Whoa, things are getting chilly out there, aren't they? As the fallen leaves become painted white, there's no better time to cozy up to some hot coco while navigating the blistering terrain in Volcanheim. Lava a little too extreme? Why not swing by the lush and lively planes of Elysium! These two areas are free to explore in the Open Beta, so give 'em a shot if you'd like to crush those icy Winter Blues.

Nothing screams "Summer" quite like running from a Fournicorn's spikes or a Volcadillo's projectiles!

The snow hasn't kept Power Level Studios from slowing down at all! (If anything, it's more of an incentive to stay at our screens!) There's plenty of news to cover since the last Dev Blog, and we've got some neat things we'd like to share regarding future updates!

Arm Yourself With Knowledge

Our website has a new section! Click the Guides tab to launch yourself into a plethora of helpful tips and handy tricks, all written by Danny Forest himself!

For starters, we've ported over the squad building guide from a few weeks back. You'll find it at its new location here! While it was built with an older version in mind (one without the Soul Reaper as a playable unit), this guide still covers the essentials required to harness the full power of Row Bonuses. If you're looking to build synergy between your creatures, this is an excellent place to begin!

Looking to learn more about the intricacies surrounding Loot? Want to make some powerful combinations, but don't know where to start? Try out our "Loots Galore!" guide here! It explains the basics such as drop rates and attributes, then delves into the world of "Soul Gear". Attaching certain souls onto loot pieces can unlock some crazy bonuses, so take advantage of it where you can!

Want to make the Soul Reaper an unstoppable reaping machine? Look no further, as our new Leveling guide can be found here! This article explains how players can use the Reaper Fragments collected from the "impostor" boss fights to bolster the Soul Reaper's effectiveness in combat. The Agility stat cannot be emphasized enough here, as being able to have more turns can lead the Soul Reaper to not only become a fearsome fighter, but also a surprisingly effective healer.

Montreal International Gaming Summit!

Power Level Studios held another public playtesting event mid November - this time, at the MEGA+MIGS 2019 event in Montreal!

They gave us a pretty awesome booth! It was really cool to have our promotional art displayed like that, and we even had some guests that recognized us from previous events!

The experience was nothing less than stellar! These playtests have really helped open our eyes as to where we should proceed with certain design choices, and they continue to be an imperative resource for Soul Reaper's development! At MIGS in particular, we noticed that most players had no idea of where the turn-order icons were located! (In the build we were presenting, they were vertically stacked in the top left corner.) We plan to tweak these icons for future builds, and apply a layout that better emphasizes their importance during battle.

Bite-Sized Surprises

While our next big update is right around the corner, we've been sneaking in smaller patches as we continue to improve on Soul Reaper's design! We now have an "X.X.XpX" nomenclature for versions of the Open Beta, where "pX" indicates the most recent patch for that particular build.

For example, we've made an improvement to the targeting animation that appears when you select an opponent in battle!

Target acquired!

We've also made a few general UI improvements, bug fixes, and other QoL changes that offer an overall better experience. As of the time of writing, we're currently on version 0.0.2p3! If you're still rocking an unpatched 0.0.2, you might be pleasantly surprised as to the changes you'll find in the most recent update!

Oh, and remember when I said that the next big update is right around the corner? We're aiming to have version 0.0.3 available sometime next week! This will include the snowy region of Polarus for all to explore, and will feature some intense boss fights to boot! You'll definitely want to keep those guides handy, just in case!

For those who love the Winter season, Polarus has got you covered!

Volcanheim and the Mandela Effect

"Volcanheim", or "Volcanhiem"? That is the question. We were intrigued to learn that everyone's favorite volcanic landscape had somehow found its way to possess two unique spellings, both of which are represented in official media! Freaky, huh? While we can't quite rule out the (infinitesimally small) chance that Soul Reaper's development has somehow hopped realities, we can say with confidence that we'll be doubling down on the "Volcanheim" spelling from here on in. We blame the local Stabbytabby for any confusion, and he will not be receiving his special Reefraff dessert tonight as punishment.

Follow Us!

That about wraps things up for this update! Remember to check out Soul Reaper's Open Beta at powerlevelstudios.com/beta, and let us know what you think! Our Discord and Steam Community are the easiest ways of making your voice heard, but feel free to reach out to us via any of our social media links below! Stay tuned for further updates, and we'll see you fine folks next time! Stay safe (and warm) out there, and have a good one!

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1163660/Soul_Reaper/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/powerlevelstudios/
Twitter (Studio): https://twitter.com/PowerLvlStudios
Twitter (Game): https://twitter.com/SoulReaperGame1
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/powerlevelstudios/
Discord: https://discord.gg/erupmSD
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsQjuCHRCZ1w1fA88zfukhg/
GameJolt: https://gamejolt.com/@PowerLevelStudios
Medium: https://medium.com/power-level