Big List of Watcher 1.5 Changes _!! SPOILERS !!_

[CtenosaurOaxacana]

probably final update:
added a bit of info about accessing the pearl-scanning machine, dial warp, the 'rot purifying' effects gifted from Weaver, and their ending. also forgot to mention Jolly Co-op support.

update:
clarified info in various sections, more data about new creatures & the Weaver & graffiti bombs, added a bit about new threat music & creature sounds, specified which regions (do/don't) have colored pearls, a tally of changed # of warp points in regions, a little bit about final 4th ending, & cleaned up formatting


Spent some time analyzing and researching a bunch of Watcher 1.5 changes.
Most of this was experienced first-hand, but I admit I referenced the wiki about a few of these things, too.

--> Rain World Wiki - Watcher DLC[rainworld.miraheze.org]

Watcher 1.5 changes for warp connections:

~ 2 renamed regions:

    
• Sunlit Port renamed to Sunbaked Alley, also now roughly x3 more rooms
      
• Shrouded Coast renamed to Shrouded Stacks

~ 3 new regions: Pillar Grove, Migration Path, & Fractured Gateways

    
• Pillar Grove warps: { Coral Caves, Torrential Railways, Shrouded Stacks }
      
• Migration Path warps: { Aether Ridge, Badlands, Cold Storage }
      
• Fractured Gateway warps: { Badlands, Cold Storage, Fetid Glen }

~ Echo location changes:

    
• Heat Ducts Echo has been moved to the end of Thermal Relay subregion
      
• Badlands echo leads to Fractured Gateways now, not Shrouded Stacks
      
• Echo added to Fractured Gateways, leading to Cold Storage (+1)
      
• Echo removed from both Shrouded Stacks & Cold Storage (-2)
      
• This results in 12 total Echo spots, exactly enough to min/max 9/9 ripple lvl
  
  ^ minimum ripple level goes up +1 starting at ripple lvl 6

~ Removed some two-way warps, mostly due to new regions' warps:

    
• Coral Caves <---> Torrential Railways
      
• Badlands <---> Shrouded Stacks
      
• Badlands <---> Cold Storage
      
• Cold Storage <---> Salination
      
• 1 of Cold Storage <---> Shrouded Stacks
  
  ^ instead of weirdly having 2 regular warp routes, these regions now share just one, like all other regions

~ Reduced number of static one-way warps:

    
• No more Coral Caves ---> Turbulent Pump
      
• No more Badlands ---> Unfortunate Development
      
• Heat Ducts ---> Salination is now two-way <--->
      
• All remaining one-way warps connect to or from vanilla, rotten, or end-game rot-immune regions. Not counting temporary player-created manual warps.

~ Final tally for # of warp points added/removed per region:

   
• (!) = has a new Daemon/Ripplespace warp
     
• +2 : Fetid Glen(!)
     
• +1 : Aether Ridge, Sunbaked Alley(!)
     
• -1 : Badlands, Cold Storage, Coral Caves, Salination, Shrouded Stacks, Turbulent Pump

~ ALL regular regions have a connection to Daemon now

    
• that means Sunbaked Alley, Fetid Glen, and the 3 new regions
      
• the only regions with no Daemon connection are vanilla regions, Ancient Urban, & the rot regions (except for Outer Rim)

~ The Outer Rim <---> Daemon warp is now two-way from the start, no need to open from the Outer Rim side first

Watcher 1.5 changes & additions that affect the regions & gameplay itself:

~ Jolly Co-op support made official for the Watcher campaign (and the Downpour ones too)


~ More music and creature sounds, including for regions/creatures before 1.5

    
• Threat theme for Pillar Grove. Also added threat themes for the older regions Sunbaked Alley, The Surface, & Shattered Terrace.
      
• New incidental music added for certain rooms in the new regions, for Weaver encounters, and the two new endings.
      
• Sky Whales in Signal Spires are much more vocal now, possibly same with other creatures pre-dating v1.5 too.

~ Arena/Sandbox mode unlocks can be collected throughout Watcher regions now

    
• Like vanilla and downpour, you don't have to worry about hibernating, it saves as soon as the new arenas/creatures/items info pops up on screen

~ New creatures!

    
• Anglers
  
  ^ horrifying fish that require staying a set distance away so they don't go berserk, safe when light is yellow, dangerous when red
      
• Locust Whales
  
  ^ bulkier sky whales you can't ride, but blocks locusts in Fractured Gateways, plus a mega colossal one in a certain room
      
• Moth Grubs
  
  ^ cute critters that moths feed & protect, giving them an excuse to attack you more often, can grow into moths if hibernated with
      
• Peach Lizards
  
  ^ a cross between yellow (pack hunters) & indigo (sand burrowing) abilities, with shockingly fast recovery from rock stuns, plus they can break barnacle shells
      
• Ripple Spiders
  
  ^ a special ripple creature in Outer Rim to help unlock an ability, possibly rarely spotted elsewhere leading to useful locations like warp portals, or maybe ripple spawn eggs
      
• Tower Crabs
  
  ^ even bigger and taller drill crabs in Migration Path, ignores you by default, but will attack if provoked
      
• The Weaver
  
  ^ the 3rd major story character of the DLC, see bellow for info

~ Graffiti Bombs

    
• acts as a portable alternative to mud or indigo spit for Badlands locusts
      
• Negates the Basilisks' poisonous touch in Fetid Glen

~ Some rooms have been altered in certain ways, usually for convenience

    
• For example, the huge pipe tunnel pit jump in northwest Coral Caves is less wide and more easily crossed in other ways without (nearly) max Ripple level

~ New rooms added to various regular regions, such as Torrid Desert, although Sunbaked Alley got the most by far


~ Daemon seems more disturbingly 'alive' in a few visible ways, plus a new room

    
• monoliths throughout the region seem to have golden eyes that track you now. Creepy giant pincer-like protrusions stick out of the ground and twitch at random.

    
• a huge triple monolith room was also added for tracking progression towards all four endings

~ 16 Watcher regions now have new colored pearls to find!

    
• The 7 regular regions with _NO_ colored pearls are: Aether Ridge, Coral Caves, Fractured Gateways, Pillar Grove, Rusted Wrecks, Sunbaked Alley, Torrential Railways
  
  ^ In other words, none of the possible 1st & 2nd Watcher regions you can visit have any colored pearls, nor does Fractured Gateways
      
• The other 14 regular regions have 1 colored pearl each
      
• Outer Rim has a colored pearl, but the other 5 Rot regions have none
  
  ^ Cold Storage is NOT a Rot region, and so does have a colored pearl
      
• Ancient Urban has _2_ colored pearls, but the other end-game rot-immune regions (Daemon & Shattered Terrace) have none

~ Ancient Urban now has a pearl-scanning machine above the shop, providing audio-visual feedback from colored pearls, sometimes acting as music tracks

    
• The 4 accessible base-game colored pearls from the 'prologue' regions can also be scanned, displaying unique visuals, although the Shaded Citadel one has been reported elsewhere as having no unique scan implemented yet.
  
  ^ But it does seems to show some sort of glowing capsule or Ancient's mask? This does seem relevant to the pearl's base-game text.. but it could still just be a generic abstract image that I happen to haven't seen on regular pearls yet.
  
  
  ^ While Downpour's pearl from Outskirts is technically accessible with that DLC enabled (if you can somehow reach it that early without Watcher's abilities), it still seems to be scanned as a generic white pearl, showing miscellaneous random symbols.
      
• Detailed translated text - from roughly 33% of the new colored pearls - can only be read after gaining the Mark of Communication from the final ending
      
• MULTIPLE pearls can be brought into Ancient Urban at the same time, not just as a swallowed item. The Ripplespace warp should still properly teleport whatever is close by, like a normal warp does.
  
  ^ After getting the Spinning Top ending, the Shattered Terrace ripplespace warp should bring you much closer to the Shop & its pearl-scanning machine in storage.

~ Outer Rim has new rooms that show info about and allow gaining a new 'Spiral Warp' ability, also called a 'DIAL WARP'

    
• Collecting ALL ripplespawn eggs (floating purple semi-transparent circles) in Outer Rim's central city, and then following the Ripple Spider eastwards, unlocks this ability. It will wait nearby if you hibernate.
      
• Spiral Warp allows you to manually warp to (most) regions of YOUR CHOOSING, instead of the usual uncertain randomization. This is similar to Passages in base game.
  
  ^ Ancient Urban, Daemon, and Rot regions seem to NOT be allowed options, though
      
• To recharge after use, Spiral Warp requires collecting roughly 40-50 ripplespawn eggs throughout any combo of other regions
      
• Cancelling the warp menu (or dying before hibernating afterwards) keeps the Spiral Warp meter filled still. It's visible when hibernating

~ The Weaver will eventually make its presence known, by closing various warp paths with golden seals

    
• Weaver can be tracked down by noticing region icons on hibernation menu with floating golden feathers, going to the closed golden sealed warp, entering ripplespace, and following the glowing threads
      
• Daemon/Ripplespace warps are safe, and the player can still make temporary manual warps
      
• Weaver seems to prioritize closing warps to regions affected by 'spread rot' & player-created manual warps first
      
• Not sure what triggers the Weaver to start closing warps... possibly as early as leaving Shattered Terrace, but may need to visit all regular regions at least once &/or get the Spinning Top ending?
      
• First three meetings grants gradual cosmetic / aesthetic changes to Watcher's appearance
      
• 4th meeting with Weaver gifts several abilities:
  
  ^ allows 'purifying' (removing rot) from rooms, takes about 1 minute per room. You can tell when it's done when Watcher's 'halo' effect fades away entirely. The vase-looking bone-shakers disappear and the blue 'fruit' & popcorn plants revert to normal (both of these changes require hibernating after purifying), while all other audio & visual rot fx are immediately removed & reverted back to normal room aesthetics. It's possible but slow to purify entire regions this way.
  
  
  ^ Rot lizards can't be reverted directly, but killing them WILL spawn a regular lizard from their den, either same type or a different one via lineage... IF you also make sure that their room AND ANY connecting ones are fully 'purified' before hibernating, in case adjacent rotten rooms happen to 're-rot' the lizard's room for the next cycle. Keep in mind lizards won't always respawn the next cycle when killed by you, either.
  
  
  ^ stops ANY type of rot creature or environment from being able to grab you, this does includes the bone shakers that like to push you around
  
  
  ^ eating rot fruit or rot popcorn no longer stuns you
  
  
  ^ karma flower reinforcement no longer needed for manual warps
  
  
  ^ you gain the ability to automatically close most warps yourself
      
• Rot Prince ending might still be achievable after 4th Weaver meeting, but EXTREMELY difficult & tedious to do, since you auto-purify rooms just by standing around
      
• The 4 'Hard Mode Rot' vanilla regions become _ IMPOSSIBLE _ to access after the 4th Weaver meeting, because you can't get 'bad warps' anymore
      
• Closing ALL possible warp points (except for Outer Rim & Ripplespace/Daemon) unlocks the Weaver's ending
  
  ^ If you are certain all regular warp routes have been closed, try going through one of the Outer Rim rot-spreading portals at the Throne sub-region, that might trigger the ending sequence. Also, these 4 rot portals CAN be closed from the other side, but seem to stay open on Outer Rim side.

~ A final 4th ending with its own interesting 'journey sequence'

    
• Requires getting Spinning Top's ending, the Weaver's ending, and at least awakening and meeting the Rot Prince.
      
• The triple monolith room in Daemon keeps track of progress on the 3 NPCs' routes, and you must go there to start the final ending, too.

[CtenosaurOaxacana]

Lastly, as a 'bonus', I'll go over some stuff that's not new, but still useful info that's probably worth noting:

Some of the extra rooms added to base/vanilla regions from the Downpour DLC are still accessible if it's enabled

• While some of their entrances aren't marked, you can still access the first room leading from Industrial to Pipeyard, the bridge towards Garbage Wastes in Shaded Citadel, and the first huge rooms of the Gutter sub-region in Chimney Canopy.
      
• While a few other Downpour creatures & food items appear in Watcher exclusive regions, Chimney Canopy is the only place Watcher can encounter a Stowaway, or an Elite Scavenger (after many lineage cycles) possibly carrying electric spears &/or a singularity bomb.
      
• The Spearmaster's intro section behind base-game's Outskirts start is still there too, but normally inaccessible for Watcher this early. The Downpour DLC's colored pearl in this area DOESN'T show any unique visuals on the pearl-scanning machine, being scanned like a white pearl instead.
      
• Further Downpour DLC access is blocked off by rot covering pipes or pathways, same as other base-game parts of the prologue regions.

~ Which starter Watcher region you arrive at {and whether or not you bring rot with you} depends on where you go for the *3rd* Echo meeting:

    
• Farm Arrays ---> Coral Caves { 100% bringing rot }
      
• Chimney Canopy ---> Sunbaked Alley { extremely likely bringing rot }
      
• Shaded Citadel ---> Torrential Railways { possible chance to avoid bringing rot }
      
• the chances of bringing rot into the start of Watcher's regions depends on whether that last echo room is rotten already when you show up.
  
  ^Farm's echo room is already rotten
  
  
  ^Chimney's echo room is right next to a rotten room
  
  
  ^Shaded's echo room has 4 extra rooms between it and the nearest rot

* There are 3 each of Scavenger Merchants & Scavenger Tolls throughout the Watcher regions:

    
• Fetid Glen has a Scav Merchant
      
• Aether Ridge has a Scav Toll
      
• Badlands & Shrouded Stacks have both
      
• Shrouded Stacks also has an insane # of regular pearls (20+!), most of them crammed into a special custom Scav Treasury room. So it's by far the best region for building up Scavenger rep & Chieftain rank

~ The Surface uniquely has x2 warps to Daemon

    
• Access to Ancient Urban & various Daemon warps requires current ripple lvl 9 to enter Ripplespace

~ Outer Rim uniquely has an eastern warp leading back towards its own central rooms, which is fair because it's huge

    
• also a whole bunch of other special warps, like a custom exit portal near the center if your ripple lvl is too low, the Throne sub-region's 4 rot-spreading warps, etc

~ The 4 'hard mode rot' vanilla regions have rare & unusual means of access:

    
• via Warp Fatigue, by going through too many warps without hibernating
      
• via attempting a manual warp without karma flower reinforcement
      
• after visiting one, they become harder to get to as your current ripple level goes up, at least until you complete the Rot Prince ending
      
• as mentioned in the OP 1.5 list, they become IMPOSSIBLE to access after meeting Weaver the 4th time, because you can no longer get 'bad warps'

[Blockbyblock98]

So is there now one less Echo?

Also can you now get Prince ending after Weaver ending?

[CtenosaurOaxacana]

Originally posted by Blockbyblock98:

So is there now one less Echo?

Also can you now get Prince ending after Weaver ending?

Yes, there is one less location to meet the Echo now. But that's fine, because it's exactly the right # of spots needed to completely max out your Ripple level.

First you have to visit 8 places to get it up to lvl 9. Then you have to visit 4 more if you want it to stay MAXED OUT at lvl 9, even when you die. Basically starting at ripple lvl 6, your MINIMUM ripple lvl goes up +1 too. So at ripple 6, you cannot go bellow ripple lvl 2, even if you die many times.

max 6 | min 2
max 7 | min 3
max 8 | min 4
max 9 | min 5

Which is why you 'need' +4 more to stay maxed at 9. Although I'd suggest waiting to max out until you're almost done with the campaign, because sometimes you *don't* want to use ripplespace, usually when carrying items.


As for Prince Ending after Weaver ending, I can't confirm or test for myself, but it should still be possible.

However, because the weaver's gifted abilities directly interfere with the rot spreading, it can become MUCH more difficult to do so. You'd likely have to run around quickly to avoid accidentally purifying warp connections, manual or otherwise.

This is why Prince ending is not required for the final 4th ending, but you do still need Prince to at least awaken and meet them once.

The 4 'hard mode rot' regions do become literally impossible to access anymore after getting Weaver's final abilities though, because you can no longer get 'bad warps'.

[CtenosaurOaxacana]

I'm sure the version # choice was intentional, but it's kinda neat how both the base/vanilla game and The Watcher DLC have v1.5 as the big patch number that makes each of them so much better.

I started playing Rain World shortly after base 1.5's release, and the main features for that one was adding the Monk & the Hunter campaigns, plus Arena/Sandbox mode. Cheating to try Hunter first left quite an impression!

It also introduced A LOT of now classic Rain World creatures, most of which you expect to find in the 'hard mode' campaigns or through too many kills via the lineage system. Creatures like Cyan Lizards, Dropwigs, King Vultures and Spitter Spiders.

[Blockbyblock98]

What did you change on the list?

[CtenosaurOaxacana]

Originally posted by Blockbyblock98:

What did you change on the list?

I posted a summary of updated info at the top, but I will go ahead and copy-paste here too:

clarified info in various sections, more data about new creatures & the Weaver & graffiti bombs, added a bit about new threat music & creature sounds, specified which regions (do/don't) have colored pearls, a tally of changed # of warp points in regions, a little bit about final 4th ending, & cleaned up formatting.

I also added a little about 'min/max' Ripple level, and a bit about Rot Prince vs Weaver endings, but there's more info on that in my previous reply to your first post.

As far as I know, this is 99% of all the new stuff and changes made in Watcher 1.5. The only thing that's missing is more precise details about things, like exact locations of pearls or specifics on Weaver abilities.

This isn't meant to be a 'how to' guide, just a list so people know what to expect or look forward to with this huge update. So I'll only add or change stuff on this list if there's something I completely missed or got wrong info. Otherwise I think this is done, and I hope it helps.

[Blockbyblock98]

Will the Watcher Pearls get added to Collection in another bug fix?

[CtenosaurOaxacana]

Originally posted by Blockbyblock98:

Will the Watcher Pearls get added to Collection in another bug fix?

Hopefully? I can't say for sure, I'm not a dev, just a big Rain World fan, lol.

I wouldn't consider that a 'bug fix', more like a gameplay addition they should strongly consider.

Although I've heard the Shaded Citadel pearl (if you bring it along from the prologue) can't be scanned properly and is treated like a generic regular pearl, so that could count as a 'bug fix' they should definitely change.

The Industrial Complex, Outskirts, & Chimney Canopy pearls do all get proper unique audio-feedback from the pearl-scanning device though, and presumably extra flavor text from unlocking Mark of Communication via final ending.

Both Farm Arrays pearls & the Downpour DLC Outskirt pearl are impossible to access, though. Plus all the other vanilla regions' pearls, obviously.

[Potatomaster425]

Originally posted by CtenosaurOaxacana:

Both Farm Arrays pearls & the Downpour DLC Outskirt pearl are impossible to access, though. Plus all the other vanilla regions' pearls, obviously.

Idk if it's just one of the default blank pearl readings, but the pink pearl in outskirts shows a bar graph for me when read which is consistent with LTTM and 5P's readings of it in that it's a log for recording surface facility health. The pearl is technically possible to reach with higher level movement tech but it's also possible to use that same tech to reach Filtration System at the end of the campaign which seems to not be intended.

[CtenosaurOaxacana]

Originally posted by Potatomaster425:

Originally posted by CtenosaurOaxacana:

Both Farm Arrays pearls & the Downpour DLC Outskirt pearl are impossible to access, though. Plus all the other vanilla regions' pearls, obviously.

Idk if it's just one of the default blank pearl readings, but the pink pearl in outskirts shows a bar graph for me when read which is consistent with LTTM and 5P's readings of it in that it's a log for recording surface facility health. The pearl is technically possible to reach with higher level movement tech but it's also possible to use that same tech to reach Filtration System at the end of the campaign which seems to not be intended.

Yeah, I elaborated on this a bit on an updated section about Downpour-related prologue areas, for the 'non-1.5-specific Watcher DLC info/facts' post under OP.

Basically most people will not be getting that extra pearl by default anyway. Both because it'd require having purchased+installed+enabled Downpour DLC, and because it does require insanely difficult movement tech to get up to that area (the hovering wobble, crazy angled jumps, etc), since Watcher doesn't get any of their own levitation side-effects from their abilities until after leaving base-game regions and starting their own regions.

It might be more easily accessible if you drag a white squidcada &/or mushrooms all the way over there too, but then the hard part is bringing one or both of those things all the way to the vanilla intro shelter.

So if they did in fact bother to make that pearl unique for the pearl-scanning device, then that's a surprise, but all the more reason they should fix the Shaded Citadel pearl too, then.

[Blockbyblock98]

^ are some Pearls missable?

[CtenosaurOaxacana]

Originally posted by Blockbyblock98:

^ are some Pearls missable?

Only the 4 base game pearls from the prologue regions of Industrial Complex, Chimney Canopy, Outskirts, and Shaded Citadel. Or 5, I guess, if we're adding that extremely hard-to-reach Downpour DLC one in Outskirts too.

It should be possible to bring at least 3 of them when you meet the Echo the 3rd time, by holding them in hands and stomach. I'm not sure if the echo 'allows' going back & forth with bringing more than 3 items, or just automatically teleports you, I haven't risked testing that.

But there's nothing stopping you from reaching Watcher region pearls at anytime. Which makes sense, since you can't even read the full text on some of them until after the final ending.

Although IF you disable Remix's 'key item tracking' option, they might suffer the same risk of being lost forever like other colored pearls you've touched, if not stored in a shelter. Leaving this option on makes them re-appear on the next cycle in the last room you had them, even if they fall in a pit or get stolen by scavengers or whatever.

[Combtay]

Originally posted by CtenosaurOaxacana:

Only one pearl at a time can usually be brought into Ancient Urban as a swallowed item, but Dial Warp MIGHT allow for more?

You can bring in multiple pearls without dial warp. If you just leave them on the ground close to the ripplespace warp (This works for everything: brought two extra pearls into Daemon, then into Shattered Terrace, then into Ancient Urban - successfully goes through all three), then go into ripplespace and activate the warp, they'll drop on the ground on the other side.

Not sure if it's precise, I just put them where I thought would be generally close enough.

Also not sure if Remix/Downpour interferes with this, I disabled everything that wasn't The Watcher since having Remix on seemed to spawn my pearls out of bounds after resting in a lot of shelters.

[Combtay]

Originally posted by CtenosaurOaxacana:

Not sure what triggers the Weaver to start closing warps... possibly need to visit all regular regions at least once &/or get the Spinning Top ending?

Neither of those, but not sure on the trigger. In my recent save they appeared after my first karma warp out of Shattered Terrace (into Pillar Grove), then exiting and re-entering the region a few cycles later.

Originally posted by CtenosaurOaxacana:

The 4 'hard mode rot' regions do become literally impossible to access anymore after getting Weaver's final abilities though, because you can no longer get 'bad warps'.

Is it possible to reach them with Dial Warp? I haven't gotten it so can't test myself. IIRC they disappear off your map after a while, with the exception of Unfortunate Evolution.

...Should've finished reading first so I could add all my comments in a single post lol.

[CtenosaurOaxacana]

Originally posted by Combtay:

You can bring in multiple pearls without dial warp. If you just leave them on the ground close to the ripplespace warp (This works for everything: brought two extra pearls into Daemon, then into Shattered Terrace, then into Ancient Urban - successfully goes through all three), then go into ripplespace and activate the warp, they'll drop on the ground on the other side.

Not sure if it's precise, I just put them where I thought would be generally close enough.

Also not sure if Remix/Downpour interferes with this, I disabled everything that wasn't The Watcher since having Remix on seemed to spawn my pearls out of bounds after resting in a lot of shelters.

Thanks for this info, went ahead and updated some stuff on the OP about pearl access & dial warps.

I wasn't sure if ripplespace warps would properly 'teleport' items to the next region, like regular warps do. I guess it's possible then to transfer many colored pearls at a time if you store them up at the shelter in that big central Shattered Terrace room.

Remix options should not interfere with saving the colored pearls in rooms. I've left them as my usual default, including the 'key items' stuff toggled on. I have seen pearls get jammed out-of-bounds once or twice, but every time that's happened, they reset to be reachable again after hibernating.

Originally posted by Combtay:

Neither of those, but not sure on the trigger. In my recent save they appeared after my first karma warp out of Shattered Terrace (into Pillar Grove), then exiting and re-entering the region a few cycles later.

Is it possible to reach them with Dial Warp? I haven't gotten it so can't test myself. IIRC they disappear off your map after a while, with the exception of Unfortunate Evolution.

I guess the exact nature of Weaver's triggers are still uncertain, then.

As for Dial Warp, no, you cannot reach prologue or 'hard mode rot' vanilla regions with that. In fact, Dial Warp doesn't let you teleport to the end-game regions of Ancient Urban, Outer Rim, or Daemon either, so it's worthless for attempting mass pearl teleporting as well, unless teleporting then hauling them through multiple screens of Shattered Terrace still counts.

At least the ripplespace warp brings along whatever's nearby, and it teleports somewhat close to the pearl-scanning room, at least after getting the Spinning Top ending.