Get a deep dive into the updates coming to Risk of Rain 2: Seekers of the Storm in this 2.0 roadmap video. New updates will arrive in three release phases. Learn what you can expect from Phase 1: Items & Elites, Phase 2: The False Son Boss Fight, and Phase 3: Survivors.
Category
🎮️
GamingTranscript
00:00Hello everyone, I'm Jonathan and I'm thrilled to announce that I'm back on the Risk of Rain team as our Community Manager.
00:06I'd love to take some more time with a reintroduction, but we have some huge news to get to, so let's jump right in.
00:12Today we've released an update that addresses more of the bugs you've reported to us.
00:15That includes tackling some of the larger reported issues like the overabundance of Elites.
00:19Full notes are linked in the written version.
00:22In addition to that update, we'd like to share our more holistic plans for Seekers of the Storm.
00:26Our ultimate goal is to build Seekers of the Storm to be something that can be celebrated by the community for years to come.
00:32Over the next few months, significant changes will come to Seekers of the Storm.
00:36The updates that we're exploring are expansive, so they won't happen overnight,
00:40but the scope of the changes should underline the seriousness that we're approaching this challenge with.
00:44We plan to release these changes in three phases.
00:47Phase 1 is going to be Items and Elites.
00:50Phase 2 is going to be the Full Sun boss fight.
00:53And Phase 3 is going to be the Survivors.
00:56Some content people already love.
00:58Stages, Survivor skins and sales staff are all parts our team are particularly proud of,
01:03so beyond bug fixes, these will remain largely unchanged.
01:07The rest of Seekers of the Storm is where we're focusing.
01:09The feedback that everyone has sent so far has been a huge help.
01:12It's already shaping the coming design updates and is helping us get a better grasp of the bugs we're still facing.
01:17The fact that so many of you have reached out with thoughtful ideas has been humbling.
01:21As we move through these phases, please continue sending us your feedback.
01:25The best places for that are the Risk of Rain Discord or our official support website.
01:29As more feedback comes in, everything is subject to change.
01:32We want this to be a collaborative effort that you're all part of.
01:35So while the changes we will lay out are the improvements we're planning right now,
01:39those plans may change in service of making more polished content.
01:42With that, let's take a second look at each phase more closely.
01:46So let's start with Phase 1, Items and Elites.
01:49Apart from Sailstar, all the new items are being changed.
01:52In some cases, like with Sonorous Whispers, the items could simply use a tweak or a rebalance.
01:57For others, the old uses were somewhat limited, so they've been completely redesigned.
02:04Overall, our goal is to redesign the items to feel more transformational,
02:08make the new items fit into the existing build synergies better,
02:12make some particularly weak items more powerful,
02:15and re-establish a better balance in the item pool between defensive, movement and damage items.
02:20With the Elites, the plan changes are every bit as significant.
02:24We found that Twisted Elites could offer a lot more room for counterplay.
02:27Depending on the items you randomly receive in a run,
02:30it's possible that you're guaranteed to die if a Twisted Elites spawns.
02:33Risk of Rain 2 can be punishing, but when it is punishing,
02:36it should always be in ways that feel fair and provide space for players to overcome those challenges.
02:41The core principle of encouraging players to focus fire on a single monster is still really compelling,
02:46so we're rebuilding Twisted Elites to give players a chance to dodge that incoming damage.
02:50Gilded Elites are… quite healthy.
02:53When a Gilded Wisp decides to float over you,
02:55it tends to just hang there stealing your gold while you go on a marathon to take it out.
02:59The changes we're working on will retain the gold-stealing mechanic of Gilded Elites,
03:03but in ways that are more interesting and provide the space for counterplay.
03:06Their health multiplier is also being knocked down a few pegs.
03:10With Phase 2, we'll be tackling the Full Sun boss fight.
03:13As we get closer to these later phases, we'll add more details on our specific plans,
03:17but now we just want to ensure you have an overview of our thinking.
03:21With the boss fight, we're aiming to
03:23Make the boss abilities clearer and fairer
03:26Prevent the Full Sun from attacking through obstacles
03:29Move the location of pillars for better blocking and coverage
03:32Reign in some of the ancillary damage sources, like the number of golems and lightning strikes
03:37Rebalance the overall encounter, including damage and swapping flat armour for adaptive armour.
03:41During this roadmap phase, we're also planning some changes to Scorchworm and Halcyonite,
03:46but we'll have more details for that when we get closer.
03:48In Phase 3, we'll work on Survivors.
03:51All three Survivors will see large improvements, but Chef is getting a lot of attention.
03:55Chef can be a lot more powerful and feel a lot more streamlined,
03:59so while we're rebuilding his kit to be more elegant, we also want to buff him overall.
04:03All of Chef's abilities are being revisited,
04:05but the two that stick out the most are Chef's primary and secondary, Dice and Seer.
04:10With Dice, we want to allow players to throw cleavers with reckless abandon like Chef's of Yor.
04:15With Seer, we're making sure the ability is more agile
04:18so that you can quickly use it and move on with your culinary adventures.
04:21The Full Sun should feel like an unhinged construct creation.
04:25After all, that's just who he is.
04:27But there's still a lot of room for polish.
04:29On top of cleaning up the overall kit, we want to make a handful of design improvements.
04:33All of his abilities are changing,
04:35but a lot of focus will be making Lunar Spikes and Laser of the Father feel more impactful.
04:39We'll have a lot more details when we get closer.
04:42Among the three, Seeker seems to be a clear favourite.
04:45While she's receiving some changes, they're more targeted than the other Survivors.
04:49Overall, we want to increase the value of her Tranquility stacks,
04:52so each one should be more impactful.
04:54We're also keen on bringing the Resurrection capabilities she delivers in multiplayer back to single-player.
04:59We'll let the team keep making improvements as we go through these phases,
05:02and we'll give you more details later.
05:04And that's what we have for you today.
05:06This is a huge undertaking, but one the team is very excited about.
05:09We also want to thank everyone for giving us the time to put together a holistic plan.
05:13We know that you're eager to see what's in store, and we can't wait for you to jump in.
05:16In the meantime, today's bug fixes are live,
05:19and you can find the update notes in the written Dev Diary version.
05:22Until next time, the Risk of Rain team.