few days ago, we finished the test phase of the summer update after two productive weeks of testing with you. In response to the helpful feedback and suggestions we received, numerous changes were made during and after the test. With the update's release approaching, here is an overview of notable adjustments:

The Soulpit

• We have introduced two additional options to transform a soul core into another that might better suit your preferences.
• Fiendish monsters have a semirare chance to drop a soul prism. You can use it on a soul core to transform the core into one of the next higher difficulty. If used on the highest difficulty, it will convert the soul core into another core of that same difficulty.
• Using a soul core on another results in a random soul core of any Bestiary difficulty.
• We have ramped up the number of Soulpit creatures in each wave and fine-tuned the difficulty scaling to increase more smoothly from the first to the last wave.
• To reflect these changes, the amount of XP you receive at the end of a Soulpit fight has been raised from 1500% to 2800%.
• Please note that once you head into the Soulpit, supplies used in the fight will be consumed. During the test phase, there was a bug in the Soulpit preventing supplies from being used up.
• Based on feedback to encourage deeper engagement with the Soulpit, we adjusted the rewards to give a little extra for mastering a variety of creatures:
• Obtaining Animus Mastery for a creature now grants a 2% XP bonus for that creature, regardless of its Bestiary stage.
• You can increase this bonus up to 4% by unlocking Animus Mastery for additional creatures. The bonus will increase by 0.1% for every 10 Animus Masteries you unlock. The maximum bonus of 4% is reached when you have mastered 200 different creatures.
• Moreover, we added the temporary title "Mistress/Master of Souls" and the achievement "Soul Crusher". In addition, Gnomadness has a special keepsake for those who rise to the challenge of becoming a "Mistress/Master of Souls."

Wheel of Destiny: Fragment Workshop

• We have significantly cut down both the number of fragments needed and the gold cost for upgrading your mods, making enhancements more affordable and accessible. The new prices are:
  • Grade II: 5 Fragments and 2kk gold (basic mod) / 5kk gold (supreme mod) 
  • Grade III: 15 Fragments and 5kk gold / 12,5kk gold 
  • Grade IV: 30 Fragments and 30k gold / 75kk gold 
• In addition, we have raised the number of fragments you will receive when crushing or dismantling gems:

• We have also substantially buffed the Grade IV bonus for all mods.
  • At Grade IV, the bonus for both basic and supreme mods is now 50% of their Grade I value, instead of the initial 30% at the start of the test phase.
• Moreover, we have increased the Grade I values of numerous supreme mods, thereby also improving their bonuses on higher grades. This includes improvements to mods for Dodge, Critical Extra Damage, Life Leech, Mana Leech, mods that augment Critical Extra Damage for specific spells, as well as supreme mods that are currently less commonly used. For example:
  • Hell's Core Base Damage raised from 5% to 8% at Grade I (other grades: 8.8%/9.6%/12%)
  • Eternal Winter Burst Base Damage 5% to 8% at Grade I (other grades: 8.8%/9.6%/12%)
  • Executioner's Throw Base Damage raised from 5% to 6% at Grade I (other grades: 6.6%/7.2%/9%)
  • Divine Grenade Base Damage raised from 5.5% to 6% at Grade I (other grades: 6.6%/7.2%/9%)
• We have implemented a new rule for cooldown reductions via augments: Augments cannot lower a spell's cooldown below 50% of its original length. This applies to augments from all sources.
  • This allows us to grant more generous cooldown reductions at Grade I for most of the respective mods. For example, mods with Avatar augments now lower the spell cooldown by 900 seconds (15 minutes) instead of the initial 300 (5 minutes) at the start of the test phase.
• We have also improved the UI and increased the limit of gems you can hold in your Gem Atelier from 225 to 600.

Miscellaneous

• Quick Loot Nearby Corpses: We have fixed an issue that impacted the reliability of quick looting nearby corpses when walking with keyboard keys. We have also made an optimisation to address reported FPS drops when looting numerous corpses while having the hunting analyser open. 
• Quick Sort Container: Sorting by charges left now also includes items which have an expiry time. Therefore, we have renamed this option to Sort by Expiry. Moreover, similar items will be grouped together before sorting by expiry.
• New Content: Based on your feedback and our evaluations, we fine-tuned the new quests and bosses, balanced the new hunting grounds and creatures, and adjusted the stats of the new weapons and equipment.
• Existing Content:
  • In the Wheel of Destiny, we have adjusted the Revelation Perk Beam Mastery so that the increased damage now applies to all targets hit by a beam instead of just the first three. 
  • We have decided to reduce the group cooldown for all single target spells from 4 to 2 seconds with the release of the summer update. This will apply to the following spells: Annihilation, Ultimate Flame Strike, Ultimate Ice Strike, Ultimate Energy Strike, and Ultimate Terra Strike.

Both the Soulpit and the Fragment Workshop will further enhance the popularity of fiendish creatures, whether it is in hopes of obtaining Soul cores or gems. 
To accommodate this, their respawn time will be cut in half with the release of the summer update. This faster respawn of fiendish monsters will apply till August 06, 2024, server save. We will then analyse the situation again and decide how to proceed with their respawn time.

All announced changes will be implemented with the release of the summer update. Of course, we will also carefully observe the impact and usage of the new features and content after release, continuing to fine-tune and balance them as needed.

We would like thank to all players who helped us during the test by trying out the new contents and by sharing their experiences and feedback with us. Your dedication contributed to improving the update and we are excited about its upcoming release.

Stay tuned!
Your Community Managers