[This wiki page is updated with the changes from the developer's latest release "Epic Battle (4): City's Chaos War A" (link to the latest apk).]
Overview
SPecial Surprise Pixel Dungeon (formerly Special Sprouted Pixel Dungeon), commonly referred to as SPS-PD, is an in-development fork of Sprouted Pixel Dungeon, but with a huge amount of innovations, and also some specific elements, especially items, borrowed from Shattered Pixel Dungeon, Yet Another Pixel Dungeon, and a few other mods. Its current version is named "Epic Battle (4): City's Chaos War" was released in late May of 2019. It was created by Reddit user hmdzl001. This mod aims to add several improvements to the overall gameplay, while still retaining a small part of the grindiness of Sprouted. Like its predecessor, it allows players to farm stat boosts to a high degree, and grants access to items of very high levels. However, the gameplay of killing all of the mobs on the depth as fast as possible, something that before had been an optional choice, has become the front and center of SPS-PD's gameplay, whereas grinding for rare resources like Scrolls of Magical Infusion or Phase Pitchers, while still possible, has lost much of its importance. These, among many other rebalances, make gameplay much more fast-paced, less grindy and up the challenge to a relatively constant level. There are new chapter bosses and a boss rush, new depths, a whole lot of new items, two whole new hero classes with their two subclasses, and much more added to the already sizable Sprouted package. It's worth a shot to any and all that don't mind its unfinished state or its occasional language mistakes and “No text found” game messages.
Although most of SPS-PD's wiki sections are rather extensive, they presuppose knowledge of the items and mechanics of Sprouted Pixel Dungeon, on which SPS-PD is basically based (yes, they contain mostly SPS-PD's innovations and changes), so if details about a mechanic or class of items/characters are missing, that means that they are exactly the same with Sprouted. So, when a reader thinks that some information about SPS-PD that he/she needs is missing, he/she should search for it in the Sprouted pages of the wiki and there is a 99% chance he/she will find it there. Also, whenever a feature, item etc. is described in the wiki sections as “new”, that means “new compared to Sprouted”, or else a more detailed expression is used (“totally new” / “new compared to all other mods” or something similar). Lastly, there is a good amount of spelling and expression mistakes in the game messages and even in the name of items, that are mostly put in correct form in the wiki sections, occasionally with also a mention to the game’s initial language form.
Alchemy and Potions
- Main article: Alchemy - Ammunition, Bombs, Potions
Alchemy in SPS-PD seems based on a combination of Sprouted's and Shattered's alchemies, with also a major innovation in the new cooking mechanic that is implemented. The Alchemy interface is changed and mostly resembles that of Shattered before the rework (no alchemical energy needed, no exotic variants, no alchemical scrolls produced etc. but special bombs and ammuniton do get crafted), and there is also a huge change made in that alchemy pots are now mostly useful for cooking and crafting and can create 40 different food or consumable items and a wide array of special bombs and ammunition (visit main article link for details). The Alchemist's Toolkit is also drastically changed and makes cooking of more complex recipes possible, without its familiar function to brew potions with less seeds like it does in Sprouted (it is practically a Culinary and Crafting Toolkit in SPS-PD, although it is not renamed). Seeds have the same effects and brew the same potions with Sprouted (with some exceptions) with only the Seed Pod plant from Shattered added, but Blandfruits have almost the same effects with Shattered, apart from not leaving chunks when thrown. Lastly, potions have mostly their familiar effects from Sprouted but also some new effects are added, as additional side effects to the familiar ones, and also each one has a distinguishing symbol, after it gets identified.
Armor
- Main article: Armor
Tier 6 armors are added, and each armor tier now includes three different types of armor: light (less defense and lower strength requirement, more stealth and dexterity), heavy (more defense and higher strength requirement, less stealth and dexterity), and normal (the more balanced in their stats). As a consequence, SPS-PD has 18 different types of armor available, with 12 of them new. There are also 12 new armor glyphs.
Artifacts
- Main article: Artifacts
4 new artifacts (Alien Shoulder Bag, Ethereal Chains, Glass Totem, Robot D.M.T.) have been added to those of Sprouted, and from the familiar ones, only the Chalice of Blood, Talisman of Foresight and Timekeeper’s Hourglass haven't received any changes in their function. The Ring of Disintegration has been removed, and all artifacts have now become rare instead of unique drops.
Awareness of enemies and awareness indication in them
When the hero is followed by a pet, an enemy will decide to attack either him/her or the pet. That means that the enemy will ignore the non-focused character, even when the non-focused character (either hero or pet) is attacking the enemy, and will try to attack the focused-on character, even chasing a pet around the dungeon depth. Sometimes enemies have also speech balloons with punctuation marks or letters above their head, like they do in YAPD and some other mods.
- "!" means that they have seen the hero or the pet and are ready to attack / dodge / chase them. It is increased awareness, as enemies can be aware of the hero without the "!" balloon.
- "?" means that they have lost sight of the hero or the pet, that they were seeing until recently, they are unaware, and they will get surprised by an attack, as long as they continue to have the "?" balloon above them at the time of the attack.
- "Zz" means they are sleeping, unaware, and will get surprised by an attack, as long as they continue to have the "Zz" balloon above them at the time of the attack.
- Enemies without a speech baloon above their head that are distant from the hero will be most of the times also unaware of the hero's presence and will be surprised by an attack.
Pets have the same focus mechanic with enemies, also chase focused-on enemies, and can also have the "!" and "?" balloons, with the same meaning that they have for enemies, but they never sleep. The hero will also have the "Zz" balloon above him/her, while he/she is resting or sleeping, but has no other awareness indications displayed.
Bombs
- Main article: Bombs
In its latest update SPS-PD has added 8 new craftable bomb items (Acid, Build, Dark, Huge, Fire, Ice, Mini, Storm bombs) while keeping but renaming only the Dumbling (> Fishing bomb) and Holy Hand Grenade (> Holy bomb) from Sprouted, which have also become craftable. Unlike most other mods and also unlike Sprouted one bomb type, Huge bomb, apart from having a very good offensive function, is also useful in destroying walls, and is available for all classes to craft, unlike the Performer's Shovel, which has the same function, but it is a unique class item. The two regular bombs of previous SPS-PD versions are kept, they have also become craftable, but do not destroy walls anymore.
| Bomb | ||
| A fairly hefty black powder bomb. An explosion from this would certainly do damage to anything nearby, It looks like the fuse will take a couple rounds to burn down once it is lit. | ||
| Two bombs | ||
| A stack of two hefty black powder bombs, looks like you get one for free! | ||
These regular bombs are also a more common find in the dungeon, are dropped often by Dwarf Musketeers, and are sold randomly in all the dungeon shops (shops also sell randomly all the other special bombs). All special bombs don't spawn in the regular dungeon, but are regularly sold by the Fruit Cat in Dolya Town or found randomly in the Rat King chests in the Tengu Hideout and can also get crafted by the hero in Alchemy Pots. Huge bombs and the Shovel can't destroy few things in SPS-PD: a) air walls, which block the entrance/exit to pit rooms (but destroy without a problem the walls around them), b) specially colored walls or decorative tiles like gold veins, bookshelves or statues, c) locked doors (but destroy without a problem the walls around them), d) Sokoban sheep and Sokoban boxes, e) traps.
Bosses
- Main article: Bosses
The main bosses remain the same with Sprouted, but Shadow Yog and Zot have mostly different minions, and also some special skills are added to enemies and some other are removed.
BossRush Challenge
- Main article: BossRush Challenge
The Dolyahaven Mines have been removed from SPS-PD but their entrance hasn't. A new enemy is located there, a violet dragon named Dungeon Guard, which after it gets defeated, gives the option to the hero to visit a new depth crowded with mini-bosses and their minions and with three unique rewards (one of which is an awesome weapon, the Overload Handcannon). This is the BossRush Challenge.
Buffs and Debuffs
- Main article: Buffs and Debuffs
19 new buffs are added to those of Sprouted, 2 class - specific (Blood Imbue, Echo) and 17 available to all heroes (Alien Shield, Arcane, Attack Up, Blood Angry, Defense Up, Feed, Forever Shadow, Glass Shield, Gold Touch, Muscle, Needling, Notice, Rhythm, Overfed, Strength, Target Shoot, Treasure Search) either by consuming items or using artifacts. Some of Sprouted's buffs have also been renamed their function has been somewhat changed.
13 new debuffs are also added, most of them available both to enemies against the hero and to the hero against enemies (Armor Break, Attack Down, Cold, Dead Raise, Disarm, Dry, Electrostatic Turbulence, Hot, Leech Seed, Locked, Silence, Tar, Wet).
Challenge (formerly Key) depths
- Main article: Challenge Book
The Key depths from Sprouted are renamed to Challenge depths, are all stored in the Challenge Book and have received various changes in their drops and rewards, but retain their main function as dew farming depths. The ones with regular enemies are all now repeatable, but not their boss depths. A new challenge boss depth is added to them, the Treasure Map, with the Gnoll King and his minions as enemies.
Challenges
From all the familiar challenges from other mods and Vanilla, only the "Into Darkness" challenge is kept in SPS-PD (also having been changed in its details), and they all now have also an advantage added apart from the expected disadvantages. There is also one challenge that has only advantages, the Test Time "challenge". Here is a list of SPS-PD's challenges:
- Abrasion: Weapons gets destroyed by the hero using them. On a positive note, the hero starts with one Scroll of Upgrade and one of Magical Infusion.
- Dew Rejection: Less dew is dropped from high grass and enemies and more dew is spent when using the Dew Vial. On a positive note, the hero starts with 2 Dewcatcher seeds.
- Energy Lost: Eating food satisfies less hunger and wands have lower max charges. On a positive note, the hero also starts with a Pasty.
- Item Phobia: The hero spends more time in drinking potions, and gets damaged and silenced (unable to read scrolls or use wands for some turns) after reading scrolls. On a positive note, he/she starts with 1,000 gold.
- Into Darkness: The map does not get recorded and vision is always in "night mode" (see light and darkness section). On a positive note, the hero starts with 2 Scrolls of Magic Mapping.
- Listless: The hero earns less HP by leveling up. On a positive note, he/she starts with 2 Potions of Might.
- Nightmare Virus: Any enemy that dies creates a nightmare virus, an enemy named "!!Data Delete!!" with a null item sprite that produces Demon Blood Gas. On a positive note, the hero starts with an Ankh.
- Test Time: It is the opposite of a challenge, as the hero starts with 10000 gold, 199 Scrolls of Upgrade, 199 Scrolls of Magical Infusion, 199 Potions of Experience, a Skill Kit etc.
Chapter Bosses
- Main article: Chapter Bosses
7 new chapter bosses with their mostly new minions are added in the regular dungeon along with the old ones: 2 + 2 minions in Sewers (Plague Doctor with Shadow Rats, Sewer Heart with Sewer Lashers), 2 in Prison (Prison Warden, TANK), 2 + 5 minions in the Mining Caves (Hybrid, Spider Queen with Spider Eggs, Golders, Jumpers, Minders, Workers) and 2 in the Metropolis (Elder Avatar and Obelisk).
Classes and Subclasses
- Main article: Classes and Subclasses
Classes have all been buffed very much in comparison to Sprouted, with many new abilities added to all of them, and boasting much more versatile starting equipment and higher stats. This greatly reduces the initial difficulty of the Sewers, which are sometimes nearly impossible in Sprouted without the help of an early lucky weapon drop. Two new classes have also been added: a) the Performer, with its two subclasses, the Superstar and the Joker, and b) the Soldier.
Cursed Items
Cursed armors, weapons and rings are all not unequippable and can have negative levels down to -3, but most often from -2 to 0, but not cursed wands, that generally function exactly the same with non-cursed wands. The ring reward from the Ambitious Imp still is upgraded and cursed, but functions like being upgraded and is just not unequippable, like it does in Sprouted. Cursed artifacts have a very mixed behavior: a few of them work as if they are not cursed and are just not unequippable, some don't work but don't have any negative effects, and some other have also negative effects. Scrolls of Remove Curse always also reverse the negative stats of a cursed item (e.g. from -1 to +1) apart from uncursing it, and any form of upgrading can also reverse the negative stat to positive but always decreases it. Accurate upgrading with dew doesn't uncurse items, but only upgrades them (they function with upgraded stats but can't get unequipped). In contrast, random upgrading with dew, Scrolls of Upgrade and Magical Infusion uncurse also the item they upgrade. Lastly, items that spawn in bone piles that release a Chaos Wraith (formerly Red Wraith) after being searched, are not necessarily cursed.
Dew Vial
- Main article: Dew Vial
SPS-PD's Dew Vial is inspired from Sprouted's dew vial but many new functions are added to it and also some of its familiar functions are changed. From the beginning on depth 1 the Drink (healing), Light (invisibility and illumination), Peek (short mind vision), and Refine (creates 1 drop of Clean Water which is needed for cooking recipes) abilities are available. A little later, on depth 2, after the hero meets the first Tinkerer NPC the Plant (equivalent to “Water” in Sprouted) and Upgread (i.e. Upgrade) abilities become available. On depth 12 the Lynn NPC will grant the Clean (extinguishes Fire and washes off Tar and Caustic Ooze) and Speed (Haste) abilities. Finally the second Tinkerer NPC in the Power Trial depth wil increase the Dew Vial's max dew capacity to 350, and also will add levitation to Speed. For details about all these abilities and functions you can visit the link above.
Dolya Slate (formerly Otiluke's Journal)
- Main article: Sokoban and Dolya Town
Otiluke's Journal is renamed to Dolya Stale (i.e. Dolya Slate), 2 of its pages are sold in dungeon shops and not dropped by enemies anymore (Sweet Home and Dolya Town), Scrolls of Magic Mapping and Blue berries work in the Sokoban depths now, the Vault and the Dragon Cave depths have both been removed (so with all these changes the Spectacles unique item from Sokoban 2 has become useless in SPS-PD), the Spring Festival Town depth was recently added (it is curently unavailable, but it will eventually become a recurring feature), Dolyahaven is renamed to Dolya Town (a small RPG town indeed, being inhabited by 37 NPCs and 5 enemies), and many more particular changes and sprite retexturings are made to all Sokoban depths and puzzles, which have become much more easy to solve, due to the existence of the Jump Shoes and of the wall-breaking bombs and as they can be all mapped without any problem.
Dolya Town (formerly Dolyahaven)
- Main article: Dolyahaven/Dolya Town
Dolyahaven is renamed to Dolya Town, its journal page is sold at the depth 11 shop, and this depth now contains 40 new NPCs, 4 new enemies, 3 new sidequests (Challenge Book, Cnoll Clothes, Reimus Goei), 4 new shops and a portal to a new challenge, the Bossrush Challenge. Its altar is still used for the crafting of Tier 6 weapons with Magic Stones (formerly Norn Stones). Also, the Dolyahaven Mines with their Kupuas and Gullins have been removed from the game.
Enemies
- Main article: Enemies
In comparison to Sprouted 3 new enemies are added in the Sewers (Dust Element, Leech Seed, Patrol UAV), 3 in the Prison (Armor Skeleton, Troll Warrior, Zombie), 1 in the Caves (Sand Mob), 2 in the Metropolis (Dwarf Musketeer, Spider Bot), 3 in the Demon Halls (Demon Flower, Sufferer, Thief Imp), 13 in the chapter boss depths (Elder Avatar, Hybrid, Obelisk, Plague Doctor, Sewer Heart, Sewer Lasher, Prison Warden, Spider Golder, Spider Jumper, Spider Minder, Spider Queen, Spider Worker, Tank), 2 in the Challenge depths (Gnoll Keeper, Gnoll King), 1 in the boss depths (Fiend), 3 in Dolya Town (Clockwork Scarecrow, Gurdian Dragon, Test Mob), and there is also a new BossRush challenge with 2 new mini-bosses and 4 new minions (Earth/Fire/Ice/Shock Goo, Ice Corps, Shadow of Amulet), that is 37 in sum. Some more are duplicated or retextured with different name and abilities in other depths and/or have the depth they appear changed, and most of the familiar enemies have their stats rebalanced and skills more or less changed.
Food and Hunger
- Main article: Alchemy - Cooking Food
The hunger mechanic is slightly changed but most importantly, a new cooking system is added with 40 new consumable item recipes (apart from "proper food items", these can also also produce minerals, pills and beverages), with various degrees of hunger fulfilment, and many of them also offering buffs. Also 5 new holiday variants items are added to the pasty, which are available only during a specific time of the year each.
Grinding and End-Game
- Main article: Grinding and End-Game
SPS-PD is a mod of Sprouted and among the most famous (or infamous) characteristics of Sprouted Pixel Dungeon is its grindiness. Nevertheless, in SPS-PD most of Sprouted's grinding isn;t actually needed (apart from the occasional dew farming in the challenge depths for upgrading equipment), as upgrading a Tier 6 weapon with transmuted Scrolls of Magical Infusion is absolutely not needed and the game can be completed easily with a highly upgraded Tier 5 weapon. Players who want to make the best out of the game's resources or want detailed advice about SPS-Pd's end-game can vist the above link though.
Light and Darkness
- Main article: Light & Darkness - Hero's Vision
A unique characteristic of SPS-PD is that game time affects the hero's vision in a more complicated manner than it does in all the other mods, being much closer to what happens in the real world. There is an in-game clock that determines the part of the day and night (and not the pc's or mobile's clock like in most othr mods). The hero's range of vision will vary accordingly from 2 tiles up to 7 tiles, but generally it will be better during the game day, and worse during the game night, with a "deep night" phase also occurring randomly in the regular dungeon depths.
Limited Saving
Rarely, the player can find rooms that are always hidden and are listed as Fire of Memory in the hero's Journal, but have the same appearance as Vanilla's sacrificial chambers.
They allow the player to create a single save point (up to the number of 5 for each class): this save point can be used only once, and the save file persists for each class even after a run is complete. Each pedestal can also be used only once, and that only if it's found (be careful not to check on the pedestal but decide to leave saving for later, as the game considers the save point used and deactivates it). A similar save point is offered with the Chocolate Pudding Cup item that is found after beating Yog-Dzewa in the same place that the Amulet of Yendor is normally found in most other mods, and with the new Robot D.M.T. artifact when it gets upgraded to +10 and the option "determination" is activated. Due to their limited nature, it's best to use them after important milestones, or before attempting something very risky.
Miscellaneous Items
- Main article: Miscellaneous Items
The Ankh and Pickaxe items have remained the same with Sprouted, with the Ankh's only difference being that isn't stored int key ring anymore, but in the main inventory, while also being stackable. The Honeypot, Mr. Destructo, and Weightstone have received some secondary changes (there is no Mr. Destructo 2.0 or Steel Honeypot items anymore, and the Weightstone enchants and does not balance weapons anymore). Norn Stones, Dwarf Demon Hammers and Upgrade Goos are just renamed to Magic Stones, Magic Hammers and Upgrade Items. Also, the Ghost Elevator transporting item is added.
NPCs
[Only NPC's that the hero meets in the regular dungeon and the Trial (formerly Book) depths are mentioned here. The almost 40 NPCs of the Dolya Town are presented in the Sokoban and Dolya Town section.]
Ambitious Imp
| Ambitious Imp | ||
| Imps are lesser demons. They are notable for neither their strength nor their magic talent, but they are quite smart and sociable. Many imps prefer to live among non-demons. | ||
Appears either on depth 17, 18 or 19. Its quest and reward is the same with Sprouted and gives always an upgraded to +3 cursed ring. To open its shop on depth 21, its quest must be first fulfilled, again just like Sprouted.
Dew Developers
| Dew Developer | ||
| He seems to be waiting for something. / It looks like he is still waiting for something. | ||
Two of the Sprouted’s Tinkerers, those in depth 2 (first message) and in the Power Trial (formerly Book of the Living depth, second message), are renamed to Dew Developers, but their interactions with the hero remain very similar and have already been described in the Dew Vial section above. The Tinkerer of depth 12 has transitioned to Rune Scholar Lynn.
Old Wandmaker
| Old Wandmaker | ||
| This old but hale gentleman wears a slightly confused expression. He is protected by a magic shield. | ||
He always appears in the entrance room of depth 7 and gives an Adamant (Sprouted's Adamantite) Wand to all classes, and not only to the Mage. He has either the Rotberry Seed or Corpse Dust quests available, like he does in Sprouted.
On the option to choose between a battle and a non-battle wand, the player should take into account that the game makes the distinction between battle and non-battle wands rather randomly because most of its wands are offensive, and the Wandmaker will give as a battle wand reward a Wand of Acid / Blood / Disintegration / Firebolt / Freeze / Light / Lightning, but as a non-battle wand reward a Wand of Charm / Flock / Flow / Meteorite / Poison / Thundercloud (with most of these wands, apart from the wands of Charm and Flock, being also offensive). The reward wand is always upgraded and rarely cursed (which doesn't affect the wand's function in any way). Stepping on the Rotberry plant to pick up its seed will release a cloud of Toxic Gas and Root the hero (breaking the plant by throwing any item on it, while keeping a safe distance, will save the hero from getting damaged and rooted), but picking up the seed will not function as an alarm trap.
Rat King
| Rat King | ||
| This rat is a little bigger than a regular marsupial rat and it's wearing a tiny crown on its head. | ||
He is the same with Sprouted's Rat King (sleeps in a hidden room at depth 5, after the hero visits the caves and comes back to meet him, if he/she has not opened his chests, he gives the Spork quest etc.), with a slightly different message than that of Sprouted, which is inaccurate though. The Life Bandit, who drops the Spork, does not hide close to to the depth 9 exit, but spawns after some regular enemies get killed and wanders constantly around the depth, like the Shadow Bandit does in Sprouted.
Rune Scholar Lynn
| Rune Scholar Lynn | ||
| A scholar who lived in Dolyahaven. She has a lot of knowledge about Magic Stones. | ||
She is SPS-PD's equivalent of Sprouted’s Tinkerer on depth 12. Apart from the Dew Vial upgrade, she also gives the hero the option to choose between a Mr. Destructo, a Control Mobile or a Summon Key as quest rewards. After the hero interacts with her on depth 12 for the first time, he/she will be finding Lynn in Dolya Town for the rest of the game, with her saying that she had fixed the altar and and the hero can use it now (it is the altar that the Tier 6 weapons are crafted on).
Shopkeepers
| Shopkeeper | ||
| This stout guy looks more appropriate for a trade district in some large city than for a dungeon. His prices explain why he prefers to do business here. | ||
Their only interaction with the hero is by selling items to him/her or buying items from him/her like in almost all other mods. They also sell the Dolya Slate (formerly Sokoban Journal) on depth 1, the Sweet Home (formerly Safe Room) page on depth 6, and the Hometown (formerly Dolyahaven) page on depth 11. They are now also invincible, don't care if anything tries to harm or debuff them, and never leave their shop with their goods, unless the hero tries unsuccessfully to steal from them.
Troll Blacksmith & Troll Welder
| Troll Blacksmith / Troll Welder | ||
| This troll blacksmith / welder looks like all trolls look: he is tall and lean, his skin resembles stone in both color and texture. The troll blacksmith / welder is tinkering with unproportonionally small tools. | ||
The two Trolls, the Blacksmith and the Welder (renamed from Bip and Bop) are always found on depth 11. Adamantite weapon/armor/wand/rings are now renamed to Adamant weapon/armor/wand/rings, without any change to their function, and both Trolls still need vampire bat's blood on the pickaxe or dark gold before they do anything.
Some minor changes to the reinforcement of items are that all classes and not only the Mage get by default the Adamant Wand, after they finish the Old Wandmaker's quest, and that there is one extra Adamant Ring, that always drops from the Gnoll King in the Treasure Map challenge depth, as there are 3 ring/artifact slots in SPS-PD.
Pets
- Main article: Pets
A distinction is added between the weak Random Soul pets, that the hero starts in depth 1 with the item to hatch them immediately, and the almost all stronger Soul of Mobs pets, that the hero must get hatched from a Soul of Mobs after he/she finds or buys one in the dungeon. 8 new pets in sum are added to those existing already in Sprouted, 6 of them being weak Random Soul pets (Fly, Gentle Crab, Metal Klik, Ribbon Rat, Snake, Spidersilk Klik) and the 2 other being strong Soul of Mobs pets (Chaos Elemental, Gold Dragon). Also most of the familiar Sprouted's pets have been renamed and besides that, stats, leveling up, special skills, eating habits in all familiar pets have more or less changed.
Rings
- Main article: Rings
One new ring, the Ring of Energy, has been added (it increases recharging rate by +16.875% per level) and almost all the familiar rings from Sprouted (apart from the Ring of Evasion), have received specific (follow link above), with a common change being that the abilities of most of them have a level up cap at +30.
Plants and Seeds
- Main article: Plants and Seeds
The effects of plants and the function of seeds in SPS-Pd is perhaps the only part of Sprouted that has remained almost unchanged in SPS-PD. The only important differences from Sprouted is that now potions of Healing can get brewed from Sungrass seeds and that the Seed Pod plant is added, borrowed from Shattered.
Scrolls
- Main article: Scrolls
Scrolls remain basically the same with Sprouted, with some minor changes, mostly in additional side effects and 2 scroll-like items that work more like potions and in that each scroll has a distinguishing symbol, after it gets identified (for details follow the link above).
Strength and Strength Requirements
There are many changes to how the game handles the hero's Strength, and to what equipment can be used as a consequence. No longer it is possible, at all, to decrease almost all items’ strength requirement through upgrades. Additionally, Potions of Strength spawn in a specific number (9) and equipping a Lucky Badge doesn't affect this positively, while Potions of Might give only +15 max HP and no additional Strength, instead of +5 max HP and +1 Strength like they do in Sprouted, and they also no longer always transmute into Potions of Strength. The only other items that give additional strength points permanently without heavy consequences is a) the second Scroll of Sacrifice, a unique drop in the Challenge depths (it adds +1 Str. but the first one gives only +15 HP, and the third and fourth scrolls subtract permanently a lot of HP while adding +1 Str. - follow the scrolls' link just above for details), b) the Golden Nut Bless by the Developer, a unique reward item, that the hero receives after killing 100 enemies in all 4 challenge depths and gives either +1 Str. and 60 HP or +2 Str. and 30 HP and c) the Rotberry seed from the Old Wandmaker's quest, when it is not used for the quest reward and instead gets cooked with a Blandfruit to become a Rotfruit (a Rotberry seed is also a rare drop from the Sewer Heart mini-boss on depth 5). The Ring of Might also adds Strength points when equipped, but only +1 every 5 upgrades (it adds +10 HP with each upgrade though).
Effectively, this means that methods of gaining strength are few and far in between or RNG-dependant, so all heroes will be switching to higher tier weapons and armors at a much slower rate (with the exceptions of the Rogue for weapons and of the Warrior for armors), even possibly as late in the game as the Demon Halls. All heroes will reach Yog-Dzewa with 19 Strength, if they have found all the spawned Potions of Strength, and they can also add surely +2/+3 to their Strength without heavy consequences by reading the second Scroll of Sacrifice and eating the Golden Nut Bless by Developer after killing 100 enemies in all four challenges. Before that, apart from the Warrior all the other classes without a Ring of Might or a lucky Rotberry seed drop will be only able to equip up to the Tier 5 heavy and the Tier 6 light armors, as the normal and heavy Tier 6 armors have a +20 and +21 strength requirement, and apart from the Rogue all the other classes will be able to equip only Tier 5 weapons, as all the Tier 6 weapons have a +20 strength requirement (Tier 5 weapons are as good as them, or actually better for some types of gameplay, though).
Traps new and changed
- Air, Alarm, Blazing, Chilling (don't shatter potions, unless the hero steps on water afterwards), Confusion Gas (they cause also the Locked debuff), Cursing, Disarming, Disintegration, Flashing, Freezing (rarely shatter potions), Gripping, Guardian, Lightning, Ooze, Paralytic Gas, Pitfall, Poison, Rockfall, Shock, Spear, Summoning, Teleportation, Toxic Gas, Venom Gas and Weakening traps exist all in the game, borrowed from Shattered or Sprouted and exactly the same in function, with some minor differences already stated.
- Distortion and Grim traps exist also in the SPS-PD code but are rare and sometimes happily bugged, as they don’t seem to work at all. When Distortion traps do work, they restart the depth, and the hero doesn't keep the items he/she had found and already put in his/her backpack.
- Explosive traps sometimes are happily bugged and don't deal any damage.
- Fire traps when activated create a fire cloud like those in Shattered and not a single-tile fire explosion like those in Sprouted.
- Hidden traps in general are not revealed by Blue Berries and Scrolls of Magic Mapping, and when they are not deactivated by stepping on them once (like Gripping traps for example), they still remain hidden, and the hero must specifically search their tile, for them to become visible. There is a happy bug in SPS-PD as when the hero is asked to move to any place of the depth he/she will avoid hidden trap tiles, or will just not go, if the path is blocked by a trap.
- Storm traps create a cloud that paralyses and deals electricity damage.
- Trap tiles in general can’t be destroyed by bombs or activated when bombs are thrown next to them and not on them.
- Warping traps teleport the hero to a previous dungeon depth without unidentifying their depth, like they used to do previously in Shattered (they are also rare). The pet is also teleported along with the hero (but not when the hero steps on a regular teleportation trap and is teleported somewhere on the same depth). All pets fly, so they won't activate any trap and will just hover above them.
Trial (formerly Book) depths
- Main article: Trial (formerly Book) Depths
The Book depths from Sprouted are renamed to Courage / Power / Wisdom Trial depths, and have also received various changes (with the Book of Heavens / Wisdom Trial being the most changed). All the Trial depths are now repeatable and have become an option in the Challenge book along with the challenges, but only the Wisdom Trial (formerly Book of Heavens) respawns its loot in a new depth arrangement, with the other two only respawning their enemies in the previously visited depth.
Wands
- Main article: Wands
Along with armor and weapons it is the class of items that has received the most changes. 8 new wands have been added to Sprouted's Wands (Wands of Acid, Blood, Charm, Error, Flow, Freeze, Light, Thundercloud), 6 familiar wands have been removed (Amok, Blink, Regrowth, Slowness, Teleportation, Telekinesis) and all the familiar ones that remain have received minor or major changes (Wands of Disintegration, Firebolt, Flock, Lightning, Magic Missile, Meteorite - formerly Avalanche, Poison). You can follow the link above for details about all these changes. Also, all wands have now a specific permanent sprite, and not a random sprite that will change in each game, like they do in Sprouted.
Weapons
- Main article: Weapons
20 regular weapons in all tiers, 5 unique drop weapons, 7 holiday weapons and 5 thrown weapons are added to those already existing in Sprouted (that is 37 in sum), and they almost all have a regular, enhanced or holiday attribute. The Tier 6 weapons have all been renamed and have received minor or major changes. Also 11 new weapon enchantments are added.
Weather Rooms / Buffs and Debuffs to the climate
- Main article: Weather Rooms - Buffs and Debuffs due to the Climate
In the dungeon the hero might encounter rooms with a special climate, that either buffs or debuffs any character that is located inside them.
Wells
- The Well of Health now fills the whole Dew Vial, even when it is upgraded to the capacity of 350.
- The Well of Transmutation, like the Phase Pitcher plant, no longer necessarily drops the same tier weapon, and due to the artifacts not being unique drops anymore, the well can rarely drop back the same artifact (some unique items like the Boomerang or the Cloak of Shadows either cannot get transmuted at all, or they can get transmuted, but are never the product of a transmutation - not that there is any reason to transmute a Boomerang or a Cloak of Shadows). Perhaps due to the nerfing of the Phase Pitcher seed drops, Wells of Transmutation are much more common in SPS-PD than they are in Sprouted.
- The Well of Awareness, unlike the Scrolls of Magic Mapping and Blue berries, shows hidden doors and hidden traps, loot and keys inside hidden rooms and generally all loot without any omission.
- All wells are noted in the hero's journal until he/she has used them, but Wells of Health stll remain noted afterwards, due to a minor bug.
Miscellaneous changes and differences from Sprouted
Bookshelves
All bookshelves can also drop regular scrolls after getting burnt, like they do in YAPD after getting seached, (but not Sokoban pages like they do in Sprouted, nor rare scrolls like Regrowth, Upgrade and Magical Infusion like they do in YAPD).
In rooms that contain bookshelves in a row covering one of the walls but that do not contain scrolls, there are instead always hidden bone piles behind the bookshelves also like in YAPD, that always contain items or gold and also always spawn Chaos Wraiths (formerly Red Wraiths), unless the hero searches in the bone pile while standing on it. In this case he/she loses 50% of his/her HP, but a Chaos Wraith will not spawn (this is advisable only in early levels, when the hero hasn't yet found a batlle wand, and wants to avoid melee fighting with a highly evasive wraith, but with a little patience and a pet along all wraiths eventually get defeated).
The hero has to burn the bookcshelves to get to them, like he/she would do in YAPD, and if there is a room like that in a depth, a Potion of Liquid Flame will always spawn, but not generally in depths with bookshelves (so having a Potion of Liquid Flame spawn in the same depth which also has bookshelves on it is a good indicator for the existence of bone piles) .
Hidden Doors and Hidden Traps
They are both not revealed by Blue berries and Scrolls of Magic Mapping, but only by the Well of Awareness. Blue berries show all loot and keys in a depth though, as they activate the Treasure Search buff, even those inside hidden rooms, while the Scrolls of Magic Mapping don't. Hidden traps specifically, when they are not deactivated by stepping on them once (like Gripping traps for example) still remain hidden, and the hero must specifically search their tile, for them to become visible.
Pit Rooms
They have two major differences from all other PD mods: a) Their walls can be destroyed by bombs or the shovel, so the hero doesn’t have to jump into pits any more, if he/she has either of these two items available, b) they don’t have a locked entrance, but an “air wall” which cannot be unlocked or destroyed by any means.
Quickslots
Without the "More QuickSlot" option selected, there are two quickslots at the bottom of the screen and one at the right side, under the menu button. With the "More QuickSlots" option selected, one is added at the bottom of the screen and two are added below the one next to the menu button.
Walls
All walls in general can be destroyed by Huge bombs or the Shovel. The only walls that the shovel and Huge bombs can't destroy are a) special colored walls or decorative tiles (dark gold veins, bookshelves, statues etc.), b) the pit room air wall and locked doors (but they destroy without a problem the walls just next to them).
And lastly, some Bugs
Special Surprise Pixel Dungeon is still in development, so the existence of bugs is rather expected and to a major degree forgiven. The following list doesn’t intend to shame the developer or the mod, but only to compile a list that will be useful for the new player, who might already be struggling with the huge amount of changes and novelties in SPS-PD that do work. Anyways, these bugs can be considered few for a mod still in development and with a ton of new content.
Major bug
- When the hero tries to teleport specifically to the Wisdom Trial depth, and either his/her pet is standing next to him/her, or he is carrying a Lantern with some Soul in the backpack, the game will sometimes crash, and the save file will always get corrupted. Be careful. [Note: this bug existed in previous versions, but seems to have been fixed in this one.]
Minor bugs
- The Dried Rose artifact has four minor bugs related to it. a) When summoned along with a pet, it can disappear when the hero goes down a depth with the Sad Ghost but without a pet and comes back to get the pet. b) It can also make the game crash if summoned along with a pet in a Challenge depth. c) If the Dried Rose is found before the Sad Ghost quest, it can get equipped and summon a ghost without a problem. d) The hero might stop finding rose petals before the Dried Rose gets fully upgraded. [Note: these bugs existed in previous versions, but they seem to have been fixed in this one.]
- Fire traps very rarely spawn into walls, have a proper trap description when the hero examines them, but don't function as traps, as they can't be stepped on, and are just red colored wall tiles. This is actually an element of flawed map generation, and not a proper bug, as it does not affect in any way the gameplay.
- Hunter Instinct, the special skill of the Huntress, when it specifically activates Regeneration, healing wears off instantly. All its other effects work fine though.
- Shadow Dragon, when it is ready to get hatched, nothing relevant to a Shadow Dragon will be heard from inside the Soul Mob.
- Wells of Health remain noted in the hero's journal even after the hero has used them.