Alpha 0.5.3

Purchasing Access
This version of the game requires alpha access, which is included in some of the Supporter Packs available from the official website.

Installing the Alpha Launcher
This support article shows how to download the alpha Game Launcher and install the game.

Mechanics

 * Implemented Orb Walking (method of animation cancelling)
 * You can now move sooner after using most abilities
 * This does not affect the rate at which you can use abilities
 * This means that you can attack at full speed while also moving slightly between attacks
 * Pressing A while mousing close to an enemy now commands your minions to prioritise attacking it

Performance

 * Greatly improved the performance of the AI, especially for during combat, before aggro, and on enemies with multiple abilities
 * Improved performance of Meteor
 * Improved performance of damage numbers
 * Improved the performance of Ignite
 * Improved the performance of effects that scale based on the size of the object (ailments, Rampancy, etc)
 * Fixed a small memory leak caused by item drop sounds

Level Design

 * Implemented the first half of Chapter 2
 * Includes 4 levels: The Surface, The Forsaken Trail, The Ruins of Welryn and The Shattered Valley
 * These levels look quite different than the previous ones, particularly in how large and open parts are.
 * Has several new types of enemies, which also appear in The Arena

UI

 * Improved comparison tooltips
 * Implicits and Affixes that have the same properties are not considered together
 * Positive changes are now always listed above negative ones
 * When a stat being reduced is a positive change (like Subtracted Mana Cost) it is now correctly displayed as a positive
 * Fixed bugs related to comparisons failing to recognize tags
 * Fixed comparisons sometimes having a lot of decimals (ex. 7.000001%)
 * Minion stats now have their own tab in the character sheet
 * Added many damage related stats to the minion stats tab
 * Added entries to the character sheet for Increased Stun Chance, Increased Melee Stun Chance, and Mana Efficiency
 * The World Map now has a tab for each chapter
 * A visual effect is now displayed over the player when stunned

Enemies

 * It is no longer possible for the Omen of Silence to drop fewer than 5 items (it used to have a low chance of dropping as few as one or two items)
 * Enemies created by the Fractured and Guarded prefixes can no longer drop items
 * Voidfused Armour now spawn in the Arena
 * Voidforms and Void Maggots now have 50% less chance to stun with melee attacks
 * Void Leeches now have 30% less chance to stun
 * Umbral Pursuers now use the correct charge animation and have Shield Rush style particles for their charges

Items

 * Added a Health Gained on Kill Shard suffix for melee weapons other than wands
 * Added a Mana Efficiency Shard suffix for wands
 * Added an Increased Cooldown Recovery Speed Shard prefix for helmets
 * Added a hybrid Added Stun Avoidance and Increased Stun Avoidance Shard prefix for Amulets
 * The Stun Avoidance Shard suffix can now spawn on rings
 * Adjusted how item drop numbers are calculated
 * Adjusted flat melee damage prefix values

Sound

 * Skeleton Archers now use a more appropriate attack sound
 * Added a sound that plays when the player is stunned

Skills

 * Updated visual effects for Tornado, Volcanic Orb and Wandering Spirits
 * Minions now move at different speeds in different situations
 * 25% faster in combat
 * 25% faster when following if they are further than 8 meters from the player
 * 56.25% faster when following if they are further than 25 meters from the player
 * Aura of Decay now poisons nearby enemies three times a second (up from twice a second)
 * Abyssal Juggernaut node for Devouring Orb
 * Now correctly adds 15 Elemental Protection and [[Void Protection] per point as stated instead of 12 per point
 * Now increases protection by 15% per point (down from 20%)
 * Now has a capacity of 6 (down from 7)
 * Added a tree for Hungering Souls, including:
 * Nodes that add additional projectiles
 * A node to cast Hungering Souls when you are hit
 * Nodes that synergize with minions
 * And more!
 * Added Lunge, a new skill for the Knight: Dash to a nearby enemy and strike it with your weapon. Cannot be used without a target.
 * This is an early concept, let us know how it feels to use!
 * Added an increased area node for Meteor
 * The blood orb from Rip Blood now heals you for 10 health (up from 7)
 * Summon Wolf
 * Wolves now sometimes flee when reduced to low health, and then rejoin the fight after a few seconds.
 * Wolves now move at different speeds in different situations
 * 30% faster in combat
 * 2.5% slower when following at close range to the player
 * 30% faster when following if they end up further than 8 meters away
 * 62.5% faster when following if they end up further than 25 meters away
 * Halved the delay before spinning starts for Tempest
 * Reworked Volcanic Orb
 * Now costs 70, down from 80
 * Now fires single projectiles at a time, with the target angle rotating with each projectile. Overall this results in 55% less shrapnel
 * Each piece of shrapnel deals much more damage, moves faster and lasts longer
 * Half the velocity of the Volcanic Orb is passed on to the shrapnel, so the shrapnel’s movement looks more natural
 * Now has a final shrapnel explosion at the end of its duration
 * The Volcanic Orb itself lasts 10% longer, but moves slower
 * Added multiple new nodes
 * Volatile Emission now grants 5% increased shrapnel projectile speed per point (down from 25%), but also increases shrapnel frequency by 5% per point
 * Piercing Embers no longer increases shrapnel projectile speed
 * Explosive Ground now increases mana cost by 50% (up from 30%)
 * Added a tree for Wandering Spirits, including:
 * A node that causes Spirits to inflict fear, making enemies run away
 * A node that adds a poison spit attack
 * And more!
 * Clarified in Wandering Spirit’s tooltip that the skill scales with minion damage but spirits do not count as minions

Bug Fixes

 * Implemented yet another possible damage number fix
 * Fixed the description of the Steadfast Companions node on the Summon Wolf tree
 * Fixed a bug where the Summon Wolf node allowing wolfs to jump with you wasn’t working
 * Fixed a bug where the Wraith Bringer node on the Summon Wraith tree was granting 70% increased cast speed per point instead of 7%
 * Fixed an issue with node loading in the Beastmaster mastery tree and the Summon Spriggan, Ice Ward and Volcanic Orb skill trees
 * Fixed a bug where the Necromancer’s Cursed Blood passive wasn’t working
 * Fixed a bug where implicits with no tags would have two spaces before the property in the tooltip (e.g. "adds 20 armour")
 * Fixed the Stun Avoidance for 4 Seconds on Potion Use Shard prefix still saying "tenacity"
 * Fixed item implicits and the Quick Stats panel referring to stun avoidance as tenacity
 * Fixed the wording on the tooltip of the Beast King unique axe
 * Fixed a bug where Twinned enemies’ attack timings were often incorrect
 * Fixed a bug where Twinned enemies moved much faster than intended
 * Fixed Void Touched Scholars having hit boxes that were significantly wider than their models
 * Fixed the damaging area from the last hit of the Omen of Silence’s melee attack persisting for 10 seconds after the attack finished
 * Fixed some walls disappearing in The Upper District in some situations
 * Fixed a large portion of The Precipice’s minimap being invisible

Patch Preview
A preview of features for this patch was included on this forum post.

Overview
Our next game version is 0.5.3. This content patch introduces an early version of Chapter 2, as well as improvements for movement, item comparison, and Minions - and of course bug fixes.

We aim to have this patch available by early next week.

Highlights

 * The first half of Chapter Two.
 * Improvements to movement;
 * You can now move sooner after using most abilities.
 * You can now move slightly between attacks while attacking at full speed.
 * Quality of Life improvements for minion use;
 * It is now possible to command minions to attack enemies.
 * Minions will now move at different speeds depending on the situation.
 * Minion stats now have their own tab in the Character Stats window.
 * Added a skill specialization tree for Wandering Spirits.
 * Volcanic Orb has been reworked.
 * Adjustments have been made to the skill specialization tree where appropriate.
 * Meteor now has a node on its skill specialization tree which gives it a larger area of effect. Taking this node should make the skill a bit meatier.
 * There is now a visual effect when your character is stunned.
 * Bug fixes
 * Fixed a memory leak caused by item drop sounds.
 * The Spriggan is well-rested after its break and ready to assist you once again in combat. It feels much better now - thank you for asking.
 * Multiple bug fixes relating to minimaps.

After this patch
This patch makes it possible to get Stun Avoidance on your jewellery. We plan on adding stun avoidance to mastery nodes to help make melee characters less vulnerable to stuns, however this wasn’t finished in time and will be included in a future update.

The team continues to work on both the second half of Chapter Two, as well as quests for Chapter One. Each of the classes already implemented will be receiving higher quality models. We’ve been discussing a public-facing roadmap, but aren’t yet ready to share one.

Expect further incremental improvements to our Launcher and the visual effects of skills. We’ll also be continuing to add specialization trees to skills which lack them.