A short post, but I wanted to show off one of my favorite new abilities, and the starting package I stuck it in.

So close now… just a few things left!

x Small (but numerous) balance tweaks I’ve noted, but not yet implemented.
x Small adjustments to Relic starting packages to account for attenuation mechanic and some new abilities I want to insert.
* Various small bug fixes.
* Testing… testing… testing…

Google Drive recently offended me again by confusing another innocent would-be Demon player with its ridiculous interface. This is the straw that broke the ferret’s back.

As soon as I’m not drowning in build stuff, I’m going to set the download links on the website here to all point to itch.io instead. I had initially avoided this step because I didn’t want the only download option to be the one that also serves as the donation box since I didn’t want people to feel like they have to donate, but at this point Google Drive’s aggro has built up high enough where I’m more concerned its crappy interface is costing me players than I am about sending all downloads through the optional donation box.

Even after doing this, in order to give people time to update their links, I will probably continue to keep the build folders on Google Drive updated, but I will add a readme file indicating that this will probably end soon and that they should go itch.io instead.

Just for the record: Demon will always be totally free. Donations are appreciated, and (minus itch’s cut, Paypal’s cut, and taxes) are put into the piggy bank I use to fund periods of full time development, but entirely optional.

One of the less advertised features of the build that introduces the first Tier 3 content is that I also decided to bump up Tier 2′s difficulty slightly. The most noticeable side effect of this is that some Tier 2 demons can now have 5 abilities, and Tier 2 uniques can have 7 abilities. Here’s a few examples of the new stuff you’ll see in what used to be old, familiar places.

Some of these have some pretty horrifying potential Archons (Tier 3 Mind) are my guess for what will end up the most deadly, especially now that the higher-end Mind damage attacks will finally be available. But, we’ll see how it plays out… soonish.

As promised, a review of the things I still need to do before I release this build:

x Capture mechanic setup for the new demons
x Create Tier 3 modifiers.
x Create hybrid modifiers for Tiers 1 and 2.
x Create modifiers for uniques.
x Place new abilities into old modifiers when appropriate.
x Create/update spawn tables to account for the new demons and new floors.
* Small (but numerous) balance tweaks I’ve noted, but not yet implemented.
* Small adjustments to Relic starting packages to account for attenuation mechanic and some new abilities I want to insert.
* Various small bug fixes.
* Testing… testing… testing…

Good news: None of these are particularly big tasks except testing! Bad news: There’s a fair number of them still. But, we’re closing in on the end, nonetheless. Hang tight, I think this one will prove worth the wait.

Edit: Crossing things off as I finish them.

Not a long post given the late hour, but I wanted to announce that all 166 new abilities for the next build have been implemented.

I’ll post again soon with some details on what work is left to do before this build’s ready to go out the door. Following that, we’ll have some previews of some of the new demons featuring Geminimax’s versions of the character sprites.

Until then, time for Nioh and sleep.

The new top of the Tower is bringing all sorts interesting abilities into play. Let’s look at four that together should prove interesting: Miracles!

First, the three Miracles themselves. Miracles are rather remarkably powerful abilities, often combining 3 or 4 different effects at once and applying them to all enemies or all allies. However, they use the Miracle cooldown: like the Soul cooldown used by Eternal Glory, Miracle only cools down as you gain experience: gaining 10% of a level decrements a Miracle cooldown by 1. (So, the miracles below recharge after gaining 40% of a level.)

The first Miracles being added are for Light, Healing, and Dark, but this is not to say that all future miracles will be of these types.

Anyway, here are the three initial Miracles:

Also being added is one passive related to their use. A passive that only works with 3 abilities is a dicey proposition, but no denying it has a huge impact:

Channeler helps in two major ways: by reducing the SP cost to 0, it virtually ensures Miracles will be available in a pinch, and halving the cooldown also lets you use them much more often: at a cooldown of 2, you’ll probably be able to use a Miracle every other fight instead of only twice per floor.

You shouldn’t have to look hard to find most of these, should you reach the new floors of the Tower, as three of the four are on the same new non-unique demon!

Cheers!