- Drowning Ashes - Early Access Version 0.3.0.3 - 23 July 2026
Hey all! Just a very small patch today to fix some typos in the following items and skills: Wyrm's Gospel: Fixed some typos and clarified the effect of the Igniting Thrust skill. War-Smith's Axe: Fixed some typos in the descriptions of the elemental detonation skills. Circlet of Leeches: Clarified which skills are granted by the enhanced version, and fixed an issue with the description text of the Nightmare Dust spell.
- Drowning Ashes - Early Access Version 0.3.0.2 - 17 July 2026
Hey all! Just a small patch today based on some bug reports from the forums. Very mild spoilers ahead: Fixed a bug where the Medusa's Ashes weren't unlocking a new recipe at the Blacksmith. Fixed a bug where Philters of Passage were behaving oddly on new game+ cycles. Updated the appearance of the special chest in the Jabberwock's Lair. Fixed a bug where the Statues in the Royal Sepulcher were not breaking correctly on new game+ cycles.
- Drowning Ashes Early Access Version 0.3.0.1 (The Sepulcher) - 27 June 2026
Hey everyone!It has been a minute since the last update! First off, I'd like to say thank you to everyone for your understanding and kind words of support. As some of you know, I ran into some unexpected health problems after the last update, and development ran slowly for a couple of months.I am pleased to report now, however, that I am fighting fit once more, and development is proceeding at a much better pace! Speaking of which, we'd better get into what you can expect from the latest update...The Royal SepulcherThe path into the Royal Sepulcher is finally open for those of you who have obtained the key.The Sepulcher itself is one of the largest and most complicated zones yet, teaming with new fiends to fight and recruit, new items to find, and a slew of boss fights to challenge your party.You can expect some seriously tough fights, as well as some answers about the protagonist's ori…
- A Small Development Update - 26 May 2026
Hey all! I don't normally like to share much about my personal life when talking about the development of Drowning Ashes, but it's been a minute since the last update, and I figured I owe you all an update on what's been happening.First off, the project is alive and well, and so am I. Mostly. I had some unexpected health stuff come up over the last month or so, which has slowed down development on the current update significantly. It's nothing life-threatening, and I am on the mend now, but I am also running a bit behind on development.The next update is still very much coming along, and you can expect it some time in June, hopefully sooner rather than later.Thank you all for your patience, and I look forward to seeing everyone for another adventure in the ruins of the Capital soon.-Daniel
- Drowning Ashes Early Access Version 0.2.0.1 (Of Storms & Fiends) - 31 March 2026
Hey everyone!Here we are again, with a hefty March update for Drowning Ashes! I know I'm falling into the habit of saying this every release, but version 0.2.0.1 might just be the biggest update yet! Kind of. Let's get into it...HousekeepingOnce again, I think it's important to set some expectations for the latest update, and explain some of the decisions behind it. This release does not include any new quests or areas, but represents the first phase of a massive overhaul to many of the game's core systems. Some of those changes will be obvious, while others are mostly under-the-hood tweaks to enable future updates.It's important to note that most of these systems and changes are works-in-progress, and may change significantly between now and full release. I am extremely eager for any and all feedback as I work to refine these systems in the coming months. It also bears mentioning that…
- Drowning Ashes - Early Access Version 0.1.1.0 (The Beast) - 17 February 2026
Hey everyone!It has been a minute since the last update, and I'm here with some exciting new changes to report. This update is a big one, so there will be plenty to go over! But first, a little housekeeping...Regarding Update FrequencyVersion 0.1.1.0 is probably the single biggest update to Drowning Ashes yet, at least in terms of the amount of work required on my end to get it ready. As a result, it came through a couple of weeks later than expected. Sorry about that!Looking back over January, I think I bit off a little more than I could chew trying to get New Game Plus and a major content update out in the same month. Going forward, I'm going to try and pace myself just a little bit more, to make sure I can keep the updates coming on a fairly regular and predictable schedule.Having worked on 0.1.1.0, I have also had some thoughts about the order in which I might want to roll out the f…
- Drowning Ashes - Early Access Version 0.1.0.7 - 11 January 2026
Hey everyone!I hope the holidays have treated you well! Before I get back into the swing of releasing new content, I thought it might be nice to push an update with some quality-of-life changes in response to all the feedback you have provided thus far. I'll list the new stuff below, in approximate order of importance. Let's get started!New Game Plus... kind of!You can now enter the door in the Hall of Trials! Doing so will bring you to the Otherworldly Sanctum, a new zone that will lead to further content in future updates. In the meantime though, the Sanctum does have one special function... You can interact with the statue of the Goddess in the Sanctum to begin a new Cycle. This functions a lot like New Game Plus in other games - your story progress will be reset, but you'll retain your level, equipment and recruited allies. It's a great way to re-acquire boss Ashes or change the dec…
- Drowning Ashes - Early Access Roadmap - 22 December 2025
Hey all!First of all, let me say a huge thank you to everyone who wishlisted and / or bought the Early Access release of Drowning Ashes, and to all the lovely folks on the forums who have shared their thoughts, feedback, and adventures in the ruins of the Capital so far!It has been a humbling and extremely motivating experience to engage with such a thoughtful and enthusiastic community, and I definitely have big plans for the months ahead! The main purpose of this update to share some of that with you all, so you know what to expect going forward.Regarding the Team SizeBefore we get into all the fun stuff, it's time for a little bit of housekeeping! You've probably seen me refer to the team as "we" in some of my forum posts. That's a habit I fell into back when Elston Studios was bigger, and I kept it up because I was also considering the possibility of expanding the team going into Ea…
- Drowning Ashes - Early Access Release - 11 December 2025
Hey everyone! This is it! It's early access launch day for Drowning Ashes! Whether you've played the demo extensively, or you're totally new to our strange monster-collecting RPG, you'll find a ton of content to explore! We'll try to cover to cover some common questions about the early access release without getting into any spoilers, so you should be okay to read on even if you want to go in with minimal information about the game.How big is early access?The current early access build is pretty hefty, but playtimes vary a lot depending on how you approach things. So far, our playtesters have averaged about 8-10 hours to reach the end of the early access build, but our fastest time in-house was around 3.5 hours (for a veteran player using an optimized team and progression route). There's definitely more content than you can see in a single playthrough, though. With five playable classes…
- Drowning Ashes Demo Version 3.0.10 - 2 December 2025
Early Access is only 10 days away, and a new demo version is live to keep you busy in the meantime! There's a quite a bit of new stuff to explore:Revised Character SelectionThe character selection menu has been updated with a new section, which hints at a little more of what you can expect from the story in the full game.2 New Explorable MapsThe Ruined Aqueduct has been significantly expanded, allowing you to explore two new maps complete with new items to loot, new fiends to fight and recruit, and even new minibosses.New NPC QuestlineThere's a new NPC waiting to meet you, with some... unusual requests. Expanded ReservesYou can now store twice as many fiends in your reserve, so there's been a better time to get out there and recruit some new allies!Bugs, Typos & Miscellaneous FixesAs usual, we've also fixed a bunch of smaller issues. Notably this time around, a few typos and pots that w…
- Drowning Ashes Demo Version 2.0.11 - 22 October 2025
A successful Steam Next Fest is now behind us, and Early Access is on the horizon! In the meantime, we have made some small tweaks to fix a few minor issues in the Drowning Ashes demo. You can view a full list of the changes below:Fixed Incorrect Map Transition in Garden of Regret IThe map transition in the first area of the Garden of Regret was transferring the player to the Capital Outskirts, instead of the Gatehouse Ruins as intended. This has now been fixed.Fixed Gnomes Healing AIEnemy Gnomes were sometimes healing the wrong allies in combat. This should now be fixed.Updated Goddess Wellspring VFX (WIP)The audiovisual feedback for interacting with a Goddess Wellspring has been revised to be slightly more dramatic, and properly cover the map while enemy spawns are being reset. This is a work in progress.Updated Load Game FunctionalityThe handling for loading save files has been updat…
- Drowning Ashes - Next Fest Demo Update - 13 October 2025
We had originally intended to fix a few bugs and tidy up the demo in time for Steam Next Fest, but we got a little carried away...So now Drowning Ashes demo version 2.0.10 is here! This update represents a substantial overhaul of the demo, so even if you've played the previous version, there's plenty to see here.In addition to a host of bugfixes, visual tweaks and balance improvements, the main changes include:New Area: The Gatehouse RuinsPerched between the Capital Outskirts and the Garden of Regret, the Gatehouse once served as the seat from which the King's Magisters oversaw the flow of travelers and goods into the Capital. Now mostly destroyed, the ruins are home to various Ash-starved monstrosities... as well as a few treasures awaiting an adventurer bold enough to claim them.New Recruitable MonstersThree new monster types have been added for you to find, defeat and recruit! You mi…
- Drowning Ashes Demo Version 1.013 - 4 October 2025
This update fixes an issue where selecting "New Game" from the main would lock you into the entire character selection process.You can now return to the main menu from the character selection screen by pressing the "Back" button (Escape / Right Click by default).
