Hello everyone!

In this devlog we’ll tell you about a new, previously unannounced mechanic, which will be added with the Content Update II, planned for this December. This mechanic is...

Throwing items! Initially, we didn’t plan to add this feature during this stage in development, however it ended up necessary for the implementation of certain new consumables, so we had to adjust on the fly. So how does it work and what can you do with it?



For the most part, throwing is used for dealing extra damage to enemies. It’s worth mentioning that any item in the game can be thrown. The resulting distance, the amount and type of damage depend on a thrown item’s weight and material. For instance, if you lob heavy stuff such as moose antlers at someone’s head, you’ll deal heavy damage as long as they are not too far away. A pine cone, on the other hand, is only good for attracting attention.

Additionally, certain items have unique properties:

• By throwing a potion at your enemy, you can apply its effect for a quarter of its base duration.
  
• Clay and glass items shatter into pieces, dealing piercing damage.
  
  
  
  
• Breaking a bottle of alcohol or oil on an enemy greatly increases their flammability. On top of that, foul liquids getting into their eyes will make it hard to concentrate on combat...
  
• Highly flammable items (made from cloth or paper) will burn in fire. Pyromancers, watch your flames!
  
  
  
  
• A heavy enough item can trigger a claw trap or a pressure plate.
  
• The amount of noise generated by a thrown item depends on its weight and material. The sound of breaking glass will attract much more attention than a tumbling acorn.
  
• It’s no easy task to restore a thrown tomato to its original form. Only throw tomatoes you don’t need!
  
• The same holds true for ale mugs - it’s hard to throw them without spilling their contents.
  
• And so on...

Weapon-throwing is a completely different thing. Instead of weight and material, it takes a different factor into account - a weapon balance, which combines item weight and its aerodynamic properties. The better the balance, the further and more precise a throw will be, and the more damage it will deal upon connecting.

Most daggers and light axes can be easily thrown, offering you a significant edge in combat. Certain spears (not halberds) are slightly worse in this regard. When it comes to swords, maces, and two-handed weapons, they don’t fly far, and they don’t deal significant damage, as these weapon types aren’t well-suited for throwing. It’s also not always a good idea to overuse this mechanic even with a suitable weapon - doing so will quickly drain its durability.



Naturally, your character stats are factored in as well: the damage for throwing any item is influenced by Perception, Strength, and Agility, the distance is decided by Strength, and the hit chance (including the Crit Hit chance) depends on Perception and Agility.

Keep in mind that throwing is meant to be only a supplementary combat mechanic and not a play style, so we don’t plan on introducing a dedicated skill tree for it. It’s unlikely that you’ll be able to beat the game by throwing axes and daggers, although you can still give it a try.

That’s all for now. Stay tuned for future devlogs - we still have a few more surprises up our sleeve!

• Added Japanese localization.
• Fixed the error in the hit detection algorithm, which hadn’t been correctly factoring in Dodge Chance when calculating hit chance for arrows.
• Fixed archers being resurrected with a ranged weapon after dying with a melee weapon.
• Fixed “Blaze” granting double reduction for active Cooldowns.
• Fixed dogs being able to open doors.
• Fixed the bug causing Reputation gain each time you take a free beer from Brukk.
• Praying at shrines now immediately restores some Morale and Sanity.
• “Deafening Roar” is now put on cooldown when the fight begins.
• Snakes can no longer poison when missing their attacks.
• Fixed the issue with changes to cursed items' stats not being correctly displayed.
• Fixed the issue with two or more Ghasts casting “Binding Sigil” simultaneously.
• Increased prices of most consumables.
• Decreased prices of all treatises.
• «Anticipation»: Applies the target with [-10 > -5]% Dodge Chance [10 > 4] after landing a shot and grants [5 > 7.5]% Accuracy for [10 > 4] turns when missing.
• «Flame Saturation»: [Replenishes 5% Max Energy > Grants -20% Spells Energy Cost for 2 turns] each time an enemy within Vision is ignited.

Hello everyone!

The work on follow-up patches for the “Way Forward” update is complete, so in today’s devlog we’d like to give you more details about our future plans.

The current state of the game is such that we can no longer add new content to the existing map: there’s simply not enough space for it anymore. The small scale of the game world creates a number of temporary restrictions, which overall render the experience less enjoyable, such as randomized treatises, instantly respawning dungeons, skewed gear and character progression, sudden difficulty spikes, caused by the lack of area for more starting dungeons, and so on.

Therefore, our top priority is to expand the map and add the first major town, which will finally allow us to resolve most of these issues. This task will take a lot of time and effort, but it will most definitely pay off - our game will finally work as it was initially intended, paving the way for many long-awaited features, from the trait system and character generation to the improved economy and a new enchantment system.

Other than that, the global map will also require implementing a large number of accompanying, closely linked systems: a foundation for the caravan system, new points of interests, new enemy factions, significant changes to the progression, and more. All of this will be a part of the next major update, “City of Gold”, which will be approximately released in Q2 2021.

In the meantime we also plan to release a large content update before the end of 2020, which will help you pass the time while waiting for the upcoming major changes. This update will include two new weapon types: two-handed axes and hammers, their skill trees, new gear, new traps, new combat consumables (including nets and placeable claw traps), and a few other things. There’ll be more details about these additions in the following devlogs.

For now, we’d like to share some of the results of our recent work:






Until next time!

• Fixed the bosses not being spawned during NPC rescue contracts.
  
• Fixed the Soulstealer Curse not working properly.
  
• Fixed the crash during the dialogue with Verren.
  
• Heraldic Note now improves your reputation with Mannshire.
  
• Fixed the low durability of sarcophaguses.
  
• Fixed the bug causing ranged enemies to continue using their ranged Accuracy value after switching to melee.
  
• Fixed the crashes caused by issues with modifiers.
  
• Fixed the crash on loading if the player saves their game after being attacked by the Wraith’s “Dissipation”.
  
• FIxed the crash caused by two Ghasts casting “Binding Sigil” on each other.
  
• Fixed incorrect stat colors for quivers and arrows.
  
• Fixed the bug with enemies using consumables while stunned.
  
• Fixed the bug with the sound effect of dropped gold being heard across the entire zone.
  
• Fixed “Baptism by Fire” reducing modifiers’ duration by an incorrect amount.
  
• Fixed “Concussion” applying resistance reduction for an incorrect duration.
  
• Removed another possibility of luring the Troll from his zone.
  
• Fixed the Brigand Ambusher using an incorrect sprite after switching to melee.
  
• Added sound effects for wooden amulets.
  
• Retrieving the Boar Head now slightly improves your reputation with Osbrook.

- Added a Reputation Tab to the journal. Now you can look up your Reputation level at any time and see how exactly it influences your character.
- Consumables for brigands: brigands are now spawned with a random supply of bandages, splints, and vivifying essences, which they can use to deal with bleeding, injuries, or low Health.
- Added two new variations of Wraiths to high level crypts.
- Ghasts and Necromancers learned a new skill - “Binding Sigil”.


- Rebalanced enchantments. The randomness of stat bonuses was removed - each enchantment stat bonus is now a static value, which is overall slightly lower than the maximum values you could potentially roll in previous versions of the game.

Enchantment scrolls now apply a single enchantment instead of two. Magic items (items with two enchantments) can only be acquired as loot from enemies and containers.

These are just temporary measures, meant to reduce the amount of save scumming (if not to negate it) associated with enchantments before the release of the rarity system update, which is planned for the next year.

- Rebalanced curses. There were also some changes made to curses and cursed items (they will be greatly updated and expanded upon next year as well).

The chance for a curse to trigger now grows significantly slower, and killing enemies is also much more effective at slowing it down. Additionally, curses are now several times stronger than before, making them feel more dangerous.

The changes apply to curses’ stat bonuses as well - some of them didn’t work properly with certain equipment types, so they were fixed or straight up changed.

• Curse of Everfear: +N Unholy Damage > -5% Damage Taken. Low Morale improves the bonus.
  
• Curse of Gnawmaw: +10% > +13% Life Drain. Hunger and Thirst improve the bonus.
  
• Curse of Goldhoarder: +25% Lock-picking & Disarming > +13% Experience Gain. High amounts of gold in the inventory improve the bonus.
  
• Curse of Gorelust: +10% > +13% Weapon Damage. Low Health improves the bonus.
  
• Curse of Soulstealer: +10% > +13% Energy Drain. Low Energy improves the bonus.
  
• Curse of Sufferjoy: +7% > +10% Crit Chance. High Pain improves the bonus.
  
• Curse of Loudmouth: +N Psionic Damage > +10% Control Resistance.

Curse descriptions were tweaked, improving their transparency, and their effects are now registered in the battle log.

- “Raise Shield” no longer grants Dodge Chance if its value was negative when the ability was activated.
- Increased Control Resistance for skeleton enemies.
- Added Bleed Resistance to Restless and Ghasts.
- Reduced Resistances and Accuracy for Proselyte bosses.
- Enemies now need a visual confirmation that their allies are being damaged before turning Hostile.
- Bottom dungeon floors are now generated with 20% less rooms.
- Reduced Dodge Chance for Chronomancer Mantle.
- Slightly increased “weight” for skeletons, restless, mages, and archers - they will now spawn in smaller numbers.
- Fixed the issue with Moose and Bison granting too little Experience on death.
- Lowered the chance of food and alcohol drops in Bastion containers.
- Overall reduced life span for most food types.


- Fixes to actions’ priority: bleeding now triggers before the beginning of the turn, and cooldowns no longer refresh right after the effect is activated.
- Refactored the priority for reducing modifiers’ duration.
- Staff crits now correctly replenish Energy.
- Traps can no longer be spawned under enemies.
- Traps can no longer spawn in boss rooms.
- Fixed the bug with mobs leaving their collision behind after going to another zone.
- Fixed the bug with mobs leaving dungeons to chase the player.
- Mobs now correctly travel between dungeon floors.
- Enemies no longer use “Mark of the Feast” on themselves.
- Fixed crashes caused by Inferno, Ring of Fire, and Fire Barrage.
- Added an additional condition for the Task of acquiring falchions and cleavers: the smith will no longer accept cursed swords.
- Fixed the food spoilage in merchants’ inventories.
- Fixed the bug with Distracting Shot.
- Fixed the bug with lighting up fires.
- Fixed the bug with Distracting shot not dealing damage.
- Fixed the bug with Experience Points not being granted when mobs bleed out outside of Vision range.
- Fixed the bug with repeating reputation gain for completing three contracts.
- Fixed the map activation during dialogues.
- Fixed Brigand Warlocks appearing behind their targets after using a dash.
- Removed the possibility of luring the Ancient Troll away from its location.
- Fixed the bug which had been adding cooldowns to zero cooldown abilities.
- Fixed lightning strikes in villages.
- Fixed the incorrect collision disappearance in certain scenarios.
- Fixed dungeons not resetting upon generation of new contracts.
- Fixed the bug with Proselyte Tormentor’s ability, which had been causing him to apply Stun and Knockback with every strike.
- Fixed a number of bugs caused by animals moving to other zones.
- Fixed the crash caused by opening a container outside of camera view.
- Removed the possibility of leveling “Excess Heat” twice.
- Removed the possibility of performing Counterattacks and Attacks of Opportunity with a bow.
- Fixed the bug with archers recovering from their injuries after switching to melee.
- Fixed the bug with the Troll not using “Shockwave” in melee range.
- Fixed food items being placed underneath other items in the inventory upon spoiling.
- Fixed the crash caused by being forced to drop an open quiver.
- Fixed the bug causing the loss of control over the character upon removing a consumable from hands.
- Fixed the bug allowing to receive both Stun and Daze.
- Fixed the camera return when trading and the movement restriction when opening containers.
- Added a restriction for resting while there are retreating enemies within Vision.
- Fixed the incorrect reset of modifiers’ duration time.
- Fixed camera bugs.
- Fixed NPC collisions.
- Fixed the bug allowing opening doors without spending a turn.
- Fixed the bug with lock-picking not spending a turn if it fails.
- Removed the possibility of moving the camera while the trade or container menus are open.
- Fixed a number of AI bugs.
- Fixed the crash caused by a golem being summoned after the caster’s death.
- Fixed the crash during a delayed attack.
- Fixed the collision bug in hallways.
- Fixed effects’ duration for consuming acorns.


- Added an animation for dropping coins.
- Removed outlines during animations.
- Improvements to the lighting system.
- Fixed visual bugs with Bastion rubble.
- The Mancatcher’s net no longer glows.


- Fixed aggroing sounds.
- Fixed the disappearing Troll step sound.
- Added a sound effect for the Curse of Loudmouth.


- Villagers received new speech lines for different reputation levels.
- Added a log message for switching ammo types.
- Added a log message for learning an unidentified potion's effect by drinking it.
- Numerous fixes across all localizations.

===============

By the way, we’re going to publish a devlog explaining our current plans this weekend. Meanwhile you can take a look at our updated roadmap to find out what to expect next!

- Fixed the multiplier for noise generated by certain actions.
- Fixed some issues with retreating enemies.
- Added additional statuses to the inspection menu.
- Fixed the bug with dogs spawning inside dungeon walls.
- Fixed the bug causing walls to become traversable after destroying certain objects next to them.
- Fixed the bug causing Cooldowns to drop to zero.
- Fixed the issue with the number of grimoire rooms during one of the crypt contracts.
- Fixed the incorrect zones for ranged attacks.
- Disarming no longer forces you to skip a turn.
- Enemies now properly react to being lured by “Shout”.
- Fixed the AI issue which had been causing mobs to stop reacting to attacks outside of their Vision range.
- Fixed the possibility of picking a lock after throwing away a required consumable.
- Removed guaranteed critical hits against retreating targets.
- Storing food in containers no longer prevents it from spoiling.
- Fixed excessive loot in Proselyte dungeons.
- Removed the possibility of breaking through cell doors with a crowbar during NPC rescue contracts.
- Fixed the issue with crowbars disappearing after their durability reaches zero.

- Minor fixes to secret rooms.
- Added the missing phrases to the German localization.
- Fixed the issue occurring with the Restless’ sprite upon being resurrected by a necromancer.
- Fixed the crash caused by shooting.
- Fixed the trolls’ AI priorities.
- Added soil decals to crypts.
- Fixed numerous issues with collision and impassable tiles in dungeons.
- Fixed the incorrect functioning of “No Retreat”.
- Fixed the issue with a spear passive working without an equipped spear.
- Fixed the bug preventing bandits from attacking boars.
- Fixed the timing of the Blood Golem’s explosion, so that it doesn’t occur prematurely.
- Fixed the issue with the external part of the brigand Bastion.
- Fixed the dungeon generation bug which had been causing an incorrect amount of treatise rooms to appear in crypts.
- Fixed the bug with traps not spawning correctly.

These patch notes include changes made by interim hotfixes.

• Increased the Damage and Health for boars, moose, bison, deer, and saigas.
  
• Increased the experience gained for killing most animals and the restless dead.
  
• Reduced Health and Dodge Chance for wraiths.
  
• Most undead enemies and brigands had their Health reduced by 10-15%
  
• The intimidation state is now 1.5-2 times longer for most aggressive animals.
  
• Rebalanced spawn points for most enemies. The dungeons should be less overcrowded now.
  
• Proselyte Adept’s behavior pattern was changed from Mage to Close Combat.
  
• Increased the cooldown of “Loud Barking”
  
• Reduced the duration of the “Netted” debuff to 6 turns.
  
• Most herbs now raise thirst upon usage to reflect their bitter, astringent taste.
  
• Reduced brigands’ Vision range by 10%.

• Numerous minor fixes to the AI.
  
• Fixed the rendering algorithm for the fog of war in dungeons.
  
• Fixed the issue with enemies not using dashing abilities.
  
• Fixed the issue with secret rooms’ generation.
  
• Fixed the issue with Morale multipliers, which had been causing each enemy type, including bosses, to have an equal chance to retreat.
  
• Numerous fixes to rooms and accompanying collision issues.
  
• Fixed the bug with archers replenishing their Energy upon switching weapons.
  
• Fixed the bug with archers shooting through walls.
  
• Animals can now properly escape instead of darting around frantically.
  
• Fixed the crash caused by “Necrophage”.
  
• Fixed the crash caused by “Soul Sacrifice”.
  
• Fixed the crash caused by “Leg Sweep”.
  
• Fixed the crash caused by “Blaze”.
  
• Fixed the bug with foxes being stuck in their intimidation state.
  
• Fixed the issue with enemies disappearing after following the player to another location.
  
• Fixed the bug with ghouls spawning in the fog of war.
  
• Fixed the issue with the ghoul’s Morale multiplier, which had been causing them to be much less prone to retreating than intended.
  
• Proselyte Flagellants no longer use “Lash Blessing” on the player.
  
• Fixed the issue with “Grave Chill” range.
  
• Fixed the issue with “Anticipation” having an effect even before it’s actually learned.
  
• Fixed the description of “Abominable Vitality”. The chance to trigger the effect is 75%, not 50%.
  
• Fixed the issue with “Rune of Enfeeblement” reducing resistances to -100%.
  
• Fixed the problem with containers’ reset in brigand camps.
  
• Fixed the crash caused by gold inside containers.
  
• Made it more preferable for enemies to avoid tiles with traps.
  
• Fixed the issue with beds’ collision.
  
• Fixed the issue with Burnet using the effect of Nettle.
  
• Fixed the bug preventing acorns from being roasted.
  
• Fixed the inability to interact with wardrobes in one of the boss rooms in crypts.
  
• Fixed the issue with Ghasts granting too little experience on death.
  
• Fixed the issue with High Priests not granting any experience on death.
  
• Added the missing descriptions to some enemies.
  
• “N/A” in fan translations are temporarily replaced with English text (the translations are already on their way!)
  
• Optimization improvements.
  
• Changes to layouts of some hovers.

- Complete rework of the dungeon generator.
Bastions, Catacombs, and Crypts now have a new generation algorithm and numerous new room templates.

- Basic AI was completely reworked

There are still ways to go, and we still need to perform many tweaks to make things work exactly as planned, but even with just this update the following features will be introduced to the AI:

- New decision-making system. Instead of relying on RNG when choosing which Ability to use, enemies now use a weight system - each Ability gained a number of specific conditions which either increase or decrease its weight depending on the situation. Enemies will use Abilities with the highest weight at any given time.



- New pathfinding system. Pathfinding was rebuilt from the ground up - the shortest way to a mob’s target is now modified by numerous conditions. Enemies will attempt to avoid traps, wait out AoE effects, stay away from locations where they can be easily knocked into walls, and more.



- Enemies learned to trade places when fighting in corridors and tight spaces. Enemies who prefer to fight in melee will try to swap out archers, retreating enemies will attempt to swap with those who can still fight, and those who have high Health - with those who are about to die.

- Archers and mages prefer to keep their distance and retreat when approached by enemies, wearing them down with arrows and spells.

- Mobs now use a new system to decide which targets to prioritize, trying to focus on the highest threat.

- Archers’ ammunition is now limited. They also learned to swap to melee weapon when they run out of ammo or when their enemy finally manages to catch up.



- Most aggressive animals will first try to intimidate your character and only attack if you don’t leave their territory within a number of turns. Different animals have their intimidation phase set at different duration - wolves, for example, will attack almost immediately.



- Some enemies might decide to retreat in case the fight is going badly for them, attempting to leave the location. The chance to trigger a retreat is influenced by many factors: low Health, allies’ death, whether they have injuries or debuffs.

- The ecosystem is now much more in-depth. Boars and moose will hold their ground and defend against the player and predators, foxes will hunt rabbits, and deer will run away the moment they hear the player approaching.

- Added secret rooms which can only be discovered by highly perceptive characters. Rich loot awaits inside!

- 100+ new containers and decorations across all dungeons.

- New enemy skills: mancatchers gained “Net Throw” and “Sic!”, dogs gained “Loud Barking” and “Grab ‘Em!”, wraiths learned “Grave Chill” and “Dissipation”, ghouls gained “Bone Throw”, ghasts and necromancers - “Death Touch” and “Soul Sacrifice”.

- 25 new undead enemy types: two lineups of high-level skeletons, a lineup of restless dead, as well as ghasts - undead mages, wielding special spells.

- Certain changes to hostage rescue contracts: from now on abducted NPCs will be held in designated cells, requiring you to find a key before you can rescue them.

- Added acorns and burnet.


- New culling system.
- Reworked light rendering.
- New fog of war rendering system.
- Updated steppes.
- Added fireflies.
- Visual updates to the Prologue rooms.
- Added four new music tracks, including two battle themes.


- Balance changes to most undead enemies.
- Increased the Abomination’s Health, but decreased its base damage.
- Most enemies gained a larger line of sight.
- “Taking Aim”: reduced Accuracy bonus (+75% > +50%).
- Removed unique items from graves and added them to secret rooms.
- Ravens now generate noise when they take off.
- Mannshire crypth has its danger level increased.


- Reworked turn and priority system for various actions.
- Made significant improvements to enemies following the player between zones.
- Added hotkeys for switching between hotbars.
- Fixed sudden Health and Energy replenishment when entering an already visited location.
- Brigands gained new phrases when retreating. The phrases upon getting injured are now tied to specific body parts instead of just triggering a generic response.
- Added lots of log messages.
- Fixed flickering stack numbers on stances’ buff icons.
- Removed the possibility of preemptively destroying the statues in the Prologue before the fight even begins.


Way Forward is an important structural update, after the release of which we can finally move onto expanding the map. In the next major update, which is planned for the winter of 2020-2021, we will add the first major city, its surrounding area, and lots of accompanying content. Before that we also plan to release a few interim updates to add the remaining weapon skill trees and more.

Because of this, the base price for the game will be increased by 30% in all regions. If you wish to purchase the game at a lower price, now might be the best time for it!

That’s all for now.
Have fun playing!

Hello everyone!

In today’s devlog we’ll share more details on the dungeon rework and the Bastion (brigand dungeon) in particular. We’ll also touch upon some aspects of the reworked AI.



Of all the dungeon types, the Bastion received the largest amount of changes, allowing it to better match its name. The Bastion’s layout is dominated by spacious halls, complex structures, and wide corridors cluttered with junk.



There’re also some changes to hostage rescue contracts. Hostages can no longer be found in the same room as bosses, instead being held in a dedicated cell which needs to be located first. To open the cell you’ll need a special key, for which you’ll have to fight a dungeon’s boss.



Other than that, the Bastion now has more interactive elements: occasionally you’ll find water barrels, which can be used to refill your waterskin or quench thirst directly. You’ll also be able to raid a dungeon’s pantry and then cook looted meat and vegetables in its kitchen.



=======



Regarding the AI, let’s start with archers - their behaviour was drastically reworked. They’ll try to stay as far from their target as possible during combat. Hiding behind a bush to lure them to a nearby tile is now a much less effective tactic, as they will attempt to keep their distance even while searching for targets outside of their Vision.

Archers will also try to maintain their distance when dealing with approaching enemies, performing a timely retreat when possible. If an enemy is right on top of them, or they run out of ammunition, they’ll draw a melee weapon and defend themselves with it.



Speaking about retreating - most enemies will try to run away if things turn sour. There are many conditions influencing their decision-making, but the most important one is low Health. Once enemies take enough punishment, they’ll begin accessing their situation on a per-turn basis. The amount of injuries and debuffs, their Energy, allies getting murdered and decapitated - all of it will decide whether your enemy will turn tail and run or fight till the bitter end. It’s also worth mentioning that strong and well-equipped foes are less likely to flee.

That’s all for now. A quick reminder - the update will be released in just 4 days, on September 24th. The remaining details on new content will be listed prior to the patch release.

Until next time!