Jun 26, 2023

Stoneshard - Wayfinder

Changed the algorithm for calculating the odds of landing a hit on each individual body part.

In previous versions of the game, the chance to hit was spread evenly between each body part. And since the character and most enemies have two of each limb, two thirds of the incoming strikes would land on arms and legs, which created a counterintuitive necessity to prioritize arm and leg protection over body and head armor.

The chance to hit a body part will now be dynamically calculated based on their overall amount. For the player character and humanoid enemies the numbers go as follows:

Head: 16.7%
Body: 36.7%
Each leg and arm: 11.7%

This means that the chance to receive a strike to the body and the head will be roughly the same as that of taking a hit on a limb.
Fixed the bug that caused Damage Resistances to be taken into account before Block Power.
Fixed ranged weapons not losing Durability from attacking.
Fixed fumbled attacks dealing normal amounts of Magical and Nature Damage.
Fixed the incorrect interaction of "Flurry of Strikes" with Hands Efficiency.
Fixed the effect of "Seal of Empowerment" expiring one turn sooner than intended.
Fixed enemies not losing Energy after using their Vivifying Essence.
Fixed enemies becoming Hostile upon taking damage from faraway traps in dungeons.
Fixed "Sudden Volley" not applying Daze when used with a crossbow.
Fixed "Courage" interfering with the application of Stagger in certain situations.
Fixed "Lingering Incantations" prolonging most non-magical effects while not working with "Stone Armor".
Fixed the bug preventing enemies from opening grate doors.
Fixed the Brynn Fence selling lower level items than he is supposed to.
Fixed the excessive Durability of some sarcophaguses (which was resulting in huge damage to anyone knocked back into them).
Fixed the incorrect sprite of Engraved Greaves.
Fixed the interruptions to background music when moving between locations.
Fixed the missing condition check during the Mannshire Governor dialogue.
Fixed the issue with the Mannshire Elder's disappearing dialogue.
Fixed Dead Martyrs being able to continue using speech lines.
Fixed Brynn Crossbowmen being able to descent from city walls.
Fixed the inability to fix shields with Repair Kits.
Tweaked items' Durability loss, including the Durability loss from blocked attacks.
Fixed the Knockback Chance formula of "Reign in Blood".
Fixed the inability to attack furniture and other props without activating the attack mode.
Fixed fumbled "Breakthrough" being able to apply Stagger to its target.

Jun 17, 2023

Stoneshard - Wayfinder

QOL AND OPTIMIZATION

- Reworked the algorithm for rendering the UI, which should result in a major (25-30%) FPS boost when running the game on low-end systems.
- Added a shortcut for Inspecting enemies, Shift+LMB.
- Items and body parts will now be grayed out when attempting to use an item that can’t be applied to them.
- Added a button for deleting characters in the save menu.
- Added pop-up hints that explain Knockback and attacks of opportunity.
- While on the ground, quivers will now display the amount of bolts and arrows stored inside them.
- Contract rewards are now given in coin purses.

FIXES

- Fixed the algorithm for calculating the amount of blocked damage.
- Fixed the issue with the Durability system that caused items to lose more Durability than intended and damaged incorrect items.
- Jewelry, cloaks, and belts will now slowly lose Durability when worn by the character.
- Fixed the rounding issue that caused Fortitude to grant its maximum benefits upon reaching 26% instead of 50%.
- Fixed the bug causing basic Resistance values to stack with major Resistance categories, thus allowing to exceed Resistance caps.
- Fixed “Pathfinder” not revealing certain enemy types when using “Examine Surroundings”.
- Optimized the rendering of sea tiles on the global map.
- Fixed and standardized a number of rounding issues.
- Fixed the inability to trade with ol’ Tott.
- Fixed the damage formula of "Seal of Reflection".
- Fixed the bug causing unique items that drop on certain enemies' death to appear multiple times per playthrough.
- Fixed Hostile enemies not alerting their allies if they are located outside of the player character's - Vision.
- Fixed "Confusion" sometimes causing enemies to move to random tiles if their opponent is adjacent.
- Fixed birds not reacting to the use of abilities.
- Fixed certain modifiers not working as intended while affected by “Megalomania”.
- Fixed the bug with “Hunter’s Mark” and enemy crossbowmen.
- Fixed “Battle-Forged” not taking already accumulated stacks of the effect into account in certain situations.
- Fixed the bug allowing cooldowns to go down when performing actions that don’t take a turn.
- Fixed “Rune of Sustention” granting incorrect bonuses.
- Fixed Backfire Chance being displayed without the percentage symbol in the character menu.
- Fixed the Elven Lady, Wine Trader, and Fish Monger’s incorrect dialogue lines.
- Removed daggers’ hidden Crit Efficiency bonus against Unaware targets.
- Fixed the missing note in Ryn’s basement.
- Fixed the incorrect formula tag in the hover of “Hewing Strike”.
- Fixed “Determination” not delivering a strike to an approaching enemy after knocking them back during a previous turn.
- Fixed the mace-wielding Skeleton Kingsguard not dropping a shield on death.
- Updated the hover of “Immolation”.
- Updated the hover of “Deafening Roar”.
- Fixed the Carved Topaz Amulet’s incorrect material type.
- Fixed Verren not having access to Magic Mastery in the Prologue.
- Fixed the interaction of “Flurry of Strikes” with Hands Efficiency.
- Receiving an attack that deals no damage should no longer trigger the “damage taken” sound effect.
- Fixed the bug caused by repeatedly aggroing the Ancient Troll.
- Fixed Guards continuing to chase the character after already searching them for stolen items or collecting a fine.
- Fixed the incorrect price modifier that caused Brynn Craftsmen to repair items for cheaper than their colleagues in Mannshire and Osbrook.
- Both “Tactics” now lose stacks when delivering basic strikes and using Attack skills.
- Fixed the bug that caused successful blocks to transform received fumbled strikes into successful ones.
- Fixed the interaction between “Impulse” and enemy movements.
- Fixed crossbow bolts having a Range stat.
- Fixed crossbow bolts’ stats not matching their hovers.
- The max duration of “Vigor” gained from resting near a campfire is now the same as from sleeping.
- Fixed some Mannshire containers not having an owner.
- Fixed the Ancient Troll not being able to attack the character in some spots of the arena.
- Fixed “Deafening Roar” sometimes activating twice per turn.
- Fixed “Troll Regeneration” triggering twice per turn if the Ancient Troll is affected by certain debuffs.
- Fixed some modifiers being able to trigger twice per turn.
- Fixed the Ancient Troll activating “Troll Regeneration” while the character is still adjacent.
- Fixed the incorrect duration of the Damage Taken penalty applied to the Ancient Troll after disrupting its “Troll Regeneration”.
- Fixed enemy rangers sometimes taking a shot at the adjacent character instead of switching to their melee weapon.
- Removed the possibility of dragging or learning abilities while precasting another ability.
- Fixed the issue with campfires’ visibility.
- Fixed the incorrect duration of “Tactics” effects.
- Outlander Merchants in the Brynn Docks now continue to trade even after sunset.
- Fixed the bug causing enemies to sometimes prioritize the destruction of objects instead of other actions.
- Fixed the duplicating trading tabs when interacting with some NPCs.
- Fixed the incorrect cooldown of “Thirst for Battle”.
- Fixed “Seal of Shackles” not scaling with the caster’s Magic Power.
- Fixed enemies being able to counter “Finisher” before dying to it.
- Fixed “Adaptability” not reducing the duration of “Poisoning”.
- Removed the possibility of fixing items that don’t have Durability.
- Fixed enemies not turning Hostile after being hit with a fumbled attack.
- Fixed “Sprint Training” not reducing Charge skills’ Energy Cost.
- Fixed Medium and Severe Hand Injuries debuffing Block Chance instead of Accuracy.
- Fixed the Throwing Net’s hover not matching its effects.
- Fixed “Reign in Blood” not having Strength among the list of Attributes required for unlocking it.
- The Wine Trader’s stall now uses a sprite that corresponds with the goods she actually sells.

BALANCE

- Reduced the minimum Durability threshold required for fixing an item with a Repair Kit: [90/80% > 80/60%].
- Learning “Self-Repair” now allows to occasionally receive armor fragments as loot from killed enemies.
- Increased the duration of all Stances: [6 > 12] turns.
- “Right on Target”: reduced the base bonus to Hands Efficiency by 4% and the base bonus to Armor Penetration by 5%.
- “Finisher”: lowered the minimum Max Health required for instantly killing the skill’s target.
- "First Aid": grants +10% Health Restoration and +[100% > 50%] Healing Efficiency for [90 > 60] turns.
- Tweaked the formulas of some Dagger, Sword, Ranged Weapon, Axe, and Pyromancy abilities.
- Equipped cloaks now prevent metal items from rusting when affected by 3+ stacks of “Wetness”.

May 21, 2023

Hotfixes 0.8.1.5-0.8.1.7 - Changelog

Stoneshard - Wayfinder

Made it possible to equip Throwing Nets into weapon slots.
Lockpicks are now given priority over Crowbars when interacting with locks through the context menu.
Fixed abilities not adjusting their Range when performing actions that don't take a turn.
Fixed "Double Lunge" not receiving a reduced cooldown if both strikes deal damage.
Fixed the issue with "Mighty Kick" and Stagger.
Fixed the issue locking the character's ability to attack after being Knocked back on the same turn as moving to another location.
Fixed "Regroup" granting its effect for a lower number of turns than mentioned in its hover.
Fixed the trees rendering issue.
Fixed the issue allowing to move around during some animations in the Prologue.
Fixed low level brigands dropping wrong items on death.
Fixed "Will to Survive" granting its effect for a lower number of turns than mentioned in its hover.
Fixed some new items not appearing in traders' stock, Distant Dungeons' chests, and secret rooms.
Fixed the incorrect damage values of Skeleton Kingsguards.
Fixed Brigands using wrong speech lines when reacting to nearby Dogs' death.
Fixed the crash caused by "Hold the Line!".
Fixed the crash caused by "Elusiveness".
Fixed the crash caused by interacting with some NPCs in settlements.
Fixed the inability to use "First Aid" without active Injuries.
Fixed abandoned chicken coops still producing chicken sound effects.
Fixed the issue causing minibosses to lose their name upon loading a save.
Fixed the Restless being able to drop more than one weapon.
Fixed the possibility of discovering the tutorial trap in the Prologue before being prompted to do so.
Added new sprites for some items.
Fixed the bug preventing access to one of the starting Brigand dungeons.
============================================================
Fixed the issue with overlapping enemy sprites that sometimes interfered with clicking on a desired target.
Fixed the Energy bar hover displaying "inf" if Energy Restoration was zero.
Fixed the crash caused by "Concentration".
Fixed the crash caused by applying Stagger.
Fixed the crash caused by using "Elusiveness".
Fixed the crash caused by "Boulder Toss".
Fixed the issue causing enemies to deal negative damage with AoE skills in certain situations.
Fixed impassible tiles occasionally created by enemies after trading places with one another.
Fixed Throwing Nets being treated as a weapon when equipped.
Fixed some low level Brigands dropping magical and enchanted weapons on death.
Fixed the error in the damage formula of "Mighty Kick".
Fixed "Deflect" not taking the number of adjacent enemies into account when granting its bonus to Block Power.
Fixed the character taking a step when attempting to place a trap in a doorframe.
Disarmed Claw Traps now retain their correct sprite after loading a save or re-entering the location.
Fixed the bug allowing enemies to use some abilities through closed doors.
Fixed "First Aid" not improving the Condition of the character's body parts while affected by "Vigor" but not Injuries.
Reduced the penalties applied by "Confusion" to -15%. Added +15% Backfire Chance to its effect.
Added +10% Backfire Chance to the effect of "Covered in Oil".
Fixed "Lingering Incantations" not increasing the duration of "Seal of Reflection".
Brigand Warlock now has access to "Seal of Power" instead of "Seal of Reflection".

May 16, 2023

0.8.1.0 "Equipment III" is out!

Stoneshard - Wayfinder

MAIN CHANGES

This update IS COMPATIBLE with old saves, but we still recommend you to start a new game, as some changes won’t take effect until then.

- Added “Armored Combat”, a new utility tree with 8 abilities. It will serve well to any character that fights in melee regardless of their preferred armor type.

- Added 57 new items:
Headgear: Academy Circlet, Battlemage Circlet, Gilded Circlet, Topaz Circlet, Ruby Circlet, Court Mage Diadem, Hermit Wreath, Dwarven Circlet
Chestpieces: Vehement Gambeson, Battlemage Gambeson, Mail Mantle, Mercenary Cuirass, Vehement Brigandine, Red Silk Mantle, Maen Mantle, Court Mage Mantle
Gloves: Riveted Gloves, Court Mage Gloves, Battlemage Gloves, Novice Hand Wraps, Mage Bracers, Mystic Gloves
Boots: Fancy Boots, Court Mage Boots, Magehunter Boots, Engraved Greaves, Sardar Boots
Belts: Fur Belt, Ornate Girdle, Fancy Belt, Court Mage Belt, Rope Belt, Plated Belt, Duelist Belt, Nomad Girdle, Mercenary Waistband
Rings: Silver Insert Gold Ring, Ancient Copper Ring, Brass Ring, Brass Signet, Steel Signet, Brass Agate Ring, Berserk Ring, Mastercrafted Silver Ring, Silver Jade Ring, Hermit Ring, Morion Ring, Gold Diamond Ring
Necklaces: Runic Amulet, Coin Talisman, Carved Topaz Amulet, Crescent Necklace, Mastercrafted Emerald Pendant, Mastercrafted Aquamarine Necklace, Trophy Necklace, Hexer Talisman

- Updated and improved ability hovers, making them more concise and informative. Most of them were standardized to leave little to no ambiguity when it comes to describing mechanics.

All active abilities were split into 5 categories: Attacks, Charges, Maneuvers, Stances, and Spells. Some of the reworked passives and effects have special interactions with specific ability types.

Spell hovers now display their previously hidden Armor Penetration stat as well as their current Backfire Chance and Backfire Damage.

- Reworked curses - both buffs and debuffs are now static, which should noticeably streamline the system. Other than that, added 2 new curse types.

(If you’re playing on an old save, any cursed items that you’ve already acquired will retain their existing bonuses without the downside of constantly increasing penalties. Enjoy!)

- Added a new achievement, “Enemies Closer”, awarded for unlocking and learning every Armored Combat ability.

BALANCE

- Reworked and tweaked most of the existing abilities. The changes primarily affect Ranged Combat, Shields, and Warfare (former Combat Mastery). The full list is humongous (12 pages!), so we decided to post it separately:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1s-ZhqHMuw_CpO2gVAVPzQYh8KJH3XcfjLQdh08pd0QM

- Rebalanced all armor and shields. Changed the system for categorizing armor types: in previous versions of the game, gear type usually correlated with its level (most light armors were early game), but now armor types are represented more evenly across all levels. This change strongly affects light armor, allowing it to stay relevant even during the later stages of the game.
- Nerfed most enemies to compensate for the changes to armor and shields.
- Removed Passive Bonuses from most abilities (excluding Spells).
- Rebalanced weapons’ critical effects:
Swords: [+50% > +25%] Bleed Chance
Axes: [+50% > +30%] Bodypart Damage
Maces: [+50% > +25%] Daze Chance
Daggers: +50% Crit Efficiency now correctly applies to common crit strikes as well. Increased the Energy Burn threshold [20 > 25].
Two-handed swords: [+75% > +50%] Bleed Chance
Two-handed axes: [+75% > +60%] Bodypart Damage
Two-handed maces: [+75% > +50%] Daze Chance
Spears: [+75% > +50%] Immobilization Chance
Staves: [replenish 10% Max Energy > +50% Energy Drain]
Bows: +50% [Immobilization Chance > Knockback Chance]
Crossbows: [+125% Knockback Chance > +100% Immobilization Chance]
- Strength: each point grants [+3% Bodypart Damage > +1.5% Weapon Damage]. Each threshold grants [+15% > +10%] Crit Efficiency and [+5% Weapon Damage > +7.5% Bodypart Damage].
- Willpower: each point grants [-1% > -1.5%] Cooldown Duration and Abilities Energy Cost. Each threshold grants [+5% > +7.5%] Magic Power.
- Changed the counterattack mechanic: each individual enemy can now trigger only one counter per turn. The same applies to the player character as well: enemies can’t counter them more than once per turn regardless of the number of received strikes.
- Fumbling a shot will now halve its damage (similarly to melee strikes) and not just break an arrow or bolt.
- Spike traps will trigger only once, just like all other trap types.
- Added additional effects to “Confusion” (-20% Block Chance and -20% Counter Chance)
- Fortitude now affects the damage received from DoT effects (Bleeding, Poisoning, Burning, Acid Bath), and each 1% Fortitude reduces received debuffs’ duration by [0.5% > 1%]. Lowered Fortitude cap: [100% > 50%].
- Reduced Durability loss rate for both the player character’s equipment and enemies’ Armor.
- Reduced Pain gain from receiving damage by 15%.
- Increased the base effectiveness of Immunity on the passive Intoxication decay: [1:0.75 > 1:1]
- Changed starting Affinities of the following preset characters:
Arna: swapped Maces for Armored Combat.
Jorgrim: swapped Shields for Maces.
- Tweaked Velmir’s trait: [-3% > -5%] Damage Taken and [+3% > +5%] Accuracy for each received strike.
- Tweaked Arna’s trait: [-2.5% > -3%] Damage Taken and [-5% > -3%] Cooldowns Duration for each enemy within Vision.
- Tweaked Jorgrim’s trait: [+15% > +20%] Crit Efficiency upon killing an enemy.
- Tweaked Dirwin’s trait: hitting an enemy with a strike or shot for the first time applies them with [-20% > -10%] Dodge Chance and [+20% > +5%] Damage Taken for [10 > 8] turns.
- Reduced the power of most enchantments.
- Raised Magic Power cap: [250% > 350%].
- Raised Energy Drain cap: [100% > 150%].
- Reduced base Block Power by 5. Reduced base Block Power Recovery by 5%.
- Increased the school-specific Magic Power bonus granted for learning relevant spells [2% > 2.5%].
- Reduced Intoxication gain from Poisoning [+4 > +2 per turn].
- “Loud Barking” now generates less noise.
- Increased the “ruby” stat bonus granted for solving the Standing Boulders’ mystery [4% > 5%].
- Increased food drop rates in the Prologue.
- Verren will have 33% Fatigue Resistance and 33% Hunger Resistance when playing as him in the Prologue.

MISCELLANEOUS

- Ghoul corpses can now be skinned to harvest their fur and hearts (once “Huntmaster” is learned).
- Added fish, crabs, and nets to the Dock Trader’s stock.
- Removed treatises from the Brynn Pawnbroker’s stock
- Standardized the levels of treatises sold by the Mannshire Scribe and Brynn Bookmaker.
- Changed prices of some consumables.
- Throwing potions at enemies now applies them with “Covered in Alcohol” effect.
- Added Durability to Shovels, which is reduced by digging.
- All equipable consumables (Crowbar, Lancet, Shovel) now lose Durability when used as a weapon.
- Renamed Rogue Pyromancer into Hired Sorcerer and swapped his “Ring of Fire” and “Incineration” with “Jolt” and “Seal of Power”.
- Renamed some items.

FIXES

- Fixed the incorrect order of attack outcomes.
- Fixed the issue preventing “Gotta Catch ‘Em All” and “I.C.B.M” achievements from being unlocked.
- Fixed enemies becoming invulnerable to AoE abilities for one turn upon entering a location, being moved to another tile with a “swap” ability, or being summoned, resurrected, or transformed.
- Fixed certain abilities skipping a turn after being used.
- Fixed action-limiting effects not working as intended in some scenarios.
- Snakes should no longer spawn in pairs, and some traps - trigger twice.
- When moving to another location, the fade to black will now happen after enemies take their turn, not during it.
- Fixed the bug linked to dying on the same turn as moving to another location.
- Fixed one of the abandoned cart POIs always spawning high level brigands.
- Removed the possibility of reapplying Dirwin trait’s effect to the same target.
- All missile Spells (“Fire Barrage”, “Jolt”, “Bolt of Darkness”) now use a standardized system for their chance to hit.
- Fixed “Fire Barrage” always missing all of its remaining firebolts if the first or second one in the series failed to hit the target.
- Fixed the Restless’ “Abominable Vitality” passive not working as intended.
- Fixed “Petrification” not taking its target’s Magic Resistance into account.
- Fixed “Overflowing Power” replenishing Energy when damaging inanimate props.
- Fixed the incorrect interaction between “Rune of Cycle” and “Overflowing Power”.
- Fixed the issue with the Ignition Chance of “Incineration”.
- Miracle casting any Seal now grants its effect additional duration.
- Fixed Damage Resistance enchantments not working when applied to shields.
- Fixed the interaction between drugs and alcohol/Hangover that allowed to avoid Bad Trip after mixing these two together.
- Fixed the issue that prevented Rotten Crabs from appearing in the game.
- Fixed Ol’ Tott’s travel prices.
- Fixed the axe variant of Skeleton Kingsguard dropping two-handed maces on death.
- Fixed the Smithing Workshop Bailiff refusing to accept a bribe if there’s more than three bottles of Elven Wine in the inventory.
- Fixed ranged enemies being able to counter before they actually swap to their melee loadout.
- Fixed the occasional crash caused by Harpies’ “Peck”.
- Fixed the bug that allowed enemies to use ranged weapons and combat abilities while in deep water.
- Fixed the bug causing ranged enemies to take a shot at the player character after loading a save.
- Fixed the penalty for dual wielding shields not working as intended.
- Fixed disarmed traps being displayed with an incorrect sprite after loading a save.
- Fixed Bran not marking his cabin on the map after mentioning it in the dialogue.
- Fixed the Osbrook Inkeeper’s wife not selling food and drinks.

VISUALS

- Added animations for receiving all types of Magic and Nature damage.
- New sprites for some abilities.
- New sprites for some items.

- Armor and shield hovers now list their type (light, medium, or heavy).
- Effect hovers now list stats in a more orderly fashion.
- Standardized the listing and rounding of stats displayed in the character menu. This change also affects the hovers of abilities and modifiers.
- Bonuses from enchantments no longer affect the basic stats of items.
- Fixed Girrud abilities displaying incorrect stats in their hover.

Shoutout to @DacianDraco, @Psojed, @RedOrder, @Gura, @Mindwitness, @MassBlin, @Monmon, @Rocket!, @iamyoyoman, @Amadeo, @Mallagar, @Malacar, @Joe Mad, @BlazingBreacher, @Guard, @Manual the Nah and @CommAmethyst for participating in the closed test and making this patch a better experience for everyone else

May 2, 2023

Devlog: Armored Combat and the Equipment III Update Announcement

Stoneshard - Wayfinder

Hello everyone!

In today’s devlog we’ll take a look at the new ability tree - the long awaited Armored Combat. We also have a surprise announcement to make.

Initially, we planned to add Armored Combat with the next major update, “Rags to Riches”. But since there’s still a lot of work to be done, and it’ll be a while before “Rags to Riches” is released, we decided to make this one ability tree a part of the previously unannounced Equipment Update III, which will introduce many new pieces of armor for mages and hybrid builds.

On top of all that, Equipment III will feature various tweaks to half the existing abilities. There was a lot of negative feedback regarding Ranged Weapons, Warfare (former Combat Mastery), and Shields, so these ability trees in particular were changed the most. There’ll also be certain QoL improvements, such as reworked skill hovers and a better system for skills classification. The exact details will be revealed in the patch notes.

We aim to release the Equipment Update III on May 16th. Please take note that this interim update won’t feature new bags, reworked Dungeons, the Caravan, and everything else that was explicitly presented as a part of “Rags to Riches”. The exact date for the latter will be announced a short time before its release. Another thing worth mentioning: the Equipment Update III will be compatible with your current save files.

Now let’s move onto the new ability tree. Armored Combat consists of 8 skills, spread evenly between actives and passives.

While conceptualizing Armored Combat, one of our goals was to make it useful to all armor types, both heavy and light.

As a result, its skills are designed to dynamically change depending on the equipped armor. This mechanic bears some resemblance to the one used by Shields, although the differences between armor types’ effects are significantly more noticeable.

Light armor adds bonus Dodge Chance to the skills’ effects or otherwise improves the effectiveness of evasion. It also allows using Armored Combat skills more frequently.
The main drawback of heavy armor is its hefty penalties to Max Energy, so its changes to the ability tree’s skills are focused on counteracting them in one manner or another.
Medium armor offers a compromise between Energy efficiency and Protection. For the most part, it doesn’t require any bonuses to be effective, and wearing it usually won’t modify Armored Combat skills in any way.

ACTIVE ABILITIES

“Brace for Impact!”

Grants bonus Dodge Chance and Block Chance until the next turn. While the effect is active, all received strikes receive major penalties to Accuracy, Fumble Chance, Armor Penetration and can’t crit.

Light body armor halves the skill’s Cooldown Duration and Energy Cost, and heavy armor doubles its Cooldown Duration.

This skill is useful for situations when your enemy is preparing to deliver a highly damaging or debilitating strike - “Brace for Impact!” will allow you to either negate it entirely or at least greatly reduce its effectiveness.

“Flexible Defense”

Delivers a strike to three adjacent tiles with a penalty to Weapon Damage but a large bonus to Stagger Chance. Additionally, all enemies within the skill’s area of effect receive a debuff to Weapon Damage, Fumble Chance, and Accuracy for three turns.

Light body armor prolongs the debuff’s duration to six turns, and heavy body armor replenishes 5% Max Energy for each enemy within the skill’s AoE.

Although this skill works well with all armor types, its synergy with high Dodge Chance makes it exceptionally useful to lightly armored builds.

“Unyielding Defense”

Allows to reposition to an adjacent tile, then activates an effect that grants a bonus to Control Resistance, Block Power Recovery, all body parts’ Protection, as well as Block Chance or Dodge Chance (depending on which one is higher). Receiving enemy strikes grants an extra stack of the effect.

This skill isn’t considered a stance, so it can be used together with Weaponry stances. Other than that, it provides an option to safely reposition when surrounded by enemies, as moving with abilities doesn’t trigger Attacks of Opportunity.

“Battering Ram”

“Battering Ram” performs a charge towards a target, dealing Crushing Damage to it with a chance to apply Stagger.

Light body armor halves the skill’s Cooldown, increases its Range, and allows it to grant bonus Weapon Damage for a few turns that scales with Dodge Chance. Heavy armor reduces the skill’s Range and switches the Stagger Chance to Stun Chance for a greater impact.

This skill is meant to be an alternative to “Dash” from Athletics, offering extra means of closing distance with enemies, especially if your weapon of choice doesn’t have access to charges.

PASSIVE ABILITIES

“Self-Repairs”

Reduces the rate of Durability loss (for weapons too) by 15%, increases the effectiveness of Repair Kits, and allows to dismantle armor into fragments that can be used for patching up your other armor.

Additionally, this passive grants a bonus to Bleed Resistance and Fortitude for each equipped piece of armor with more than 80% Durability.

Different fragment types replenish different amounts of Durability depending on an item’s level. For instance, a piece of cloth scrounged from a peasant shirt won’t be very effective when used for repairing an expensive mantle.

“Hard Target”

Reduces Armor Penetration of all attacks against the character.

Ranged attacks against the character also grant a bonus to Dodge Chance for a few turns while simultaneously reducing the attacker’s Accuracy. The effect triggers twice if the enemy manages to land a shot.

“Battle-Hardiness”

Using stance skills and maneuvers reduces Damage Taken until the next turn.

Light body armor also grants bonus Dodge Chance and Counter Chance for a few turns for each traveled tile (this includes tiles traversed with charges and maneuvers), and heavy body armor reduces Skills Energy Cost for each turn spent on the same tile.

“Custom Adjustments”

Each piece of equipped armor grants a special bonus depending on its type.

Light armor grants additional Protection to the respective body parts. Medium armor grants Bleed Resistance to the respective body parts. Heavy armor increases Max Energy and Energy Restoration.

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

And finally, here are some of the new items that will be added with the Equipment Update III:

That’s all for now. Until next time!

Mar 30, 2023

Devlog: Settlement Outskirts & New Bags

Stoneshard - Wayfinder

Hello everyone!

The last couple of months our team has been working on lots of new content: the long-awaited Caravan, the previously highlighted rework of the Dungeon Generator, and dungeon and settlement modifiers that will be a part of the upcoming Contract System rework - speaking of which, today we’d like to elaborate on some of its elements, namely Outskirts locations.

Outskirts are a new type of Points of Interest that will be introduced to the game with the next major update, “Rags to Riches”. Located a few tiles away from settlements, they still act as their continuation of sorts

Their main purpose is to add more variety to the basic contract loop and facilitate early game exploration. Most Outskirts will usually offer you the following things:

A spot to save your progress.
Access to one or more traders and craftsmen who will sell vital consumables, fix your gear, etc.
A chance to interact with new NPCs who can offer you contracts or give rewards for their completion.

It’s fair to say that granting alternative access to contracts and rewards is perhaps the Outskirts’ most important function. After “Rags to Riches”, village Elders won’t be the only ones in the contract business, the following three new NPC types - Officials, Captains, and Couriers - will be able to participate as well.

Their main difference from Elders lies in the rewards they will offer:

- Captains won’t pay as much, instead providing extra Reputation with settlements you complete contracts for.
- Officials will split the Reputation boost between all settlements of their faction (for instance, completing Osbrook contracts will slightly improve your standing with both Brynn and Mannshire).
- Couriers won’t actually hand out quests, instead giving rewards for completing contracts that require you retrieving certain items. Bringing those directly to a Courier will earn you extra gold.

Additionally, contract rewards can be received from any of these NPCs regardless of your initial quest giver, thus breaking the routine of walking the same roads over and over again. So instead of having to stick to the “settlement-dungeon-settlement” route, you’ll be able to receive a contract in a village, clear out its dungeon, get your reward in a nearby Outskirt, grab a new contract there, sell your loot and replenish supplies (optionally), then head straight to the next dungeon.

All Outskirts can be roughly split between these three categories:

- Military Camps and Outposts. This is where you’ll find Captains and, most likely, someone to fix your gear and sell you medicine and ammunition.
- Trade Posts and Production Sites. Their main role is selling special goods that can be transported to other settlements via the Caravan and sold at a profit. An example of such a site would be the Osbrook Mill or the Mannshire Winery, which many of you are already familiar with. This is where you may also encounter Officials, who are tasked with overseeing the production.
- Homesteads and Roadside Inns. These locations will offer a hearty meal, a place to catch some shut-eye, and a chance to meet a Courier, should the need arise.

To better illustrate the system, here are some of the new Outskirts:

Osbrook - Roadside Tower

Not wanting to be caught off guard if the Council suddenly breaches the truce, the Magistrate took it upon themselves to restore the web of outposts and signal towers that now covers the entirety of the Brynn March.

Osbrook - Drunken Woodsman Inn

The Drunken Woodsman is a safe haven for any hunter whose trade brings them close to Osbrook.

Mannshire - New Orchard

The war gave the best cidery in Aldor little time to react: its previous owners couldn’t save neither themselves nor the flourishing gardens, taking the ancient recipe of their specialty beverage to the grave. But not all hope is lost: the new proprietors of the New Orchard are determined to do everything in their power to restore this place to its former glory.

Mannshire - Southern Outpost

This encampment was originally established by Duke di Berro during his brazen counterattack against the Council army. It’s not nearly as large as it used to be, but it still plays an important role in bringing order to the Magistrate-controlled lands.

It’s worth mentioning that the existence of Brynn contracts and dungeons is only temporary (in the future there’ll be an entirely new way of gaining city Reputation), so it won’t have Outskirts in the gameplay sense of the word. At the same time, you can expect a certain other location to receive its share of Outskirts POIs…

New Backpacks

Let’s move onto the next addition planned for “Rags to Riches” - a wide selection of new bags and their overall rework.

Right now the game features just one backpack type that offers as many slots as it occupies in the inventory - this was done to prevent exploits associated with carrying multiple backpacks.

In “Rags to Riches”, all bags and backpacks will become much more capacious. As a tradeoff, you’ll have to equip them first before storing any items, and they’ll have to be emptied before you can place them in the inventory. These combined tweaks allowed us to create a bunch of new backpack configurations:

Medium Backpack grew in capacity and received sizable side pouches.

Small Backpack isn’t particularly roomy, but it’ll be much easier to obtain than other bag types.

Field Surgeon Bandolier - a solid choice for anyone who wants to carry lots of meds and other consumables.

Herbalist Satchel allows you to not really worry about precious inventory space while transporting large amounts of potion flasks and other vessels or gathering important herbs.

Hunting Backpack is meant to easily fit a few pelts and can be used to comfortably carry a bedroll.

Treasure Seeker Backpack will greatly improve your carrying capacity, although its bulky frame will do no favors to your agility and finesse.

On top of all that, it will also be possible to store single cell treasure items in common Purses.

And finally, here’s a teaser for the much-anticipated Armor ability tree that we’re currently working on as well:

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That’s all for now. Until next time!