The July Neowsletter is here, Slayers! Last month we bid farewell to the Doormaker, but you know what they say: when one door closes... a giant floating hourglass creature appears! In this issue we're taking a look behind the scenes at the process of bringing the Doormaker's replacement, Aeonglass, to life!


Mega Crit’s animator Chris here with a quick dive into the animation process for our latest boss: Aeonglass. Most of you know that this critter replaces the Doormaker. What you probably don't know is that, as that character's design evolved away from door-making, we explored other concepts, including a multi-faceted pillar of death that could rotate its sections to reveal different capabilities--sort of a Swiss Army rock. I even did an animation test to see if I could fake the 3D rotation using 2D software.

But alas, all versions of the Doormaker eventually fell prey to the march of time and it became clear that Aeonglass was here to stay.

The art was finalized (see Option B above) and I was clear to animate. But before I got too carried away, I did some tests to make sure I could simulate 3D rotating metal rings in 2D space. The result wasn’t much to look at, but as a proof of concept it worked well enough for us to move ahead.

So how does a giant hourglass thingy with rotating rings cast spells, fight, and generally do stuff? Only one way to find out: doodling. Take the image included here. It shows that one of my first ideas for an attack involved locking the rings in a fixed position resembling a big atom. While I liked the idea of the rings forming a recognizable shape while emitting a blast, I later realized that aligning the rings horizontally like a disk would create a more distinctive silhouette. Not only that, but the curve of the disk suggests a horizontal sweeping motion. With a little bit of VFX, we could launch some sort of slice attack. Our giant hunk of metal and glass was developing an attitude!

Attitude secured, it was time to animate. This part of the process takes a while and I won’t get into the details, but Aeonglass did require a few special techniques. For instance, when our Art Director Marlowe handed me the artwork, she requested that the stuff in the hourglass move more like lava lamp goo than the traditional sand. There are a few ways to approach goo animation, but I opted to use a shader. In fact, I made this goo using the same smoke shader used to make the body of the Living Smog. Since my animation software doesn't support shaders, all I see while I'm working is a striped placeholder image where the goo will be.

When the animation is played back in-engine, the placeholder is replaced by an endless stream of time globs slipping away into eternity.

Another unusual technique was setting up the rings to play on a separate timeline from the rest of the character. This means that the character can go from standing still to getting knocked back to debuffing you with "Wither," all without interrupting the smooth rotation of the rings. Keeping the rotation separate is also easier for me because tweaking it can be done by editing one animation instead of three.

Speaking of time globs, I don't want to use up too many of yours! Let's see what else is going on in this Neowsletter...


Ho ho! Looks like the Merchant heard about the merchandising ventures of some other Spire inhabitants and had to get in on the action! Thanks to the latest Makeship x Slay the Spire drop, you can buy a plush keychain of the Merchant's faithful Courier, gleaming pins of his wares, and even a plushie of the Merchant and his rug! His real rug might not be for sale... but no one ever said anything about a mini, plush replica of it!

These limited edition products are available only to the speediest of patrons, so pre-order yours before this collection[makeship.com] disappears on August 1st at 5AM PST!

You helped bring their concepts to life and now they're finally here--the Youtooz figures of the Necrobinder and Regent are available now[youtooz.com]! The newest additions to the Spire's roster of climbers have taken smaller, vinyl-based forms in order to grace your shelves and watch over your future runs. The collection is complete... for now.

Lastly, we've got a cool collab to highlight: turns out the Ironclad was enjoying StS2's co-op mode so much he decided to join another multiplayer game?! You can play as a floppier, less-limbed version of everyone's favorite warrior in Heave Ho 2 (which literally just came out)!


The last Slay the Spire Connections was a little tricky... hopefully this one[custom-connections-game.vercel.app] is more chill ;)


Time for our usual showcase of the community's cool in-game map art!

The Defect admiring its array of orbs by DogOnPluto!

The Regent (playing a different type of ball than most of the world is talking about right now) by thugzmcdubbz!

The Ironclad literally carrying the Regent by rattraps!

The Defect asking for his favorite treats by Lumin!


Thank you to pp for this month's super cool cover image (check out Neow's custom shades)! Special shoutout to our runner up valarts who actually 3D-modeled their submission! This one makes me wonder... is the Defect waterproof?

Next month's theme is: Slay the Summer - Festival Edition! You could include water lanterns, food stalls, fireworks, whatever you like--just make it August-y! If you'd like to submit your art for consideration, reminder that it must be submitted to us via [email protected] or in our Discord's[discord.gg] fanart channel, have dimensions of 800x450px, feature no text, and leave room for a title! Please make your submission by Friday, August 7th!

On with the rest of the community highlights!

An animated version of the Ironclad's Evil Eye card by Qumerredem!

Awesome cosplay by FishStickMystic of the Silent partaking of her own poison!

A desk setup that SLAYS by Chestnut[bsky.app] featuring his very own gorgeous fanart!

That's all for this month's issue, see you in the next one!

Another beta patch is here, Slayers! This one brings a host of balance changes, bug fixes, and new Epoch art. We've also begun to translate the game into Traditional Chinese (no timeline just yet on official support for other languages, but we'll let people know when we are looking for additional translators.) Perhaps most notably, two new Neow relics have been introduced, one of which grants a powerful, exclusive potion and the other a brand new quest card (with some cute beta art!)


Ancients:

• Added new Neow relic, Dowsing Rod - "Upon pickup, add 1 Dowsing to your Deck."
  
  • Dowsing - Quest - 0 cost - "After entering 5 more ? rooms, transform this into Abundance."
    
  • Abundance - Ancient - Skill - Cost 1 - "Choose 1 of 3 (Upgraded) Powers to add into your Hand. It is free to play this turn. Exhaust."
• Added new Neow relic, Neow's Sacrifice - "Upon pickup, procure 1 Ambergris and add 1 Guilty to your Deck."
  
  • Ambergris potion - "Heal for 50% of your max HP. Take an extra turn after this one."
• Reworked Nonupeipe's Diamond Diadem relic: "Whenever you play 2 or fewer cards in a turn, take half damage from enemies." -> "Start combat with 20 Block. Block is not removed at the start of your next turn."
  
• Moved Orobos' Sand Castle relic moved from Pool 1 -> Pool 2 (second option instead of first option)
  
• Changed up Darv blessing pools for more variety (will see Energy relics more often)
  
• Nerfed Tanx's Meat Cleaver relic: HP gain decreased from 9 -> 5
  
• Buffed Tezcatara's Toybox relic: relics gained increased from 4 -> 5
  
• Buffed Vakuu's Fiddle relic: card draw increased from 2 -> 3
  
• Changed Vakuu's Sere Talon and Distinguished Cape relics: swapped downsides

Enemies:

• Nerfed Aeonglass: Ebb move damage decreased from 26(32) -> 22(26) to lower its front-loaded damage
  
• Buffed Torchhead Amalgam: now starts with a new Strong Tackle move on turn 1 to increase front-loaded damage from 18(22) -> 26(32)

Events:

• Nerfed History Course relic: now only repeats Attacks, does not affect Skills

Ironclad:

• Buffed Demon Form card: Strength gain increased from 2(3) -> 3(4)
  
• Buffed Expect a Fight card: no longer says "You cannot gain additional [E] this turn."
  
• Buffed Primal Force card: Giant Rock token damage increased from 16(20) -> 20(24)
  
• Changed Taunt card:
  
  • Block gain decreased from 7(8) -> 6(7)
    
  • Rarity decreased from Uncommon -> Common
• Changed Bloodletting card: rarity increased from Common -> Uncommon
  
• Changed Cruelty card: rarity decreased from Rare -> Uncommon
  
• Changed Dominate card: rarity increased from Uncommon -> Rare

Silent:

• Reworked Mirage card: Uncommon - Skill - 1(0) - "Gain Block equal to Poison on ALL enemies. Exhaust." -> Uncommon - Skill - 0 - "Next turn, gain 1(2) Energy."
  
• Reworked Well-Laid Plans card:
  
  • Uncommon - Power - Cost 1 - "At the end of your turn, Retain up to 1(2) card(s)." -> Rare - Power - Cost 1(0) - "At the end of your turn, you no longer discard your Hand."
    
  • Now also available in multiplayer, was previously singleplayer-only
• Reworked Expertise card: "Draw cards until you have 6(7) in your hand." -> "Draw 2(3) cards. They gain Retain this turn."
  
• Buffed: Outbreak card: damage increased from 3(4) -> 4(5)
  
• Changed Accelerant card: rarity decreased from Rare -> Uncommon

Regent:

• Reworked Pillar of Creation card: "Whenever you create a card, gain 3 Block." -> "The first time you create a card each turn, gain 5(7) Block."
  
• Nerfed Collision Course card: damage decreased from 11(15) -> 10(14)

Necrobinder:

• Reworked Eidolon card: "Exhaust your Hand. If 9 cards were Exhausted this way, gain 1 Intangible." -> "Play ALL Ethereal cards in your Exhaust Pile. Exhaust."

Defect:

• Buffed Hyperbeam card: damage increased from 28(36) -> 30(38)
  
• Buffed Sunder card: damage increased from 24(32) -> 26(34)
  
• Changed Trash to Treasure card: upgrade changed from gains Innate -> lowers cost by 1

Multiplayer:

• Added new Regent card, Tutor: Rare - Skill - 1(0) - "Another player chooses a card in their Draw Pile to add into their Hand."
  
• Nerfed Midnight card: damage decreased from 99(120) -> 60(72)
  
• Nerfed The Ball card: scaling decreased from +15(25) -> +10(15)
  
• Nerfed Blade Symphony card:
  
  • Cost increased from 1 -> 2(1)
    
  • Upgrade no longer increases Shiv count

General:

• Seeds are now 12 characters long and internal seed is larger
  
• Removed faint white outline from game cursor

Multiplayer:

• You can now play nearly any potion on another player
  
• Map ink circles are now the same for all players

General:

• Added Epoch art for:
  
  • Annihilation
    
  • To Kill
    
  • Futility

Ancients:

• Added assets for Dowsing Rod and Neow's Sacrifice relics
  
• Added asset for Ambergris potion
  
• Added beta portrait art for Dowsing and Abundance cards

Enemies:

• Swapped Aeonglass double and heavy attack animations and improved the double attack VFX

Multiplayer:

• Added portrait art for the following cards:
  
  • The Ball
    
  • Plot
• Created "Failed to join" text VFX

Localization:

• Added Traditional Chinese (zht) as a selectable language with English fallback
  
• Added Traditional Chinese fonts (Source Han Serif TC, Noto Sans Mono CJK TC)
  
• Updated translations for various languages
  
• Fixed translation errors for French, Italian, Russian, and Thai
  
• Removed stale translations for redesigned Well-Laid Plans, Fuel, Outbreak, Sere Talon, Cacophony

General:

• VSync setting in Graphics options now shows the correct On/Off state after restarting
  
• "Power wears off" notification no longer blocks mouse input
  
• Placeholder Orb numbers no longer briefly show up at the start of combat
  
• Correctly snapped scrolling menus at low FPS

Ancients:

• Fixed Tanx's Whistle card preview and tooltip snapping to the top-left corner when hovered

Enemies:

• Fixed awkward delay when Osty and Kaiser Krab would spawn at start of combat
  
• Fixed Fabricator animations that weren't playing right
  
• Fixed Fat Gremlin sometimes spawning without a bag of money when it should

Silent:

• Expose card now properly triggers Hand Drill relic

Necrobinder:

• Soulbound card now shuffles souls into Draw Pile instead of putting them on the bottom

Multiplayer:

• One for All card no longer previews damage up on X-cost cards
  
• Fixed Unmovable card causing other players to receive double Block from Demonic Shield card when it was not the first Block card played
  
• Imitation Learning card now clones cards before they are played instead of after, allowing enchantments like Swift to apply to the cloning player
  
• Underworld card no longer causes Doom to be applied to players when enemies deal attack damage
  
• Fixed an issue where, if a player played The Ball card while another played had History Course relic, History Course could incorrectly end up playing a copy of The Ball next turn
  
• Fixed divergence that would sometimes occur when ending combat with The Ball card
  
• Hibernate card no longer gives block to dead players
  
• Hibernate card now correctly displays stacks in its power icon
  
• If Huddle Up triggers a choice for another player, the playing player is no longer blocked from playing cards
  
• The Ball now triggers the playing player's relics, not the receiving player's
  
• Fixed card effects breaking when a player dies while their own card is still resolving (e.g. to Thorns)
  
• Fixed divergence that would occur if one player took a long time to enter combat
  
• Player icons are rendered above the ink circle on the map
  
• Resolved issue where, if Epochs were deprecated, that player could no longer join multiplayer games

• Merged SavedPropertySerializationCache into ModelIdSerializationCache. SavedProperties are now included in its hash.
  
• Models from non-gameplay-affecting mods are now properly excluded in the hash