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Sands of Salzaar News

Winter Sale and New Update around the corner!

Travelers of the desert,

Hi everyone! The Winter Sale is just around the corner, and our discount will kick off across all platforms starting Dec 18, lasting for 2 weeks.

Additionally, we’ve been cooking on the new patch for a while, and we’re glad to announce that the update will go live next week! This update is expected to spice up the Captive System, plus some much-needed bug fixes (the non-exp one, for example).

So, see you guys soon!

v1.1.05 Update Log: fixed the none-exp bug; Future Plans

Travelers of the desert:

We've just launched an update. With this, we've fixed bugs relayed to us in detailed player reports, improved capture mechanics, and adjusted the prices of captured soldiers.
And of course, we'll be taking the opportunity to share our plans for future updates, too.

[h2]V1.1.05 UPDATE LOG:[/h2]
[h3]●Price Changes[/h3]
The Ransom Broker now considers more team factors when presenting a price for captured units. Instead of basing prices solely upon captured units' recruit costs, the team's total number of Captive Squad units remaining will also be taken into account.
[h3]●Captures[/h3]
We've improved the capturing logic, increasing the factors that come into play when deciding a capture's chance to succeed. Examples include the target's rank, and the number of captives your team has.

We're further addressing issues in which some players found they weren't gaining any EXP after combat. If you've experienced this, please try and see if it's fixed for you! Debug information can be found at the end of this update summary.
If these issues persist following the update, please share your save files with us. We need save data from those experiencing problems if we're to solve them once and for all!

[h2]Future Plan[/h2]
We've been listening closely to player opinions on the Captives system, right from the start of V1.1. The previous two issues aside, we'll continue to focus on adjusting the Captives system in future updates to ensure it's balanced. We'll be fine-tuning ransom and release logic, capture and recruit probabilities, and much more.
[h3]●Captive Status & Recruiting[/h3]
You can provide captives with rations and medical treatment following future updates. That said, whether you choose to do so remains up to you. Will you focus on recruiting captives to survive, or will you deny them rations and treatment? Not all captives will readily yield to you if you choose the latter, however, as it may only serve to strengthen their resolve.
[h3]●Captive Escape[/h3]
Your team has a limited capacity for its captives. Once over this limit, they can choose to make a break for it.
[h3]●Captive Release[/h3]
Releasing a captive improves your Favor with their faction. The released captive also leaves you Ironstone and Wood resources, with a chance to grant Soldier EXP Stones. Releasing non-soldier captives grants you a piece of their equipped gear, with a chance to grant Talent Shards and Wisdom Crystals.
[h3]●Talents[/h3]
We're adding a Captives Talents branch, [Priorities], that offers two different routes to develop down. Perhaps you'll seek out and slay soldier elites, or maybe you'd prefer to subdue tons of lower-ranking targets instead.

Stay tuned for future updates to hear about all this in greater detail.

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]
●Fixed a bug where Ember Ocher could grind down jewel dust without spending any jewels.
●Fixed a bug where you couldn't return to garrison at the Tribal Hall.
●Fixed a bug where save files created with a hotkey could crash when reloading the game.
●Partly fixed a bug where no EXP is granted from combat.
●Optimized recruitment success rates when the player is the leader.
●Fixed a bug where the Nameless had no Ransom Broker.
●Fixed a bug where enchanting in the Champion of Chaos DLC smithing skill page would cost no equipment.

If you have encountered any issue, please feel free to contact us through our official Discord channel https://discord.gg/xdindie!

Sep 11 UPDATE LOG (Fixed resolution related bug, fixed recruitment related bug)

[Optimizations]
  • Increased the number of days NPC leaders take to return once exiled, as they are now exiled deeper into the desert.


[Bug Fixes]
  • Fixed a bug that made players unable to speak with the Blacksmith.
  • Fixed a bug related to Resolution settings.
  • Fixed a bug where recruiting minions didn't deduct recruitment attempts.
  • Fixed a bug where the Ransom Broker sometimes forgot to take captive heroes with him.
  • Fixed a bug where NPC leaders would always fail when recruiting generals. NPCs now provide generals with higher remuneration, meaning that they will be able to attract more generals.
  • Fixed a bug where the same character sometimes appeared in the party and captives tabs at the same time.
  • Fixed a bug where captives would refuse to proceed to the desert when exiled. There's now someone to oversee that the captives are indeed exiled.
  • Fixed a bug where captives could also be taken during dungeon and text battles.
  • Fixed several issues with the writing/text.
  • Fixed an issue where characters recruited from among captives couldn't be sent out.
  • Fixed a display bug for towers summoned by players.
  • Fixed a bug where combat didn't grant experience.
  • Fixed a bug where the tournament couldn't be started.
  • Fixed a bug where players couldn't enlist active forces.

Captives Feature Launching - Biggest Discount Ever is ON

Travelers of the desert:
It's been a while!

We've mentioned in a previous update preview that we would add a new feature: Captives. It's been under development for a while now, and we're happy to announce that it's going live with this patch!

In the current build, once you defeat an enemy army, they will be able to rebuild a large army in just a few days and begin attacking you anew, which has led to overly frequent battles in the late game. Plus, war has been the only means with which to annihilate your foes once and for all. Thus, we've thought of adding the Captives mechanic to enable players to make captives of the enemy's wounded units.

If you want to learn more about the ins and outs of the new feature, or if you have any questions or worries, feel free to check out these two development journals where we go into greater detail and answer a few common questions.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1094520/view/4041486102480343224
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1094520/view/4211502058701959226

What's more, the game is on sale at a price equal to our historical lowest price point for two whole weeks on all platforms. This new update will hit mobile devices in two days.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1094520/_/

[h2]Sep 06 Update Log[/h2]
●Addition: Captives Feature
Upon being victorious in combat, you make captives of the enemy's wounded units, with a chance to make NPCs your captives. There is a cap for how many Captive Squads you can have, and upon exceeding this cap, you have a 30% each day to lose 1-5 captives. However, should you fall in battle, the enemy may also lay claim to your heroes and soldiers.

You can check any NPCs and units you've captured by tapping the Captives tab in the Party menu. Here you may choose to either Convert or Release captives. NPCs and soldiers are converted differently, however. Once a few days have passed, you receive Conversions, with which you can convert selected soldiers.

NPCs take a longer time to convert and comprise several phases: during each conversion you converse with them, having a chance to progress onto the next conversion phase (this also triggers a cooldown). Complete several of these phases successfully to convert an NPC.
Please be noted that the function of auto-generating NPCs based on event won't be on live until next patch.

●Addition: Dungeon
We've added the [Dungeon] to the town, where captured heroes will be imprisoned. You can choose to either retrieve captives for a cost or—attempt a jailbreak. However, there might be a price to pay for jailbreaks, successful or not, so proceed with caution!



●Addition: Ransom Broker
We've added a new merchant character too, the Ransom Broker, who will conduct a new form of business: the trading of captives.

●We've reworked the Settings menu and added more quality options.
●Support for different resolutions has also been added.
●Fix: Fixed a bug where the Yaya DLC character's skills could lead to limitless health or instant death.
●Fix: Fixed an issue where ordering a character in a city owned by another faction would also cause that faction's units to deploy.

If you have encountered any problem, feel free to join our Discord to get in touch! Our managers will try their best to help you out.

Summer Sale, TO BE A HERO Bundle available, Bug fixes

Travelers of the desert:

Hi everyone! The Steam Summer Sale is about to begin, and our 50% off discount will be kicked off across all platforms from Jun 25 to Jul 11. Additionally, we’ve brought you the TO BE A HERO Bundle with Hero’s Adventure and Warm Snow. May all travelers be able to experience the joy of life!



We are also going to have the following bugs fixed next week:

Fixed the bug where Puncturing Giant’s Smasher had no range stat
Fixed the bug where the display of UI on some mobile screens was partial
Fixed the bug where the EN voice acting was accidently removed
Fixed the bug where part of the EN text was missing
Added the Dynamic Lighting feature back
Updated the UI of Ember Workshop


During the past months, we’ve been working on the development of the Captives feature. As this function involves a wide range of stuff, there are also many adjustments and designs required. Nevertheless, we hope to launch a more complete and more playable Captives function, bringing a richer gaming experience to everyone.

So many thanks for your patience, and feel free to join our Discord to get in touch.