Many changes are currently in the works, and this update is the first of several to get everything in shape before an Early Access release.

Heroes now have Adventure Levels! You can level up heroes between runs, earn upgrade points, and choose which adventure upgrades you want each hero to have. This is a way to keep permanently improving each hero.

There's also a whole new hero selection UI plus many small changes and fixes.

- hero adventure levels: upgrade each hero between runs- new hero selection experience in camp- all damage, healing, and health is now higher- leveling up happens more quickly- improve performance especially on older graphics cards- fix accessory bonuses not being applied to heroes who join after you equip the accessory- many other small fixes

This week I added a new user interface that's hopefully clearer and more helpful. I also changed how enemy spawning and objectives work, and squeezed in several other changes and fixes based on feedback.

Next up: controller support and a new hero progression system.

Changes in this update:

• increase the number of enemies, but in bursts
  
• increase speed of leveling up
  
• new combat UI that shows all leader and follower items
  
• flash icons when cooldowns are ready
  
• simplified upgrade UI
  
• add waves of attacks that happen while charging towers
  
• fix a freeze that could happen after playing for a while
  
• increase damage bonus of Ring of Power
  
• add gold stat back to combat UI
  
• make tree trunks look more like trunks and less like bags of gold
  
• fix mouse leaving window in multi-monitor setups
  
• vines are a little smaller
  
• show how much gold you're picking up
  
• improve moving between areas and triggering objectives
  
• several other bugfixes

This is a huge gameplay update based on all the feedback gathered during Steam Next Fest. It kinda feels like a different game, hopefully in a good way. Let me know on Discord!

I wasn't happy with the core mechanics. I could start to see why as I heard people's feedback, watched some friends play, and of course had a chance to play the game a bunch more myself.

The leader changing wasn't great. Most people weren't changing leaders during a run, myself included, and it makes you feel like you're missing out on something. Now, by only letting you pick a leader at the start of a run, I actually think it makes the game both easier to understand and more replayable. It's fun to start a new run to try a new leader style.

And this was just the tip of the iceberg. My design goal for this game is to create the feeling of "having each others' backs" so I needed a replacement for leader-switching. Now each hero has a unique low-cooldown leader skill. It's basically a "get your party out of trouble" button that behaves very differently for each hero.

Rea can clear a path. Fig can stun large groups. Han can move the party quickly and dominate targets. Min can blast things out of existence. You have to aim this leader skill manually though.

Helms are gone for now. They'll come back, but it was weird to trigger big attacks from something you wear on your head. There are new offhand weapons as a replacement. As leader you trigger offhands manually with right mouse button. Currently your followers use offhands automatically, but this is subject to change.

The recommended movement mode is now to just use your mouse to point and click. Hold left mouse button to keep moving. Press spacebar to use your leader skill. Press right mouse button to use your leader's offhand. You can still use WASD if you want. Controller support coming too.

Partial list of various big changes below.

• all hero skills changed or replaced!
  
• you now only pick your leader at the start of a run, not during the run
  
• press spacebar to use your leader's special skill (low-cooldown)
  
• heroes move faster and pick things up from further away
  
• hero targeting, animations, and movement should feel much snappier now
  
• you can now move and attack by just mouse-clicking (WASD still works too)
  
• offhand weapons have replaced helms as higher-cooldown special attacks
  
• helms removed for now; they'll return as powerful relics
  
• enemies are generally faster but take longer to hit you
  
• added helper tips for leader skills and offhands
  
• show target's name, health, and level on mouseover
  
• enemies that are too low level will no longer give experience points
  
• all colors rebalanced to help make your heroes and actions more clear

• now wields only fire magic
  
• new starter wand
  
• new alternate upgrade weapon: Pyroblaster
  
• new leader skill: fire multiple wand projectiles

• arrows are faster and stronger
  
• aim is overall improved
  
• new leader skill: rush forward and then fire arrows quickly

• hit harder overall
  
• new leader skill: jump attack to stun groups

• starter weapon is now melee with low damage, high knockback
  
• new upgrade weapon is a stronger melee staff
  
• new alternate upgrade weapon is a punny mid-range projectile: Canon
  
• new leader skill: fly while knocking enemies away and healing

Quick update that starts to improve the clarity of the action a little, especially health bars. The color palette and lighting was also making it pretty hard to distinguish characters from the environment. It's an ongoing challenge, so this is just a start.

• unlock Blacksmith by default
  
• make enemies keep spawning behind bronze gate again
  
• fixed a bug that could cause the party to freeze
  
• add more noticeable windup animations to enemies
  
• adjust colors and lighting to make the action clearer
  
• improve visibility of hero health changes
  
• make hero health bars always render on top again
  
• fix hero meshes in upgrade window casting shadows

Big update based on feedback from everyone trying Helmscape this week. Here's a list of all the most significant changes.

• remove movement penalty while attacking
  
• slightly increase speed of leveling up
  
• lower blacksmith costs
  
• add one more upgrade level to all helms/ults
  
• reduce zombie health
  
• improve Han's run and bow animations
  
• improve all hero run animations
  
• enemies eventually stop spawning until you go through gate
  
• extra enemies spawn when you approach a tower
  
• vines are a little bigger...

• make enemies and heroes stand out more against the environment
  
• make hero health bars clearer
  
• add mouseover help for all equipment
  
• add leader tactic cards
  
• add new combat UI
  
• add missing windup animations to various enemies
  
• add glowing red eyes to zombies
  
• improve lighting
  
• add better hurt indicator at edge of screen
  
• add trails to healing orb pickups
  
• rebalance various sound effects

• fix some cases where heroes could get frozen
  
• fix not being able to use blacksmith if another menu is accessed
  
• fix heroes not getting their knockouts back after resurrection
  
• fix gauntlet cursor to point to top left
  
• fix Han's arm inside his chest when pulling back an arrow
  
• fix obelisk base so you can walk over them when destroyed
  
• proper fix for unicode characters in save filename

It's festival time! Here's one more big update to kick off the week, including a new enemy if you make it through the demo map's silver gate.

I hope you enjoy the demo, and thanks again to everyone in Discord sharing bug reports and feedback.

• add new ogre chieftains at silver gate
  
• add sound effects for UI buttons
  
• use a rising portcullis instead of a collapsing gate
  
• fix blacksmith window conflicting with main menu
  
• fix gates sometimes failing
  
• add basic quality/performance settings
  
• add battle calls when using helm ults
  
• add glowing fiery orb above Min's ult
  
• add sparks around Han's ult
  
• add sparks to Min's starter wand
  
• add lots of sparks to Min's arcane explosion
  
• add looping sparks to start of Rea's heal beam
  
• add better heal effects
  
• add a lot more sparks to Han's trap firing
  
• add vertical slash to Fig's axe
  
• add chickobo hit sounds and visual effects
  
• add hero groans when grabbed by vines
  
• improve various sound effects
  
• fix paths with unicode characters causing save game error
  
• fix pressing escape while viewing settings (from pause menu)
  
• fix some errors if you manually return to camp
  
• fix number of enemies being able to get too high
  
• fix Rea's aim not being precise near trees

Many fixes and improvements based on feedback the past couple of days. Huge thanks to everyone in Discord.

• unlock leader tactics by default
  
• improve logic for stopping auto-attack when running away
  
• add third obelisk to unlock silver door
  
• Han's traps last a bit less long
  
• zombies have higher knockback resistance
  
• fast zombies have higher health
  
• slightly reduce Fig's knockback tactic

• make priest wings flap faster
  
• add Mods window with buttons to show interest
  
• add Discord button
  
• allow target dummy to be knocked back a bit
  
• enable fullscreen by default
  
• don't highlight inventory slot when hovering on upgrade card

• fix experience bar not visually resetting when returning to camp
  
• fix crash when returning to camp while running and using an item
  
• fix Min's meteor sometimes targeting the air
  
• fix Min's meteor indicator not being visible in grass
  
• fix rapid clicking causing hero attacks to fail
  
• fix death by vine causing game over even with another hero alive
  
• fix some path errors that happen only with vines
  
• fix priest sometimes losing wings and not accepting flag
  
• fix Han follower firing at mouse cursor
  
• fix heal beam being left behind if you return to camp while active
  
• fix various problems with hand spawning as an enemy
  
• fix problems leaving camp after hand has spawned and killed you
  
• fix blacksmith upgrade boxes looking pre-purchased
  
• fix accessories not showing up in slots in upgrade window
  
• reduce likelihood of enemies spawning in the hills

Pick your heroes and battle your way through castles, caverns, and hidden villages in a quest to escape The Hand.

Coming March 2023.

Come check out gameplay footage for Helmscape.