Kataclysmic Confrontation!
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.

Guild Changes
The following prices in the Guild Hall have been adjusted:
- Upkeep costs reduced by approximately 80%
- Installation costs increased by approximately 20%
- Furnishing prices increased by approximately 10%.

All guilds have been granted a week of free upkeep and any guild currently in default has been removed from default.

Fire Crystal Recipes

To celebrate the release of battle sprites and other exciting, new features detailed here, 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!

Changes
- Reduced the attack power of Caustic Quills.
- Reaching an elevator with an emergency revive and with less than the total possible health offered by an emergency revive will now restore your health to that total.
- Added difficulty mode selection when entering the Arcade outside the mission interface.
- Added a game option to disable the hit flash and low health warning effects.
- Reduced the drop rate for Sparks of Life.

Bugfixes
- Vengeful and Virulent Quills attack power has been fixed.

Bugfixes
- Fixed an issue preventing sprites from 'leveling up' after level 100 and gaining an additional perk.
- Once all perks have been collected and heat is maxed, sprites can no longer be fed.

Changes
- Added an Alchemy Machine to the Lab
- Added a Sprite Food Machine to the Haven Town Square
- Adjusted the UI for the Sprite Food Machine to be more clear that materials can be swapped out
- Sprite food alchemy will no longer request sprite food as an ingredient
- If no key is assigned for a sprite skill, clicking the sprite skill icon on the HUD opens the controls selection interface
- You can now see monsters on the minimap when the 'Show Monster Health' option is unchecked

Bugfixes

Bugfixes
- Fixed stuck doors in the Clockworks.
- Adjusted the mission rewards of 'Alchemy for Beginners.'
- Fixed the spawn rates for Orbs of Alchemy in Tier 3.

Today, many exciting changes have arrived to Spiral Knights! Many of these changes were previously explained in detail here. Please read the following patch notes carefully as they outline some significant changes and important, new features to the world of Spiral Knights.

Battle Sprites

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.

Earlier we outlined the various skills battle sprites will be able to acquire. In case you missed it, you can read up on those here.

Now, I'd like to take to introduce the powerful, ultimate versions of these skills that battle sprites can acquire. Once a battle sprite has achieved a very high level and maxed out all the augments in a given skill, it can choose between two ultimate versions of that skill.