Vellum News

Good day, Scribes! Today, we fan the flames of Vellum Early Access with Interlude Patch: Light Reading!

Our 11th update introduces Enkindle, a new short-range Generator Spell, an aggressive Raving Elite, and the highly-requested Game Records!

The Vellum Roadmap continues to chart our journey from update to update - check it out in-game for a sneak peek at what is next!


The Codex now holds record of your game stats! This has been highly requested since day 1 - so we couldn't be happier to give Scribes the chance to learn from the past!

Scribes can now access 3 new sections of the Codex: Overview, Signatures, and Run History.

You'll be able to see the end-game summaries of up to 10 of your previous runs, your lifetime stats, and a breakdown of your deft usage of Signature Inks! Additionally, if you are online - you can compare aspects of your runs globally!

Codex Records are an evolving feature set as we move forward - even incorporating records and stats from before this patch! This may result in some discrepancies in areas like time played vs Tomes mended, as tracking began at different points in the Early Access timeline.




Afraid of the dark depths of the Hollows? Radiance and flame be your guide; Enkindle flares onto the roster of short-range Generator Spells!

Hold to raise a Lantern. venting unlimited Flame to scorch nearby foes. May your enemies dim before your light, Scribes!

Oh dear, I'm afraid you don't quite grasp the gravity of the situation... The Moose is Loose!

Light Reading also includes some light tuning for the effectiveness of Eclipse, various bug fixes, a handful of extra Vignette goodies to uncover in passing, and more in the patch notes below!

We're continually heartened by your feedback and enthusiasm for Vellum! We set out for a year-long Early Access period; as we near the mid-way point, it's astonishing how much Vellum has evolved and how much we've learned from the process so far.

Looking to the many Chapters ahead - Scribes can expect further expansion of the Spell Roster, Torn & Torn Pages, Quality of Life & Performance, Arenas & Vignettes, Lore & Library, and so much more yet to be revealed!

Thank you for playing, Scribes - time to enjoy some Light Reading!

The Vellum Team


[h2]Features[/h2]
[h3]Codex Game Records[/h3]
- Overview: Track your career stats as a Scribe!
- Signatures: Summarizes time and Tomes played with Signature Inks + lifetime special stats
- Run History: Review up to 10 previous runs and compare select stats globally

[h3]New Generator Spell: Enkindle[/h3]
- Damage: 30/s
- Hold: Raise a Lantern. venting unlimited Flame to scorch nearby foes.
- Pages of Power are now available for Enkindle

[h3]New Raving Elite: Bully[/h3]
- The Moose is Loose! Beware this battlefield-controlling brute!
- Bully will now appear in the pool of Elites

[h2]Gameplay & General[/h2]
- Vignettes: Added a handful of secrets to uncover in passing
- Vignette: The Cold of Night has adjusted spawn points
- Spell: Eclipse damage now has a 33% chance to invoke Signature Mana effects (was 40%)
- Spell: Eclipse damage now generates Orange Survey stacks at a 250% modifier (was 175%)
- Spell: Jot now has reduced camera shake when casting
- Spell: Draw now has minor camera shake when casting
- Pink Signature Spell should properly invoke add-on effects from Pages of Power (e.g. Arcane Explosion)
- Page of Power: Inscribed has been temporarily removed from the drop pool (will return reworked in the future)
- Binding: Lava Pools should now behave better in underground Arenas
- Scribes who find alternative ways into the Lighthouse can now safely leave
- Lights should now be more performant when interacting with clouds
- Orange Ink selection VFX are now the correct color
- Adjusted Ascendant warning text to more clearly identify keeping only equipped Spells/Ink
- Fixed an issue with PS4 controller keybinds

Hello Scribes!

We're publishing a quick update to fix a few issues in Chapter V: The Hollows! Thank you for playing and for your immense help in tracking down and squashing bugs!

- The Vellum Team


[h2]Arena & General Fixes[/h2]
- Boss Arena: Caves has improved navigation and collision
- Arena: Cave Pools has improved navigation and collision
- Arena: Mine has improved navigation and collision
- Arena: Cavern Door has improved navigation and collision
- Arena: Cave Mouth has improved navigation and collision
- The Recommended Reading bonus will now be fully indicated in the new Spell selection interface
- Splice Elite: The Wringer should now continue to move properly
- Spell: Eclipse with Orange Ink will now generate an increased amount of Survey stacks
- Spell: Eclipse will now properly interact with Inscription: Refundable
- Page of Power: Quasar is now tagged as trade-off (will not be automatically picked up)
- Page of Power: Excalibur will now have a 1% chance to affect Bosses under 50% HP
- Various typo fixes
- Adjusted post-game stat tracking

Welcome, Scribes!

Dare ye enter Chapter V: The Hollows? Vellum delves into a fresh new biome - Caves! New dangers await, including new minor Torn of each category, and a smashing new Elite! Today's update also launches a powerful Spender into orbit...

Five Interlude Patches and Five Major Chapters makes The Hollows our TENTH update since launch! So much has changed within the game, and there's so much more to come as we look ahead to the rest of Early Access.





The Tomes now take us deep into the underground worlds below... Scribes can now find themselves facing off against the Torn in 5 new arenas! Nooks and crannies, pools and precious gems, stalagmites and stalactites (we totally know which is which...), The Hollows have it all!

Book your experience, today!



Make your mark in the night sky and put your world-building skills on display with Eclipse: a Spending Spell that warps in entire Planets!

Let's treat the Torn to some cosmic justice.

With our increasing roster of spells, we've also refreshed the spell selection UI with new panels - no more side-scrolling!



New foes lurk around every corner - The Hollows host a new Splice Elite alongside a minor Raving, Splice, and Tangent.

"Our goal is for difficulty to be a better partner for player power - keeping focus on the best dynamic relationships of the game."

We're continuing toward this ever-evolving goal with targeted adjustments to the Torn. We're knocking 10-20% of their health off from the get go, then (based on Binding level) scaling them up more throughout a Tome. Multiplayer scaling for the Torn has also been significantly reduced - quickmatchers, rejoice!

Overall, we're looking for both a smoother escalation of Torn power in the moment to moment gameplay and a satisfying challenge that respects the power bumps from increasing Binding levels. The full details await in the patch notes below - please continue to share your feedback on balance as you combat the Torn!



We've had a blast working on Chapter V: The Hollows - exploring the depths, fleeing from new foes, and FLINGING PLANETS INTO THE SKY... As always, we're eager to learn about your experiences in Vellum - now it's your turn to brave The Hollows!

- The Vellum Team


[h2]Features[/h2]
[h3]The Hollows
[/h3]
- Introducing a new biome: The Hollows
- 5 New Combat Arenas

[h3]New Spender Spell: Eclipse[/h3]
- Damage: 20/s
- Mana Cost: 2
- Warp in a Planet to overshadow your foes for 15s.
- Maximum 4 Planets upheld at once.

[h3]New Torn[/h3]
- Elite Splice: The Wringer
- Splice: Wrangler
- Raving: Raptor
- Tangent: Glint

[h3]Notable Quality of Life[/h3]
- Revisited the Spell Selection interface to accommodate an increased roster of Spells

[h2]Gameplay & Balance[/h2]
- Torn Health modifier in multiplayer decreased by 20% (3 player), 25% (4 player)
- Boss health reduced by 10%
- Non-Boss Torn health reduced by 20%
- Chapter-to-chapter Torn scaling increased by 0.5% per Binding Level
- Chapter-to-chapter Torn scaling in multiplayer reduced by 2%
- Torn damage multiplier in multiplayer reduced to 150% (was 175%)
- Tome: Illegible boss health values adjusted to start lower and get higher
- Inscription: Concrete Quills (New) Reduces knockback effects against you by 25%. (Replaces On The Wind - Gain 25% speed while airborne.)
- Signature Spell: Pink now has an increased grace period to reduce unintentional double-casts
- Self-Revive is now bound to interact (was bound to Signature Spell)
- Signature Ink: Green Inkling can now move in between Casts while transformed (dev note: our buddy could root themselves by casting too quickly)

[h2]Interfaces & Fixes[/h2]
- New Interface for Spell Selection
- Added a setting to toggle Danger Sound Effects
- Floating Combat Text performance and clarity improvements
- Tome: Rivals has new icons, and now plays a sound when reaching maximum stacks of Unrivaled
- Generator Spell: Foil now shows the correct preview video
- Generator Spell: Draw now shows the current spread stacks as a negative status effect
- Adjusted filtering for Draw Pages of Power
- Pink VFX should now appear correctly when spending Pink Mana
- Several Inscription description texts have been reworded
- Increased priority for audio indicating your next spell Flourishes
- Fixed a bug allowing Scribes to place more than one Atlas
- Updated Skyboxes for various maps
- UI performance improvement
- Fixed visuals for the Ascending sequence
- Fixed various typos
- Improved support for DX12

Good day, Scribes! Welcome to our ninth update, Interlude Patch: Full House - introducing multiplayer Quickmatch, the burst-fire spell Draw, Interface Pings, and more!

We've been openly talking about public games since the launch of Vellum Early Access, often with the underlying goal of maintaining the best foundation for positive, shared experiences. This is a heavily-requested feature that opens some exciting new doors for Vellum.

Don't forget to keep an eye on the Vellum Roadmap in-game to keep up with our progress (and catch a glimpse of what might lurk in the shadows ahead)!

[h2]Quickmatch - A Legendary Study Group[/h2]

Band together as a team of up to 4 Scribes to push back the Torn! New multiplayer options are available from the Main Menu.

Quickmatch - Enter an open, Public Lobby in the Illuminated Library.
Create Game - Choose to create a Public or Private Lobby (Private is open only to Friends/Invite/Room Code)

There are also lobby tools available to the host: Inactivity Kick toggle, Public Room toggle, and individual player kicks.

[h2]New Spell - Draw[/h2]
Draw now has a seat at the Generator Spell table! Our new triple burst-fire spell deals a Hand of Cards (at high speeds) to cut your foes - however, casting too quickly in succession will widen the spread.

How will you deal with this new Generator? Let us know if it suits you! Card pun!

[h2]Interface Pings and Communication Feed![/h2]
"Sharing the joys of discovery and the burden of challenge is core to the Vellum multiplayer experience."

We dropped this gem of a line in the previous Interlude Patch when introducing the new Ping Rework - with today's patch we get to push further toward that thesis with the new Interface Ping system.

In combination with a new Communication Feed, Interface Pings now allow Scribes to communicate where their focus is by pinging areas of the UI itself. This is especially handy for game setup (for example, you can now see and ping your lobby's Attunement goals in Binding Select). Most items with a tooltip are able to be pinged, as well as buttons to move the game along:

Fletch is ready to continue

[h2]Performance & More[/h2]
Interlude Patch: Full House doesn't have John Stamos, but it does have the next best thing - Improved Performance! In addition to dramatically improving Library rendering performance, we've introduced a new setting, FSR Upscaling, that will allow for improved performance elsewhere in addition to extra customization across the Quality/Performance spectrum. We're very interested in hearing how these settings impact your play experience - please share your feedback with us!

On the gameplay side, we've added a few new Pages of Power for the Jot spell to start deepening its build potential. We've also squashed some Orange-related bugs, added some size safety mechanisms, and many other bits and bobs you can review in the patch notes below.

Our journey continues into the next big update - Chapter V: The Hollows! Your feedback continues to aid our process, combat our writer's block, and provide unique perspectives. With Quickmatch arriving today, we're not only looking forward to hearing more from you - we're honestly pumped to go play together!

- The Vellum Team


[h2]Features[/h2]

[h3]Quickmatch Multiplayer[/h3]
- Players may now join open Public Lobbies from the Main Menu
- Players may now create Public or Private Lobbies from the Main Menu
-- Public Lobby: While in the Library, joinable by anyone via Quickmatch
-- Private Lobby: Only joinable by Friends/Invite/Room Code
- New Lobby control options for Host: Inactivity Kick toggle, Public Room toggle, Individual kick
- Public rooms with inactive Hosts will automatically be set to Private after a period of time
- Players removed from multiplayer games will receive partial rewards when returning to the Library

[h3]New Generator Spell: Draw[/h3]
- Damage: 13
- Deal a Hand of Cards to cut foes. Increases spread when cast in quick succession.

[h3]Interface Ping and Communication Feed[/h3]
- Many Interface items are now able to be pinged
- Pinged items will now appear in the Communication Feed

[h2]Gameplay & General[/h2]
- Spell: Jot has new Pages of Power to unlock!
- FSR Options are now available in the Settings menu
- Scribe Attunement levels will appear around the Binding setup Interface (can be pinged)
- Tome: The Last Stand of Pen and Ink should no longer allow improper Atlas behaviors
- Spell: Concoct will now be cast in the appropriate direction when invoked by a Page of Power
- Font Power: From The Rich should now properly generate Orange Mana
- Page of Power: I Choose You! should no longer send Inklings to parts unknown
- Torn Page: Primary Absorption will no longer inhibit Inkling or Atlas damage
- Entities now have a safer minimum size
- Select Previous Bindings controller input is now Left Stick click (was Right Stick)
- Orange Signature Ink should now be properly selectable with controller in the Scriptorium
- Endgame stats now use punctuation for extra clarity
- Fixed an error with endgame damage stat totals (yet somehow I still deal the least damage?!)
- Codex UI improvements
- Performance improvements for projectiles piercing environment
- Adjusted point of interest labels in Library
- Performance improvements to the Illuminated Library
- Navigation improvements to the Illuminated Library

Welcome, Scribes!

Chapter IV: Machinations arrives to put ORANGE on the map! We also add a new Movement Spell, Suggested Reading Loadout Bonuses, Arachnophobia Mode, and more! Our Early Access journey continues, as outlined below:



[h2]Orange Ink - An Atlas of Your Domain[/h2]


Orange is the Ink of area dominance; deploy your Atlas - then empower it while exerting your combined strength! Establish your place of power and push back the Torn with strategy!

ATLAS - Place a persisting turret to attack visible foes and provide Barrier to nearby Scribes.

SURVEY - Damage from Scribe Spells generates Survey. Depositing Survey will empower Atlas and decay over time.

SCOUR - Spenders that consume Orange Mana cause Atlas to Scour - damaging all visible foes.

DEPLOY & PROJECTION - Your Signature Spell will deploy Atlas (which can then be picked up with Interact). Once deployed, your Signature Spell designates a firing angle for Atlas to emit a map-wide beam of unlimited range.

Orange also comes with a healthy selection of Pages of Power, Inscriptions, Signature Challenges, Cosmetic Rewards, Daily Quests, and a Steam Achievement. Welcome to the wide, encompassing world of Orange Ink!

[h2]Movement Spell - Vault[/h2]

Reach new heights with Vault - a new movement Spell to fling yourself upwards. Perfect for some aerial acrobatics or overcoming those tricky Vignettes!

[h2]Suggested Reading - New Quillmark Bonuses[/h2]

In Vellum, the choices are many and potentials vast... Indecision, begone! The Quest Board in the Illuminated Library has expanded as Chapter IV introduces a rotating selection of Suggested Reading Bonuses. Mending the specified Tome or using the specified Spell will award bonus Quillmarks - speeding up Ink Level research or helping to incentivize trying out new things in new places!

[h2]New Feature - Arachnophobia Mode[/h2]


We've heard feedback about the many-legged members of the Torn roster and added a new Arachnophobia toggle to Vellum's options. This blobifies the Spiders, Scorpions, Pumpkin Summons, and Fractalux.

[h2]Tuning and Planning[/h2]
We're continuing to make small adjustments around balance in the world of Vellum. Following the difficulty increase, we've been making small nudges here and there - but are generally happy with the direction we're headed! Today's tuning is rather light, with adjustments to Burstbugs, a buff to Passage, and reduced costs of many Font Powers in the general pool.

A bit of info on the future - one of our goals we're taking steps toward is Public Matchmaking. Last update, we welcomed a ping overhaul to start setting up more organic team communication. Today's update brings behind the scenes lobby infrastructure and an optional inactivity timer. There are still some challenges ahead for the best matchmade Vellum experiences, but we're excited to be making steady progress!

Like all of our updates, Chapter IV: Machinations is heavily aided by the feedback of our players! Thank you for your continued enthusiasm and discussions, Scribes - we can't wait for you to experience this brand new Chapter!

- The Vellum Team


[h2]Features[/h2]
[h3]Signature Ink: Orange[/h3]
- Atlas - You are equipped with a deployable Atlas, a persisting turret. When placed, Atlas attacks visible foes and provides Barrier to nearby Scribes.
- Passive - Survey: Damage from your Spells generates Survey. Deposit Survey to empower Atlas damage and attack speed for a time.
- Mana - Scour: When a Spender consumes Orange Mana, Atlas will Scour - damaging all visible foes.
- Signature - Placement: Hold & Release: Deploy Atlas at the designated location when released. Interact with Atlas to reclaim it, refunding Survey.
- Signature - Projection: Hold & Release: Designate a firing direction for Atlas, unleashing a map-wide beam when released.
- New Orange Pages of Power, Inscriptions, Signature Challenges, Cosmetic Rewards, Daily Quests, Steam Achievement

[h3]New Movement Spell: Vault[/h3]
- Cooldown: 3s
- Launch upwards with a burst of force.

[h3]Suggested Reading[/h3]
- Tomes and Spells can now be "Suggested Reading", granting a Quillmark bonus if selected for the next run. This bonus cycles after each Tome.

[h3]New Settings[/h3]
- Arachnophobia Mode: blobifies the visuals of: Spiders, Scorpions, Pumpkin Summons, Fractalux
- Pause Menu now has a toggle-able Inactivity Timer in multiplayer rooms (60s before removed from room)

[h2]Gameplay, General, And Fixes[/h2]
- Reduced the cost of the following Font Powers: Assassin Bureau, Out of the Blue, Ruin on the Mountainside, Spirit of the Blizzard, Spirit of the Tempest, Mana Motes, Temporal Motes, Ballista, Brief Immunity, Ink By The Barrel
- Spender Spell: Passage persisting damage has a 33% chance to activate add-on effects (was 0%)
- Spender Spell: Passage hourglass flight speed increases over time
- Splice: Burstbug now knocks Scribes back when bursting
- Adjusted various beneficial knockback-reducing powers to only affect negative effects
- Notification toasts (yum) now appear for players joining/leaving multiplayer rooms
- The upper righthand Tome progress tracker now shows Vignettes
- The Tome map panel in book menu now shows Vignettes
- Added a new indicator when two Page choices happen back to back
- Adjusted colors slightly for Scribe revive progress HUD elements
- Added post-game damage tracking for several items
- Added new Steam Achievement for Pink Signature Ink
- Page of Power: I Choose You! should now work properly with Green Thumb
- Page of Power: Guardian of the Cycle adjusted visuals
- Vignette: Tundra Pass visual adjustment
- Vignette: Crystal Divination collision adjustments
- Bonus Objective: Hubris should correctly end in multiplayer
- Various typo fixes