Today we release our second massive FREE expansion to the base game of Riftbound! To coincide with this, we have also put the game on our biggest sale yet, so it's a great time to try it out!

With new content including character kits, "Demonlore", introduces a massive amount of new features and mechanics, improves the game feel and extends the replayability to keep you entertained.

Be sure to check the new trailer on the Steam page for a look at the new gameplay experience.

Our team has just announced OCEANEERS, the next game we are working on, be sure to check it out!

Check out the features of the Riftbound Demonlore expansion below on this page, but in-case you missed it here is a deep dive on all of the improvement!
https://steamproxy.net/steamstore/news/app/1588340/view/4264427597952001472

• NEW Roguelite character system.
  
• NEW Mini-boss enemies in a new battle type.
  
• NEW Stage-5 battle with main boss enemy.
  
• NEW Consumable & Tactics systems.
  
• NEW Unit veterancy system.
  
• NEW Elemental fusion system.

• 6 characters to choose from with unique kits and abilities.
  
• New run system, from short 2-Stage runs, to mega 5-stage runs.
  
• Faster progression and improved game feel!
  
• New perk system, including mastery perks.
  
• Veterancy level-up system to improve your favorite units.
  
• New unique spells & upgrades.
  
• New enemies, now with 8 mini-boss and 5 main boss enemies.
  
• New enemy affixes, from stinky boars to attractive skeletons!
  
• New consumable system, from the Potion of Healing, to the Orb of Obliteration!
  
• New fire crystal and time crystal system. Don't anger the Time Guardians!
  
• Visual style and VFX improvements.
  
• Lots of quality of life improvements and balance tweaks.

A big thanks to all of the players in the Discord channel that offered their support and feedback, you have helped shape the expansion and we are really happy with the new game experience.

Below we have put together a deep dive by the devs into the new features in this expansion, and what to expect if you have played Riftbound!

[color=#54cbff]We spent the past year+ working on the expansion and doing and public playtesting. The amazing feedback from players has allowed us to make Riftbound the best it could be. Now you will be able to play the complete expansion![/color]

This expansion focused on overhauling the Roguelite game mode (Summoner's Path) and adding new mechanics, features and content.

Our team went into development of this expansion with some goals in mind.

• Goal #1 - Don't hard-lock too many things behind progression
  
• Goal #2 - Give players more rewards, more often
  
• Goal #3 - Give players a series of more interesting choices
  
• Goal #4 - Give players choice over run length & variation

The the above goals were the driving force for our new features, so let's dig in!

You can now choose from 6 characters before starting a run. Each character has a unique kit, some unique abilities and a mastery perk. This allows you to come up with interesting (and sometimes overpowered) builds, focusing on the benefits of each character.

Some characters are more complex and even have unique game mechanics, whether it be collecting Fire Shards to empower your spells, or using super powerful Time spells at the risk of angering the Time Guardians!

Roguelite games can have a lot of replayability, but sometimes you want to do a short run and sometimes it would be great and settle in for a nice epic long run. Introducing the new run system!

We now have 6 x 2-Stage runs, 3 x 3-Stage runs and 1 x 4-Stage run (with optional extra Stage-5). In addition to this, each run is themed with different enemies, affixes and mutators. This system turned out REALLY well, and adds so much replayabiltiy to the game with controlled randomness.

Our original perk system relied too much on progression. Now perks are all unlocked right from the start and we have added/removed perks and restructured how the system works. You can now choose between two perks on each row and really focus on building out your strategy for the next run.

On top of this we have added a new meta-currency that lets you unlock some really unique mastery perks that can be triggered from effects, or give bonuses to certain elements.

There are now 3 shop types in your run, allowing you to purchase not only spells and upgrades, but now tactics and consumables. Consumables add some meaningful choices during a battle, do you want to use them now, or should you hold onto them for a clutch mini-boss battle!

Each character has a different amount of tactics slots, and most characters now have their own unique tactics that introduce new mechanics into the game. We had a lot of fun designing these, and you are going to have just as much fun using them!

One issue with meta-currency in Roguelite games is what to do with that currency once you have unlocked everything? We addressed this by adding some ways you can permanently spend your currency, this not only includes a "Retry" option when you lose a battle, but also the new "Gem Exchange" options prior to starting a run.

The demon legion attacks in full force with new infernal mini-boss enemies. Unlike main-bosses, mini-bosses can walk down lanes to destroy your army. Luckily they have some weaknesses and don't have full immunity to crowd-control effects.

The health bar is divided into segments, once you get each segment of health down, they teleport back the end of a lane. This unique mechanic has created some challenging battles that you can mange with strategy.

There are 8 mini-bosses, each with unique attacks and features!

You all have your favorite elementals, and it's time to level them up! The new in-battle veterancy system allows you to choose upgrades per-unit that they will keep for the entire run. Each unit also gains a special attack once they reach a high enough veterancy.

These upgrades also stack with the existing Hero system, so if you want to go all-in on your units and focus less on spells, there will be nothing tougher than your high level Veteran Heroes!

We wanted to add more interaction between the elements, so we introduced the Elemental Fusion system. Apply elemental runes to enemies, and the right combination will trigger a reaction!

The great thing about this system is that it also carries over to the Campaign and Endless mode as well!

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That covers the main features of this expansion! There are too many other changes to list here. If you want to get more detail please check the Demonlore patch notes in our past news announcements. Some changes will be obvious (like the Spellbar UI overhaul), but there were also a range of balance fixes and other improvements, and even changes to some units like the Aqua Elemental which now has a type of attack!


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Where to share your feedback

• Right here, in the comments of this post.
  
• On the Steam forum for our game.
  
• In the Discord channel.

Thanks so much for your support! All of your feedback so far has helped shape the game, improve balance and make it more enjoyable for everyone.





We are very active devs, so you are more than welcome to join our discord or leave your feedback on the Steam forum with anything you would love to see in the future of the game!
Join discord here[discord.gg]

We have released a small patch for the Riftbound Demonlore expansion, with some tweaks and improvements based on feedback. Thanks again to everyone on the Steam forums and Discord for the incredible feedback!

This patch applies to the Demonlore update that is currently on the public test branch (check the forums for how to access it).

If you are having any issues with the Spell Bar (not showing or incorrect scale) please let us know with screenshots and details about your game settings (resolution, window mode etc). Ideally if you can join our discord we would love to get more details to solve this issue. This issue hasn't been encountered by players in our discord and we have been unable to reproduce the issue despite testing on a range of devices.


[color=#54cbff]Check out the patch notes below for the full details.[/color]

A huge thanks to everyone that has been providing feedback. We are really happy with how the new Demonlore update has been received and are excited to proceed through the roadmap with you!

The best way you can support us is by leaving a review on Steam, as this gets more attention to our game on Steam, and will give us the flexibility to expand the game even more into the future.

• Added a new game option that lets you remember the battle speed between battles (In the Roguelite game mode). When enabled, the speed you had set when you last had a battle victory will be the speed used at the start of your next battle. The speed will reset to 1 whenever you start a new run.
  
• Further improvements to the controller, now allow D-Pad Down to cycle through evolutions if the highlighted card has evolutions.
  
• The Scorching Tiles created by the Fire Totem now spew out fiery orbs.
  
• The Bloodlust mutator now shows a counter during battle (above the wave bar and boss bar)
  
• Fixed the Mutual Destruction mutator, enemies now correctly explode after 30 seconds instead of 15 seconds.

• The controller DPAD-Down button now toggles the full details of the spellbar spells during a battle.
  
• Fixed missing keybind glyphs for Caps Lock, Back Tick, Forward Slash, Apostraphe, Semicolon, Comma, Period (these keybinds still worked but showed no glyph in the keybind screen).
  
• Fixed a bug that allowed you to start a run with a locked character when using the controller.
  
• Fixed collider improvements on elementals that were making it more difficult to click on elementals to evolve them.

We are very active devs, so you are more than welcome to join our discord or leave your feedback on the Steam forum with anything you would love to see in the future of the game. This is just the beginning of very exciting times ahead!
Join discord here[discord.gg]

Welcome to the next patch for Riftbound. Thanks again to everyone on the Steam forums and Discord for the incredible feedback!

This patch applies to the Demonlore update that is currently on the public test branch (check the forums for how to access it).


[color=#54cbff]The Demonlore expansion is now feature complete and we have made all of the planned changes ready for final testing on the public test branch. The Demonlore expansion now has a lot of new content, overhauled systems and new features, and lots of changes based on the large amount of feedback from our amazing community!

This update includes the planned phase-3 changes of the Demonlore roadmap, and some unplanned changes that felt good during testing (such as overhauling the veterancy and removing heroic leveling). As a developer it can be difficult to make the decision to remove existing systems, but it's always important to know it's an important option to consider if it benefits the feel of the game - and we are very happy with the new game feel of leveling up in-battle and moving faster between battles.

The biggest part of this update that you have all been waiting for is the new Stage-5 map on the main run. It is now available, including the new Main Boss enemy! Take the fight to the demons!

From here we will evaluate the final feedback, mostly in regard to quality of life, bug fixes and balance. The new keybinds and controller updates are in, as well as some other requested features that make everything feel that bit nicer.

Check out the patch notes below for the full details.[/color]

That's right, the main run is now a 5 stage run! Don't worry, entering that 5th stage is optional. This is the full run and it it's definitely longer, but also gives you more opportunity to max your units veterancy and get maximum damage from synergies.

The main run has also been restructured so that the first 3 maps end in a Miniboss instead of a Main Boss, and those 3 Main Bosses have been moved to the final battle at each if the three key runs. This was an important change, as repeating runs is more fun when you encounter random Minibosses before a Main Boss, as opposed to just facing the same four Main Bosses every time.

The final two characters have been added! Tempo can be unlocked when you have enough currency, and Wisperio is unlocked by completing the main run. These characters have unique kits and abilities, including a new Time Guardian mechanic to keep your powerful abilities in check.

We have added the final Miniboss enemies, each with unique mechanics. There are now a total of 8 Miniboss enemies and 5 Main boss enemies, giving you heaps of variety through your runs!

The heroic level up after battles has been completely removed, along with the post-battle coin screen (to speed things up). In place of this we have a new level up system for veterancy that gives you Veterancy XP through the battle. Each time you level up, you get to choose a veterancy upgrade. Keep an eye out for loot goblins as well, not only do they drop bonus coins, but also a bunch of veterancy gems!

There are a range of gamers that play Riftbound, some like to take a more casual approach, and some like to experience the hardest challenges we can offer. In light of this we have added a new harder difficulty level! If you have mastered Merciless (+3), be ready to take on the new Brutal (+4) difficulty. Enemies are a little tougher, but one thing we try and avoid is primarily buffing enemy health to increase difficulty - so for the Brutal difficulty mode some enemies will have more powerful attacks, you will encounter more elites & champions, and you will face many more nightmare battles!

This is quite the mega-patch, so real the full notes below on all of the other changes. There are new mechanics such as the Time Crystal system, changes to boss battles and lots more!

Now that the roadmap is complete we will make any final tweaks and bug fixes as required (remember to send us your feedback). This will remain on the public test for a little while before we fully release it in a couple of months, as we work on another big announcement!


A huge thanks to everyone that has been providing feedback. We are really happy with how the new Demonlore update has been received and are excited to proceed through the roadmap with you!

The best way you can support us is by leaving a review on Steam, as this gets more attention to our game on Steam, and will give us the flexibility to expand the game even more into the future.

[color=#fdda60]Please Note: Due to significant changes in save data, any active Summoner's Path runs have been retired. Meta progression is not effected.[/color]

[color=#fdda60]Please Note: Keybinds will be reset due to significant changes. We recommend also going into the "Controls" section of the game options, press "Reset to Default" and then adjust keybinds as you see fit.[/color]

• Stage-5 has been added to the main run. Once completing Stage-4 you will be given a choice, the choice to enter Stage-5 is only available if you have all 3 keys. This is a unique stage with a new main boss.
  
• A new Main Boss has been added and will only be encountered in Stage-5. Can you take the battle through the rift and achieve ultimate victory!?
  
• A new eerie black smoke has appeared on the battlefield.
  
  
  
• A new difficulty level, Brutal (+4) is now available in Roguelite runs.
  
• A new battle type “Infernal Nightmare Battle” has been added and will appear in Stage-5. This is a harder version of an Infernal Battle with a miniboss.
  
• Three new MiniBoss enemies have entered the fray. Marrow, Tendril and Wreck. (Note that Baalzor has been retired and replaced by Marrow).
  
• New Encounter “Wisperio Unchained” added. This is a Stage-5 only encounter that is used to unlock the character “Wisperio”.
  
• New magic shield mechanic has been added. Enemies with a magic shield show an extra shield bar over their health. Unlike armor, shields do not carry over excess damage, and they recharge automatically when the target is not being hit.
  
• New Time Shard counter now appears along the spell bar for a new time mechanic. The guardian’s have issued a decree not to manipulate the timeline... you have been warned!
  
• A new item “Fin’s Orb of Obliteration” is now available in the consumable shop.
  
• A new enemy has appeared! The lesser demon attacks is weak, but it attacks in packs.
  
• A new enemy has appeared! The Time Guardians are watching…
  
• New feature added to run maps, Goblin Sightings! When a POI on a map has a goblin sighting, that battle will be increased to the next battle difficulty, but it will also have a much higher chance at spawning loot goblins, and can spawn more loot goblins.
  
  
• Main Boss mechanics have changed. Previously you would lose the battle if a single enemy made it to the crystal, this will now only happen if 3 enemies make it to the crystal. New UI elements will show this feature, and the crystal will break each time an enemy reaches the end.
  
• The first 3 main bosses (Troll, Reaper, Warlord) have been moved to the final stages of the 3-stage key runs (Path of Wrath III, Path of Ruin III and Path of Blight III) with key reward. For the main run (Path of Chaos), the first 3 stages will now have a random mini-boss, then continue with the Necromancer boss in Stage-4, followed by the new boss if you manage to unlock Stage-5.
  
• Reworked the level up and hero system. We have removed the level up system, and instead added a new heroic reward type to the map. The original level up system was done to obtain the heroic rewards before a hero shop existed, so the current features have outgrown it. Instead we have added the Veterancy level up which happens during battle.
  
• Reworked the veterancy system. Instead of gaining veterancy after every wave, you now gain it from veterancy gems dropped by enemies on death. Some enemies such as Elites and Champions have a chance to drop gems that will give you more veterancy xp. This will give us more flexibility with mechanics that effect veterancy gain.
  
• Veterancy levels for units is now capped at 15 (or 10 for producers like Aetherling). The special attack for each unit still becomes available as a level 10 vet upgrade, and after level 10 new vet upgrades become available to further increase damage when you have other elemental types in the battle.
  
• New Veterancy Upgrades are available for attackers with a +1% chance to deal double damage for each AIR or WATER type elemental in the battle (there is a version of these for the Air, Fire and Water elementals that requires elementals of other types). This upgrade is available after a unit reaches level 10, has 2 stacks, and is inherited by evolutions.
  
• Aqua Elemental can now have damage, critical chance, critical damage, health regen veterancy upgrades, but the double damage upgrade has been removed.
  
  
• The Time Shift spell is now classed as Minor Time Major and has a small chance to create a Time Shard.
  
• The compendium now has sections to display tactics and consumables.
  
• Updated the VFX that show when your wisp collects energy
  
• Heroic Reward icon was added to the map key.
  
• XP Rate is no longer shown on the run details panel, since the level up mechanic has changed.
  
• Updated the artwork for the 3 keys (wrath, ruin, blight).
  
  
• New cosmetic “Cat Mustache” has been added to the character customizer and is unlocked by default.
  
• New cosmetic “Bat Wing” has been added to the character customizer and can be unlocked if you have 300 stars.
  
• New cosmetic “Dutch Beard” has been added to the character customizer and is unlocked if you have 500 stars.
  
• New cosmetic “Dragon Wing” has been added to the character customizer and can be unlocked by winning a run on the new Brutal difficulty.
  
• New cosmetic “Commando Hat” has been added to the character customizer and can be unlocked by winning a run on Merciless difficulty.
  
• New cosmetic “Professor Mustache” has been added to the character customizer and can be unlocked by defeating the Stage-5 boss.
  
  
• The game engine has been updated for support for some new visual effects.

Quality of Life

• New battle keybinds have been added. We recommend resetting keybinds in the settings and then customizing them. A dedicated keybind for Crystal Shield and Heroic Transformation have been added, as well as 4 new keybinds for Tactics Slots 1-4. Note that there is still a dedicated Recall keybind, however this is a Tactic now so will also be accessed from the relevant Tactic Slot keybind.
  
• Gamepad input has been updated to work with the new spellbar layout and veterancy choices. In addition to this the D-Pad directions are now used to toggle the bag (left), show the veterancy list (right) and show the fusion chart (up).
  
• Updated gamepad target to store the last selected tile, so when you cast your next spell it will start from that tile. This also separately stores the last tile used for certain spells, so your last stored target for summoning an elemental and casting an attack spell will be different.
  
• Added a glowing red danger effect that shows on the left side of the screen as the enemies get closer to your crystal, this is to help alert you to the danger. Similar effects will show to alert you to Time Guardian danger levels. The crystal itself also glows red for danger.
  
• Added a new MiniBoss tutorial screen that appears on your first encounter with a miniboss.
  
• Added a timer bar when evolving units.
  
• Added a skip button to the end of run gem reward screen that lets you speed up the run results.
  
• Added a ground shadow and height line to Wraiths to help show which tile they are on
  
• The Continue Run screen now shows the title of the run that is currently in progress.
  
• The Map screen now shows the title of the run that is currently in progress.
  
• The Roguelite run map now also shows the difficulty label with the run title.
  
• The new run details panel now shows a “+” next to enemies that have a higher chance of occurring, and enemy names and affixes listed here are now translated.
  
• The veterancy list will now show if its empty (instead of not showing at all)
  
• The veterancy list and choices will now show in available languages.
  
• Updated the veterancy list (that shows when you mouse over the icon) to display items in 2 lists.
  
• Removed the temporary fusion list from the escape menu, in place of this we have added a new icon at the top right of the screen which you can hover over to see the fusion reactions during a battle. In addition to this there is a help icon on the reward screen that allows you to see fusion effects when choosing rewards. The fusion list also now works for the available languages.

Characters

• New Character “Wisperio” can now be unlocked, features new tactic Overload, new spell Arcane Shackles and new upgrade Laser Wisp.
  
• New Character “Tempo” can now be unlocked, featuring new tactic Chrono Glitch, and new spells Temporal Purge and Wand of Aging.

Audio

• Added new sounds for Corrosion, Energy and Protection potions.
  
• Added new sounds for Tactic: Thunderstep and Conflagrate
  
• Added new sound for Minibosses Grime, Arachnea, Nyxis, Gori and Blightrix
  
• Added new sound for the Veterancy level up dialog.
  
• Reduced the volume of the spider eggs hatching from Miniboss Arachnea

Balance

• Merciless and above difficulties now use the “Hard” presets for enemies which have slightly more base health. Overall this will increase the difficulty of enemies and bosses slightly at Merciless and above in Roguelite mode. For example most skeletons health increases from 100 to 120 base health.
  
• Circle of power can now appear in columns 1, 3, 4 & 5 (previously 3 and 4)
  
• Circle of Growth can appear in columns 2 (previously 1 or 2), to support the suggested strategy of not having economy in the first column.
  
• Circle of mending can now appear in columns 1-5 (previously 2-4).
  
• Loot Goblins are now classified as normal ground units, take maximum 100 damage from any source and health is increased from 300 to 350. Overall they will take more damage from spells, especially spells that deal big damage. They are still immune to stuns, roots and time magic, however will be effected by the Orb of Obliteration.
  
• Minibosses Arachnea, Grime, Tendril and Wreck now only spawn in Stage 2 or higher miniboss battles. Nyxis can now appear in Stage 1, however its projectiles will deal less damage.
  
• Miniboss Nyxis projectile damage changed from 15 to 8 when it is encountered in Stage-1.
  
• Totem of Rock now spawns with a Fortification tile.
  
• Increased the collision size of the burst wisp projectiles by 25% so they would more reliably hit
  
• Updated the Corrupted Boar dash attack so that you can more reliably avoid it with movement tactics such as side step and thunderstep.
  
• Miniboss bonuses per rank have changed max health bonus changed from 10/20/30/40 to 10/25/40/60, and damage bonus from 20/40/60/80 to 20/40/60/80 to 20/30/40/50 and damage resistance from 0/0/0/0 to 0/0/5/10
  
• MoonBeam radius increased from 0.8 to 1.0 so that it can more easily effect enemies.
  
• MoonBeam base damage to armor increased from 5 to 20 to emphasize the armor-stripping purpose of this spell.
  
• MoonBeam health damage amount increased from 0 to 20%
  
• MoonBeam movement speed increased from 0.4 to 0.8
  
• MoonBeam now damages bosses.
  
• MoonBeam Rare radius increased form 0.8 to 1.1, and it also inherits the other balance changes from the non-rare version.
  
• All Boss Battles will now have more elite and champion enemies in difficulty +2, +3, +4, and for difficulties 0, +1, +2, +3, +4, Stage-3, Stage-4 and Stage-5 boss enemies will also have more elite/champion enemies. Note that this doesn’t increase the amount of total enemies, just how many of them are elites or champions.
  
• The Troll boss fight has been made more difficult with more enemy spawns (since it was moved to a map 3 battle where you will be more powerful the difficulty also needed to increase). Merciless and above now also has different enemy spawns to increase the difficulty further.
  
• Aether Mastery Rank 2 Perk (bomber wisps) interval changed from 25 to 35 seconds.

Fixes

• Fixed the visual effect from Reaper’s Doom Toll attack not moving with the elemental that was effected.
  
• Fixed a bug that could cause the enemy Commander to get stuck in the ground when it had any teleporter type affix
  
• Fixed the display position of decaying aura on some enemies such as the Eye of Newt
  
• Fixed an edge case where the summoner would not summon skeletons if it was blocked at the end of a lane.
  
• Fixed potion consumables becoming locked from the Anti-Magic mutator.
  
• Fixed the special Crystal Shield spell becoming locked from the Anti-Magic mutator.
  
• Fixed the environmental tiles (scorched, frostbite, corrupted) created by the Necromancer boss and Warlord boss. They can now be removed by the cleanse spell.
  
• Fixed a bug where the purchase character button would not update until you reselected the character.
  
• Fixed a bug that allowed elementals that were actively being pushed to a new location (such as from a boar attack), could be targeted with tactics that would push them.
  
• Fixed a bug where the targeting arrow would not be positioned correctly above the loot goblin.
  
• Fixed a bug causing loot goblins to spawn less often than they should when you hadn’t had one for a while.
  
• Fixed the hitbox on the Necromancer boss which too tall.
  
• Fixed a bug where the Circle Patterns encounter would still give circle consumable instead of the bonus circle in every battle.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused the Veterancy icon to stay on screen when the spellbar was hidden.
  
• Fixed Wisp Bombs (from Wisp of War, Flyby Wisps etc) not registering aether damage for fusion effects.
  
• Fixed a bug causing the Character completion stars not to show the correct number of stars. E.g. if you win on Merciless the run should now show 4 stars for that character instead of 3.
  
• Fixed an issue where enemies with an emission texture wouldn’t dissolve as nice on death.
  
• Fixed an issue that prevented Berserkers going berserker or mutators such as Forward Offensive and Backup Plan from triggering when you also had the Mutual Destruction mutator
  
• The "Heal All Units" veterancy upgrade option will only show if there are friendly units in the battle.

We are very active devs, so you are more than welcome to join our discord or leave your feedback on the Steam forum with anything you would love to see in the future of the game. This is just the beginning of very exciting times ahead!
Join discord here[discord.gg]

The Demo version has been updated! If you have been following the game, now is the perfect time to check out some of the new features - grab the demo and enjoy!

[color=#54cbff]

• The demo is a short run of the upcoming FREE Demonlore content expansion.
  
• If you purchase the game you can access the new Demonlore features by changing your game to use the public test beta build (see the forum for instructions).
  
• The full game has a huge amount of content not shown in the demo, including more game modes like Campaign and Endless.

[/color]


See the patch notes for the full game to get some insight in the large changes we have made:
https://steamproxy.net/steamstore/news/app/1588340/view/4264427597951630583


-----------------------------------------------




We are very active devs, so you are more than welcome to join our discord or leave your feedback on the Steam forum with anything you would love to see in the future of the game. This is just the beginning of very exciting times ahead!
Join discord here[discord.gg]

We have planned the 1.2.9 Demonlore mega-patch to go live on the public test branch at the start of next week. We just wanted to let everyone know in advance that active runs will be abandoned due to significant changes. So if you are in the middle of a run that you want to finish, you still have a few days to smash the remaining skellies!

Meta-progression already earned in Demonlore will not be affected (you will keep your existing gems).

We will post the full patch notes once the new version is active so keep an eye out for those.

Riftbound will be part of the Steam Tower Defense festival next week, for everyone looking to purchase the game, that is going to be a great time to grab it!

Just a quick note of how we decided to roll out the expansions for Riftbound. Just like the previous expansion (Summoner's Path), the new Demonlore expansion will be rolled directly into the base game once it is live (you won't need to download a separate DLC or anything like that). Also it is free to anyone that currently owns the game, and will be free to anyone that purchases the game after the expansion is released.

The demo features a short roguelite run from the upcoming FREE Demonlore content expansion. Once you purchase the game all of this new content is available, but you do need to change to the public test branch to access it. Please see the forum instructions on how to do this. (This is only required while we finalize testing, in the coming months when Demonlore is fully released this will not be necessary).




We are very active devs, so you are more than welcome to join our discord or leave your feedback on the Steam forum with anything you would love to see in the future of the game. This is just the beginning of very exciting times ahead!
Join discord here[discord.gg]

Since our last news update we have been working hard on the final phase of the Demonlore expansion. We took this time to also update the engine to allow for some new visual features in the game.

Our goal at the moment is to get this latest version feature complete so that we can put it on the public test branch for final testing before we officially launch the full, free, Demonlore expansion. We will also have another exciting announcement coming when this expansion fully launches, so stay tuned for that!

Just a reminder to new players and demo players.

For New Players:
If you have recently purchased the game, please see the forums for instructions on how to access the free Demonlore expansion. You can still play on the older version for now (1.2.4) however all of the latest expansion content will only be available on the public test branch until the expansion is fully released. It's open to everyone that owns the game, so we encourage you to try it out!

For Demo Players:
The latest demo does include some of the new content and mechanics from the free Demonlore expansion. Keep in mind it is a few patches behind and doesn't have the latest updates to the veterancy system (or the new fusion system).

[color=#54cbff]We have taken a close look a the feedback and various systems we have been working on with the Demonlore expansion, including the core features and experimental features we were testing out (such as the veterancy system).

We really liked having the veterancy system, but it made the old leveling system feel unnecessary. So we decided to consolidate the leveling system into a veterancy level up system, and remove things like the post game level-up and coin screen to make the experience more fluid. This means heroics are no longer tied to leveling up and are primarily obtained in the hero shop - though we have added some new map POI features, and one of these is an extra heroic reward. The level up system was actually the only way to obtain heroics before we had the hero shop, so this new change made sense.

The new Stage-5 and new major boss are already going through internal playtesting! The way main bosses appear in runs will also be changing, so we have had to tweak the difficulty of these boss fights to suit.

These are changes which we didn't initially intend to make, but felt good during testing. It has added some time on the development of the expansion but it will be worth it when it launches later this year!

Once the expansion is feature complete, there will also be another pass on polish and QoL features, including some requested keybind and controller changes.

We look forward to more of your feedback as we roll out the next series of updates.[/color]


One Quick Note:
Above are our current plans, but, they are subject to change based on player feedback.


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Where to share your feedback

• Right here, in the comments of this post.
  
• On the Steam forum for our game.
  
• In the Discord channel.

Thanks so much for your support! All of your feedback so far has helped shape the game, improve balance and make it more enjoyable for everyone.





We are very active devs, so you are more than welcome to join our discord or leave your feedback on the Steam forum with anything you would love to see in the future of the game!
Join discord here[discord.gg]

After our previous update with the new fusion system and a short break over the holidays, we are now well into the year and working hard on the final phase of the Demonlore expansion roadmap! We have a brief update on this below.

Before that, just a reminder to new players and demo players.

For New Players:
If you have recently purchased the game, please see the forums for instructions on how to access the free Demonlore expansion. You can still play on the older version for now (1.2.4) however all of the latest expansion content will only be available on the public test branch until the expansion is fully released. It's open to everyone that owns the game, so we encourage you to try it out!

For Demo Players:
The latest demo does include some of the new content and mechanics from the free Demonlore expansion. Keep in mind it is a few patches behind and doesn't have the latest updates to the veterancy system (or the new fusion system).

[color=#54cbff]Phase 3 of the roadmap is underway. We have had a lot of great feedback from players and are really happy with how everything is shaping up. The major aspect of this phase is the new Stage-5 and new major boss that will offer, bringing everything together for an epic main run.

We have a good amount of minibosses and new enemies already, so during this phase we will also be shuffling around where they fit into the available runs to determine what has the best feel. Part of this will potentially include moving the first 3 main bosses to the end of each key run, and replacing them with minibosses to the main run.

In addition to the items listed on the roadmap, there will also be another pass on polish and QoL features, including some requested keybind and controller changes.

We look forward to more of your feedback as we roll out the next series of updates.[/color]


One Quick Note:
Above are our current plans, but, they are subject to change based on player feedback.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Where to share your feedback

• Right here, in the comments of this post.
  
• On the Steam forum for our game.
  
• In the Discord channel.

Thanks so much for your support! All of your feedback so far has helped shape the game, improve balance and make it more enjoyable for everyone.





We are very active devs, so you are more than welcome to join our discord or leave your feedback on the Steam forum with anything you would love to see in the future of the game!
Join discord here[discord.gg]

Here is a the next patch for Riftbound. Thanks again to everyone on the Steam forums and Discord for the incredible feedback!

This patch applies to the Demonlore update that is currently on the public test branch (check the forums for how to access it).


[color=#54cbff]We know that plenty of players absolutely love obliterating enemies with spells, but we also know some players like to focus more on the units. The new mechanics in the Demonlore update have already gone a long way to improve this area (in particularly with veterancy bonuses), but we wanted something that focused more on synergies. So, we came up with a new Elemental Fusion system that works on top of the existing systems!

Speaking of veterancy, new veterancy bonuses have been added to round out the system, and all elementals (except Aether-Types) now have level 10 special veterancy upgrades, from the mighty Super Punch to the heated Fiery Vortex!

Based on player feedback we have reverted some aspects of the consumable system, notably Totems and Circles. These felt better as special items that you could obtain, and they were causing balance issues in mini-boss fights. So they will no longer be consumables and are only found in encounters as they were previously. The consumable system is still going strong however, and you can now find new types of potions to aid you in battle.

That's not all for this patch though, there is a lot of other new content, a new miniboss, consumable changes (based on player feedback), new enemy modifiers and new mutators.

Check out the patch notes below for the full details.[/color]

This new system features 8 elemental runes that can be applied to the enemies in different ways. Some more simple than others. When the correct runes both exist on the enemy, they are consumed and turn into a fusion reaction which can apply its own effects and even apply different runes, There are also special runes that are more persistent and wont be consumed when they trigger a reaction, allowing you to trigger multiple reactions if you get the right combination of units.

Here is a chart showing an overview of how it works:
Unlike many of the other new mechanics in the Demonlore update, the really nice thing about this new system, is that it even works in the Classic Campaign!

As we are nearing the end of tasks for Phase 2 of the roadmap, we plan to release an updated roadmap and move on to Phase 3. We are really excited to bring everything together with the new Stage-5 in the main run and introduce the final 2 characters. Phase 3 will also have a big focus on quality of life improvements, controller improvements and keybinding improvements, so stay tuned for those.

A huge thanks to everyone that has been providing feedback. We are really happy with how the new Demonlore update has been received and are excited to proceed through the roadmap with you!

The best way you can support us is by leaving a review on Steam, as this gets more attention to our game on Steam, and will give us the flexibility to expand the game even more into the future.

[color=#fdda60]If you have a run in progress you can complete the run without any issues.[/color]

• New Elemental Fusion system has been added, and the chart has been added to the escape menu. As part of this system you will see runes above enemies.
  
• The Totem and Circle powerup consumable change has been reverted. They will no longer show as shop consumables and are now special items that you get from encounters that have a charge per battle.
  
• A new miniboss, Grime, has entered the fray.
  
• Updated some miniboss names so that they are easier to identify and more inline with their abilities. Malevolis = Arachne, Malegor = Gori, Corruptorix = Blightrix
  
• New special high level (10+) veterancy bonuses have been added to Stoneling (Blocking), Rock Elemental (Blocking Aura), Jolt Elemental (Spiral Orbs), Ice Elemental (Scatter Shot), Granite Elemental (Super Punch), Jagged Elemental (Spike Shot) ,Lightning Elemental (Impact Strike), Blaze (Scorching), Pyro (Fiery Vortex)
  
• New Veterancy Bonus: +2 Production (available for resource generating units)
  
• New Veterancy Bonus: + Base Health (available in varying amounts for Stoneling, Rock, Granite & Jagged Elementals)
  
• New Veterancy Bonus: +10% Multi-Shot (available to most units that fire projectiles, inherited by evolutions). MultiShot is a new accumulative (non chance based) mechanic for units (e.g 0.1 MultiShot means every 10th attack a unit does will be a double attack).
  
• New Veterancy Bonus: +20% Damage, -10% Attack Speed
  
• New Enemy Modifiers have been added and can now appear in some runs: Stun Immunity, Stinky, Attractive, Ice Shards & Lone Wolf.
  
• New Mutators have been added to the pool: Chaarrggee!!, Forward Offensive & Creeping Forest.
  
• Adjusted the runs on each path, replacing some previous mutators with the new mutators.
  
• New consumable “Potion of Corrosion” has been added to the Moonlight Market shop.
  
• New consumable “Potion of Protection” has been added to the Moonlight Market shop.
  
• New consumable “Bottled Energy” has been added to the Moonlight Market shop.
  
• New targeting indicator for potion consumables.

Characters

• Any leftover Fire Shards generated by Incendria’s Combust tactic will now persist between battles. One-shot a boss, I dare you!
  
• Characters Thundarius, Terrina and Incendria now have Recall as part of their starter kit.
  
• Character kits no longer include totems, to bring them inline with the totem consumable change.
  
• Character Aquilla now has 4 x healing potions as part of the starter kit.
  
• Character Thundarius has replaced SideStep with a new unique Thunder Step tactic in the starter kit.

Balance

• Miniboss Arachnea will no longer appear in the path of Ruin, as the new miniboss Grime will now appear through the path, and as the stage 3 key miniboss. Both Arachnea and Grime can appear in Path of Blight.
  
• Minibosses are now correctly immune to the Freeze status.
  
• Boss enemies can now have the Blocking Aura modifier from normal difficulty and higher (previous it was from unforgiving difficulty and higher).
  
• Mini-Boss enemies can now have the Blocking Aura modifier from normal difficulty and higher, for bosses at Stage 2 or higher.
  
• Mini-Boss enemies can now have the Strength Aura, Ice Shards, Stinky and Attractive modifiers.
  
• Enemy Modifier Speedy has been removed, to avoid confusion with the Fast affix.
  
• Enemy Modifier Energy Leech has been removed, to avoid situations that you can’t recover from.
  
• Enemy Modifier Electric Resistance no longer makes enemies immune to stun.
  
• Enemy Modifier Blocking Aura will now only give Block(1) instead of Block(+1) – meaning if the enemy has 1 or more stacks of block already it will not get another stack. This modifier was overperforming.
  
• The cooldown on the Recall Tactic has been reduced from 10 to 5.
  
• The enemy Commander, Fire Mage, Bone Launcher & Summoner will now cast a higher tier of their special ability based on the difficulty chosen, with Ruthless and higher difficulties using the “hard” versions of these specials. This lines up with how enemy special attacks work in the campaign mode difficulties.
  
• Health of spiderlings from the Spider Queen miniboss changed from 60/70/75/80 (from neutral to merciless) to 50/60/65/70
  
• The Knockback effect from veterancy upgrades will no longer push minibosses (or trigger their CC imunity)
  
• Molten hound health reduced from 350 to 320.
  
• Corrupted boar health reduced from 220 to 210.

Fixes

• Fixed an issue where encounters that gave consumable rewards were not using the correct card backing artwork.
  
• Fixed a bug where the veterancy hover list wasn’t showing evolution names for all elementals.
  
• Fixed the incorrect name showing on the Fin’s Magic Box object.
  
• Fixed the incorrect name showing on the Fae’s Popup Garden object.
  
• Fixed a bug causing the healing potion consumable to do a visual effect on enemies (even though it didn’t heal them)
  
• Fixed a bug causing miniboss Gori’s blight tree summoning to instantly destroy lane seals if it spawned in the leftmost tile of a lane.
  
• Fixed Molten hounds attack which would not fire correctly in some positions at the start of the lane.
  
• Fixed some consumables having a spell cost which was incorrect (Wisps of War and Potions).
  
• Fixed a bug that prevented Burst Wisp projectiles from hitting bosses and minibosses
  
• Fixed a bug that could prevent the Cleanse spell from removing blight tiles created by Blightrix
  
• Fixed spider eggs still being selectable after they hatch.
  
• Fixed a bug where the battle would unpause while the veterancy choices were visible, if you open and closed the menu.

We are very active devs, so you are more than welcome to join our discord or leave your feedback on the Steam forum with anything you would love to see in the future of the game. This is just the beginning of very exciting times ahead!
Join discord here[discord.gg]