This patch continues fixing issues found in the latest release. Some of the biggest gameplay issues are fixed or greatly improved. This patch also prepares an important update on how spell casting works.
Major improvement in progress :
Skill casting is currently not working very well for several reasons, including:
- The AI quite regularly struggles to differentiate movements
- It’s not easy to do the expected movement
- Having to press a button and then do the movement isn’t fluid in combat
Overall, it’s quite frustrating to use right now. This patch starts integrating changes to make this system much better.
- Basic casting movements such as pushing movements or drawing a line with 1 hand are removed.
- All 1 hand movements are now called “runes” and require drawing a simple shape like the Z or P letters that are better for casters.
- All 2 hands movements are using simple movements “push” or “up to down” movements that are better for melee-oriented combat. Currently only 2 movements are available but more will be added.
- All movements are now detected much more reliably by the AI.
Next steps (likely next patch) will be to remove the need to press a button and make combat super fluid. This is why basic one hand movements are removed, because otherwise they would trigger constantly while you interact with the world (or scratch your nose).
A proper tutorial about skill casting movement will be added to the game as soon as possible.
Fixed issues :
- Fixed an issue making targets unable to receive AoE damage when they are near your spawning position.
- Visual effects such as local mist or water drops are now properly hidden when out of view.
- Fixed important hands deformations that could occur when manipulating items.
- Fixed hands becoming unanimated after dying and respawning.
- Items now properly stay in hand when colliding, making your arm and hand move with the item instead of your controller. It now looks much more realistic and improves the feeling of impact.
- Finger positions are updated more consistently when taking an item in hand. This will be improved.
- Casting lines visual effect is now properly following you when moving.
- Casting now works properly while moving.
- The speed comfort vignette when using the Charge skill is now black instead of white.
- Fixed an issue making looted items considered as physically moving. As a result, after looting a lot of items, an important amount of data was sent between servers and players.
- The casting movement icons are no longer leaking out of their UI part when DLSS or FSR is enabled.
- Fixed a possible source of player character generation failure.
- Fixed several monsters spawning points that were underground and made monsters teleport on the surface when they entered in combat.
Improvements :
- Improved the way 3D objects load and unload (streams) when playing on a large map. This should increase performance, mostly on lower-end PCs.
- Out of combat targets can now receive AoE attacks.
- Added a lower quality crystal texture that replaces the complex and resource intensive one when the crystal is far from view.
- Added lower quality version of Fir trees when they are far from view.
- Improved shadow rendering performance.
- Adjusted a few plants in the valley.
- Improved rendering performance of reflective surfaces.
- Adjusted elementals in-casting projectiles position to reduce the risk for melee players to have it into the eyes. Ouch.
- Made aiming with the Slash ability a bit easier. Still not happy with that one, it will improve when the dev focus switch to skills (very soon).
- Adjusted mountain positions in the valley and Emberstone.
- Added a small orange arrow on casting movement icons to better show the expected starting point of the movement.