New Skills! And more...

Hey Guild Leaders,
I wanted to write a quick update to detail all the newly added content in the newest version of Netherguild as well as future plans. Let's get into it!

[h3]Table of Contents[/h3]

• Three New Skills (and item)
  
• Balancing
• What's next?

Now that Netherguild is in early access, I wanted to be able to add abilities and skills over time - HOWEVER! there was an issue...

Since skill trees are saved on a character, adding a skill would mean that it will only exist on newly hired characters...
But just syncing skill trees is not enough, because: what if a skill gets removed from the game after a player bought it? That would mean a skill point gone forever!

Therefore, this last week and a half I worked on a system for updating skill trees in existing saves - which neatly updates skills and skill trees if there's any new modifications.


Beyond that I also added three new abilities! Here they are in detail:

[h3]1) Icicle Piercer[/h3]
> North Guard Ranger

Icicle Piercer (Requires Bow)
Ranged Attack 1-5 area range, Accuracy + 1 Piercing
Cooldown: 3 | Uses: 3/3
Targets all units in line.
Unblockable.
+4 Damage when target has Slow status

[h3]2) Rigged Coin-Toss[/h3]
> Contractor Assassin

Rigged Coin-Toss
Cooldown: 2 | Uses: 3/3
Targets the user.
Free Action- Doesn't end turn.
If fighting against more than 3 enemies:
Gain 3,1 Focus
If fighting against 3 or less enemies:
Gain 3,1 Strengthen
If health is 8 or less gain Block

Note - the "speech" effect for coinflip will only appear with newly hired Contractors rather than already hired ones.


[h3]3) Flare Arrow[/h3]
> Scout (All backgrounds)

Flare Arrow (Requires Bow)
Ranged Attack 2-8 range
Cooldown: 3 | Uses: 2/2
Inflicts 3,2 Burn: Deals 3 Fire damage every turn for 2 turn
Allies gain 1,3 Focus: Increases Accuracy by 1 for 3 turns

This skill also gives 2 additional uses to "Track" (context in "Balancing Changes").


There's also a new trinket that can be crafted from the rare plates of the armored grub!


Alongside smaller changes, here are the two major shifts in this update:

1. Increased uses for the Scout's "Track" ability when certain level 3 skills are chosen.
   This should let players have a slightly easier time at lower floors which can require using "Track" to prepare for enemy encounters and navigating the dungeon.
   
2. Sidestep abilities now let you use your remaining movement BUT will always let you move at least 1 tile.
   Which should let you capitalize on your full range of movement while still serving as a useful escape when your character has no movement otherwise.
   

Full patchnotes:
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1464220/view/3683424562639566741

Overworld Interface and More
-Week to two weeks
Inspecting characters in guilds showing true stats (rather than starter stats), "Are you sure?" window for firing characters / attacking allies, more info in the dungeon-log and other possible improvements.
(Might include one big patch or incremental patches)

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1464220/view/3703688858596410641?l=english
(Mentioned in this update previously)

There might be more to this update than what's written here - and while it isn't "the BIG UI improvement update" yet, I did recently chat with the talented developer of "The Call of Krul'ar" who taught me some great UI design principles that I'm looking forward to sneaking into this update, as well as implementing over time in future updates.


Thank you for reading!
-David