[b]Hello, Mercenaries! We're excited to say that the time for update is nearly upon us![/b] After some unfortunate, but necessary delays, the changes are locked in and the build is undergoing QA - if all goes well, it will reach you by the end of this week. This being our first big update, we really wanted to get it right. And so, instead of merely following the original update plan to the letter, we opted to take some detours to include some of the most requested changes from our community. Those include, but aren't limited to: [list] [*] Expanding, or, in one case, almost entirely reworking existing ability trees (Bardic Lore got a major makeover!) [*] Implementing a difficulty setting that treats our players with respect [*] Adding more life to the world via respawnable enemy encounters[/list](More on these in the second part of the post) [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/34782113/bcc83934708c7fb3005f71d2efddf2b919628d01.gif[/img] Everything that was planned for the first phase of our Early Access made it in, including the Blacksmith quest, new contracts, and, of course, archery! We also smashed a lot of bugs [i](let's be real, probably added a couple of new ones, too)[/i] and fixed some balancing issues. Of note, pathing logic in battles has been improved, resulting in better looking fights while also making them easier to read. The preparation for the next update, which will take the story to the merchant city of Carrines Bay, is well underway, too: the implementation and tuning of the main story events are almost completed and side-quests are being worked on as you read this post! As you see, there's [i]a lot[/i] going on with this update, we'd love for community to come chat about it in the community server: [url=https://discord.com/invite/q8VcWeB][img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/34782113/c1a0cf4ebabede55cd0070577cb3c125aeb67f81.png[/img][/url] [b]Below, you'll find the (preliminary) patch notes for Content Update 1 (version 0.7.1.0) - please be wary of potential spoilers.[/b] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/34782113/b26542c98e3ecdc5bb6c5bdde41774e61e88d52f.png[/img] [h3]General[/h3] [list] [*] Added a difficulty slider and two new difficulty levels: Normal and Hard. [*] Existing saves from previous versions will continue the game at the default difficulty, known as Classic. [*] Difficulty can be changed at any point during the game. [i]Note: difficulty levels were designed specifically to affect the strategic difficulty of the game without affecting the numerical progression of the characters - e.g. enemies on Hard will not suddenly turn into arrow sponges, but fights on that difficulty will require more careful planning and preparation with less room for mistakes.[/i] [*] New enemies will now appear in certain areas when the players revisit them later in the game. [/list] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/34782113/ae1db7bc470e34475040e369fa56e2c1c98d4a59.jpg[/img] [h3]Content[/h3] [list] [*] New major side-quest: recruit a blacksmith for your hideout! [*] New contracts: unlocked after clearing one of the initially available contracts. Fight men and beast alike, and test your mettle against the might of a travelling blademaster! [*] Hidden mini-boss added: see if you can find it! [*] Several new items added, including a new weapon group: bows! [*] Morten can now pet the dog.[/list] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/34782113/3514897c1904d56e53c37f343be8cacda39afc7b.jpg[/img] [h3]Ability Changes And Fixes[/h3] [list] [*] New ability mechanic: modal passive abilities that can be switched on and off at will during the order phase for no additional cost. Active modals are highlighted in your character's ability lists. [i]Note: it made sense - both thematically and tactically - to allow certain passives to be switched on and off depending on the situation on the battlefield. For example, with this change a Rogue character will be able to switch Patience on when needed to delay their action in combat, then switch it off when a quick response is required.[/i] [*] New ability mechanic: area damage. [i]Note: usually this works in combination with Engagement-based attacks such as Cleave - such attacks will now deal damage to everyone standing in their area of effect, but targets affected by Engagement will take additional damage.[/i] [*] New ability mechanic: targeted buffs (certain Preparation abilities can now be used on other characters, not only self). [*] Certain abilities will now ignore weapon scaling and will instead only scale with character stats directly (where thematically appropriate). Examples include Kick (Two-handed stance) and Mend Wounds (Item ability). Equipped weapons can still affect these abilities by providing direct bonuses to main stats. [*] Generator abilities (e.g. basic attacks) will now restore 1AP to characters using them instead of a number of AP equal to the character's Preparation. Preparation still defines the number of AP a character gains each turn normally. [*] New ability group: Archery (stance, requires a bow equipped). [*] New ability group: Conjuration (magic). [*] Bardic Lore: abilities now ignore weapon power but scale better with base stats. [*] Class: Bard's Repertory passive logic updated: the buff it grants cannot be stacked endlessly by rotating just two songs anymore, but is now easier to maintain (playing any song will automatically refresh it). [*] Bardic Lore: Soothing ballad is now a direct heal (regardless of Repertory). [*] Bardic Lore: Several new abilities added. [*] Class: Mender's Healing Pulse passive has been reduced in efficiency. AP bonus is now chance-based, and can only occur once per ability use. [*] Support: Several new abilities added. [*] Destruction: Several new abilities added. [*] Class: Wizard has received a brand new Spell Focus passive. This replaces the Spell Focus preparation ability previously available in Protection tree. [*] Protection: Arcane Shield is now an active preparation ability and has been moved to Conjuration tree. [*] Protection: Group removed as its abilities were dissolved into other ability trees, old and new. [i]Note: we felt that Protection, with its pure defensive focus and no offensive spells, lacked the flavor of other ability groups, and made a choice to dissolve it, moving important abilities such as Arcane Shield into other thematically-appropriate groups.[/i] [*] Shield Stance: Reduced the scaling of Shield Bash at level 2. [*] Items: Mend Wounds will now correctly work as a generator.[/list] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/34782113/c7c6698d99888c29e4564b9ea1d76aa1c9fae283.jpg[/img] [h3]Stat changes and fixes[/h3] [list] [*] Characters can now have 0 engagement slots under certain circumstances. Such a character can never intercept nor be intercepted, their attacks will always be from the side, but attacks made against them will also be resolved as side attacks. [*] Added a hidden Damage Taken multiplier (1 by default). This can be altered by certain abilities to reduce or increase all damage a character takes (on top of normal Defense modifiers). [*] Fixed an issue with Strength stat having incorrect XP gain calculation.[/list] [h3]Miscellaneous fixes[/h3] [list] [*] Reworked the pathing logic in combat. The characters will now try to stay away from enemies when repositioning for action, and will move much less chaotically when idle. [*] Resolved numerous minor bugs reported by our players. Thank you all for submitting your feedback![/list] ...and there we go, now you know what to expect! The team is incredibly grateful for your support and patience as we continue working on the game and strive to make it the best experience it can be. As a little bonus, our game designer and team lead Ilya recently made an animated wallpaper based on on the scenery from one of the new locations in the upcoming update using [url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/431960/Wallpaper_Engine/]Wallpaper Engine[/url]. Download here: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2462273188