that come with season 2 and version 1.5 will be dropped at the start of the season.
Season End Routine
What happens at the end of a season?
- Seasonal heroes move to the non-seasonal realm. This also removes their seasonal tree and associated bonuses.
- Each season has its own shared stash. At the end of a season, the content of the seasonal shared stash will be moved to the regular shared stash.
- If the regular shared stash doesn't have enough space, excess seasonal items will expire. You may want to clean up your shared stashes before the end of a season (if you care about non-seasonal items).
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"Seasons" Update (1.4.0)
Seasons
You can find everything about Seasons in ZpellCatz in the announcement from January. If you missed it, you can read it all here:
Seasons are coming to ZpellCatz
"Seasons" Update (1.4.0) February '25
*** New Features ***
- Added a seer skill tree (level 45+)
- Changed max level to 100, adjusted exp curve
- Added seasons with seasonal tasks, a season skill tree and a leaderboard
*** General ***
- Slightly adjusted the position of some dungeon entrances
*** Epic Items ***
- 'Bite of the Hydra': Added dark to fire conversion
- 'Storming Club': Now grants increased 'Shock Nova' range
- 'Light': Increased all res
- 'Mithril Garb': Increased defense
- 'Leather of Havoc': Increased pierce all
*** Intermediate Realm ***
- Map: Moved 2 uber bosses to earlier locations
- Adjusted uber boss clear rewards
- Changed required level for top tier gems from 55 to 80
- Reduced enemy bonus 'Pierce All' from 25% to 20%
- Slightly adjusted dungeon score calculation to match the new level cap
*** Text ***
- Renamed 'All Skills: +X' to 'Class and Path Skills: +X'
*** Balance ***
- Increased rare gem drop chance from 5% to 7%
- Dungeon level 45 to 47: Enemies deal 10% less damage
- Druid skill 'Healing Light': Increased HP gained
- Druid skill 'Photosynthesis': Added HP%
- Tranquility skill 'Adaption': Added defense%
- Enemies now gain 0.1% pierce all per enemy level
- Respec is now cheaper and available sooner
*** UI ***
- Software cursor now correctly scales with resolution
- Replaced flag images for language selection with a neutral icon
*** Bug Fixes ***
- 'Fist of Embers': Epic bonus is now grey for non-Fury
- 'Shadow End': Epic bonus no longer requires path Twilight
- NPC interaction markers are now correctly reset when leaving a room
- Fixed a bug where ingame skill hover didn't show skill info
*** Engine ***
- Game engine update
- Library updates
Full Changelog
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Seasons are coming to ZpellCatz
Seasons
If you already play other ARPGs, you should be familiar with the concept of seasons (some games also call it ladder or cycle). Otherwise, here's a rough introduction: There's a new season every few months. Heroes that are created during a season usually receive some sort of temporary bonus and are allowed to compete for spots on a seasonal leaderboard. Some games also have thematic features that are only active during one season.
In ZpellCatz we will have seasonal tasks, a season tree and a leaderboard.
Newly created seasonal heroes can complete seasonal tasks. As a reward, they receive points for their season tree.
The points can be used to unlock bonuses. There are three branches: More loot, additional stats and minimap compass.
Seasonal heroes also take part in the competition for the leaderboard. The score for this increases through all kind of activities, for example by completing seasonal tasks. Roughly speaking, the more you play your seasonal hero, the higher your score.
Late Game Changes
Season 1 will be released together with version 1.4. In addition to the usual bug fixes and balance changes, the new version also offers major changes to the late game (only affects heroes with level 45 and above).
My feeling, which has been reinforced by player feedback, is that leveling feels a bit tough from the Intermediate Realm onwards. Leveling up from level 45 takes a long time, which is a shame because it's fun to further expand your skill tree(s). For this reason, the maximum level was increased from 60 to 100. The enemy levels of Intermediate Realm dungeons and the experience curve has been adjusted accordingly. You will now level up much more frequently on your journey through the Intermediate Realm.
Also, a new Seer skill tree will be introduced in the upcoming version. This tree is available to every class combination and is unlocked at level 45. The Seer tree offers very strong bonuses and always has new skills for heroes on their way to the outer edges of the Intermediate Realm.
Furthermore, the position of two Uber Bosses has been moved to earlier areas in the Intermediate Realm. This change allows players to enjoy an interesting challenge sooner, even if they haven't revealed the entire intermediate realm map. The level and difficulty have been adjusted accordingly.
Note: The late game changes in version 1.4 are available to all heroes. For non-seasonal heroes of level 50 and above, the transition may not be entirely smooth, as enemies in the middle to later areas of the Intermediate Realm will be much higher level than your version 1.3 heroes. One idea would be to respec your skills (this will be cheaper in 1.4) and invest heavily in the Seer tree to increase your chances against high-level opponents. In general, my recommendation is a new start with a seasonal hero.
When?
ETA for season 1 and version 1.4: February 7, 2025 at 18:00 CET
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"Smooth Operator" Update (1.3.0)
Collision System Rework
The old collision system had obvious weaknesses. Players were stuck on walls, bosses were blocked by Familiars, and melee enemies had difficulty attacking together without getting stuck.
For the current version 1.3.0, I took the time to completely rework the collision system. This benefits both CPU-controlled enemies and familiars, who can now reach their goal more easily, as well as players, who can now slide smoothly past walls and objects instead of getting stuck.
I tested the changes extensively. If you still notice any errors (especially related to collisions), please let me know via Discord or the ZpellCatz Steam Community.
Quality of Life
In addition, the new version brings many smaller adjustments that make playing more pleasant. Feel free to take a look at the changelog.
"Smooth Operator" Update (1.3.0) November '24
*** General ***
- Reworked the collision system to avoid being stuck
- Slightly increased Familiar collision size
*** Quality of Life ***
- Added an option to hide already known info signs
- Increased item pickup radius
*** UI ***
- Added a custom cursor image
- Added a warning text on new game screen when name already used
*** Input ***
- Gamepad: Right analogue stick is now mapped to the same actions as the left one
Full Changelog
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Patch Update (1.2.1)
*** Bugfixes ***
- Fixed a bug where multiple gamepads of the same type were not detected (thanks for reporting!)
- Fixed a warning positioning bug in the options menu
*** Engine ***
- Game engine update
- Library updates
ZpellCatz "Hunt for Epics" Update (1.2.0)
Intermediate Realm Rewards
I really like the Intermediate Realm in ZpellCatz. It's intended to be a fun grind experience, but it turned out a little bit too grindy in version 1.1.0 of ZpellCatz. That's why the third tier of rewards was changed from 10 dungeon clears to 7 dungeon clears. Since players now do fewer runs per Intermediate Realm dungeon and thus find fewer items and statues before entering the next more powerful ones, some clear rewards have been increased to compensate.
Tier 3 Epic Smart Drops
My level 51 Forest Shaman has found 9 copies of 'Guardian of Aeons' but didn't find a single 'Sapphire Rod' or 'Tundra Walker' yet. Random drops are part of every ARPG, but it feels a little bit frustrating to keep finding the same tier 3 epic items over and over again. To fix this, the tier 3 epic item smart drop system has been reworked.
Every hero class, path class and combination has "favorite" tier 3 epic items. In version 1.1.0, every tier 3 epic item drop had a high chance to be a random one (weighted) from the list of favorites. Since every drop was a new RNG roll, situations as described above were pretty common (finding the same items over and over again). The change in version 1.2.0 intruduces a new system that works like a stack of cards (under the hood, you don't see cards anywhere). The stack contains cards for every favorite item as well as "random item" cards and is shuffled. When a tier 3 epic item drops, we draw a card from the stack to determine the tier 3 epic item type. When the stack is empty, we rebuild and shuffle it. This way, you are guaranteed to find every favorite item of your class combination at some point.
Early Epic Items
You're not in the late game yet and want to know what patch 1.2.0 brings for you? Lots of tier 1 and tier 2 epic items have been buffed. The focus was on items that were either intended for a specific class combination or items that just seemed a bit too boring. Enjoy!
"Hunt for Epics" Update (1.2.0) July '24
*** New Features ***
- Reworked tier 3 epic item smart drops (card stack like system)
*** Epic Items ***
- 'Glowing Stick': Replaced skill bonuses with +1 to Druid skills
- 'Roots of Wisdom': Increased life on hit and buff duration
- 'Circle of Sages': Increased bonus to 'Frailty'
- 'Iron Guard': Increased flat hp, increased dark resistance
- 'South': Added +1 to Twilight skills
- 'North': Added +5-15% cold damage, added +2-4 to 'Ice Missiles'
- 'West': Added +2-4 to 'Photosynthesis' and +2-4 to 'Shock Nova'
- 'Deadly Fist': Added +1 to Fury skills
- 'Sanctum of the Forest': Increased nature damage%
- 'Bone Talon': Increased flat storm damage to A1
- 'Dark Shock': Increased cursed effect dark res reduction, added flat dark damage to 'Shock Nova'
- 'Banner of Survivors': Added +10-15% cold damage
- 'Defiant Rod': Increased flat nature damage to A1
- 'Defiant Guardian': Increased flat nature damage to A1
- 'Tantrum': Replaced life on hit with higher life after kill
*** Intermediate Realm ***
- Third reward for clearing Intermediate Realm dungeons has been reduced from 10 clears to 7 clears
- Buffed various rewards for clearing Intermediate Realm dungeons 1 / 3 / 7 times
*** Balance ***
- Reduced jewelry special to rare upgrade costs
*** Bug Fixes ***
- Fixed a bug regarding the 'Eye of Mana' epic item effect
Full Changelog
Stay up to Date
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"Aim and Revival" Update (1.1.0)
Aim Assistant
It's sometimes hard to hit enemies with skills like 'Ice Missiles' or 'Fire Ball' in the recently released version 1.0.0. This update simplifies the aim assistant options menu. Also, skills that had trouble hitting enemies now have a minor shot pursuit effect when the aim assistant is activated. Finally, there was a bug that the aim assistant wasn't working for Familiars controlled by a player. This issue has been fixed!
Shrine of Revival
ZpellCatz was never designed to be a super hard souls-like game. I got feedback that the difficulty on normal / normal was way too high and that it's frustrating to re-run the whole dungeon when you die during a boss fight. That's why I developed a cool new feature: Shrines of Revival!
The room directly in front of a boss now always contains a Shrine of Revival. If you die in a dungeon and have already discovered the shrine room, you will be revived there once (including Familiars and potion refill). Note that shrines are only activated on normal / normal. No shrines for you in 'Challenging' difficulty, 'Hardcore' or 'Cat-core'.
Familiars and Local Multiplayer
The changes to the aim assistant and some small bonuses for Familiars help to make you feel less like a sitekick as a second player. Feel free to try it out. As a release party event, I spent several hours in local multiplayer mode with my friends and we tweaked the values until it felt good. Personal tip: Choose Loki if the Familiar is played by another player.
"Aim and Revival" Update (1.1.0) June '24
*** New Features ***
- Added a 'Shrine of Revival' to the room next to a boss room (normal difficulty only)
- The shrine offers one full revival (including Familiar and potions) for non-uber dungeons with a boss
*** Input ***
- Reduced aim assistant types to activated / deactivated (options menu)
- Aim assistant now adds a minor shot pursuit effect to various skills ('Ice Missiles', 'Fire Ball', Loki's A1, etc)
- Aim assistant is now enabled by default (it's a lot more fun when your spells actually hit enemies... :-D )
*** Familiars ***
- Aim assistent is now working for Familiars in local multiplayer
- Increased Familiar base movement speed by 5.6%
- Added +5% 'Faster Movement' native stat to Familiars
- Added +10% 'Faster Cast' native stat to Familiars
*** Balance ***
- Dungeon level 6: Enemies deal 5% less damage
- Dungeon level 45: Enemies deal 3% less damage
- Dungeon level 46: Enemies deal 5% less damage
- Flame Palace boss now deals 5% less damage
- Forgotten Mine boss, spiral skill now deals 10% less damage
- Library of Lies boss, totem skill now has a longer delay before shooting
- Inner Sanctum boss and their summons now deal 5% less damage
*** General ***
- Totems now have a spawn visual effect
- Totems are now easier to spot in dungeons with red ground
- Changed the 'Life on Hit' info to make clear that this is a great stat
- Cat hero and Familiar are now fully refreshed in overworld camps
Full Changelog
Stay up to Date
Never miss an update? Buy & Follow ZpellCatz here on Steam:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1447700/ZpellCatz/
ZpellCatz Release 1.0.0
Guides & Info
Probably the best idea is to play the game right now. But if you would like more information or are stuck somewhere, here are a few good sites:
- A guide for new players can be found on Steam (https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3248995139) or on the SimaGames homepage (https://www.simagames.com/games/zpellcatz-assets/guide-for-new-players.html)
- Don't know which epic items to craft / hunt for? Info on all epic items can be found here, sorted by tier: https://www.simagames.com/games/zpellcatz-assets/epics-t1.html, https://www.simagames.com/games/zpellcatz-assets/epics-t2.html, https://www.simagames.com/games/zpellcatz-assets/epics-t3.html
- Want to chat with other players, give feedback or report a bug? Discord (https://discord.gg/D6CkrUu) and the Steam community (https://steamcommunity.com/app/1447700/discussions/) are good places for that.
- Want to compare your dungeon score with others? The highscore for every dungeon (with a boss) is available here: https://www.simagames.com/games/zpellcatz-assets/highscore.html
- You are a content creator / press member and your need further info or assets? Here's the presskit: https://www.simagames.com/games/zpellcatz-assets/presskit.html
Next Steps
The development of ZpellCatz was a long and exciting journey for me and I am very happy that there is now a feature complete version. I plan to release small patches and bug fixes every now and then over the next months. So, please let me know if you find any bugs or balance issues.
Finally, I would like to say thank you. ZpellCatz would never have been finished without the support of the community, Kickstarter backers, beta testers, friends and my wife and family. You are great!
:-)
Play ZpellCatz now!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1447700/ZpellCatz/
Release Date Announcement
Release Date Announcement
ZpellCatz will be released on June 5, 2024 here on Steam.
Join the Open Beta
The closed beta of ZpellCatz ends today, but we are smoothly transitioning into open beta. A big thank you to everyone who participated in the closed beta and provided feedback. You have helped ZpellCatz become a lot better.
The open beta starts today and will end a few days before release. Everyone is invited to take part in the beta test via Steam Playtest, so check it out and please give feedback.
Want to join the open beta? Visit ZpellCatz' Steam page and click "Request Access". Check out this screenshot:
Stay up to Date
Never miss an update? Follow & wishlist ZpellCatz here on Steam:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1447700/ZpellCatz/