Update Log

New Core Systems

• Added Soul Level system — post-rebirth horizontal progression track (cap: Level 13)
• Each Rebirth grants 1 Soul Fragment (+50% XP bonus, stackable to 5 for 250% total)
• Soul Level costs: 5 Soul Fragments per level. 65 total fragments to reach Level 13
• Soul Level benefits: +10 HP and +2 Mana per level, plus additional Skill Tree points at intervals
• Base maximum health cap established at 410 HP (extendable by Tank Skill, Royal Amulet, Vine Ring)
• Psychocrab boss explicitly excluded from Soul Shard drops (hardcoded exception)

Permanent Mobility Upgrades

• Dash Skill added — acquired from Garth in the Elite Barracks. Horizontal evasion with stamina cooldown
• Climb Skill added — acquired from Mela. Enables environmental surface scaling
• Jump Enhancement quest added — acquired from Adagio's questline
• Empyrean Knight island obstacle course added — rewards secondary air jump + air dive extension
• Kai mastery tree: new kinetic combination from heavy attack immediately after dodge roll
• Scurry Boots and Cloud Boots updated: dash direction now matches camera facing angle

Reforge System Changes

• REMOVED: Legendary reforge modifier permanently deleted from all acquisition pools
• All existing purple-tier weapons with Legendary reforge forcibly downgraded on patch day
• New priority reforges: Sharp (crit builds), Patient (heavy attack builds), Cosmic (ranged builds)
• Talvern (Eggroost Observatory) reforge economy: 15% discount at Novice, 75% discount at Legend rank
• Gem removal cost at Legend rank reduced to 25 Gold

New Weapons

• Bigfish Gauntlet — Heavy melee, Drop: Big Fish boss
• Bone Claws — Rapid light melee, Drop: The Patris boss
• Tektite Crusher — Maul, Drop: Dune Enforcer boss
• Tektite Ballista — Crossbow, Drop: Dune Gunner boss
• Catatome — 4-mode magic catalyst, Looted: Catacombs Tombs
• Magma Shackles — Fire fist weapon, Reward: Magma Turtle Challenge Medal
• Black Stiletto — Dagger (critical), Trade: Pitch Dagger at Strange Chasm black bird
• Scrap Lance — Polearm, Purchased from Billy vendor

New Accessories

• Dancer's Necklace (+5 DEX, +5 AGI, -4 INT, 20% stronger dodge roll) — Drop: Stray Oracle
• Husk Armor (+15 STR, +15 DEX, +12 AGI, +10 DEF, -30 INT, 15% damage negate) — Drop: Stray / Stray Oracle
• Icy Tear (-3 DEX, -5 INT, Slice heavy rolls) — Drop: Snow Cultist / Strays
• Rotten Trowel (expanded berry radius, +2 venom levels) — Drop: Grave Treelad
• Expert (Bow-to-Gun animation cancel) — Purchased: Toolmark (Tailfish Island)

New Vendors & NPCs

• Fang vendor added — Located on Deadly Swamp to Lighthouse path. Sells Elf Blade, Pitch Dagger, Dagger Sheath, Baghead helmet, Assassin Whetstone, Crimson Whetstone, Fiber Glass
• Toolmark vendor added — Located on Tailfish Island (Western Sea). Sells Quickloader, Magic Token, Expert accessory
• Tailfish Island added — New explorable island in Western Sea with palm timber, coconuts, fishing spots, and Old Fart sigil location

Bow System Rework

• Bow damage now scales dynamically with draw time: 0.5x minimum, 1.1x at full charge
• All bows share universal heavy attack: jumping kick (10 damage + invincibility frames + knockback)
• Bottomless Quiver added: 75% arrow conservation chance + 4 DEX bonus
• Sawtooth Quiver added: converts arrows to Splitting/Fracturing, doubles startup time
• Augmented Gel Quiver added: gel-based crowd control ammunition
• Elemental Quiver added: converts physical damage to elemental

New Weapon Techniques

• Spreadshot: 25 mana, wide cone of projectiles. Massive point-blank DPS spike
• Dagger Throw: DEX scaling, minimal startup, piercing micro-stun
• Twisted Technique: 20 mana, 3-second windup, 200% damage hit + green projectile, 6-hit spin under Twisted Charge
• Duelist's Dagger: parry stance (300% counter lunge) or dodge roll (75% sweep + Bleed + 5 Flurry stacks). At 15 stacks: Flurry Time (doubled M1 frequency 15s)

Boss Changes

• Ice King: Complete AI rewrite. Arena-wide frost eruptions, movement tracking, Highland Warden-style behavior
• Magma Turtle: Two-phase encounter. Phase 2 adds Meteor Shower loop. Head Slam is now unblockable (60 damage)
• Shock Marauder: Heavy tracking/pacing adjustment. Walk animation telegraphs 50%+ HP shot — now strictly parryable
• Snow Cultist: Dynamic multiplayer scaling (exponential defense per additional player). Phase 2 Backstab at 50% HP

Bleeding Mechanic Changes

• Bleed nerfed from primary damage to debuff trigger. Now percentage-based relative to target classification
• Old Fart and N: near-total Bleed immunity added
• Bleed primary use: trigger Stake debuff (50% movement slow) or Corroded Scalpel regeneration

Engine Optimizations

• Experimental Projectile Detection: predictive raycasting for high-velocity ammunition hit registration
• Anti-Eye-Strain Mode added: culls overlapping particle emissions, subdues harsh lighting bloom

New Quests

• Mountain region NPC quest: interact with specific environmental triggers to turn hostile Hunters neutral
• "The Winter" quest: locate and interact with wind chimes in the frozen topography for XP and 100% completion progress

Known Bugs at Launch (Hotfixed)

• Expert accessory infinite arrow duplication — HOTFIXED. Now correctly applies animation-cancel only on Bow-to-Gun swap
• Catatome state-lock desynchronization: rapid mode cycling during stagger locks to Mode 1. Workaround: unequip and re-equip the weapon

• Junk Pits: Currently blocked by a massive atmospheric storm. Visible from deep in Sweetberry Catacombs near the second lever. "Dynamite Road" teased as infiltration route
• NPC dialogue from Ull and Domat in the Elite Barracks hints at Junk Pits storyline
• Dylaine's Tower: A separate turn-based spin-off title confirmed in development using Pilgrammed's lore and visual assets