Changelog/2023/May 31

Hey Guys!

SkyBlock has been updated to version 0.18.5 - this patch addresses quite a good bit of bug fixes and miscellaneous other changes, including important balancing. This patch also addresses a bit of the inflation problems the game has been experiencing lately.

► Balancing and other additions
Abiphone


 * Increased Abiphone Contract Trio Limit to 12
 * Added Odger, Lumber Merchant and Kuudra Gatekeeper as Abiphone Contacts
 * Modified several Abiphone Contacts difficulties

Menus and Inventories


 * Added an upgrade to increase players max pets in the Pet Menu
 * Added a Confirmation menu when swapping Pet Items
 * Added a Confirmation menu when deleting souls in Summoning Ring and other Necromancy Items
 * Improved lore descriptions of several Romero and Juliette quests items
 * Added a setting to toggle consuming baits from your bag when fishing.
 * You can no longer open the reaper scythe souls menu while fighting the Voidgloom Seraph.
 * Trevor now informs you how much of his cooldown is left in his dialogue.

Balance Changes


 * Allow Pocket Sack-in-a-Sack to be used up to 3 times on the same Sack
 * Allow Healing VIII potion to bypass potion limit on Dungeons
 * Slightly increased Clay Ball fishing rate on the Fisherman's Hut
 * Increased each of the katana's Enderman damage bonus by 50%.
 * Sleeping Eyes are no longer auctionable.

Economy-related Changes

These changes are explained later in this thread


 * NPC Sell Prices have been changed for the following items:
 * Carrot: 4 -> 3 Coins
 * Nether Wart: 5 -> 4 Coins
 * Potato: 4 -> 3 Coins
 * Sugar Cane: 5 -> 4 Coins
 * Heavily increased the droprates of Recombobulator 3000s on most floors
 * Increased the drop rate and price of Necron's Handle and it's constituent scrolls (Wither Shield, Shadow Warp, Implosion)
 * Increased the price of Dark Claymore
 * Bin Auction Listing Fees have been changed for certain price brackets:
 * 1% for items <10,000,000 coins (unchanged)
 * 2% for items <100,000,000 coins
 * 2.5% for items >100,000,000 coins

Other changes and additions


 * Added Wooden Tools to the Lumber Merchant
 * Added introduction dialogues to Master Tactician Funk and Christopher
 * Changed idle dialogue from Carpenter and Fisherman
 * Added Trophy Fishing Sacks
 * Bronze Trophy Fishing Sack can hold Bronze Trophy Fish
 * Silver Trophy Fishing Sack can hold Silver Trophy Fish
 * Added Hollow Armor, Hollow Wand, all missing Mithril and Gemstone Drills and multiple other Garden tools to the Museum

► Bug Fixes
Pet Fixes


 * Fixed certain pets getting deleted if attempting to upgrade to an unobtainable tier.
 * Fixed transferring soulbound Grandma Wolf pet from Bingo profiles
 * Fixed Rock pet giving too much Defense if clicked multiple times
 * Fixed unequipping the Bat Pet removing the Night Vision Talisman effect
 * Fixed the Rat Pet Extreme Speed Perk
 * Fixed how Supernatural and Omen perks from Black Cat pet interact with Chimera enchantment

Garden and Farming


 * Fixed Garden quest soft-lock if a player leaves when the tutorial compost is counting down.
 * Fixed Basket Of Seeds planting melons and pumpkins on non-soil blocks.
 * Fixed crops not growing until rejoining if originally placed on dry soil that later became moist.
 * Fixed mushrooms deleting blocks in the world in their ever growing conquest.
 * Fixed mushrooms occasionally growing on top of blocks that they shouldn't.
 * Fixed players below Jacob's Farming Contest requirements still being able to participate in the contest.
 * Fixed melons and pumpkins still growing if changed presets.
 * "You haven't unlocked this area yet!" - Added a cooldown to this Sam's Scythe message to prevent spamming.
 * Fixed previous sugar cane grieving the plot when changing presets.
 * Fixed Jacob and Anita being right next to Sam on a new Garden world.
 * In Andrew's Garden commission, clarified that he's talking about in-game time.

Other Fixes


 * Fixed /effects loading a blank menu.
 * Fixed certain menus overriding items when switching pages
 * Fixed several grammatical issues.
 * Fixed a Soulbound transfer exploit.
 * Fixed being able to salvage Museum soulbound items
 * Fixed some issues with Crimson Armor dealing ghost damage
 * Fixed launching Spirit Leap by shift right-clicking a chest
 * Fixed ending an already finished piece with the Personal Harp redisplaying the Intelligence gain message
 * Fixed Shadow Fury not activating on Sven slayer mobs
 * Fixed putting a Rune into a Personal Deletor deleting all types of Runes
 * Fixed multiple people being able to collect the same Maxor crystal at the same time
 * Fixed skill menus displaying the wrong maximum level in the next page icon
 * Fixed hitting a training dummy putting the player in combat mode
 * Fixed previous page arrow being missing on the second page of the Catacombs reward page
 * Fixed Divan Drill not counting previous Drill item tiers in the Museum
 * Fixed the Mystical achievement not being properly given
 * Fixed Flower of Truth not visually re-appearing in the players inventory if placed on the ground or in a pot
 * Fixed Gusher Trophy Fish being unobtainable
 * Fixed Sludge Juice not being put into Sacks when dropped with the Jungle Pickaxe
 * Fixed Builder playing dialogue sound when using the Go Back button
 * Fixed Teleporter Pill placing a skull block when on your island
 * Fixed small typo in Sack of Sacks menu
 * Fixed Master Tao forgetting that he met you
 * Improved Crimson Isle performance

► A note regarding Inflation, and balancing changes
Over the past several weeks, we have been closely observing the escalating inflation within SkyBlock. The community has been actively engaging us, asking about our action plan and our general stance on the matter.

First, let's note that the inflation seemed to reach its zenith around May 15th or 16th and is now showing signs of stabilization at a significantly lower level. It's crucial that we take our time to investigate such issues. Large groups of people tend to overreact, causing dramatic economic fluctuations.

Despite this, the current trend indicates that the inflation will stabilize at a level substantially higher than it was before the Garden update. We recognize this issue and want to address it.

One question that has come up is why we increased the NPC Sell prices of Garden Crops.

Before the Garden update, Mining was the most lucrative Skill in the game. We think that, ideally, all skills should compete for coin income to a certain degree. However, this competition doesn't mean equality at all progression stages. For instance, Farming, with its lower learning curve, is expected to reach its income generation "peak" earlier than other skills. New players are encouraged to initially invest in farming to generate coins, and then later divert those funds into mining gear, which provides superior returns in the long run.

Did we achieve our objective? Regrettably, no. Our calculations were erroneous, and we overshot the mark. Farming currently outclasses Mining and other income generation methods for too long during the game progression.

Moreover, our decision to dramatically increase the NPC sell prices all at once, rather than gradually, was misguided. This sudden surge not only exceeded our intended goal but also incited an overreaction that led to the prices soaring for several days. We apologize for this oversight.

Following this incident, we identified four main causes behind the recent inflation:


 * 1) The sudden surge in NPC Sell prices of the Garden Crops.
 * 2) Garden content distracting players from coin sinks (generating coins in the economy rather than spending coins)
 * 3) Decrease in specific RNG drops or valuable items due to fewer players doing those activities at the time, thereby lowering the supply.
 * 4) RNG Meter bug fix, causing an increase in prices of certain Dungeon items.

In response to these issues, we are implementing three major balancing changes today.

1/ We are reducing the NPC Sell Prices of the most problematic Garden Crops:


 * Carrot: 4 -> 3 Coins
 * Nether Wart: 5 -> 4 Coins
 * Potato: 4 -> 3 Coins
 * Sugar Cane: 5 -> 4 Coins

While we believe that Farming should be the best early game method for generating coins in SkyBlock, its current strength needs to be rebalanced. These specific crop adjustments should bring Farming closer to its intended power level. We will be monitoring coins earned from farming following this to see if more changes are needed.

2/ We are modifying the weights and chest costs of a few Dungeon drops:

Here's the list of changes:


 * Increased Necron’s Handle weight from 13 → 15 in Floor 7 and 15 → 18 in M7 (Bedrock Chests)
 * Essentially, this means they will be a bit more common.
 * Increased the three scroll’s weights from 14 → 20 in Floor 7 and 14 → 25 in M7
 * This is a pretty substantial change, especially in Master Mode.
 * Increased the chest price of Necron’s Handle to 100m instead of 35m.
 * Increased the chest price of each Wither scrolls to 50m each, instead of 15m.
 * Increased the chest price of Recombobulator 3000 by 1 extra million.
 * Increased the chest price of the Dark Claymore to 150m, instead of 50m.
 * Floor 1 and Floor 2 Recombobulator 3000 prices are now adjusted to be the same as the other floors.
 * Increased the weights of Recombobulators in many floors, so they are easier to obtain.
 * F1: Up recomb weight from 1 → 3 (1/100 to 3/102 [2.9%]) in OBSIDIAN
 * F2: Up recomb weight from 1 → 2 (1/57 to 2/58 [3.3%]) in OBSIDIAN
 * F3: Up recomb weight from 2 → 4 (2/85 to 4/87 [3.5%]) in OBSIDIAN
 * F4: Up recomb weight from 2 → 3 (2/82 to 3/83 [3.7%]) in OBSIDIAN
 * F6: Up recomb weight from 60 → 100 (60/2729 to 100/2769 [4.3%]) in BEDROCK
 * F7: Up recomb weight from 200 → 400 (200/13489 to 400/13689 [3.7%]) in BEDROCK
 * M1: Up recomb weight from 1 → 4 (1/79 to 4/82 [4.8%]) in OBSIDIAN
 * M2: Up recomb weight from 1 → 3 (1/57 to 3/59 [5.1%]) in OBSIDIAN
 * M3: Up recomb weight from 2 → 4 (2/66 to 4/68 [4.5%]) in OBSIDIAN
 * M4: Up recomb weight from 2 → 3 (2/57 to 3/58 [5.2%]) in OBSIDIAN
 * M6: Up recomb weight from 60 → 120 (60/2749 to 120/2809 [4.3%]) in BEDROCK
 * M7: Up recomb weight from 200 → 500 (200/13558 to 500/13858 [3.6%]) in BEDROCK

Our goal is to ensure that as we roll out more updates, the time required to "complete" SkyBlock doesn't extend indefinitely. By making these items more accessible, we're making the game slightly easier to complete, thereby saving valuable time. This is particularly true for Recombobulators, as each new Accessory we add to the game increases the total number of these items you need. Now is a great time to make these more obtainable.

As for the chest price changes, they were overdue. What once seemed like a large sum at the release of Floor 7, 35 million, no longer does. Dropping any of those items will still be a massive profit, and even for ironman players, obtaining 100m now is much easier than it was back then.

3/ We are increasing the BIN Auction Listing Fees:

Until now, BIN auction listing fees have always been 1%, no matter the cost of the item. Whereas the regular auction listing fees have been 5%.

It makes sense that the BIN fees are lower than the auction fees, as they technically already target the final price, however we feel like 1% is too small.

From now on those are the new BIN auction listing fees.


 * 1% for items <10,000,000 coins (unchanged)
 * 2% for items <100,000,000 coins
 * 2.5% for items >100,000,000 coins.

We anticipate that these changes will have a notable impact on the global economy and, overall, will significantly benefit the game.

Rest assured, we will continue to monitor inflation following these changes, as we believe they're a step in the right direction.