Titan Quest II News

[p][/p][p]Titan Quest II – Art Blast[/p][p]
We recently released the second chapter of Titan Quest II, The Northern Beaches, to Early Access. We hope that you’ve been enjoying traversing the beautiful environments that our artists have created, exploring the architecture they’ve built, wielding the weapons they’ve crafted, and battling the creatures they’ve summoned forth from their imaginations. I know that for me, the crystal-clear blue water that we get to splash through in the new chapter is a highlight, and something that absolutely reminds me of the warm rock pools of the real-life Greek islands.[/p][p]
At Grimlore Games we’re extremely fortunate to have an incredibly talented art team that allows us to punch above our weight class as a studio. Today we want to take a moment to highlight that art team and share their portfolios so you can appreciate all the individual talent and hard work that goes into making Titan Quest II look as great as it does.[/p][p]
So many ARPGs are dark and gloomy, and for Titan Quest II we really wanted to create an ARPG that looked bright and beautiful, without looking cartoonish. Real-life Greece is an incredibly beautiful place, and the Greece of ancient myths has a particular dangerous, wild beauty. I think the artists have done a great job at creating a visual world that captures these elements while building a unique identity for the game.[/p][p] Our fantasy version of Ancient Greece is populated with all sorts of strange and wonderful people, animals, gods, and monsters, all brought to life by the artists, who often go back to the original myths to find unique visual spins on gods or monsters. An example is our siren, who looks more birdlike (in line with the original myths) rather than mermaid-like, while still looking like a mysterious creature of the deep. Our gods, like Glaukos or Nemesis herself, look surprising and unique, yet very consistent with their mythic depictions. A lot of thought and effort has been put into making our boss fights particularly impactful, like Pan or Skylla, and those are featured below.[/p][p]
In an ARPG it’s important not to forget about the loot, so it’s also vital to call out how great the weapons and armor look in the game. Some of the later, more powerful items look particularly striking: the sorts of weapons that a hero like Herakles or Perseus would surely have been honored to wield.[/p][p]
There are also the animations and VFX, without which I’m sure the game wouldn’t be much fun. Pan, Skylla, and the Hippokampos leap around and attack the player with wild, flashy moves. It’s also amazing how much thought and effort goes into the smaller thigs, like climbing a ladder, or interacting with objects in the world.[/p][p]
Even the UI elements of the game have had a lot of artistic thought put into them by Tech Art. Immersing the player into the world of Ancient Greece extends to every visual element of the game, from boss fights to health orbs.[/p][p]Titan Quest II would be nothing without the incredible skill, talent and dedication of our talented team of artists and we non-artists at Grimlore are very lucky to be working with them. Take some time to enjoy their art, and we’ll see you on the sands of the Northern Beaches.[/p][p][/p][h2]Art Direction:[/h2][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Concept Art:[/h2][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Environment Art:[/h2][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]VFX: [/h2][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Character Art:[/h2][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Animation:[/h2][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Technical Art:[/h2][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Level Design:[/h2][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]You can find more content on the respective artstation profiles:[/p][p]Art Direction
Moritz Lacusteanu: https://www.artstation.com/lacusteanu
Florian Jonas: https://www.artstation.com/floj[/p][p]
Concept Art [/p][p]Dominik Derow: https://www.artstation.com/pencilhands
Andreas Hechtfischer: https://www.artstation.com/44visions
Roman Kupriianov: https://www.artstation.com/romankupriianov
Giryong Kim: https://www.artstation.com/maxihoy
Maxim Verehin: https://www.artstation.com/verehin
Vladimir Krisetskiy: https://www.artstation.com/bopchara

Environment
Matthias Riegler: https://www.artstation.com/mattriegler
Christoph Jakob: https://www.artstation.com/christoph_jakob
Atilla Ishi: https://www.artstation.com/atillaishi
Alvaro Miranda: https://www.artstation.com/alvaromsgameart
Oleksii Ivanov: https://www.artstation.com/a-ivanov
Atmosphere Entertainment Studios Ltd.: https://atmosphere_cgi.artstation.com

VFX
Vincent Sommer: https://www.artstation.com/vincentsommer
Lisa Kaschner: https://www.artstation.com/lisakaschner

Character Art
Leo Slawik: https://www.artstation.com/leoslawik
Arno Geupel: https://www.artstation.com/age1349
Lena Kraft: https://www.artstation.com/lenakraft
A46 Studio: https://www.artstation.com/a46studio

Animation
Beate Betz https://www.artstation.com/beatebetz
David Garcia Badillo: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-garcia-93904a6/
Kay Seifert: https://www.artstation.com/kayseifert

Tech Art
Elena Neubauer: https://www.artstation.com/zoelda
Noam Keasar: https://www.artstation.com/keasart

Level Design
Charles Cunningham: https://www.artstation.com/ccunningham
David Carl: https://www.artstation.com/lddavidcarl
Lee Davies: https://www.artstation.com/lee118
Felix Friedlein: https://www.artstation.com/felix_friedlein[/p]

[p]Titan Quest II - Early Access Content Update 1 - Hotfix 1 - 0.2.0-public.103432+win.1922[/p][p][/p][p]In this hotfix for the Northern Beaches update we fix several higher priority bugs we noticed.[/p][p][/p][h3]Bugfixes[/h3][p][/p][p]Masteries and Gameplay[/p][p]Fixed a problem with the random number generator leading to the same outcome on all damage events.[/p][p][/p][p]Dev Note: This had a rather big impact on power of certain abilities. For example it could create guaranteed Critical Hits when hitting a rather low threshold, or guarantee NO critical hits when below it.[/p][p][/p][p]Ailments: Changed Slows from Chill, Shock and Stagger to be multiplicative between stacks; this will prevent creatures from reaching 0% Speed[/p][p][/p][p]Items[/p][p]Fixed an issue that prevented most of the new Unique items from dropping. They should now all drop and be displayed in the Moirai Codex accordingly.[/p][p][/p][p]Creatures[/p][p]Fixed a bug that caused Pan to become unkillable at 0 HP[/p][p]Fixed a bug where Ajax could leave the boss arena[/p][p][/p][p]Multiplayer[/p][p]Fixed some quest items not being visible to clients in multiplayer[/p][p]Fixed clients in multiplayer becoming permanently stuck after interacting with a mastery shrine[/p][p]Fixed an issue where players could get their controls disabled permanently after leaving Proti Island in multiplayer[/p][p]Fixed an issue that could cause clients in multiplayer to lose up to one minute of progress when exiting a session[/p][p]Fixed an issue that could cause changes to client's gold amount to not be saved in multiplayer sessions[/p][p]Fixed an issue that could cause clients in multiplayer to no longer be able to trade items with vendors[/p][p]Fixed vendor return policies only being offered to the host in multiplayer sessions[/p][p]Fixed an issue that could cause clients in multiplayer to not be able to interact with anything[/p][p][/p][p]Audio[/p][p]Added SFX for new staves[/p][p]Added unique SFX for hydro boar[/p][p]Tweaked SFX for generic physical explosion[/p][p]Tweaked SFX for spike traps[/p][p][/p][p]Other[/p][p]Fixed an issue that caused most animals to be (partially) invisible[/p]

Growing up in Manchester in the UK, to me the phrase 'the northern beaches' conjures memories of being soaked through by rain wandering along the Blackpool seafront during weekend trips and childhood holidays. If you've ever wanted to eat greasy fish and chips with frozen hands while looking at a whole lotta lights, Blackpool is the place to be...
Read more.

[p]Heroes,[/p][p]Today we launch our first major content update for Titan Quest II: “The Northern Beaches”, the second chapter in your journey to face Nemesis.[/p][p][/p][p]Here’s a small preview of what awaits you in this new adventure:[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]A Whole New Chapter to Explore[/h3][p]The Northern Beaches, where legends hunger for lost adventures and mortals dare not tread. A vast new area full of Fated and World Quests, nine dungeons, and hidden treasure awaits you.[/p][p]Follow the prophecy of the Fates, stand with Glaukos on his path to redemption, and trace Nemesis’ steps through these haunted coasts.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]Great Foes Await[/h3][p]Three thrilling major boss encounters challenge you throughout this chapter. Perfect your builds, hone your skills, and equip the strongest gear you can find to take down these dangerous enemies.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]A New Tier of Divine Power[/h3][p]This update unlocks the 4th Tier of each Mastery. Experiment with a total of seven new Actives and fourteen Passives. Engulf your opponents in a Volcanic Eruption, weather their attacks in Stone Form, or risk it all with Valor and a Sword of Damocles hanging above your head.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]More Gear and Better Loot[/h3][p]Discover eleven completely new unique items with powerful effects. In addition, we’ve continued our rework of itemization. The first step is making Affix Tiers available for almost all affixes.[/p][p]This means that when you find a new upgrade, it isn’t just a small increase of a few percent—it’s a much more noticeable improvement. This should make the item chase more rewarding than in previous patches.[/p][p]Keep your eyes peeled for future updates to our itemization—we’re not done yet![/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]New Creatures to Fight[/h3][p]The ichthians have bolstered their ranks with new horrors such as Ketos Spawn, shark-like Bruisers, and their devastating new Commanders. You’ll also encounter Living Statues, the Hippkampos Foal, and other strange beasts roaming the lands.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]Final Words[/h3][p]We hope you enjoy this new update and look forward to hearing your feedback and thoughts. This Chapter concludes your fight against the Ichthian threat. In future updates, we’ll take you into brand-new biomes and introduce an entirely new faction to fight.[/p][p]And please remember: while we were able to deliver this update earlier than outlined on our roadmap, this won’t always be possible!

You can find the full changelog here[/p][p][/p][p]—The Titan Quest II Team[/p]