Difference between revisions of "News/2013"

Hail Knights!

I wanted to provide the community with a sense of what's coming up in a future update to Spiral Knights.

Our recent projects, including Guild Halls, were selected based in part on feedback from players, both in the forums and from some of the surveying we do from time to time. The requests are, of course, many and varied; however, one of the frequently requested features for the game has been pets.

We've been exploring some ideas that combine elements of a pet-like feature to increase the variety and type of play available to players. We're calling this project 'Battle Sprites'.

Someone or something has summoned a horde of cursed black kats into the Clockworks. These shadowy beasts hunger for arcane power and raided the Moorcroft Manor Archives' precious collection of magical grimoires.

In the wrong hands these ancient tomes could be kata- er, catastrophic, but it turns out that black kats can't read, so they instead decided to just eat them.

The residents of Moorcroft Manor would like you to retrieve the Ancient Pages of the magical grimoires that quite likely reside in the stomachs of black kats. We'll leave you to figure out just how to recover them...

In the wake of a black kat attack, the ghostly residents of Moorcroft Manor are in need of funds to repair their Archives. Teaming up with the Haven Treasury, Moorcroft Manor is having a fire sale of all its extra furnishings and they can be a part of your Guild Hall!

From now until 12:00 PM PDT on February 13th, 2013, we're giving away free Moorcroft Prize Boxes with select energy purchases!

Each Moorcroft Prize Box has a special prize inside. Possible prizes include wide array of ornate, Victorian-style furnishings, such as the velvet covered Antique Benches, faintly glowing Gaslamps as well as spooky Moorcroft items like the Skull Piles. Not only that, but a lucky few players may find the very rare Cursed and Mystical Tome Stands or even a Curious Mewkat to wander around your Guild Hall!

Celebrate Valentine's Day with a love that lasts forever! For a limited time, purchase the new Forever Love Puppy Mask from the Supply Depot. Just like true love, this adorable costume mask never expires!

But the love doesn't stop there my dear Valentines. Select energy purchases will also receive a FREE Love Aura accessory!

The Love Aura emits a soft shower of gently floating hearts above your head wherever you go. It's the perfect way to tell your friends, guild mates or that special love puppy that you want them to be your Valentine!

Offer available through February 19, 2013. Love Aura is delivered unbound at time of purchase.

XOXO... FOREVER!

Spiral Knights is celebrating its second anniversary with a special event! Join in on the fun now through April 16, 2013!

Visit the Haven Town Square to meet the Skylark's Head Chef, Biscotti. She will inform you of a 'situation' at hand that involves hordes of monstrous cakes known as 'Creep Cakes.' Helping her solve this 'situation' will reward you with cake helms and prize boxes!

Check out the announcement for more details and a complete prize list.

Spiral Knights now has a new look thanks to a completely revamped user interface! This new UI features a number of new features and enhancements that we're sure you'll appreciate, including:

- A visible character portrait and new health display
- A shield power meter
- A weapon selection 'wheel'
- A much more detailed mini map, featuring enemy locations, NPCs and more
- A new Targeting UI that displays information about whatever you are targeting.

Let us know what you think of this new look in the forums!

A new set of random levels have been added to the Clockworks, known as the Compounds. The Compounds feature the remains of some sort of unknown facility, where more intelligent monsters await, harvesting resources or perhaps attempting to power up the derelict machinery. However, just outside the confines of the facilities, hordes of mini monsters await in the brush, waiting to strike.

The Compounds are unique in that they combine two monster families and only appear in Tier 2 and 3 of the Clockworks.

Currently, Compounds levels will only appear in the Arcade but will be added to some missions in future updates.

A new class of monsters known as 'minis' now roams the Clockworks. Experienced knights shouldn't have much of a problem dealing with them, but beware, minis are prone to swarm in packs dozens strong.

- Dust bunnies: These beast-family minis are a hopping mad mess of fangs and fur. They are always hungry.
- Glop drops: The newest member of the slime family will slowly ooze their way toward their prey as a nasty blanket of spikes.
- Grave scarabs: These undead insects are always on the lookout for fresh corpses. Their limited flight signals their attacks.

A new fiend has been summoned from the Underworld to swell the ranks of the devilite workforce: the gluttonous gorgo! Gorgos are bulbous fiends who are constantly on the lookout for their next meal and have an appetite for mayhem that knows no bounds.

Gorgos will now appear alongside their devilite coworkers in any fiendish encounter within the Clockworks.

In order to help combat the ever-growing threat within the Clockworks, all Knights can now use two powerful abilities: the evasive dash and the stunning shield bash!

Dash allows you to dodge enemy attacks with a burst of speed and limited invulnerability. It can even be used in Lockdown for a whole new level of strategy!

Charge into battle using shield bash to damage, knock back, and stun your enemies!

Learn about these new abilities and more in the patch notes!

To celebrate the release of the combat update introducing the lightning quick evasive dash and the thunderous shield bash, the Haven treasury is giving away unique prizes!

From now through June 2nd, 2013, we're giving away free Stormy Prize Boxes with select energy purchases!

Each Stormy Prize Box has special prizes inside. Possible prizes include unique Storm Helmets and radiant Eyes of Fury. Not only that, but a lucky few players may find the rare Wings of Fury!

Remember: Prize Boxes require no key to open, and all items found inside a Stormy Prize Box are unbound, so share with your friends!

Check out the announcement for more details and a complete prize list.

Battle Sprites, loyal combat companions to the Spiral Knights, will be available later this month! Sprites will level up, evolve, and gain unique capabilities.
The battle sprites update will introduce a host of new features, including powerful combat skills that all sprites can execute on your command. The three starter sprites; the drakon, seraphynx and maskeraith, each represent a different playstyle.

Here are the details regarding how a sprite plays, what their skills do in combat and the augments available on each skill that enhance them. Augments can be increased via skill points that are gained while leveling a sprite.

Click 'Learn More' for details!

Items that acquire heat will no longer automatically level up when enough heat is required at the end of a level. Instead, a new type of item called ‘Fire Crystals’ must be used within a new interface called ‘The Forge’ in order to level up your items.

The Forge can be accessed in town or at any arsenal station. When an item is ready to level up, open the Forge and select the item. The item will require a certain number of a specific fire crystal to level up. However, in some cases there is a chance the forge will not succeed and the fire crystals will be lost. No heat is ever lost due a failed forging.

Additionally, players have the option to add more than the requisite fire crystals in order to improve the odds of a successful forge as well as the chance to gain a special bonus.

Fire crystals may be purchased in stacks in the Supply Depot, acquired via missions or found as loot in treasure blocks.

Visit the Supply Depot to get a great deal on all-new rarity class items!

Use Sparks of Life to revive in combat and unleash a powerful energy blast, craft powerful weapons and gear with Orbs of Alchemy and level up your items and unlock special bonuses with the Forge. Best of all, all of these new items can be found within treasure blocks in the Clockworks!

Battle Sprites are new combat companions that all players can acquire by completing a new series of Rank 2 missions upon reaching Haven. These missions teach players about Battle Sprites and allow them to try out each of the three starter sprites before ultimately choosing one to keep.

The three starter Battle Sprites are the fiery Drakon, the divine Seraphinx, and the shadowy Maskeraith; each with their own unique powers that will become more powerful as the sprite levels up and evolves! Just remember to feed them materials or food crafted from the Lab so your sprite can level up faster, evolve and gain new skills.

Today, many exciting changes have arrived to Spiral Knights! These changes include the release of all-new missions, Battle Sprites and new rarity class items!

There's a lot to see and do and you can now do it all for FREE. That's right, elevators will no longer charge energy to operate!

Be sure to read over the extensive patch notes for more info on all the new features. See you in the Clockworks!

To celebrate the release of battle sprites and other exciting, new features, the Haven Treasury is hosting a special giveaway and Supply Depot sale!

From now until 12:00 PM PDT on August 14th, 2013, we're giving away free Companion Prize Boxes to every knight each day just for logging in!

Each Companion Prize Box contains special sprite food for your new battle sprite, Sparks of Life, and a bonus chance for rarities! Items found inside Companion Prize Boxes are based on your knight rank. Companion Prize Boxes are delivered bound.

Someone or something has again summoned hordes of cursed black kats into the Clockworks. These shadowy beasts hunger for arcane power and have predictably stormed the Moorcroft Manor Archives' precious collection of magical grimoires in another attempt to execute their nefarious plans.

It appears that illiteracy is still rampant among the black kat hordes, so they have once more taken to eating the pilfered pages rather than using them for arcane rituals.

The residents of Moorcroft Manor would like you to retrieve the Ancient Pages of the magical grimoires that quite likely reside in the stomachs of black kats. We'll leave you to figure out just how to recover them...

After another surprise black kat attack, the ghostly occupants of Moorcroft Manor are exploring ways to fund a restoration effort for their damaged Archives. The denizens of Moorcroft Manor have reached out to those in charge of the Haven Treasury in order to sell their spectral wares and eerie accoutrements directly to knights who are looking to give their Guild Halls a bit of otherworldly character!

From now until 12:00 PM PDT on August 28th, 2013, exclusive Moorcroft Prize Boxes will be available for purchase directly from the Supply Depot!

Each Moorcroft Prize Box has a special prize inside. Possible prizes include wide array of ornate, Victorian-style furnishings, such as the velvet covered Antique Benches, faintly glowing Gaslamps as well as spooky Moorcroft items like the Skull Piles. Not only that, but a lucky few players may find the very rare Cursed and Mystical Tome Stands, a Curious Mewkat, or even a Zombie Bellhop to wander around your Guild Hall!

Nonna, a representative for the Emberlight Adoption Agency, has returned once again to the Haven Town Square! She's offering adorable pocket pets to brave knights capable of protecting and providing for them.

Nonna will be in town through September 8th, 2013. She will return sometime in the future, but you never know which monsters she will have available for adoption!

Gourmet Prize Boxes are available in the Supply Depot through September 8th!

Each of these pleasantly aromatic prize boxes has been curated by Biscotti herself to ensure the quality of its content, and to guarantee that every box contains an exclusive chef-themed item. Bravely cleave your way through the Clockworks wearing colorful chefs hats and coats!

You can now complete your collection of battle sprites through the Supply Depot! Starter battle sprites can now be acquired in delightfully cute pods that are unbound upon purchase. Once released from their cozy, kennel-like pod, the battle sprite will bond with the first knight that it sees.

Through September 8th, 2013, all battle sprites purchased from the Supply Depot will be sold at a 10% discount!

From September 25th through October 6th, all Danger Missions will be available daily! Daring knights will have multiple opportunities each day to face off against deadly scenarios.

There is also a brand new Dangerous Prize Box available in the Supply Depot to give you a fighting edge! Featuring items selected by Lieutenant Desna, the Dangerous Prize Box bristles with elite armor and weaponry used by the Recon Rangers themselves.

The Elite Trinket Box is available from the Supply Depot through October 24th!

Each box will contain an elite trinket to help boost your performance. These 5* trinkets increase attack speed, decrease charge time, increase damage, or give extra health. Each box includes a free Trinket Slot Upgrade!

Also at the Supply Depot, you can now purchase Name Change Passes for your knight or guild!

Travel into a deadly field full of trapped souls and phantom-like monsters. In a maze-like graveyard knights will find the Apocrea trapping and collecting souls. This sinister being will pursue any who enter the Grasping Plateau hoping to add to the collection. Work together to free souls and find Apocrean Sigil tokens which can be used to buy Apocrean materials. Collect materials to craft new Obsidian weapons.

The Obsidian Prize Box contains newly-discovered items from the realm of the Apocrea. Created from Obsidian, these armor and helms will give your knight a sinister look this haunting season. This otherworldly box is available from the Supply Depot through November 3rd!

Join the Strangers as they celebrate the Dark Harvest Festival. This annual tribute to the Punkin King ensures an abundant fall harvest. Find the Punkin King through the daily prestige mission. Lucky knights may also find him in any Clockwork Tunnels levels while adventuring. Collect Candy tokens from the mischievous Punkin King and exchange them in Haven Town Square for festive masks or Harvest Prize Boxes!

This fall, Haven is overrun with gobbling snipes! Visit the Supply Depot and purchase Gobble Snipe Boxes to create a flock of Gobble Snipes in your guild hall. Gobble Snipes are available in autumn colors brown, black and gold. To help with your festive fall look, the Supply Depot is featuring a seasonal-colored Leafy Aura accessory.

To celebrate this wondrous migration of snipes, the Strangers have a cornucopia of gifts for all knights who log into the game between November 27th and December 3rd. This one-time gift includes a 2-day Heat Amplifier, Krogmo Coin Booster, Trinket Slot Upgrade and a Dual Heart Pendant trinket. Knights who reach rank 7-1 and higher will also receive a Gift of Autumn trinket.

Haven Treasury is having a sale on all purchases of our DLC. From now through December 3rd, the Guardian Armor Pack will be 50% off and Operation Crimson Hammer will be 75% off!

As the weather turns cold and the snow begins to fall, the Strangers and snipes invite you to celebrate Winterfest. Impostoclaus arrives to bring delight and glee to all creatures of Cradle. This year’s festivities include a new Prestige Mission, Grinchlin weapons, and seasonal costumes and accessories!

Warning! Impostoclaus is under attack in Emberlight! The green-furred Gremlins called Grinchlins have returned this Winterfest and vowed to destroy Impostoclaus. Feed him milk and cookies to keep him strong and help him deliver presents to the children of Emberlight. Defeat the Grinchlins and win Winter Wish tokens. Then visit Randolph in Haven Town Square to exchange Winter Wishes for festive helms, Winter Confetti, Snowballs, and Frosty Prize Boxes.

Visit the Supply Depot for festive accessories and costumes, Winterfest Decoration Kits and Polar Prize Boxes! Be sure to visit the Auction House for more seasonal goodies in the Featured Auctions!

The Grinchlins have vowed to destroy Impostoclaus and steal all his presents! Spiral HQ has located the Grinchlin base of operations on Mount Krampus and tasked you with putting an end to their humbug. Journey through the base to the summit. Your objective is to defeat the Grinchlins and their allies. This faction of Gremlins is very stingy and will not drop loot during battle. Their treasure is stored in shelters throughout the stronghold. Face a choice at each shelter - collect the loot and leave the mountain, or leave the treasure and continue further! Collect special materials from Mount Krampus to craft 5* Grinchlin weapons.

Knights who brave this dangerous mission to the summit, will have a chance to win Golden or Silver Solstice Rings. These 4* trinkets protect against fire and freeze with a +1 health bonus. Combine them together to craft a 5* Grand Solstice Ring trinket.

Which Solstice do you celebrate this month - summer or winter? The Solstice Prize Box has both! These special boxes require no key to open, and include Summer and Winter Accessories and Confetti, UV Tickets, and a bonus chance to receive a Bucket of Snowballs.

From now through the end of December 23rd, 2013, Haven Treasury is offering a Solstice Prize Box for every $9.95 spent on select energy purchases.

See the announcement post for the details and a complete list of prizes!

The Strangers are celebrating the end of the year with gifts for the Knights of the Spiral Order. The Birdsong Trading Co. will be hosting a giveaway to all players through the end of Friday, January 3rd, 2014. All players logged in to the game will be eligible for hourly prize giveaways! Prizes include Party Hats, Blowouts, Eyes, Confetti, Fireworks, Sparks of Life, Shadow Keys and more!

Remember, the only way to be in the running is to be logged in and playing the game! Good luck and Happy New Year!