Fixes

• Fixed an issue where the "Add Time" button was not functional after returning to selection.
• Fixed an issue where the "Time Remaining" data was missing after returning to selection.
• Fixed "Add Time" button was not showing for new purchases

[ 2025-06-05 14:29:00 CET ] [ Original post ]

Fixes

• Fixed Wicked Jack's portrait for real this time.
• Fixed NPC VFX issues (purple stuffs).
• Fixed a stuck spot in Dryfoot.

Improvements

• Reduced culling range in Newhaven City to reduce the number of NPCs loaded at any given time. This should make the city less crash prone.
• Self-Effect panel can now only be moved while holding the "Move UI" keybind.
• Added a "refresh" button to the Self-Effect panel (while Move UI is held) which will force a refresh of the layout group: this may or may not help with the panel not collapsing.

Minor Engine Update

Updated the engine to the latest minor revision. This brings the following updates:

• Upgrades DLSS version from v3.1.10 to v3.7.20, fixing some ghosting artifacts and improving image stability.
• Fixed a crash occurring with FSR2.

Subscription Time Blocks

As mentioned in a previous post, we encountered issues with Steam's subscription payment system - most notably, a number of users experienced double charges. We reached out to Steam immediately for support, but it took nearly two weeks for them to acknowledge the issue and inform us that they are working on what they "believe" is a fix. With Steam's subscription system failing to meet our needs, we are shifting to a model where players can purchase fixed "blocks" of subscription time. This data will be managed locally, giving us full control over account status and significantly reducing our reliance on Steam's backend. Their role will be limited to processing payments. Effective immediately, you can purchase subscription time in the following blocks:

• $11.99 for 30 days
• $29.99 for 90 days (17% discount)
• $54.99 for 180 days (24% discount)
• $99.99 for 365 days (31% discount)

These options can be accessed via the "Activate Subscription", "Add Time", or subscription button in the in-game control panel (top right). For those who were double charged, we have credited your account with the appropriate amount of game time where refunds were not possible. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to us on Discord or via email at support@stormhavenstudios.com. Thank you for your patience and continued support.

[ 2025-06-03 17:00:36 CET ] [ Original post ]

This months update introduces a range of improvements, bug fixes, and technical enhancements. NPC abilities have been upgraded with new visual effects, giving players clearer cues to interrupt or evade attacks during encounters. Additionally, the game engine has been updated to Unity 6, which has allowed us to enhance performance and expand dynamic resolution options, ensuring smoother visuals and better optimization across various systems. It should also be noted that with this patch we are officially deprecating the legacy launcher. Thank you legacy launcher. You served us well; may you rest in peace.

Fixes

• Fixed a potential exception when sorting the guild list.
• Fixed a potential exception when retrieving the most recent chat tab.
• Fixed auction house level slider not working correctly for recipes.
• Fixed portrait context menu not being available while missing your bag.
• Fixed missing portrait for Verika NPC.
• Fixed missing portrait for Wicked Jack NPC.
• Fixed timeout at character select taking you back to legacy login.
• Fixed Hallows from floating apart in some zones.
• Fixed framerate limiter not being respected after changing quality settings.
• Fixed dropped Radiant Fluxes not stacking with crafted ones.
• Fixed zoom in/out keybinds working while chatting.
• Fixed stairs in Forgotten Depths from not receiving target reticle decals.
• Fixed AC value on some low level gloves.
• Fixed the reset button position for the control panel (upper right).
• Fixed typo on Flasks of Viscous Tar.
• Fixed issues with mismatched time remaining for subscription tooltips and UI elements.
• Fixed crafted crab meat missing the "seasoned" prefix

Improvements

• Resource nodes now have abbreviated overhead names.
• Ability line-of-sight checks are now cached to avoid multiple identical raycasts per frame.
• Added the "/discord" chat command to open our Discord invite link.
• Added basic armor and weapons to Newhaven Valley merchants.
• Added a search field to the crafting window.
• Added loading screen tip "If you are having trouble with ranged NPCs try breaking line of sight".
• Wolves may now howl.
• Increased Flatworm collider radius by 70%. This "should" make them a bit easier to catch. If they continue to be a problem however, let us know and we will re-work the detection methods in a future patch.
• Warden ability Venom Shock: updated the alchemy tooltip text description to be named "Ember Shock" and that it deals Ember damage specifically with alchemy.

NPC Execution Visibility Improvements

To improve the visibility of NPC ability executions we have started to add corresponding visual effects. This first pass touches all control-based effects (Confuse, Root, Snare, Stun, Daze) which should make it easier to interrupt pesky NPCs with a non-resisted Stun, Daze, or Fear. A number of these abilities will also use new unique animations.





We will continue to add NPC VFX where appropriate in future patches. In the mean time, feedback on the current implementations is welcome!

Engine Upgrade to Unity 6

Both the game client and server are now running on Unity 6. This update brings performance improvements, bug fixes, and makes a number of new tech tools available. The first new tech we are utilizing is a revamp of the dynamic resolution options available in our graphics settings. Previously, we offered a "Resolution Scale" slider (which was AMD's-FSR1), and DLSS for those with supported Nvidia cards. We are now able to offer the following three options:

• STP (Spatial-Temporal Post-Processing): this is Unity's platform agnostic frame-gen solution that works on Windows, MacOS, and Linux with any current hardware.
• FSR2 (AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution 2): this is AMD's frame-gen solution that works on Windows and does NOT require an AMD graphics card.
• DLSS (Nvidia's Deep Learning Super Sampling): this is Nvidia's frame-gen solution that works on Windows with compatible Nvidia hardware.

Each has a quality dropdown which allows you adjust the upscaling towards higher image quality or faster performance. Each technique offers something a little different and performance benefits will vary from machine to machine. We encourage you to tinker with these settings to find what best works for you. In addition to the above changes, Unity 6 should yield slightly better performance all around. More new tools we will be investigating in the coming weeks to further improve performance.

Payment Issues Update

As mentioned in this post, we are continuing to work with Steam to resolve back-end issues related to subscription payments. However, due to the ongoing delays, weve decided to transition away from monthly subscriptions and instead offer blocks of perk time for purchase. This change will give us greater control and allow us to address any future issues more quickly and efficiently. When this new system goes live, any un-refunded subscription payments will be converted into equivalent game time. This change requires some development work. In the meantime, we will continue to provide free subscription perks to all users who log in through Steam.

[ 2025-05-27 16:22:27 CET ] [ Original post ]

Due to a recent issue with Steams payment processing system, some users have experienced account-related disruptions and unexpected transaction activity. A support ticket has been opened with Steam, and we are actively working with their team to better understand and resolve the situation. To ensure no one is negatively impacted during this time, we have issued full refunds for all eligible subscriptions made during the affected period. Unfortunately, some transactions were initiated with an order number of 0 (mainly duplicated ones initiated by Steam, not us); for these we have no way to issue a refund from our end. For any transactions not refunded we will make sure that your accounts are properly credited with sub time once the free weekend has concluded. Finally, we believe that all subscriptions should be cancelled at this point, but we recommend double checking your Steam account page to ensure that no active subscriptions to Embers Adrift remain. In addition, as a gesture of goodwill and appreciation for our communitys patience, we will be making all subscription perks free to access for everyone throughout the upcoming holiday weekend. If you use "Login with Steam" your account will be granted all subscriber perks. To help prevent similar issues in the future, we are actively working on adding alternate payment options to give our users more flexibility and reliability when purchasing subscriber perks. We encourage any users still experiencing issues to contact our support team on Discord or at support@stormhavenstudios.com. Updates will continue to be shared via our official channels. Thank you for your continued support!

[ 2025-05-23 04:29:45 CET ] [ Original post ]

May 14th, 2025

Fixes

• Rotating bits on Hallows in Grizzled Peaks (and elsewhere) should no longer drift away.
• Fixed issues with mismatched time remaining for subscription tooltips and UI elements.
• Fixed some issues with AC on some level 1 gloves.
• Toned down VFX for Basilisks.
• Reverted input package to fix issues with keybinds with the alt modifier on windows.

Improvements

• Added shortened overhead nameplates to gathering nodes.
• Added basic armor & weapons to Newhaven Valley merchants.
• Added VFX for Grubs, Fireflies, and Gaunts.
• Added VFX and new animations for Vengeful Mangrove.
• Adjusted STP step counts to allow for a greater range of resolution scaling.

May 13th, 2025

Fixes

• Fixed a potential exception in guid roster sorting.
• Fixed a potential exception when retrieving the most recent active chat tab.
• Fixed missing portrait for Wicked Jack
• Fixed typo on flasks of viscous tar
• Being timed out from character select/creation now takes you back to the start screen rather than the legacy login screen.
• Reset button for the control panel (upper right) is now in the correct spot.

Improvements

• Ability line of sight check results are now cached to avoid multiple identical raycasts per frame.
• Added loading screen tip "If you are having trouble with ranged NPCs try breaking line of sight."
• Added "/discord" chat command to open the discord invite.
• Added tech to allow for abbreviated overhead names for resource nodes. These will trickle in and be updated as the data gets added.
• Warden Ability Venom Shock: updated the alchemy text description to be named Ember Shock, and that will be dealing Ember damage specifically with alchemy. This a text update only for Alchemy I/II Venom Shock.

NPC Execution Visibility Improvements

To improve the visibility of NPC ability executions we have started to add corresponding visual effects. This first pass touches all control-based effects (Confuse, Root, Snare, Stun, Daze). These should make it easier to interrupt pesky NPCs with a non-resisted Stun or Daze. We are currently working our way through the NPCs and hope to have them all wrapped up by the end of the month. Some are partially done, while others we consider fully complete are:

• Ants
• Basilisks
• Bears
• Bats
• Beetles
• Boars
• Boars
• Crabs
• Crocodiles
• Cragscales & Snatchscales
• Stags & Does

Notable locations that require some attention:

• Newhaven Valley: all creatures that live here have been updated.
• Basilisk's Run EV: Basilisks have a very unique VFX that we would like some feedback on.
• Redshore Beach: requesting feedback on Crocs and Crabs

[ 2025-05-13 15:39:18 CET ] [ Original post ]

After hours of reimporting textures, compiling shaders, and working through errors we finally have Unity 6 clients ready for testing! Engine upgrades are always a pain in the neck and typically introduce random bugs; that is where you come in! First you will need to switch Embers Adrift on steam to the "development" branch. This can be done by right clicking on Embers Adrift in your Steam library -> Properties -> Betas -> Beta Participation dropdown select "development". Note that this will patch your game to the latest QA client - and in this particular case download is a decent size due to the engine upgrade (many files have changed). Once live and dev are on the same engine version then this difference will typically be much smaller. To swap back to live you follow the same procedure outlined above but select "None" in the betas dropdown.

Changes

This is primarily a technical update and requires testing of all gameplay elements to validate that everything works as it did previously. However, this upgrade provides us with a few new tools that we have started to experiment with. The first change we are testing is a revamp of the dynamic resolution options available in graphics settings. Previously, we offered a "Resolution Scale" slider (which was AMD's-FSR1), and DLSS for those with supported Nvidia cards. We are now able to offer the following three options:

• STP (Spatial-Temporal Post-Processing): this is Unity's platform agnostic frame-gen solution that works on Windows, MacOS, and Linux with any current hardware.
• FSR2 (AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution 2): this is AMD's frame-gen solution that works on Windows and does NOT require an AMD graphics card.
• DLSS (Nvidia's Deep Learning Super Sampling): this is Nvidia's frame-gen solution that works on Windows with compatible Nvidia hardware.

Each has a quality dropdown which allows you adjust the upscaling towards higher image quality or faster performance. We are considering enabling STP by default for new players to smooth things out and make a better first impression - but we need to hear from you all first! How does STP run on your machine? How does STP compare to FSR2 and DLSS? Do you think that we should enable STP by default for new players? Please join the discord and drop us a line in the #qa channel with your thoughts and experience! In addition to the above changes Unity 6 should yield slightly better performance all around. There are some additional new tools in Unity 6 that we will be investigating in the coming weeks to improve performance further. We have some fun content and features planned for this month so stay tuned for further updates! And no, it's not GP2 yet (although we are getting much closer!). NOTE that Unity 6 builds currently only exist for Windows & MacOS. Linux is running a little behind but hopefully will be ready soon.

[ 2025-05-12 03:58:27 CET ] [ Original post ]

Fixes

• Fixed spelling error in Daeric dialogue.
• Fixed spelling error in Daeric's title.
• Fixed typo in Flasks of Viscous Tar

Improvements

• Steam Login button is no longer disabled when Steam fails to initialize. Instead, the button is disabled (grayed out) with a tooltip indicating that the client must be started through steam to use this feature.
• Added text to the legacy login screen as a reminder that the embersadrift.com account credentials are used.
• "Subscription: New Purchase" changed to "Optional Sub: New Purchase" to drive home the fact that the included subscription with a new purchase is optional.
• Adjusted the corpse + loot roll timeouts on the server for named and boss mobs. This should reduce the chances of th body expiring before loot rolls have concluded.
• Default graphics quality changed to "Performant"
• Default humanoid resolution changed to "Medium"
• Default cloud quality changed to "Medium"
• Default Nvidia DLSS to enabled when supported.
• Added optional subscription cost & perk details to the Steam page.
• Added instructions on linking legacy accounts to Steam to our Steam news page.

[ 2025-05-06 16:21:17 CET ] [ Original post ]

For those of you who have previously purchased the game on EmbersAdrift.com we have reserved a Steam key just for you! Following these instructions will allow you to access your characters with your Steam credentials. Please follow steps 1, 2, 3, and 4. If you had been playing for free before our transition to Steam but have never purchased the game, you will first need to purchase the game here on Steam before following the instructions below to access your current characters. Once purchased please follow steps 1, 2, and 4. If you run into any issues during this process please reach out to us on Discord in the #embers-help channel!

Step 1: Link your forum account to your steam account

(you may have already performed this step as it has been available for a few months now) Open up your EmbersAdrift.com account page. Here you should see a new option called "Link My Steam Account"
This will show a modal popup with a button to "Link My Forum Account"
Clicking this button will take you to your forum account preferences "Connected Accounts" option.
Click the "Associate with Steam" button which will take you to the following Steam webpage
Sign in here to associate your Steam ID to your forum account. Our back-end needs this information for the next step.

Step 2: Permanently link your EmbersAdrift account to your Steam Account

Return to your account page and once again click the "Link My Forum Account" button mentioned above. You should be shown the new modal:
Clicking the "Link My Embers Account" will establish a permanent link for the associated Steam ID to your EmbersAdrift forum account. This step allows you to access your forum-account characters with your Steam credentials.

Step 3: Redeem your Steam key (if you have previously purchased the game on EmbersAdrift.com)

If you have previously purchased the game your account should now show the following
Clicking "Redeem Steam Key" you should get a new modal
Which has a "Redeem on Steam" button to add Embers Adrift to your Steam Library.

Step 4: Launch the game and login with Steam

When launching the game through steam you will be presented with two login options: Steam Login, and Legacy Login

• Steam Login: logs in with your Steam credentials and allows you to purchase a subscription.
• Legacy Login: allows you to continue to use your forum username & password. Using this method will not provide any subscriber perks and has been left in place to allow those with multiple accounts to access those characters. Keep in mind that non-subscriber accounts only allow for two active characters. To gain subscriber perks on a secondary account you will need a second Steam account to purchase a subscription.

Logging in via Steam will bypass the need for any username/password and instead will use your SteamID to validate ownership and subscription status:

[ 2025-05-06 16:20:36 CET ] [ Original post ]