What's in development (June 2011)

A day ago I noticed one of the gates had a power distortion in them at stratum 6. Now, whenever I see power distortions I think, "Woo, boss stratum!" but this one was different. Instead of fire, it was Undead. This got me thinking that three rings was going to release a new boss. New patch comes out, no new boss, and the power distortion disappeared. So, I wanna know, is there going to be an T3 Undead boss in an upcoming patch?

Also, I wanted to say that I appreciate all the work that Three Rings does for this game unlike all the whiners out there and you'll always have my "Top 10 MMO" Vote.

Ryuzhin, Citadel can be fire or undead.

Anyways, excited for the new dungeon, hopefully it appears during my vacation

Oooooh. Very exciting!
I am looking forward to this stuff when it eventually comes out.

I can't wait for the new Tier 2 boss/stages. I was pleasantly surprised with the Snarbolax boss/stages, so hopefully I'll feel the same with this upcoming content.

I'll assume that one of those Gremlins, if not both, offer some sort of method to finally unbind equipment? (I don't actually expect an answer to that though, of course)

Also, the Danger Room change sounds as exciting as it sounds frightening.... Can't wait...?

You guys working on spiral knights are amazing, you spoil us with so many nice updates. Keep it up! <3

>Content
> happy

thank you nick for keeping us in the loop about this. new bosses is always nice to have

King Tinkinzar.
Gremlin boss
BUAHHHH

Thank you.

PVP is music to my ears.
Thanks for the update!

New stuff ! Thank you so much, looking forward to it

Ooh. Anyone have a guess what those new gremlins will be doing? I bet one of them will do unbinding for a fee, and I have no clue about the other.

Nick, is there anyway you could confirm/deny whether there will be more frequent danger rooms? I love danger rooms, and I want to experience them more often!

How wonderful! Thebadger and I had been planning a Gremlin Haiku Hijinks Competition for a few weeks. The new gremmy content falls right into place with our new competition as soon as we wrap up the Snarby Limerick Competition.

Speaking of wrapping up the Limerick Competition, we need our guest judges (Nick and Spiral HQ) to pick their favorites. The limericks have been nicely presented for the judges and SK fans on the Wiki at http://wiki.spiralknights.com/A_Beastly_Limerick_Competition

Nick's limerick picks can be emailed to Badger@weirdness.com

can't wait for new place, can't wait for pvp, and curious about the gremlins coming.
shoot I hate explosions though :c

Release the core already Nick, stop polishing it :<
Anyways, new content is always appreciated.

Also you should use the adding npcs update to get Brinks in Emberlight too.

PS: And add giving /dance an animation on top of the priority list for next update.

First Snarby, now this tier 2 boss... Wow, I can't wait for PvP, too!

If these gremlins are indeed the unbinders I hope they perform their services for crowns rather than CE. There desperately need to be more crown based functions in the game to encourage players to not simply horde CE.

When will the first update with one of these features be?

Do we get those shiny Flamethrowers they have now?

Sounds pretty cool. I'm very excited and hope we get an unbind feature.
Thanks for the info and all the work you guys are putting into this game.
I appreciate it and am looking forward to what's in store.

@Cantus... Lol that would be awsome.

IGN The one and only, Guardianknight.

Hey nick, I hope you get into the habit of doing this each month!

Also, since Snarby was a new boss, does that mean this new one will be getting a wallpaper as well? Oh! What about Vanny and Jelly King?

anyways, I love this game. c:

exciting news about another boss stratum, i was hoping the next one would be tier 2! looking forward to that, and seeing what the hubbub is about the other changes...

TWO Gremlins providing services in Haven? If one's the unbinder... man, I have got to know what the other one provides.

Hmm. "Unbinding" sounds like it could be a bit "black-market-y" in the Spiral Knights world, like how criminals scratch off serial numbers on firearms in the movies. (Or Drebin de-registering ID-locked weapons for Snake to use in Metal Gear Solid 4.) I wonder if the other Gremlin shopkeeper will provide something else that sounds "underhanded," storywise. Rare randomized materials or recipes stolen from the Gremlin armies? The new method of Mineral boosting? The previously-removed weapon-bonus trinkets (again, stolen from the Gremlin armies)? So many possibilities.

I doubt King Tinkinzar would be at the end of the Ironclaw Factory... only the Gremlin elite can even look at him, and the Darkfangs outrank the Ironclaws. (And the Crimson Order outranks the Darkfang... They're pretty much the only ones who get to speak to him regularly.) I'd speculate it's one or more members of the Crimson Order running the show at the end of the Tier 2 boss stages, if it's not just a particularly vicious and crafty factory manager. This way, His Slyness is free to head up a Tier 3 boss stratum populated by Constructs. (And, there could be a narrative hook where the King in Tier 3 is alerted to the Spiral Knights' activities by way of them disrupting one of his operations in Tier 2.)

I am, of course, perfectly fine with being pleasantly surprised by Tinkinzar ending up as the boss of the Ironclaw Munitions Factory after all. It sounds potentially epic. And explodey.

These development updates are very appreciated and make me excited to see what comes out next. Keep up the good work! :D

Unbinding for one - whats the other service gonna be? Hmm.

All sounds really exciting, definitely looking forward to PVP!

Sounds pretty cool, but can you guys pop out that unbinding option I really need to buy more ce and waste it for fun, and without unbinding well it lays there mocking me =(, and hopefully it cost as much as I estimated it to cost by reading your previous posts on it.

Side-Note: (What I thought up for unbinding + random guild mates), So basically what Eos thought up:

Unbinding: To unbind a 5* item should cost 2.5k Ce

You can not unbind any item which comes from a token vendor, and any item that is a 4* or 5* of token vendors.

You can not unbind any rare items (Ground breaker or rose series)

Why 2.5k Ce how did we come up with this # for 5*:

800 + 400 + 200 + 50 + 10 = 1,460 + 1k Ce fee added on (a bit more than 1k Ce) = 2.5k Ce (We liked round numbers)

Well anyways just hope you guys can get this update out sometime soon =)

I guess UV? Pay an unholy amount of Crowns/Energy to synthetize a UV, or upgrade one?

Unbinding: To unbind a 5* item should cost 2.5k Ce

You can not unbind any item which comes from a token vendor, and any item that is a 4* or 5* of token vendors. -Njthug

I don't think preventing token items from being unbindable is a good idea. Suppose you make a mistake or change your mind: you should be able to unbind it and at least attempt to sell it. Besides, not being able to unbind Sealed Sword/Antigua is silly when you can unbind what comes out of it, the same deal the new 2 star items. Not being able to unbind Ancient Plate if you bought it with tokens, but being able to unbind it if you crafted it is also silly.

Secondly, no no no no no no and NAY on unbinding costing CE. Make it cost Crowns. I don't care if it costs 100k crowns or 500k crowns, just please oh please make it cost crowns. We desperately need more crown sinks. And the other gremlin should have crown sinks too!

Also, could you guys please look into the issue of players manipulating the energy market? Being able to put walls of orders up can't be what you guys intended :/. That plus crown sinks would be absolutely fabulous.

Could be unbinding + UV retinkering.

Yay, more stuffs~

I was hoping Gremlins would get a Tier 3 dungeon, but it's always possible this could be a construct dungeon. After all, it is a factory, and gremlins make constructs. :P

I'll be happy with it either way, though. Interested to see what kind of boss fight we'll get and how the crown rewards compare to Jelly. :P

I haven't been on in a while and I am in a mood of bloodlust, dunno about you, the part about explosions worry me though... Could it be??? The stupid Devilites have teamed up with the Gremlins in an attempt to kill the Spiral Knights?? My swords need sharpening and my guns want to warm up, so you better bring it, I will light you up!!! Bring it.AOOOOOOOGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yay for Gremlins ! :333333333333333333

"Over the next month, we plan to implement a new store that will allow players to "unbind" items. There will be a fee for doing so, roughly equal to the cumulative cost of crafting that item."

It is not outright stated that it'll be in Crystal Energy, but CE's value in relation to Crowns fluctuates wildly. So there are two ways to make unbinding cost the proper amount:
1) Make it cost CE
2) Make its cost based on the "Last Traded At" value visible in the CE marketplace

Between these, 1 is a lot simpler and is just less likely to go horribly wrong in unpredictable ways.

I'm personally fine with it (as there was no such thing as unbinding in the previous MMOs I've played), but others.... ehhh... might not be...

The UV system does desperately need addressed at some point, but I think (hope) that will be addressed at a later date. C'mon OOO, give us SOME way to influence UV's.. optional ingredients, additional crown/CE cost, quests, just SOMETHING! This entirely random system isn't enjoyable for anyone.. there are over 55 possible UV's on armor, for example, considering the 5 levels of UV and all possible status resists/defense stats. It's tedious, frustrating, and downright absurd for those of us pursuing specific UV's. Especially considering as more content is added the need for specific UV's is only going to increase--fire res for this boss, shadow defense for that boss, etc, etc.

Anyway, the UV issue certainly needs to be looked at but my bet for the second gremlin NPC is on an "armor dye" system for changing personal colors.

Bring it!!! Three Rings.

I am excite.

I'm guessing the boss of the Ironclaw Munitions Factory will probably be an Ironclaw Demo riding a mecha that shields, has stunning attacks, and can place/throw bombs.

I have a sinking feeling that one of the new danger rooms will have regenerating blast blocks.

I imagine the gremlins will sell vials and tanks like those below. The tanks would be helpful, but I hope they sell pills as well.

I'd love to see the following looks as complete arsenal / costume series:

- Pirates (cool boots, broadswords and muskets)
- Samurai (Great swords with a nice two-handed diagnol slashing motion)
- Ninja (w/ nunchuks and throwing stars)
- Viking (stone hammers, cool helmets)
- Robot (futuristic weaponry like ray guns or atomic swords)
- Predator style (w/o copyright violations)
- Something along a sabretooth tiger or lion look with claws and teeth and perhaps a tail that whips

Some weapons I'd like to see include:

- Ray guns
- Weapons on a chain or that you could swing for distance attacks, perhaps a whip
- Weapons you could throw like the above-mentioned ninja stars or knives

Gremlin boss strata...?
Dammit, looks like I'm finally going to have to invest in a Nightblade, or something. All my elemental-damage weapons just ain't gonna cut it no more. :(

Also: Hurrah! Potential crown sink! Although I wouldn't be totally surprised if the unbinding option will end up costing players both Crowns AND CE, due to the crown/CE exchange rate varying so much, and all 3*-5* gear having an inherent CE cost to build them in the first place. If the unbinding process cost a static amount of crowns (only), it could potentially place an artificial limit on the value of CE (since all 3* and up weapons have an inherent CE value). Although I don't know if this would be a good thing or a bad thing, honestly.

can't wait for all of this
o_o

Thanks for the update info! I'm glad danger rooms are being expanded, because as a dev myself, I am always looking for ways to improve a game without a ton of work. I think danger rooms are a perfect fit for this.

Danger rooms are relatively small, enclosed spaces, and the engine appears to be tile based in some form. Heck, this should be a community feature, putting out a level editor for danger rooms. A few spikes here, a status square there, and you've got yourself a new danger room. If the players could design this element of SK, and players could either vote on designs or have OOO pick out their favorites, it would take the work off your shoulders and SK would have a lot of unique, creative danger rooms. This would aid in battling repetition. It's much simpler than designing a new stratum and full level layout (although I'm not saying to stop on that).

The rest sounds great of course, I was just thinking "finally" when I read the part about danger rooms. So easy to diversify, without too much work or testing needed, definitely about time.

Keep the developments comming. Good little game.

PvP is most swank.

Get some teams. Get some FFA deathmatch. Get some duels on spikes.

Good Gig.

Munitions = bullets and explosives
I wouldn't be surprised if I was plopped into an industrial wasteland with gun puppies spamming bullet hell and gremlin demos running around like they've ingested enough sugar to give Vanaduke a heart attack while dropping bombs like hot potatoes. Anyway, I can't wait. Gremlin #2 might provide us with exclusive bombs and guns cuz that's how Gremlins roll. BBBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Judging by the name of the area, as well as it being Gremlin-themed, I would assume the token equipment would be Bombs and Guns.

There better be stationary turrets to blast a gigantic mecha boss with.

New handgun as the IMF token equipment would be much appreciated. Also, even though Brinks hasn't got any recipes on stock so far, it's good moment to introduce Thwack Hammer and Wrench Wand upgrade recipes.

As for the gremlins, just like keenmachlne said, I suppose that second gremlin will be the one who enable personal colour change.

Anyway great news - as a mostly T2 dweller, I'm really looking forward to this update.

BTW, due to my upcoming wilderness vacations I will be offline for three weeks now - it's not any kind of boycott or something :-D
Hopefully we'll meet again on July in Ironclaw Munitions Factory.

Oh man, a T2 new boss? I am excited. 8D

I've been making forays into T3 but it's difficult and scary, so some new T2 content while I build up my arsenal sounds great. Looking forward to it.

Even crazier danger rooms? Augh, I am afeared. D:

Ironclaw Munitions Factory?

Is that the Nick way of saying Gremlin Bullet Hell?

It was kind of a slap in the face not having a single gunslinger equipment in that last boss, I hope you at least considered something for gunslingers in this next boss!
I'd be very very happy for a gunslinger-specific shield for a change, or at least a bomb-specific shield.

Honestly, more levels is the only thing in this game that interests me, so I'm looking forward to new boss stratum.
You should release a few more regular levels, too, not just boss strata!

I have to say one of my favorite things about this game so far has been the new content released almost weekly.

Bravo OOO. I am one very happy customer.