After few weeks of testing and polishing release v9 is out, first post updated with the download link. Here are some details...
* Stealth and sneaking
When you wait your stealth range is halved, as usual. But now if you keep waiting further your stealth decrease one more point. And more importantly, the first step after waiting does not go back to double the radius, only increases yours stealth by one point. Effectively this means if you repeat pause-step-pause-step-pause-step... your stealth range will stay lower than if you just keep walking, and that's how you sneak.
* Reflected magic
Haste, empowerment, invisibility, healing, protection, teleportation, and even the magic of plenty you can now use on yourself, regularly. You can reflect a magic bolt of marble statues (now called mirror statues), which will deflect the bolt right back at you every time. You can also use crystal formations, and you can try to reflect bolts of golems, mirrored totems and reflective monsters, but that might not reflect the bolt back at you, or worse, it could make that golem invisible instead, but sometimes, when there are no mirror statues around, it's worth the risk. This little change brings many new possibilities, and together with wands being more worth enchanting you now have attractive options to put enchants in some of those wands/staffs you would never enchant before. I actually reached 40th floor for the first time thanks to two wands of invisibility and charm of recharging. Sure, all these new possibilities make the game easier, but not much, not as much as they make it more interesting. I'd like to hear what people can do with this - what new builds, what new tactics and new strategies are now available.
* Boss battle
New enemy appears on the way up with the amulet, or going below 35th floor. No spoilers now. I am looking for volunteers to get the amulet and try to bring it out of the dungeon for a feedback on this boss battle - whether is it too hard, too easy, could it be made better, or whatever. Have fun.
