Hi everyone

The past two weeks have been super hectic with the playtesting of the upcoming Successor Demo. We have received lots of great feedback pointing out both technical and design issues that needed our attention. You can see all the details in the patch notes below.

If you are curious and would like to try out the upcoming demo before its release, just sign up for playtesting from the Store page. You should get an invitation during the next few days, as we are opening up more testers. This will also allow you to express your concerns or share ideas, helping us to make the game as good as possible. The Demo features a unique campaign named Lord of Bones.

We had a bunch of playtesters by the office yesterday to try out Successor live, and as always, these more personal sessions combined with an interview gave us a reality check into how the game works and plays in its current state.

If you'd like a sneak peek into the upcoming Demo and the Lord of Bones campaign, @Vileurple streamed his playtest on YouTube.

Game Flow & UI:

• The Feedback & Bug Report Button now pauses the game while active.
  
• New players are now prompted to create a profile at the start.
  
• The Play and Continue buttons have been merged. New profiles start a fresh game, while existing profiles continue from the last save.
  
• The tutorial UI has been updated to dark mode, reduced in size, and anchored to specific in-game locations in the Betrayal tutorial.
  
• The game fully pauses during tutorial panels until "OK" is pressed, preventing floating UI issues.
  
• Resolution settings are now more stable at launch and when changed in-game.
  
• Fixed an issue where Scout Towers could trap units, preventing movement or abilities.

Gameplay Adjustments:

• Bloaters and their spawn totems are now highly vulnerable to fire, and totems have reduced HP.

Performance & Optimization:

• The region map scene has been optimized to reduce FPS drops.

Bug Fixes

• We fixed an issue where quitting during the first campaign could leave players stuck on the intro screen.
  
• Fixed a bug where music would stop playing if turned down in the options menu.
  
• Fixed an issue where the battle board with the captured Scoundrel could be empty, leaving no key to collect.
  
• Chat keys are disabled to prevent unintended campaign wins/losses.
  
• Keybinding options are hidden in the menu until they are fully functional.
  
• Fixed an issue where exiting the menu from the region map would block all interactions except for camera movement.
  
• Fixed a bug where opening the options menu twice would stop the music.
  
• Corrected various spelling errors.

Betrayal Campaign Adjustments

• Reworked enemy setup in the tutorial board where you must free the Archer.
  
• Changed triggers in the Courtyard to simplify item pickup and usage.
  
• Added scream to the guard being kicked off the cliff (immersion!).
  
• A short intro scene was added to the first Courtyard board.
  
• Navigation info is added when starting on the region map.

Lord of Bones - Demo Campaign

• The warpriest wave encounter (The Crypt) was nerfed for better balance.

As we approach the Early Access release, we're ramping up testing across all aspects of Successor. If you're interested in helping us make Successor the best game it can be, stay tuned—we’ll soon be looking for your feedback and ideas to refine the experience!

Best regards
The Playwood Project Dev Team

A former mercenary of the House of Silver Coin, the Archer now roams the land in search of adventure and fortune, driven by a relentless desire to find new targets for his arrows.

The Archer is a highly potent backline unit capable of delivering significant damage from a safe distance. However, with relatively low health and light armor, they must be shielded from enemies seeking to close the gap. Keep in mind that foes equipped with shields or heavy plates can greatly reduce incoming ranged damage, so positioning and timing are key.

Volley: Unleash a rapid barrage of arrows at a single target over a short duration, overwhelming enemies with swift strikes.

Fire Arrow: Ignite the arrow before releasing it at your target, setting enemies and surrounding tiles ablaze.

Eagle Eye: The Archer gains bonus damage when attacking from higher ground than their target.
We’re primarily focused on refining UI elements to improve their aesthetics and clarity, ensuring you can easily make strategic decisions.

Visual Changes to In-Game Tooltips
Updated tooltips now present essential details at a glance without breaking immersion.

Unit Equipment Slots
Quickly identify which types of gear each unit can wield, helping you optimize load-outs and tactics.

Ruler Lore
Each kingdom has a ruler with unique abilities, traits, and signature weapons. Our new Ruler Lore system reveals their hidden strengths and vulnerabilities before the showdown. While the right heroes and equipment are crucial, knowing your enemy’s secrets can tip the scales of battle in your favor.
Event Cards (Experimental)
We’ve introduced World Event Cards to add an element of unpredictability. Each region begins with its own deck of events, and whenever the Lord moves to a new tile, there's a chance a card will be drawn. These cards can trigger anything from ambushes to enemy power boosts—or even the spawning of undead in all battles for a limited time.

That’s all for this update, but stay tuned—more exciting news are on the way!

Best regards
The Playwood Project Dev Team