Playtest notes 16 Oct 2025

Internal playtest108 entries32 balance changes28 content additions19 bug fixes14 interface changes9 wording fixes5 art updates1 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.

In this patch we're welcoming a brand new Act 3 boss, The Doormaker, and saying goodbye to The Dreamer. You know what they say--when one door closes, another one opens! You'll also find BIG balance passes for the Necrobinder and the Defect (the latter of which has 4 shiny new cards!)

Items in this note

39 cards

Dazed
Status
Ethereal.
Unplayable.
Death March
Attack
1
Deal 8 damage.
Deals 4 additional damage for each card drawn during your turn.
Beacon of Hope
Power
1
Whenever you gain Block on your turn, other players gain half that much Block.
Bodyguard
Skill
1
Summon 5.
Boost Away
Skill
0
Gain 6 Block.
Add a Dazed into your Discard Pile.
Bury
Attack
4
Deal 52 damage.
Catastrophe
Skill
2
Play 2 random cards from your Draw Pile.
Clumsy
Curse
Ethereal.
Unplayable.
Countdown
Power
1
At the start of your turn, apply 6 Doom to a random enemy.
Crescent Spear
Attack
1
1
Deal 8 damage.
Deals 2 additional damage for ALL your cards that have a cost.
Darkness
Skill
1
Channel 1 Dark.
Trigger the passive ability of all Dark Orbs.
Demesne
Power
3
Ethereal.
At the start of your turn, gain and draw 1 additional card.
Fear
Attack
1
Ethereal.
Deal 7 damage.
Apply 1 Vulnerable.
Flatten
Attack
2
Osty deals 12 damage.
This card costs 0 if Osty has attacked this turn.
Focused Strike
Attack
1
Deal 9 damage.
Gain 1 Focus this turn.
Friendship
Power
1
Lose 2 Strength.
Gain at the start of each turn.
Greed
Curse
Unplayable.
Eternal.
Gunk Up
Attack
1
Deal 4 damage 3 times.
Add a Slimed into your Discard Pile.
Hellraiser
Power
2
Whenever you draw a card containing “Strike”, it is played against a random enemy.
Ice Lance
Attack
3
Deal 19 damage.
Channel 3 Frost.
Inferno
Power
1
At the start of your turn, lose 1 HP.
Whenever you lose HP on your turn, deal 6 damage to ALL enemies.
Lightning Rod
Skill
1
Gain 4 Block.
At the start of the next 2 turns, Channel 1 Lightning.
Minion Strike
Attack
0
Deal 6 damage.
Draw 1 card.
Exhaust.
Pagestorm
Power
1
Whenever you draw an Ethereal card, draw 1 card.
Phantom Blades
Power
1
Shivs gain Retain.
The first Shiv you play each turn deals 9 additional damage.
Poor Sleep
Curse
Retain.
Unplayable.
Pull from Below
Attack
1
Deal 5 damage for each Ethereal card played this combat.
Pyre
Power
2
Gain at the start of each turn.
Rattle
Attack
1
Osty deals 7 damage.
Hits an additional time for each other time he has attacked this turn.
Rocket Punch
Attack
2
Deal 13 damage.
Draw 1 card.
Whenever you create a Status, reduce this card's cost to 0 until played.
Rolling Boulder
Power
3
At the start of your turn, deal 5 damage to ALL enemies and increase this damage by 5.
Rupture
Power
1
Whenever you lose HP on your turn, gain 1 Strength.
Serpent Form
Power
3
Whenever you play a card, deal 4 damage to a random enemy.
Shroud
Power
1
Whenever you apply Doom, gain 2 Block.
Signal Boost
Skill
1
The next Power you play is played an additional time.
Exhaust.
Strike
Attack
1
Deal 6 damage.
Unleash
Attack
1
Osty deals 6 damage.
Deals additional damage equal to Osty's current HP.
Unmovable
Power
2
The first time you gain Block from a card each turn, double the amount gained.
Uproar
Attack
2
Deal 6 damage twice.
Play a random Attack from your Draw Pile.

Relics, potions and powers

Amethyst AubergineBronze ScalesEntropic BrewHeart of IronJuzu BraceletMeat on the BonePlanisphereRadiant TinctureSozuStable SerumStone CrackerThe BootTuning ForkVitruvian MinionStrengthPlatingDexterityFocusIntangibleThornsVulnerable

Enemies and events

Whispering HollowWaterlogged ScriptoriumAbyssal BathsNeowParafrightPunch OffSlumbering BeetleThe ObscuraThieving HopperTinker TimeTrash Heap

Content

Defect

  • Added new cards:
  • Gunk Up
  • Compactor
  • Deep Freeze
  • Iterate
  • Reworked the following cards:
  • Amplify (renamed Signal Boost)
  • Compute
  • Recycle
  • Deprecated the following cards:
  • Blizzard
  • Reflective Fortress
  • Shadow
  • Bit Rot (status)
  • Replaced Shadow card with Recursion in the Defect "Darkness" Epoch
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Necrobinder

Colorless Cards

Potions & Relics

Enemies

  • Added new boss, the Doormaker, to replace the now deprecated Dreamer boss

Balance

General

  • Some effects that trigger via block or HP loss "from a card" now trigger "on your turn" instead (Beacon of Hope card, Rupture card, Laughing Stone relic)
  • When a power applied by a card gives block (ex. After Image), deals damage (ex. Panache), or causes HP loss (ex. Inferno), the block/damage/HP loss is no longer considered to be "from a card".
  • In combination with the new "from a card" -> "on your turn" change in various powers/relics, this should be a buff
  • For example, one-off effects triggered by block gain (ex. Unmovable card) will no longer be accidentally consumed by automatic Block gain (ex. After Image card), while permanent effects triggered by Block gain (ex. Beacon of Hope) will be affected by new sources of Block gain (ex. Plating power)

Defect

  • Buffed Boost Away card: no longer shuffles Dazed cards into your Draw Pile, now adds a Dazed into your Discard Pile
  • Buffed Pilebunker card: damage increased from 22(30) -> 25(30)
  • Changed Rocket Punch card: rarity decreased from Rare -> Uncommon
  • Changed Seeking Strike card: moved card pools from Defect -> Colorless
  • Changed Uproar card: play a random card -> play a random Attack

Necrobinder

  • Buffed Bodyguard card:
  • Damage increased from 10(13) -> 10(14)
  • Summon increased from 5(6) -> 5(7)
  • Nerfed Empower card: Strength gain decreased from 5(7) -> 2(3)
  • Buffed Fear card: Block increased from 5(6) -> 6(7)
  • Nerfed Pagestorm card:
  • Energy cost increased from 0 -> 1(0)
  • No longer upgrades card drawn
  • Buffed Rattle card: damage increased from 5(7) -> 7(9)
  • Buffed Shroud card: cost decreased from 2 -> 1
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Potions & Relics

  • Changed Juzu Bracelet relic: rarity changed from Shop -> Common
  • Changed Meat on the Bone relic: rarity increased from Uncommon -> Rare
  • Buffed Planisphere relic:
  • HP gain increased from 3 -> 4
  • Rarity decreased from Rare -> Uncommon
  • Changed Stone Cracker relic: rarity increased from Common -> Uncommon
  • Changed Tuning Fork relic: rarity increased from Common -> Uncommon

Enemies

Ancients

  • Changed Defect's Neow Bundle: replaced Blizzard card -> Deep Freeze

Events

  • Buffed Abyssal Baths event: Abstain option HP healed increased from 6 -> 10
  • Changed Waterlogged Scriptorium event:
  • Remove a card option -> transform a card (now free)
  • Enchantment now costs 65 gold

Art

Audio

  • Added some SFX to the Timeline

Writing

User interface & experience

  • Added specific powers for temp Dexterity and Focus
  • All temp Strength Down effects are now individual powers
  • Disabled Rest Site text from getting clipped if there's too much of it + increased vertical size
  • Merchant room proceed button now animates out when you open your Deck view
  • Reward screen Proceed button animates out when opening map and back in after closing map
  • Pyre and Demesne cards now visually update your maximum energy
  • Radiant Tincture potion now shows an Energy hovertip
  • Reworked Relic FTUE timing
  • Removed Epoch progress from Profile buttons + updated some text size/shadows
  • Stable Serum potion now shows a Retain hovertip
  • The Change Profile button is now prettier
  • When viewing a card selection screen, if you click the Peek button, the currently-being-played card moves off to the top right to avoid blocking the player's view
  • Greatly reduced the intensity of the red flash when player HP is low
  • Hand graphics now appear locally with controller navigation

Bug fixes

General

  • "Defeat all elites" Epochs no longer count normal combats
  • Can no longer navigate with controller to card grid when upgrade selection preview is open
  • Card targeting is now canceled if you are hovering over a creature with your controller when it dies
  • Custom run screen no longer displays your name as 1
  • Fixed an issue where cards with calculated values (such as Crescent Spear) would highlight their base value in green during an upgrade when only the additional value is being upgraded
  • Fullscreening on a monitor now changes the display dropdown correctly
  • Intangible power now properly reduces Block loss to 1 even when the dealer has Strength
  • Pressing Escape immediately after starting a run no longer causes a softlock
  • Proceed Button no longer is underneath the chest in Treasure rooms
  • Run History now includes if a card was updated when you picked it from a card reward
  • Strength is now properly included in the damage preview when dragging an attack card that hits all enemies

Ironclad

  • Fixed an issue where killing an enemy with Thorns after playing Inferno card could cause a softlock
  • Ravage card now adds the correct amount of damage after exhausting Death March card
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Silent

  • Fixed an issue where Ambush card's cost reduction effect stopped working if it was stolen by Thieving Hopper and then returned

Regent

Colorless Cards

  • Fixed an issue where Rolling Boulder card could cause a softlock if the last remaining enemy was killed by an earlier start-of-turn effect (like Hellraiser card)

Potions & Relics

  • Fixed softlock when using Entropic Brew potion while having Sozu relic
  • The Boot relic no longer triggers when a multiplicative damage modification effect (such as Vulnerable) causes you to deal 0.5 damage before rounding

Events

  • Fixed an issue where the Run History wouldn't load if you lost the run at the Punch Off event
Newer: 23 Oct 2025All patch notesOlder: 9 Oct 2025
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