UnderMine 2’s fifth major update is here! Behold, peasants! The Demon Rivalry in 0.8.0!

Sho’guul returns to the Undermine, but this time he is not alone. There is balance in all things, peasant, and the aether is no different. On one side of the aethereal plane is Sho’guul, the embodiment of change, chaos, and entropy. On the other, his sister Order, the literal essence of peace, design, and justice. These demons—or gods—as the humans describe them do not just represent these things; they are them.

To say they curry favor with you would be giving you too much significance. Instead, you are a tool for their machinations against one another; for Sho’guul hates his sister and vice versa. Perhaps hate is the wrong word—they work against one another. For there is no reality in chaos, and no purpose in a world without change.

This balance of power is called Tendency and it is measured at all times. Pushing it in one direction or the other will change your chances of meeting with one of the two demons. An encounter with a demon means a powerful prize, but small sacrifices must be made.

Order, Primordial Impetus

Order, falsely worshiped as a god by the Arcane Sanctum and the Kingdom of Delvemore, represents one extreme of the aethereal plane. She toils against her brother’s slovenly entropy and employs champions to preserve creation. Light, justice, and peace come from Order… they require effort, intention, and discipline. All things lacking within Sho’guul. Proving your worthiness will grant you an audience, but tribute is required to claim her prize.

Sho’guul, opulent demon

Sho’guul delights in the knowledge that he is inevitable. It is not a matter of ‘if’ he will overcome his sister, but a matter of ‘when.’ Nothing can toil against his entropy forever. Time moves in one direction, and it always marches toward him. For this reason, Sho’guul may lounge and live in excess. If you choose to fight in his favor, he will reward you, but not without donating some curses to your cause.

Tendency

If you have been playing UnderMine 2 in Early Access, you may have wondered what this big chasm of nothing is in the journal. Welcome to Tendency! This feature has been planned from UnderMine 2’s inception, and we are so happy to finally bring it to life. Tendency is the state of the world and which demon currently favors you. Many things affect your Tendency including the items you pick up.

You may have noticed a little symbol in the middle of item cards. One represents Sho’guul and is a “Guulish” item, and the other represents Order and is an “Ordered" item. Picking up a Guulish item will push your Tendency towards Sho’guul and make for a chance of meeting him at the end of a floor. As you pick up different items, and perform different actions, your Tendency will change. It is up to you to leave this to chance, or manipulate it in your favor.

Legendary Daemonic relics

Each demon has an assortment of very powerful legendary relics for you to choose from. These relics provide powerful effects that cannot be found anywhere else in the game. Some of them are returning fan favorites from UnderMine 1, but many of them are new and unique. A couple even started as rare relics, but were far too powerful to remain as such. Sho’guul and Order’s item pools are unique, so you will need to strategize and give yourself the best chance of obtaining the relic you want. It is possible, however, to meet both demons in the same run, though the odds are low.

New ACHIEVEMENTS

MORE Gambling!

After unlocking Black Rabbit, new gambling parlors will appear in the Undermine. These offer unique rewards compared to the gambling machine in the Rabbit Hole and can aid you on your run. It is gambling, however, and you can wind up with nothing just as easily. Sometimes these rooms will even appear with a health-to-gold converter for maximum danger.

And much more…

As always there is a lot more in this update, including balance changes and bug fixes. Some items have been improved, such as Galoshes and Helios boots which are now relics rather than arcana. A new mechanic called Reserves has been added to lightning relics and arcana. Reserves remembers the lightning damage you have dealt and has different effects depending on the item. Many new poison relics were also added, further expanding that build type.

Demon Rivalry will release soon, but you can try it now on the TestMine. This update has been a lot of fun, and we look forward to sharing it with you.