Welcome back loot enjoyers! Today I'm releasing a major patch designed primarily to add more content, more fun, and of course, more loot to Don't Die, Collect Loot.

As always, this is still an alpha build. There certainly will be bugs. 

If you have feedback, questions, bug reports, or just want to chat, come join us on Discord: https://discord.gg/pRSdCcE

The full patch notes are at the bottom of this post, but first I'll give a quick overview of the new systems added in this update:

New Gameplay Systems

Artifacts

Under certain conditions, you'll acquire special items known as "Artifacts".  Once you find one, you'll likely meet the Artificer soon as well. By talking to her, you can equip any Artifact you've discovered so far. While only one Artifact can be equipped at a time, they are quite powerful. Additionally, they can be leveled up by killing monsters and encountering the Artifcer in the wild. Additionally, you may find yourself able to forge artifacts under certain conditions, eventually unlocking hidden abilities.

In general Artifacts are designed to add another layer of power, and another objective to grind towards as you play. See if you can figure out how to unlock them all!

Incursion Events

Once you've progressed far enough in the game, entities from beyond the veil of reality may start invading your runs. There are three special Incursion Event encounters, and more will be added in minor patches over the coming weeks. I won't spoil them here, but good luck if you encounter them!

NPC Quests

The world of Don't Die, Collect Loot is no longer a lonely one! NPCs will engage you in conversations, teach you about the game, and perhaps reveal its secrets. In addition to this, the following NPCs now have quests:

* Shopkeer

* Artificer

* Explorer

* Crafter

* ???

As you get to know these NPCs better, they may begin to confide in you, grant you useful information, or even reward you. See if you can figure out how to give them a hand!

Elite Monsters

Rare monsters now occasionally may spawn as "elite" under certain conditions. These monsters have terrifying properties, but potentially boosted rewards. 

Aura Skills

Auras are a new type of skill that are always active as long as they're equipped. Using an aura as a skill will activate a bonus effect temporarily. You can only equip one aura skill at a time, however.

Pets

It's now possible to summon pets! Only one pet exists as a part of the Bee's Bonnet unique item, but more are on the way. Pets cannot be harmed at all by monsters, and will assist you in killing nearby enemies.

Patch Notes

• Added 3 new Incursion Events
  • One of these are particularly rare and dangerous, good luck!
• Added two new Elite monster modifiers
  • Storm Lord
  • Frigid Guardian
• Added 5 new NPC quests
• Added the Artificer NPC
• Added the Artificer ingame event
• Added the following artifacts
  • Artificer's Badge
  • Forge of Stars
  • Explorer's Badge
  • Greed's Embrace
  • Hornet's Rage
  • Peninsula's Secret
  • Slime King's Goo
  • Collector's Badge
  • Tome of Knowledge
• Added new unique item, Bee's Bonnet
  • This item allows you to summon pet bees when killing regular enemies and when hitting bosses
• Added additional tiles to the Forest
• Added the Elemental Ward Aura
  • While passive, this aura grants additional elemental resistances
  • While active, the aura's effect is doubled
• Added ingame upgrades for the Elemental Ward Aura
• Added the "Diamond Aura" player skill
  • This causes Elemental Ward to increase max resistances as well
• Added the "Marked for Death" combo skill
• This one's a secret, figure it out!
• You can no longer use Shield Toss without a shield equipped
• Shield Toss' graphic now uses your equipped shield graphic
• Updated all equipment icons
• Added Experience Shrine to the pool of random shrine spawns
• Added random treasure chest spawns
• Removed the treasure chest spawn bridge event
• Added upgrades to the Explorer event
• +Chest spawn rate
• +Incursion spawn rate
• Added a tutorial NPC to the Nexus
• Added "Increased Chest Spawn Rate" to the Exploration skill tree
• Added "Increased Shrine Spawn Rate" to the Exploration skill tree
  
• Added "Increased Incursion Spawn Rate" to the Exploration skill tree
  
• Added a new weather effect, Snowstorm
• Halved the damage dealt by the fires in a Firestorm
• Updated the Chilled, Burning, and Poisoned status effects to use shaders
• Added a safety check to make sure you always enter the game with a skill equipped
• Fixed a bug on the results screen that caused odd displays if some skill slots were empty
• Made it possible to walk by the Armsmaster without going around him
• Fixed assorted bugs with floating combat text
• Fixed bugs with incorrect gold values being displayed when completing a stage
• Fixed a camera pan issue on Game Over
• Fixed a display issue on entering a new stage
• Reduced the file size of the game by ~40%