Melvor Idle's third expansion, Into the Abyss, is due to arrive next Thursday, June 13. With the expansion will also come an update prior to launch which brings quality of life changes and some free content to the base game. We've got all the details on these changes right here in this post. Here's the big stuff:

  • Strongholds have been added as a new challenge to combat.
    • They are much like dungeons, predefined monsters to kill with rewards.
    • They have tiers that increase in difficulty and all monsters within can deal "Pure Damage". RIP Damage Reduction.
    • Enhancements drop from Strongholds, providing you with minor buffs.
  • "In a future update you will be able to see where your bonuses come from" - this is that update!
    • This required a modifier system overhaul so mod authors will have some changes to make.
    • Not all areas of the game are done yet, but Skill XP, Mastery XP, Doubling, Preservation, Interval, and Thieving Stealth are all in.
  • Agility Obstacles now have a search box to look for modifiers!
  • A loading bar now appears when your game's offline progress is being loaded.
  • A monster list for Dungeons and Strongholds is in a new "Area Info" dropdown.
  • Combat panel now has more stats.
  • Fishing UI now displays XP and Interval without needing to select the fish.
  • You can now create URLs for sharing save games. Also exporting and downloading.

If you want to see everything that is coming outside of the expansion, check out the announcement below.

Quote From Malcs

This announcement details the free content and quality of life inclusions you'll find inside the upcoming v1.3 Major Update. These major update are usually released a few days prior to the Expansion launch.

Please note that v1.3 includes new content for the base game, so if you already have 100% completion, then you will need to reacquire it to equip the cape again.

New Content - Strongholds

Strongholds are a new Combat challenge that provides a few twists to what you're usually used to.

Similar to Dungeons, Strongholds will task to you slay a pre-defined set of Monsters for rewards at the end.

There are 4 Strongholds being added to the Base Game (alongside the 4 others for Into the Abyss).

Mechanics

Strongholds have the following mechanics:

  • There are 3 tiers to each Stronghold - Standard, Augmented and Superior. Each with increasing difficulty/passives and upgraded rewards.
  • Certain tiers require certain items to be equipped to enter.
  • All Monsters deal a new type of damage called Pure Damage. This means your Damage Reduction gear have no effect. This is a pure DPS combat challenge.
  • Monsters drop their regular loot inside Strongholds.
  • The Monsters contained within are ones you have already faced. No new surprises here.
  • Monsters have adjusted damage values to accomodate for the lack of Damage Reduction.
Stronghold Rewards - Enhancements

Completing Strongholds rewards you with a new type of item called an "Enhancement". These are minor buffs that you can equip to increase the power of your character.

Enhancements may provide bonuses to Combat or Non-Combat Skills.

There are 3 types of enhancements that you can equip which are denoted by their shape, allowing you to mix and match bonuses that suit your needs.






Superior Enhancements

The ultimate reward is what we call a "Superior Enhancement" which is obtained from the Superior Stronghold tiers. There is one Superior Enhancement per Stronghold.

Superior Enhancements can be equipped into any of the 3 enhancement Slots. The bonuses on these Enhancements combines the previous tier of enhancements into a single item, which acts as both a powerful buff as well as a Quality of Life enhancement to your character.



Quality of Life Additions

Alongside the new content, we have some nice Quality of Life additions that we are introducing.

Modifier Sources

Remember that text - "in a future update, you will be able to see where your bonuses come from"? Well, v1.3 is that update!

The entire Modifier system for the game has been reworked from the ground up (sorry mod developers), which has allowed us to provide this kind of information to you.

At this stage, there is only a few areas of the game that show where your modifiers come from:

  • Skill XP & Mastery XP modifiers
  • Doubling & Preservation chance modifiers
  • Skill Interval modifiers
  • Thieving Stealth modifiers



This system is designed in a way where its quite easy to obtain the sources of any modifier in the game. We have plans to expand this in the future for other stats.






Agility Obstacle Search

We've finally implemented the ability to search Agility Obstacles for specific modifiers you want enabled.

One of the most annoying aspects of Agility is attempting to figure out where modifiers are that will benefit your current goal. With this search function, it is now a lot easier to locate these obstacles.

Searching is simple - type the modifier you want (Any part of it, like the Skill name), and Agility will highlight where all the positive modifiers are located.

As long as the modifier contains the word you are searching for, then it will show you where it is.

 



Offline Progress

You will now see a progress bar, alongside how much more progress is left to calculate.

This should help in situations where you believe the game may be doing nothing, but its actually still calculating your progress.



View Monster List

You can now view the Monster List for all Dungeons & Strongholds in-game via the new "Area Info" dropdown menu.

This list will display the Monsters in order, and the number of times you will face them. If you have not defeated the Monster yet, it will show as a question mark.

Clicking the name of the Monster will also show their stats.



Combat Area Information

We've also added some more information to all types Combat Areas that you might appreciate. You can now see:

  • Whether it contains a Pet, and if you've found it yet
  • The number of times you have completed it (Dungeons & Strongholds only)
  • The Combat Triangle - Viewed as a table in game that automatically adjusts based on your gamemode and any potential overrides the area may have.
  • View on the Wiki - Moved into this menu





Other Minor QoL

Added more stats to the Combat stats panel



Slightly updated the Fishing UI to display the XP and Interval without needing to select the Fish



Ability to Export / Download / Create URL for saves in the top-right dropdown menu



Conclusion

We're nearing the release of Into the Abyss, so keep your eyes peeled for the upcoming v1.3 update!