Welcome Valorians, new and old!

 

Over a year ago Godfall made its way into the hands of eager players, many of which would go on to become fans that continue to support and inspire us to this day. We set out to create the first looter-slasher – a mechanically rich melee ARPG featuring deep authorship over builds and tactics via our “tinkerer’s dream” loot system, all tied together with engaging co-op play. We wanted to create an experience that was fun to play solo, better with friends, and with none of the hassles or FOMO of a live-service product with microtransactions. 

We have been listening closely to player feedback since the launch of Godfall and fueled by the drive and passion of our fans we have worked incredibly hard to deliver as many of the community’s most requested features to the game as we can. With the launch of the Exalted Update, we have provided a whopping 12 patches to polish the Godfall experience into the ultimate looter-slasher you see today. As Godfall: Ultimate Edition arrives, we’d like to take a moment to reflect on our journey and highlight our favorite moments we’ve shared with the community since our initial release. 

Launching on the Playstation 5 and Epic Games Store back in November 2020, we were incredibly excited to see all the impressions, reactions and suggestions for the game. Our first priority was to target bugs and stability – we deployed two maintenance patches (2.1.17  and 2.3.15) within our first month, each containing over 100 resolved items.

We revealed the first of many free major updates with the Primal Update during the Epic Spring Showcase. With this update, we wanted to target feedback around monotony in the endgame grind. The result was a new loot subtype with Primal Items, a rework of our Tower of Trials and Dreamstones endgame activities, along with new features like our beloved Zenun Shopkeeper, 450 Ascension Levels to power up beyond the level cap and of course more Quality of Life improvements.

We then turned our aim to the highly anticipated Fire & Darkness  Expansion, which we revealed during E3. Fire & Darkness featured the fabled Fire Realm, expanding the story with a new campaign starring a hefty cast of 12 new enemies and 5 new bosses, alongside 30 cosmetic items. 

We also released the free Lightbringer Update alongside the Fire & Darkness expansion. Hearing the demand for more activities, this major update included a brand new endgame mode in Lightbringer, and with it, a new loot subtype with Cursed Items as well as 50 earnable cosmetics. We also reworked our Ailment system to breathe new life into the playstyles offered by the game. Ailments such as Ignite, Chill and Shock were no longer just visually different DoTs, but now offered functionally unique mechanics. We were excited to see the explosion of build theorycrafting and meta discussions that ensued, truly encapsulating the tinkerer’s dream.

Our next goal was to grow our Godfall community by launching the game on the Playstation 4, with PS4 to PS5 cross play support and a free upgrade to the PS5 version for all PS4 players included. It was the perfect time to bring the community together by introducing matchmaking to the game!

As we crossed over the one-year mark, we wanted to address a reoccurring point of feedback – many players felt the story progression got in the way of the real core of the game – the endgame – while others wanted to play with their max level friends without having to complete the campaign first. To tackle this we created the Challenger Edition. It was the most accessible way to experience the best Godfall had to offer. We also launched the free Challenger Update to all players introducing a new Quest system to target specific loot, as well as the much anticipated update to Mass Salvage (we had players hoarding well over 150k unique pieces of gear!)

That brings us to today with the release of Godfall: Ultimate Edition, alongside the free Exalted Update. This release is a love letter to all of our fans, both those who have stuck with us throughout our journey and those who have not yet joined us. It is our largest update since launch, tackling many major community requests to create the most complete version of the game. We’re addressing things such as Valorplate homogeneity with Valorplate Shards, additional end game activities with the Exalted Tower of Trials and Spirit Realms, to even offering a revamped Story Campaign – for first timers, or veterans alike! We’re also incredibly excited to welcome new Godfall players on the Xbox and Steam platforms to Aperion.

Only with the support from our community were we able to reach this amazing milestone together. We appreciate your time with us and your belief in this game’s potential. 

From all of us at Counterplay Games: Thank You!

We hope you enjoy your experience with the free Exalted Update and Godfall: Ultimate Edition available April 7th on Xbox One, Xbox Series S|X, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Steam, and the Epic Games Store.

 

Godfall: Ultimate Edition and Exalted Update (5.0.118) Release Notes

 

Godfall: Ultimate Edition is the first version of Godfall available on the Xbox and Steam platforms, and we wanted to welcome both new Valorians as well as veteran players with the best version of Godfall to date. The free Exalted Update also brings new game modes and new unlocks to chase, while also allowing us to revisit some of our core systems and retool them to better reflect our original vision for the game.

 

Valorplate Shards

Valorplate Shards are a new set of powerful, Valorplate-specific unlocks that transform the combat experience in unique ways. Players will be able to mix and match their favorite Shards to create a loadout that best fits their playstyle and allows them to get even more power out of their favorite Valorplates and builds. 

 

Collecting & Upgrading Shards

Each Valorplate has been enhanced with four Valorplate Shards that can be unlocked by completing various objectives while wearing that Valorplate, such as defeating a specific boss or reaching a specific floor in Ascended Tower of Trials. Once unlocked, players can equip up to two Shards at a time and gain access to powerful new modifiers on their abilities.

 

Ascend to Power

Once unlocked, Valorplate Shards can be upgraded up to five times at the Forge to become even stronger. Upgrading Shards requires crafting materials and electrum, and your ability to upgrade is limited by the number of Shards you have unlocked across all Valorplates. Unlock more Shards to increase your maximum Shard upgrade level.

Unlocking and upgrading Shards has additional benefits:

• Ascend your Valorplate by unlocking all of its available Shards, gaining access to a powerful new passive ability exclusive to that Valorplate
• Exalt your Valorplate by upgrading all of its Shards to max level, unlocking another passive ability as well as an Exalted cosmetic for that Valorplate

Ascended and Exalted Valorplates will be highlighted in Sanctum, allowing you to see your collection progress every time you return from missions.

 

Exalted Tower of Trials

With Valorplate Shards granting players more power than ever before, we wanted to make sure that players had new challenges as well. Available after completing the Ascended Tower of Trials, Exalted Tower of Trials is a series of the most challenging encounters in Godfall.

• No boons or banes – your best builds vs. 10 floors of the most challenging encounters in Godfall
• New loot exclusive to Exalted Tower of Trials: Triple Primary Weapons
• Earn Cursed, Primal Items & Dual Primary Augments
• Can be done solo, but multiplayer is highly recommended

 

Spirit Realms

The Spirit Realms are a new game mode in which the barrier between the Material and the Spirit Planes has been weakened to the point where Valorians can pass between them at will. Spirit Vision, traditionally allowing players to peer through the Spirit Plane, will now cause players to shift back and forth between planes; this mechanic changes the approach to both combat and exploration.

• Engage in Planar Combat – While exploring the realms you’ll encounter enemies that exist in either the Physical or Spirit Realm and can only be damaged while on that plane; shift back and forth between planes to vanquish your enemies.
• Explore the Spirit Realm – Discover new challenges and powerful boosts while traversing the Spirit Realm. Defeating enemies in the Material and Spirit Planes causes them to drop Souls that can be used in various ways:
  • Soul Altars can be activated to trigger challenging encounters that drop Elder Souls upon completion
  • Shards of Macros can be activated to release Macros’ memories and gain powerful Boons
  • Spirit Gates allow you to quickly teleport around the Realm
• Activate the Elder Gate – The Elder Gate can be activated once you have collected enough Elder Souls from the various Soul Altars around the Realm. The Elder Gate leads you to an epic final showdown with the realm’s boss high up in the sky.
• Spirit Bosses – All bosses featured in Spirit Realms have been updated with new mechanics allowing them to fight across both the Material and the Spirit Plane in exciting new ways.    
• Calling All Valorians – Spirit Realms can be completed by yourself or in a party with up to two friends. Matchmaking for Spirit Realms will also be available and will support up to six players in the realm at once, making Spirit Realms the largest scale multiplayer experience in Godfall to date.
• Complete all the Realm Loops – Defeating a Realm Boss only suppresses its power temporarily. The Realm will loop several times before it’s fully completed, increasing difficulty and rewards each loop. Stay and complete all Realm Loops for the biggest reward, or drop out at any time and keep the rewards you have gotten so far. 
• Dual Primary Augments – Once the Realm Boss is defeated it will drop rewards, including a new type of loot: Dual Primary Augments! The type and amount of Dual Primary Augments it will drop is influenced by the power and affinity of the Elder Souls used to charge the Elder Gate.

 

Revisiting the World of Godfall

 

Path to Realm Boss

One of the most consistent pieces of feedback we received on the Godfall story campaign was that the process of collecting Sigils to unlock Realm bosses impeded momentum in the story and could occasionally feel like a grind. The Sigil mechanic has been removed and replaced by the Path to Realm Boss system, giving players agency over when and how they take on the bosses of the various Realms.

• Realm Bosses now appear on the Holomap until they are defeated in the story, and can be attacked as soon as their missions are available
• Realm Bosses are protected by their Captains. Each Captain provides the Realm Boss with a powerful Boss Modifier that will make them a formidable challenge in a direct fight.
• Defeating each Captain is optional but will remove their associated Boss Modifier, weakening the Realm Boss and tilting the odds in the player’s favor.

 

Revamped Story Experience

With new Valorians on Xbox and Steam entering Aperion for the very first time, we wanted to take this opportunity to revisit the Godfall campaign and create more opportunities for players to engage with the world.

• Story Missions have been reorganized, with previous side missions now integrated into the main story path
• Removed some Hunt missions to keep players focused on critical path activities. These missions will still appear as Dreamstones
• Valorian NPCs now appear in Sanctum and may fight alongside you in Story Missions, helping provide additional context
• New cinematics added throughout the main story
• Enemies now appear via tribe-specific arrival methods, rather than the standard portals
• Added new contextual load screens across all game modes

 

Slay in Style 

This update brings a series of new cosmetics to chase, unlock, and show off while playing with friends.

• 12 Exalted Valorplate cosmetics, received when all of the Shards for a Valorplate are fully upgraded
• 4 new cosmetics for each Weapon type
• 5 new Shield cosmetics
• 5 new Banner cosmetics

Check out all of these new cosmetics in the updated cosmetics viewer, or in Sanctum where each Valorplate Pedestal will now display its currently equipped cosmetic! 

Some existing cosmetics have received new visual effects to make them look more exciting.

 

Quality of Life Improvements

 

Valorplate Loadouts

One of our main quality of life goals with the Godfall: Ultimate Edition was to truly make Godfall the tinkerer’s dream. What better way to promote that goal than with the long-awaited addition of loadouts?

• Create up to three distinct loadouts for each Valorplate, each with its own configurations of Gear, Augments, Shards, Skills, and Cosmetics. Design the perfect builds for every situation!
• As part of this work, Skills have been changed from a global setting across all Valorplates to being Valorplate-specific. Skills can now be accessed and configured via the Valorplate section in the Player Menu
• Copy individual loadout elements across Valorplates in Sanctum 

 

Inventory Sorting/Filtering

We took an important step forward in the Lightbringer Update with the addition of Mass Salvage, enabling players to quickly convert unwanted items into useful materials and currency. With the introduction of sorting and filtering, we wanted to make the process of finding the right items for the perfect builds easier than ever before.

• Sort your inventory by Newest, Favorite, Rarity, Level, or Name, as well as a handful of slot-specific properties (e.g. DPS for Weapons and Health Recovery for Life Stones)
• Filter your inventory by Rarity, Mutations (Cursed/Primal/Awakened), Traits (e.g. Critical Hit or Ailments), and a number of slot-specific properties (e.g. Weapon Type for Weapons)

Please note that when mass salvaging while your inventory is filtered, only items that appear in the current filter will be salvaged.

We’ve also made it easier to flip through pages of your inventory on gamepad as you now can use the right analog stick to do so.

 

Player Revive System

Players will now enter a downed state upon reaching 0% health. rather than immediately dying, respawning, and automatically consuming one of the limited lives in endgame content. Downed players can be revived by other players in multiplayer, bringing them back to life where they stand at partial health.

• Downed players will slowly bleed out, and will die after X seconds if not revived 
• Revived players are brought to their feet at 50% health
• Reviving a teammate will consume life stone charges in more challenging content
• Revived players will not count against the game mode life counter

 

Combat Improvements

 

Attack Changes

• Weapon Techniques for all weapons can now be used to initiate brand new Timing Attacks after reaching level 5 in the Weapon Technique Skill node
• Improved the damage output of Timing Attacks to make them more rewarding to execute
• The heavy Timing Attack for Dual Blades has been replaced and can now be completed more quickly
• The hitbox for the Warhammer Heavy Timing Attack has been improved, and enemies are now hit by multiple parts of the attack both in front of and behind the player
• The hitbox for the Warhammer Northern Technique has also been improved so that enemies are also hit during the windup animation

• Added Weapon Technique Timing Attacks for Dual Blades, Polearms, Greatswords, and Warhammers
• Added a visual cue for when the Spectral Takedown ability is available
• Level 5 in the Ailments Skill node now causes Spinning Blast and Shield Bash to consume Ailments

 

Knockdown Changes

• Players can no longer be knocked down by regular enemy attacks; attacks that will knock the player down now have a clear visual indicator and can be blocked, parried, or dodged
• Level 2 in the Finesse Skill node will now unlock Quick Recovery, a new ability that enables the player pop back up from a knockdown state more quickly to escape further damage

 

General Combat Changes

• Enemies are now disabled for longer after parrying Perilous Attacks, making it more rewarding to do so
• Players no longer lose Archon Fury charge during enemy grab attacks
• Added a visual flourish when switching between weapons
• Improved readability of AOE zones, enabling players to better differentiate between friendly and hostile ground effects
• Improved combat haptics on supported gamepads

 

General Quality of Life Improvements

• Some of the more punishing banes in Ascended Tower of Trials have been updated to enable more reasonable counterplay from the player:
  • The “Life Stone Disabled” bane now reduces Health Recovery by 50%
  • The “Banner Disabled” bane now reduces Banner duration by 50%
  • The “Archon Fury Disabled” bane now reduces Archon Fury Charge Speed by 50%
• Improved the Gameplay section of the Codex to add more tips for game modes and mechanics
• Doubled reward rate for Mirrors of Duplication, enabling players to clone more items from Quest rewards
• The Player Level experience bar in the personal menu is now replaced by an Ascension Level experience bar after reaching Player Level 50
• Enhanced the Detailed Stats screen to include stats for Ailments, additional damage, and Overhealth
• Added Sanctum VO at the beginning of the Tower of Trials as well as the end, indicating that the Tower has been completed
• The “Banner of Flame” banner cosmetic has been renamed to “Crown of Fire”

 

Balance changes

To ensure a balanced combat experience and to reduce the need for certain “must have” items, we have made the following balance changes:

• Ailments deal 20% less damage
• Overhealth Retention traits have been reduced by approximately 25% – 50%
• Lion Talisman (Legendary Charm) effectiveness has been reduced by approximately 50%

 

Bug Fixes

Updates with a sword ⚔️ are based on player feedback collected from our various communities and through support tickets.

 

Combat Related Items

• Solved an issue where abilities that required targeting would not work at times during story missions.
• Solved an issue where activating Spectral Blow would be inconsistent when the target was within melee range.
• Solved an issue where breaching an enemy through a Weakpoint would not allow the player to perform a Takedown on that enemy until it finished its recovery animation. ⚔️
• Solved an issue where Petrying Slam would not petrify an enemy if that same damage instance was used to breach the enemy. ⚔️
• Solved an issue where the Polarity attack buff would persist after switching off the polarized weapon.
• Solved an issue where Siphon and Sunder Slam skills could be missing gamepad vibration with the “Controller Vibration” option enabled.
• Solved an issue where the Greatsword’s Northern Technique could have missing gamepad rumble while spinning.
• Solved an issue where the last hit of the Longsword’s Light and Heavy combos had a delayed gamepad rumble.
• Solved an issue where the Warhammer’s running Light Attack and Charged Heavy Attack could be missing gamepad vibration with the “Controller Vibration” option enabled.
• Solved various issues where certain Shield attacks could be missing gamepad vibration with the “Controller Vibration” option enabled.

 

Enemy/AI Related Items

• Solved a multiplayer issue where Fire Howlers could still move & attack from a knockdown state if put there by an Arcing Shield Throw. ⚔️
• Solved a multiplayer issue where Grieves Sunsteel could appear desynced when using charging attacks. ⚔️
• Solved a multiplayer issue where Kragani’s bracers health bar could regenerate when a player was downed in combat.
• Solved an issue where Nyak Summoner’s red unblockable attacks could be blocked by parrying.
• Solved an issue where Solari’s Beam Massacre attack would be missing its Blue Weakpoint.
• Solved an issue where Wraith-Lord Decimus could appear instantaneously without any VFX in the “Alluvial Plains” story mission.
• Solved an issue where Crystal Crawlers would ignore players and fail to aggro.
• Solved an issue where Lunara’s backwards dash attack would fail to hit the player.

 

Equipment Related Items

• Solved an issue where Breach Duration bonuses were three times greater than the indicated percentage.
• Solved an issue where canceling the Banner deployment (by getting stunned or knocked down) when using Karmic Soul (Augment) would still grant a Life Stone and allow the player to deploy the Banner again. ⚔️
• Solved an issue where changing the currently equipped banner after its been deployed could grant a full banner charge. ⚔️
• Solved an issue where Epic Warhammer chests would not spawn in Epic or Legendary rooms in any version of Tower of Trials.
• Solved an issue where no loot may drop from defeating Mid Bosses and Bosses on Dreamstones above level 46. ⚔️
• Solved an issue where Absorption (Augment) would not receive any benefits from rolling as a Primal item.
• Solved an issue where Blood Fox Talisman (Charm) would not summon a sentinel once its conditions were met. ⚔️
• Solved an issue where ‘Health gained per kills’ secondary traits would restore health for a different amount than listed. ⚔️

 

Game Mode Related Items

• Solved an issue where Shield Throws would not count towards objective tracking (such as Merits or Bonus Objectives) if the enemy hit was a certain distance away. ⚔️
• Solved a multiplayer issue where Dreamer objectives remained locked after completing a Dreamstone. ⚔️
• Solved a multiplayer issue where respawns were inconsistent, sometimes spawning players at the start of their mission. ⚔️
• Solved an issue in Lightbringer where selecting a second curse could cause a crash. ⚔️
• Solved an issue where defeating all enemies in the Floating Remnant story mission before completing the “Activate Twilight Beacon” objective would cause a progression break.
• Solved an issue where players may fall out of bounds when using Phase Nodes in “The Monolith Depths” map.
• Solved various issues where players could not increment or complete Quest objectives while in a multiplayer party.
• Solved an issue where enemies could spawn out of bounds in the Tormentor’s Asylum story mission.
• Solved a multiplayer issue where Air Realm missions could spawn a really dense fog, impairing navigation. ⚔️
• Solved a multiplayer issue where if the host of a Lightbringer session left after engaging the Boss at the end of a Heart of Darkness event, enemies would no longer drop the remaining light crystals needed for other players to finish the mission. ⚔️
• Solved a multiplayer issue where one or multiple players would not be sent back to the Sanctum after completing a Lightbringer run.
• Solved an issue with the Tour of Sanctum quest where it could not be completed if a player joins a multiplayer session during the “Open the Quest Menu” objective. 
• Solved an issue where the “Defeat Decimus” objective would not update and cause a progression break.*
• “Solved an issue where the “Defeat Macros” objective would not update and cause a progression break.*

 

*Special Note: While we’ve fixed a major source of the issues behind “Defeat Decimus” and “Defeat Macros” bugs, we have reason to believe separate, unique use-cases can lead to similar issues. We are monitoring and appreciative of community feedback related to this.

 

Menu/HUD/UI Related Items

• Solved an issue where Archon Fury Spirit Warriors could display a Weakpoint on themselves after attacking an enemy.
• Solved an issue where using Weapon Techniques with a Polearm could cause the player’s camera to slightly rotate.
• Solved an issue where Lightbringer’s intro subtitles may be stuck on the screen if the player skipped the cinematic.
• Solved an issue where “+Damage” secondary traits would not show a change in Damage in the Item Comparison UI. ⚔️
• Solved an issue where loot VFX would be missing if the player was downed when it spawned.
• Solved an issue where double tapping a ‘Press and Hold’ prompt would cause it to remain visible and usable from a long distance. ⚔️
• Solved an issue where mission completion item rewards would sometimes appear with an unknown number attached to it in the Loot Feed.
• Solved an issue where rapidly swapping between item pages using a gamepad controller could cause a crash. ⚔️
• Solved an issue where the Augment Tutorial would not trigger until Level 20+ despite the first Augment slot unlocking at Level 10.
• Solved an issue where the display text for the Siphon Skill incorrectly stated that enemy copies only lasted 10 seconds, when the correct duration is 30 seconds.
• Solved a multiplayer issue where activating Archon Fury would display a screen effect and screen shake to all players, regardless of distance from the activating player.
• Solved a multiplayer issue where Flash stun abilities (such as Parry) displays a screen blur to all players, regardless of distance from the effects origin.
• Solved an issue where abandoning a mission to return to the Sanctum caused the select prompt to remain stuck the first time it is pressed in any menu when using a gamepad.

 

Miscellaneous Items

• Solved an issue where Cosmetic rewards would not be granted to Challenger edition players who upgraded until their next game restart. ⚔️
• Solved an issue where disconnecting a gamepad would cause the game to unpause.
• Solved an issue where Friend Invite Codes could contain similar looking characters (such as 0 & O, 1 & I, etc).  Numbers will no longer appear in these codes, and all letters will be capitalized. ⚔️
• Solved an issue where pressing the Interact button while loading during the Logo or Title screens while attempting to connect could cause a crash.
• Solved an issue where Takedowns were missing their haptic feedback.
• Solved various collision issues with the environment where players could get stuck.
• Solved various issues where once per game launch, the game could suffer from stuttering or hangs.
• Solved various issues where using the level booster could lead to a loss of functionality. ⚔️
• Solved various issues with LOD objects, lighting, and other incorrect rendering issues.
• Solved various localization and text issues. ⚔️
• PC – Solved an issue where pressing the ‘Esc’ key while in the Mass Salvage menu could close all menus completely.
• PC – Solved an issue where equipping new augments could disable the ability to navigate through augment pages using Mouse & Keyboard.
• PC – Solved an issue where moving the mouse around the Holomap could cause the mission icons and location names to move around.
• PS4 – Solved an issue where subtitle text remained on screen if a player watched the “A Treacherous Path” mission intro cinematic to its entirety.
• PS4 – Solved an issue where subtitle text remained on screen if a player watched the “The Final Ascent” mission intro cinematic to its entirety.
• PS4 – Solved an issue where subtitle text remained on screen if a player watched the “The Flameblood” mission intro cinematic to its entirety.
• PS4 – Solved an issue where the Interaction Orb to open the Curse Selection Menu in Lightbringer could be missing its light VFX upon closing a Dark Tear.
• PS5 – Solved a multiplayer issue where player names could be missing from the social menu and the Holomap.