Minecraft Dungeons 1.8.0.0 'Flames of the Nether' changelog released, reveals full balance changes and more

What you need to know

• Minecraft Dungeons has released the massive Flames of the Nether expansion and its free update.
• We already knew about most of the content additions, but now we have the full changelog to pour over.
• Alongside Xbox Series X|S Optimizations, Flames of the Nether includes tons of balancing and quality-of-life improvements.
• "Return to Checkpoint" button, guaranteed Arch Haven and Soggy Cave secret level locations, new Achievements, and more are here.

Minecraft Dungeons is having a massive day. The huge Flames of the Nether expansion is being released on all platforms, and Minecraft Dungeons is now Optimized for the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S. If you want to know the full changes present inside the humungous Flames of the Nether release, we have the complete changelog for you to peruse.

Most notably, balance changes include making Arch Haven and Soggy Cave secret locations always appear on Pumpkin Pastures and Soggy Swamp levels, respectively, fixing a huge pain point for many players. There are also tons of balances for weapons, enemies, and artifacts to hopefully make the game more balanced and see more loadouts being used. Finally, watch out for known issues in this update, which will hopefully be resolved in a future patch.

The Flames of the Nether update is rolling out today for Minecraft Dungeons on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, PC, and Switch. You can also play Minecraft Dungeons through Xbox Game Pass and even Xbox Cloud Gaming (Project xCloud). Many changes are being released for free to all players. Still, to get the full Flames of the Nether experience, players will want to pick up the Minecraft Dungeons Season Pass, which includes Howling Peaks, Flames of the Nether, and the next two expansions for Minecraft Dungeons.

Finally, consider checking out one of the Best Headsets for Xbox Series X|S, which will upgrade your multiplayer and co-op experiences, especially in Minecraft Dungeons.

The full changelog for Minecraft Dungeons' 1.8.0.0 Flames of the Nether update includes:

Free update

Ancient Hunts

• Ancient Hunts are procedurally-generated end-game missions that weave in and out of the Nether. To access an Ancient Hunt, you'll need to sacrifice some of your items. The combination of items changes which rare Ancient mobs you may encounter. Investing enchantment points further increases your chances of encountering ancient mobs. Defeating these mobs gives you brand-new Gilded gear, which is more powerful than anything you've yet encountered!

Gilded gear

• Gilded gear drops are part of the free update as ultra-rare items with an extra Enchantment slot built-in, making them some of the most powerful items in the game. To get these end-game level items, you'll have to face the Ancient Hunts and travel to the dangerous Nether

Gold currency & Piglin Merchant

• Once you get your first bit of gold from Ancient Hunts, the Piglin merchant will set up shop in the mysterious cave that's popped up near camp. Trade the gold for items and possibly even rare Gilded gear!
• Please note that gold must be earned in-game and cannot be purchased

Xbox Series X|S Enhanced

• Minecraft Dungeons is now optimized for Xbox Series X|S consoles!
• Xbox Series X supports up to 4K resolution and 120 FPS
• Xbox Series S supports up to 1440p resolution and 60 FPS
• These resolutions and frame rates are variable and will lower while playing four-player local co-op

New enchantments

• Pain Cycle (Melee)
• Artifact Synergy (Melee)
• Cooldown Shot (Ranged)
• Shock Web (Ranged)
• Artifact Charge (ranged)
• Reckless (Armor)
• Beast Burst (Armor)
• Beast Boss (Armor)
• Beast Surge (Armor)
• Fire Focus (Armor)
• Lightning Focus (Armor)
• Poison Focus (Armor)
• Soul Focus (Armor)

Free cosmetics

• The Minecraft Dungeons community has reached ten million players! To celebrate the amazing players supporting the game, we're releasing a free cape and pet as part of this update

Return to Checkpoint

• If you ever find yourself stuck in the world and unable to move, head to the menu and select Return to Checkpoint!

New Achievements

• 10 new achievements/trophies to unlock on your adventures

Paid DLC

DLC features

• Journey to the heart of the Nether in six new missions that will let you explore the Minecraft universe in an all-new way. The adventure ahead will bring new artifacts and gear for those who are brave enough to face the fiery wrath of the Nether's dangerous mobs
• Two new player skins and a Baby Ghast pet

New weapons

• Broken Sawblade
• Mechanized Sawblade (Unique)
• Boneclub
• Bone Cudgel (Unique)
• Twisting Vine Bow
• Weeping Vine Bow (Unique)
• Cog Crossbow
• Pride of the Piglins (Unique)

New armor

• Sprout Armor
• Living Vines Armor (Unique)
• Piglin Armor
• Golden Piglin Armor (Unique)

New artifacts

• Blast Fungus
• Powershaker
• Spinblade
• Thundering Quiver

Balance changes

Arch Haven & Soggy Swamp

• The unlock locations of these secret missions now always appear on Pumpkin Pastures and Soggy Swamp

Apocalypse Plus

• The previous twenty Apocalypse Plus levels have been compressed into ten levels
• Characters that had reached +20 prior to this update will now have +10 unlocked. Their gear will remain unchanged
• 15 additional Apocalypse Plus levels have been added, bringing the total up to 25
• Each Apocalypse Plus level now increases gear power and mob stats more than previously
• The difficulty curve has been adjusted behind the scenes such that Apocalypse Plus gives you a similar or slightly more difficult degree of challenge early on but is significantly easier towards the end
• Every third Apocalypse Plus level now requires completing one or multiple boss missions to finish. Sorry, that means you can't get to the end by playing Arch Haven many times over!
• There is no longer a small chance for mobs to respawn while playing on high Apocalypse Plus levels
• Drastically lowered the frequency of tier 2 and 3 variants of mobs (such as armored Zombies and Illagers) on Apocalypse Plus difficulty. This makes the gameplay feel more varied and alternating in pace and level of challenge when fighting mobs

Mob enchantments

• Electrified interval from every 5s -> 4s
• Electrified damage from 150 -> 90
• This means that Electrified's damage per second from mobs has gone from 30 to 22.5

Blacksmith

• Each apocalypse plus threshold is now also a threshold for upgrading items at the Blacksmith

Enchantment slots

• Bosses in Apocalypse are now more likely to drop triple-enchanted items
• Item drops now become guaranteed to have three enchantment slots partway through Apocalypse Plus

Artifact cooldown effects

• Cooldown decrease from armor buffed from 30% to 40%
• Cooldown decrease from a single enchantment slot buffed from ~30% to ~40%
• Stacked cooldown decreases from multiple sources of different types will now have diminished benefits
  • Example: Using Evocation Robes and 3x maxed out Cooldown enchantments, the cooldown change would go from an 87% decrease to a 77% decrease
• Overall, this is a buff to most cooldown combinations, and a slight nerf to cooldown builds that use a cooldown armor with two or more stacked Cooldown enchantment slots. We're hoping it will free up some enchantment slots for use on other things, while simultaneously fixing a few issues with stacking cooldowns we had previously

Ravager

• Charge attack damage 350 -> 175

Rampart Captain

• Damage 440 -> 300

Wind Caller

• Updraft damage 110 -> 80

Wolf

• Health 100 -> 200
• Damage 85 -> 100

Mace

• Third attack from 225 area -> 250
• Third attack damage from 90 -> 140

Katana

• Attack speed increased by ~30%

Daggers

• Range increased from 330 -> 350

Rapier

• Damage increased from 11 -> 13 (and 60 -> 70 for last attack)

Soul Scythe

• Damage 75 -> 80
• Splash factor 0.75 -> 0.85

Hunting Bow

• Increased quiver size by 50%
• Decreased charged shot damage multiplier from 2.5 -> 2.0

Power Bow

• Damage increased by 33%
• Fixed an issue where charged attacks weren't extra strong as described

Trickbow

• Damage increased by 20%
• Projectile speed increased by 20%

Windbow

• Increased quiver size by 20%

Fixes

• Fixed an issue when attempting to delete a character while on "Create New Character" would delete a random character
• Fixed the threat slider moving back to the recommended threat level as soon as a new mission is started
• Fixed the explosion effect appearing underground for the Mountaineer and Rampart Captain
• Fixed Squall Golems and Ravagers not attacking summoned mobs
• Fixed the mission image staying red after adjusting threat level from Apocalypse Plus
• Fixed German subtitles in the outro of Desert Temple
• Fixed a crash that could occur when opening a chest on Pumpkin Pastures during 4-player local co-op, as well as other interactable items
• Fixed collisions on multiple walls and objects in several missions
• Fixed the texture of the Redstone Monstrosity's head in the Camp house
• The loading screen now shows the proper chosen threat level for Apocalypse Plus
• The mission select map screens and settings screens can now be fully navigated with keyboard on PC
• Made several improvements and fixes to text-to-speech functionality in the menus
• Local co-op players can no longer be accidentally added if the friend screen is open after the player dies
• Fixed the Howling Peaks screen linking to the base game on the Nintendo eShop
• The mouse indicator no longer stays on items in merchant screens after changing the input from mouse to controller on PC
• Fixed a non-dismissible "controller disconnected" warning displayed after unsuspending the game from Sleep Mode and pairing a Pro Controller on Nintendo Switch
• Effects and sounds are no longer played twice for weapons with Shockwave if playing as a client
• Fixed issues with Xbox players being unable to rejoin session after losing network connection
• Improved messaging when linking to a Microsoft Account on Nintendo Switch while logged into that account on another device. The message now clarifies that "You are signed in to this game on another device. To use this Microsoft Account, sign out on the other device first"
• Goat and Arctic Fox pets now play the correct sound when equipped
• Lift gates in Windswept Peaks now play sounds when opening and closing
• Improved line spacing of text in several areas of the menus

Known issues

• In rare cases, multiple Ancient Mobs may spawn at once
• Completing missions in multiplayer as a client who does not have the level unlocked can fail to count towards Apocalypse Plus unlock progress
• Rarely, rolling off the map in certain areas in Warped Forest may cause the player to respawn at the beginning of an Ancient Hunt
• The objective marker can fail to guide players through the Nether Fortress mission
• Environmental fires in Nether missions do not damage players or mobs
• The Pain Cycle gilded enchantment description does not mention the health cost mechanic

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