The next step, which I just completed, was finding and picking out references to use for the art for each of the new characters. This is usually a bit quicker than it was this time, but things went a bit slower this time due to the extreme age and extreme popularity of some of the characters involved. Both of those can create trouble in different ways. Extreme age can cause feast or famine problems: there may lots of references (making it difficult to figure out which one is most accurate to the original myth!), or there may be very few or none at all (making them hard to find.) Extreme popularity tends to flood the internet with lots of mythologically inaccurate depictions, also adding to the difficulty of finding good sources.

Of course, on top of those factors, this particular set I wanted to take a little extra time with since they exist at the Tower’s upper most floor.

But, now that is done, everything needed to begin creating the character sprites is complete. Next up, I’ll be working on my own version of those and also on the abilities for each of the new characters. (I tend to do both at once since my still frustratingly limited art abilities usually lead me to want to switch to another task now and then to give myself a break. )

Hey folks. A tiny, if vague, progress update: I’ve finished picking out the new characters who will be added as part of the update. Barring any tweaks/changes later, it looks like there will be 17 new characters: 7 heroes, 7 unique demons, 2 minions, and 1 normal demon.

I will probably preview a limited selection of these once we’re further along and they have at least character sprites ready (or better, character sheets), but many of them will remain a mystery until release.

A quick note: The build release target date is 12/20. Cheers!

I’ve made some other Upgrade and Relic tweaks worth mentioning during this balance pass:

• Most levels of Capacity Up are now more expensive than before. As a result, Crown now only starts with Capacity Up IV, not Capacity Up V. (They do however, now start with Copy Saver as well, which works well with large stables of demons.)
• All levels of Far Summon are now cheaper: 2, 3, and 5 points rather than 5, 5, and 5 points.
• Aux Guard and Power’s two levels are 10 and 5 points each respectively. (This means Titan’s Fist doesn’t start with any additional Upgrades than it did before, since Aux Guard and Power’s previous three levels were 5, 5, and 5 points each.)
• Nightingale is now a 15 point upgrade, up from 10. As a result of this and the Capacity Up change, Faithful Heart now starts with Capacity Up I, not Capacity Up II.
• Copy Saver and Fusion Saver now offer 33% discounts, up from 25%.
• Horns of the Hunt now starts with Scan Brand instead of Refine Brand.
• Several enemy summoners have had their Upgrade loadouts adjusted to be level appropriate with the new starting Relic loadouts and point costs.