• Fixed the Ancient Troll’s reaction to Mana Crystals.

• “Seal of Reflection” now correctly dispels “Paranoia” hallucinations.

• Hallucinations can no longer interact with doors.

• Birds no longer react to hallucinations.

• Hallucinations in Caves now match the type of enemies inhabiting them.

• Fixed the crash caused by dropping a weapon while affected by “Panic”.

• Fixed the delay during the Wolves’ “Howl”.

• Added new sounds for Rockeaters, Bat Swarms, and Spiderlings.

• Fixed the bug preventing enemies from moving between floors in dungeons with “Trapped Entrance”.

• Improved the visuals of golden highlights on loot.

• Liturgical Chalices can now be filled with water.

• Changed the context menu text when interacting with water containers (now says “Drink” instead of “Use”).

• The option to switch ammo type is now available only if the equipped quiver contains different types of arrows or bolts.

• Jonna’s “Magical Erudition” now also counts treatises in the backpack.

• Receiving zero experience for killing an enemy is no longer shown in the log.

• Fixed the sprite depth of some bird nest variants.

• Fixed the Pilgrims’ schedule in Mannshire during the corresponding Settlement Situation.

• Fixed the incorrect minimum value of enemies’ Backfire Chance.

• Fixed the incorrect log text when damaging Mana Crystals.

• Fixed achievements: “You And What Army?” and “Electric Boogaloo”.

• Fixed the conditions for obtaining achievements: “Gotta Skin 'Em All”, “What a Time to be Alive”, “Theory & Praxis”, “Dr. Phlogiston, I Presume”, “That Belongs In A Museum”, and “Totally Bear-able”.

• Reduced the distance at which ranged enemies switch to melee.

• Ranged enemies can now switch back to ranged combat if the enemy moves far enough away.

• Fixed the bug preventing alerted enemies from opening doors.

• Increased the animation speed for placing Claw Traps.

• Fixed the interaction between the Crowbar and multi-tile traps.

• Fixed the conditions for speech lines triggered by spotting an enemy.

• “Summon the Hive” now summons more dangerous combinations of Rockeaters.

• Fixed the bug allowing to perform more than one action with items on the ground or in inventory during some enemy animations.

• Improved the interaction between the Manticore and the bone spikes it summons.

• Fixed the visuals of “Ring of Fire” when used by enemies.

• Fixed the delay during the Manticore’s “Vengeance of the Dead”.

• Fixed the bug preventing campfires from drying the character while out of their line of sight.

• Fixed the bug with Alda’s "Reconnaissance", which overwrote previously obtained specific rumors about points of interest.

• Fixed the bug with Backfire Damage Change, which was affecting “Seal of Finesse” and some other abilities.

• Fixed the sprite depth of the Blood Golem.

• Skinflint Homms now always mentions the full name of a location when selling leads and reveals its actual description on the global map.

• Fixed the bug with the Rockeater Queen’s Vision range, which allowed damaging her without triggering aggression.

• Fixed the possibility of setting the Caravan Camp on tiles with Points of Interest.

• Fixed collision issues in some locations.

• Fixed the incorrect targeting behavior of Phantasms and Mana Crystals.

• Fixed the crash caused by Rogue Arcanists fleeing the location after summoning a Mana Crystal.

• Fixed the bug allowing interaction with a Phantasm at the moment of its disappearance.

• The Ancient Troll’s sprite now becomes semi-transparent if the character is north of it.

• Dead Martyrs no longer count as enemies for contracts requiring a full dungeon clear.

• Fixed the bug duplicating rescued prisoners.

• Fixed the bug causing “Chain Reaction” to reduce the caster’s Shock Resistance when using “Static Field”.

• Using Vivifying Essence no longer burns enemies’ Energy.

• Fixed the delay during the Rockeater Hunters’ “Poisoned Spike”.

• Fixed the possibility of skipping the “Wormhole” animation, which would result in the character receiving a free action or the ability itself not going on cooldown.

• Fixed the animation freeze if the Juggernaut is attacked by a Phantasm while using “Devastating Power”.

• Saves made in the Caravan Camp will now say so in their description.

• Alda’s “Reconnaissance” now also marks dungeons, shrines, and broken carts.

• Fixed the bug showing the slashing damage animation when hit by enemy archers.

• Fixed the constant spawning of tree branches in the Caravan Camp after re-entering the location or loading a save.

• Fixed some objects being rendered incorrectly in the fog of war.

• Improved the pathfinding for fleeing mobs when they run into walls.

• “Frenzy” now has lower targeting priority against fleeing enemies.

• Fixed several collision issues in secret rooms and caves.

• Fixed incorrect sprite depth of some Crypt decorations.

• Fixed several line of sight issues in Crypts.

• Added several new rooms to Сaves.

• Active “Butchering” should no longer highlight the Rockeater Queen’s corpse.

• Fixed non-functional Follower perks’ hovers in the Caravan menu.

• Fixed the bug allowing the player to charge into tiles occupied by the Ancient Troll.

• Fixed the incorrect mirroring of overhead animations for mobs and the player character.

• Fixed the persistent target zone of “Leg Sweep” after using the skill on the same turn as triggering a dialogue.

• Fixed guards remaining aggressive towards the player after paying the fine for a serious crime.

• Improved the animation for dropping coins.

• Fixed Crawlers actively avoiding web traps.

• Fixed Crawlers still being able to activate web traps.

• Fixed the animation of “Aether Shield” when destroying projectiles.

• Fixed the animation of “Mana Siphon”.

• Added an icon for the active status effect of “Will to Survive”.

• Fixed the issue with mana crystals’ target selection when teleporting them.

• Fixed sarcophagus Wraiths occasionally getting stuck behind obstacles when spawning.

• Fixed the bug preventing interaction with fleeing animals after using “Wormhole” on them.

• Fixed the bug making it possible to sell unwanted items to merchants immediately after buying them.

• Potentially fixed the rare crash caused by enemies’ “Unstoppable Force”.

• Fixed false line of sight restrictions caused by non-existent bushes.

• Improved lighting in some locations.

• Arrows should no longer disappear after hitting “Paranoia” hallucinations.

• Fixed the rare softlock when generating Crypts with manuscripts.

• Fixed the physics issue with debris left by destroyed boulders.

• Fixed the softlock caused by killing a target with the first shot of “Sudden Volley”.

• Fixed the incorrect radius of the Ancient Troll’s “Deafening Roar”.

• Fixed Leosthenes’ starting trait granting incorrect bonuses to Magic Power and Weapon Damage.

• Fixed the rare crash caused by mana crystal attacks.

• Fixed mana crystals having permanent 100% accuracy.

• Fixed the bug allowing arrows to deal incorrect damage types in certain situations.

• Fixed enemies not losing stacks of “Unholy Blessing” when destroying manuscripts in Crypts.

• Fixed the issue with NPC behaviour in settlements where they could get stuck in panic mode.

• Fixed pathfinding issues with NPC groups when leaving rooms.

• Fixed the exploit allowing Drinking Horns to be resold for more than their purchase price.

• Reduced the scaling of “Aether Shield” from Willpower.

• Reduced the rate of Diet Morale decay.

• Increased the Diet Morale bonus from dishes.

• General balance tweaks to the Psyche System.

• Fixed the softlock caused by moving to another location on the same turn as taking damage from a destroyed runic boulder.

• Fixed the reaction of the Mannshire Bailiff's bodyguard to threats.

• Comprehensive fixes to collisions.

• Fixed the rare bug that permanently locked the exit from a recently cleared Dungeon upon returning there.

• Small dry trees can now be broken down into branches in all biomes.

• Added detailed visuals to lockpicks to display remaining charges.

• Fixed the delay during the smoke dispersal animation.

• Fixed the delay during damage animations when delivering an attack.

• Fixed the bug making it impossible to gain 4 stacks of “Runic Empowerment” after leveling “Rune of Unity” until all summoned boulders were destroyed.

• Fixed the bug allowing shots and spells to apply their effects through an active “Aether Shield”.

• Fixed the delay before a mana crystal's shots when it was simultaneously teleported with “Wormhole” and “Dimensional Shift”.

• Tweaked the conditions for choosing random targets while affected by “Frenzy”.

• Fixed Halmar disappearing prematurely when resting in his camp.

• Possibly fixed the issue with the Brewery NPCs' aggression resetting after re-entering the location.

• Fixed Rockeaters being able to use “Tunnel Through” and “Undermine” while Immobilized or caught in a net.

• Added the missing Healing Efficiency and Energy Restoration bonuses to the hover of “Tunnel Through”.

• Fixed “Seal of Reflection” being able to redirect projectiles from “Toxic Volley” and "Poisonous Spike”.

• Fixed Miracle Chance and Miracle Potency not working as intended with mana crystal shots.

• The hallucinations caused by “Paranoia” should no longer appear in areas inaccessible to regular NPCs or chase the player character between locations.

• Active Caravan Follower events should no longer prevent Verren from giving you letters and directives.

• Fixed the reappearing dialogue line about the letter to Mannshire when rescuing the Emissary more than once.

• Fixed Stance hovers displaying incorrect durations, this time for certain.

• Added new sounds when moving mushrooms and the Ranger Brew in the inventory.

• Rockeaters can now also appear as hallucinations.

• Fixed the display issue with Psyche values that could cause Morale and Sanity to go into negatives.

• Multiple Lighting System improvements.

• Various adjustments to Caves' visuals.

• Optimized biome generation.

• Fixed the crashes on old saves in the Prologue.

• Fixed the bug with surviving NPCs not spawning during the “Fate of the Scouting Party” contract.

• Reworked the symbols for equipment tiers and effects stack numbers in the Chinese localization.

• Fixed the softlock caused by triggering the Ancient Troll fight by throwing a Deathstinger Jar.

• Fixed the possibility of entering the Ancient Troll's sprite by using “Wormhole”.

• Fixed the softlock when talking to the Mannshire Winery's Foreman.

• Fixed the crash in some localizations caused by missing text in treatises.

• Fixed the crash caused by cooking with spices and a half-empty bottle of alcohol.

• Fixed the softlock caused by replacing an ability on the hotbar with another one while its area of effect was already active.

• Fixed the mismatch between Stances' actual maximum number of stacks and the numbers shown in tooltips.

• Fixed Claw Traps gaining additional charges when loading older saves.

• Fixed the tracking of active quests not working as intended.

• Fixed low Durability reducing both the base and repair prices of gear to zero.

• Fixed Dirwin's trait failing to track visited Hunting Grounds and Dens.

• Fixed the Magic Power bonus on certain dishes not having a duration.

• Fixed the bug causing captive NPCs to sometimes disappear after being rescued.

• Fixed issues with hit animation speed.

• Fixed “Determination” being counted as a Stance rather than a Maneuver.

• Fixed incorrect stats on several new chestpieces.

• Wigmar now buys back empty plates and bowls, just like all other innkeepers.

• Added maces to the Osbrook carpenter's stock.

• Fixed the Mannshire Drunkard's wife using incorrect dialogue lines.

• Digging graves with bare hands now takes longer and reduces Situational Morale.

• Increased the prices of rare plants.

• Fixed the map opening unnecessarily during certain events and dialogues when receiving leads to already discovered locations.

• Fixed Spiderlings being able to trigger Web traps.

• Fixed the see-through door in one of the Bastion mini-boss rooms.

• Fixed the crashes when receiving a lead from Skinflint Homs or sending Alda on scouting missions on older saves.

• Fixed Bonus Range not being listed among modifiers in Arcanistics ability tooltips.

• Fixed Homs selling cave leads for zero crowns.

• Fixed the Manticore encounter failing to trigger if the Burial Cave had already been visited on an older save.

• Fixed the rare crash caused by returning to a closed dungeon after saving a captive.

• Fixed the re-generation of the Caravan Camp location after installing any caravan upgrade.

• Fixed the incorrect trigger of the Alda's Manticore-related event.

• Fixed the incorrect line ID in the Alda's Manticore-related event.

• Fixed the randomisation of the Follower's events after loading a save.

• The cursor image now changes to a bow when hovering over sleeping bats if the character is equipped with a bow.

• Reduced NPC bark range in the settlements.

• Fixed the issue with NPCs leaving collisions behind them in some locations.

IMPORTANT: While this update is compatible with old saves (v0.9+), for optimal experience we recommend starting a new game.

• Added “Arcanistics”, a new magic school consisting of 14 abilities: teleport yourself and your enemies, manipulate the battlefield in various ways, and even summon allies to aid you in combat.

  

• Added a new Dungeon type, Caves, divided into three variants: Regular, Overgrown, and Mines. These serve as optional exploration sites, independent of the Contract System, and are usually located a moderate distance away from settlements.

  

• Added 14 new enemies (6 of them Mini-Bosses), most of which are tied to Caves including a new mini-faction, the Hive.
  
  Brigands: Miner, Scout, Prospector, Spelunker, Overseer, Raider, Torturer, Arcanist.

  The Hive: Rockeater Worker, Rockeater Hunter, Rockeater Soldier, Rockeater Queen.

  Beasts: Spiderling, Crawler Broodmother.

  

• Added 8 rare plants with unique effects that can be found in Caves and near some Dens and Hunting Grounds.

  

• Caves will frequently contain a few Ore Veins that can be mined with a pickaxe. Apart from the existing Gold and Silver Nuggets, you'll also be able to harvest chunks of Copper and Iron.

  

• Psyche System overhaul: added 3 new Psyche states and reworked every existing one. Both Morale and Sanity are now divided into three segments, each maintained separately the details are listed in this devlog.

  

• Added 27 Caravan Events: 6 for Darrel, 10 for Leif, and 11 for Alda. This includes repeatable Gift Events and Opportunities.

• Added 25 new pieces of gear:

  7 new belts (including 3 uniques)
  4 new cloaks
  4 new gloves (including 1 unique)
  7 chestpieces
  3 axes (including 2 uniques)

  

• Added 4 new dishes: Miner Stew, Truffle Salad, Truffled Steak, Maen-Style Honeyed Azurecap.

• Added a new quest to the Mannshire Winery: “Stolen Wine's Always Bitter”.

• Added 3 new Steam achievements.

• Added Steam Community Items: trading cards, emoticons, backgrounds, etc.

  

Special thanks to @Mindwitness @xenofite @qbuben @RedOrder @Kay_Win @das @Fight Me @Lymetel @THACO @Soldapeine @scrappy7483 @funkmonster7 @okmall @mustache @DacianDraco @djxput @Gura @Psojed for taking part in the Closed Beta Test.

• Protection is now applied proportionally when receiving mixed damage. This change aims to make hybrid-damage weapons and other multi-type damage sources noticeably more effective.
  
  Previously, each damage type was reduced by the full amount of Protection. For example, if an attack dealt 15 Slashing and 5 Piercing damage, and the target had 10 Protection, both damage types would be reduced by 10, resulting in a total of only 5 damage.
  
  Now, Protection is split between damage types based on their share of the total damage. For example, if an attack is 75% Slashing and 25% Piercing, then 75% of Protection is applied to the Slashing portion and only 25% to the Piercing portion. With 10 Protection, this results in a total of 10 damage.

• Expanded the Hostage Rescue contracts in Bastions: to complete them, the Captive must now be successfully escorted to the surface.

• Enemies will now produce a certain amount of Noise when entering the Hostile state.

• Reworked Giant Bats into Bat Swarms, which will function similarly to traps in some Caves.

• Reworked a certain Point of Interest...

• Increased the chance of successfully acquiring leads and rumors.

• Reduced the price of paid rumors by half.

• Hilda's “Wild Hunt”: added an option to empower her Bone Charm with Rockeater Glands for a bonus to Fatigue Resistance.

• “Bloom” Settlement Situation: added a slight chance for rare plants to spawn outside of Caves,

• Dens, and Hunting Grounds.
  Skinflint Homs now also sells leads to Caves.
  Successfully completing the “Deathstinger Infestation” quest by yourself will now increase Mannshire Reputation, while completing it with the involvement of the New Orchard NPCs will lower it instead.
  Added hidden immunity to Control and Movement effects to entities that should not be affected by such mechanics (Harpy Nests and Soul Wells, for example).

• Throwing a Smoke Bomb in populated areas is now considered an act of aggression.
  Thrown Caltrops will now cause panic or aggression only when they land on a tile adjacent to an NPC.
  Digging up graves in front of NPCs is now considered a separate crime rather than “disturbing the peace”.

• Increased the base price of most valuables.

• Increased the price multipliers when selling food, beverages, medicines, tools, bags, and additives. 

• Lowered the price multipliers when selling ammunition.

• Increased the Repair Prices of the Brynn Jeweler and made it possible to sell broken jewelry to him. 

• Added Fodder to the stock of one of the Rotten Willow traders.

• Increased the amount of vegetables sold by vegetable traders.

• Added apples to the stock of the Mannshire Wine Merchant.

• The Gatherers appearing during the “Bloom” Situation can now sell rare plants. 

• Meat Salting now requires only a single handful of Salt instead of two.

• The Pancakes recipe can now be purchased in the Mannshire tavern.

• Simplified the recipe for the Healing Salve, but it now only produces one salve instead of three.

• Rebalanced the amount of Experience granted for crafting most consumables.

• Deathstinger Hives now always drop Hornet Honey.

• Increased the amount of Experience and loot gained from destroying Harpy and Crawler nests.

• Fixed the incorrect prices for non-butchered small game and birds.

• Increased Followers' passive Loyalty gain by 50%.

• Reduced the cost of some Caravan Upgrades.

• Partially redistributed the bonuses for achieving “Devotion” across earlier Loyalty thresholds. In addition to its usual benefits, “Solidarity” will now grant +5% Trade Favorability and -10% Repair Prices with the Follower, while “Friendship” will yield +5% Trade Favorability and -10% Perks Cost.

• “Supply Run”: Upon return, Leif will now also double his own and other Followers' stock sizes, and provide +10% Trade Favorability and -10% Repair Prices for 2 days across the entire Caravan.

• The randomised loot granted by Followers (for example, Alda's trophies after using “Reconnaissance”) is now predetermined ahead of time, rather than being generated right before appearing in the reward window.

• “Vow of the Feat” (Arna):
  Improves the bonuses of positive Psyche states by \[3% for each character level > 40%, then 2% for each character level].
  \[Decreases the cooldown between positive Psyche state activations by 50% > Increases the duration of positive Psyche states by 100%].
  \[+5% chance to trigger “Second Wind” for each enemy within Vision > While affected by "Second Wind", with 50% chance allows the character to avoid death an unlimited number of times].

• “Ranger's Grit” (Dirwin): 

  Each visited Den or Hunting Ground grants +1% chance to harvest a pelt with “Butchering” and +1% Experience Gain (up to \[20% > 15%]).
  Grants \[1 Ability Point and 1 Stat Point > 1 Ability Point] for every 3 learned “Survival” abilities.

• “Magical Erudition” (Jonna):
  Grants \[+5% > +6%] Power of the corresponding School and \[+5% > +7.5%] Miracle Potency for each unique Sorcery treatise in the Inventory. \[The effect stacks up to 4 times].
  \[Reading a complete set of 4 Sorcery treatises grants +2% Miracle Chance].
  Grants +1% Experience Gain (\[up to +15%]) for each learned Sorcery ability.

• “With Great Vengeance” (Velmir):

  If there's a Boss, Mini-Boss, \[or more than four enemies] within Vision, applies all enemies within Vision with +1.5% Damage Taken for each Mini-Boss killed for the first time. \[Killing a Mini-Boss applies all enemies on the location with half of this penalty (doesn't stack with the full penalty) and replenishes Morale and Sanity].

• “Gore and Glory” (Jorgrim):
  Killing enemies grants +5% Experience Gain for \[60 > 30] turns.

• “Might and Magic” (Leosthenes):
  Grants \[+1.5% > +2%] Magic Power \[and +1% Experience Gain] for each learned Weaponry ability.

  Grants \[+1.5% > +2%] Weapon Damage \[and +1% Experience Gain] for each learned Sorcery ability.
  \[Removed: +2% Experience Gain for each learned Utility ability].

  \[All effects stack up to 15 times].

• “Lifelong Journey” (Mahir)
  
  Grants \[+0.33% > 0.4%] Experience Gain and \[+0.33% > 0.4%] Fatigue Resistance (up to \[+33% > +20%]) for each location visited for the first time.
  Visiting a location for the first time grants "Vigor" for 600 turns (\[900 > 1200] turns, if it's a Dungeon).

• “Wild Hunt” (Hilda)
  
  Each character level increases the threshold for activating negative effects caused by Hunger, Thirst, Pain, Intoxication, and Fatigue by \[+0.5% > +0.33%].
  Killing beastly Bosses counts as killing \[10 > 5] animals of every type.

• Reduced the amount of Experience granted for killing most enemies to better align with reworked character traits.

• Adjusted the Experience formula to factor in the difference between enemy Danger and the player character's level. The greater the difference, the less Experience you receive.

• Learning spells will now penalize the Backfire Chance of other Schools' spells, rather than their Magic Power.

• Raised the minimum Backfire Damage threshold from 0% to 5%.

• Reduced the Armor Penetration of Backfire Damage from 100% to 90%. Backfire Damage now also affects the Durability of equipped armor, making it consistent with other damage sources.

• Enemy spells' Armor Penetration now scales with Perception, just like it does for the player character.

• Rebalanced some Undead and Proselyte Mini-Bosses.

• Nerfed the Harpy's stats to better match its stated Danger level.

• Rebalanced some weapon and armor categories to increase the impact of investing into Weaponry skills.

• Paregoric: replaced Immunity to Coughing with a 50% reduction of Coughing penalties.

• “Confusion”: the chance to take a step in a random direction now triggers only when moving, rather than every turn.

• “Ancestors' Gaze” : the effect loses a stack every \[90 > 60] turns and is removed when Health drops below \[25% > 30%].

• “Blessing”: +\[3% > +9%] Crit Avoidance. Added: \[+9% Fortitude]. 

• “Peace of Mind”: receiving Experience now has a greater impact on the effect's duration.

• Increased the starting duration of most Stances (\[8 > 10] turns) and decreased their maximum duration (\[12 > 10] turns).

• “Keeping Distance” is now also considered an Attack skill.

• “Cleaving Strike”: increased the scaling of the Bodypart Damage and Bleed Chance bonuses.

• “Keeping Distance”: increased the base Stagger Chance and Crit Chance bonuses.

• “Onrush”: increased the base Weapon Damage and Armor Penetration bonuses. Increased the scaling of the Bleed Resistance debuff.

• “Blade Maintenance”: \[+5% > +7%] Bleed Chance. \[-20% > -25%] Durability loss on Sword attacks.
  “Steady Tempo”: \[+10% > +15%] Energy Restoration.

• “Honed Edge”: \[+5% > +6%] Bleed Chance, \[+3% > +4%] Armor Penetration.

• “Mutilating Lunge”: increased the scaling of the Bodypart Damage bonus.

• “Cut Through”: increased the scaling of the Block Chance debuff. Increased the base value and scaling of the Weapon Damage bonus. Increased the base Armor Penetration bonus.

• “Execution”: \[+4% > +5%] Crit Chance and \[+15% > +20%] Crit Efficiency.

• “Reprisal”: the duration of the Bodypart Damage bonus \[4 > 5] turns.

• “Tormenting Swings”: \[-4% > -5%] Max Health and \[-6% > -7%] Bleed Resistance.

• “Onslaught”: increased the scaling of the Knockback Chance bonus and the Control Resistance debuff.

• “Armor Break”: increased the base value and scaling of the Stagger Chance bonus.

• “Knock Out”: increased the base values of all bonuses. Increased the scaling of the Crit Chance and Stagger Chance bonuses.

• “Dazing Strikes”: debuff duration \[5 > 6] turns.

• “Moment of Weakness”: \[+15 > +25%] Bodypart Damage and \[+5% > +10%] Stagger Chance.

• “Concussion”: \[-5% > -6%] Control Resistance and \[-7% > -8%] Move Resistance.

• “Hewing Strike”: increased the base value and scaling of the Bleed Chance bonus. Increased the scaling of the Bodypart Damage bonus.

• “Parry”: counters grant \[+3% > +2%] Crit Chance. The effect stacks up to \[3 > 4] times.

• “Revanche”: counters replenish \[5% > 4%] Max Energy.
  “Fight to the Death”: \[+8% > +7%] Stagger Chance, \[+4% > +3%] Counter Chance, \[+4% > +3%] Block Chance.

• “Mighty Swing”: \[+50% > +40%] Weapon Damage, \[+25% > +20%] Stun Chance, \[+50% > +40%] Bodypart Damage, \[+50% > +40%] Armor Damage, \[+50% > +40%] Stagger Chance.

• “Striker Stance”: \[+5% > +3%] Crit Chance.

• “Unbalance”: applies the target with \[-10% > -5%] Control Resistance upon Knocking it back \[or Staggering it].

• “Hooking Chop”: increased the base Armor Penetration and Bleed Chance bonuses.

• “Reign in Blood”: increased the base Knockback Chance and Bleed Chance bonuses. Increased the scaling of the Bodypart Damage bonus.

• “Rampage”: \[+3% > +4%] Crit Chance.

• “Make Space”: increased the scaling of the Weapon Damage bonus. Increased the base Armor Penetration bonus.

• “Finish 'Em!”: \[+8% > +10%] Weapon Damage.

• “Fatal Strike”: \[-10% > -15%] Skills Energy Cost.

• “Tool of Execution”: \[+6% > +10%] Bodypart Damage.

• “Nail Down”: increased the base Weapon Damage and Bodypart Damage bonuses. Increased the scaling of the Immobilization Chance bonus.

• “Impaling Lunge”: increased the scaling of the Armor Penetration bonus. Increased the base Bleed Chance bonus.

• “Determination”: reworked into a visible status effect. 

• “Stay Back!”: \[+25% > +30%] Knockback Chance.

• “Distracting Shot”: reduced the base Immobilization Chance bonus.

• “Startling Volley”: reduced the base Daze Chance bonus.

• “Hunter's Mark”: \[+5% > +3%] Crit Chance, \[+15% > +10%] Crit Efficiency.

• “Headshot”: reduced the base Crit Chance bonus.

• “Spot Weakness”: added \[+5% Armor Penetration].

• “Anticipation”: \[+3% > +2%] Accuracy.

• “Precision”: \[+4% > +5%] Weapon Damage for \[5 > 8] turns.

• “Shoot to Kill”: \[+15% > +12%] Bodypart Damage, \[+15% > +10%] Crit Efficiency.

• “Raise Shield”: added a Crit Avoidance bonus.
  Light shield: reduced the scaling of the Counter Chance bonus.
  Heavy shield: \[+10% Energy Restoration for 5 turns > +33% Energy Restoration is added to the status effect itself]

• “Breakthrough”: \[-15% > -20%] Control Resistance debuff.

• “Shield Bash”: Heavy shield: replenishes Block Power for \[25% > 30%] of the damage dealt.

• “Hold the Line!”: \[-4% > -5%] Damage Taken, \[+4% > +5%] Block Power Recovery. 

• “Embodiment of Resilience”: reduces the ability tree's cooldowns by \[1 > 2] turns.

• “Retaliation”: \[-10% > -15%] Weapon Damage penalty. All bonuses last for \[4 > 5] turns.

• “Brace for Impact!”: \[+10% > +12%] Dodge Chance and Block Chance. Increased the base penalty to the attacker's Fumble Chance.

• “Unyielding Defense”: lasts for \[6 > 8] turns. \[+5% > +6%] Protection of all body parts, \[+3% > +4%] Block Power Recovery, \[+5% > +4%] Fortitude.

• “Battle-Forged”: Heavy armor: \[-2% > -3%] Abilities Energy Cost. Added \[+3% Crit Avoidance]. 

• “Custom Adjustments”: Heavy armor: \[+2 > +3] Energy. Added \[-2% to the equipped armor's Durability loss rate].

• “Seize the Initiative”: increased the scaling of the Dodge Chance and Block Chance penalties.

• “War Cry”: reduced the base Confusion Chance. Added inverse scaling from the target's Will to Fight, affecting Confusion and Daze Chances. The base “Battle Rage” duration is \[4 > 6] turns.

• “Defensive Tactic”: \[+4% > +3%] Dodge Chance and Block Chance.

• “Offensive Tactic”: \[+4% > +3%] Accuracy, \[-4% > -3%] Abilities Energy Cost and Cooldowns Duration.

• “Finisher”: killing the target instantly refreshes the cooldowns of \[all other abilities > all other Attack skills, Charges, and spells].

• “Thirst for Battle”: \[+0.5% > +0.4%] Weapon Damage, \[+0.25% > +0.2%] Crit Chance, \[+0.33% > +0.25%] Health Drain, \[+0.5% > +0.4%] Energy Drain.

• “Right on Target”: reduced the scaling of the Abilities Energy Cost bonus.

• “Intimidation”: \[-5% > -4%] Fortitude. \[+50% > +33%] impact on enemies' Will to Fight.

• “Tactical Advantage”: \[-20% > -15%] Cooldowns Duration and Energy Cost of all Maneuvers and Stances. \[+25% > +20%] Weapon Damage. Reduced the scaling of Health replenishment. Reduced the base Energy replenishment.

• “Elusiveness”: reduced the scaling of the Dodge Chance and Damage Taken bonuses, as well as the scaling of the Fumble Chance debuff.

• “Sudden Lunge”: now requires an equipped melee weapon.

• “Adrenaline Rush”: \[-5% > -3%] Damage Taken, \[-10% > -5%] Abilities Energy Cost, \[+5% > +3%] Crit Chance. 

• “Inner Reserves”: triggers when Energy drops below \[33% > 50%]. Increased the base Energy replenishment. Reduced the base cooldown between effect activations and added scaling from Vitality.

• “No Time to Linger”: \[+5% > +4%] Accuracy and Crit Chance, \[-5% > -4%] Fumble Chance.

• “Sprint Training”: \[-30% > -33%] Cooldowns Duration and Energy Cost of all Charge skills.

• “Flurry of Strikes”: each strike receives \[-20% > -25%] Hands Efficiency. Successful hits grant \[+3% > +2%] Hands Efficiency.

• “Deflect”: grants bonuses for each block \[or full dodge].

• “Enough for Everyone”: reduced the scaling of the Counter Chance, Dodge Chance, and Damage Taken bonuses.

• “Concentration”: \[+5% > +4%] Hands Efficiency.

• “Dual Wielding Training”: \[-5% > -3%] Fumble Chance.

• “Berserk Tradition”: \[+4% > +3%] Counter Chance, \[+15% > +10%] Crit Efficiency.

• “Unstoppable”: reduced the scaling of Health and Energy replenishment. Added: \[the free strike can only trigger once per turn].

• “More Blood!”: \[-25% > -10%] Abilities Energy Cost. The effect stacks \[indefinitely > up to 2 times].

• “Cauterize Wounds”: reduces the affected body parts' Condition by \[5% > 3%]. Grants +33% \[global Bleed Resistance > Bleed Resistance to the affected body parts. The effect doesn't stack]. If affected by Vigor, \[prolongs the effect's duration to 360 turns].

• “First Aid”: reduced the base Healing Efficiency bonus.

• “Will to Survive”: extensive rework:
  \[Removes all negative physical and mental effects. Activates "Vigor" for 60 turns.
  Activates "Will to Survive" for 15 turns:
  +X% Fortitude
  Temporary Immunity to Injuries and negative states.
  -5% Damage Taken for each fully or temporarily removed effect, Injury, or state (up to -25%).
  Replenishes X% Max Health.]

• “Pathfinder”: allows the character to hear all enemies within \[150% > 120%] Vision range, applying them with \[+10% > +5%] Damage Taken.

• “Residual Charge”: the bonus to Shock Damage now scales with Willpower and Electromancy Power rather than with the equipped weapon's damage. \[The effect doesn't stack].

• “Stone Armor”: \[+10% > +15%] Magic Resistance. The armor explosion now also deals flat Arcane Damage and has a cap on its Crushing Damage.

• “Rune of Enfeeblement”: the effect from multiple boulders now stacks.

• “Rune of Sustention”: \[+5% > +8%] Crit Avoidance, \[+5% > +10%] Energy Restoration. 

• “Rune of Binding”: reduces the ability tree's cooldowns by \[2 > 1] turn, \[+10% > +7.5%] Energy Restoration.

• “Rune of Unity”: extensive rework:
  \[Allows the character to simultaneously summon 4 runic boulders.
  If a boulder is within 2 tiles of the character, its destruction by enemies no longer Confuses or deals Arcane Damage.]

• “Rune of Cycle”: the Arcane Damage dealt is equal to \[10% > 3% * number of “Runic Empowerment” stacks] of the current Energy.

• “Rune of Absorption”: burns \[6 > 2% * number of “Runic Empowerment” stacks] Energy

• “Seal of Finesse”: \[-5% > -3%] Backfire Damage Change.

• “Seal of Power”: the bonus to Magic or Nature Damage now scales with Willpower and Power of the corresponding School rather than with the equipped weapon's damage.

• “Seal of Insight”: \[+10% > +7%] Magic Power, \[-5% > -4%] Spells Energy Cost, \[+5% > +3%] Miracle Chance, \[+20% > +10%] Energy Restoration.

• “Precise Movements”: \[-1% > -0.5%] Backfire Chance

• “Dissipation”: the effect stacks up to \[20 > 15] times.

• “Body and Spirit”: \[+8% > +5%] Weapon Damage, \[+3% > +2%] Crit Chance, \[+10% > +8%] Magic Power, \[-5% > -4%] Backfire Chance.

• “Thaumaturgy”: \[+15% > +10%] Miracle Potency.

• “Forgotten Lore”: extensive rework: \[Grants -0.5% Spells Energy Cost and -1% Cooldowns Duration for each learned spell. Grants +1% Magic Power and +1% Miracle Potency for each learned Sorcery passive, including those of Magic Mastery.]

• “Caustic Blood” now always creates a pool of acid on the dead Crawler's tile rather than occasionally spawning it on adjacent tiles.

• Fixed the rare issue preventing unique items from spawning in Tier 5 Mini-Boss chests.

• Fixed enemies and vegetation never respawning on map tiles with Carts and Shrines.

• Throwing a breakable or spillable water vessel should now correctly extinguish burning tiles.

• Fixed the Orient Quiver never appearing in the Brynn Elven Merchant's stock.

• Fixed battle staves never appearing in Brynn NPCs' stock.

• Interacting with a Point of Interest should now correctly gray out its icon on the global map.

• Fixed damage numbers and combat text appearing through the fog of war.

• Fixed repeated drops of certain items that are supposed to only drop once per playthrough (such as high tier treatises).

• Fixed the issue preventing more than one ongoing contract from being marked with an icon on the global map.

• Drinking from external sources of water (wells, rivers, lakes, barrels, etc) now has the same effect and stacking rules as drinking from the Waterskin.

• Fixed the issue with combined price modifiers being able to reduce the price of certain items to zero, which in turn would break the formula.

• Fixed the state of campfires not being saved as intended. 

• Fixed the issue with partial progress on digging up graves and secret stashes not being saved correctly.

• Fixed shrine candles always being extinguished after loading a save.

• Fixed the issue with enemies sometimes switching to an alternative sprite after loading a save.

• Fixed the Prologue's earthquake cutscene failing to activate and block the way back when loading a save in the Waterfall cave.

• Fixed the Archon leaving a glow effect after his death in the Prologue.

• Fixed graves losing collision after loading a save.

• Fixed two-tile bushes not blocking Vision as intended.

• Fixed the duplication bug involving the backpack near the entrance to the Order's Prison.

• Fixed the duplication bug involving the backpack near the entrance to the Order's Prison.

• Fixed the player character losing Morale when extinguishing themselves with water.

• Fixed Leeches not reducing Morale.

• Attacking in melee with a ranged weapon and no ammo will now count as a punch.

• Fixed the visual overlap of stack and duration numbers on effect icons when inspecting enemies.

• Fixed Butter not having a duration assigned to some of its effects, preventing their application.

• Fixed the issue with Zadok, the Brynn Drunkard, that was causing him to play drinking sound effects even while asleep.

• Fixed the unintended activation of “on kill” speech lines when destroying inanimate objects, such as nests.

• Fixed Venemist not providing the intended rumor.

• Fixed Marlo not providing the intended rumor.

• Fixed the possibility of re-rolling Skinflint Homs' leads. 

• Fixed the Knockback Hint appearing in situations where knockback failed to trigger or did not affect the player.

• Improved the behavior and collisions of decorative particles (boards, rubble, etc.).

• Fixed the issue causing Wolves to get stuck in the Alerted state for 3 turns when attacked during it.

• Fixed Wolves checking for incorrect conditions when using “Howl”.

• Fixed Drummers not acting as intended while in combat.

• Improved enemy pathfinding when using Charge skills.

• Improved AI and pathfinding for multi-tile enemies.

• Fixed the incorrect event processing order in the Will to Fight system, which was causing enemies to flee less often than intended.

• Improved the system for enemies transitioning between locations when chasing the player, and added restrictions for locations where enemies are not meant to follow.

• “Finding the Craftsman”: fixed the possibility of triggering the dialogue about the Craftsman's location after already completing the quest.

• “Finding the Craftsman”: the “Head to the Guild Quarter” phase now automatically concludes after finding Darrel ahead of time.

• “Finding the Ranger”: killing Alda now fails the quest.

• “Finding the Quartermaster”: once bribed, the Mercenaries will no longer stay in the Sentian Company Camp if you leave the area before talking to Leif.

• “Finding the Quartermaster”: the Mercenaries now react to thrown items and the use of certain consumables.

• “Finding the Quartermaster”: fixed the softlock caused by blocking the tile intended for the player character to stand on during the cutscene.

• “Finding the Quartermaster”: fixed the Mercenaries' reaction to hostile mobs.

• “From the Cradle to the Grave”: fixed the missing dialogue for failing to deliver the Bone Cradle to l'Owcrey on time.

• “From the Cradle to the Grave”: fixed the issue with quest logging.

• “Brewery's Fate”: fixed Odar using an incorrect dialogue line when completing the quest via blackmail after clearing the Brewery.

• “Fate of the Brewery”: fixed the Brewery NPCs not becoming hostile if one of them is killed before triggering the dialogue.

• “Fate of the Brewery”: completing the quest in favor of the Brewery now sets its Reputation on the global map to “Respect” instead of “Neutrality.”

• The Caravan events tied to a specific nearby location will now correctly reset after moving the Camp elsewhere.

• Fixed the incorrect target zone display for movement abilities.

• “Sic!”: fixed Dogs being able to flee with the marked target still within their Vision.

• “Petrification”: fixed Petrified targets not granting the intended bonus to Geomancy Power.

• “Battering Ram”: fixed the unintended cooldown reduction when wearing a light chestpiece.

• “Deadly Premonition”: the effect can now be redirected with “Seal of Reflection”.

• “Finisher”: fixed the incorrect target zone.

• “Offensive Tactic”: fixed the issue causing enemies to receive additional turns of the effect for each ally within Vision (while also failing to count the player character).

• Made it possible to advance “Continue conversation” dialogue prompts by pressing any number key, not just “1”.

• The Brightness setting now uses gamma correction instead of linear increase, reducing color distortion at higher values.

• Improved the display of save files in the menu. The saves made in Dungeons now show the location's name instead of just its type.

• Reworked the fog of war appearance and rendering to provide smoother visuals, better optimization, and resolve several persistent issues.

• The animations occurring inside the fog of war will now be sped up or skipped altogether.

• Improved and refined the Lighting System.

• Updated the sprites for a large number of items.

• Updated the sprites for a number of Proselytes.

• Reworked the overlay system to account for certain visual effects when generating sprite outlines.

• Added an alternate animation for the Ancient Troll that plays after bypassing the trigger for the usual starting cutscene.

• The dialogue options involving “First Aid” or “Cauterize Wounds” now play an animation and put the corresponding ability on cooldown, just like on normal use.

• The animation for “Seal of Insight” now plays only when gaining the buff, rather than every time the character gains a stack of the effect.

• Fixed the Ornate Dagger displaying in the wrong hand on the player character sprite.

• Added an icon for the “Ranger Brew” effect.

• Added unique speech lines for spotting specific enemy types, used in addition to the universal “Enemy!” line.

• Added speech lines for each Psyche state.

• Added speech lines to certain NPCs.

• Added an alternative dialogue line when speaking to the owner of the Brynn Printing House as an elf character.

• Rewrote many ability hovers for clarity.

Hello everyone!

In today's devlog, we'll be talking about the last major feature of the upcoming “Of Beasts & Sages” update - and also announcing its release date: the 15th of August!

Caves are optional, procedurally generated locations that fall somewhere between Points of Interest and Dungeons. There are no roads leading to them, and they aren't tied to Contracts - though in the future, we plan to make them an important part of the revamped Task System.

Building on the initial concept, we created several distinct Cave types, each with its own properties, enemies, and visuals:

• Regular Caves. Versatile areas that can serve as either animal dens or bandit hideouts.

  

• Mines. Unattended ore veins tend to draw opportunistic bandits - unless something else has already claimed the place…

  

• Overgrown Caves are inhabited by a new enemy type (details below) and are usually a rich source of rare plants.

  

Many of the enemy types encountered in Caves won't appear anywhere else.

For example, Brigand gangs operating in Mines are bolstered by Prospectors and Scouts, and are led by new Mini-Bosses: Overseers, Raiders, and Torturers.

Spider-infested Caves will pit you not only against the usual adult Crawlers but also juvenile Spiderlings, which hatch from cocoons as you venture deeper underground. In the final chamber, you'll face the Broodmother - a deadly foe who will fight to the death to protect her offspring.

And finally, some caves (usually Overgrown ones) are home to entirely new beasts - the Rockeaters, massive gastropods with a caste-based social structure. As their name suggests, Rockeaters are excellent diggers, making them highly mobile in combat as they constantly burrow through the ground. 

Each Rockeater caste has its own unique abilities:

• Workers support allies by regurgitating semi-digested food and splashing enemies with corrosive stomach acid.

• Hunters attack from a distance, spitting jagged spikes and blobs of poisonous slime.

• Soldiers are protected by thick natural armor and capitalize on debuffs applied by their allies. They can also attempt to dig in, recovering from wounds and gaining offensive bonuses - unless interrupted by damage.

• The most dangerous Caves may house a Queen - a giant, immobile creature that relies on summoning aid from the rest of the Hive.

Different enemy factions can sometimes inhabit the same Cave. For example, a tunnel in a Brigand-occupied Mine might lead to a chamber overrun with Crawlers or Rock-Eaters.

Survive the dangers, and you'll be rewarded handsomely. Most Mines contain valuable ore deposits - be sure to bring a pickaxe to extract copper, iron, silver, and gold. Don't forget a few extra coin purses as well, so you don't leave any valuables behind.

Occasionally, you'll come across piles of bones and the remains of less fortunate adventurers, which often hold valuable items.

And finally, Caves and certain Hunting Grounds will provide opportunities to gather rare plants and mushrooms. Consuming them grants unique, long-lasting bonuses that can give you an edge when tackling regular Dungeons and other challenging areas:

• Silverleaf

  

  Habitat: Regular Caves, Overgrown Caves, Wolf Trails, Bear Territories, Troll Domains

  Effect: Each turn replenishes 1% Max Health (even while in combat).

• Crimson Spleenwort

  

  Habitat: Bear Territories, Moose Trails, Troll Domains

  Effect: Each turn slightly improves the Condition of all body parts. Reduces the effect of damaged body parts on Max Health Threshold by 30%.

• Marble Truffle

  

  Habitat: Overgrown Caves, Boar Trails

  Effect: Grants +25% Intoxication Resistance. Doubles the effectiveness of Immunity when recovering from Intoxication.

• Spider Vine

  

  Habitat: Crawler Burrows, Crawler Caves

  Effect: Grants +10% Bleed Resistance. Reduces the damage from Bleeding by 30%.

• Pale Puffball

  

  Habitat: all Caves and Mines

  Effect: Can be thrown at enemies. On hit, deals Poison Damage, has a chance to Stagger or Confuse the target, and leaves a poisonous cloud on the same tile, which also continuously damages, Staggers, and Confuses anyone within it.

• Rotbloom

  

  Habitat: Regular Caves, Overgrown Caves, Harpy Nests, Ghoul Dens, Gulon Dens

  Effect: Grants immunity to coughing and +10% Control Resistance.

• Azurecap

  

  Habitat: Mines, Regular Caves

  Effect: Restoration replenishes twice as much Energy per tick.

• Honey Hyssop

  

  Habitat: Overgrown Caves, Saiga and Bison Grasslands

  Effect: Restoration replenishes twice as much Health per tick.

This wraps up our devlog series for the upcoming update. Remember, “Of Beasts & Sages” will also include Arcanistics, Psyche System overhaul, and many other additions that don't have dedicated devlogs - such as Caravan Events, new gear, and various technical and gameplay improvements.

See you on August 15th!

Hello everyone!

In today's devlog, we'll talk about the reworked Psyche system, which will be a part of our next major update, “Of Beasts & Sages”.

Let's start by exploring why the Psyche even needed a major revamp - as it stands, it's the oldest remaining mechanic, largely untouched since the early demo builds, despite having several clear flaws.

• The system was only partially complete. In our initial design, each quadrant of the Morale-Sanity chart was meant to include four distinct Psyche states. Unfortunately, we never got to implementing the states for the combination of low Morale and low Sanity. The same goes for the original vision of Hypochondria, which required functioning diseases before it could be properly added to the game.

• The concept of unique triggers for each state sounded great on paper, but in practice, it proved to be far too obscure - even for us as developers. Some states were extremely common due to their simple, easily reproducible conditions, while others were so rare and tied to such convoluted triggers that players had to resort to wiki guides and meticulous planning to discover them (shoutout to all the madmen who've actually managed to unlock the “Ups and Downs” achievement). The system simply didn't feel dynamic, varied, or responsive enough.

• While certain states had interesting mechanics, most could be boiled down to simple stat changes that didn't encourage players to adapt their strategy in any way.

• The majority of interactions with the Psyche system were primitive and lopsided: any horrors and hardships could be completely forgotten after a few nights of sleep.

Before anything else, we wanted to fundamentally change the focus of Psyche maintenance, making it a reflection of your mercenary's long-term living patterns rather than just a bar you top off by gorging on mindwort. 

The solution we turned to was to transform Morale and Sanity into compound stats, split into several segments with different caps and conditions for maintaining them. In this new system, both Morale and Sanity are half-dependent on the emergent situations your character finds themselves in and half-dependent on their sustained routine - such as sleep, diet, and so on.

In other words, a grounded and comfortable way of living serves as a sort of buffer, allowing the character to experience positive Psyche states even when facing all kinds of unpleasant challenges.

Morale is divided into three segments: Situations, Diet, and Sleep.

Situations cover everything that can affect your character during combat and exploration: killing enemies, completing Contracts, picking locks, disarming traps, landing critical hits, missing and fumbling attacks, losing Health, receiving debuffs, using consumables, eating some foods, and so on - all of it contributes to Situational Morale to various extent. Its maximum impact is capped at 50%.

Diet is responsible for 35% of Morale. Eating quality food will have a prolonged beneficial effect on your character's Psyche - but only if their meals are sufficiently diverse. If your merc eats nothing but fried eggs, bread, and meat skewers, they'll eventually grow sick of it, leading to a gradual decline of Morale.

The remaining 15% comes from Sleep. As you might expect, regular and sufficient rest will contribute towards this segment, while prolonged wakefulness will do the exact opposite.

Sanity functions very similarly, 50% of it is dedicated to Situations: this segment is negatively affected by killing humans but can be replenished by slaying the Undead and Proselytes. Other factors include having high Morale, close encounters with unholy magic and its abominations, head Injuries, grave robbing, casting Miracles, Backfired spells, using certain consumables, and more.

Another 35% is governed by Lifestyle, which includes work and recreation. This segment slowly decays over time but can be maintained by completing Contracts, chatting to NPCs, cooking, crafting, and praying. The list of relevant activities will be greatly expanded in the future - a good example would be the ability to go fishing or pay a visit to the Brynn Bathhouse.

The final 15% of Sanity is tied to Sleep - just like with Morale.

All in all, the new system is capable of providing vast roleplay possibilities and can be potentially integrated into other areas of the game. For instance, some conditions can theoretically influence different characters' Psyche in very distinct ways, which will give us a lot of tools to work with while implementing Traits and the Character Creator...

Let's move on to the Psyche states themselves and what makes them occur. The general idea was to standardize and greatly simplify the triggers - the result is three states per Morale-Sanity quadrant, each connected to one of the following conditions:

• No enemies nearby.
  The states associated with this condition often persist for a long while until replaced by something else.

• High health and multiple enemies nearby.Such states usually last for two to three fights' worth of time.

• Low health and at least one enemy nearby.
  These are the shortest-lasting states, frequently ending within a single fight.

When fulfilled, a condition will gradually contribute towards an invisible progress meter, triggering its designated state upon reaching 100%. Now, why don’t we take a closer look at states as a whole?

Optimism

Condition: no enemies nearby

Optimism has remained mostly unchanged: it grants bonuses to Experience Gain, Fortitude (which now also reduces Psyche loss from all sources), while also slowly restoring Morale, Immunity, and slightly reducing Fatigue.

Heroism

Condition: high Health and multiple enemies nearby

Heroism now scales with the number of visible enemies. Each stack of the effect grants bonuses to Weapon Damage, Magic Power, Crit Chance, Miracle Chance, Accuracy, and Life Drain. 

Additionally, killing enemies replenishes some Energy and grants a temporary boost to Healing Efficiency.

Second Wind

Condition: low Health and at least one enemy nearby

It would be impossible to count how many cinematic moments this effect has brought to the game, so we decided to keep it with only a few minor tweaks. Second Wind clears physical debuffs and replenishes Health and Energy upon activation (slightly less than before), then continues to replenish small amounts of Health and Energy every turn.

Other than that, it reduces ongoing cooldowns every turn and provides a once-per-activation 50% chance to avoid death. And finally, Second Wind can activate upon receiving lethal damage even if its progress meter isn't fully charged or another Psyche state is already present.

Megalomania

Condition: no enemies nearby

Megalomania is one of our most favorite states. Although it's often reported as a bug, it's still amusing to see how new players perceive their fake stat boost as real and genuinely begin to feel stronger, acting as recklessly as their character would. Because of that, the mechanic of falsely displayed stats remains exactly the same.

To further highlight the character's sudden surge of arrogance, Megalomania now includes a gradually increasing penalty to Trade Favorability and Reputation Gain, which resets upon completing Contracts. In combat, the character will have a chance to start loudly taunting enemies, potentially attracting unwanted reinforcements. And since the character deems caution beneath them, their passive chance to detect traps and hear unseen enemies will be reduced to 0%.

Frenzy

Condition: high Health and multiple enemies nearby

Frenzy provides a substantial boost to Weapon Damage and Magic Power. However, all attacks and certain abilities have a chance to target a random nearby enemy instead of the intended one - this chance grows over time but can be reset by skipping a turn.

Similarly, when walking to other tiles, your character may take a step toward the nearest enemy rather than their intended destination.

Death Wish

Condition: low Health and at least one enemy nearby

Death Wish is a reimagined blend of current Sadism and Masochism. The character suffers significant penalties to Healing Efficiency, Energy Restoration, Damage Taken, and Range - in exchange, they get bonuses to Life and Energy Drain that scale with Pain and missing Health. Life and Energy Drain also affect spell damage, although this bonus becomes weaker with each tile of distance from the target.

Killing enemies reduces the effect's duration.

Pessimism

Condition: no enemies nearby

Pessimism applies penalties to Experience Gain and gradually dampens the character’s Morale even further. It also reduces Fortitude, Healing Efficiency, and Fatigue Resistance - the penalty's severity scales with missing Morale.

Pessimism can be temporarily removed by using consumables that benefit Morale, such as alcohol.

Anxiety

Condition: high Health and multiple enemies nearby

Anxiety improves Dodge Chance and reduces Damage Taken, but all your attacks and spells will generate penalties to Accuracy, Fumble Chance, and Backfire Chance respectively. Any miss, fumble, or Backfired spell will reset the corresponding penalties.

In addition, each turn there's a chance for one of your Attack skills to go on a 1 turn cooldown.

Panic

Condition: low Health and at least one enemy nearby

Panic gives a one-time Energy boost, significantly reduces Vision range, while also lowering Abilities Energy Cost for each enemy in sight. However, each enemy within Vision will also continuously drain the character's Morale - and if it reaches zero, your mercenary will drop their equipped weapon.

This can be avoided by skipping turns, which replenishes some Morale and greatly reduces the effect's duration.

Paranoia

Condition: no enemies nearby

Paranoia causes your mercenary to quickly accumulate Fatigue, which in turn worsens the state’s penalties to Abilities Energy Cost, Damage Taken, Fumble Chance, and Backfire Chance.

Furthermore, the character may occasionally hear nonexistent voices, and some encountered enemies will be hallucinated illusions. If such an illusion reaches an adjacent tile, it’ll vanish, damaging your Sanity - alternatively, you can attempt to preemptively destroy it to replenish some Sanity instead.

Delirium

Condition: high Health and multiple enemies nearby

A character affected by Delirium behaves irrationally: depending on their missing Morale and Sanity, they have a chance to take a step in a random direction when moving, land their abilities on random tiles around the intended target, or drop items instead of using them.

Delirium also heavily randomizes all received Experience, regardless of its source.

Catharsis

Condition: low Health and at least one enemy nearby

Catharsis can be seen as a cousin to Second Wind, offering a chance at redemption when death is all but certain. Upon activation, it replenishes a small amount of Health and Energy, while also allowing you to replenish Health, Energy, Morale, and Sanity with each enemy killed - potentially letting you claw your way out from the pit of low Psyche.

Moreover, after it ends, Catharsis grants temporal immunity to negative Psyche states depending on how many enemies were killed over its duration.

That's all for now. In the next devlog, we'll take a closer look at Caves, their types, and what lies within - we’ll also reveal the release date for “Of Beasts & Sages”.

Until next time!

Hello everyone!

In today's devlog, we're taking a look at Arcanistics - a new ability tree that will be added to the game with the upcoming major patch.

Arcanistics is perhaps the most distinct form of sorcery, offering unique ways to control the battlefield. Drawing power directly from the Aether realm - the primal source of magical energies - this school focuses on manipulating space and, to a limited extent, time.

What Arcanistics lacks in direct damage, especially early on, it balances out with versatile tools for positioning and crowd control. The higher-tier spells will even let you summon allies to aid you in battle... But let's go through it step by step:


Like all magic schools, Arcanistics includes 14 abilities: 7 actives and 7 passives.

Dimensional Shift



This entry-level spell lets you select two targets (including yourself) and teleport them, forcibly swapping their positions.

The spell deals a small amount of Arcane Damage for each tile of distance between the targets and has a moderate chance to Confuse or Daze them while also applying stacking penalties to Weapon Damage, Accuracy, and Fumble Chance for a few turns.

This spell doesn't harm the caster and can't be used on inanimate objects (except the ones summoned by this ability tree) or giant targets (such as bosses).

Wormhole



Lets you select a target (including yourself), marking its tile and remembering its current position.

After a few turns, the target will be returned to the marked tile (or the closest available one), receiving significant Arcane Damage if it's already occupied.

The spell doesn't go on cooldown until the mark expires. During this time, recasting the spell removes the effect prematurely, returning the target to the original tile.

This spell can't be used on inanimate objects (except the ones summoned by this ability tree) or giant targets (such as bosses).

Aether Shield



Creates a magic shield around the caster for a few turns, decreasing incoming damage and granting bonuses to Control, Bleed and Movement Resistance. While the shield is active, teleporting prolongs the effect's duration and temporarily adds Arcane Damage to the caster's attacks.

The shield also converts a portion of received damage into Energy and destroys any physical or magical projectiles that would hit the caster, preventing their damage and effects entirely (this includes thrown objects such as daggers, bombs, and hunting nets).

And finally, any target colliding with the shielded character will receive some Arcane Damage.

Schism



Lets you select a 5x5 tile area, dealing Arcane Damage to all targets within it. Afterwards, knocks back all enemies in a 1 tile radius away from the area's center and pulls all enemies in a 2 tile radius towards it, forcing them to collide.

All affected enemies also have a chance to be Staggered or Immobilized.

Stasis



Applies "Stasis" to a selected target for a few turns.

While in "Stasis", the target is immune to all damage types except Arcane. Until the effect expires, "Stasis" also freezes all of the target's cooldowns and the duration of other active effects.

When "Stasis" expires or is removed, any Arcana Damage received by the target over the course of the effect's duration is dealt in a 3x3 area with a chance to Stun or Immobilize all affected targets.

Teleporting a target with "Stasis" removes the effect prematurely and doubles the chances to Stun and Immobilize.

This spell can't be used on inanimate objects (except the ones summoned by this ability tree) or giant targets (such as bosses).

Mana Crystal



Summons an inanimate Magic Crystal on the targeted tile, which persists for eight turns. Each turn, the Crystal shoots a bolt of arcane energy at the closest enemy, prioritizing the ones with low Health.

Teleporting the Crystal causes it to shoot three arcane bolts, spreading them between random enemies within its Range.

The Crystal's stats change dynamically depending on the caster's.

Phantasm



Summons a Phantasm on the targeted tile, which persists for 8 turns. The Phantasm is immune to all effects (except "Wormhole" and "Stasis") and can move within a small area around the tile of summoning.

The Phantasm attacks enemies in melee range, can be healed with Arcane Damage, and its stats change dynamically depending on the caster's.

Additionally, the Phantasm itself has access to the following abilities:

Arcane Tether


A ranged ability that deals Arcane Damage and has a chance to pull the target to the adjacent tile.

Mana Siphon


An empowered strike that burns the target's Energy, transferring it to the caster.

Consonance


Performing a miracle while casting Arcanistics spells prolongs the existence of the summoned Phantasm by one turn.

Teleporting the Phantasm instantly refreshes its active cooldowns and moves its "tether" tile to the new location.

Arcane Might


Dealing Arcane Damage with attacks and spells grants bonuses to Accuracy, Fumble Chance, Backfire Chance, Crit Chance, and Miracle Chance.

Teleporting grants bonus Range to Arcanistics spells for a few turns and reduces accumulated Backfire Damage.

Transcendental Anchoring


Teleporting enemies burns some of their Energy, transferring it to the character

Teleporting yourself or the entities summoned with Arcanistics reduces the cooldown of "Dimensional Shift" by 2 turns.

Time Echo


Casting "Wormhole" on yourself and returning to the original tile will replenish 33% of Health and Energy lost over the effect's duration.

Casting "Wormhole" on enemies will deal additional Arcane Damage to them upon returning to the original tile, equal to 33% of the damage they received over the effect's duration.

Astral Tides

Successfully moving enemies with "Schism" or the summoned Phantasm's "Arcane Tether" lowers their Magic and Arcane Resistance for a few turns. Failing to do so will instead deal additional Arcane Damage to them.

Entropy Flare

Teleporting a Mana Crystal grants it bonuses to Range, Damage, Accuracy, and Damage Reflection for a few turns.

When hit in melee, Mana Crystals and Phantasms will now deal Arcane Damage to their attackers.

Aether Harmony


Every 10 turns, performing a miracle when casting "Mana Crystal" instantly refreshes the spell's cooldown and reduces its Energy cost until it's cast again.

Each currently summoned Arcanistics entity grants the character bonus Magic Power and gradually reduces their Backfire Damage.

Beyond the Veil


Casting "Stasis" on yourself no longer causes the character to take damage or receive debuffs when the effect expires.

While in "Stasis", the character's cooldowns are no longer frozen, and the effect itself grants major bonuses to their Arcanistics Power and Miracle Chance.

When the effect expires, the character will receive "Between the Worlds" for one turn, making them untargetable by aimed attacks and spells.

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As you can see, Arcanistics is a highly versatile school that opens up a wide range of tactical possibilities - perfect for complementing many existing builds or forming the foundation for entirely new ones.

And to wrap things up, here's another small teaser:


Until next time!

• Fixed the bug preventing one type of Cloth Fragment from ever dropping when dismantling gear.
  
• Fixed the bug causing Situation-related NPCs to get stuck near the edge of settlements.
  
• Removed the exploit that allowed duplication of Ancient Coins by merging purses.
  
• Fixed the rare crash caused by leaving the Prologue’s Chapel.
  
• Fixed the ammunition stacking bug affecting quivers.
  
• Fixed the Lone Farmstead awarding double experience when discovered.
  
• Fixed the Fair NPCs using incorrect dialogue lines while in Denbrie.
  
• Fixed one of the steppe bridges being incorrectly marked as a Point of Interest.

• Fixed the bug preventing spellcasting after fully recovering from a Severe Head Injury.
  
• Fixed the incorrect Sanity loss from Head Injuries.
  
• Fixed the rare crash caused by enemies throwing Deathstinger Jars.
  
• Fixed the rare crash caused by comparing weapons in the trading menu.
  
• Fixed the incorrect hover of the Repair button.
  
• Fixed the incorrect interactions with chests when using keyboard commands.
  
• Fixed the issue allowing interaction with doors from a distance when using keyboard commands.
  
• Fixed the issue preventing certain abilities from targeting the Ancient Troll when positioned to the north of it.
  
• Fixed the rare crash caused by enemies’ “Boulder Throw”.
  
• Fixed the rare crash occurring in the Prologue’s Catacombs.
  
• Fixed the rare crash caused by Contracts expiring.
  
• Enemies will no longer follow the Character into the Witch’s Hut.
  
• Fixed the Taiga Rassolnik’s recipe.
  
• Fixed the damage from Bleeding being able to decrease Stabilized Injuries severity.
  
• Receiving a Severe Hand Injury should now correctly force the Character to drop the equipped spear.