The Convergence Update - Beta 0.9 Patch Notes

Patch Notes
12

Chat & Social

There are various new features in 0.9 to support Multiplayer. Offline mode in 0.9 still involves logging in, and has chat and friends services like it did in 0.8.5. We still plan to make Offline mode fully offline in the future.

  • You can add friends and form a party at any time in Multiplayer through the Social window (hotkey: H) or right clicking on usernames in Chat. Once in a party, right click on their portrait to open a player portal that takes you to their server.
  • The social window now shows the name, level and class of the character you’re playing and what zone you are in.
  • The social window will show who is playing on an offline character and who is playing online so you don’t try to party up with someone offline.
  • Greatly improved the visual design of the social window.
  • You can now link Game Guide articles in chat. You can use the exact name of a page, or text that’s used in the Game Guide to link to it. For example, ??ailments or ??uniques.
  • You now have access to a Party chat channel while in a party.
  • Added a Help channel for asking questions in chat, which you can opt out of.

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User Interface

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Stash Search

  • When you have searched using the primary search bar and then switch tabs using the vertical display while the vertical search bar is empty, your search from the primary search bar will now apply to the new tab (previously the empty vertical search bar overrode it, even if you had not interacted with it)
  • Changing the contents of the vertical search bar now changes the primary search bar to match, to avoid ambiguity.

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Loading Screens

  • Redesigned the landing / login screen when opening the game.
  • Redesigned the loading screen between zones and added several new pieces of splash art.
  • Loading screen tips now vary with character level, character class, and the Era of the zone.
  • Added 10 new tips and improved some old ones.

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Dialog UI

  • Totally reworked the UI for talking to NPCs. Includes larger portraits, revealing text, and better presentation.
  • Fixed a bug where walking far enough away from an NPC with an open dialog, and then quickly opening another dialog could cause the new dialog to be closed improperly.

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Other Changes

  • Respecing a passive point can now be confirmed by pressing the Enter button.
  • The Crafting UI now shows the exact values that the mod(s) will change to when using a Glyph of Order.
  • The Crafting UI now shows the exact values that the affix(es) will change to when using a Glyph of Order.
  • Improved the presentation of the Transfer Crafting Materials button. The stored items now visually move and the total values climb incrementally rather than instantly changing.
  • The overlay map now has a minimum opacity of 10% (from 0%). Accidentally setting the overlay map to 0% would make it seem like the system wasn’t working.
  • The settings for displaying floating healthbars over minions and enemies now apply to all targets, rather than only newly spawned minions and enemies.
  • Fixed the increased mana prefix showing up in the Sentinel section of the loot filter rather than the mana section.
  • Controller Pointer Velocity can now be adjusted in the keybinds menu.

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Optimization

We have put a lot of work into optimizing Last Epoch since 0.8.5, so you should notice an improvement of average framerates across the game, and fewer performance dips.

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Pooling

  • The visuals of nearly all player abilities are now pooled. This especially helps when a lot of abilities are being used. When a pooled visual ends, it is hidden and added to the “pool” of identical visuals. When the game needs a new copy of that visual, an instance is recycled from the pool rather than creating a new one (which costs more performance).
  • The skills proc’d by several Uniques have been pooled as well:
    • Anchor of Oblivion, Reign of Winter, Melvern’s Writ, Soul Bastion, Volcanus, Alluvion, Riverbend Grasp, Ucenui’s Sphere, Yulia’s Path, Fiery Dragon Shoes, Torch Of The Pontifex, Prismatic Gaze, Gaspar’s Insight and Tempest Maw.
  • Many enemies in Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 (and the Void Harton boss fight) also have their abilities pooled. We will continue working on this in future updates.

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Levels

  • Reworked many, many models and materials for background objects and visuals to improve performance.
  • Implemented a new terrain (i.e. ground texture) system that is more performant (and has better functionality for the future).

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General

  • Fixed the game hitching when saving progress, especially when you have a large stash.
  • Improved the performance of all generic on-hit visual effects.
  • Improved the performance of the ability casting visual effects that appear around the player.
  • Improved the performance of the game’s UI by reducing how much needs to be redrawn.
  • Refactored the system for displaying floating healthbars above players, minions and enemies, improving performance.
  • Improved the performance of modifying player skills according to your choice in skill trees, items, etc.
  • Improved the performance of all stun effects.
  • Improved the performance and memory usage of hit flash effects.
  • Improved the performance of hit vfx.
  • Fixed a memory leak that occurred when opening the world map or changing which era is shown on the map.

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Enemy Abilities

Improved the performance of the following enemy abilities:

  • All of the Primeval Dragon’s abilities
  • Lagon’s Moon Blast, Tidal Wave, Lightning Blast and melee attack
  • Emperor of Corpses’ Flesh Shake
  • All of the Idol of Loathing’s abilities
  • Voidfused Forge’s death effect
  • Void Rifts used by the Emperor’s Remains
  • Dash used by Argentus
  • Liath’s mines, teleport and water projectile
  • Most of the Abomination Boss’ abilities
  • Tail Slam and Arching Magma used by Magma Gorn
  • Arching attack used by Drowned Visages
  • Projectile and death effects of Immortal Eyes
  • Both attacks used by Adrift Meruna
  • Dash and arrow projectile used by Siege Golems

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Skill Visuals

Improved the performance of the following skills:

  • Assemble Abomination’s summoning visual effect
  • Aura of Decay
  • Bone Curse
  • Hungering Souls
  • All Rip Blood variants
  • Transplant
  • All of Volatile Zombie’s visual effects
  • Summoning Skeletons and Skeletal Mages
  • Abilities used by various Skeleton and Skeletal Mage minions
  • All variants of Elemental Nova
  • Lightning Blast
  • All Meteor variants, including shrapnel
  • Shatter Strike and Icicle
  • Teleport
  • Avalanche, including fissure and frozen ground.
  • All Earthquake variants.
  • Primal Wolf’s Howl.
  • Storm Crow’s basic and activated ability.
  • Venom Nova (Primal Scorpion ability)
  • Thorn Totem’s Rotten Core
  • Burning Daggers
  • Decoy (throwing them out, specifically)
  • Mirages from Puncture
  • Shadow Cascade
  • Synchronized Strike
  • Consecrated Ground (Judgement)
  • Detonating Ground (Forge Strike)
  • Furnace (Smelter’s Wrath)
  • Hammer Throw
  • Holy Eruption (Judgement)
  • Lunge
  • Shrapnel (Shield Bash)
  • Vengeance

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Changes and Additions

  • Added section for Dread Shade
    • Dread Shade can only be cast on your minions, not allies minions.
    • Symbiotic Apparition now causes Dread Shade to affect you, but not other party members.
  • Added section for Leaderboards
    • Leaderboards will be unavailable during 0.9 and will be returning 0.9.1
  • Added to Void Knight Skill Changes: Anomaly
    • Time Bubble now shreds void resistance (it previously stated that it increased void damage taken, but did not have this effect in practice)
  • Removed incorrect patchnote from Flame Reave:
    • Versatility makes Surge and Mana Strike count toward Rythm of Fire (from Firebrand and Mana Strike). Firebrand’s Incineration and Illumination Fire nodes have been buffed according.

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