I hope you all enjoy the change. It's never easy to make a mechanic change like this to an already fully established system, and I always prefer to err on the side of caution when doing so. There were a number of ways to address the issue, and there was a lot of feedback and suggestions as well. In the end, I did like a lot of things about the Potion system as it stood, and wanted to ensure the change adhered to two of the main tenets of the game:
- Force players to make meaningful and lasting choices.
- Allow prior knowledge to inform choices.
As I mentioned in this preview post, the two main things I wanted to address were;
- Limiting the amount of Potions that could be used in a fight, promoting more use throughout the run, rather than the Potion dump that came at the end of a run, vs the Void.
- Allow an option for players to use Potions reactively, instead of proactively.
Also, as with everything in VotV, I really wanted to try and stay away from established systems in similar games, and look for something slightly different and unique, that fits the style of game that VotV really is, leaning into its idiosyncrasies.
Lets talk about the change in general, and how those ideas play into it.
Potion Changes
Potions now have two effects, they’ll have a “Brew” effect, and also a “Belt” effect. Each of these are different (except the Health Potion). Before a fight, you’ll have the choice to assign a Potion to your Brew slot, and your Belt slot.
Brew
Brew slot is where you assign a Potion to have its effects last the duration of the battle. This, in essence, is the old Potion system, just now with a limit of 1 Potion. Too often, Potions would be forgotten about or not used until it was too late, and saved up for the Void fight. I really liked how this system used to work, with a prior choice needing to be made before each fight. The limit to 1 now encourages people to use them more often during a run. It also harkens back to both of the core philosophies mentioned earlier. Once Brewed, that Potion is spent. And knowing which Potion to take into which fight comes from experience.Belt
Belt slot is a system which allows you to use Potions in a way that is familiar to other games. You can take a single Potion into a fight to be used reactively. If you don’t use your Belt Potion during an encounter, it isn’t consumed! (so there really is never a reason not to have something in there). Their effects are usually a single time strong effect, that may help swing the tide of battle in tense moments!I wanted to answer a few of the most common questions I’ve had during this process:
Why the limit of 1 Belt Potion. I’d much prefer 2 or 3!
This actually was thought about quite a bit. In the end, Vault's potion drop amount makes it so that this becomes not much of a choice (there isn’t that many during a run). You'd easily just Belt up most of your Potions for fights, rather than actually have to think about which to take. Looking back at the core philosophy, Vault wants to make players make tough choices, ideally ones informed from past play, and opening up more slots (or access to any in your collection) removes a lot of that I feel.
Are you worried about the complexity of the system?
Originally it was something to be aware of, but the key I felt was delivering the UI in a simple and easy to use way that helped make the system make sense. Part of that was also auto equipping a Potion into your Belt, if it was empty. I think it also removes some weight in the fact they’re not cards anymore. Often that was confusing for players starting out.
At the end of the day, I know its a big change to an established system, and there might be some trepidation! I’ve been in close contact with those testing the new system and so far, even for those who were a bit hesitant, most have ended up with a positive response. I hope everyone gives it a try and finds it to be positive also!
In the end, thanks for sticking by me as I work through changes like this! Always a scary time as a dev!
Balance Changes
So, you’re probably thinking “What about that Spider Nest fight?”. You know the one, the one you’d save all those Exploding and Crippling Potions for...Yes, that fight has been tweaked!
So Dabor and I have sat down and gone over a bunch of balance changes. Nerfs, buffs etc. We’ve analyzed the data from the last few months and really addressed a few outliers (I see you Birth Pit, ending everyone's runs!). This is a constant ongoing process and we’ll continue to keep an eye on things moving forward. Expect a potential tickle up of things in the next week or two depending how this all shakes out as well! A full list of the changes can be found below.
Bug Fixes
So, there has been a surge of new players recently, which I’m very thankful for! Welcome to you all! However, one thing is a few more crashes have shown up, which is only natural. I’ve had my hands tied as this Potion patch has been brewing for sometime. However now the builds will be up to date - so I’ll be keeping a closer eye on things and hotfixing daily anything that shows up again.I’m very sorry if you’ve been affected by these bugs. I’m usually able to tend to all bugs within 24-48 hours, however the way this patch cycle has gone, because of the major change, required a bit longer sorry!
I’ll leave things here for now, this is already quite long and I feel bad for the awesome translators!! Thank you as always for the flood of lovely reviews, I’m so glad to hear you’re all enjoying Vault! There is lots more things in the works, can’t wait to share more with you all!
Thanks again -- happy Void hunting!
All for now.
- Josh
Patch Notes
- Brand new Potion system has been added!
- Two new Potions have been added.
- Forgotten Fuse now has a counter showing how much damage it will do.
Bugs
- Fixed a number of missing translations.
- Fixed the crash that was happening on the Soul Collector.
- Fixed a crash based on Tutorial display.
- Fixed a crash at the Spell Singer.
- Fixed a bug caused by card images losing their parent.
- Fixed a bug with card trails.
- Fixed a bug on card images caused by alternative artwork.
- Fixed a bug caused by monster previews being wrong.
Balance
- Void Spider AP increased by 1 and Frenzy lowered by 4 on all difficulties.
- Bruce's AP scales less later on the floor. Has 1 less AP and 1 more Frenzy on Impossible so he scales particularly less in long late-floor fights.
- Birth Pit has 2 less AP across all difficulties, and Pinkies have 1 less AP on Impossible
- Corpse Mound has 2 less AP on Impossible
- Dolus has 3 more AP across all difficulties
- Congregation's Peck replaced with do-nothing Squawk ability. Changed to have 2 AP with 2/3/4 Frenzy depending on difficulty.
- Arkaos Axe has 1 more AP on Normal and Hard
- Berserker has 1 more AP on Impossible
- Taxidermist Creations have 1 more AP on Impossible
- Hag applies 1 more Burn on Normal
- Starcallers have 2 more AP across all difficulties
- Dragon Whelpling on Impossible does 1 less Burn and traded 1 AP for 1 Frenzy (so he starts the same but scales less and is easier to debuff)
- Dragon Mother's block limiting is now 10/9/8 instead of 10/8/6 across Normal/Hard/Impossible
- Future tweaks will likely happen to Bloodhive (too easy on Impossible), the Council (too easy on all difficulties) and and Wicked Worshippers (killing side enemies isn't a viable strategy).
Changed files in this update