Hello everyone!

Today’s devlog is dedicated to another new feature of the upcoming Rags to Riches update - the Crafting System.

The main principle behind the titular mechanic is that it allows only the creation of consumables and other similar items. The possibility of crafting complex gear and equipment was discarded very early on: doing otherwise would result in constant interactions with a broad range of specialized crafts and tools, which doesn’t mesh well with the game’s main theme - adventuring and exploring the world as a mercenary. On top of that, being able to craft armor and weapons would demand a rather cumbersome system with lots of materials, tools, and so on, shifting the game’s focus even further from what we aim to achieve.

Therefore, a system that revolves solely around the creation of consumables and various utility items makes the most sense in the context of the preexisting basic gameplay loop, adding more depth to the preparation stage.

Anyway, let’s start with the basics. Crafting is performed through a dedicated menu, which can be accessed in three ways: by using the “Crafting” basic ability, interacting with a workbench (such as the one you can upgrade your Caravan with), or by using a Crafting Kit:



In order to create an item, you’ll need to possess both the correct ingredients and the knowledge. In the beginning, your character will know how to craft only the most simple items - the schematics for making anything more sophisticated will need to be found, looted, or purchased from traders.



Schematics are split into two categories: basic and advanced. Basic items can be crafted anywhere, any time, all you need is ingredients. On the contrary, advanced schematics can’t be followed through without a workbench or a Crafting Kit - a new consumable that loses charges with each crafted item.



Creating a consumable will award a bit of Experience, the exact amount depending on the finished item’s complexity. To make the search for new schematics even more enticing, crafting an item for the first time will grant you five times the basic amount of XP. And even though the current list of crafting schematics is relatively short, we plan to greatly expand it in the future with the addition of many new consumables.

It’s worth mentioning that this new system brought a lot of changes to Bedrolls and Campfires: Bedrolls will no longer require you to learn any skills to craft them, while Campfires will be created by using a special craftable item - a Bundle of Brushwood.

Consequently, the Survival ability tree saw some significant tweaks too: it now has a much more flexible structure, and some of its skills were heavily revised.

Each character will also start with “Butchering”, a new Survival skill that will allow you to harvest meat from dead beasts without investing any AP. Skinning and looting rare ingredients, on the other hand, will still require you to learn the dedicated passive.



Additionally, the Crafting System will allow your character to create Fodder, a resource used to fuel your Caravan travels. Although Fodder will be purchasable from stablehands, there’s still a risk of finding yourself stranded far from civilization without sufficient supplies - that’s where additional options come into play.



Fodder can be crafted from any foodstuff suitable for horses: grain, straw, apples and carrots, even some herbs. Using grain in particular will yield the most Fodder, while the low nutritional value of straw will require you to collect a whole lot of it to make a difference.

That’s all for now. In the next devlog we’ll return with more information on the Caravan Upgrades. As a parting gift, here’s a glimpse of something else that we’re currently working on:



Until the next devlog, and have a happy New Year!

Hello everyone!

In today’s devlog, we’ll continue exploring the Caravan Upgrade System, which brings us to the second part of the upgrade tree - “Restoration”.



True to its name, the “Restoration” path is dedicated to maximizing the efficacy of resting at the Caravan. It comes with 6 upgrades that are focused on either improving the quality of your Character’s sleep or introducing more utility to the Camp.

We’d like to remind you that Caravan Upgrades are completely separate from the Leveling System and don’t require Ability Points - all upgrades are unlocked exclusively by purchasing prerequisite items.







Requirements: basic upgrade (available from the start)
Effect: adds a sleeping spot to the Caravan Camp






Requirements: Canvas Roll, Rope, Spool of Thread (х2), Straw (х3)
Effect: sleeping at the Caravan Camp grants “Vigor”
Sleeping at the Caravan reduces Fatigue 100% more effectively






Requirements: Hardy Tent Cloth, Rope (х2), Spool of Thread (х4), Straw (х5)
Effect: sleeping at the Caravan Camp grants two stacks of “Vigor”




This upgrade adjusts to your Character’s race and religion: Humans will be able to set up a “Praying Spot”, Elves - a “Meditation Spot”, and Dwarves - an “Offering Spot”.




Requirements: Hieronite Altar, Ritual Candles, Altar Bell
Effect: allows your Character to pray at the Caravan Camp to receive “Blessing”




Requirements: Meditation Table, Incense, Censer
Effect: allows your Character to meditate at the Caravan Camp to receive “Peace of Mind”




Requirements: Lesser Runic Stone, Skull, Candle-End
Effect: allows your Character to call upon their Ancestors to receive “Ancestors' Gaze” - the effect lasts indefinitely, scales with enemies killed, and is removed upon reaching low Health






Requirements: Straw Dummy, Straw (х4), Bolt of Cloth
Effect: installs two training dummies at the Caravan Camp (basic and armored variants), which can be used to test your Character’s damage and try out new abilities. Dummies can be moved around within a designated area






Requirements: Incense Burner, Incense (х2), Censer
Effect: sleeping at the Caravan restores Psyche 100% more effectively
Sleeping at the Caravan removes negative Psyche effects and resets the progress towards them




Requirements: Apothecary Box, Mindwort (х2), Thyme (х2), Burnet (х2)
Effect: sleeping at the Caravan restores Health and body parts’ Condition 50% more effectively (100% if also unlocked the “Foraging Supplies” upgrade).
Each hour of sleep at the Caravan replenishes 1% Immunity (1.5% if also unlocked the “Foraging Supplies” upgrade)



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

That’s all for now. In the next devlog, we’ll tell you more about the Crafting System for consumable items, which is yet another mechanic that’ll be introduced to the game with the Rags to Riches update. Until next time!

Hello everyone!

Today the topic is Cooking, a mechanic that will play a significant role in both your adventures and the Caravan System.

Important note: the effects, prices, and availability of most existing foods will be rebalanced in Rags to Riches. The numbers you see on the screenshots are also subject to change.

Cooking can be split in two parts: Basic Actions and the cooking of dishes.

Basic Actions include Roasting and Meat Salting. Roasting is basically the Cooking of the current version of the game. In Rags to Riches it’ll be performed through a separate menu with an option to roast multiple ingredients at once rather than going through them one by one.



Salting requires any type of meat and a few handfuls of Salt. Once preserved, meat loses some of its nutritional value but can be stored indefinitely, which is quite convenient during prolonged expeditions or when you want to preserve the spoils of your hunt for later.



The preparation of actual dishes is more complex. First of all, you’ll need a recipe. Some basic recipes will be available to all characters from the beginning. The rest will have to be found, bought, or earned through high Reputation in settlements. For instance, reaching Respect in Osbrook will make it possible to purchase the secret of preparing Osbrook Bread Bowl Stew, in Mannshire - Mannshire Fair Salad, in Brynn - Harpy Omelette à la Brynn. For now, we’ve created 37 different recipes, but their total number might grow by the time Rags to Riches is out.



So, you’ve got the recipe, what’s next?

Firstly, you’ll need an open fire - any fireplace or campfire will do. Then you’ll have to place a pot on top of it. Tavern fireplaces and some campsites already have pots pre-installed, but you’ll need to bring one for any fires you start yourself. Although, not every recipe requires a pot - for instance, Hunter-Style Drumsticks or Meat Skewer can be cooked without it.



In order to prepare soups and some deserts (such as Fruit Soup or Flapjacks), you’ll need to fill your pot with water or milk. This can be done simply by pouring liquid from other vessels into it.



Once this part is over, you can start adding the ingredients. Most recipes allow a certain level of deviation: sometimes, they can be interpreted quite liberally - if you cook a Vegetable Salad, any “Vegetable” type ingredient will do. Other recipes might require a specific item, such as Garlic, Onion, or Leek. Keep in mind that the end result will always look the same and have the same effects regardless of the exact ingredients used - this is done for the sake of straightforwardness and more consistent visuals.


The numbers and stats you see are a placeholder and a subject to change.

Still, there’s a caveat: some recipes have a place for optional Additives that will imbue dishes with extra effects. For example, Salt will double your dish’s expiration time, Butter will give it a bonus to Hunger Resistance, and more exotic variants (such as Jibean Spices, Nistrian Condiments, and Skadian Herbs) will provide a sizeable boost to Morale, Sanity, or Immunity.



All in all, dishes will differ not only in the amount of Hunger they sate but also many other aspects: they might reduce Fatigue, improve Morale, Sanity, or Immunity, grant bonus Experience Gain, increase some Resistances, and so on. On top of that, “Satiety” (the effect granted for overfilling your Hunger meter) will receive an additional stack and some other bonuses if you gain it by consuming an advanced dish.



Once you’re done cooking, food can be eaten directly from the pot. But if you want to leave it for later, you’ll need a suitable vessel. Obviously, soups require a deep bowl, but everything else can be placed on any plate (gold plates will work as well!). It’ll also be possible to place some dishes directly into your Inventory, such as loafs of Garlic Cheese Bread.



That’s all for now. Stay tuned for the next devlog, which will be focused on the second branch of the Caravan Upgrades!

Hello everyone!

This is the first post in the series of devlogs dedicated to the new features of the upcoming update, “Rags to Riches”, the release date of which will be revealed in the final entry. Today’s topic is the update’s most important addition and the last major system to be introduced to the game: the much-anticipated Caravan.

We’d like to begin by explaining our reasoning behind the system and what we plan to achieve with it. One of the most frequent player suggestions is to add some sort of permanent dwelling, a purchasable and customizable house in a village or city. However, Stoneshard is a game about a mercenary, a character who’s always on the move in search of contracts and glory, so anchoring them to a single location would go against the main theme. At the same time, we aren’t averse to the concept of home in a broader sense - and that’s where the Caravan System comes into play by adding a customizable mobile camp.



The Caravan’s main purpose is to allow for easier exploration, making it possible to travel large distances across the global map - with a few limitations.

• Firstly, the Caravan can travel only to empty map tiles. You won’t be able to set up a camp right next to villages, dungeons, hunting grounds, or Point of Interest. Your destination must also not be shrouded in the fog of war - at the very least, you’ll need a rough outline of the terrain, obtainable through the use of paper maps.
  
• Secondly, moving the Caravan will require a special resource, Fodder, the spending rate of which will scale with the distance and difficulty of your chosen route.
  
• Thirdly, each journey will be followed by a cooldown, as both Verren and the horses will need some time to rest.

In general, the optimal strategy is to park the Caravan in a spot between multiple locations you want to visit (settlements, dungeons, Points of Interest, etc), conclude your business there, then return to the Caravan, which by that time should be ready for another journey.

At the moment, we’re still experimenting with the cooldown duration - currently the base value is a day and a half, which can be shortened to half a day through a series of upgrades.

This topic will be further expanded upon in a separate devlog about the Caravan travels and all the mechanics that come with them.



Now let’s talk about customization - this part of the Caravan System is represented by a dedicated upgrade tree. In total, there are 24 possible upgrades, not including the basic ones - all of them can be unlocked within a single playthrough. As for their effects, there’s quite a lot of variation: some upgrades will change your Caravan’s stats, others - introduce new options or modify pre-existing ones. Each upgrade will also change your camp’s appearance by adding new furniture and gear or altering some elements that are already there.

Upgrades can be accessed by interacting with Verren’s Ledger at the Caravan camp. Before you can go through with them, you’ll first need to have all the prerequisites in either your Inventory or the Caravan Storage: this includes unique items (purchasable from corresponding traders) and additional materials.



All upgrades can be thematically split into four categories: “Provision”, “Restoration”, “Traveling”, and “Communication”. This devlog only covers the first one, which revolves around introducing additional utility to your camp:






Requirements: basic upgrade (available from the start).
Effect: adds a firepit to the camp that can be used to roast food and salt meat.




Requirements: Huge Cauldron, Coal Chunk (х4), Ladle (х1)
Effect: installs a cauldron on top of the camp’s firepit, allowing you to cook complex dishes.
Cooking at the camp replenishes a certain amount of Morale depending on the recipe’s rarity.




Requirements: Spice Box, Spearmint (х2), Rhubarb (х2), Ginger (х2), Leek (х2), Garlic (х2)
Effect: food spoils 75% slower while inside the Caravan Storage.
Cooking at the camp replenishes a certain amount of Sanity depending on the recipe’s rarity.






Requirements: Toolbox, Nails (х2)
Effect: adds a Workbench to the camp that can be interacted with to craft moderately complex consumables.




Requirements: Alchemical Apparatus, Hourglass (х1), Coal Chunk (х1), Flask (х3)
Effect: adds an alchemical apparatus to the camp that can be used to brew potions (after Alchemy is fully implemented) and create some medical consumables (in “Rags to Riches”).






Requirements: Foraging Supplies, Shovel (х1), Sickle (х1)
Effect: adds a foraging table to the camp, allowing Verren and Followers to capitalize on nature’s bounty while you’re busy adventuring. Once per day, it will generate a certain amount of herbs, berries, and mushrooms, their type depending on the currently occupied biome. Some of the gathered herbs can then be turned into Fodder to fuel your future travels, while mushrooms and berries can be used for cooking.






Requirements: Cage with Chickens, Bucket (х1), Sack of Grain (х1)
Effect: adds a few chickens to the camp. Once per day, they’ll lay eggs that can be used for cooking. There’s also an option to slaughter chickens for meat, but it’ll take some time for them to respawn - in the meantime, you’ll have to do without a steady supply of fresh eggs.



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

As you might have already noticed, some of the upgrades are closely linked to Cooking and Crafting - the former will be the focus of our next devlog. And while you wait, here’s a small teaser of things to come:



Until next time!

- Fixed the crash caused by "Tempest".
- Fixed the crash caused by "Draining Sigil".
- Fixed the crash caused by "Blood Spit".
- Fixed the crash caused by using "Forceful Slam" on the same turn as moving to another location.
- Fixed the incorrect duration of "Blood Craze".
- Fixed "Deadly Tail" still applying its outdated debuff.
- Fixed "Sudden Lunge" delivering a second strike while dual wielding.
- Fixed the possibility of reading already studied maps.
- Fixed "Seal of Shackles" not prolonging the duration of its effect when used again on the same target.
- Fixed the Leatherworking Workshop's Bailiff demanding a larger bribe even when presented with the Recommendation Letter.
- Fixed Guards not reacting to the first bow or crossbow shot taken at them.
- Fixed Runic Boulders not being destroyed when summoned on tiles with traps.
- Fixed "Ramming Charge" being listed as a Stance ability.
- Fixed the Ethnarch's Funeral Mask triggering only once per playthrough.
- Increased the chance of triggering damage types' special effects. Standardized the duration of said effects.
- Reduced the spawn chance for some high level enemies (including Brigand Mages, Sanguimages, and Murkstalkers).
- Antitoxin will now halve the duration of Hangovers.
- Fixed the bug causing equipment hovers to not display negative changes to stats if they were compensated by an enchantment.
- Fixed Turncoats dropping weapons that didn't match their sprite.
- Fixed Wolfhounds not having a "swimming" sprite.
- Fixed the sound effect of "Resonance" disappearing after moving to another location.
- Fixed the possibility of triggering multiple death animations at the same time when killing enemies with critical damage.
- Fixed the bug causing stolen items to change their settlement tag to a new one when placed in a container owned by another settlement.
- Fixed the sprite depth of destroyed Deathstinger Hives.
- Fixed collision issues with dry trees in the steppes.
- The game now correctly saves the color of blood splatters on the ground.
- The game now correctly saves the color of dropped potions.

• Bleeding is now considered a Lingering effect (rather than Physical).
  
• Increased the base Cooldown Duration of "Draining Sigil".
  
• Increased the Revenant Commander's Cooldowns Duration coefficient.
  
• Adjusted the use conditions for "Necrophage": Ghouls will no longer consume corpses while at full Health.
  
• Fixed the Brander's pyres sometimes remaining lit even after his death.
  
• Fixed the bug causing some passive abilities to become unlearnt after sleeping.
  
• Fixed the crash caused by "Net Throw".
  
• Fixed the crash caused by "Incineration".
  
• Fixed the bug causing the player character to voice enemies' speech lines when applying them with Stun and Daze.

• Fixed the crash caused by "Spectral Haunting".
  
• Possibly fixed the crash caused by "Web Spit".
  
• Fixed Geomancy boulders not applying targets with Daze upon knocking them back into objects.
  
• Fixed unique items being ignored in the Statistics if found outside of containers.
  
• The Statistics' time-tracking system should now correctly sum up hours into days.
  
• Lowered the spawn chance for some of the new enemy types.
  
• Reduced the impact of some conditions and actions on the low level brigands and ghouls' Will to FIght.
  
• Nerfed Murkstalkers.
  
• Adjusted cooldowns and Energy Costs for some enemy abilities.
  
• "Lesser Ritual of Resurrection" and "Greater Ritual of Resurrection" will now set the reanimated Undead's Armor * Durability to 0% and put their abilities on cooldown.
  
• "Curse of Decay" should now correctly remove stacks of the effect after using any abilities, not just Attacks.
  
• Fixed Weber's "trading" dialogue option disappearing after the Ancient Troll's death .
  
• Fixed the bug with Knud and the Map of the Old Homestead Surroundings.
  
• Fixed the Atlas of Aldor granting 5% Energy Restoration instead of the listed 10%.
  
• Changed the Fatigue gain from using skills [1.5% > 2% of the used skill's Energy Cost] and spells [2.5% > 2% of the used spell's Energy Cost].
  
• Changed the Curse of Bloodlust [-25% > -20% Max Health] and the Curse of Madness [+5% > +7.5% Backfire Chance].
  
• Fixed technical tags and formulas being displayed in some of the enemy abilities' hovers.

• Fixed the crash caused by "Stone Armor".
  
• Fixed the bug allowing animals to attack the player character without warning if they have already participated in a fight with another creature.
  
• Fixed "Push the Falling" prolonging the duration of "Confusion" by an incorrect number of turns.
  
• Fixed "Seal of Cleansing" not removing magical and elemental entities if they are located on the same tile as the caster.
  
• Fixed the interaction between "Seize the Initiative" and ranged weapons which allowed the skill to apply its effects with a second shot (after missing the first one).
  
• Fixed "Blood Craze" not having the max duration cap.
  
• Fixed the bug causing Wraiths to disappear when the player moves to another location or loads their save.
  
• Fixed the 6th strike of "Anthems of Bloodshed" granting its bonuses to nearby allies even after missing the target.
  
• Fixed the bug causing Ghouls to disappear if they use "Necrophage" while the player moves to another dungeon floor.
  
• Fixed the bug allowing to use the "Reload" action while the left weapon slot already contains a loaded crossbow.
  
• Fixed the overly high Attribute requirements for unlocking some of the staff skills: "Now or Never" and "Triumph".
  
• Fixed the bug causing enemies to hit themselves in certain situations.
  
• Slightly nerfed the Apostate miniboss.

- Added 9 new enemy types: Accursed Ghast, Ancient Ghast, Putrid Restless Soldier (2H Axe, 2H Mace, and Halberd variants), Wraith Monk, Wraith Cleric, Wraith Squire, Wraith Sergeant, Wraith Templar, and Wraith Commander.
- Added 5 high level minibosses. Undead: Ritualist, Revenant Commander and Wraithbinder. Proselytes: Brander and Juggernaut.
- Added 12 new enemy abilities.
- Added paper maps. Using them creates an outline of a specified area on your global map. Paper maps can be purchased from elders and governors (additional maps become available after you reach Benevolence with their settlement) or found as random loot in Mannshire and Brynn dungeons.
- Added a new artifact: Barbados the Lame’s Atlas of Aldor. Just like other artifacts, it has a chance to appear in distant dungeons.
- Added a Statistics tab (can be accessed through the Journal menu).
- Refactored the passive abilities exclusive to the player character, which made it possible to assign them to enemies.
- Fully reworked the enemies’ Will to Fight mechanic. The new version basically works as a gauge that can be affected one way or another through a series of random checks. And once a creature’s Will to Fight drops to 0%, it is guaranteed to start fleeing.

The list of conditions and situations that can potentially affect a creature’s Will to Fight:

• The creature is high on Health (gradually restores the creature’s Will to Fight depending on its current amount of Health).
  
• The opponent is low on Health.
  
• The opponent is Injured, Bleeding, in Pain, or affected by certain other negative effects.
  
• There’s an ally within Vision (increases Will to Fight depending on the ally’s level).
  
• The creature is low on Health.
  
• There’s a significant level difference between the creature and the opponent.
  
• The level of the character’s equipment is much higher than the creature’s level.
  
• The creature is Injured, Bleeding, in Pain, or affected by certain other negative effects.
  
• The creature loses Health due to the opponent’s attacks and abilities.
  
• Allies receive Injuries within Vision.
  
• Allies start fleeing within Vision.
  
• Allies die within Vision (the impact depends on an ally’s level and whether their death was a result of a critical strike or miracle-casted spell.

- Rebalanced most enemies to maintain their power on roughly the same level as it had been before they gained access to additional passive abilities.
- Rebalanced the Experience gain from killing most enemy types - high level enemies (and minibosses in particular) will now yield significantly more XP.
- Changed or updated the following enemy abilities: “Curse of Decay” (former “Curse”), “Curse of Agony” (former “Curse of Weakness”), “Desecration” (former “Bolt of Darkness”), “Unholy Blessing”, “Lesser Ritual of Resurrection” (former “Resurrection”), “Blasphemous Sigil” (former “Sigil of Darkness”), “Spectral Haunting” (former “Dispersal”), “Soul Sacrifice”, “Grave Chill”, “Sacrificial Blood”, “Mark of the Feast”, “Draining Sigil” (former “Vampiric Rune”), “Blood Scent”, “Neverending Torment”, “Taste for Flesh”, “Swarm”, “Loud Barking”.
- Changed the special effect of Unholy Damage: [chance to apply “Curse” > Health Replenishment].
- Changed the special effect of Sacred Damage [Health Replenishment > Energy Replenishment].
Added a new Reputation perk, “Specialty Goods”, which makes additional paper maps available for sale.
- “Deadly Tail”: swapped the chance to apply “Sacrificial Blood” with a chance to apply “Mark of the Feast”.
- “Net Throw”, “Bone Throw”, “Web Spit”, “Blood Spit” now use the missile mechanic, giving them a chance to miss their target.
- Made it possible to block and dodge Girruds’ skills.
- Updated the Stealing Mechanic: NPCs should no longer be able to detect you through walls.
- The Casket with St Wald’s Relics now grants immunity to an additional effect, “Curse of Agony”.


- Rewrote enemy abilities’ hovers in accordance with the Equipment Update III standards. Added a dynamic display of scaleable stats to enemy abilities’ hovers (their relevant Accuracy and Damage Dealt, for example).
- You’ll now be able to see enemies’ Will to Fight while inspecting them.
- When inspecting enemies, their abilities will be displayed in a predetermined order rather than randomly.
- The Character Menu and Journal tabs will now retain the position of their sliders when reopened.
- Improved the Global Map optimization.


- Fixed the bug causing different enemy types to use the same basic Health Restoration value.
- Fixed some AoEs having dead zones.
- Fixed the inconsistent display of certain AoEs and ability trajectories for different character’s positions in relation to the target.
- Fixed the bug preventing negative Dodge Chance from increasing the Accuracy of incoming attacks.
- Fixed the bug which allowed Pain to exceed Pain Limit.
- Fixed the Anmarrak being able to use “Wide Swipe” while its Tentacle Hand is actively participating in combat.
- Fixed Harpies and some other enemies using incorrect animations after recovering from “Petrification”.
- Fixed “Lion Leap” granting the Manticore an unlisted Dodge Chance bonus.
- Fixed the incorrect interaction between the dual weapons’ Damage and “Residual Charge”.
- Fixed Immobilization, Stun, and other similar effects not being able to interrupt Charge skills.
- Fixed the incorrect description of one of the Brynn Reputation perks, “Better Gear”.
- Fixed “Cleaving Strike” granting an incorrect bonus to Counter Chance.
- Fixed the potential softlock caused by missed “Distracting Shot”.
- Fixed “Onslaught” having its Cooldown reduced by an incorrect number of turns after failing to knock the target back.
- Fixed “Mutilating Lunge” having its Cooldown reduced by an incorrect number of turns after failing to cause an Injury.
- Fixed the buggy interaction between “Courage” and counters.
- Fixed “From the Shadows” applying its debuff even after missing the target.
- Fixed the incorrect duration of “Endurance Training” bonuses.
- Fixed the incorrect duration of “Startling Volley” effects.
- Fixed the combination of “Mighty Kick” and “Push the Falling” not prolonging some of the debuffs it’s supposed to.
- Fixed the Codex of the Triple Hand Order granting its bonuses even when the Undead or Proselytes die without the player’s direct participation.
- Fixed the disappearance of certain effect animations after moving to another location.
- Fixed the “Knockback” pop-up hint.
- New sprites for some items.
- New visuals for some Necromancy-themed abilities.

Hello everyone!

The work on Rags to Riches continues as planned, and it’s already evident that it’ll be the largest update yet. Right now our hands are full with implementing a whole bunch of different mechanics: Caravan Upgrades, improved Dungeon Generation, reworked Contracts, Cooking, better pathfinding for enemies. Some time is also being spent on conceptualizing new features that will be introduced to the game after RtR. And if all goes well, we’ll soon release a couple more devlogs highlighting the Caravan System and Cooking, which are close to being finished.



But since everything else still requires more time in the oven, we decided to release yet another interim update that will include some of the content originally intended for Rags to Riches. So, what can you expect from the 0.8.2.0 content patch arriving in the next few weeks?


It’s been a while since the Undead faction received an update. We want to amend this by adding 9 new basic enemies: high level Accursed and Ancient Ghasts, Putrid Restless, and 6 new types of Wraiths.




A large portion of the Undead-specific abilities was reworked and redistributed between the existing and new creatures. Our goal was to put a stronger emphasis on the interactions between the faction’s elite, Ghasts and Necromancers, and ordinary walking corpses, the latter serving as a disposable resource.



As an example, take a look at “Curse of Decay” and “Curse of Agony” (former “Curse” and “Curse of Weakness”):



New bosses. For quite some time, low level Necromancer minibosses had a chance to spawn even in high tier dungeons. It will be changed in this content patch by finally introducing powerful tier 3 Necromancers to Brynn Crypts. Distant dungeons will have their own mage miniboss too - Wraithbinder, who, as you may guess from his name, specializes in summoning Wraiths. Additionally, distant dungeons will have a chance to spawn the Revenant as a miniboss - long-dead commander of the Order, resurrected by unholy magic.



High level Restless will gain a new ability, “Death Grip”, designed to make them more of a threat during mid and late game - it has a chance to Immobilize the character and is even more dangerous when combined with the curses applied by Undead mages. Then there’s a cloud of foul miasma surrounding the Putred Restless - the effect is somewhat similar to Harpies’ “Unbearable Stench” but stronger.



Proselytes will receive two new minibosses, since their high level dungeons also lacked variety in that department. Very soon, the cult will be joined by the Brander - a versatile miniboss with a focus on debuffs and using fallen allies to his advantage - and the Juggernaut, whose strategy is to disable the opponent, then demolish them with devastating strikes.






Another important feature that will be included with the upcoming content patch is reimagined paper maps. Many of you may remember them being briefly present in the game when it just launched in EA. And now paper maps are finally making a return - combined with the Rumor System and hints about POIs’ location, their new purpose is to make the exploration easier and more enjoyable.



The mechanic itself is very simple: interacting with paper maps will allow your character to fill up the blanks on their Global Map, painting it with rough outlines of the terrain, roads, dungeons, and certain POIs that you are yet to discover. Camps, hunting grounds, abandoned carts, shrines, and other similar locations can’t be revealed this way and will need to be found through exploration or rumors.



Keep in mind: all paper maps had been created before Aldor was ravaged by the war. Consequently, many locations won’t look the same way as they are drawn on maps: Catacombs, for instance, will be depicted as perfectly intact chapels and monasteries rather than caved-in ruins. Any Points of Interest that didn’t exist before the war (such as the Siege Camp) or weren’t known to a cartographer (such as the Witch’s Hut) also won’t be present on paper maps.



Some paper maps will be purchasable from Elders after you reach Benevolence with their settlement, and you’ll receive a map of the Osbrook region after your first conversation with Verren. Finally, there’ll be maps depicting distant, sparsely-populated corners of the Brynn March, which will be obtainable as random loot in high level dungeons.


Will to Fight and a chance for enemies to flee are relatively old mechanics, first added with the Way Forward update. However, for a number of reasons, we weren’t particularly happy with how they turned out. This is why we decided to rework them by making the following adjustments:

- First of all, enemies’ Will to Fight will now be visible when inspecting them, providing you with a rough idea about how close they are to giving up and fleeing.



- Fleeing enemies will no longer try to repeatedly reengage the character only to start running away again.

- The overall system also became more deterministic. Instead of the chance to flee, affected by specific conditions, there will now be a depletable Will to Fight bar. The number of conditions influencing it was greatly expanded too: in addition to receiving damage, critical hits and Injuries, enemies’ Will to Fight can be swayed by the presence of nearby allies, them dying or fleeing, certain negative and positive effects, the player character’s equipment, and so on. We’ll share more details in the patch notes.

- At the same time, some conditions will actually give your opponents an advantage: if your character is Injured, Bleeding, or low on Health, the surrounding enemies’ Will to Fight will receive a boost, making them less likely to retreat.

- It’s a well-known issue that enemies can’t be chased after they flee to another map tile. Essentially, it all stems from the limitations imposed by the game’s engine - GMS can’t process events that happen outside the room or map tile occupied by the player character.

Our original plan was to fix it in this very patch by adding a system that would emulate the transition of enemies between map tiles. But after some deliberation, we decided it would be a better approach to combine the system with the existing mechanic that allows enemies to follow the player character between locations. On top of that, we want to lay down the groundwork for future Random Encounters, which will also require NPC routes to be simulated on the world map. Unfortunately, this kind of major rework would make the update incompatible with existing saves, so the chase mechanic has to be postponed until Rags to Riches.


This small but fun feature will allow you to quickly review your character's exploits. Here you'll find details about the most important aspects of your ongoing playthrough: from the time spent dungeon-crawling to the number of desecrated graves and the amount of money you spent on drugs.



That’s all for now. Until next time!

• Fixed the bug causing the Magic Damage bonus granted by "Seal of Power" and "Residual Charge" to be affected by the Weaponry Damage coefficient. Increased the Magic Damage bonus granted by "Seal of Power": [+15% > +25%].
  
• Fixed the algorithm for distributing attacks between body parts, which was leading to more strikes to the head than intended.
  
• Tweaked Shield skills' formulas.
  
• Fixed "Flexible Defense" not penalizing Weaponry Damage or granting bonus Stagger Chance if the character also learned "Shieldbreaker".
  
• Fixed the incorrect amount of Health replenished by the Blessed Aquamanile.
  
• Fixed the incorrect duration of bonuses granted by "Flurry of Strikes".
  
• Fixed the crash caused by applying "Blindness" to Murkstalkers.
  
• Fixed "Hard Target" granting its bonuses when targeted by non-projectile spells.
  
• Fixed "Leg Sweep" and "Keeping Distance" not increasing the number of "Elusiveness" stacks.
  
• Possibly fixed the crash caused by using ranged weapons on Linux.
  
• Optimized ability hovers for lower resolutions.
  
• Fixed the text wrapping issue affecting Asian localizations.

• 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.