Last month, the developers of the Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon revealed that its impressive, Elder Scrolls-inspired RPG would receive a major update in March, one that gives its weaker final act a lick of paint. But it left out key details, such as what colour of paint they'd use, whether it'd have a gloss or matte finish, and so forth.
But all is clear now, if only because the Dulux is already on the walls. Patch 1.20 for Tainted Grail arrived earlier this week. Described as "huge" by Questline, the update seeks to improve the final act in numerous ways, while also making changes to the game at large.
The additions to Tainted Grail's third act include a new area to explore, specifically a cave called Etherbloom Love, plus two new minibosses. One of these, Sleepwalker, is a sort-of giant tree-person with a hole in his lower torso (or maybe it's just an incredibly large knot). The other is Cairnguard, a tall, mask-wielding warrior who'll try to pummel you into submission with his fists if you get too close.
There's also a new quest named The Empty House. According to Questline, this "tells a story of a horrifically disfigured Theud mystic begging to be put back together." There's a clip in the trailer of an unfortunate fellow bound by ropes and chains with his stomach ripped open. I can't say for certain if this is said mystic, but he certainly fits the description. Ouch.
The 1.20 update doesn't just add stuff to the third act, it tweaks many existing locations too. It adjusts the layout of a mountain bandit camp, and transforms the dilapidated Alysa's Seacrest Manor into a customisable home. The art and level design across the region has been reworked too, with "new terrain and paths" added for improved exploration and navigation.
More broadly, Tainted Grail received a sweeping balance update, with extra focus given to the latter half of the game. "We found that the game becomes significantly easier during the second half of Act 2 and in Act 3," Questline explains. "Players tended to get insanely strong easily, even if they didn't actually want to."
As such, more than 20 late game items have been rebalanced, while a soft cap for stats has been introduced whereby levelling up beyond a certain point brings diminishing returns. Questline stresses that both changes are optional. The rebalanced weapons arrive as duplicates of existing weapons as "most people don't like getting their characters nerfed."
Questline believes these changes will make players' experience more consistent across the game. But it's far from done with Tainted Grail. A second DLC is arriving later in the month, after the game received its first expansion at the end of 2025. Questline is still keeping details of this addon close to its chest, though since it's due in the next few weeks, a formal reveal must be on the cards.
