Hi, welcome back! I have fixed issues #1 and #4 for now. Issues #2 and #3 will take a bit more time since they require larger code changes, and their impact on gameplay is less critical.
Thanks for the detailed bug reports, I really appreciate it. Hope you enjoy the Farfields update!
Edit: All issues fixed
Thank you for fixing them! Really enjoying the update =)
Another small thing (not a bug, but makes gameplay a little unpredictable) - the stamina cost calculations in the shimmera can fluctuate by one. I think this is because of some kind of dithered integer quantization of a floating point result; was this intentional?
No problem, thanks for the bug reports! Glad you're enjoying the update :)
For the Shimmera stamina fluctuation, could you share an example of what you're seeing? For instance, is it the same light level but each dig costs a different amount of stamina? And does the Hardness value in the layer tooltip change at the same time?
Yeah sure! Given a fixed light radius and a fixed strength level (11), and given that the hardness of the Shimmera is a constant 12, the cost seems to be fluctuating between -2 and -3 with Mistral and the Attuned Drill (Mistal and Drill nerfs/debuffs cancel out).
Btw, are the pickaxes on the lorestone in unlock order or in a pre-set order? If the latter, I think it makes more sense to match them with the order in the pickaxe selector drop-down. Also, speaking of lorestone, could we get tool-tips on the equipment items as we do on the other tabs, as a quick in-game reference?
I tried to reproduce the issue on my end, but I haven't been able to replicate it. Based on your description, could it possibly be related to the +1 stamina regeneration? With the latest update, stamina changes now display a net increase or decrease rather than showing separate instances. For example, if a dig costs 3 stamina and triggers a +1 regen, instead of seeing "-3" immediately followed by "+1," you'll now see a net change of "-2."
The pickaxe order in Lorestone matches the tool selector drop-down on my end as well. Maybe try reloading the game?
Regarding the equipment tooltips in the Lorestone, I agree it would be a good QoL improvement, especially for mobile users. I plan to roll that out alongside other changes in the next minor update.
Aaah, yes, you're right! D'oh! I completely forgot about regeneration 🤦♀️
But I did find a different issue: Griddle Sigil doesn't stack on top of the Siphon Pickaxe. In fact, the Siphon pickaxe's +6 is completely nullified and only the Sigil's +5 applies on metallic ore.
ETA: Seems to work on certain ores; bug is present on iron ore all ores in the farfields, possibly others. Tested with Fern on hard mode
The Siphon pickaxe is absolutely incredible game-changer btw, but maybe its boost should be nerfed to +5 also? Either that or maybe its cost to repair should include 3 void shards and not just 2.
Thank you for the quick updates! I'm having so much fun with the new content!
No worries at all! With the amount of mechanics in Serenitrove, sometimes I forget things too :)
I tested Iron Sigil combined with the Siphon Pickaxe on Farfields metal ores using Fern, and they do seem to be stacking correctly. On iron ore for example, it shows a stamina restore of +10 (which equals +11 when factoring in the -1 stamina cost for digging). Tested it on cobalt ores as well.
It might have been related to Fern's overhealing mechanic (restores 50% of the stamina gain instead of 100%). Try lowering Fern's stamina slightly before digging metal ores, and you should see the correct restoration amount.
And yes, I agree the Siphon Pickaxe feels a bit overpowered right now. I plan to increase its crafting/repair cost while also slightly reducing its stamina restore, maybe +5 or even +4.
You're very welcome! I was fully prepared for extensive bug fixing and balancing sessions with the Farfields update. There are just so many new mechanics, biomes, and pieces of equipment being introduced.
Thank you for the Siphon Pickaxe rebalance. It's a lot more interesting now, especially in hard mode =)
And yes, I can confirm that Fern's overhealing is why I wasn't getting the expected number.
A couple more things - On the lorestone, mousing over the relics turns the cursor into the pointer cursor (like clicking a link) but clicking them has no effect. On the other hand, mousing over the turtles chagner the cursor but also allows switching to the turtle, so the cursor makes sense. The equipment tab has the default cursor across the board (which is correct as clicking does nothing).
Request: Could you change the cursor behavior on the equipment tab in the lorestone to be a pointer instead of default cursor, and allow equipping stuff directly from the lorestone interface (without closing it)? Thank you for adding the tooltips by the way!
Request 2: Nix rebalance on hard mode? I'm almost done beating vegan mode, but I cannot for the life of me beat the game with Nix (reach deepwater). I tried several different strats, including using sigils and 30 mageflare runes (once per 7 digs) per run for optimal traversal, but it seems like with the hard mode debuffs, Nix can't survive in the void long enough to make it to the core.
Thanks for pointing out the cursor inconsistencies across the different tabs. I will update that as part of other UX improvements I have planned in the upcoming patches.
Regarding equipping directly from the Equipment tab in the Lorestone, I think that would introduce quite a bit of complexity and may not be the best fit. Equipment in the Lorestone can exist in several states (unlocked but not crafted, crafted, and broken). On top of that, different turtles have different equipment slots. Supporting this properly would require additional logic to handle equipment states, check the current turtle, and enable/disable them depending on whether it's Nix or Pebble. With turtles, the Lorestone selection helps avoid cycling through them manually, but for equipment, the current slot-based dropdown feels more straightforward and consistent.
As for Nix in hard mode, I will look into ways to make reaching Deepwater more achievable without introducing a separate hard mode specific rebalance or significantly affecting normal mode. It may take some time to find the right approach.
I will also be taking a short break from Serenitrove, as the Farfields update launch took quite a lot of effort, along with the full week of post-update bug fixing and balancing.
And thanks again for all the suggestions! Feedback like this really helps catch smaller details that are easy to miss.
