Greetings Lampbearers,
The Way of the Bucket: An ancient martial art? An extraordinary, time-honoured ritual? Or just one man’s unprecedented commitment to the humble receptacle?
Today’s update, released ahead of our usual cadence, answers this question and more, with headline features including:
- New Questline Event: The Way of the Bucket
- New Spells Pack #1
- Fall prevention when attacking
- Improved matchmaking
- Umbral ending fix
And with that, we continue to tick a few more items off our 2023 free content plan, though there’s still… ahem, a bucket load to come before year’s end. Additionally, we continue to work hard further refining the game’s difficulty balance in line with your ongoing feedback. Please find a recap of all difficulty enhancements to date here from earlier this week.
Full patch notes below,
[h4]The Way of the Bucket[/h4]
Similar to our Hallowen Event - ‘Season of the Bleak’ - today’s update brings with it ‘The Way of the Bucket’, a new and mysterious questline which upon completion, grants a reward of truly indeterminate value.
Seek guidance in the words below…
[h4]New Spells[/h4]
Embrace the array of new spells now accessible across the three magical schools. You have the opportunity to acquire them by defeating their wielders.
Please note that these spells will not count towards the Radiant, Inferno, or Umbral Adept Achievements.
[h4]Core Gameplay Improvement[/h4]
With this patch if you begin an attack animation away from a ledge, you will no longer fall off if the attack animation draws you to the edge of said platform. However, if you start the attack animation when already standing at the edge, you will fall.
[h4]Improved Matchmaking[/h4]
We've updated the matchmaking selection process, giving priority to ping while also performing additional checks on the connection at both ends. This may slightly increase matchmaking time, but it ensures a higher quality connection.
[h4]Umbral Ending[/h4]
For players who previously encountered an issue with the Umbral ending, preventing them from completing the game, we have more positive news this week. We've implemented an additional check to address another edge case, allowing you to proceed after being blocked. So now, when you load the game, you should be able to directly access the ending.
We appreciate Fionn for sharing his save, to help identify and resolve this matter.. While we believe all outstanding issues have now been addressed, please don't hesitate to reach out to our support team at support@cigames.com with your save information if you encounter any further problems.
[h4]Performance[/h4]
- Added additional precalculated PSOs to further reduce micro-stuttering throughout the game world.
- Removed redundant collisions only on far-distance assets in the Empyrean Vista. All affected elements are out of the gameplay area.
- Improved performance in the level art of the Upper Calrath nobles area by removing cast shadows from numerous assets without any impact on quality.
- Optimized the Umbral level in Skyrest Bridge (Rampart and Parapet) by deleting hidden meshes and adjusting camera occlusion and pixel depth in certain meshes.
- Second pass to reduce the number of actors casting shadows (small objects and minor details) in the Manse of the Hallowed Brothers. No loss in quality.
- Second pass to reduce the number of actors casting shadows (small objects and minor details) in the Tower of Penance. No loss in quality.
[h4]AI[/h4]
- Increased Scarlet Shadow's senses to ensure it acquires the player as a target even in edge cases where it spawns far away from the player.
- Linked the Ruiner to a leashing volume to prevent him from leaving the intended encounter area in Lower Calrath.
- Added additional collisions for enemies spawning on the floor of Skyrest Bridge.
- Filled a missing navmesh hole in one spot of Pilgrim's Perch to improve AI navigation.
- Fixed an AI that was not following its patrol in the Manse of the Hallowed Brothers.
- A very treacherous NPC now says different things when defeating the player. Still obnoxious, but with style.
[h4]Collisions[/h4]
- Fixed an issue where players could get stuck near a crystal in Bramis Castle.
- Fixed an issue where players could get stuck in Anchor Between Realms.
- Fixed an issue where players could get out of world in The Empyrean.
- Fixed minor clipping issues on some stairs in Fief of the Chill Curse.
- Fixed an issue with a missing wall collision in Abbey of the Hallowed Sisters.
- Fixed an issue where players could get out of world in Manse of the Hallowed Brothers.
- Adjusted moth walls to prevent players from leaving Otto's boss encounter.
- Adjusted the location of a chest to avoid players getting stuck in Forsaken Fen.
- Placed blocking volume to prevent the player from jumping on a specific branch in Fief of the Chill Curse.
- Fixed issues where players could skip certain areas in Fief of the Chill Curse.
- Adjusted a flower bed near the Bellroom Vestige that could cause issues with gameplay.
- Fixed an issue where players could get stuck at a rock near the Tower of Penance.
- Fixed an issue where players could skip the Pieta boss fight encounter by climbing up the Fire Giant's corpse.
[h4]Visuals[/h4]
- Improved player character turning animation for turning at very slow speed.
- Added a missing base to one of the statues in Abbey of the Hallowed Sisters.
- Improved the specular and brightness for several weapons and armors sets materials.
Check out our 2023 roadmap here.
In Light we Walk.
Images from HEXWORKS art blast on Artstation
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Links:
Official Website: https://lordsofthefallen.com/
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