Tower Tea - April 13, 2026

Hi pals! Welcome back to Tower Tea. This week we have a bit to cover - v28 is out in the wild, you’ve had a few days to poke at it, and I’ve been reading everything you’ve had to say. So, let’s get into it. We’ve got some updates on what the team is working on, and a few things I can finally share. Grab your drink.

Here is the rundown:

• eHP players: We’re investigating unintentional impacts on eHP after v28, and are re-examining its current balance. Continue to tag Sam in bugs.

• No Cost Bot+ unlocks: A tiny number of players got Bot+ for no cost via a bug. It’s being corrected, and if it didn’t impact you, nothing changes.

• Relic Store is almost here: Resets weekly, 4 relics (2 Rare/600 gems, 2 Epic/1200 gems. Medal relics stay medal relics. New events don’t have dedicated medal relics yet, but that’s coming.

• Next Update: One later this week and a more substantial one about 4 weeks out, focused on polishes and fixes.

• On the horizon: More QoL, Dual Runs, and shorter tournaments.

V28 Status

First things first: thank you for all the feedback since v28 launched. I’ve been in the threads, the comments, the Discord channels, and I’ve been responding to what I can, and reading all of it. It makes me genuinely happy seeing you engage with Dissonant Runs and our expansion of our Bots feature.

Before we get into everything, I want to address a question that came up in the community: how will TTG improve their processes moving forward to prevent changes immediately after a release? That's a fair thing to call out, and I understand why it's frustrating.

We have spent time and resources to provide a cleaner release, but no release is going to be perfect. That being said, "patching things is normal" isn't a satisfying answer when what's being adjusted feels like it directly affects your progression, and I get that too.

We're always working to improve our process, and our goal is simple: deliver a gameplay experience worth being excited about. That means thoughtful features, meaningful balance changes that benefit players, and fast turnarounds on high-impact bugs. When something comes up, we'll tell you why it happened, what we're doing about it, and make it right.

We appreciate the feedback that we have received during this release. We look forward to working hard towards new features, future improvements, and putting meaningful effort towards fulfilling community requests… and not waiting as long for the next major update!

Okay. Now let's get into the rest of it.

A note for our eHP players

We have heard the feedback about Primordial Collapse and are investigating. As part of v28, we reworked how Damage Reduction works in the code for two main reasons:

To enable the Damage Reduction stats

To centralize all of the logic, both for consistency and better code practices

We didn't intend to touch eHP balance as part of this. However, two things are true:

Flame Bot has a bugged Damage Reduction (fixed for 28.0.4)

Players feel confident PCol Damage Reduction has been nerfed

The second point couldhave been true if the behavior was bugged previously, but all of our testing and code review shows that the current behavior is giving the exact reduction expected. That being said, we are continuing to investigate.

We are re-examining eHP balance as a result of this happening. In the meantime, if you're an eHP player who has noticed changes, specific details are really helpful - what tier, what build, and when you first noticed it. Drop it in the bug channel and tag me.

No Cost Bot+ Unlocks

During our initial rollout of v28, a very small number of players received the Bot+ upgrades for no stone cost. This was not a widespread issue as some posts within our community suggested.

We are currently taking action on affected accounts. The Bot+ upgrades will revert back to a locked state, and any spent medals will be refunded to the players accounts. Additionally, we will ensure that when Bot+ is locked for affected users, they will not also earn its original cost in stones.

If you weren't part of that small group, nothing will change for you. And if you were, you'll see the correction come through. Thanks for your patience on this one.

Relic Store

Let’s take some time to break down the expanded Event Store. Starting in the next event (a few hours from now!), you’ll see the rotating Relic Store. This store resets every week, and features four relics:

2 Rare at 600 gems each

2 Epic at 1200 gems each

The relics featured here are the ones you earn through event mission tracks, so the free and premium event relics you'd collect by completing missions and earning medals. After they've been in the game for a while, they'll get added into the rotation pool. And because we have a LOT of relics to work through, once something rotates out, it'll be a good while before it comes back around.

One thing worth noting - the shop is the same for everyone, and it doesn't check what you already own. So if a relic shows up that you already have, it'll just appear as "Owned." No surprises there.

Regarding medal relics: We haven't forgotten that a lot of you spent medals on relics in the past, and we want to be transparent about how this works. Two relics from each event will remain medal-only, and will continue to rotate into the store when that event reruns. That means the vast majority of medal relics will always stay as medal relics - no one gets a currency advantage for waiting.

With this in mind, new events typically have zero relics that cost medals. The plan is to add two dedicated medal-only relics for new events going forward, so that experience is consistent across the board. We're not there yet, but it's coming. Thanks for being patient with us while we get it sorted!

As always, let me know if you have questions! Coming soon, next update

We already have another build in the works we’re aiming for later on this week, and another larger update about 4 weeks out, though as always that depends on testing. No major feature surprises, this one is focused on polish, fixes, and stability. We’ll let you know as soon as we have something more concrete to share.

On the Horizon

I know a lot of you have things on your wish list that didn’t make it into v28. I want you to know those requests haven’t disappeared, and the team is actively working through them.

Between September 2025 and now, we shipped over 20 updates and fixes - from lab overhauls to cloud save improvements to QoL changes. We hear that it didn't always feel like enough, and that feedback genuinely helps us communicate better.

Here’s a look at some of what’s on the horizon:

Dual Runs

We mentioned this back in November, and were a little quiet on it. Here’s some info: we have done foundational work on the feature, such as adding in the pause menu improvements. Dual Runs require a lot more work to function in the way we want. For example, we want to make sure that players can easily change between presets for tournament and tier runs. This is on our radar!

Tournament Length

We're with you on this one. Tournaments should be something you can knock out without rearranging your entire day, and we know we're not fully there yet. Adjustments are coming, and keeping tournaments short and healthy is something we care about just as much as you do. Stay tuned.

More QoL fixes, this is always ongoing. Keep the bug reports coming, they genuinely help.

Stability. Expect improvements to continue.

That's a wrap for this week

Alright pals, that's a lot for one Tea, and I appreciate you reading all the way down here.

I know v28 had a bumpy start in a few spots, and I meant what I said at the top, we're on it, and we'll keep being transparent when things need adjusting. That's not going to change.

What I can tell you is that the team is heads down, the roadmap is real, and there are some things coming that I am genuinely, embarrassingly excited about.

As always, drop your questions, bug reports, and wall names below. I'll be in the threads, even when you don’t see me, I’m around.

Love you Defenders, Sam