Salutations Lords and Ladies!

As you know, two months ago we brought an open beta test of the new Prowling feature to your sanctum door. It was an awesome week and the feedback we received was amazing. We'd like to thank you all for the fantastic reception—and a very special thank you to those who participated in our Prowling Survey.

We're excited to announce that Prowling will officially launch on

AUGUST 28, 2023!

On this date the Prowling button on your Homescreen will unlock and this feature will be a permanent part of the Rising's daily gameplay. We may need to take the game temporarily offline to conduct maintenance for this update. We'll have announcements ingame to alert you!

• Power Rebalances
One of the most important rebalances comes in the form of the available powers. We heard the majority of you saying that the powers were "too weak compared to what is received from events". While that original decision had good reason and was fully intended, it's more important to us that you find value while enjoying this feature.

Thus you'll see that when Prowling launches, all of the Red Blood Upgrades stats have received "Lift" adjustments. If you're not in the know about Lifts, this is the term we use to designate categorical stat boosts to upgraded powers. We also use Lifts as equators for balancing where other, new, non-boosted powers should fall. 

As of now, nearly all Lift bonuses have been significantly raised to any powers where one requires Prowling to attain them, and is as follows:

> Lift 1 (levels 1 - 44) adds +10 points to original power’s high Stat
> Lift 2 (levels 45 - 89) now adds +20 points to original power’s high Stat, up from +15
> Lift 3 (levels 90 - 349) now adds +50 points to original power’s high Stat, up from +20
> Lift 4 (levels 350 - 1044) now adds +100 points to original power’s high Stat, up from +40
> Lift 5 (levels 1045 - 2114) now adds +120 points to original power’s high Stat, up from +45
> Lift 6 (levels 2115 - 3015) now adds +150 points to original power’s high Stat, up from +50

It's important to note that the rule of red blood upkeeps persists, so these adjustments have incurred relative increases using the same system we have used throughout the game.

• Adjusting Bosses
Perhaps one of the coolest aspects of Prowling has seen a serious tweak. We understood from your feedback that the bosses were difficult for some but not at all for others. After doing some investigating, it was clear that for where the majority of the community's levels sit, the Champion bosses were just a little too tough.

We've used the exact same formulas here as we did in the Rising's sister game, Vampires: the Darkside (which has had these same bosses and mechanics for several years), so we know doubtlessly that it will only take some dedication on your end to your vampire builds to make these bosses feel more comfortable.

If it hasn't been made clear by now: Prowling's been created for longevity. The items that you accrue and the fusions that are available have been thoughtfully implemented so that as you grow rewards and unlocks continue to be gleaned from this feature. This is the same for bosses.

In understanding this, we knew we couldn't nerf the unliving hell out of Champion bosses without them becoming far too easy for you once you've put more skill points into your vampire, we have rather chosen to make Champions unlockable. Similarly, we have made it that Nobles will also have this same mechanic.

As of launch: levels [1 - 89] will never fight Nobles or Champions. At level [90], Noble bosses will become unlocked and available to you. Meanwhile, levels [1 - 299] will never fight Champions. At level [300] Champions will become available to you.

As Champions are currently the highest level boss and are now designated to high-level players, we have adjusted their rewards to be more fruitful. All of this can be found in our updated Prowling Enemies article here at the CSD knowledge base.

As well as improved high end item rewards, another improvement is in giving health back to you after you defeat your enemy. Nobles and Champions will now deliver guaranteed health returns. As well, Champions, specifically, have a chance of dropping any of the new Health consumables (see below) in their uncommon rewards.

• We've had our artist hard at work addressing reward graphics, making it easier to discern at a glance whether you've received a Common, Uncommon, or Rare reward; as well as spicing up the boss' "Victory" and "Path Ended" graphics to better match the new changes.

• New Health Consumables Arrive
We understand that in the case of your vampire build needing improvement Prowling's enemies can be a bit unforgiving. Leveling is the right answer here, as shaping your skill point allocation is the best way to breeze through these bosses with little effort. Still, it's also true that enough health will carry you into winning any class regardless of your build.

With that in mind, and also in consideration of enhancing your daily combat, we've implemented a new consumable type: Rising Health consumables.

You'll now find at the crypt some few changes to the Health category. A new category is present, containing the old "Health" name... but it's actually brand new!

Health This category will open to offer you consumables in amounts of 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%.
Rising Health 25% 1FP	Rising Health 50% 2FP	Rising Health 75% 3FP	Rising Health 100% 4FP

Just like Rage and Energy orbs, these will be delivered to your Items screen for use at any time. While Rising Health can be purchased from the Crypt, it also has a chance of being Uncommonly rewarded (in all variations) after defeating Champion bosses! 

For better clarity and to balance it against the new consumables, the original 100% instant health option has been renamed "Instant Health", and we've gently lifted the price to 4FP (up from 2FP).

These new options are now at the very top of the consumables section for your convenience!

For a deep dive into the nitty-gritty details, please drop by our CSD article

Patch Notes | Aug | 2023 (Prowling)

Coming Soon
• Avatar Shop will see an update, with 100+ new avatars soon to come!

• Expanding Customization. Soon you'll see new ways for you to customize VDR. Expect new shops in the Crypt and free versions of these new items to glean freely from other game features!

• Gifting is on the workbench. We're currently working on allowing you to gift more to coven, with Instinct Points and Avatars being first on the list, and new customization items to follow.

Looking Ahead...
There's still a long ways to go to get to our long sought after VDR 2.0. In the meantime, here's a look at the rungs for climbing that ladder:

• Crypt Updates. On our workbench are new crypt items that will heat up your battles.

• Event Updates. We're looking into new systems for events to have them be more contribution-based. We don't like to just handing things out to those who don't participate, and we especially don't like rewarding those who choose to sabotage their team. We'd also like to see you to have more choice over what awards you receive for your contribution. We want a play-more get-more atmosphere for event time.

• Daily Rewards. Nothing would mean more to us than to be able to give back to everyone who consistently visits the Rising, and a daily rewards system is the perfect way! 

• Prowling Updates. We want to offer more ways for you to use the items you'll collecting from Prowling. We also want to open up new limited-time areas for you to explore and gain from, possibly as a new type of event.

• Additional Features. There are really big ideas on the table for new features to bring to the Rising. We want to bring the VDR's gameplay more depth and also offer more tangible social connection (we're looking at you, families! wink, wink)! We're still in the decision phase, so we can't be too specific right now, but suffice to say our level of excitement is very high. 

• Even more things! Believe it or not, we have a lot more in store for the Rising. We'll have more announcements as we get here!