Major Update #6: The Masochist Class!

Hey all :),

Thank you all so much for your continued support! I'm announcing the release of V0.5.3.5! This patch introduces a brand-new class, deeper clinic mechanics, the first iteration of the npc quest system, and a lot of quality-of-life.

Here is a breakdown of everything waiting for you in this version:

New Class: Masochist & The "Stress" Mechanic

The new Science-based Masochist class brings a high-risk, high-reward playstyle. Managing your Stress gauge is the key playstyle.

New Skills: Overthink, Atone (gains +1 Stress if a patient finishes), and Punish.

Stress Management: You can now gain Stress whenever Mood is lost. Every point of Stress grants a +2% chance to hit a "Weak Spot" and a +5% chance to trigger "Eureka!" (boosting research by +1 tier). Succeeding in an experiment relieves 5 Stress.

Therapist Questline: I've added new conditions and a class choice for Masochist and Harlot.

Clinic Upgrades

Weak & Sweet Spots: Landing a "Weak Spot" (Science-based) deals 2x endurance damage, while a "Sweet Spot" (Stress-based) delivers a massive 4x multiplier, complete with special damage number effects.

Mini-bosses

New Mini-Boss Portraits: New pixel art portraits for Lory, Wiliford, and Bathory! The mini-boss system will be getting more love in the next update!

NPC Quests

NPC Quests: The quest system is fully live! You can now take on up to 3 active quests at a time. For now, the NPCs are simply flagged by a red color but there will be visual improvement of this in the coming updates.

Quality of Life Updates

Players do not have to treat patients every day now :)

Notifications at home to let players know of optional events or when they must go into the clinic.

Game Balance

Patient scaling has been replaced with new algorithm. What that scales partially with the number of days. More details to come.

Multipliers across all moves and skills have been adjusted for a smoother gameplay curve.

As always, we try to do our best to catch as MANY bugs as possible before every release but manage to let some slip through xD However, if it means anything, I've noticed a lot less as the core of the game becomes more stable! I'll be looking out for bugs and on standby to hotfix things as necessary.

Another thing I want to address is that I know that some of the updates have been taking a bit longer to publish. However, it is because they have been more system heavy and the most impactful to the game and need to be reusable across every planned stage and/or location (classes, quest systems, mutations, mini-bosses). Once we clear the last class to be implemented (Pleaser, next update!) I am forecasting a much smoother ride in regard to updates xD

Now that this update is out the door, I can shift my focus towards giving you all an update on what's to come :) I should be able to give a look into the final stages of this project!

More soon,

-Endless