Lords of the Fallen Update v.1.1.282

Our new favorite game has a new patch! I’ve played they hell out of this one, what a game! They really working hard with patching and fixing. Think this is patch number 14 since release October 13th…

Featuring over 100 fixes, tweaks, and enhancements, this includes improving the visual quality of HDR, adding extra savegame safeguards, and addressing a number of rare crashes. They’ve also improved cooperative play, made PVP more diverse, buffed some bosses, refined AI behavior, and balanced a few spells and items.

PATCH NOTES:

HDR

Instead of using Engine standards, we have established our own custom range for HDR max luminance to enhance the visual quality of the HDR output across all platforms.

Savegame

An additional failsafe has been added to help reduce the rare issue some users have experienced with corrupted saves.

If ever you experience this issue yourself, and of course we hope you don’t, please immediately send us your corrupted save to support@cigames.com so we can identify the potential origin of the issue. Your saves have truly helped us reduce this issue already.

Stability

A very rare crash reported in sentry where faction wars AIs casting certain abilities could crash in some GPUs under specific circumstances.
A rare crash that could happen when nanite was sending certain data to GPUs.
A very rare crash that could happen when AIs and players were targeting each other with specific abilities. Not reported in Sentry yet.
A rare crash that could happen when activating a revenge and the selected AI was a specific one, already dead. Not reported in Sentry yet.
A very rare crash that could happen when the player is aiming in ranged mode, under very specific circumstances. Not reported in Sentry yet.
Performance
Fixed an FPS degradation issue that occurred when opening and closing the in-game menu more than 50 times in one session, followed by a stamina-consuming action just afterward.
Conducted collision optimizations throughout Lower Calrath to achieve an overall improvement in framerate.
Implemented a shadow optimization pass in Spurned Progeny’s arena.
Optimized several smoke VFX used globally.
Enhanced target system performance when players or enemies target abilities toward each other.
Conducted a cast shadow optimization pass and beautification in Upper Calrath, resulting in some additional frames while navigating the area without sacrificing visual quality.
Optimized Skyrest Bridge by rearranging assets that cast shadows, maintaining the same quality while gaining additional framerate.

NG+

Now clients won’t be able to “Restart Current Game” and “Start NG+” in the Host world, as intended.

Co-op

In certain edge cases, the client could enter an “Ignore Move Input” state in the UI if interacting with the Vestige at the same time as the host.
It was reported that sometimes, when creating a co-op session, it could happen that you cannot create a second match after a disconnect of one of the two parties. We’ve identified the potential issue and added a failsafe.
Fixed an issue where the client would sometimes stop receiving sounds from the host when entering spectator mode far from the client’s dead body.
Under certain circumstances, the Client’s gesture UI becomes partially unresponsive and remains on the screen after transitioning when the Host rests at a Vestige, warps to another Vestige, or dies.
For a clearer user experience, we’ve updated the session password introduction process to display the 8-character limit and prohibit spaces. Please note that passwords for PVP sessions expire after a few minutes if you do not enter a PVP invasion area. This change is aimed at preventing the abuse of passwords for blocking PVP while still allowing for friendly sparring.
Fixed Black material in Umbral that could happen in co-op for clients when the host transitioned from Axiom to Umbral.
Fixed an issue in which the co-op helper could enter the host’s world with reduced mana, ammo, or HP if the level disparity between the two players was too high.

PVP
Boss Weapons

We’ve observed that some players have heavily relied on specific boss weapons and spells for PVP, which has led to a less diverse gameplay experience. To address this, we’ve made quite a few adjustments to these items:

Boss weapons will now have 10 levels instead of 5, and we’ve modified their upgrade curves. While they remain potent, they are no longer overpowered in PVP.
The mana costs for Pieta’s Blessed Reflections and Infernal Hounds invocation spells have been significantly increased.
Exploding bolts and shattering bolts now require more ammunition to use.
The usage cost of Corrupted Banner Javelin has increased, and its damage output has been nerfed.

To facilitate this transition, we’ve temporarily reduced the cost of Deralium Chunks at the shrine, making it easier for players to get their boss weapons from 5 to 10, but also to make it easier to try out different weapons and create more varied builds.

Our goal is to foster a more varied and enjoyable gaming experience for all, while avoiding overpowered weapons. We appreciate your understanding and ongoing support.

Other Tweaks

Additionally, we’ve made these additional adjustments for PVP:
The host is now unable to return to the Main Menu while the Crimson Ritual is in progress.
We’ve made adjustments to the invasion volume boxes, increasing their size slightly to help reduce disconnections. This is an ongoing process, so you can expect to see further improvements in this patch, with additional enhancements planned for the next week.
We have enhanced the visual feedback for player eliminations in PvP to provide a more rewarding experience.
Fixed an issue in which the invader could enter the host’s world with reduced mana, ammo, or HP if the level disparity between the two players was too high.

Revenge

We have enhanced the visual feedback when avenging another fallen Lampbearer.

Bosses

Taught a new trick to the Sanctified Huntress, allowing her to use her dash-teleport when cornered against a wall by the player or an NPC helper.
Griefbound has been adjusted to be more aggressive in her boss fight, as well as her minions.
When killing the Lightreaper at a specific frame of one of his specific attacks, it could interrupt his death animation, leaving him unanimated for a few frames.
We’ve increased the challenge for a boss at the bottom of a very dark place. That aberration born from love now has higher pacing and a bit more punch.
We’ve intensified the Sundered one’s aggression and behavior, making him angrier and more formidable, despite his sadness.
We’ve noticed that some players have been struggling with Kinrangr Guardian Folard and his hounds, particularly when it comes to his frostbite projectile attack. To help players anticipate this attack more effectively, we’ve enhanced its visual feedback.
Abiding defenders now use their abilities more efficiently and frequently, making the fight significantly more challenging.

AI

The Scarlet Shadow has received a few improvements to make it more dangerous and harder to “cheeze”:
The Scarlet Shadow could sometimes receive fall damage. Not anymore.
The Scarlet Shadow has learned a few new tricks to react to some trolling players. Now, you can’t hide from him by taking an elevator or get on top of some assets to shoot him without being touched. He’s more resourceful. You’ve been warned.
The Scarlet Shadow has now a few more navlinks to be able to jump up and down some platforms. Running away from it is now even more challenging.
Other AIs have also received a pass of additional polish:
Additional refinement of enemy spawns in Upper Calrath, Sunless Skein, Depths, Cistern, Fief, Manse, Path of Devotion, Abbey, and Bramis Castle.
An additional navlink has been added on Skyrest Bridge to help a specific AI navigate the intricate geometry when fighting.
An Umbral Sparrow at Fitzroy’s Gorge cave has had its spawn position adjusted to trigger its jump better.
The ground stomp animation for Deep Sparrows has been tweaked to reduce the body’s rotation on the ground.
Mendacious Visage now has an additional EQS check to find a better path towards hitting the player with its run. It’s still avoidable with a dash/roll.
Navmesh has been tweaked in Bramis Castle’s Donjon to help AIs navigate faster through one of its gates.
Now, when a Deep Sparrow attacks the player with its flying attack, it will knock down the player in Umbral but only do a heavy hit in Axiom. Transitioning to Umbral is already a significant penalty, and sometimes players could fall through a ledge, instantly dying without even seeing the attacking sparrow.
Some Umbral Sparrows in the levels had “Allow Lock On” disabled when starting their idle-breaker animations. It has been reactivated.
Tweaked the behavior of quadrupeds when surrounding the player to look more menacing (and cooler).
Adjusted AI spawns to leave more space for the flowerbed – so they do not attack you if you just remain idle there.
Fixed a navmesh issue when transitioning from Axiom to Umbral several times that could block a specific Umbral zombie in a specific spot in the Forsaken Fen town.
Adjusted existing leashing volumes and added a few more in Upper Calrath for AIs to pursue the player as long as intended.
Additional polish and adjustments to the leashing volumes of AIs in the Forsaken Fen.
Tweaked leashing volumes for all enemy groups at the Path of Devotion.
Adjusted and added additional leashing volumes to AIs in Upper Calrath.
Tweaked leashing volumes for some enemies in Pilgrim’s Perch.
Adjusted leashing for enemies at the entrance of Sunless Skein.
Adjusted and added leashing volumes in Redcopse Village.
Adjusted leashing for enemies at Fitzroy’s Gorge.

Balancing

Briostones’ healing speed has been slightly increased to improve their effectiveness in battle. It now takes 12 seconds instead of 20 seconds for the full Briostone effect to apply.
Curse of Adyr has seen its duration increased from 10s to 30s, and its damage per second from 2 to 5.
Barrage of Echoes cost has been increased by around 25% and damage decreased by 20%.
Defensive Aura has been nerfed by increasing its maintenance cost by 20%.
Fixed Holy Slash being easily destroyed upon physical collisions.
Fixed Rain of Thorns not causing the Smite status effect sometimes. Also, increased damage by almost 50%. It’s a great tool to fight abundant regular mobs, especially in co-op or when helping other people.
Fixed tick damage invulnerability on the following spells: Sliding Swords, Sacred Ground, Dark Mass, Poison Mist, Umbral Mist, Holy Beam, and Umbral Nail.
Healing Aura has been nerfed with a decrease in its base healing per second from 8 to 6.5, which is approximately a 20% nerf.
Increased the visceral damage multiplier on Umbral Assassin swords by 15% to make them a more attractive choice for parry players.
Lowered the bonus damage from Pendant of Burden from 0.1 to 0.07. Stacking status effects are highly efficient and fairly powerful on their own. As such, we’ve slightly nerfed this pendant to balance it with other combat options.
Manastones’ prices have been reduced in vendors: small from 300 to 200; medium from 600 to 400; large from 900 to 600.
Nerfed Enhanced Throwables by 30%. Pretty much all of them were overperforming, especially Enhanced Hammer.
Radiant Orb decreased healing and started deceleration earlier to make it easier to aim for mid-distance.
Sovereign Protector’s Ring Poise has been increased from 10 to 25 to boost its effect and make it more attractive to use.
Swapped Dunmire’s Cane to having 3x Meta rune slots instead of 3x Square rune slots to treat it like other staves and give it the potential to be much more powerful.
The Umbral Eye of the Pale Butcher secondary effect has been changed from “Recover soulflay while in Umbral” to “+25% damage to enemy soul,” so it can be combined with Umbral Eye of Olleren for devastating effects.
Three faction-focused pendants: Faceless Carving, Empyrean Pendant & Rhogar’s Delight; are keeping their faction (god) empowerments but have seen their protection effects buffed against their respective rival factions. We believe this adapts better to how players are using the strengths and weaknesses of each magic school.
Removed poise damage from AOE spells such as Graveyard Fog, Putrefaction, and Consecrate to prevent weird looped flinch animations on any enemy with >0 Poise.
Swapped a duplicated spell “Putrefaction” in Revelation Depths with 3x Poison Salts, as the spell can also be retrieved in the fen. Note that when picking an already-earned item, you get a reward, but we are just granting now a better one.

Level Design

We’ve polished an Umbral Puzzle at the Abbey of the Hallowed Sisters to prevent players from interacting with the soulflay from a wrong spot.
Added Umbral flowers signaling and an Umbral decoration layer for a new only-Axiom wall at Skyrest.
A lava killing area has been adjusted in Bramis Castle as we saw some players getting killed without noticing they were stepping on the lava. Now feet will burn for a longer time before getting killed in that corner.

Collisions

Added an additional failsafe to an Umbral wall in an encounter happening at the abandoned outpost at Fritzroy’s gorge. Being pushed back could block the player inside the wall.
Adjusted the Cleric cape to work in multiplayer.
Adjustments to collisions in the Abbey of the Hallowed Sisters to smoothen player navigation.
Fixed a collision bug at the ceiling of the alehouse at Lower Calrath that could lead to an unintended beam-navigation.
Fixed a collision near the Vestige of the Numb Witch in Calrath.
Fixed a hole at Bramis Castle that could lead to a fall if jumping over the barbican.
Fixed a wall in Bramis Castle that let audio pass through. “The walls have ears” – Don Juan. Well, not anymore.
If the player rolled against two specific beams in Pilgrim’s Perch, it could sometimes get trapped in a collision, with Byron staring at the scene.
Removed the collision from a small rock that could prevent players from falling at the Sunless Skein, but no exit was available.
We’ve buffed a pot in the Abbey of the Hallowed Sisters so the ray of the Abbess now does not go through it. So players can hide behind the almighty pot.
Collision adjustments in the whole Lower Calrath for smoother navigation of players and AI.
A bridge in Lower City could block projectiles on the edges although visually it was weird since it has only strings on the sides (custom collision added).
Fixed some collisions in the Fritzroy’s Gorge cave to avoid the player getting stuck under certain circumstances.
Adjusted an Umbral mesh in Pilgrim’s Perch that had collisions for projectiles in Axiom.
Added blocking volumes in Forsaken Fen to prevent players from performing an out of bounds and skipping mini-boss fight or getting stuck.
Added blocking volumes to prevent the player from getting stuck when attempting to jump up some rocks in Forsaken Fen.
Added blocking volumes to prevent the player from climbing a wall in Forsaken Fen.
Collision added to prevent escaping the Blessed Carrion Knight boss fog walls.
Tweaked collisions in two spots at Pilgrim’s Perch to make player movement and camera smoother.
Fixed a navmesh inside Bramis Castle that could prevent a Ruiner from pursuing the player along the whole 1st floor.
Fixed a collision in the Sunless Skein that could prevent players from falling into the void, as intended, forcing them to dash to the pit.
Fixed a collision to prevent the player from getting stuck with a specific set of crystals at Bramis Castle, after doing a certain action and getting hit by the Conflagrant Seer.
Adjusted some collisions on the big marketplace plaza at Upper Calrath to better support the big enemy AI there.

Visuals

Improved the decoration for the last Umbral bedflower added on the way to the Fief.
Tancred’s chest armor has been tweaked to avoid some visual glitches in extreme player poses.
Lowered flail hitstops slightly as we felt it was a bit too much for the nature of its weapon.
Replaced two old paintings at the Penitent Tower and changed them for new (cooler) ones.
Tweaked a burnt ground tile texture to look better.
An Umbral giant has been moved for purely cosmetic reasons (better framing).
Done some lighting improvements in 2 corners of Redcopse Church fixing 2 spots found by Digital
Foundry where GI is barely noticeable.
Post-process exposure fix for a transition in Lower Calrath, when exiting a building, right before the Alehouse.

Cinematics

After last week’s optimization on it, we’ve now polished the transition from “awaken lampbearer” intro cinematic to in-game.
Cleansing the beacon at the Tower of Penance now always triggers the proper Umbral lamp VFX.

VFX

Completely removed collisions for some cockroaches and bat VFX that could block some spell effects.
Additional optimization (and beautification) passes on several VFX.

UI

Gamepad could sometimes get out of focus in the UI, especially after several ALT-TABs. We’ve added an additional failsafe.
Sometimes an EPIC Online System pop-up could appear in some loading screens. We’ve deactivated all non-requested pop-ups from EOS.
Lock-on was sometimes targeting an AI capsule instead of its center, leading to a slightly displaced lock-on HUD element.
Fixed infinite item stock in vendors that could not be purchased infinitely.
Fixed an issue where the language setting would reset after a game client update.

Audio

We have new updated parry sounds (regular and stun) based on player feedback.
We’ve also improved stab sounds.

In Light we Walk.

Author: Saraptor

+61