This one is about the fights that end a run. Every boss was gone over attack by attack, and on Nightmare and Hell they now do things they do not do on Normal. Around that: power cuts, secrets, a pile of new boons and a screen that finally tells you what your build was doing.

New

• Every boss has one more attack on Nightmare and Hell. Seven new attacks, each with its own animation and a tell you can read. Until now a harder difficulty only bought a boss more health.
• On Hell the last phase starts early — at 45% of a boss's health instead of 30%.
• No two fights run in the same order. Queen Thistlewing, the Scarab Sovereign, the Vampire Jester and the All-Seer shuffle their attacks every run.
• The Vampire Jester has his own show: razor cards, juggling balls that bounce, jack-in-the-boxes, bats and a spotlight. He used to borrow another boss's moves.
• The Abyss has power cuts. The fuse goes for twenty seconds and only what glows is left: the crystals, your own shots, the monsters' eyes. Fight beside a crystal.
• Each stage hides one secret. That is all I am saying.
• The results screen shows damage dealt per skill, so you can see what your build was really doing. Run History has it too.
• Empowered skills. 32 new legendary boons, each tied to a skill on your hotbar, that change what that skill does — a Meteor that falls three times, a Whirlwind that pulls, arrows that fly back to the Ranger. Her six also drop as unique items now; until this update she had none.
• Four boons with a price: Bared Claws, Heavy Paws, Zoomies and Gilded Collar each give a lot and take something back.
• Eleven monsters redrawn at higher resolution, each with its own attack, flinch and death animation. The Forest's Pixie is a moth fairy now.
• The Abyss got its own traps (a sparking socket, a bleach spill, a mousetrap), its own campfire and its own ritual altar.
• Reduce flashing in Settings > Graphics: one switch that calms screen flashes, the mushroom trip, shockwaves and glare.
• Everything that is locked now says what unlocks it: difficulties, hotbar slots, gear you cannot wear yet, unique items.

What testing said

• Measured against every other unique boon, Executioner was the only one that made a run worse: about 15% fewer kills per minute than taking nothing. It is rebuilt — see Balance.
• Three boss attacks could not be dodged by the slowest cat however well you played: the Dune Maw's eruption and jaw snap, and the Abyssal Maw's pull. All three can be walked out of now.

Balance

• Executioner: kills regular monsters under 15% health → under 25%; now also kills elites under 15%, and bosses under 30% health take 40% more damage.
• Dune Maw, eruption: 170 px after 0.6 s → 150 px after 0.95 s. Jaw snap: now hits exactly the circle it draws, after 0.75 s.
• Abyssal Maw: every charge winds up for half a second with its lane drawn on the ground. Devour pulls slower than you walk, and a dodge roll escapes it.
• Bramblehorn: the charge shows its lane before it runs instead of after.
• Haunted Vacuum: it pulls in a cone in front of its nozzle now, not in a full circle. Step out of the wedge.

Fixes

• The Haunted Vacuum paid out everything it swallowed twice, and left the originals on the floor as well. One vacuum could fill a purse. Fixed — it now gives back exactly what it ate.
• A unique boon could be offered again in the same run after being taken. Fixed.
• A line ran through the middle of the Abyss' stacked ritual totems. Fixed.
• The Dune Maw never used its dive against a cat standing right next to it. Fixed.
• Text inside panels no longer touches the ornate border.

Next

The first poll for the next cat class, and the first balance pass from real runs. The roadmap says what comes after that.