The Free Mode Overhaul is Here!

Greetings Aspirant, and welcome to the largest update yet! We added Free Mode a while back in response to community feedback, and we loved the system. Being able to replay levels with a party of your choice, including some characters not playable in the main campaign, was a lot of fun, but there was something missing. The system never quite jelled with the main game, and we wanted to bring the systems together more cohesively. That happens today with the Delves update! The new system allows you to test your Free Mode party against a series of ever-changing challenges to amass Glory and unlock powerful new Boons for all your characters.

What Are Delves:

Delves are multi-floor dungeons assembled from a random mix of hand-crafted scenarios, that grow more difficult the deeper you venture.  As with the old Free Mode system, you can assemble a party of your choosing before entering the Delve. Once you enter, however, the stakes are raised. You earn Glory for each floor you descend in the Delve, including a bravery bonus for venturing further, but if you perish, all you have earned in the current Delve is lost. Your characters also do not regain health between battles in a Delve, so you will need to choose carefully at the end of each level whether to leave with your winnings, or risk it all to venture deeper.

Bosses & Shortcuts:

As you venture deeper into a  Delve, you will encounter powerful bosses not found in the Story campaign. Defeating a boss in a Delve will unlock a shortcut, allowing you to skip to a greater depth the next time you play.

What's New:

• The Delve System - explore randomly-generated dungeons with a party comprised of your choice of unlocked heroes and villains. 
• The Bone Wastes Delve - a randomly-generated dungeon crawl set in the Bone Wastes biome, with 15 floors comprised of 24 random scenarios, and 3 new boss encounters.
• Cyclops and Rakshasa Boons - the new Firstborn and Unborn heroes now have their own boon progression, allowing you to unlock powerful abilities for both Delve-only characters.
• World Map Overhaul - A new, sleeker world map design, with more room for side missions, and your current Glory always displayed.
• New Enemy Types - powerful foes lurk in the furthest reaches of the Bone Wastes Delve, waiting to challenge your heroes.
• New Party Strength System - When entering a Delve, you are free to assemble a party of your choosing, but more powerful characters will take up more party slots. Will you bring a team of heroes, or brave the depths alone with a powerful solo character like the Rakshasa?
• Dynamic Battle Chatter - An overhauled dialogue system now generates battle chatter amongst foes and party members during Delves.
• How-To-Play Guide: The Lorebook now includes a first-pass how-to-play guide, including instruction videos explaining various mechanics. This will continue to be updated as development continues.
• Optimisation Pass - Guile & Glory: Firstborn should now run better than ever with a significant optimisation pass to how the system handles hazards.
• So Many Bug Fixes: Most notably, that weird bug with enemies rebounding too far after a push should be toast! The camera jank when the Wyrm breathes fire is gone too.

What's Next:

• Full Story Overhaul -  After a lot of testing, we've come to the conclusion that Chapters 1- 5 are in need of a significant update. The first half of the game will be getting a complete overhaul, including more levels, new story content, a full balance pass, and new boons for all Story characters.
• Lorebook Overhaul - The Lorebook is being revised to be much more useful. In particular. In particular, we'll be adding much more detailed information regarding enemy behaviour and combat mechanics.
• Steam Early Access - Guile & Glory: Firstborn is coming to Steam Q1 2020!
• Linux Version (We Hope) - Getting things ready to attempt a Linux release has been a little challenging, but we're making progress and hoping we can at least have a beta going around the time the Steam version launches.