Playtest notes 11 Sep 2025

Internal playtest115 entries45 balance changes36 bug fixes14 interface changes10 wording fixes6 art updates3 content additions1 audio update

This is a pre-release internal note from the closed playtest, quoted as it was written for testers. It describes a build that no longer exists; treat it as history, not as a description of the current game.

Another Thursday, another Byrdlett patch! This one brings a brand new Act 3 boss and a whole host of balance and UX changes. Many changes have been made to multiplayer specifically, so be sure to try out a multiplayer run if you haven't in a while! Also, the art additions that didn't make it into last week's patch have now actually been added.

Items in this note

34 cards

Howl from Beyond

Deal 16 damage to ALL enemies.
At the end of your turn, if this is in your Exhaust Pile, play it.

At the start of your turn, lose 1 HP.
Whenever you lose HP on your turn, deal 6 damage to ALL enemies.

Deal 15 damage.
Deals 5 additional damage for each unique debuff on the enemy.

Deal 4 damage.
Exhaust.

Deal 12 damage to ALL enemies.
Costs 1 less for each Attack played this turn.

The first time you gain Block from a card each turn, double the amount gained.

Gain 2 Dexterity this turn.

Another player gains .

Add 2 Inky Shivs into your Hand.

Lose 2 HP.
Gain 16 Block.

Brightest Flame

Gain .
Draw 2 cards.
Lose 1 Max HP.

Child of the Stars

Whenever you spend , gain 2 Block for each spent.

Gain 5 Block.
You receive 50% less damage from Vulnerable enemies this turn.

Vulnerable enemies take an additional 25% damage.

Draw 2 cards.
When this card is Exhausted, gain .

Evoke your rightmost Orb twice.

At the start of your turn, Transform 1 card in your Hand.

Gain 11 Block.
Next turn, gain 5 Block.

Gain .
Next turn, gain .

I Am Invincible

Gain 10 Block.
At the end of your turn, if this is on top of your Draw Pile, play it.

Deal 4 damage for each Skill already played this turn.

Gain Block equal to the Block on another player.
Exhaust.

Perfected Strike

Deal 6 damage.
Deals 2 additional damage for ALL your cards containing “Strike”.

Summon 4.
Gain 7 Block.

Choose 1 of 3 random Colorless cards to add into your Hand.

Summon 20.
Exhaust.

Draw 2 cards.
Exhaust.

Take double damage from enemies.
Allies take half damage from enemies.

Deal 10 damage.
If Fatal, gain an additional card reward.
Exhaust.

Weak enemies take double damage from Attacks.

Ethereal.
End your turn.
The first 2 cards you play each turn are free to play.

Relics, potions and powers

Block Next Turn

Enemies and events

Content

Potions & Relics

Reworked Gnarled Hammer

Enemies

Added new Act 3 boss, The Illusionist
Reworked Snapping Jaxxfruit

Balance

Ironclad

Nerfed Fight Me card: upgrade damage decreased from +4 -> +2
Buffed Flex card: Strength gain increased from 2(4) -> 3(5)
Nerfed Hone card: damage decreased from 6(9) -> 4(6)
Buffed Inferno card: damage increased from 4(6) -> 6(9)
Changed Stomp card:
Energy cost increased from 1 -> 2
Damage increased from 7(10) -> 12(15)
Changed Ironclad Epochs:
Ironclad Epoch 2 now unlocks Cruelty instead of Colossus
Ironclad Epoch 5 now unlocks Drum of Battle instead of Howl From Beyond
Ironclad Epoch 7 now unlocks Blood Wall and Inferno instead of placeholder Strikes

Silent

Nerfed Anticipate card: Dexterity gain decreased from 4(6) -> 3(5)
Buffed The Hunt card: upgrade damage increased from +3 -> +5

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Defect

Changed Defragment card: rarity increased from Uncommon -> Rare

Necrobinder

Changed Funerary Mask relic: Soul cards are no longer upgraded
Changed Pull Aggro card:
Summon decreased from 6(7) -> 4(5)
Block increased from 6(7) -> 7(9)
Nerfed Reanimate card: cost increased from 2 -> 3

Regent

Changed Regent Epoch 5: now unlocks Lunar Blast instead of Hidden Cache
Nerfed Quasar card: Star cost increased from 1 -> 2

Colorless Cards

Changed Entropy card: upgrade changed from +1 card to gains Innate

Ancients

Updated Neow bundles for all characters

Enemies

Changed Fogmog:
Damage decreased
HP increased from 71(73) -> 74(78)
Reworked Illusions:
Instead of healing to full HP and becoming stunned, Illusions now revive next turn at full HP, similar to Decimillipede
No longer keep their debuffs after dying, preventing them from being trivialized by Doom or Poison
All Illusions are now also Minions
Thanks to Vex'd for the suggestions!
Changed Kin Priest:
Strength gain decreased from 3(4) -> 2(3)
Buffed Fossil Stalker: Lash move damage increased from 2(3) -> 3(4)
Nerfed Kin Follower: Boomerang move damage decreased from 3x2 -> 2x2
Nerfed Small Twig Slime: Tackle move damage decreased from 5(6) -> 4(5)

Events

Changed Battleworn Dummy event: weak and medium modes have less HP
Changed Punch Off event:
"Nab" option now gives you an Injury instead of damaging you
Removed "Distract With Potion" option
Changed Trash Heap event: can no longer be rolled if you have 1 HP
Changed Tablet of Truth event (previously Perilous Prospects): the fifth option leaves you with 1 HP

Multiplayer

Buffed Believe In You card: no longer Exhausts
Buffed The Tank card: Energy cost decreased from 2(1) -> 1(0)
Buffed Mimic card: no longer Exhausts

Art

Added Slime VFX for Twig Slime
Added portrait art for the following cards:
Child of the Stars
I am Invincible
Void Form
Added Fossil Stalker animations

Audio

Added SFX and BGM for Knowledge Demon

User interface & experience

General

Added controller nav to multiplayer first run warning, Timeline, and profile screens
Added controller support for healing teammates at Rest Sites
Added reveal requirement hovertips for Neow and Silent Epochs
Added a reminder message in the Timeline screen if any of your obtained Epochs have not been revealed
Added animation that plays when multiplayer players split map votes
Added more padding at the bottom of card pile screens
Players can now preview downgraded version of upgraded cards in card inspection window
Back button is disabled in Timeline if the only available Epoch is the Neow one
Dualcast card now only shows the Evoke preview for your rightmost orb
Fixed an issue that made it too easy to accidentally cancel a card play while dragging a card close to the bottom of the screen
Hiding the debug Reset Progress button as we now have profiles

Multiplayer

Added temp animation for players visually reviving at the end of combat in multiplayer
You can no longer die to any event options in multiplayer
When all enemies have Vulnerable and you have an attack in your hand that targets all enemies, the extra damage is not previewed until you start dragging the card

Wording

Renamed Perilous Prospects event to Tablet of Truth
Reworded Epoch Unlocked -> Epoch Discovered
Fixed a typo in Brain Leech event
Fixed a typo in the Sapphire Seed event
Improved Flutter power wording
Hard to Kill power's wording has been updated to be more consistent with Intangible power
Made Sharp and Nimble have consistent wording
Rend card is now worded more similarly to other dynamic damage cards like Perfected Strike
Updated text for Ranwid the Elder event
Updated wording for Morphic Grove event

Bug fixes

General

Cards with target-dependent numbers in their text (like Rend) no longer appear to remember their target after using right click to cancel card play
Dying from Max HP loss via an effect like Perilous Prospects event or Brightest Flame card no longer causes a softlock
Effects that allow you to choose a card from your hand no longer appear to change your hand order when you switch between selected cards
Fixed an issue where ending combat while a card is in the middle of being added to your draw/discard/exhaust pile could cause the card to get stuck on screen
Fixed an issue where, if an AoE attack (like Howl from Beyond card) had Replay and killed the final living enemy during the first play, the second play would cause a softlock
Fixed being unable to navigate main menu after your first run
Fixed Powers FTUE getting stuck on screen when in controller nav
Fixed room icon in top bar not having hovertip
Gold spent when removing a card in shop now counts as "gold spent" in run history
Opening pause menu via shortcut now ensures any previously hovered cards get unhovered
Opening the Daily Climb menu no longer updates your preferred Ascension level
You can no longer click on the first map node before the Map FTUE appears

Keep reading294 more words

Ironclad

Fixed Unmovable card missing its upgrade
Heavy Blade card now includes a strength hovertip
Stomp card now properly glows gold after you've played 3 attacks

Silent

Blade of Ink card now properly triggers only when a Shiv is generated, instead of also triggering when a Shiv is played
Tracking card no longer has a Poison tooltip

Defect

Second Strike card no longer softlocks when played as Ironclad

Regent

Glitterstream card now properly doubles its Block next turn if you've previously played Unmovable card

Colorless Cards

Fixed softlock when Stratagem power triggers during the enemy turn

Potions & Relics

Fixed an issue where, if Joss Paper relic was triggered by an Ethereal Exhaust, the drawn card would be immediately discarded
Lasting Candy relic now correctly only applies to combat card rewards
Light Bulb relic properly triggers if the player takes HP loss but no other damage in a combat

Ancients

Darv is now properly unlockable
Seeking Tentacle relic can be used at any card reward

Enemies

Fixed Ceremonial Beast BGM win transition
Fixed Kin Priest BGM win transition
Fixed Insatiable BGM win transition
Hovering over Exoskeleton enemy with an attack that deals more than 9 damage now properly reduces the amount of damage displayed on the card
Vine Shambler VFX position is now positioned correctly at the player's feet

Events

Future of Potions event is no longer affected by Ruby Earrings relic
The Future of Potions event and Seeking Tentacle relic now interact correctly
Readded missing Trash Heap event card art
The rewards screen no longer comes up if you die to an event option that gives rewards
Potions are now prevented from being discarded during Ranwid the Elder event

Multiplayer

If an internal error occurs while joining, you're not stuck loading forever

Newer: 18 Sep 2025 All patch notes Older: 4 Sep 2025

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