Codex Arcanum - Alchemical Cards and abilities

[oblique heart]

I had enhanced lucky 8s build with 8Ball

yet still it was insanely clunky and inconsistent to use Phosphorous

I found like 4 copies of it throughout the run

[spiral tendon]

that's what I'm saying, for things to feel valuable in this game, they almost require some amount of consistency

because at the end of the day, the final boss is RNG

[oblique heart]

Also (as usual) the most used/picked alc cards by me were Sulfur and Salt

as expected

[spiral tendon]

you play a bunch of cards or discard really deep, then you pop phosphorus, and then... you draw 5 unrelated random cards and it's as if you didn't do anything

yeah I like Salt and Sulfur I know they're gonna rework but money is money

[oblique heart]

I got 2 Negative tags from Salts this game lol

Ancient Joker + Straights Joker

[oblique heart]

yup

hope so

[oblique heart]

this happens every fkin time

I draw a bad first hand and bam

phosphorous is useless

and by the time I find my signature cards my discard graveyard is already filled with garbage and I'm out of discards/hands

Also, that might sound crazy at first but Ignis and Aqua feel quite underwhelming to pick as an option especially when you're already holding cards like Aero, Quicksilver, Salt, Sulfur (pretty much anything else). I get that they are "basic" elements but their power is definetely below average

They might need a buff to +3 hands/discards to be actually impactful and be a reasonable pick

[spice yacht]

Maybe +2 but three is like effective an entire uncommon Joker or more I think
I do think it'd fit well into the idea of improved versions of the cards tied to some other mechanic

[oblique heart]

+2 at the very least

+1 is a nothing burger 99% of the time

unless its 1-3 Antes of Gold stake

but even then there are better options

[spice yacht]

I mean I really like it for builds where you get a direct additional benefit out of constantly discarding or something

Idk

[oblique heart]

for sure, purple seal build really likes Ignis

but these 2 elements must provide enough base value

Might be a hot take but +hands are better than +discards via alc cards

oh, wait the other way around (edited)

[spiral tendon]

I mean I think +hands are at minimum double the value of discards, though in reality worth even more

there's scattered discard synergies but fundamentally hands give you money, scaling, and what amounts to HP

[outer pike]

hands are worþ $1

[spiral tendon]

oh, and on top of that 9 times out of 10, hands are also discards

[oblique heart]

yeah, considering all of the above Ignis could give more discards than Aqua hands

Aqua could be like +2 hands
and Ignis +3 discards

[fossil grail]

BTW just a quick update: Codex Arcanum is 2186 lines long

[tiny marten]

I have no idea if that’s a lot for a mod or anything code related

[fossil grail]

it's a lot of code for a Balatro mod

[tiny marten]

How many lines is Balatro itself?

[fossil grail]

a lot more

a whole lot more

[oblique heart]

spaghetti

[fossil grail]

very much

doing a small refactor of it rn

[fossil grail]

also, new Chain Reaction effect!

[ember crag]

oooooo

that’s very nice because i did accidentally kill a run once bc i used arsenic without thinking about the fact that i had chain reaction 😅

[fossil grail]

XD

[ember crag]

i was so flabbergasted when i suddenly ran out of hands while thinking i had 4 of them left

[oblique heart]

yoooo!

very nice effect

let's you stack up some alc cards for a big combo

[fossil grail]

I am currently migrating the joker logic to be more oraganized, so I am doing some changes

Like...

actual description for Breaking Bozo!

[oblique heart]

hold on

does this Joker copy Negatives as well?

[golden sparrow]

Yes.

[fossil grail]

if the played alchemical is a negative, it will produce a negative

it will not be double negative

[tiny marten]

That’s called positive

[fossil grail]

what's a positive?

[oblique heart]

I mean, it basically gives you a permanent effect of any alc card each blind as long as you have it right?

[tiny marten]

Math -1*-1=+1

[oblique heart]

So, theoretically, you can use salt every blind

[ember crag]

In theory, yeah

[oblique heart]

or antimony

[fossil grail]

oh that would be so funny XD

[oblique heart]

That's a rare effect

I feel like

not common for sure

lol

[oblique heart]

poor man's blueprint

[oblique heart]

wait wait wait

hold on

That's basically Perkeo

wtf

Just for Alc cards

[fossil grail]

works on the first alchemical used each blind

[ember crag]

it is a little less powerful than perkeo since it’s not letting you have more than one at a time

but it is still rather powerful with certain alchemy cards

[oblique heart]

wdym by that

you can farm infinite alc cards

[ember crag]

because you have to use the alchemy card to get the negative so you still only ever have one at a time

[oblique heart]

1 each turn

[fossil grail]

Plus, changed Catalyst Joker!

AKA really nerfed it

though it's still good

[oblique heart]

nvm

[ember crag]

ik its infinite but you can’t save them all up to use at the same time is what i mean

[oblique heart]

I see

[oblique heart]

Holding onto cards is boring

booo

[ember crag]

i mean that now synergizes with chain reaction really well tho

[oblique heart]

Isn't like the point of alc to actively use them?

[ember crag]

if you just hold onto all the negatives

[oblique heart]

oh yeah let me consistently find 2 Jokers out of 150+ every game

[fossil grail]

Catalyst also works with tarots, planets and spectrals

[ember crag]

i’m not saying you’ll get to do it every time, jeez

i’m just saying they do have synergy

[oblique heart]

ik but this is punishes you for using cards

[ember crag]

just like any other pair of synergized cards

[oblique heart]

that's kinda unfun, no?

[oblique heart]

bad example then

Joker doesn't need another Joker to work

[ember crag]

i’m not saying it needs the other joker to work?

you can still use it other ways

i was just giving a comment on the synergy

you don’t need to get mad at me for it

[fossil grail]

BTW chin reaction does not work on Philosopher's Stone

[oblique heart]

Ok, it synergizes with Chain reaction, what does that change fundamentally? That was my point

and I'm not mad, I'm just discussing this with you

all good

[oblique heart]

good call on that

[fossil grail]

oh it wasn't intentional XD

philosopher's stone is considered spectral

and i just got it in a run XD

[oblique heart]

oh yeah, right

I already forgot it had blue frame

damn

[fossil grail]

look at it

it's so pretty

Lyman did an amazing job with it

OBSERVE

[oblique heart]

right on

I wish I could make such pixel art myself

[fossil grail]

same

[oblique heart]

[fossil grail]

https://gyazo.com/401b4aa0f1ac403fbf3b235b8a700b41.mp4 also the background is so much smoother now

(the background changes when you use Philosopher's Stone)

[oblique heart]

woah

that's a nice touch

[fossil grail]

kars_on_mars is writing a poem

[oblique heart]

hold on I'm cooking

[fossil grail]

Letting you cook

[obtuse rune]

today is always a good day to start learning how

[fossil grail]

I wanna go to sleep but the suspense is killing me

[oblique heart]

I'll be done in like 10 minutes

you can rest if you want

[fossil grail]

Okki, goodnight!!

[oblique heart]

bb

[obtuse rune]

https://tenor.com/view/a-mimir-gif-24094978

[fossil grail]

https://tenor.com/view/a-mirmir-sunday-hsr-hsr-sunday-sunday-sunday-honkai-gif-17987047057992670932

[halcyon cobalt]

maybe have a seperate joker that increases consumable slots
could be themed like juggler, drunkard and troubadour

[golden sparrow]

Surprised something like that wasn't in the base game honestly..

[halcyon cobalt]

true

but i think it would be better if catalyst had the extra consumable slot thing removed and it got changed to xmult based on empty consumable slots instead of full ones

though maybe change the xmult it gives for each empty slot to be based on the total amount of consumable slots you have or smth

like if all of them are empty it gives you x2 or x3 mult but if you have more slots it gives a smaller amount per empty slot

[last snow]

Cool! Is there any nerfs planned for Catalyst?...cuz it seems kinda paradoxical to the point of the Alchemical Cards, being stowed instead of being used.

[golden sparrow]

#1221916334372290620 message

[last snow]

Ah, halved slots and xMult should be good, lol.

[oblique heart]

So, my thoughts on the changes/reworks:

1. Chain reaction
   Very powerful effect for a Common Joker. Could lead to a potential problem of finding that one meta alc card that everyone will be holding on to and copy it every blind for insane value (sounds op); potential broken combos that I can think of already - Salt, Quicksilver, Antimony, Sulfur (current version); free tags each round, +2 hand size each round, budget Blueprint effect (on a common joker), free money each round. What I can suggest:
   (v.1) Make this Joker Rare. After you use first Alc. card of round, create another random Negative one.
   or (new effect)
   (v.2) After you use an Alc. card, trigger the effect of all other Alc. cards used this round (echo chamber effect).
   Commentary: Regardless if you change this Joker's effect or not, it needs to be rare (the effect is very powerful and flexible for a common). Changing the effect to v.1 would make it less consistent and prevent meta alc. cards to be prevalent (which is not only boring but could also lead to op pairings and reduce the design space for future effects).
   Reworking to v.2 could make a fun combo-oriented Joker with a potential to create high value turns/blinds with via various combinations. That's just a rough idea.

2. Catalyst Joker
   Again - very powerful effect, two different effects actually, which is not something you can see in the game (usually Jokers only do 1 thing but this one has 2 great separate effects which are also working of each other). As I've said before, this Joker has to do only one thing or the other (+slots/xMult) as well as scaling (temporary) only by using cards during blind like:

• Gain X1 Mult for each consumable card used this blind (Starts at X2).
  Commentary: Holding on to cards generally is not a fun mechanic (imo), however, using them - now that's a fun part. We already have enough support for this effect (Crystal Ball, Mortar, Seals, Emperor card, Starseeker, High Priestess, Fool and few more Jokers that generate consumables). I see no reason why this effect wouldn't perfectly go in line with the game. Current effect is quite busted and incentivizes you to play around a unfun mechanic.

3. Breaking Bozo
   Similar problem with Catalyst Joker - too many effects; and you can't really play around them (where money bonus effect is the best one and is always a high rool) which can lead to a frustrating experience. I can't really suggest the solution for this one since I consider its og effect fundamentally flawed. So, the 2nd best thing I can do is suggest this effect instead:

• After you get an Alc. card, give it 4$ sell value and a Negative edition.
  Commentary: This effect is reliant on Alc. cards but in return it can give you economy boost (sell Alc. cards you don't need for more cash) or create big combo turns by using multiple Alc. cards during a Blind which you stack during the run.

Wall of text jumpscare

Agree? / Disagree?

[halcyon cobalt]

i agree

these seem like good changes

[oblique heart]

keep in mind that these are my predictions and we need to see cards in action first

to fully judge

[halcyon cobalt]

true

[nocturne seal]

so, idk if this has been brought up yet, but currently ALL alchemy packs cost $4 due to what I assume is a bug

[oblique heart]

i don't remember anyone talking about that

but yeah I noticed that too

it just went over my head tbh

[fervent shuttle]

Joker idea that I had
Endless nameless: every fourth consumable used, copy it, the copy is destroyed if a different consumable is used.

[golden sparrow]

If you go to ln 1320 in the code you can find the pack values and edit them. You'll see a string of 4's vertically, that's the price value

There's something else I found and edited and can't remember what it is

[glass patrol]

man how did you get so good at pixel art its honestly stunning

[obtuse rune]

alchemy

i put my blood sweat and tears into the craft

(mostly tears)

[glass patrol]

one day i will harness this power of alchemy and tears

[lapis patio]

i feel like i'm the only one who just doesn't hold consumables with catalyst cause i don't wanna

[fossil grail]

continuing the refactoring of the mod: now the mod is split into multiple files!

[outer pike]

canadian overrides....

[fossil grail]

also...

[viral herald]

YOOOOO

SOAP

[spice yacht]

SOAP
Finally
We can be clean ...

[fossil grail]

now the mod will be clean

[spice yacht]

So it's a mini-discard? Do replaced cards go back to deck

[fossil grail]

yes

[spice yacht]

Oh neat

[fossil grail]

you "slip" them back

[tiny marten]

Like it “discards” those three cards to draw three other ones?

[spice yacht]

Shuffles them back into the deck it seems

[tiny marten]

The bubbles are also fun

[fossil grail]

yup

[fossil grail]

yes!!!!

i love the bubbles as well

[lapis patio]

omg the potential for rigging the deck is insane, shuffle your gold/blue seal cards back in the deck while you grab the cards for your next hand

[fossil grail]

i love this card

[golden sparrow]

Awesome

[outer pike]

soup....

[dim mist]

add soup

[fossil grail]

XD

[outer pike]

love it

[bright mason]

idk if this is the proper place to submit bugs but using terra to reduce the blind requirement such that the required score is now under the current score doesnt instantly win the round

effects in the base game that reduce the required score like this usually let you instantly win, like selling luchador during the wall

[fossil grail]

odd... i will look into that

[bright mason]

if the bug doesnt happen on your end then it might just be from my soup of content mods doing wacky stuff

[golden sparrow]

I'm so excited for this update

[fossil grail]

another new alchemical: Manganese!

(is very WIP rn)

[dim mist]

wtf lyman is cooking so well so consistently

how

[fossil grail]

yeah Lyman is amazing

fun fact! this card texture was supposed to be a part of 1.0

[compact igloo]

hey, me and a friend are looking into modding for balatro - how did y'all add a new consumable pack? we haven't been able to find anything about it

[fossil grail]

well, it's really annoying to do it, i wouldn't advise it for people who start modding

[compact igloo]

ah. yikes

[oblique heart]

art looks clean

[oblique heart]

I feel like Manganese is a bit similar to Bismuth

[fossil grail]

it is

[golden sparrow]

That's fine.

[oblique heart]

sure

[hollow nimbus]

Where are you? I'm at SOUP! XD

[fossil grail]

WHY ARE YOU BUYING CARDS AT THE SOUP STORE

[golden sparrow]

Side note, I wish I had soap to use during packs

[hollow nimbus]

ROYAL FLUSH!

[oblique heart]

What is the benefit of replacing cards?

[hollow nimbus]

Either way, glad to see that the joke didn't go unfinished. XD

[hollow nimbus]

Maybe it's just meant to act as a psuedo-Discard while letting you possibly get the cards you need for your hand

[oblique heart]

You draw cards when you discard anyways

Only thing I can think of is moving Blue seals, gold and steel cards back into your deck

[hollow nimbus]

That's why I said 'psuedo-Discard'- It's effectively a smaller discard without actually discarding the cards

[oblique heart]

Not discarding cards isn't something that's beneficial

[tiny marten]

Manga

[oblique heart]

unless this cases

[hollow nimbus]

Plus, it'd let you swap out your cards without weaking cards like Ramen or Green Joker, and still lets you possibly cash in Delayed Gratification

[oblique heart]

That's quite a big stretch to justify its usefulness

[hollow nimbus]

I know, but it's the first thing that came to mind to its possible uses/implications as is at the moment

[oblique heart]

I see

[viral herald]

maybe on bosses with major debuffs?

[oblique heart]

Like, I also have zero idea why Soap effect is limited to 3 cards. Was it op as hell in testing or what?

how's that justified

[viral herald]

actually yeah its

worse than just getting 1 discard

[oblique heart]

it is op you say?

[viral herald]

unless theres something special about the cards drawn

no

[oblique heart]

oh, sry

[viral herald]

im saying its worse than just getting a discard

[oblique heart]

it definitely is unless X niche scenario like this for example

[viral herald]

maybe it could draw cards with similar suits/ranks as what you have

[oblique heart]

interesting

[oblique heart]

that's actually a great idea

let's say you have 2 enhanced kings in deck and 2 regular Kings in hand

and then you swap 2 regular kinds for 2 enhanced ones via Soap

Targeted "draw"

aka tutoring

That's already way better than just swap 3 cards for 3 random cards

@fossil grail what do you think about this «buff»?

[fossil grail]

ill see what we can do with that

[golden sparrow]

I think the swap would be fine at 5

[oblique heart]

I think so too

[nova whale]

oh yeah, should the booster API be put into steamodded?

[oblique heart]

Ik this might sound a bit op but I think this change/addition could create fun synergies with Aero and Quicksilver:
what if Manganese had a hand-wide effect?

• we could potentially have similar hand-wide effects which give for example Golden Enhancement, Blue seals or Purple seals.

More cards in hand -> more value

Just a thought

[fossil grail]

oh BTW, one small thing about the future of Codex.
we are planning a Legendary joker...

[oblique heart]

(Full Metal Alchemist)

[golden sparrow]

(ᶠᵘˡˡ ᵐᵉᵗᵃˡ ᵃˡᶜʰᵉᵐᶦˢᵗ)

[tiny marten]

Nicholas Flamel

[oblique heart]

Your Weekly Alchemical cards tier list:

[fossil grail]

XD

where is Philosopher's Stone placed?

[oblique heart]

it's not an Alchemical card!

you forgot? :D

[fossil grail]

i mean true

but it does appear in alchemical packs

[oblique heart]

hmmm

let me think

I'd say it's in top of B tier at base (considering you have no joker synergies or modified cards)

As soon as you get something it can combo with its A tier and above

[fossil grail]

should we?

[oblique heart]

only if

[tiny marten]

Horse Dung S+

[oblique heart]

obviously

[tiny marten]

Y’know what would be fun?

An Alchemy related Boss Blind

[glacial blaze]

The Wizard - Consumables cannot be used or sold

[oblique heart]

that's evil

but also negligible most of the time

[tiny marten]

How about we make it more evil and not negligible

Debuffs a random card when you use a Consumable

[oblique ether]

The alc card that turns cards gold

[glacial blaze]

psychic

i do have an actual suggestion though that builds on it

The Wizard - All consumables you are currently holding gain Eternal

[fossil grail]

does eternal actually work on consumables?

[glacial blaze]

i dont think anyones tested it yet

probably not though

consumable stickers would be a fun thing to implement, though

[oblique heart]

rental consumables

hell nah

[tiny marten]

Pay to use

[glacial blaze]

there is also perishable

[tiny marten]

Make anything rental cost money to sell

[glacial blaze]

actually i might just invent a new one

broken: 1 in 2 chance to fail

could also apply to jokers

[golden sparrow]

hmmmm

[oblique heart]

unstable

(like unstable element)

or smth

@fossil grail Wouldn't Caput Mortuum be a better element that represents Phosphorus' effect?

it's ashes of the dead (also used to mark toxic elements)

literally

the remains

[oblique heart]

Gravel
• Select a card, shuffle 5 copies of it into your deck.

[tiny marten]

What about lead?

[oblique heart]

is there a thematical connection to it?

I'd take anything

just name it

[tiny marten]

The base metal a lot of stuff starts as for alchemy (lead to gold is the main process they’re trying to do)

And then in reverse, radioactive metals decay into stable lead

[fossil grail]

we have a fun idea that is very close to that

[oblique heart]

cool!

[tiny marten]

Also, looks dope

[oblique heart]

yeah

edgy

L7

Glass
• Enhance all cards held in hand to Glass cards foor one blind.

deck trimming go brrrr

[tiny marten]

ㄥ7

[fossil grail]

ooh glass is cool

didn't know it has a symbol

what is your source?

[tiny marten]

Random seal

[oblique heart]

(Purple seal)

[fossil grail]

shhhhhh....

[glacial blaze]

seems mostly accurate

[oblique heart]

(candle -> wax -> give purple seal)

[tiny marten]

Let’s keep it simple at least

[oblique heart]

lmao it could be a stcker/tag for consumables

or jokers???

new difficulty?

[oblique heart]

not the random seals

[tiny marten]

Btw is there an Alchemical card template + the colours of the symbols?

Less for legit reasons and more for funsies

[oblique heart]

i hate rng(

[oblique heart]

in the resources of the mod?

if you have it installed

on the github as well

[tiny marten]

Mobile player

(+ I don’t even have the game lol)

[oblique heart]

all good

[tiny marten]

But it’s wax, so it can be any seal

[vague sandal]

oooh right speaking of seals

what if there was also a seal to do with alchemical cards

unless thats already a thing

[glacial blaze]

its been suggested before but i dont think ive heard it being official yet

[vague sandal]

Fair

i suppose it could also be an on discard effect?
though that is also slightly boring

maybe an on modification or smth
like, using a tarot on that card, having an alch card just take effect

[tiny marten]

Tan Seal - Creates an Alchemical card when this card is played and doesn’t score.

It’s almost a discard

[vague sandal]

oooh

fun

[tiny marten]

Also means high card can get you the most alchemy cards

[oblique heart]

sounds interesting

[oblique heart]

nvm my rant

random seals sounds more fun

I changed my mind

random seals means that you have more different options/ways of how you can play your sealed cards

like a little mini game

and yeah giving all cards in have only blue seal/only purple seal can be either too excessive (blue seal) or too powerful (purple seal)

[tiny marten]

Yes, the cult of rngjesus grows

[oblique heart]

but with sprinkles of this and that and gold + red seals it becomes less polarizing

oh yeah, can't wait to roll 8 blue seals

(but I have 6 consumable slots)

[tiny marten]

New Hand Unlocked: The Solar System

New Planet card: Sol

Upgrades last played hand type two levels

[oblique heart]

will we get a new seal
@fossil grail

?

[fossil grail]

maybe... i didn't think about adding one

[oblique heart]

start thinking
NOW!

[vague sandal]

or whenever you feel like it!

[golden sparrow]

lol Ya'll have no chill

[vague sandal]

dont let our ideas force you into doing something you dont want to do!

or feel like doing

[vague sandal]

its mostly lord of the deep dawn honestly

[tiny marten]

If you do, ya at least considering it be tan?

[golden sparrow]

please be tan

[oblique heart]

yeah

[golden sparrow]

tan seal sounds much better than brown seal

[tiny marten]

Also more accurate to the Alchemical banner/description

[golden sparrow]

I really dig that tan and green combo

good colors

[oblique heart]

hey, I'm just talking

[tiny marten]

Y’know what I want most for forums

The reverse of being able to go to the newest message

Let me got to the top of the forum

[vague sandal]

Y EA H

[vague sandal]

yeah and you have very little chill

[oblique heart]

that's why I made the doc lol

[oblique heart]

^

[golden sparrow]

tan seal idea, if poker hand contains one card (the seal of course) create an Alch card

[oblique heart]

otherwise I'll forget everything

[tiny marten]

Also give the OP of forums mini admin in the forum

Like let me pin

[oblique heart]

more talk, more ideas, more discussions, win win imo

[vague sandal]

okay fair point

[oblique heart]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-3UX_5q1N0Uh6P6QVmzDLU9jr4UWafAi8YSJcBti4PI/edit?usp=drivesdk

I opened it for everyone, you can add your stuff if you want

[golden sparrow]

Let the man work. I'm sure he has his own list of ideas to add

[vague sandal]

you just come off as extremely excited/forceful sometimes

[tiny marten]

Only one sealed card vs sealed card can’t score to create card

Hmm… choice, choices

[vague sandal]

ehhh
i doubt thatd be that would be that great actually

i like clay's idea a lot more

[oblique heart]

I'm usually trying to prove my point with walls of text and explanations, that might sound forceful

but I don't mean anything bad

[golden sparrow]

I think being forced into high card is punishment enough to get a random card.

Nutty with DNA

[tiny marten]

Exactly

[vague sandal]

well, in comparison to the purple and blue seal

[tiny marten]

DNA doesn’t mesh with my idea because it scores, so do you want more sealed cards or do you want to proc them

[vague sandal]

making you lose a hand just to get a random alchemy card feels a little too harsh

[vague sandal]

of course not! i dont think you're doing anything malicious

[oblique heart]

that's not a bad idea either
-1 hand but you get alc. card as a reward

but purple seal is just better here

[golden sparrow]

Balances out then doesn't it? Tarot, discard. Planet, hold. Alchemical, play a card.

[tiny marten]

You just have enough energy to cause a Chain Reaction

[vague sandal]

yeahhh but like, tarot, you dont have to focus that discard on discarding one specific card

[tiny marten]

Gold, play and score

Tan, play and don’t score

[oblique heart]

we don't cook but we get alc cards

[golden sparrow]

People use gold seals? 😅

[vague sandal]

,,,yes

sometimes

[tiny marten]

It’s theoretically possible that people do

[oblique heart]

it's just rarely comes into play

[golden sparrow]

I yoke

[vague sandal]

oh

well you're just egging me on now arent you

[vague sandal]

^^^

[oblique heart]

gold seal is arguably the worst one atm (1.0.1c)

[vague sandal]

of course

but a seal is still a seal

[oblique heart]

sure

[vague sandal]

losing an entire hand with very little side benefits for a single alch card is very punishing

at least if you had it as a non-scoring card, you can still play around it a bit more

it isnt just losing a hand, you can also gain a little more bonus chips by playing a 4/3 of a kind or whatever other hands

[oblique heart]

I agree

[tiny marten]

Also I deeply abhor “X but Y” type things

Like tan seal could have been “purple but makes alchemy card”

If it’s different and not that frustrating, I’ll probably like it

[oblique heart]

your idea is different and not frustrating
it does force you out of 5 card poker hands builds but there must be at least some catch

that's my take on it

[nova whale]

nitpick but the larger packs should have their names in localisation be "jumbo alchemy pack" and "mega alchemy pack" to match the base game

[tiny marten]

What’s it now, for reference?

[nova whale]

just "alchemy pack"

[tiny marten]

But still with jumbo & mega in the pack art

[fossil grail]

new alchemical: Wax!

Creates 2 temporary copies of a selected card for 1 blind

[nova whale]

also the mods should be compatible i think

[fossil grail]

yay!

[nova whale]

i hope

[tiny marten]

Does wiki get updated every now and then, to include the new content?

[nova whale]

wait

do your mega / jumbo packs cost more?

[fossil grail]

when the update releases, yes

[nova whale]

wait this is like actually wrong

jumbo packs should cost $6, and megas $8

[fossil grail]

interesting

[last snow]

https://youtube.com/clip/Ugkx1u8pMPenReci-2Gb_R45n1S9DxQotKLq?si=UkeF4Haf9sDrbspe

[tiny marten]

I have an idea for an Alchemical card

Will make it later, at a function rn

[fossil grail]

what is the idea?

[tiny marten]

I’ll make it later, you’ll know then

[tiny marten]

;)

[fervent shuttle]

I thought that was intentional lol

[golden sparrow]

#1221916334372290620 message

No it's not lol

[oblique heart]

temporary cryptid would still be cool to use but i feel like more copies = more fun (imo)

(my suggested variant would give you a chance of assembling that one elusive five of kind hand with your one super buffed card but requires digging through deck in exchange)

The thing with Cryptid is that it's very hard to get but in exchange it grants you quite powerful effect respectively, it's just sad that you couldn't use it that often... But now you can! With Wax.

Overall, I think it would be a neat addition

[golden sparrow]

Just be content

[obtuse rune]

i mean

cryptid is an insane spectral

[oblique heart]

what, what happened

[oblique heart]

oh yeah, it is

[obtuse rune]

being able to even randomly open one and stash them away is very very good

a very easy way to win late game just by holding it and saving it to copy your god card

[oblique heart]

Wax is very flexible as well

no pun intended

Anyways, can't wait for the Piss card to be revealed

[golden sparrow]

no piss

[oblique heart]

Art is on point as usual

btw, now I wonder which element would mess with Seals

One question regarding booster packs balance:
Do you consider Alc. cards being objectively weaker than Tarots and Planets since they provide only temporary benefits and therefore their respective packs cost could be different (less)?

[golden sparrow]

Plot twist, Wax is the placeholder for the seal card until the Pee card gets art

[obtuse rune]

[oblique heart]

idk either

[obtuse rune]

i do not

permanent upgrades are nice and all but like early game economy and other things, just because its permanent/longlasting doesnt change the fact you might not beat the next blind

[oblique heart]

true

[tiny marten]

Quick question, how do y’all find the inspiration for the backgrounds of the Alchemical cards?

[obtuse rune]

vaguely based off whatever the element is used for

[oblique heart]

Depends on the element you are drawing ig?

[stiff sapphire]

adds gold seals and enhancements to your hand randomly for the current blind

[ember crag]

Taylor Swift released a song called The Alchemy

Clearly she’s endorsing this mod :]

[fossil grail]

did she release it just now? XD

[ember crag]

Today yeah lol

Her new album came out

[fossil grail]

XD

even Taylor Swift plays the mod

[oblique heart]

Got inspired

might have overcooked it with the ornament

I wonder how it would look like in Negative

I'll try to replace some files and hunt for it with cauldron voucher

[fossil grail]

oh i really like these

mind if we do a bit of tweaking? just to make it fit with the other alchemicals a bit more

but i love the design

[oblique heart]

no problem

I'd be glad to help the development at least a little bit

[oblique heart]

Thanks

[fossil grail]

you sure are!

[tiny marten]

Currently working on this, it’s gonna take a while though since I’m meh at art

[tiny marten]

And also, just to confirm

The “energy” around the symbols (e.g. the shades of orange and yellow around Manganese) are at most two different colours?

[fossil grail]

yes

[tiny marten]

Alrighty then

[last snow]

...😳

[tiny marten]

Because of previous convo, I too, was inspired

Background WiP

[oblique heart]

sheesh

looks nice

symbol looks clean

[tiny marten]

Plumbum get plumbing

Also, I am in fact a comedian

[oblique heart]

needs shading (for 3d effect) since the symbol itself is kinda 3d

[tiny marten]

Yeah that’s my problem rn

[oblique heart]

it's gonna be tough ig

[glass patrol]

Awesome work bro

[viral herald]

damn! thats awesome

maybe i should try n make one for fun

[tiny marten]

Basically what I’m doing

[halcyon cobalt]

what mod adds that color pack

[solar saddle]

i think its one hes working on

[halcyon cobalt]

oh

[stray fossil]

How’d you make a pack btw?

[oblique heart]

Thanks, guys

[fossil grail]

4 new alchemicals were added today

[sterile patrol]

in one day? holy shit

[fossil grail]

last one being Morax Borax!

[sterile patrol]

oooo that seems insanely useful

seance can finally be good???

[spice yacht]

Ooooh

[halcyon cobalt]

are these all the ones in the next update

along with philo stone

[fossil grail]

yup!

[halcyon cobalt]

hmm

cool

i hope you add all the metals in the next update

[fossil grail]

probably not the next update, but the one after it

[halcyon cobalt]

makes sense

any ideas you have for some of the cards

[fossil grail]

not really yet XD

we have an idea for one of them

[halcyon cobalt]

ooh

[tiny marten]

Soap, Manganese, Wax, and Borax I believe

[oblique heart]

how does this work exactly?

[fossil grail]

it will change the suit of 4 selected cards to the suit with the most cards

so if the majority of your cards are hearts, it will change to hearts

[oblique heart]

ahh so that's how it works

[solar saddle]

does it work with modded suits?

[halcyon cobalt]

what about if you have the same amount of cards for 2 different suits

like in the base deck

[oblique heart]

flush support again...
when do I get my unoptimal straight build support

[fossil grail]

yes!

[solar saddle]

great, now i can monochrome my deck with ink👍

[tiny marten]

You could make one that’s the same but for numbers?

Or change the numbers to different ones, but not specifically the most used

Basically shuffle the ranks

[halcyon cobalt]

i like that

what symbol could it be

[tiny marten]

Borax is a metallurgy thing

Some kind of natural catalyst?

[halcyon cobalt]

hm

also uh i was thinking about phlogiston and i think it should have an ability that destroys cards or something like that

[tiny marten]

What is Phlogiston?

[oblique heart]

permanent effect on a Alc. card?

[halcyon cobalt]

i mean

i don't really know what else

since fire destroys things

[halcyon cobalt]

phlogiston is stuff that they thought was in the air that got used up when fire was made

at least i think thats what it was

[tiny marten]

Thematically to the effect

Camphire would have also worked, as it is a dye of sorts

[bright mason]

this is super niche but i had a moment where i found a negative alchemical card in a pack with that level 2 voucher, while my slots were all full
and using it didnt give me an alchemical card like i would have expected, which is unlike how it works with negative jokers

i also had the rare joker from this mod that expands consumable slots by 2

to clarify, collecting the negative alchemical card just did nothing and didnt add anything to my inventory

liking the mod so far regardless

you can leave the negative card thing if you want, it just differs from how vanilla does it

[golden sparrow]

That's a bug.

[bright mason]

already reported?

[golden sparrow]

I believe he is aware of it.

[bright mason]

damn.

[glacial blaze]

missing the h

[oblique heart]

darn

give me a second

Equivalent exchange (Spectral card)
+1 consumable slot, -1 hand.

(FMA reference cuz, you know, main character lost his hand)

anyways, gn everyone

I'm going to bed rn

[radiant compass]

goodnight You

[halcyon cobalt]

maybe once it gets you down to one hand it starts taking away discards and then it starts decreasing hand size

[glacial blaze]

then joker slots, then consumable slots

[dull lily]

Fire, water, air, earth, fucking magnets how do they work

Sorry I had to

[nova whale]

oh uhh

are you planning on making a "silver" card?

[fossil grail]

In the future yes

[nova whale]

yeah alr

[fossil grail]

Wanna add it as a color?

[nova whale]

i'll add an ability.set check on my silver's use function

[fossil grail]

XD

[dim mist]

i mean this is completely irrelevant but unless you have bloodstone straights are so much better than flushes high stakes (my probably wrong opinion)

[fossil grail]

https://gyazo.com/bcdb8a747b7b3ca27fe61baffddb485c.mp4
working on borax

I think we have room for a few more...

[viral herald]

ooo you want to make copper sooooo bad oooo

https://tenor.com/view/memento-mori-unus-annus-gif-19399232

[fossil grail]

XD

maybe

[tiny marten]

Still working on Lead, but this is what I imagine the effect to be

Lead (Alchemical)
Cards and Jokers cannot be debuffed or destroyed for one blind.

Mostly prevents Boss Blinds debuffs, but also allows Madness and other destructive abilities to happen without losing anything, might prevent a tick down of Perishable stickers so they basically last an additional round

Does go a bit too well with Chain Reaction’s card gain, because if you have it and Lead, you can always use Lead first to get another

[spice yacht]

I suggested something similar for Tin because tin cans and preservation

[tiny marten]

And Lead because, stable

[spice yacht]

But also Lead is heavy, toxic, and symbolic of the lowest step of spiritual alchemy

🥲

[tiny marten]

Yeah ik

[tiny marten]

Also yeah the background is gonna be plumbing

[oblique ether]

How many more alchemical cards are planned?

[fossil grail]

good question XD

in 1.0 there are 12, in 1.1 there will probably be 17-18

[oblique ether]

Gotcha

[ember tapir]

dang, 18's actually kinda intimidating

[fossil grail]

though if you have any idea,s i would love to hear them!

[oblique ether]

Was curious cuz I saw the alchemical pic up above and there's like 55 of them??

[fossil grail]

3 pages worth of tabs!

[fossil grail]

we are not going to make them all XD

[ember tapir]

maybe stop at 22 if it does go that far, to mirror the amount of tarot cards?

[fossil grail]

if everything goes according to plan, we will have 24 at least

[tiny marten]

Glass and Lead?

[fossil grail]

since we have the planetary metals left

[oblique ether]

How about one that disables a boss blind for at least 1 hand?

Could be an interesting trump card

[tiny marten]

Like, the effect?

[oblique ether]

Yea

Probably a bit strong lol

[fossil grail]

we are debating adding something like that in the future

[ember tapir]

24 might be a good number. i'm probably in the minority but hearing there's more alch cards than tarot feels kinda weird, especially if there might be future updates

[glacial blaze]

i am of the belief that more consumables is good unless theyre unbalanced

[nova whale]

if i have enough ideas i could do 32 colours

[ember tapir]

lol i do recognize i'm in the minority

[golden sparrow]

Crystal, makes two cards glass until end of blind. ez

[tiny marten]

There’s actually a Glass Alchemical card someone made

[oblique heart]

Protects your Glass cards as well!

[tiny marten]

Oh yeah

I feel like Jokers that don’t destroy but debuff instead would also be interesting

[oblique heart]

yeah, that was brought up before and the problem is that this effect would do nothing against small and big blinds

[oblique heart]

but this effect looks much more attractive

[tiny marten]

Or the Wall

[oblique heart]

yup

[nova whale]

yo @fossil grail do you want to have alchemical cards that spawn colour cards and vice versa

[tiny marten]

I’m a lot more proficient at thinking of ideas/design than actually formulating them

Especially when the Alchemical card heavily use dithering

[oblique heart]

Lead/Glass/Urine/Dung
or perhaps something cool like black sulfur/brimstone?

[fossil grail]

We are not adding urine or dung

Yet

[oblique heart]

Oh, ok

I feel like basic metals could be saved for the last batch(?)

since you already started making non-metals

[nova whale]

what colour is the most alchemical-y

[oblique heart]

Tan color ig?

light brown

or something

[nova whale]

tan

[fossil grail]

Codex Arcanum's main colors are brown and tan so...

[tiny marten]

Tan seal

[fossil grail]

in the works...

[nova whale]

brown is gonna be in vanilla colours

[fossil grail]

currently doing some bug squashing and other promotional stuff for Fusion Jokers

[nova whale]

would an alchemical "add 1 round to each colour card" work?

i'll make a function that does it actually

[nova whale]

hm

what alchemical element is the most colour-related

[tiny marten]

That’d be Camphire (henna), which is a dye and fragrant

[nova whale]

ok if you want to do this, a function colour_end_of_round_effects() will be exposed

[verbal quiver]

But in physics, nothing can go below zero (exept temperature in celsius and farenheit and electric charge)

[glacial blaze]

alchemy isnt bound by physics though

[oblique heart]

@golden sparrow it could literally be just glass

[oblique heart]

^^^

And I would personally make it 3-4 cards turning into glass

(Bismuth in shambles rn)

[fossil grail]

Well do I have news for you

[oblique heart]

I'm all ears

or eyes

whichever

[fossil grail]

we are doing exactly that XD

glass that converts them into glass

[oblique heart]

who could've guessed lmao

one thing you can try: glass creates more glass cards but they have more chance to break

like you have a opps all 6s

just a funny idea

probably would be broken

[nova whale]

better than hanged man?

[oblique heart]

if you get lucky

than yeah ig

[half gate]

I think it's probably a good idea to start with substances that don't have exactly the same name as other game elements

[oblique heart]

Why exactly?

there's a whole roster of planetry elements

no way to avoid them

[oblique ether]

What if planetary elements did something that corresponded with the planet's poker hand?

If you guys plan to add them

[fluid ocean]

where do I submit crash reports?

[oblique heart]

Ig here since it's the only Codex Arcanum related channel

[oblique heart]

Are you playing with other mods?

[fluid ocean]

Yeah, I was in the shop and went to hover over the mortar and pestel voucher(?) lol

Yeah

[oblique heart]

Which mods?

[fluid ocean]

one moment

SDM_0's Stuff
DX Tarots/Planets
Mika's Mods
More Fluff
Pact Deck
And some textures from enhanced enhancements

[oblique heart]

A lot of current Balatro mods have janky codes so if you have multiple content mods its gonna crash 100%

[fluid ocean]

and this mod of course

oh, fair enough

not yet all united under a single banner ig lol

[oblique heart]

even if the game launched it can crash mid run due to some incompatibility

Texture mods are usually the least harmful

So, I personally can use multiple texture mods but only 1 or 2 content mods

Also Codex Arcanum is gonna get updated soon

[fluid ocean]

Yeah, I really only posted b/c of a failed table call, but I understand two mods might be calling the same spot in mem

it would be a lot better if load orders were established by steammodded, but thats someone else's problem lol

[obtuse rune]

are you on latest version of steamodded?

[oblique heart]

@fluid ocean ^^

look, someone competent popped up

Looks cool!

Lyman, I used Essence of Comdy as base if you don't mind

[fluid ocean]

tbh idk, let me check

[fossil grail]

We have plans for glass, don’t worry

[oblique heart]

i just wanted to find it in Negative

see how it looks

this one however...

looks kinda bad ngl

lol

so bright holy

yooooo

finally found it

gothic glass :D

[lapis patio]

not true at all, theres just a few that need updates

[oblique heart]

I'm just speaking from my expirience

also
abusing Bismuth

[lapis patio]

this is my experience with it

[tiny marten]

What in the-

[oblique heart]

So?

[oblique heart]

yeah, DNA abuse goes hard

poly from Bismuth stays permanent on created copies

[tiny marten]

I mean more like, graphically

[lapis patio]

so i'd say janky mods are in the minority and most work together just fine

[tiny marten]

You’ve made a rainbow mess

(not a name I recommend giving to your friend group)

[oblique heart]

ok?

[oblique heart]

hell yeah I did
we going endless baby

[obtuse rune]

ill probably end up using the glass sprite nearly as is

just some slight tweaks to the colors

mostly because, while cute, not really one to use an alpha channel in this case

[oblique heart]

you definitely know better than me lol

[oblique heart]

I also noticed that glass looks a bit "grainy" in Negative

no idea why

[obtuse rune]

i like the piece aside from that (and i usually put a little energy outline of all of them)

[oblique heart]

oh yeah, I totally forgot that detail

ooopss

I got greedy and didnt use my negative alc cards

fcking called it

(profile is new)

these 3 rascals are begging for a nerf

was a fun run anyways

[oblique heart]

btw, is this synergy intended?

[obtuse rune]

ok i got a lil carried away but

the over all design is still in tact

[halcyon cobalt]

actually it would be cool if there was a new tab for alchemy cards only

[oblique heart]

oh, right

good call

that would make tracking stats (for balance reasons) much easier

[halcyon cobalt]

wasn't exchange supposed to be a spectral

[oblique heart]

but i feel like messing with ui is tricky

[oblique heart]

i replaced Antimony's sprite with it

just to find it in Negative

via Cauldron

[halcyon cobalt]

oh

i do wonder what it would look like with the spectral sheen effect

[oblique heart]

and it looks bad in negative since i picked not the best colors for background

[halcyon cobalt]

i think it looks fine

[fossil grail]

Glass!!!

[golden sparrow]

Poggers

[oblique ether]

looks great

[fossil grail]

I think we have room for one more this update

[obtuse rune]

i will slumber as of now and in 8 hours awaken

[oblique ether]

can it be urine so i can piss on the boss blind?

[obtuse rune]

i have an idea for the card to art in mind but

if there is a compelling one i could be suaded

[viral herald]

oooo it will be copper ooo

[obtuse rune]

https://tenor.com/view/belsku-spangbab-gif-3819503318520483550

[viral herald]

https://tenor.com/view/memento-mori-unus-annus-gif-19399232

copper

[obtuse rune]

no planetary metals

[viral herald]

ooooo

[obtuse rune]

[viral herald]

you want to make copper soooo badly

[obtuse rune]

maybe if we get them in a batch

[fossil grail]

hope you have a good sleep Lyman!

[halcyon cobalt]

what does glass do

[fossil grail]

converts up to 4 cards to glass cards for one blind

[halcyon cobalt]

yeah that figures

[halcyon cobalt]

i think it should be phlogiston

[stiff sapphire]

heh... if you really think about it... the glass symbol looks kinda like a... well... you can probably use your imagination!

[viral herald]

[stiff sapphire]

(I am legally required to inform you all that my previous message is satire please don't make fun of me or i'll start crying really loudly)

[fossil grail]

https://tenor.com/view/hayasaka-genshin-knife-scare-doll-gif-3550519529533982048

[tiny marten]

Still working on Lead, I’m not fast with this stuff

[fossil grail]

Also...

working on expanding the API

[oblique heart]

looks fantastic!

[oblique heart]

that leaves us with: Black Sulfur, Lodestone, Powder, Oil, Urine and Horse Dung

(these are the ones that caught my eye)

[glacial blaze]

aether/quintessence?

[oblique heart]

quintessence could be a spectral card

[fossil grail]

we could alwaus wake up alchemicals XD

nah

[glacial finch]

Brimstone

[oblique heart]

Oil
• Replace the bottom 10 cards of your deck with Aces with random Suits, Seals, Editions and Enhancements for one blind.
(you gotta dig for it!)

Lodestone
• Select a card, draw up to 4 cards of the same rank.
(it attracts copies)

Powder
• Retrigger all played cards in the next hand of the round.
(explosive potential, smaller version of Phili Stone)

Urine
• Your cards can't be destroyed or debuffed and always score for one blind.
(purifying piss)

Horse Dung
• Does nothing?
(every 3rd copy used during the run creates Philosopher's Stone card; secret formula)

Black Sulfur (Brimstone)
• Add a Negative edition to all your consumable cards.
Note: Black Sulfur always has a Negative edition, so you can never find a non-Negative version.
(this card is an exception to the rule of how Alc. cards supposed to be used, so it could potentially be a Spectral card)

[fossil grail]

i quite like some of these

[oblique heart]

Just spitting ideas, mb something could stick

If no secret, which ones bear potential?

[tiny marten]

Urine… just Lead but doesn’t seem to explicitly mention Jokers

Plus splash

[oblique heart]

Yeah, I've also added it to the list as well since planetary elements won't be a thing apparently.

[tiny marten]

Ah

The Lead symbol I picked wasn’t the planetary version iirc

[oblique heart]

splash effect for the base raw power

make it a bit less niche

[fossil grail]

these are just my current opinions, they are subject to change:
oil is interesting
lodestone/magnet is very close to both Aero and Borax
powder seems like a smaller Philosopher's Stone, ubterestubg
urine we will probably save for a different card
Horse dung is fun. kind alike the empty voucher
Brimstone is interesting

[oblique heart]

wait, aren't lead, iron, gold etc. all planetary?

[fossil grail]

yes

gold, copper, iron, lead, tin, etc

[oblique heart]

I see

[glacial blaze]

etc = quicksilver, silver

[oblique heart]

quicksilver?!

[glacial blaze]

mercury

[oblique heart]

no way

[fossil grail]

to be 100% accurate, its:
Lead (saturn)
Tin (jupiter)
Iron (mars)
Gold (sun)
Copper (venus)
Quicksilver (mercury)
Silver (moon)

[spice yacht]

ye

there are a couple different symbols for several of the planetary metals
imo if you mean the metal, better to use the non-planetary, if you mean the planet/principle, better to use the astrological symbol

and also, tbh, some things like the metallic lead symbol look extremely cool

[oblique heart]

wtf is «ubterestubg»

[tiny marten]

I mean the L7 symbol in the list you used is also Lead

[glacial blaze]

heavily typoed form of "interesting"

[fossil grail]

interesting

yup XD

[oblique heart]

understood

[fossil grail]

im watching 3 body problem while typing this XD

[oblique heart]

what 2 hours of sleep does to a mf

[tiny marten]

I thought we weren’t talking planets

[fossil grail]

XD

[tiny marten]

Fastest comic in the west

[oblique heart]

there's like 3 different symbols for Lead

[tiny marten]

Alchemists didn’t exactly have the capacity to communicate fast over large distances to come to a consensus

[oblique heart]

trueing

[fossil grail]

inb4 we release 3 different versions of the mod, each with their own symbol?

[glacial blaze]

why not use a config for that instead?

[fossil grail]

i mean

we wont do it

[glacial blaze]

ok

[royal delta]

Hey, I had an idea for a mod of my own and I was wondering if you could give me some pointers. What's the bare minimum I'd need to add a new consumable (that doesn't need to show up naturally)? I can peruse the code and see what parts create the UI and etc. but I figured it could be faster if I asked here

[fossil grail]

so, you will need a couple of things:

• UI declaration and stuff
• Badge and tooltips
• Card Atlas
• The cards themselves

[royal delta]

The UI declarations are all(?) labeled as such. Do you have a suggestion of what to search to find the rest? (or maybe just the lines lol)

I don't think I need, say, the Booster Pack part or the overridden calculate_joker

[fossil grail]

you will need set_sprites for the default (undiscovered) sprite and the other card sprites, and get_type_colour for the badge color

[peak trench]

I have seen people play with this mod on letsplays on Youtube, and I can't wait for Steam Workshop.
Only thing I worry about is an additional booster pack getting in the way of players being able to, say, level up our preferred hand build. Could that be addressed by adding an extra shop slot for booster packs?

[barren shale]

where isthe mod download the only download is the source

[fossil grail]

the current download is the soruces

though it will be changed in version 1.1

[oblique heart]

I feel like Wax should've gotten an effect that does something with seals

[stray fossil]

Bee Joker

[spice yacht]

yeah but seals are kinda meh at times and if you get a blue seal you may as well just be given the finger by jimbo himself

[stray fossil]

Hip to F-

[oblique heart]

Is there a possibility of moving current Wax's effect to another element?

[glacial blaze]

blue seals can be good sometimes

[oblique heart]

Wax
• Select up to 4 cards, add random Seals to them for one blind.

[spice yacht]

red and gold seal are objectively not helpful on any card you want to avoid playing like steels
blue seals are mostly useful for things other than their own intended function (sell trigger)

and meanwhile you don't want purple seals on any card you really shouldn't be discarding

[glacial blaze]

doesnt red retrigger steels?

[spice yacht]

i thought it retriggers only played cards

[glacial blaze]

im fairly certain it also retriggers steels

[fossil grail]

I think @oblique heart’s favorite thing in balatro are seals XD

[oblique heart]

Gold seal is free money
Red Seal is potentially a Joker/enhancement retrigger
Purples seal is a no brainer, free tarots are juicy
Blue Seals are 50/50

[nova whale]

red retriggers steel and golds, yeah

[glacial blaze]

yea

[spice yacht]

mm fair enough

[oblique heart]

no need to expose me

[nova whale]

also new blue steel is pretty solid

[spice yacht]

idk, i think most of the other alchemicals are guaranteed to do something unambiguously useful

so i don't like the idea of the seal roulette

blue is better now at least than it was

[oblique heart]

seals are pretty powerful

[glacial blaze]

seals are great though

[spice yacht]

perhaps i am just too deeply offended by old blue seal

[oblique heart]

yeah, it was raw dog ass

[spice yacht]

and also whenever an rng mechanic comes in, my critique of it includes 'what is the absolute worst, most unsatisfying way this rng can manifest for the player'

since it's a real chance of occurring

[royal delta]

[oblique heart]

4 blue seals out of 4 when you only have 2 consumable slots

sadge

[royal delta]

What about test gold seal

[spice yacht]

that's kind of why i like how the alchemicals generally have a straightforward benefit, as a result

or even a conditional/wait-and-see benefit

but not actual rng

[oblique heart]

wait, hold on brothers, we might get a new seal in the future for Codex Arcanum

which could influence the balance of Wax

[spice yacht]

it could influence the balance of hypothetical-wax

[oblique heart]

yes

[fossil grail]

The hierarchy of seals in Codex Arcanum is about to change

[oblique heart]

wax could be consistent if it applied all 4 different seals to 4 selected cards

(randomly ofc)

that would almost completely remove the rng element

[spice yacht]

perhaps

[oblique heart]

especially if it had a hidden mechanic of applying seals in certain order from left to right

or something

you get the idea

it could easily be tweaked

to remove rng

[spice yacht]

i'm not wild about it in general

[oblique heart]

i just brought it up since it's a Wax

cmon

it has to do something with seals

[oblique heart]

[spice yacht]

or consider the fact wax is.. often cast into molds
so, copying by making a 'temporary' wax copy off an 'original'/'mold'

[oblique heart]

current effect perfectly fits as well

can't argue with that

[oblique heart]

i just feel like this is a missed opportunity

no other element would be a better fit for seals-related effect

[spice yacht]

i could imagine something like clay making copies and wax making seals

but i don't like the suggested implementations for the seal card personally

[oblique heart]

Any ideas of yours?

[spice yacht]

well, wax makes me think of seals makes me think of signet seals, which are identifiers
why not make the seal it grants dependant on the suit you used it on

that way it 'seems' random and very quickly 'isn't' random

that means if you are slanting your deck towards a suit, you can in turn, slant your deck toward a seal

hearts = red seals
spades = purple seals (closest to black, spades = wands in tarot)
clubs = blue seals
diamonds = gold seals

[oblique heart]

not a bad idea but in that case it should be nerfed to 2 selected cars

[oblique heart]

Yeah purple seals are not quite black unfortunately

but what about hypothetical Tan Seal

[glacial blaze]

i would personally suggest either

• dont include it
• some probability of turning into tan seal instead of assigned seal

[oblique heart]

my personal guess is that it should be excluded from Wax effect since tan seals generate other alc cards

[oblique heart]

yeah, first variant I think

[glacial blaze]

yeah

[oblique heart]

I'm really digging that idea

bro cooked

[glacial blaze]

whats philosophers stone btw? does anyone know?

[spice yacht]

what if
wax -> tan seal can only be applied to wild cards

[glacial blaze]

actually yeah good point

[oblique heart]

secret mechanic

would be fun, if not stated anywhere

[glacial blaze]

if it didnt then which seal would it become?

[spice yacht]

otherwise it'd be whatever the base suit was or random

but i think it'd be funny since it'd make the lovers less situational

[glacial blaze]

yeah

actually an emporer for alchemical cards would be kinda cool (maybe aether/quintessence? fr)

[oblique heart]

Already teased

[glacial blaze]

alr

[oblique heart]

Starseeker

tarot

[last snow]

Blue Seals are at least being buffed in the newest patch, lol.

[oblique heart]

indeed!

they are much better now

Updated the doc (a lot more balance/content suggestions were added): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-3UX_5q1N0Uh6P6QVmzDLU9jr4UWafAi8YSJcBti4PI/edit?usp=drivesdk

[obtuse rune]

ok i do really like lodestone here and this is solidifying my deciision i think

[oblique heart]

Just as you said that I deleted the Lodestone from the doc

Gotta put it back then

[oblique heart]

All cards retrigger one more time this blind

spectral card

can be found in Alc. packs

was teased before

it's like a Black Hole/Soul

super rare

[oblique heart]

btw, I regularly update the doc, so the most recent/fleshed out versions of different suggestions could be found there

as well as suggestions from other ppl

I also add them

I also heavily insist on Bottled Buffoon and Catalyst changes!

check them out if you don't mind

[oblique heart]

As itayfeder mentioned earlier it kinda ovelaps what Aero and partially with Wax (creating copies).

though I do like the effect

[nova whale]

oil is quite funny

[oblique heart]

yeah :D

fills your deck with funny Aces

combos with Vampire btw

[nova whale]

oh true

[fossil grail]

oh this is so satisfying

[oblique heart]

nice

[oblique heart]

Aside from new additions, could you tell us about any balance changes coming with the next patch?

(sulfur, cobalt and salt I'm looking at you👀 )

[fossil grail]

Salt was changed from 2 tags to 1
Cobalt grants +2 levels to the currently selected hand
Sulfur does not have a change currently

[oblique heart]

Anything else planned?

[halcyon cobalt]

what does magnet do
i do think that lodestone would be a better name though