The ninth update for Swarmcade is now live, and it brings some major new upgrades, a new on-stage vendor, another secret boss, QOL/tweaks, new achievements and bug fixes.

A lot of you who have been playing since the early access launch will have likely maxed the Upgrades and accumulated excess gold. Some of you have asked for more things to spend gold on, and this update is happy to oblige! Let’s look over it in better detail.

There have been 5 permanent Upgrades added, all are all quite game changing.

First up, we have the new HP Regen. Yes, now all characters can unlock passive regenerating health. This is a big change for the game and should make the difficultly easier across the board. This offers an alternative to some players feeling they always have to pick Healing Wind (though surviving through heart drops is still possible, and has also been updated).

Note cooldown does affect HP Regen, so Hourglass as well as the infinite cooldown stats can increase the rate even further. Healing Wind is still in the game and essentially doubles the rate of healing.

Second, the Damage upgrade stat has been increased from 5 to 10 offering a new total max damage boost of 35%. It should help take the edge off some of the tankier foes.

Third, Extra Life has new levels. Each rank does not grant a new revival chance, instead it increases how much life you get after you are revived. It’s now possible to increase your revive amount to around 70% of your total life.

The fourth and fifth upgrade warrants its own section…

Once unlocked in Upgrades (though either item or weapon upgrade), a vendor will appear on each stage. If the player visits him, they will find that he will stock every single regular item and weapon in the game! He does not stock those the player already holds.

This provides a way to now guarantee you have a way to get the item/weapon you want when you get those moments when the RNG is being frustrating, or you are out of rerolls.

Buying from the vendor does come with a cost though. He doesn’t trade in gold, instead a far deadlier currency: he wants your life! Not all of it, just a drop. His costs start high, but can be lowered through his upgrades. But the choice is yours. You don’t have to take him up on his offer right away/or at all. He’ll be happy to wait.

The vendor upgrades are split into two. One upgrade unlocks items, and the other weapons. Given how powerful he is, his upgrades are designed for a player at the late/endgame.

(It is recommended to turn retro voices on to hear some dialogue from the vendor.)

As a result of passive healing being added to the game and increases to other upgrades, several items have had a balance tweak. Full details in patch notes follow.

• NEW Upgrades added:
  – Damage increased to 10 ranks (from 5)
  – Extra life increased to 5 ranks (from 1)
  – HP Regen added with 5 ranks
  – Item Vendor added with 3 ranks
  – Weapon Vendor added with 3 ranks
• NEW Secret boss added (can be fought on all stages)
• Balance: Heart drops now heal an increasing percentage of max health
• Balance: Healing Wind max level changed to 1HP/2s from 1HP/1.5s
• Balance: Nimble Nectar dodge chance changed to 10>20>25>30>40>50%
• Balance: Stage 3 bats are slightly faster to allow for faster kills during boss
• Balance: Ghosts and clown faces do slightly more damage on Stage 3 hard mode
• Tweak: Added an end wave if stages go on too long
• QOL: Several Upgrades descriptions changed for clarity/the new ranks
• QOL: Added patch version and notice to title screen (this is just for early access duration to make it easier to identify which version and highlight the biggest update for players)
• Bug fix: Fixed some more crash instances, most commonly caused by late game boss/chest spawns
• Bug fix: Rare instance of Final Bosses not spawning
• Bug fix: secret boss 3 sprite error
• NEW – 3 Achievements
 [requirements]
  – Purchase anything from the vendor
  – Fight a super secret boss (any stage)
  – Purchase 82 perma upgrades in total (this does not require maxing all upgrades)