CAAAAAAAVE CRAWLERS!

Hello Crawlers! Two months have gone by without a new update, our longest gap since releasing onto early access. We've been hard at work on our biggest update yet: 0.8! In 0.8, we are going to release the 3rd biome spanning from floors 21-30, along with some of the other additions we'll be showcasing below!

Discord:

To stay up to date on what we're actively working on, feel free to join our discord where we post regular development updates in our #development-updates channel, and often we pop in chat to chat with players or answer questions! https://discord.gg/bUPT3bT7hk

New Biome Reveal: The Molten Collapse!

The Molten Collapse is the 3rd and most challenging biome coming to Cave Crawlers! Prepare your dwarves for a true test of skill, as this treacherous layer introduces some of the toughest and most complex enemies we have ever created, found only within these fiery depths. The cavern's walls are rugged and brown, scorched by the intense heat emanating from nearby pools of molten lava that bubble and crackle ominously. The ceiling and walls are often a chaotic maze of stalactites, hiding the dangerous new enemies lurking around every corner. Within the Molten Collapse, the very air shimmers from the heat found this deep below the surface. Venturing into the Molten Collapse isn't just about braving its deadly inhabitants; the environment itself is a constant threat. Are you daring enough to delve into this inferno and conquer the dangers that lie within? Graphics and lighting shown are WIP and subject to change.

New Mob: The Stonelings

The Stonelings are said to be the remnants of ancient dwarves who once inhabited the molten collapse, a treacherous cave biome filled with lava. Long ago, these dwarves mined deep into the earth, seeking precious minerals and forging mighty weapons. However, a catastrophic eruption trapped them within the fiery depths. Over time, their souls fused with the surrounding rock and magma, transforming them into the stone-skinned Stonelings. Now, these vengeful spirits guard the molten collapse, eternally bound to the place of their demise, attacking any who dare to intrude on their final resting place. These are one of the most basic mobs which can be found residing within the Molten Collapse. Stonelings can often be found in small groups, and will stumble their way towards any threat, swinging wildly in an attempt to strike them with their rocky fists. If a threat is too far away, or unreachable to the Stonelings, they will pull boulders out of the earth below them to throw at their target.

New Loot Source: Pots

Seeing as wooden crates aren't exactly flame-proof, crates within the Molten Collapse have been replaced by clay pots containing similar loot. They're quite satisfying to smash!

More To Discover!

This is only a small peek into the Molten Collapse. A whole new set of enemies to fight, new loot to acquire, and of course a final boss on floor 30 are all to be discovered in 0.8!

Public Lobby Matchmaking:

A new system to allow you to find other players and begin new runs together is coming with 0.8! What does this mean for the existing lobby system and how is this different? The public lobby system will allow you to set multiplayer lobby from private to public, below are the differences: Private lobbies can only be joined if you have the room's code, or have been sent an invite to the lobby through Steam. Public lobbies can be joined using the new lobby search system, which will be the first screen you see when you click "Together" on the main menu. You can also join a public lobby using either of the private lobby methods. You may only start or join public lobbies with characters who are set to begin their adventure on floor 1, in most cases being a fresh character. Characters saved to floor 5 or higher will have to host or join a private lobby. Along with the new lobby system, we also added a text chat to use while in a lobby.

New System: Slayer Score

Slayer Score is a new way to earn expertise points in 0.8. Instead of gaining expertise based on how many mobs you've killed, you will now earn expertise by gaining "Slayer Score" from mobs you defeat. The amount of score you gain is dependent on how tough an enemy was to defeat. For example: the easy-to-kill Slime grants 1 Slayer Score, where as the hard-to-kill Crystal Scorpion grants 5 Slayer Score. These numbers are subject to change!

Expertise Expansion

Every weapon's expertise tree is being expanded with 0.8. This expansion is still work in progress, but below are some examples of talents that we have already added and begun testing with internally! New Hammer talent, Sacred Seal: "After casting the spell "Holy Strike", grant a random nearby player additional attack damage for a short duration." New Hammer talent, Fortified: "Blocking an attack or taking damage has a high chance to give you and a nearby player increased attack speed." New Axe talent, Swift Cleave: "Chance on hit to reduce the cooldown of "Cleave" by 1 second." New Axe talent, Critical Cleave: "Dealing a critical strike reduces the cooldown of "Cleave"." New Dagger talent, Improved Dazing Strike: "Appling "Dazing Strike" additionally has a 50% chance to stun the affected mob for 1 second." New Sword talent, Intimidating Aura: "After casting any spell, all nearby mobs take 10% increased damage from all sources for a short duration." New Polearm talent, Expose Weakness: "Stunning a mob increases its damage taken for 4 seconds." New Armor talent, Blowback: "Blocking an attack has a chance to stun up to 3 nearby mobs for 3 seconds." New Ranged talent, Mobile Maniac: "Casting either "Dash" or "Evasion" while holding a ranged weapon increases your movement speed by 3% per stack until you stand still."

New Crawlers Pass:

With the release of 0.8, we plan to release a new purchasable crawlers pass. This new pass will have 31 tiers consisting of 29 fresh new cosmetic skins to customize your dwarves with, and 2 additional character slots earnable within the pass. Similar to the current pass, there will be various free cosmetic rewards to earn for those who choose not to purchase the pass! This will NOT replace the current crawlers pass, the "Expedition Pass", nor will it prevent you from purchasing or progressing that pass after its release. If you own both passes, you will simply choose which pass you would like to earn experience towards.

Final Thoughts:

0.8 is the largest and most challenging update to Cave Crawlers yet. There are many other additions we didn't discuss: new perks, tasks, items, and much more! We are very excited to see what you think of the Sneak Peek, so please discuss your thoughts in the comments below as well as in our official discord. Finally, when should you expect 0.8 to release? We expect update 0.8 to be ready sometime in September. We have a lot more to share, with a new trailer and an announcement of the exact release date coming once we get closer to release!