The October 8, 2026 update covers the Demo and the announced October 2026 Alpha Test. The demo has Nymera and Bjornir; changes for Sparkwing, Lumiri, and Thora are explicitly outside the demo.
Combat and item changes
Feature | October change |
|---|---|
Haste Orbs | Duration is 15 seconds. |
Fuel Spray | Applies a 50% Slow. |
Firebolt Wand | Renamed from Fireball Wand. |
Shields | A shield point is worth the same as a health point after the resistance correction. |
Shared 90-second cooldown; zero-second cast time except Invisibility at 0.5 seconds. |
Known issues
Issue | Workaround described for this update |
|---|---|
Infinite loading screen on some launches | Retry. |
Abandoning the Emergency tutorial quest | The match can become impossible to complete. Quit or die to progress. |
Exclusive Full Screen crashes | Use windowed full screen. The prior test's saved display setting can remain active. |
Inventory menu | Can open randomly on its own. |
See Controls, Equipment and Crafting, Haven, and System Requirements for the corresponding interface, crafting, social, and DirectX changes.
World and progression
The joint update expands enemy populations, encounters, and objectives throughout the world. New environmental obstacles include electric floors, electrical gates, brittle walls, switch doors, and Scrat drawbridges.
Presentation and performance
Lighting, environmental art, and readability improve in several areas. The update polishes enemy, boss, and ability visuals and audio; gives poison, corruption, and Darkness clearer feedback; and revises enemy effects to make attacks easier to read with less clutter. Ambient audio and character, Chroma, and cosmetic presentation also improve.
Mission entry and exit loading is faster, and performance improves in several demanding areas, including the Dragonvault. Server startup, networking, and desync handling are revised. Memory use is reduced, and several crash and server issues that interrupted or disconnected missions are fixed.
Progression and interaction fixes
Fixes address blocked or incorrectly reset quests, Vault waves and rewards, crafting, salvaging, repairs, and item movement between inventory and storage. Ability, perk, and artifact effects are corrected, alongside cases of keys, quest items, or crafting materials being consumed incorrectly, unavailable, or missing from drops.
Matchmaking, party joins, invitations, and online status receive fixes. Other corrections cover controller menu navigation, localization and missing text, and visual, audio, collision, and environment problems.
Darkness from an interaction disappears when that interaction ends. Moving, using an ability, or being stunned interrupts interactions, including looting. Ability queuing during charging is expected to work correctly after this update.
Map and interface changes
Repeatable quests gain a distinct map icon. Extraction Portals can appear through unexplored map areas where appropriate. NPC, event, and Point of Interest interactions improve alongside icons, portraits, map markers, other interface elements, and localization presentation.
Quest progression and assistance
Quest chains and progression requirements are reworked across Journeys. Assistance options for difficult encounters include Blightfire Tonic, Lycanthrope Potions, and Warden's Eye progression.