Hail, knights!

Early next week, Spiral Knights will undergo a transformation, and accordingly will experience some extended downtime.

Here is what the update will contain:

Battle Sprites

This release will usher in the long-awaited Battle Sprites, adding whole new styles of play to the game. For example, you will be able take on different roles within your party based on the Sprite you choose to equip. Each player will initially be able to retain, via a new mission, one battle sprite for use in combat. Later on, you will have the option to add others.

Read more about Battle Sprites and their capabilities here and here.

Difficulty Modes

Battle Sprites are being added to the game in part to introduce more variety, and they will also have an impact on the degree of difficulty in the game. To balance this, we are adding the ability to select the difficulty modes for each mission or Arcade expedition. As difficulty increases, so do the potential rewards. This allows parties to determine how challenging their experience will be.

Energy System Changes

Since the game launched over two years ago, Spiral Knights has operated with a much-maligned energy system that limited the amount of free play that a player could experience every day. With our next update, we are removing this system. Here is how it will work after release:

• Elevators will no longer require energy to operate. You can play as long as you like.
• Mist energy is being removed from the game entirely, and crystal energy will just be “energy.” Energy will be used to trade for goods and services within the game as usual.
• You will now find loot drops (“Orbs of Alchemy” and “Fire Crystals”) in the Clockworks that you can use to craft and upgrade your gear.
• Revives will now be facilitated by in-game items called “Sparks of Life” which are dropped in the Clockworks and can also be bought.

Our goal is to make this transition between systems as smooth as possible. To that end, we will be implementing ways to give people an appropriate value for items such as mist wells, mist tanks, and elevator passes, which are being replaced under this new system.

We are removing mist energy for a couple of reasons. First, so that elevators will stop requiring the use of energy. Second, from a design perspective, we want to encourage Spiral Knights players to experiment with more of the game than our research shows that they currently do. It turns out that providing energy to players in greater or lesser amounts does not encourage them to try out different weapons and gear, something we have always believed was a core part of the Spiral Knights experience.

Orbs of Alchemy for Crafting

Orbs of Alchemy can be found as loot drops as you play in the Clockworks, and will be used instead of energy for crafting. Orbs exist for each star level in the game (save for 0 star). As you play, you will find over time that you have more orbs than you need for the upgrade of your initial choice of weapons, and that you have the resources to build a broader arsenal of gear. This, in turn, will make it easier for Spiral Knights players to experiment with more varied equipment and gameplay styles. Orbs of Alchemy, in addition to being found in the Clockworks as loot, may be bought from the Supply Depot.

Sparks of Life for Reviving

Currently in the game, you use either health or energy directly to revive yourself or your teammates. In addition, the energy cost of reviving rises each time you do it within a period of time.

Following the next update, this system will be replaced. Players will be able to find "Sparks of Life" as loot drops in the Clockworks, and use these to revive. If a player dies without sparks in their arsenal, they may choose to pay a flat energy fee of 50 energy to revive. This energy cost does not escalate over time, as the old system did--it stays the same. Sparks of Life may also be bought in bulk from the Supply Depot.

In addition, upon entering each level of the Clockworks, you will receive an "emergency revive". This emergency revive is a free action for each player. If you proceed to the next level dead, you will automatically use your emergency revive at the start of the next level. We’ll keep an eye on the data side of things to make sure this is having the intended effect on gameplay.

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Apart from the energy system redesign, some other changes will be coming in this release.

Star Levels and Equipment Availability

After this release, you will need to meet the required mission rank in order to equip items of a specific star level. This limits the availability of advanced gear for new players, and it establishes the importance and meaning of achieving those items; players will earn the right to use that gear.

Note for current Spiral Knights players: If you currently have a low mission rank, but you have high star level gear bound to you (i.e., you don’t have to be wearing it at the time of release), fear not! The highest star level item bound to you becomes your equipment limit. If you've never touched a mission, but you have 5* gear bound to you, you will still have the maximum equip limit.

Fire Crystals for Equipment Leveling

Following this release, players will use “Fire Crystals” retrieved from the Clockworks to level up their gear after acquiring the requisite amount of heat. Your choice of the number of fire crystals to use with each upgrade will have an influence on the success of the upgrade and the likelihood that the gear gains special bonuses, such as double level up. The heat you earn in the Clockworks remains yours, regardless of the success of the upgrade.

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All of these changes represent a huge realignment of the game, and we're aware that this will generate debate. Over the next couple of months, we will focus on refining these features and other areas of the game further to improve the overall experience of Spiral Knights, with an emphasis on improving the balance of Battle Sprites and making it more inviting for more players to advance further in the game.

The development team has been working long hours over the past months to complete these changes. Thanks in advance for bearing with us during the first days of release while we find and adjust any unforeseen issues this gigantic update may introduce, and thank you for playing Spiral Knights and being part of our community.

The discussion thread for this topic is here. Please keep your discussion in that thread so that we can easily find your feedback.