Hades is in Early Access, which means we're actively working on it based on our plans and your feedback. We expect to keep adding features, characters, weapons, foes, powers, environments, and more, while expanding the story and fine-tuning all aspects of the experience.
Note: 📢 indicates a change inspired by community feedback! Our latest patch notes are below:
Early Access Patch 031 - October 17, 2019
This patch ties up some loose ends in the Superstar Update as we set our sights on our next Major Update, coming in December. It'll cap off a full year of updates, and we plan to make it a big one. Until then!
Boons & Blessings
📢 Support Fire (Artemis): now upgradeable using Poms
Daedalus Hammer Upgrades
📢 Rapid Shot (Bow): you now can hold the attack command to autofire; now called Flurry Shot
Foes & Encounters
📢 Reduced how many Crawlers can appear in tougher encounters in the Temple of Styx
Level Design & Environments
• Minor fixes and improvements to some chambers
Art & Visual FX
• Visual touch-ups for the Bone Hydra
• Additional visual touches to Asphodel chamber enter-and-exit sequence
• Improvements to the Shield's Throw special recovery animation while using alternate Aspects
• Updated textures for the Blade's Nemesis Aspect
• Added passive visual effect to the Music Stand
Menus & UI
• Improved feedback for some states of the Pact screen
Music & SFX
• Added some sound effects to the Bone Hydra encounter
• Updated some sound effects for the Weapon Aspects screen
• Other minor additions, fixes, and improvements
Voice & Narrative
• Added a narrative event for Eurydice
• Added some new Zagreus voice lines for certain Pact, Daedalus Hammer, and Bounty interactions
• Additional minor fixes and improvements to some narrative events and contextual voice lines
Miscellaneous
📢 Recovered the missing Infernal Contract that Lord Hades is always holding in his portrait
• Persuaded an occasional pack of Shades in the House of Hades to move away from the Music Stand
• Unified text descriptions for Boons and upgrades with Flurry effects
• Other minor text changes
Bug Fixes
📢 Fixed interaction between Athena's Holy Shield and Blinding Flash
📢 Fixed Divine Dash (Athena) not always applying critical damage correctly
📢 Fixed an issue where a Splitter's projectile attack could vanish after she was slain
📢 Fixed some attack interactions with the Final Boss
• Fixed Brimstone satellite crystals sometimes leaving orbit
• Fixed a visual issue with Rocket Bomb (Daedaulus - Rail) and the weapon's alternate Aspects
• Other minor fixes
Quote of the Patch
"...while Orpheus thoughtlessly looked back, all unbelieving his Eurydice restored to him and following, he lost his singing's recompense; and she had come to the verge of life only to die once more."
~Hercules Oetaeus (Lucius Annaeus Seneca; F. Justus Miller translation)
Early Access Patch 030 - October 15, 2019
This patch makes additional improvements and fixes to last week's Superstar Update based on what we've been seeing. Expect one more smaller patch before we switch to working on our next Major Update.
Weapons, Aspects, & Powers
📢 Heart-Seeking Bow: reduced disable duration while loading Bloodstone ammo
📢 Shield of Chaos: improved Bull Rush input buffering after the Throw special
📢 Heart-Seeking Bow (Zagreus): now adds chance of critical attack (instead of power-shot window)
📢 Heart-Seeking Bow (Hera): reduced disable duration while loading Bloodstone ammo
📢 Eternal Spear (Achilles): you now can retrieve the thrown spear normally, or with Raging Rush
• Adamant Rail (Hestia): increased damage for empowered shot
Boons & Blessings
• Double Strike (Zeus): reduced bonus chance of effect after using Poms
• Tempest Flourish (Poseidon): reduced knock-away effect from the Bow's Volley special
• Exit Wounds (Artemis): now requires one additional related Artemis Boon before it is offered
• Lightning Rod (Zeus x Artemis): no longer upgradeable using Poms
• Heart Rend (Aphrodite x Artemis): no longer upgradeable using Poms
Daedalus Hammer Upgrades
• Super Nova (Blade): reduced damage
• Cruel Thrust (Blade): increased damage and critical chance
📢 Flurry Blade (Blade): you now can hold the attack command to strike repeatedly
• Relentless Barrage (Bow): reduced number of bonus projectiles
• Explosive Return (Shield): no longer applies Flourish Boon or similar effects during the blast
• Extending Jab (Spear): increased damage
📢 Inescapable Blast (Rail): increased slowing effect on foes
Foes & Encounters
• Slightly increased frequency of Thanatos encounters in Asphodel
📢 Voidstone: no longer appears in Erebus challenge chambers
📢 The Minotaur: fixed some instances where he was dealing more damage than expected
Keepsakes & Items
• Bone Hourglass (Charon): increased Well of Charon effect durations for each rank
• Shattered Shackle (Sisyphus): increased bonus damage from rubble at ranks 2 and 3
• Evergreen Acorn (Eurydice): reduced instances of damage absorption for each rank; no longer loses charges to attacks that would have caused no damage
Level Design & Environments
• Minor fixes and improvements to some chambers
Art & Visual FX
• Further visual improvements to some Asphodel chambers
• Further presentation improvements when leaving or entering Asphodel chambers
• Updated visual FX for Zagreus run-stop animations for the Blade, Bow, Shield, and Spear
• Updated animation for Chthonic Keys
• Updated visual FX for Exit Wounds (Artemis)
• Updated art for Pact Exit in the Courtyard
• Other minor visual fixes and improvements
Menus & UI
• Game screen now is dimmed while the game is paused
• When unlocking Weapon Aspects, always auto-equip the new Aspect
• Music track names for the Music Stand can now appear hidden before the track is unlocked
• Improved legibility of repeated 'Backstab!' combat notifications
• Slightly reduced size of standard damage numbers
• Several text clarifications and other minor changes
Music & SFX
• Minor fixes and mix improvements
Voice & Narrative
• Additional scripting fixes to Eurydice & Orpheus story subplot
• Added several miscellaneous narrative events for Eurydice & Orpheus
📢 Fixes and updated requirements for some narrative events
• Fixes and tuning to some contextual voice events
Miscellaneous
• Minor improvements to some Shades milling about the House of Hades
• Skelly no longer rudely talks over Zagreus when starting a new escape attempt
Bug Fixes
• Fixed the Rail's Hestia Aspect empowered shot applying damage twice from one Dash Attack
📢 Fixed an issue causing Support Fire (Artemis) to never be offered
📢 Fixed Hermes Boons unintentionally being affected by Eurydice's treats
📢 Fixed Exalted Brightswords sometimes being able to destroy the Rail's Bombard projectiles
📢 Fixed Final Boss not canceling out of certain attacks upon defeat
📢 Fixed some conversation alert icons not clearing as expected
• Fixed certain Eurydice narrative events unintentionally being able to play more than once
• Fixed 'Bounty Earned' messages showing current total Heat, rather than target Heat for Bounties
📢 Fixed an issue causing 'Death and I' to never be offered for the Music Stand
• Other minor fixes
Quote of the Patch
"'One sole condition yet
Upon the boon is set:
Let him not turn his eyes
To view his hard-won prize,
Till they securely pass
The gates of Hell.' Alas!"
~The Consolation of Philosophy (Boethius; H.R. James translation)
Early Access Patch 029 - October 10, 2019
We're thrilled by the rousing response to the Superstar Update!! We're following up with some improvements and fixes based on initial observations and feedback. We'll patch again in the coming days.
Weapons, Aspects, & Powers
• Raised the max level of the Zagreus Aspect for each weapon to 5
📢 Stygian Blade: you can move a bit during the Nova special preattack sequence
• Heart-Seeking Bow (Hera): reduced spread of Bloodstones from loaded shots
• Adamant Rail (Eris): reduced damage bonus after absorbing a Bombard blast
• Adamant Rail (Hestia): empowered shot now activates only from a manual reload
Boons & Blessings
• Quick Reload (Artemis): reduced effectiveness
• Nasty Dash (Dionysus): removed minor damage this was doing on impact
📢 Eclipse (Chaos): now also boosts Darkness drops from boss foes
Foes & Encounters
📢 Soul Catcher: projectiles should be slightly easier to hit
• The Minotaur: updated some attack timings (he should be slightly more effective)
📢 Final Boss: beam attacks should interact with obstacles more reliably; skull ammo objects can now be targeted by more abilities
Level Design & Environments
• Minor fixes and improvements to some chambers
Art & Visual FX
• Added unique visuals for each weapon equip spot in the Courtyard to go with each Weapon Aspect
• Updated textures and visual FX for some Weapon Aspects
• Added unique menu images for each Weapon Aspect
• Added visual FX for when your current weapon phases out in some Zagreus animations
• Additional visual improvements to some Asphodel chambers
• Additional presentation improvements when leaving or entering Asphodel chambers
• Other minor visual fixes and improvements
Menus & UI
• Added presentation when collecting Bounties
• In the Pact screen, current Heat is no longer shown in two different places
📢 Ambrosia now shown in addition to other resources during escape attempts
• The 'Slay to Retrieve' hint for lodged Ammo will no longer display on bosses
• Added custom hint about retrieving ammo while using the Blade's Poseidon Aspect
• Added unique tutorial objectives in the Courtyard while using certain Weapon Aspects
• Minor text changes; other minor fixes and improvements
Music & SFX
• Updated sound effects for certain Weapon Aspects
• Minor fixes with the new Music Stand
Voice & Narrative
• Added narrative events with certain characters (including Hades, Orpheus, and Skelly)
• Added new Zagreus, Hades, and Skelly voice events for various gameplay contexts
• Added new Storyteller events for successfully clearing runs
• Updated requirements for some narrative events
• Fixes and tuning to some contextual voice events
Bug Fixes
• Fixed several issues causing the Eurydice & Orpheus story subplot to not advance correctly
📢 Fixed collision and blocking issues with the Chaos Shield while using Charged Shot (Daedalus)
📢 Fixed instances where the Spear's Achilles Aspect could be used to escape map boundaries
• Fixed an issue preventing manual recovery of the Spear's Achilles Aspect Throw special
• Fixed an issue causing the Rail's Hestia Aspect empowered-shot ability to transfer to other Aspects
• Fixed interactions between the Rail's Hestia Aspect and Spread Fire (Daedalus)
• Fixed interactions between the Rail's Hestia Aspect and Explosive Fire (Daedalus)
• Fixed some visual issues with the Rail's Aspect animations
📢 Fixed Tisiphone's Extreme Measures (Pact) support attacks being active during chamber changes
📢 Fixed lava being blockable with the Chaos Shield
📢 Fixed Final Boss encounter not ending when expected if summoned urns were still present
📢 Fixed a rare crash in the Final Boss encounter
📢 Heat difficulty will reset in older saves that previously could get stuck at high difficulty
📢 Fixed an issue where the Tight Deadline (Pact) timer would expire prematurely in Elysium
• Fixed an issue causing the Tight Deadline (Pact) timer to remain visible after defeat
📢 Fixed an unbreakable urn in the final chamber of Asphodel
• Fixed some visual issues with the effect for Evergreen Acorn (Keepsake)
• Fixed rare performance issues in the Pact screen
• Fixed various other minor UI issues with the Pact screen
• Fixed Duo Boons showing up as Legendary in the Pool of Purging
• Fixed an issue where Infernal Troves requiring Skeleton Keys were not showing a lock indicator
• Fixed some menu title text being off center
• Other minor fixes
Quote of the Patch
'[Orpheus] became so adept at music that his playing and singing charmed wild animals and caused stones and trees to follow him when he wished.'
~Crowell's Handbook of Classical Mythology (E. Tripp)
Early Access Patch 028: The SUPERSTAR Update - October 8, 2019
Welcome to our seventh Major Update, which we think is our most game-changing one yet! Due to the number of new systems and features here, we're expecting to follow up on this initial launch with several smaller patches. We'll be watching your feedback closely as we go. Hope you enjoy it!
Highlights
• Weapon Aspects: unlock specially-enchanted alternate forms for each of your different weapons
• Pact of Punishment, 2nd Edition: an overhauled Pact is central to a newly revised endgame
• Eurydice: the muse of Orpheus is out there, somewhere; can you find her?
• New Resources: look for Gemstones, Diamonds, & Chthonic Keys as you make your escape
• House Contractor: unlock a variety of new cosmetic items for the House of Hades, such as the...
• Music Stand: unlock music pieces heard throughout the game, & change the music in the House
• Underworld Renovations: look for new & improved visuals in the House of Hades & all of Asphodel
• New Song: listen for the melodious voice of our longtime musical collaborator, Ashley Barrett!
General Gameplay
• Added Weapon Aspects, revised Pact of Punishment, and House Contractor systems
• Heat: removed as a collectible resource (part of the Pact rework; you will receive 5 Darkness for each Heat lost)
• Gemstones and Diamonds: newly added resource used with House Contractor and Wretched Broker
• Chthonic Keys: newly added resource used with Weapon Aspects and some other interactions
• Your first boss clear with each weapon earns you a Bounty, i.e. a Chthonic Key or Diamond
📢 Your Death Defiance effects remove any poison effects
Weapons & Powers
• Each weapon can now be permanently upgraded in the Courtyard, once you reach a certain point
• Stygian Blade: reworked Nova special; updated Dash Attack (new timing and animation)
📢 Shield of Chaos: updated Dash attack (new animation); improvements to input buffering
📢 Eternal Spear: adjusted Attack combo timing and damage; updated Dash attack (new timing and animation); Throw special now staggers foes
Boons & Blessings
• Zeus' Aid: reduced damage
📢 Athena's Aid: increased duration; Greater Call duration multiplier reduced to compensate
📢 True Shot (Artemis): added a chance to deal Critical damage
• Hunter's Mark (Artemis): dealing Critical damage to foes with the 'Marked' Status Curse clears the effect
• Exit Wounds (Artemis): reduced power scaling from improved rarity
• Fully Loaded (Artemis): rarity set to Legendary
• Support Fire (Artemis): no longer Legendary; effect now scales with rarity
• Lightning Phalanx (Zeus x Athena): reduced max. number of bounces and bounce range
• Shatter Shot (Aphrodite): reduced power scaling from improved rarity
• Life Affirmation (Aphrodite): slightly reduced power level
📢 Rapid Cast (Hermes): now also increases Cast homing effects to compensate for the speed boost
📢 Stabbing (Chaos): cut from game (Master Chaos has decided not to punish you simply for dashing)
📢 Boons with 'Revenge' effects now trigger when your Death Defiance effects activate
Daedalus Hammer Upgrades
• The following upgrades are no longer offered: Empowering Nova (Blade), Mirage Flight (Shield), Heavy Slug (Rail), and Invigorating Blast (Rail); their spirits live on in some of the new Weapon Aspects
• Piercing Wave (Blade): newly added! A long-range wave with every slash
• Charged Shot (Shield): newly added! Your Bull Rush fires a projectile instead
📢 Multi Skewer (Spear): now pierces through the last foe it hits
• Rocket Bomb (Rail): newly added! Fire a rocket instead of bombarding
• Inescapable Blast (Rail): newly added! Foes are slowed while targeted for bombardment
Foes & Encounters
• You can no longer run into multiple mini-boss encounters in a region in a single run
• Increased the size of Elysium by one chamber
📢 Trial of the Gods encounters can now take place in Elysium
📢 Reduced max. types of Elite foes that can appear in Thanatos encounters
📢 Erebus challenge chambers now contain Champion foes (tougher than Elite foes)
• Champion foes no longer drop money
• Megaera and the Furies: learned some new tricks via the Pact...
• Bone Hydra: slightly reduced health; updated ranged flurry attack; learned some new tricks via the Pact...
• Exalted Longspear: now leap off impassable terrain
📢 Flame Wheels: groups spawn in quicker succession
📢 Soul Catcher: reduced appearance rate in Elysium; reduced Elite health; no longer completely immobile and now susceptible to knock-away effects
📢 The Minotaur: updated some animations and attack timings
📢 Theseus: updated some animations and attack timings
📢 Gigantic Vermin: poison puddles expire faster
📢 Final Boss: reduced damage; reduced health; reduced tracking of homing attack; reduced health of some Champion summons; summoned urns now invulnerable while spawning; overall, still a pain
Keepsakes & Items
• Wells of Charon no longer offer Bedroom Decor items; the House Contractor has a monopoly on them
• Evergreen Acorn (Eurydice): newly added! Take no damage from boss attacks for some number of hits
• Old Spiked Collar (Cerberus): slightly reduced power level
📢 Black Shawl (Nyx): increased power level
📢 Lucky Tooth (Skelly): increased power level
📢 Lambent Plume (Hermes): tuned fast-clear durations for some encounter types
• Charon now offers one of the two new rare resources for sale in the Temple of Styx
Pact of Punishment
• Overhauled the system; now linked to Bounties (look for more details when you first get to it)
• Rescaled Heat as a measure of difficulty (1 unit now is equivalent to about 5 units before)
• Reworked and renamed the various Conditions
• Middle Management: newly added! Raises number of Elite foes in mini-boss encounters
• Tight Deadline: newly added! Gives you a limited amount of time to clear each region
• Heightened Security: newly added! Boosts damage from traps
• Underworld Customs: newly added! Forces you to purge a Boon as you leave each region
• Extreme Measures: newly added! Influences the final battle in Tartarus
• Snake Oil: newly added! Influences the final battle in Asphodel
Level Design & Environments
• Added two new chambers in Asphodel
📢 Added a Pool of Purging to the final chamber in each region
📢 Added several new Erebus challenge chamber variants
• Made some renovations to the House of Hades (others are ongoing)
• Other minor fixes and improvements to various chambers
Art & Visual FX
• Updated visuals all throughout Asphodel
• Updated visuals in the House of Hades
• Updated portrait for Orpheus
• Updated visuals for the Wretched Broker
• Updated visuals for wretched shades and spirits in various environments
• Updated visuals in first chamber of Elysium
• Added unique Zagreus run animations with the Blade, Spear, and Bow, and other weapon details
• Added some animations for Megaera and the Furies to accompany their aforementioned new tricks
• Updated textures for Alecto and Tisiphone
• Updated some of the visuals for the Bone Hydra
• Updated some animations for Theseus and The Minotaur
• Updated various visual FX in Final Boss encounter, including the Status Curse effect
• Improvements to the look of the Exalted once separated from their weapons
📢 Updated UI and visuals for Death Defiance effects
📢 Increased transparency of Dionysus' Festive Fog effects
📢 Improved feedback for the deactivated state of the Mandragora Cure Pools in the Temple of Styx
• Removed slight animation from Dionysus and Ares portraits (due to various issues; they still blink, though)
• Unified the look of Elite foes' armor outline
• Updated main menu based on new Major Update (including our studio logo, for our 10th anniversary!)
• Other minor visual changes, fixes, and improvements
Menus & UI
• Updated Health Bar UI for foes
• Updated visual FX for Boon selection
• Underworld Map presentation when traveling between regions now shows earned Bounties
• Added new Death Defiance UI indicators based on the source of the effect
• The backing for interact prompts now scales with the prompt
• Added alternate dialogue prompt for key early-game character conversations that unlock new systems (specifically, the Codex from Achilles and Mirror respeccing from Nyx)
📢 The Fallen Warrior's HydraLite Gold premium good now shows your life total in the tooltip
📢 The warning pop-up for deleting save data defaults to Cancel instead of OK
📢 Text clarifications to some Boons and upgrades
• Other minor fixes, changes, and improvements
Music & SFX
• 'Good Riddance': added new music track, featuring the voice of Ashley Barrett!
• Added various new sound effects for the new resources, systems, and other contexts
📢 Adamant Rail now has a distinct fire sound while low on ammo
📢 Battle emotes from Zagreus and others now affected by SFX Volume rather than Voice Volume
• Minor fixes and mix improvements
Voice & Narrative
• Added many narrative events with characters (including Eurydice, Orpheus, Hades, and Achilles)
• Added many new Zagreus voice events for various gameplay contexts
• Added Codex entries for Eurydice, Gemstones, Diamonds, and Chthonic Keys
• Added to Codex entries for each of the Infernal Arms
📢 Added specific captions for ambient voice lines from the Fallen Warrior
• Updated requirements for some narrative events
• Fixes and tuning to some contextual voice events
Miscellaneous
• Updated Development Roadmap to reflect our plans for our next Major Update, and beyond
• The Wretched Broker now offers additional resource trades, and has fixed all his prices...
• Some later Mirror of Night upgrades now require Chthonic Keys
• Skelly: increased health (stationary jumping can be an effective form of cardiovascular exercise)
• Rescaled Heat requirements to earn Skelly's unlockables
• Credits: Eurydice added to voice cast; other updates, including new Community Contributors!
Bug Fixes
📢 Fixed issues with some Zeus lightning effects not taking upgrades correctly
📢 Fixed an issue causing Vicious Cycle (Ares) to ramp up damage more than expected
• Fixed Positive Outlook (Dionysus) not gaining benefits from more than one Pom of Power
📢 Fixed Spent Spirit (Athena x Aphrodite) not affecting accelerating projectiles
• Fixed Heart Rend (Artemis x Aphrodite) unintentionally applying additional chance for Critical damage
📢 Fixed an issue sometimes causing Chaos Gates and Infernal Gates to be invisible
📢 Fixed an issue sometimes causing parts of the Health UI to not show correctly
• Fixed Skull-Crushers being susceptible to Backstab damage from the front
📢 Fixed issues related to vanquishing Theseus and the Minotaur in close succession
📢 Fixed an issue causing Gigantic Vermin poison puddles to not always clear after encounters
• Fixed an issue where you could build up your God Gauge by hitting pillars while fighting the Final Boss
📢 Many other minor fixes
Quote of the Patch
'There remained but little more to climb till they would touch earth's surface, when in fear he might again lose her, and anxious for another look at her, he turned his eyes so he could gaze upon her.'
~Metamorphoses, Book 10: Orpheus & Eurydice (Ovid; B. Moore translation)
Patch Notes Archive
For patch notes from the previous Major Update, check out The Big Bad Update Patch Notes (August, 2019).
Early Access Patch 031 - October 17, 2019
This patch ties up some loose ends in the Superstar Update as we set our sights on our next Major Update, coming in December. It'll cap off a full year of updates, and we plan to make it a big one. Until then!
Boons & Blessings
📢 Support Fire (Artemis): now upgradeable using Poms
Daedalus Hammer Upgrades
📢 Rapid Shot (Bow): you now can hold the attack command to autofire; now called Flurry Shot
Foes & Encounters
📢 Reduced how many Crawlers can appear in tougher encounters in the Temple of Styx
Level Design & Environments
• Minor fixes and improvements to some chambers
Art & Visual FX
• Visual touch-ups for the Bone Hydra
• Additional visual touches to Asphodel chamber enter-and-exit sequence
• Improvements to the Shield's Throw special recovery animation while using alternate Aspects
• Updated textures for the Blade's Nemesis Aspect
• Added passive visual effect to the Music Stand
Menus & UI
• Improved feedback for some states of the Pact screen
Music & SFX
• Added some sound effects to the Bone Hydra encounter
• Updated some sound effects for the Weapon Aspects screen
• Other minor additions, fixes, and improvements
Voice & Narrative
• Added a narrative event for Eurydice
• Added some new Zagreus voice lines for certain Pact, Daedalus Hammer, and Bounty interactions
• Additional minor fixes and improvements to some narrative events and contextual voice lines
Miscellaneous
📢 Recovered the missing Infernal Contract that Lord Hades is always holding in his portrait
• Persuaded an occasional pack of Shades in the House of Hades to move away from the Music Stand
• Unified text descriptions for Boons and upgrades with Flurry effects
• Other minor text changes
Bug Fixes
📢 Fixed interaction between Athena's Holy Shield and Blinding Flash
📢 Fixed Divine Dash (Athena) not always applying critical damage correctly
📢 Fixed an issue where a Splitter's projectile attack could vanish after she was slain
📢 Fixed some attack interactions with the Final Boss
• Fixed Brimstone satellite crystals sometimes leaving orbit
• Fixed a visual issue with Rocket Bomb (Daedaulus - Rail) and the weapon's alternate Aspects
• Other minor fixes
Quote of the Patch
"...while Orpheus thoughtlessly looked back, all unbelieving his Eurydice restored to him and following, he lost his singing's recompense; and she had come to the verge of life only to die once more."
~Hercules Oetaeus (Lucius Annaeus Seneca; F. Justus Miller translation)
Early Access Patch 030 - October 15, 2019
This patch makes additional improvements and fixes to last week's Superstar Update based on what we've been seeing. Expect one more smaller patch before we switch to working on our next Major Update.
Weapons, Aspects, & Powers
📢 Heart-Seeking Bow: reduced disable duration while loading Bloodstone ammo
📢 Shield of Chaos: improved Bull Rush input buffering after the Throw special
📢 Heart-Seeking Bow (Zagreus): now adds chance of critical attack (instead of power-shot window)
📢 Heart-Seeking Bow (Hera): reduced disable duration while loading Bloodstone ammo
📢 Eternal Spear (Achilles): you now can retrieve the thrown spear normally, or with Raging Rush
• Adamant Rail (Hestia): increased damage for empowered shot
Boons & Blessings
• Double Strike (Zeus): reduced bonus chance of effect after using Poms
• Tempest Flourish (Poseidon): reduced knock-away effect from the Bow's Volley special
• Exit Wounds (Artemis): now requires one additional related Artemis Boon before it is offered
• Lightning Rod (Zeus x Artemis): no longer upgradeable using Poms
• Heart Rend (Aphrodite x Artemis): no longer upgradeable using Poms
Daedalus Hammer Upgrades
• Super Nova (Blade): reduced damage
• Cruel Thrust (Blade): increased damage and critical chance
📢 Flurry Blade (Blade): you now can hold the attack command to strike repeatedly
• Relentless Barrage (Bow): reduced number of bonus projectiles
• Explosive Return (Shield): no longer applies Flourish Boon or similar effects during the blast
• Extending Jab (Spear): increased damage
📢 Inescapable Blast (Rail): increased slowing effect on foes
Foes & Encounters
• Slightly increased frequency of Thanatos encounters in Asphodel
📢 Voidstone: no longer appears in Erebus challenge chambers
📢 The Minotaur: fixed some instances where he was dealing more damage than expected
Keepsakes & Items
• Bone Hourglass (Charon): increased Well of Charon effect durations for each rank
• Shattered Shackle (Sisyphus): increased bonus damage from rubble at ranks 2 and 3
• Evergreen Acorn (Eurydice): reduced instances of damage absorption for each rank; no longer loses charges to attacks that would have caused no damage
Level Design & Environments
• Minor fixes and improvements to some chambers
Art & Visual FX
• Further visual improvements to some Asphodel chambers
• Further presentation improvements when leaving or entering Asphodel chambers
• Updated visual FX for Zagreus run-stop animations for the Blade, Bow, Shield, and Spear
• Updated animation for Chthonic Keys
• Updated visual FX for Exit Wounds (Artemis)
• Updated art for Pact Exit in the Courtyard
• Other minor visual fixes and improvements
Menus & UI
• Game screen now is dimmed while the game is paused
• When unlocking Weapon Aspects, always auto-equip the new Aspect
• Music track names for the Music Stand can now appear hidden before the track is unlocked
• Improved legibility of repeated 'Backstab!' combat notifications
• Slightly reduced size of standard damage numbers
• Several text clarifications and other minor changes
Music & SFX
• Minor fixes and mix improvements
Voice & Narrative
• Additional scripting fixes to Eurydice & Orpheus story subplot
• Added several miscellaneous narrative events for Eurydice & Orpheus
📢 Fixes and updated requirements for some narrative events
• Fixes and tuning to some contextual voice events
Miscellaneous
• Minor improvements to some Shades milling about the House of Hades
• Skelly no longer rudely talks over Zagreus when starting a new escape attempt
Bug Fixes
• Fixed the Rail's Hestia Aspect empowered shot applying damage twice from one Dash Attack
📢 Fixed an issue causing Support Fire (Artemis) to never be offered
📢 Fixed Hermes Boons unintentionally being affected by Eurydice's treats
📢 Fixed Exalted Brightswords sometimes being able to destroy the Rail's Bombard projectiles
📢 Fixed Final Boss not canceling out of certain attacks upon defeat
📢 Fixed some conversation alert icons not clearing as expected
• Fixed certain Eurydice narrative events unintentionally being able to play more than once
• Fixed 'Bounty Earned' messages showing current total Heat, rather than target Heat for Bounties
📢 Fixed an issue causing 'Death and I' to never be offered for the Music Stand
• Other minor fixes
Quote of the Patch
"'One sole condition yet
Upon the boon is set:
Let him not turn his eyes
To view his hard-won prize,
Till they securely pass
The gates of Hell.' Alas!"
~The Consolation of Philosophy (Boethius; H.R. James translation)
Early Access Patch 029 - October 10, 2019
We're thrilled by the rousing response to the Superstar Update!! We're following up with some improvements and fixes based on initial observations and feedback. We'll patch again in the coming days.
Weapons, Aspects, & Powers
• Raised the max level of the Zagreus Aspect for each weapon to 5
📢 Stygian Blade: you can move a bit during the Nova special preattack sequence
• Heart-Seeking Bow (Hera): reduced spread of Bloodstones from loaded shots
• Adamant Rail (Eris): reduced damage bonus after absorbing a Bombard blast
• Adamant Rail (Hestia): empowered shot now activates only from a manual reload
Boons & Blessings
• Quick Reload (Artemis): reduced effectiveness
• Nasty Dash (Dionysus): removed minor damage this was doing on impact
📢 Eclipse (Chaos): now also boosts Darkness drops from boss foes
Foes & Encounters
📢 Soul Catcher: projectiles should be slightly easier to hit
• The Minotaur: updated some attack timings (he should be slightly more effective)
📢 Final Boss: beam attacks should interact with obstacles more reliably; skull ammo objects can now be targeted by more abilities
Level Design & Environments
• Minor fixes and improvements to some chambers
Art & Visual FX
• Added unique visuals for each weapon equip spot in the Courtyard to go with each Weapon Aspect
• Updated textures and visual FX for some Weapon Aspects
• Added unique menu images for each Weapon Aspect
• Added visual FX for when your current weapon phases out in some Zagreus animations
• Additional visual improvements to some Asphodel chambers
• Additional presentation improvements when leaving or entering Asphodel chambers
• Other minor visual fixes and improvements
Menus & UI
• Added presentation when collecting Bounties
• In the Pact screen, current Heat is no longer shown in two different places
📢 Ambrosia now shown in addition to other resources during escape attempts
• The 'Slay to Retrieve' hint for lodged Ammo will no longer display on bosses
• Added custom hint about retrieving ammo while using the Blade's Poseidon Aspect
• Added unique tutorial objectives in the Courtyard while using certain Weapon Aspects
• Minor text changes; other minor fixes and improvements
Music & SFX
• Updated sound effects for certain Weapon Aspects
• Minor fixes with the new Music Stand
Voice & Narrative
• Added narrative events with certain characters (including Hades, Orpheus, and Skelly)
• Added new Zagreus, Hades, and Skelly voice events for various gameplay contexts
• Added new Storyteller events for successfully clearing runs
• Updated requirements for some narrative events
• Fixes and tuning to some contextual voice events
Bug Fixes
• Fixed several issues causing the Eurydice & Orpheus story subplot to not advance correctly
📢 Fixed collision and blocking issues with the Chaos Shield while using Charged Shot (Daedalus)
📢 Fixed instances where the Spear's Achilles Aspect could be used to escape map boundaries
• Fixed an issue preventing manual recovery of the Spear's Achilles Aspect Throw special
• Fixed an issue causing the Rail's Hestia Aspect empowered-shot ability to transfer to other Aspects
• Fixed interactions between the Rail's Hestia Aspect and Spread Fire (Daedalus)
• Fixed interactions between the Rail's Hestia Aspect and Explosive Fire (Daedalus)
• Fixed some visual issues with the Rail's Aspect animations
📢 Fixed Tisiphone's Extreme Measures (Pact) support attacks being active during chamber changes
📢 Fixed lava being blockable with the Chaos Shield
📢 Fixed Final Boss encounter not ending when expected if summoned urns were still present
📢 Fixed a rare crash in the Final Boss encounter
📢 Heat difficulty will reset in older saves that previously could get stuck at high difficulty
📢 Fixed an issue where the Tight Deadline (Pact) timer would expire prematurely in Elysium
• Fixed an issue causing the Tight Deadline (Pact) timer to remain visible after defeat
📢 Fixed an unbreakable urn in the final chamber of Asphodel
• Fixed some visual issues with the effect for Evergreen Acorn (Keepsake)
• Fixed rare performance issues in the Pact screen
• Fixed various other minor UI issues with the Pact screen
• Fixed Duo Boons showing up as Legendary in the Pool of Purging
• Fixed an issue where Infernal Troves requiring Skeleton Keys were not showing a lock indicator
• Fixed some menu title text being off center
• Other minor fixes
Quote of the Patch
'[Orpheus] became so adept at music that his playing and singing charmed wild animals and caused stones and trees to follow him when he wished.'
~Crowell's Handbook of Classical Mythology (E. Tripp)
Early Access Patch 028: The SUPERSTAR Update - October 8, 2019
Welcome to our seventh Major Update, which we think is our most game-changing one yet! Due to the number of new systems and features here, we're expecting to follow up on this initial launch with several smaller patches. We'll be watching your feedback closely as we go. Hope you enjoy it!
Highlights
• Weapon Aspects: unlock specially-enchanted alternate forms for each of your different weapons
• Pact of Punishment, 2nd Edition: an overhauled Pact is central to a newly revised endgame
• Eurydice: the muse of Orpheus is out there, somewhere; can you find her?
• New Resources: look for Gemstones, Diamonds, & Chthonic Keys as you make your escape
• House Contractor: unlock a variety of new cosmetic items for the House of Hades, such as the...
• Music Stand: unlock music pieces heard throughout the game, & change the music in the House
• Underworld Renovations: look for new & improved visuals in the House of Hades & all of Asphodel
• New Song: listen for the melodious voice of our longtime musical collaborator, Ashley Barrett!
General Gameplay
• Added Weapon Aspects, revised Pact of Punishment, and House Contractor systems
• Heat: removed as a collectible resource (part of the Pact rework; you will receive 5 Darkness for each Heat lost)
• Gemstones and Diamonds: newly added resource used with House Contractor and Wretched Broker
• Chthonic Keys: newly added resource used with Weapon Aspects and some other interactions
• Your first boss clear with each weapon earns you a Bounty, i.e. a Chthonic Key or Diamond
📢 Your Death Defiance effects remove any poison effects
Weapons & Powers
• Each weapon can now be permanently upgraded in the Courtyard, once you reach a certain point
• Stygian Blade: reworked Nova special; updated Dash Attack (new timing and animation)
📢 Shield of Chaos: updated Dash attack (new animation); improvements to input buffering
📢 Eternal Spear: adjusted Attack combo timing and damage; updated Dash attack (new timing and animation); Throw special now staggers foes
Boons & Blessings
• Zeus' Aid: reduced damage
📢 Athena's Aid: increased duration; Greater Call duration multiplier reduced to compensate
📢 True Shot (Artemis): added a chance to deal Critical damage
• Hunter's Mark (Artemis): dealing Critical damage to foes with the 'Marked' Status Curse clears the effect
• Exit Wounds (Artemis): reduced power scaling from improved rarity
• Fully Loaded (Artemis): rarity set to Legendary
• Support Fire (Artemis): no longer Legendary; effect now scales with rarity
• Lightning Phalanx (Zeus x Athena): reduced max. number of bounces and bounce range
• Shatter Shot (Aphrodite): reduced power scaling from improved rarity
• Life Affirmation (Aphrodite): slightly reduced power level
📢 Rapid Cast (Hermes): now also increases Cast homing effects to compensate for the speed boost
📢 Stabbing (Chaos): cut from game (Master Chaos has decided not to punish you simply for dashing)
📢 Boons with 'Revenge' effects now trigger when your Death Defiance effects activate
Daedalus Hammer Upgrades
• The following upgrades are no longer offered: Empowering Nova (Blade), Mirage Flight (Shield), Heavy Slug (Rail), and Invigorating Blast (Rail); their spirits live on in some of the new Weapon Aspects
• Piercing Wave (Blade): newly added! A long-range wave with every slash
• Charged Shot (Shield): newly added! Your Bull Rush fires a projectile instead
📢 Multi Skewer (Spear): now pierces through the last foe it hits
• Rocket Bomb (Rail): newly added! Fire a rocket instead of bombarding
• Inescapable Blast (Rail): newly added! Foes are slowed while targeted for bombardment
Foes & Encounters
• You can no longer run into multiple mini-boss encounters in a region in a single run
• Increased the size of Elysium by one chamber
📢 Trial of the Gods encounters can now take place in Elysium
📢 Reduced max. types of Elite foes that can appear in Thanatos encounters
📢 Erebus challenge chambers now contain Champion foes (tougher than Elite foes)
• Champion foes no longer drop money
• Megaera and the Furies: learned some new tricks via the Pact...
• Bone Hydra: slightly reduced health; updated ranged flurry attack; learned some new tricks via the Pact...
• Exalted Longspear: now leap off impassable terrain
📢 Flame Wheels: groups spawn in quicker succession
📢 Soul Catcher: reduced appearance rate in Elysium; reduced Elite health; no longer completely immobile and now susceptible to knock-away effects
📢 The Minotaur: updated some animations and attack timings
📢 Theseus: updated some animations and attack timings
📢 Gigantic Vermin: poison puddles expire faster
📢 Final Boss: reduced damage; reduced health; reduced tracking of homing attack; reduced health of some Champion summons; summoned urns now invulnerable while spawning; overall, still a pain
Keepsakes & Items
• Wells of Charon no longer offer Bedroom Decor items; the House Contractor has a monopoly on them
• Evergreen Acorn (Eurydice): newly added! Take no damage from boss attacks for some number of hits
• Old Spiked Collar (Cerberus): slightly reduced power level
📢 Black Shawl (Nyx): increased power level
📢 Lucky Tooth (Skelly): increased power level
📢 Lambent Plume (Hermes): tuned fast-clear durations for some encounter types
• Charon now offers one of the two new rare resources for sale in the Temple of Styx
Pact of Punishment
• Overhauled the system; now linked to Bounties (look for more details when you first get to it)
• Rescaled Heat as a measure of difficulty (1 unit now is equivalent to about 5 units before)
• Reworked and renamed the various Conditions
• Middle Management: newly added! Raises number of Elite foes in mini-boss encounters
• Tight Deadline: newly added! Gives you a limited amount of time to clear each region
• Heightened Security: newly added! Boosts damage from traps
• Underworld Customs: newly added! Forces you to purge a Boon as you leave each region
• Extreme Measures: newly added! Influences the final battle in Tartarus
• Snake Oil: newly added! Influences the final battle in Asphodel
Level Design & Environments
• Added two new chambers in Asphodel
📢 Added a Pool of Purging to the final chamber in each region
📢 Added several new Erebus challenge chamber variants
• Made some renovations to the House of Hades (others are ongoing)
• Other minor fixes and improvements to various chambers
Art & Visual FX
• Updated visuals all throughout Asphodel
• Updated visuals in the House of Hades
• Updated portrait for Orpheus
• Updated visuals for the Wretched Broker
• Updated visuals for wretched shades and spirits in various environments
• Updated visuals in first chamber of Elysium
• Added unique Zagreus run animations with the Blade, Spear, and Bow, and other weapon details
• Added some animations for Megaera and the Furies to accompany their aforementioned new tricks
• Updated textures for Alecto and Tisiphone
• Updated some of the visuals for the Bone Hydra
• Updated some animations for Theseus and The Minotaur
• Updated various visual FX in Final Boss encounter, including the Status Curse effect
• Improvements to the look of the Exalted once separated from their weapons
📢 Updated UI and visuals for Death Defiance effects
📢 Increased transparency of Dionysus' Festive Fog effects
📢 Improved feedback for the deactivated state of the Mandragora Cure Pools in the Temple of Styx
• Removed slight animation from Dionysus and Ares portraits (due to various issues; they still blink, though)
• Unified the look of Elite foes' armor outline
• Updated main menu based on new Major Update (including our studio logo, for our 10th anniversary!)
• Other minor visual changes, fixes, and improvements
Menus & UI
• Updated Health Bar UI for foes
• Updated visual FX for Boon selection
• Underworld Map presentation when traveling between regions now shows earned Bounties
• Added new Death Defiance UI indicators based on the source of the effect
• The backing for interact prompts now scales with the prompt
• Added alternate dialogue prompt for key early-game character conversations that unlock new systems (specifically, the Codex from Achilles and Mirror respeccing from Nyx)
📢 The Fallen Warrior's HydraLite Gold premium good now shows your life total in the tooltip
📢 The warning pop-up for deleting save data defaults to Cancel instead of OK
📢 Text clarifications to some Boons and upgrades
• Other minor fixes, changes, and improvements
Music & SFX
• 'Good Riddance': added new music track, featuring the voice of Ashley Barrett!
• Added various new sound effects for the new resources, systems, and other contexts
📢 Adamant Rail now has a distinct fire sound while low on ammo
📢 Battle emotes from Zagreus and others now affected by SFX Volume rather than Voice Volume
• Minor fixes and mix improvements
Voice & Narrative
• Added many narrative events with characters (including Eurydice, Orpheus, Hades, and Achilles)
• Added many new Zagreus voice events for various gameplay contexts
• Added Codex entries for Eurydice, Gemstones, Diamonds, and Chthonic Keys
• Added to Codex entries for each of the Infernal Arms
📢 Added specific captions for ambient voice lines from the Fallen Warrior
• Updated requirements for some narrative events
• Fixes and tuning to some contextual voice events
Miscellaneous
• Updated Development Roadmap to reflect our plans for our next Major Update, and beyond
• The Wretched Broker now offers additional resource trades, and has fixed all his prices...
• Some later Mirror of Night upgrades now require Chthonic Keys
• Skelly: increased health (stationary jumping can be an effective form of cardiovascular exercise)
• Rescaled Heat requirements to earn Skelly's unlockables
• Credits: Eurydice added to voice cast; other updates, including new Community Contributors!
Bug Fixes
📢 Fixed issues with some Zeus lightning effects not taking upgrades correctly
📢 Fixed an issue causing Vicious Cycle (Ares) to ramp up damage more than expected
• Fixed Positive Outlook (Dionysus) not gaining benefits from more than one Pom of Power
📢 Fixed Spent Spirit (Athena x Aphrodite) not affecting accelerating projectiles
• Fixed Heart Rend (Artemis x Aphrodite) unintentionally applying additional chance for Critical damage
📢 Fixed an issue sometimes causing Chaos Gates and Infernal Gates to be invisible
📢 Fixed an issue sometimes causing parts of the Health UI to not show correctly
• Fixed Skull-Crushers being susceptible to Backstab damage from the front
📢 Fixed issues related to vanquishing Theseus and the Minotaur in close succession
📢 Fixed an issue causing Gigantic Vermin poison puddles to not always clear after encounters
• Fixed an issue where you could build up your God Gauge by hitting pillars while fighting the Final Boss
📢 Many other minor fixes
Quote of the Patch
'There remained but little more to climb till they would touch earth's surface, when in fear he might again lose her, and anxious for another look at her, he turned his eyes so he could gaze upon her.'
~Metamorphoses, Book 10: Orpheus & Eurydice (Ovid; B. Moore translation)
Patch Notes Archive
For patch notes from the previous Major Update, check out The Big Bad Update Patch Notes (August, 2019).
