Lifeblood Update (SPOILERS!)

[Aeternalis the Abyssal Alchemist]

Lifeblood Update first entered BETA as v1.3.0.4 on March 24. It was fully released as v1.3.1.5 on April 20.
The following is a list of changes that are known so far;

CONTENT
* Hive Knight: new boss in the Hive.
* Map Markers are now available at Iselda's shop.

MENU CHANGES
* Native Controller Input has been moved from 'gameplay' to 'controller' in the settings.
* There is now an option for Blur Quality in the settings.
* Title screen palette can be changed in the Extras menu:
-Classic palette (gray) is unlocked by default.
-Hidden Dreams palette (magenta) is unlocked by default.
-Grimm Troupe palette (scarlet) is unlocked by default.
-Lifeblood palette (cyan) is unlocked by default.
-Gods&Glory palette (gold) is currently unavailable but can be found through datamining.
-Infected palette (orange) is unlocked by defeating the Hollow Knight.
-Void palette (black) is unlocked by defeating the Radiance.
-Steel Soul palette (silver) is unlocked by beating Steel Soul.

BOSS CHANGES
* the Hollow Knight's "Infected Geyser" attack now does 2 masks of DMG.
* Traitor Lord has 2 new attacks: Primal Roar, and Infected Boomerangs.
* Traitor Lord is now faster and deals 2 masks of DMG with most attacks.
* Mantis Lords have more variation to their Boomerang attacks.
* The Collector can now be staggered.
* Crystal Guardian has slightly longer charge-up for its Crystal Beam attack.
* The Grimmchild is now required to fight the Nightmare King(Grimm will deflect the Dream Nail if you try to initiate the fight without having the child equipped).
* Grey Prince and White Defender fights cap off after 10 and 5 respectively.
* Nosk has shorter cooldown between his attacks and tracks the player better.
* Nosk has a fake-out attack where he will jump high into the air and straight back down.

ENEMY CHANGES
* Many spawn positions have been adjusted.
* Hive Guardians now do 2 masks of DMG with their charge attack.
* Hivelings are larger(hitbox changed with it), slower, and have more HP.
* Crystal Hunters and Husk Miners have increased attack frequency.
* Volatile Mosskin have a shorter fuse timer.
* Fungified Husks have a larger attack radius.
* Husk Guards are more aggressive.
* Vengeflies are much faster.
* Follies are much faster.
* Mantis Warriors are less susceptible to sneak attacks.
* Lifeseeds scuttle away faster.
* Sporgs have a slightly longer animation before attacking.
* Gulkas projectile travels slower.
* Shroomlings now have variable sizes.
* Belflies exploding count toward the Hunter Journal

CHARM CHANGES
* Weaversong now summons 3 spiders that deal 4 DMG each(rather than 4 spiders that do 3 DMG each).
* Weaversong can now trigger a boss' stagger.
* Weaversong now interacts with Sprintmaster, increasing spiderling's movement speed.
* Weaversong now interacts with Grubsong, giving the spiderlings the ability to generate soul.
* Grimmchild's projectile travels faster(needs comfirmation).
* Joni's Blessing no longer gives an additional +1 bonus health, only the +50% health bonus.
* Flukenest's cost increased to 3 notches(does not apply to old saves). May have been reverted on one of the Hotfixes.
* Flukenest DMG nerfed AGAIN. (maxDMG was originally 144, then 120, and now 112).
* Grimmchild has a delay before following you through room transitions.
* Weaversong has improved targeting AI.
* Grimmchild has improved targeting AI.
* Dream Shield reacts on collision with Geo.

SPELL/ABILITY CHANGES
* Howling Wraiths range has been increased.
* Desolate Dive/Descending Dark gives less I-frames.
* Mantis Claw slides down faster.
* Crystal Heart's charge-up has been reduced very slightly(need comfirmation).

NPC CHANGES
* Queen Vespa has new dialog for defeating the Hive Knight.
* Divine now has new dialog with the Defender's Crest(dialog helps less intuitive players realize that she wants the Fragile charms).
* Dung Defender will wake up after defeating the White Defender for the 5th time(if you have already defeated him 5 or more times, you need to defeat him again to trigger the dialog... so good luck with that!). After hearing his dialogue, leaving, then returning, there will be a dung statue of the Knight, and the Defender will have disappeared.
* Bretta's story arc now only requires 4 victories against the Grey Prince(10 are still required for the gold statue).
* Cloth has better targeting AI during the Traitor Lord fight.
* Millibelle will now cower in fear when you approach her Bank with the Grimmchild.

GRAPHICS / VISUAL CHANGES
* clarity of some background elements have been improved.
* some animations have been cleaned up.
* Traitor Lord now emits infection particles.
* Cloth's death scene has been refined.
* the animation for getting hit has been refined, and varies depending on the DMG source.
* The Hive has had a visual overhaul, gaining multiple new setpieces.
* Crystal Heart now gives off a purple flash of light.
* Monarch Wings now have a blue tint.
* Lost Kin's 'Dream Well' is less saturated and more grayscale.
* Fungal Wastes has a thicker atmosphere.
* Dreamer cutscene has new animations.
* Some decorative fungi in the Fungal Wastes now react to the player.
* Small decorative spiders in the foreground of Deepnest now react to the player.
* Grimmchild's projectile has better fiery particles.
* The fiery aura from Fury of the Fallen is more fiery.
* Belfies now drop their heads on death.

AUDIO / MUSIC
* A new track has been added for the Hive Knight boss.
* A new action track has been added for the City of Tears challenge rooms.
* Blue Lake has a much more noticable ambiance.
* Dung/White Defender now has audible chest-pounding during his "AYY HUNDAA!"
* Sibling/Shades now have an audio cue when they emerge from the Abyss.
* Siblings have a new sound for being hit.
* Siblings have a new sound for being Dream Nailed.
* Sporgs have new sounds for emerging.
* Mosscreeps now make adorable chirping noises.
* Mosskin now grunt as they attack.
* Mosskin has a new death sound(which sounds like the Tim the Toolman noise to me).
* Volatile Mosskin now make a variety of vocal noises when they use their burst attack.
* Volatile Mosskin have a new death sound.
* Moss Knights now make deep grunting noises.
* Gulka now make a deflating balloon sound upon death(like Fungoons).
* Fungoons have an inhale sound when they prepare their attack..
* Shroomlings now squeal as they run away from you.
* Shroomal Ogre has a new death sound.
* Shroomal Warrior has new death sound.
* Crystallized Husks have a new sound for firing their laser.
* Glimbacks now make galloping noises as they walk.
* Crystal Guardian has new sounds for being defeated.
* Wingsmoulds make an 'access denied' sound when they close.
* Mistakes make gargling noise when they die.
* Bluggsaccs sound like someone peeing... gross.
* There is now a sliding metal sound when the spike floors open in the Mantis Lords chamber.
* Bretta now moans nervously before you rescue her.
* Dirtcarvers have more distinct sounds for burrowing and emerging.
* Nosk now makes scittering noises as he runs.
* Placing an invalid Dream Gate makes a fizzling sound.
* There are new sounds for breaking decorative fungi in the Fungal Wastes.
* There are new sounds for breaking rusty pipes in the Waterways.

MISC
* Stag cutscene is longer but skipable.
* Controls have been tightened and are more responsive.
* Animation for absorbing Lifeblood from Lifeseeds is quicker

OPTIMIZATION / BUG FIXES
* Loading screens are shorter.
* Game now runs smoother.
* Room transitions are now smoother.
* Loading screens now have animations.
* Some large rooms have been cut into sections.
* fixed various memory leaks.
* Fixed the infinite dive exploit on the Flukemarm fight.
* Great Husk Sentries can no longer be cheesed by striking them from below ledges.
* Hard-landing can no longer be negated by openning your inventory(sorry speedrunners).
* Sharp Shadow no longer breaks on collision with hazards(FINALLY!).
* Grimmchild no longer attacks the Bank after Millibelle leaves.
* Fixed issue where Jiji's 'Grimm Troupe' dialogue wouldn't trigger.
* Fixed issue where Leaping Husks in Joni's Repose would spawn with 1 HP.

BUGS / GLITCHES
* Changes to lighting engine caused an excessive hue-shift in some areas
* Glowing Womb and Weaversong target Millibelle the Banker
* Crystal Hunters don't play their attack animation for their first attack.
* Goams can knock Geo out-of-bounds.
* Visual screen-tearing near the top and bottom of the screen.
* The hit-box of the 3rd spike-hurdle in the Deepnest Soul Fragment challenge room is shifted too far to the left.

VERSION HISTORY
v1.3.0.4: TRUNK
v1.3.0.5: Reduced blue-shift in Deepnest and Kingdom's Edge slightly
v1.3.0.6: Salubra will no longer appear if you sit on a bench with full SOUL
v1.3.0.7: Garpede placement in the Trial of Fools has been adjusted
v1.3.0.8: ?
v1.3.0.9: ?
v1.3.1.1: ?
v1.3.1.2: ?
v1.3.1.3: ?
v1.3.1.4: ?
v1.3.1.5: ?
v1.3.1.6: ?
v1.3.1.7: Fixed Dream Shield not blocking projectiles
v1.3.1.8: Fixed Linux achievements not working

HOTFIXES
* Unlocks for Infected, Void, and Steel title screen palettes are now unlocked retroactively based on achievements(v1.3.?.?).
* Flukenest reverted to 2 notches(v1.3.?.?).
* Flukenest costs 3 notches again(v1.3.?.?).
* Weaversong only spawns 3 spiders now(v1.3.1.?).
* Fixed Dream Shield not blocking projectiles(v1.3.1.7).
* Fixed achievements for Linux version(v1.3.1.8).

[HexaDecimatoR]

Originally posted by Abyssal Alchemist:

GRAPHICS
* Traitor Lord now emits infection particles.
* the animation for getting hit has been polished.
* The Hive has had a visual overhaul, gaining multiple new setpieces.

The graphics (and sound) as a whole were updated, as I suspect the game now runs on a newer version of Unity. There are numberous small changes such as... Kingdom's edge being overall darker, but more light spill from the glowing white roots and pools of acid; the dripping water animation in The City of Tears seems to be clearer and smoother; lighting throughout the game appears to have improved as a whole with improved light rays; etc.
Really too many changes overall to list.

Now as for the sound, I can name a few enemies so far with improved sound such as the Mosskin (whecn charging), Mosscreep (when appearing), Glimback (when walking), and so on. Several enemies also got louder, such as the Fool Eater being much louder as it gets ready to chomp down on you.
Music in the game has been overall improved as well, I can hear a more distinguishable pan between instruments in some compositions. Likely the above changes are a result of the potentially newer game engine version.

Also. thanks for a rather complete changes list.

[🌌 LetsPlayNintendoITA 🌀]

Gods&Glory palettes not unlocked yet though

[Kanra]

A slightly different change would also be the fact that they've fixed being able to cheese two of the Great Husk Sentries in the game. It used to be possible to lure them to a ledge and upward slash continuously to kill them with them staying in the same spot. The change made it so the one close to the broken elevator shaft turns away before getting to the ledge, while the one in Resting Grounds is now invincible if you attempt to do this.

I recall there were a few other minor changes, but can't remember them off the top of my head right now.

[🌌 LetsPlayNintendoITA 🌀]

also there's a more complete list here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/HollowKnight/comments/86tqh5/spoilers_compilation_of_changes_with_lifeblood/?sort=new

[Aeternalis the Abyssal Alchemist]

Originally posted by LetsPlayNintendoITA:

also there's a more complete list here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/HollowKnight/comments/86tqh5/spoilers_compilation_of_changes_with_lifeblood/?sort=new

Yes, but not all of the things listed are actual changes in this update, but things that were changed before now. The Flukenest DMG nerf for example, happened a while ago. It had originally been 144 DMG with Shaman Stone, but got nerfed to 120 DMG(I think in the Grimm Troupe update?).

[Kanra]

I've also read something related to a Quick Slash nerf and something related to Joni's blessing giving one less mask now, but I haven't personally confirmed this.

[Aeternalis the Abyssal Alchemist]

Originally posted by Kanra:

I've also read something related to a Quick Slash nerf and something related to Joni's blessing giving one less mask now, but I haven't personally confirmed this.

Quickslash nerf was in Hidden Dreams, it just doesn't effect saves that were made prior to the nerf, because of how the game handles the values for charm notches.

I'm not sure about Joni's Blessing getting a nerf.

[Kanra]

Originally posted by Abyssal Alchemist:

Quickslash nerf was in Hidden Dreams, it just doesn't effect saves that were made prior to the nerf, because of how the game handles the values for charm notches.

Hence me saying I only read about it. I take anything I haven't personally confirmed with a grain of salt.

While we're on this topic, seeing as you have a "content" section you may as well add the map markers there. Do note that the in-game key for map markers isn't accurate and they're currently bound to the "Enter" (keyboard) or "A" (controller) keys right now.

Actually, I recall another cheese being fixed, going to test right now.

[Darc Vader]

Wait, Quickslash was nerfed in Hidden Dreams? What was the nerf there?

[Kanra]

Alright, I've got 2 confirmations for you after switching between 1.2.2.1 and the beta.

On 1.2.2.1, Joni's blessing grants you a total of 14 masks from a base of 9. On the beta, it grants you a total of 13 from a base of 9.

They've also fixed the Elder Baldur instakill glitch, seeing as I've shot well over 30 fireballs in the beta just for the sake of confirming it, and could do it on first try on 1.2.2.1 without any trouble. It seems like he simply no longer gets damaged off screen.

[Aeternalis the Abyssal Alchemist]

Originally posted by Darc Vader:

Wait, Quickslash was nerfed in Hidden Dreams? What was the nerf there?

The notch cost increase. In the initial release, it costed 2 notches, and it was totally OP. In Hidden Dreams(or a patch immediately prior), the cost was increased to 3 notches, but due to how the game handles notch cost, the nerf didn't effect saves where Quickslash had already been obtained.

[Kanra]

Also, the "use of a controller is recommended" screen seems to have been replaced by the one that tells you not to turn off your game while the saving symbol is on the screen.

[Aeternalis the Abyssal Alchemist]

Originally posted by Kanra:

Alright, I've got 2 confirmations for you after switching between 1.2.2.1 and the beta.

On 1.2.2.1, Joni's blessing grants you a total of 14 masks from a base of 9. On the beta, it grants you a total of 13 from a base of 9.

They've also fixed the Elder Baldur instakill glitch, seeing as I've shot well over 30 fireballs in the beta just for the sake of confirming it, and could do it on first try on 1.2.2.1 without any trouble. It seems like he simply no longer gets damaged off screen.

Oh, I wondered why Elder Baldur sometimes took less hits. I thought it was just inconsistancies due to how DMG for Vengeful Spirit is calculated.

[Darc Vader]

Originally posted by Abyssal Alchemist:

* Enemies killing themselves count towards the Hunter's Journal(specifically Belflies).

This is a good change, Belflies where so annoying to get before.

* The Grimmchild is now required to fight the Nightmare King(Grimm will deflect the Dream Nail if you try to initiate the fight without having the child equipped).

This I hate, though I understand why it was done. Makes it a lot harder to justify some charms in the fight though.

ENEMY BUFFS

These are all good changes that make sense and were needed I think, though making the Hollow Knight more difficult is a pain for Radiance attempts.

ENEMY NERFS
* The Collector can now be staggered.
* Crystal Guardian has slightly longer charge-up for its Crystal Beam attack.
* Sporgs can no longer attack immediately.

Thank God for that

PLAYER BUFFS
* Weaversong's DMG has been buffed.
* Weaversong has improved targeting AI.
* Weaversong can now trigger a boss' stagger.
* Weaversong now interacts with Sprintmaster, increasing spiderling's movement speed.

So is Weaversong actually good now. Because this addresses literally every problem I had with it and then some.

PLAYER NERFS
* Flukenest's cost increased to 3 notches(does not apply to old saves).
* Desolate Dive/Descending Dark gives less I-frames.

While I have to say that that sucks a little, I think these were needed changes, especially the i-frames which were frankly ridiculous before.

* Sharp Shadow no longer breaks on collision with hazards(FINALLY!).

HALLELUJAH!

[Kanra]

Originally posted by Abyssal Alchemist:

Oh, I wondered why Elder Baldur sometimes took less hits. I thought it was just inconsistancies due to how DMG for Vengeful Spirit is calculated.

It was previously possible to simply approach him until he woke up, then back off, jump a little to the right of the ledge and shoot a vengeful spirit towards him, which would kill him instantly.

I've also tested the speed for Quick Slash while doing this, and it seems to be the same. So, unless the notch cost was increased (which I doubt, as it's been done once already) then that one is still the same.