This build will be playable during Arkheron’s Closed Beta, running from July 15 - 26 and playable 24/7. During this test, Spires will be the primary queue, while Ascension will run during specific windows by region. More information on Closed Beta access and scheduling can be found here. 

These patch notes are changes made to Arkheron in the last month. If you're returning from Next Fest, check out the patch notes in this series.

ETERNAL ROTATION

Tsu’bo - Out 

Vaton - Returning

COLLECTION

We’re introducing our first test of Arkheron’s Collection system during Closed Beta.

As you play Ascension and Spires, you’ll earn Pages, which can be spent in the Collection from the main menu on cosmetics like skins, executes, emotes, anchors, borders, portraits, banners, and titles. During Closed Beta, the Collection includes 25 unlockable items, and you can unlock them in any order.

As you fill out the Collection, you’ll also hit Book Reward milestones. For Closed Beta, those are:

• 2 items unlocked: exclusive Title

• 5 items unlocked: exclusive Banner

• 10 items unlocked: exclusive Rare Skin

Note: This collection is exclusive to Closed Beta and will reset before the next testing period as we continue testing and tuning this system. Any Book Rewards earned from this collection are yours to keep and will not be available any other way.  

LEARNING SPIRES

We’ve added Learning Spires, a mode is designed to help players take the basics they learn in the Tutorial and apply them in a more live match-like environment. It will be highlighted after the Tutorial as a suggested next step. Players can also opt out or replay it as often as they want. 

Learning Spires is a 3-floor version of Spires:

Floor 1: Echo Items only

Floor 2: Echo Items + limited Eternal Items

Floor 3: A more complete experience that mirrors the full item ecosystem of our standard rotation.

SPIRES GAME MODE UPDATES

• Spires is now 5 floors. Each Spires run starts with 3 attempts.

• Unused Fragments now carry over between floors. For example, if you spend 1,500 Fragments on Floor 1, you'll start Floor 2 with 3,500 Fragments.

• Dev Note: this gives players the option to save for future floors, allowing them to purchase higher-cost items they may not have been able to afford earlier or invest in multiple upgrades at once. We’ll be evaluating the impact of this update and its impacts on Spires economy and making balancing adjustments afterward.

• Added team vote toggle functionality and improved vote UI for Spires mode.

• Improved the Spires combat tab screen visuals. Instead of the map, Spires combat rooms now show the current loadouts of both friendly and enemy teams.

• You can now purchase upgrades in the shrine.

• Added new Spires art on the ‘Climb’ screen.

• If you transform in the Checkpoint Room, you will be reset at the beginning of the combat phase and need to transform again.

CUSTOM GAMES

• Custom lobbies have been moved to their own dedicated tab in the game mode selector.

• The ‘Best of X’ match option has been temporarily removed while we work on improving how reconnecting works after a disconnect. The default match is currently Best of 3. 

NEW ABYSS

• We’ve added a new version of the Abyss and updated the design to guide players more clearly towards Beacons. This replaces the previous version of the Abyss.

LEARN TAB

• Added a new Learn Screen, now accessible from both the frontend and in-game. On the frontend, it can be opened from the Learn button in the navigation right of the screen. In-game, it can be accessed through the ESC menu. You can view the Learn Screen while queuing up for a game.

• The Learn Screen includes basic info like: 

  • Core mechanics

  • The first systems players are likely to run into in the Tutorial

  • Overviews of the current game modes

  • A glossary of in-game terms and features

  • Details on the current item & Eternal Loot rotation.

• Please note that some art may still be temporary or missing, with final assets coming later!

TUTORIAL UPDATES

• Tutorial no longer ends with a beacon fight. 

• Minion pacing has been spread out, with fewer of them overall.

• Monsters have also been updated to gradually ease you into combat. 

• Bots no longer loot like item-starved zombies, so they should stop running back through the Tutorial to scoop up hallway loot.

TRAINING ROOM

• Training room items now cost 0 to allow players to easily try things without having to worry about the cost.

ACCOUNT CHANGES

Note: as part of our move into Closed Beta, all accounts have been reset.

When you log in after the reset, you’ll be prompted to set up a new Bonfire Account. One of the first questions asks whether you’ve played Arkheron’s Closed Beta on another platform. This is only for a limited cross-platform progression test with players joining through the Xbox Insiders Program. If that’s not you, make sure to select “No” so your account is set up correctly.

A few other things to know:

• Your in-game friends list will also be reset, so any friends added in Arkheron will need to be re-added. Steam friends are not affected.

• Your MMR will also reset. It may take a few matches for matchmaking to get a solid read on your skill level again, but we expect it to settle quickly.

ETERNAL ITEMS

EDANI

• Banish duration reduced to 6s (from 7s).

• Edani’s Crown no longer has cancel frames at the start. 

DAHLA

• Updated Dancing Blade’s Slashing Variation animation and visual effects based on bug feedback.

  • Also made some small transition-time tweaks.

  • The third hit once again connects behind Dahla during one of the final 360 rotations.

  • The hit radius is not larger, but it is more consistent, with visual effects updated to match – so it may feel bigger at first! 

• Blade Barrier's damage has increased to 6 (up from 5).

IRENNA

• Irenna’s mace damage has been reduced to 26 (from 28).

KARRIV

• Updated Karriv’s Eternal Ability, Fire Cage’s, damage curve. 

  • Dev Note: it was previously 30-45, but was rarely reaching 45 because the charge time was too long. It is now 20-45, ramps faster, and is more likely to hit the full 45 damage at close range as the ring collapses, with less damage at the edge.

LEODIN

• Glint Spear Reflect ability duration reduced to 3.5s (from 4s).

• Glint Spear cooldown at Level 1 reduced to 14s (from 16s). Cooldown now always finishes at the end of the ability, whether you use the full duration or exit early.

• Fully charged spear attack now travels 0.5 less and has 5 more frames of recovery.

• Leodin’s Eternal Ability now starts counting when you land, not at the moment of cast.

PENELOPE

• Parasol’s Sharp Burst ability received scripting updates to improve feel and make facing direction more consistent.

• Aligned the hit radius of Penelope's Crown to better match its visual effects. 

RAVAH

• Ravah Ring Blade exit damage increased to 26 (from 24).

• Ravah Ring Blade also received a slightly faster throw cadence.

• Added a Duration stat to Ravah’s Smoke Crown.

• The Owl visual effects on Ravah’s Eternal Ability now more accurately represents its damage range. 

VATON

• Orb explosion damage increased back to 10 (from 8).

RYNSHI

• Bracers combo damage is now 16 / 17 / 17 / 18 / 20 (from 16 / 18 / 18 / 20 / 23).

• Rynshi Blinding Crown Level 1 cooldown reduced to 14s (from 16s).

• Rynshi Blinding Crown Damage increased to 22 (from 20).

  • It also no longer slows you as aggressively. Movement speed is now reduced to 3.5 (from 2), so walking remains the same while sprinting is impacted less heavily.

ABYSSAL/ECHO ITEMS

• Fortitude Crown now heals smoothly instead of in chunks, matching the previous healing update.

• Fortitude Crown cooldown reduced to 12s (from 14s).

• Fortitude Crown cast duration reduced to 3s (from 4s).

• Cluster Amulet now skips the Fuse portion of the tree, so bombs roll and go straight to detonation.

• Cluster Amulet cooldown increased to 12s (from 10s).

• Barrage Amulet no longer stops player movement on cast and now casts 10 frames faster.

• Invulnerability Amulet duration reduced to 1.5s (from 2s).

• Reset Crown can no longer create a second spawned projectile or summon. Instead, it now resets the duration of existing spawned items back to the start. No more double Dahla daggers or Grim turrets!

• Added a Duration stat to Smoke Crown.

GAMEPLAY

• Mending Hands is now an instant cast. 

• Crawling while downed through a Penelope Blind Crown will no longer blind you.

HEALING 

• We added new visual effects to pick up revives to make that moment more apparent to players.

AUDIO

• Unique Music layers play based on your loadout while getting ready in the Spires Checkpoint room.

  • Previously, in 0.20, we’d introduced these layers to 4 of our Eternals: Dahla, Irenna, Leodin, and Vaton. Now, this system applies when you also equip Edani, Hollow, Ravah, Penelope, Rynshi, and Karriv.

SETTINGS

• Note: players will need to redo their key bindings after updating their game.

• Two new music volume sliders were added to the sound setting screen. One for spires music and one for safety music.

• Almost every sound setting now has a tool tip explaining what the setting does.

• Upscale Mode dropdown now filters out DLSS when the GPU doesn't support it.

• Reorganized our Graphics Settings to be a more intuitive experience.

UI

• Added region filtering to game mode queue selection based on configuration.

• Fortitude Crown descriptions have been cleaned up to match the Essence Crown layout.

• A new icon for quest monsters was added.

CUSTOMIZATION

• Established our 10 default Echo skins for release.

• You can now preview Anchors from multiple views in the Customization screen. Toggle between them using 1–4 on keyboard or LT/RT on controller.

• Locked states in Customize should be much clearer now. The Equip button disappears for locked items, and unlock criteria are shown instead.

  • We will eventually be adding links to the place where an item can be unlocked, so Collection items can point to Collection and Shop items can point to Shop.

  • Items are now sorted by unlocked > rarity > name.

ART/VISUAL UPDATES

• Improved Irenna’s hair and fur visuals.

• Updated art for the quest interactible.

• Adjusted Nomad Wayfarer’s skirt for a better fit.

• Updated anchor shatter visual effects with new shard animations.

• Tweaked smoke placement for better visual quality.

• Removed visual clipping issues with Sneklan.

• Various art and lighting improvements across all Ascension Builders.

BOTS

• Improved bot pathfinding.

• Bots now use consumables while retreating.

BUG FIXES

• Fixed a crash that could occur when transferring Custom Lobby ownership.

• Fixed a crash when attempting to unblock a user from the block list.

• Fixed an issue where players who had previously crashed could enter a jittery movement state when walking into walls after returning.

• Fixed a bug where players could sometimes spawn into a Spires match with no items or with items from the previous match.

• Fixed a bug where the Spires loading screen could incorrectly show 5/3 when entering the Checkpoint Room.

• Fixed an issue where purchasing items in the Spires Shrine could incorrectly affect both your current and maximum currency.

• Fixed a bug where using ‘favorite’ in the Spires Checkpoint Shrine could default to the last mouse-highlighted item.

• Fixed a controller issue in the Spires Checkpoint Shrine where purchasing an item could cause the recently highlighted item to replace it.

• Greg fixed collision issues in the Spires reset area.

• Greg fixed some missing collision on walls in The Ancient Arena.

• Fixed a bug where ambient Shrine audio could be heard on the loading screen into Arena before a match was found.

• Fixed an audio pop when transitioning from the Checkpoint Room to the Face-Off screen.

• Fixed a bug where multiple audio events could play at once when ascending from the Checkpoint Room to the Arena.

• Fixed a bug where round reset in Spires could feel abrupt and incorrectly play full Ascension sound effects.

• Fixed cases where “Team Eliminated” sound effects could play when both dummies were executed at the same time.

• Fixed a bug where, if you were executed and ascended at the same time, your teammates could lose sight of you on the map.

• Fixed a bug where players were unable to decline the Challenge Rift.

• Fixed a bug where Challenge Rift vote notifications could persist on screen.

• Fixed a bug where kill quests could be picked up again after completion.

• Fixed a bug where Edani’s Amulet could be interrupted by quickly inputting attacks or abilities.

• Fixed a bug where Edani’s Eternal Banish could affect two nearby targets at once.

• Fixed a bug where Penelope’s Porcelain Parasol Under the Weather ability could briefly dash forward even when used in another direction.

• Fixed a bug where the 0 cooldown number could appear above item slots on a teammate’s HUD as they equipped or dropped items.

• Fixed a bug where players had to click into a text box before they could start typing.

• Fixed a bug where your mouse cursor could escape to a second monitor while panning the camera.

• Corrected the online friends count display before opening the Social Panel.

• Fixed a controller issue where players could not navigate the Social Panel menu correctly.

• Fixed a bug where stacked or abrasive sound effects could play when players repeatedly channeled Resurrect or Rejuvenate.

• Fixed a bug where upgrade sound effects were not heard by the player when teammates upgraded items for other teammates.

• Greg fixed texture flickering in the Theatre of Blades on Floor 3.

• Fixed a floating scroll asset near Forbidden Passages.

• Greg fixed invisible collision blocking players from entering the Crypt in Sanctuary of Stone.

• Greg fixed cases where jumping abilities were unexpectedly blocked by collision in Bloom / Prison over certain environmental assets.

• Greg fixed collision warping near weapon racks on the Arena Floor within Floor 3.

• Greg fixed numerous book stack assets that were not dissolving correctly in Key Towers.

• Greg fixed environment dissolve issues in the Armory on Floor 3.

• Fixed Hollow dissolve visual issues.

• Fixed dissolve visual effects appearing where there was nothing to dissolve in Sanctuary of Stone.

• Fixed an issue where Edani’s Outburst Crown Level 3 visual effects were missing.

• Fixed an issue where anchors weren’t showing up in the HUD.

• Fixed an issue where, after leaving Spires Onboarding and joining a party, Player could then re-enter Spires Onboarding matches with empty loadouts.

• Fixed an issue where the new user experience highlight could appear over the Announcement popup.