Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel News

• Reset Skill Cooldown Additional Functionality: The chance to reset a skill is now calculated based on how much cooldown time is left. The formula is: Chance to reset = 100% - (2 x remaining cooldown time). For example: Local Ragnarok with 25s of missing cooldown has a chance 50% (100 - (2 x 25)) to be Reset
  

• Blazing Soul (Class Trait): Burning duration reduced from 5s to 3s.
  
• Dasher (Class Trait): Fixed bug where Evasion wasn’t applied (+20%).
  
• Dance of Daggers (Auto-cast): Projectiles now pass through enemies.
  
• Shrapnel Pot (Auto-cast): Delay reduced to 1s, added 30% Poison chance, cooldown improved to 5/4.5/4s.
  
• Shrapnel Pot Evolve: Delay reduced to 1s, added 30% Poison chance, cooldown improved to 3s.
  
• Flaming Ray (Auto-cast): Rotation speed doubled, replaced Cripple with 20% Burn chance, cooldown reduced to 6/5/4s.
  
• Flaming Ray Evolve: Increased rotation speed by 50%, replaced Cripple with 10% Burn chance, cooldown reduced to 4s.
  
• Fire Dart (Auto-cast): Damage reduced to 14, more missiles (3/5/7), Explosion chance reduced to 20%, cooldown adjusted to 3/2.6/2.3s.
  
• Fire Trail (Passive): Burn chance increased to 35%, reworked to a Burn effect with 3s duration.
  
• Fiery Touch (Passive): Added +35% Inferno damage.
  
• Incineration (Passive): Reworked to a Burn effect with 3s duration.
  
• Master Assassin (Passive): Slay chance increased to 15%, trigger changed to Critical Hit, added 5 HP heal with 20% chance on Critical Hit, cooldown: 0.3s.
  
• Iron Fan (Passive): Reduced cooldown to 0.6s for trigger.
  
• Kindling (Passive): Removed cooldown.
  
• Fire Cloak (Weapon Skill): Reworked to a Burn effect with 3s duration.
  

• Axe Throw (Auto-cast): Cooldown increased to 1.5/1.125/0.75s (from 1/0.75/0.5s).
  
• Open Wounds (Passive): Fixed bug where Bleed wasn’t applied. Added +12/24% Critical Damage.
  
• Troll Scion (Subclass): Healing Power reduced from +50% to 35%.
  

• Essence Expansion (Passive): Added +15% damage to class skills.
  
• Spiteful Pace (Passive): Movement speed increased to +2% per enemy with a debuff (from +1%).
  
• Healing Ward: Added +25/50/75 Maximum Health.
  
• Soul Collector (Subclass): Fixed bug with XP crystals not dealing damage when there were more than 0 Wards. Added +30% collection range. XP Crystal Damage increased from 5 to 8.
  
• Witch (Subclass): Added +30% damage reduction.
  

• Focus Fire (Auto-cast): Arrow count reduced to 8/12/16 (from 10/15/20).
  
• Evolve: Arrow interval increased to 0.12s (from 0.1s).
  
• Grappling Web (Auto-cast) Evolve: Damage increased to 15/s (from 12/s).
  
• Skull Shot (Auto-cast) Evolve: Secondary damage increased to 26 (from 20).
  
• Apparition (Passive): Damage increased to 12 (from 10), Freeze chance increased to 25% (from 15%).
  
• Soul Shards: Chance to release Ethereal Arrows increased to 100% (from 20%).
  
• Marksman (Subclass): Added +15% damage to class skills.
  

• Thunderstorm (Auto-cast) Evolve: Delay reduced to 1s (from 2s); spawn radius decreased to 1-7m (from 3-12m).
  
• Devastating Hit (Passive): Critical Damage reduced to +30% (from +35%).
  
• Overwhelming Potential (Passive): Lightning Damage increased to +20/40% (from +15/30%).
  
• Discharge (Passive): Added +8/12/16 damage.
  

• Local Ragnarok (Auto-cast): FX now synchronized with damage area, affected by Reset Skill rework.
  
• Huginn & Munnin (Auto-cast): Damage increased to 10 (from 6).
  
• Evolve: Damage increased to 20 (from 14).
  
• Gungnir (Auto-cast) Evolve: Damage increased to 35 (from 30).
  
• Runic Boulder (Auto-cast): Damage increased to 18/24/30 (from 12/16/20), cooldown improved to 4/3.5/3s.
  
• Runic Boulder Evolve: Damage increased to 38 (from 25).
  
• Einherjar (Auto-cast): Cooldown reduced to 3/2.5/2s (from 3.5/3/2.5s).
  
• Einherjar Evolve: Archer chance increased to 75% (from 25%).
  
• Magic in Veins (Passive): Heal reduced to 7 HP (from 10 HP).
  

• Seidr Blessing (Auto-cast): Spawn radius reduced to 1-3m (from 2.5-5m).
  
• Golden Discs (Auto-cast): Fixed range bug.
  
• Gambateinn (Auto-cast): Damage reduced to 20 (from 24), slashes increased to 2/3/4 (from 1/2/3).
  

• Jormungandr (Auto-cast): Fixed targeting and damage bugs, range increased to 7 (from 5).
  
• Jormungandr Evolve: Fixed targeting and damage bugs, range increased to 7 (from 5).
  
• Spark (Auto-cast): Increased projectile speed, cooldown reduced to 2.5/2.25/2s (from 4.5s).
  
• Vipers (Auto-cast): Poison chance removed (was 8/16/25%), cooldown increased to 4s (from 3s).
  
• Vipers Evolve: Vipers damage reduced to 20 (from 25), poison chance removed, cooldown increased to 4s.
  
• Parasite (Auto-cast): Damage interval reduced to 0.3s, cooldown reduced to 2.75/2.5/2.25s (from 5/4.5/4s).
  
• Parasite Evolve: Damage interval reduced to 0.25s, cooldown reduced to 2s (from 3.5s).
  
• Flammable Wall (Auto-cast): Duration reduced to 2s (from 4s), cooldown improved to 5/4.5/4s (from 9/8/7s).
  
• Flammable Wall Evolve: Damage increased to 36/s (from 27/s), duration reduced to 2s (from 4s), cooldown reduced to 4s (from 6s).
  
• Jotunn’s Blood (Passive): Risk chance reduced to 10% (from 15/20/25%).
  
• Special Delivery (Passive): Trigger distance reduced to 30m (from 40m), risk chance reduced to 10% (from 15%).
  
• Rigged Lottery (Passive): Instant Gold reward increased to 10/20/30 (from 7/10/13).
  

• Goodbye Screen: The "Goodbye Screen" has been removed, and now the Leave Feedback and Join Discord buttons appear directly in the main menu.
  
• Skill Shop Tweaks: Adjusted the Skill Shop interface for a better user experience.
  
• Skill Shop Exclamation Point: Added an exclamation point indicator to highlight that you have enough gold to buy skill points.
  
• Curse of Heat: Reworked the visual effect for a more immersive experience.
  
• SFX Hotfix: Fixed a bug causing double rewards and unintended interactions with circle SFX.
  
• Intro Fadeout: Improved the fadeout effect during the intro for smoother transitions.
  
  

• Boss Fight Revive Cooldown: Fixed an issue where cooldowns becoming excessively slow after using revive in a boss fight.
  
• Portal Spawning Issue: Fixed an issue where two portals would spawn too close to each other in Insane difficulty.
  
• Menu Interaction During Cutscene: Resolved an issue where interacting with the menu during a cutscene or pop-up caused problems.
  
• Sound Buffering with Unfocused Window: Fixed sound buffering issues when the game window is unfocused.
  
• [Demo] Trophy Hall Unlock Display: Fixed the issue where unlocked conditions were visible in the Trophy Hall in the demo.
  
• Fire Tornado Persistence: Fire Tornado no longer persists after revive during the Curse of Heat.
  
• Elite Chest Visual Bug: Fixed a visual bug with rare chests spawned by Elite enemies.
  
• Thorns Instant Damage: Resolved an issue where Thorns spawned under the player, causing instant damage.
  
• Crippling Axes Bug: Fixed the issue where Crippling Axes provided 10% instead of the intended 5% effect.
  
• Explosion Area Dash Issue: Fixed the issue where explosion areas moved with the player's dash.
  
• Skill Selection Lock After Alt+Tab: Fixed the issue where the skill selection screen became locked after alt+tabbing during the Temple Screen.
  
• Game Behind Pause Menu After Alt-Tab: Fixed an issue where the game would run behind the "Pause Menu" screen after alt-tabbing.
  
• Result Screen Placeholders: Fixed placeholder text and icons appearing on the result screen.
  
• Mouse Cursor Visibility: Fixed the issue where the mouse cursor was not visible on the game paused screen during cutscenes.
  
• Flame Sister Evasion Bonus: Fixed an issue where the evasion bonus on the Flame Sister was not working.
  
• Level Up Tab Button Hitbox: Corrected the hitbox for the Level Up Tab button.
  
• Skill Reset Stuck Bug: Fixed the issue where players could get stuck in the game when resetting skills while a popup was displayed.
  
• Banished Skill Chest Reward: Banished skills will no longer show up as chest rewards.
  

• Mouse cursor doesn't always disappear when using gamepad
  
• Video settings are being synced over cloud
  
• Game Freezes - game freezes for some players in Easy or Normal Niflheim, though the issue usually resolves after reinstall
  

• Niflheim Archer Arrows: Updated visuals for better visibility.
  
• Evolve Level Requirement: Reduced from level 20 to 18.
  
• XP Drop Rate: Increased by 5% globally.
  
• Text Clarity: Changed ‘Twitch Code’ to ‘Channel Name’ for better clarity (English only).
  
• Chinese Feedback Forms: Traditional and Simplified Chinese feedback forms are now available.
  
• Simplified Chinese Discord Button: The ‘Discord’ button now correctly links to QQ instead.
  
• Audio & VFX: Multiple improvements and fixes applied.
  

• Data Collection Popup: No longer appears every time you enter the main menu.
  
• Skill Points Reset: Skill points no longer disappear when resetting them with a gamepad.
  
• Boss Summoning FPS Drop: Fixed an issue that caused FPS drops when summoning a boss.
  
• Flame Sister Audio Fix: Flame Sister no longer plays Berserker grunts after upgrading base attack range.
  
• Evasion Chance Fix: Now correctly applies to enemy skills (except for boss attacks).
  

• Curse Effects Persist: Some effects from Curse of Heat or Curse of Winter may remain after revival. A fix is in progress.
  
• Video Settings Sync Issue: Video settings are currently being transferred between devices via Steam Cloud. We’re investigating a solution.
  
• Game Freezes: Some players may experience game freezes in Easy or Normal Niflheim. Reinstalling often resolves the issue, but we are working on a permanent fix.
  
• Mouse Cursor Issue: The mouse cursor may not disappear when using a gamepad. A fix is in development.
  
• Alt+Tab Issue: Certain key combinations may cause the game to continue running despite being paused. This will be addressed in an upcoming update.
  
• Curse of Heat Visual Effect: Temporarily disabled due to performance issues. We aim to restore it in a future update.
  

• Nithstangs: Objective choices will now always offer an alternative if Nithstangs are also offered.
  

• Skill Points Reset Bug: Resolved an issue where the skill points reset could be broken.
  
• Framerate spikes on Steam Deck: Fixed framerate issues on Steam Deck during curse of Winter
  
• Controller Options Scroller: Corrected the behavior of the options scroller, which previously followed an erratic pattern.
  
• Soul Shards Spell Unlock: Fixed the issue where the Soul Shards spell was unlocked even if it was not activated in the skill shop.
  
• Screen Distortion: Resolved screen distortion issue when the fire borders effect was played.
  
• Chinese/Japanese/Korean Texts: Fixed an issue where some texts were missing support for CJK languages.
  
• FPS Limiting: The game now properly respects the FPS limit set by the player.
  
• Redirecting Issues: Addressed several redirection issues to improve game flow and navigation.
  
• Ghostwolf Visibility: Fixed an issue where Ghostwolfs would be cut out from some areas inside Nithstangs.
  
• Skeleton Guardian Damage: The Skeleton Guardian now properly damages the player upon contact.
  
• Insane Difficulty - Ranger Weapon Accuracy: Fixed an issue in Insane Difficulty where the Ranger character struggled to hit the frozen objective consistently, making the game unnecessarily difficult.
  
• Nilfheim Spawn Points & Collisions: Improved spawn points and movement collision issues in Nilfheim.
  
• Level Difficulty Reset: The chosen level difficulty no longer resets when exiting the game.
  
• Skin Persistence: The game now properly remembers all selected skins, rather than only the last one.
  
• Weapon Skin Swap: Fixed an issue where the Flame Sister's weapon skins were swapped.
  
• Menu Interaction During Cutscenes: Players can no longer interact with the menu during a cutscene or pop-up.
  
• Dash and Weapon Skill Flashing: Both the dash and weapon skills now properly flash when available.
  
• Texture Quality Adjustments: Fixed an issue where lowering texture quality also unintentionally lowered the HUD texture quality.
  
• Demo Issues - Berserkers' Weapon Text: Fixed the issue where the Berserkers' weapon Swift Axes text was visible during the demo.
  
• Demo Issues - Trophy Hall: Removed the visible unlocked condition in the Trophy Hall during the demo.
  
• Chain Stretching: Fixed an issue where chains were stretching and not properly attached to objects.
  
• Error Logs Overload: Significantly reduced the number of unnecessary error logs that were appearing in the game.
  

Of all the indies I covered last year, Jotunnslayer was definitely one of the most appetizing prospects I came across. Combining the dark and demonic aura of Diablo with a roguelike bullet hell such as Vampire Survivors, it sounded like a winning formula. A formula is one thing - executing on it is another. Well, Jotunnslayer has finally arrived on Steam with its early access launch, and it looks like my Spidey senses were right, as it's come out the gates strongly.

Read the rest of the story...

RELATED LINKS:

Grab a free Steam key for Jotunnslayer Hordes of Hel, a brutal action game

Hellish roguelike RPG Jötunnslayer gets a free Steam demo

Diablo meets Valheim in new Vampire Survivors style roguelike RPG

Of all the indies I covered last year, Jotunnslayer was definitely one of the most appetizing prospects I came across. Combining the dark and demonic aura of Diablo with a roguelike bullet hell such as Vampire Survivors, it sounded like a winning formula. A formula is one thing - executing on it is another. Well, Jotunnslayer has finally arrived on Steam with its early access launch, and it looks like my Spidey senses were right, as it's come out the gates strongly.

Read the rest of the story...

RELATED LINKS:

Grab a free Steam key for Jotunnslayer Hordes of Hel, a brutal action game

Hellish roguelike RPG Jötunnslayer gets a free Steam demo

Diablo meets Valheim in new Vampire Survivors style roguelike RPG