Wartales News

Greetings mercenaries!

Welcome to the first Update Preview, giving you a sneak peek of some of the upcoming changes to the Path system.

Stay tuned for more of these articles as we share in-depth details the new features & changes coming your way in Community Update #2.

[h2]Overview[/h2]
We’ve been working on giving Paths a proper ending for quite some time now. We’ve explored several options before deciding that each Path deserved a distinctive new feature. Our goal with the upcoming update is to give you access to new content as you get further into the game, rewarding your investment not only with more power, but also with more gameplay (don’t worry though, there’ll be plenty of power too).



When you reach level 8 of a Path, you will gain access to a new activity.

• Each Path has its own unique activity, and you can complete all 4.
  
  • Power and Glory Path: The Ordeal of Legends
  • Trade and Craftsmanship Path: The Trade Routes
  • Crime and Chaos Path: Burglary
  • Mysteries and Knowledge Path: Archeology
• As you continue to progress from level 8 to 12, you will unlock new, harder steps for the Path’s activity.
  
• Upon completing one of these steps, you will be rewarded with a unique item AND a unique title for your troop (yes, you read that right). For example, by completing the 4th step of The Ordeal of Legends, you will obtain:
  
  • The “Heroic Fighters” title, which grants your units a 4% damage bonus for the current battle each time one of them uses action points.
    
  • The “Helmet of Legends”, which, when worn, applies Frailty to all adjacent enemies.

• That’s a total of 25 items and titles. There was actually a hesitation at some point: should it be items or should it be titles? But the answer was simple: why couldn’t you have both?
  
• Once you complete the 5th and last stage of an activity, you’ll reach the end of the Path.

[h2]The Paths[/h2]

[h3]Power and Glory: The Ordeal of Legends[/h3]
An ultimate arena in which you will fight bosses from every region.



This one called for something epic. Something that would remind you of all the challenges you & your troop have faced, while also surpassing them all. Something that would make use of all the battle knowledge you’ve accumulated, while also making familiar rules surprising again. Something that would seem too hard to beat. Once all these intentions were lined up, our destiny had become quite clear: we had to make a Boss Rush.

• This Ordeal of Legends must be completed in a single fight:
  
  • When a boss is defeated, another takes their place immediately.
    
  • Each new boss comes with a new arena rule that adds up to the previous ones. Beware: this can lead to unexpected combinations.
    
  • You can regain some energy by fulfilling the audience’s requirements.

• There are 4 leagues comprised of 3 bosses each:
  
  • After being defeated once, they can be fought again as many times as you like.
    
  • For the 5th fight, a boss to rule them all will make its appearance.

[h3]Trade and Craftsmanship: The Trade routes[/h3]
You can now connect two trading posts with a paved route.



This one is unique. After designing a few propositions for actual trading mini-games or craftsmanship challenges, we felt that this wasn’t Wartales enough, and didn’t fit the spirit of the Path. It’s about expanding your influence, not winning the village fair’s smithing contest. So we decided to take an entirely different direction, and give you the opportunity to transform Wartales’ environment, adding a whole new dimension to the game’s economy. To achieve this, you won’t have to beat one specific mini-game. You’ll “just” have to become extremely rich.

• You can build paved Trade Routes to connect all major cities, granting you several advantages:
  
  • Your walking speed between the connected cities will be increased.
    
  • Once two trading posts are connected, it will no longer cost money to transfer resources from one’s chest to the other (there’ll still be a tax on trade merchandise, of course).
    
  • It will become a lot easier to obtain resources from all the connected regions thanks to the peddlers

• Who are the peddlers?
  
  • As you already know, most resources are linked to a specific region. For example: Gosenberg is famous for its wine, and its market offers a large variety of fish. Meanwhile, Ludern’s main activity is hunting, but it can also offer marsh parsley and beer.
    
  • Peddlers will appear in every trading post to offer a selection of resources from all the regions they are connected to.
    
  • This means that if you built a road between New Asthel and Marheim, and another between Marheim and Garussa, you can actually buy snow iris in the middle of the marshlands.
    
  • A roaming peddler will also appear on the roads, for even more resource availability.

[h3]Crime and Chaos: Burglary[/h3]
Mysterious caves are scattered across the land, waiting to be pillaged.



This one has been in the pipeline for a long time. Ever since development started on Gosenberg, we looked for a way to give thieves their big moment. The moment has finally come, except it won’t be limited to Gosenberg: it will be a round-the-world thievery experience. You will be able to steal from different major factions, in very different places, using a combination of lockpicking mastery and deduction skills to crack increasingly difficult puzzles.

• Informants will entrust you with enigmatic keys:
  
  • You will have to find the hatches they open.
    
  • Each of them leads to a unique treasure.

• A new kind of puzzle:
  
  • A man from Gosenberg has sold his security system to all kinds of people. And you will be the one to crack it.
    
  • Each room is filled with chests. One of them contains the treasure. Some contain keys and clues, others are booby trapped.
    
  • You will need to identify the treasure chest and find the key to open it.
    
  • If you make too much noise, guards will hear you and a fight will ensue.
    
  • With each successful burglary you perform, people will come up with increasingly difficult versions of the puzzle.

[h3]Mysteries and Knowledge: Archeology[/h3]
We’ve discovered a new way to unearth ancient artefacts.



This one will have an impact outside the Path features. We really felt that this old land, filled with history, tombs and codexes, should also be filled with forgotten artefacts and treasures, and that archeology could become part of how you discover more about Wartales. So we decided to introduce a new mechanic that would not only be at the centre of a compelling quest, but also be a permanent addition to regular exploration.

• Fragments of a journal from the time of the Ancients have been found:
  
  • They were written by a man who tried to protect engineering masterpieces from plundering during the war.
    
  • They describe the places where the man buried these pieces of History.
    
  • Once found, these objects can be placed in your camp and grant bonuses to all adjacent companions.

• How to find the treasures?
  
  • When you obtain a fragment of the journal, you first have to decipher it, using the runes you’ve discovered in the tombs.
    
  • Once deciphered, it gives a vague description of an existing place.
    
  • Once you find that place, you will have to use a new tool: the magnetic pendulum. Its mini-game will allow you to determine the exact location of the treasure.
    
  • The pendulum can be used anywhere in the world to unearth pretty much anything, from antiquities to angry mole rats.

[h2]Extra Path challenges [/h2]
Just one more thing about paths. As you may remember, Wartales begins with a choice: who are your companions? Because this game is all about freedom, we never intended to give this destiny choice too much weight in the long run: you start as starving peasants, failed mercenaries or endangered thieves, but you can become whatever you like. Nonetheless, we felt that giving that choice a little bit more influence could be a nice touch. Something to remind you of how things started and where you came from. Something that would give you a little nudge in the chosen direction without giving you the feeling that you’ve closed any doors.

So this is what we came up with: the destiny choice you make when starting your game unlocks an additional Path challenge. This should make it easier for you to level up in this specific Path, without affecting your progression in the 3 others.

That’s all for today!

As always, let us know what you think of the upcoming features & changes here and on the roadmap. Don’t forget to join our awesome (and passionate) Wartales community on our Discord server, Reddit page as well as Twitter & Facebook.

- Shiro Games

Attention Mercenaries!

The Korean translation is now accessible on the "Korean-Translation" beta branch!

You can access the beta update by changing the game build using the following steps:

1. Right click on Wartales in your Steam Library.
2. Select Properties, then the Beta Tab.
3. Select “Korean-Translation” in the drop down.
4. Download the update and launch the game.

This beta will run for at least 2 weeks, during which we hope you will provide us feedback on the quality of the translations, share any issues you encounter and provide any information that could be useful in ensuring this translation releases in the best possible state.

Please provide your feedback here.

Thank you for your involvement and enjoy the game!

Wartales v1.0.26636

[h2]Gameplay[/h2]

• Added a warning inviting players to verify their game files or to reinstall the game if it detects potential corrupted files.
  
• Fixed an issue where stolen objects would still count towards the fine after giving them back or paying the fine.
  
• Fixed an issue where the wanted amount of a single item would change when hovering over it.
  
• Fixed an issue where the carrying capacity icon would hide the value on a unit’s character sheet.
  
• Fixed an issue where the commodity tax would take trade goods stored in the post’s chest into account.
  

[h2]Items[/h2]

• Fixed an issue where dismantling objects would count as if they were crafted.
  
• Fixed an issue where some crafting recipes shown in the compendium were not obtainable.
  
• Lute’s recipe can now be found at numerous taverns around the world.
  
• Drombach’s Trackers camp will now sell the following recipes : Pungent Powder, Feathered Collar, Training Collar, Tracker’s Reinforced Layer and Bard’s Reinforced Layer.
  
• Powdered Rage’s recipe is now sold at the Drombach arena.
  
• Mountaineer’s Hotpot’s recipe is now sold at the Drombach Rouste field.
  
• Mutton au gratin recipe is now sold at the Mount Ernst haven.
  
• King’s feast recipe can now be found in a chest in the cursed village of Ashtel.
  

[h2]Battle[/h2]

• Fixed an issue where Protective Overlay would prevent any malus to be applied.
  
• Fixed an issue where bears would survive a thunderbolt.
  
• Fixed an issue where the bee swarm hitbox didn't match its appearance.
  
• Changed Assassin's Strychnine effect : "This unit gains Poisoned Weapon for 2 turns" -> "Damage increased by 25% against poisoned units.
  

[h2]Quest[/h2]

• Fixed an issue where having both Abbot Theocene and Captain Hostes in the party at the same time would prevent players from progressing their quests.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Drombach Rouste field quest artifact could be sold, preventing the completion of the quest.
  
• Fixed an issue where killing the smugglers in the derelict farm before going to the Garusa clan's Townhall would not complete the "Tomb Raider" quest.
  
• Fixed an issue where the “Informing the tavern of fortune mades” bounty could not be completed.
  
• Removed the chest in St Eleror abbey, as it was tied to a legacy quest.
  

[h2]Achievements[/h2]

• Fixed an issue where the “Eat a feast” Achievement would only trigger when traveling via the trading posts.
  
• Fixed an issue where polar variations of bears and wolves would not count towards the completion of the “Leader of the pack” Achievement.
  
• Fixed an issue that prevented the “Jack of all trades” Achievement from triggering.
  
• Fixed an issue that prevented the “All modern comforts” Achievement from triggering.
  
• Lowered the "Travelling light" Achievement requirement from 20 different camp tools to 15.
  

Attention, brave warriors of Wartales!

We're excited to unveil Community Update 1 (the first one since 1.0 release), a result of your invaluable feedback and requests. Community Updates are designed to enhance your gameplay experience and bring a selection of your desired changes, in line with our vision for the game, to life.

Prepare to customize your mercenaries with a stunning array of helmets, adding both style and protection to your adventures.
We've also prioritized accessibility and quality of life features, ensuring that every player can fully immerse themselves in the world of Wartales.
But that's not all! This update includes a host of minor content additions, carefully balanced gameplay adjustments, and crucial bug fixes.

Your input continues to shape Wartales, and we thank you for being an essential part of the game’s development.

Helmets are making a grand entrance in Wartales!



There is now a distinct helmet by weight category for every faction, matching the existing armors and bringing defensive attributes. Moreover, each of these helmets can give its bearer a specific combat Skill. This means we have added close to 30 new skills to the game!

What if you’d like a companion to use the skill of a helmet that doesn’t suit them? This is made possible thanks to a new customisation feature: Stamps. By dismantling a helmet with a master tinkerer, you can obtain a stamp bearing the helmet’s skill. This item can then be applied (just like a layer) on any other helmet, replacing its skill with the one on the stamp. With this system, build possibilities are multiplied!



All leaders will wear helmets, but other enemy units will start wearing helmets gradually as the player’s level increases. Combat length and difficulty should be affected, since the pre-existing armor and guard bonuses have been distributed between helmets and armors, with little to no change in the total amounts.

Another detail: If your character’s hairstyle looks too good to be concealed, you can click the helmet’s display toggle at any time without disabling its effects.




A new foe joins the ranks of the ghost pack: the Ghost Bear! It will only show up against seasoned adventurers, who might have a chance to obtain the much sought-after Colossal Paw.



This useful item is the base ingredient for the newly introduced Rare Layers. If you already learned the recipe for an uncommon layer, you will be able to learn the matching rare recipe from your compendium.



While designing these new layers, we chose to give a little boost to the old ones. The armor bonuses, in particular, have been increased.




Ambushes have existed in Wartales for a long time, but we are now making them easier to understand and to use.

By remaining concealed in a forest for a few seconds, the player will reach the ambush state and notice that potential Targets are highlighted in the forest’s surroundings. Once this state is reached, targeting one of these groups will cause the player’s troupe to chase it.

If they reach their target, a combat will begin and the player will be off to a very good start. Every attacker will gain +20% chances of landing a critical hit, while every enemy will gain +10% damage taken.




We believe that the experience accumulated in Combat up to level 5 is fairly consistent. Beyond that, your feedback has indicated that gaining enough experience is a tedious task. While we're convinced that the final levels should be a little hard to reach, we don't want the game to become a grindy monster. With this in mind, we've decided to adjust the experience curve to make the experience smoother and more enjoyable. The overall experience requirement up to level 12 has been reduced, but levels 6 to 9 in particular should be much easier to reach.



We have also made a few changes to the experience gains of each Profession. It seemed that the Scholar and Miner were especially easy to upgrade, while training a Thief or a Woodcutter was far more troublesome. Now, the learning curves of the different professions should be more harmonious.




At higher levels, there was a lack of Difficult Missions on the Bounty Board. We have now linked the minimum amount of difficult missions on the board to several factors:

• Game difficulty
  
• Player level
  
• Amount / Difficulty of completed missions

Three more changes should make the game a little more challenging for advanced players. First, we increased the average level of the enemies you will encounter in forests. More importantly, we started scaling the Movement attribute of enemy units depending on their level. Finally, we introduced a few differences in AI behavior between Hard and Normal/Easy difficulty.

Finally, we noticed that thievery was an intimidating path for newer players, while also being way too profitable for those who are well versed in the art of Crime & Chaos. In an attempt to make theft less cryptic while also preventing abuses, we made several changes to the calculation of Suspicion and Fines.

Both of these numbers are now much more proportional to the value of the stolen items. Additionally, an item that is consumed or used for crafting will now continue to be tracked for as long as the player is researched (the Guard knows you’ve stolen those, after all). However, once the Guard stops chasing you, these items will be forgotten. Meanwhile, items that are still in your possession will continue to count until they’ve been either given back, paid for or laundered.




The Bards are perfecting their Art! Their repertoire has increased, with the addition of 3 New Songs that can be unlocked as your troupe accomplishes glorious feats. A new series of chords has been designed for each of these songs.

• A toggle has been added to disable screen shakes in the Options menu.
  
• Clearer feedback when hovering over environmental hazards such as fire or poison has been added.
  
• It is now possible to customize the size and color of the outline highlighting interactive elements.
  
• A Magnifying Glass option has been added (P key, rebindable).

• A Quick Save shortcut has been added (F5 key, rebindable).
  
• When crafting, repairing armor or healing units, you can now use resources from the camp’s chest (including in co-op mode).
  
• It is now possible to run by holding a double click.
  
• A tutorial has been added to explain how bonus Action Points work.
  
• In co-op mode, you can now see a preview of your allies’ AOE skills.

[h2]Co-op[/h2]

• Fixed an issue where Merchant caravans wouldn’t spawn in Co-op.
  
• Fixed a client-side crash at the start of the secret camp’s fight when siding with the tracker.
  
• Fixed an issue where Clients wouldn’t be able to end their turn after scoring during Rouste.

[h2]Items[/h2]

• The recipes for the Layer of the snake and the Layer of the fox are now sold by the trackers in Ludern.
  
• The recipe for Conversion oil is now sold by the traveling purifiers.
  
• Fixed an issue where recipe component requirements would not update properly in the compendium.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Tier 2 and 3 alchemy sickles required themselves in order to be crafted.
  
• Fixed an issue where the scrollbar in a seller’s inventory wouldn’t appear when selling size 1 objects.

[h2]Skills[/h2]

• Fixed an issue where the Aimed Shot skill would not appear in the player’s skill bar.
  
• Fixed an issue where an archer using the skill Wrath would trigger an incorrect animation.
  
• Fixed an issue where archers would fire twice when pairing the skills Shoot order and Barrage.

[h2]World[/h2]

• Fixed an issue where both Tracker & Scholar camp would be required for the completion of Drombach’s location.
  
• Fixed an issue where the lock in Mount Altis’ Sepulcher was invisible.
  
• Fixed an issue where a Weekly bounty would reward the player with the Elderguard dagger instead of the Basher mace.
  
• Fixed an issue where Early Access saves new runes couldn’t learn and find and codices in previously completed tombs
  
• Trade bounties will now appear on Gosenberg city’s bounty board.

[h2]Misc[/h2]

• Fixed an issue where resting would set your party’s happiness value to -2147483648
  
• Fixed an issue during the Bard minigame where the music would stop before the end of the minigame.
  
• Fixed an issue where friendly units could spawn in the fog during encounters with the Ghost pack.
  
• Fixed an issue that prevented reorganizing the party members when you had a Captain and/or Lieutenants.

Thank you all for your feedback and suggestions, we can't wait to hear your thoughts and feedback on this update, you can do so by joining our discord, reddit and following us on twitter.

Remember to take a look at the roadmap to find out what’s up next for Wartales!

- Shiro Games

Attention mercenaries!

Following our recent 1.0 release, we are excited to share our plans for the rest of 2023 in the form of an updated roadmap!

With Community Update 1 (the first one since 1.0) just around the corner, we wanted to say a big thank you to you, our community, for all the feedback, thoughts and ideas that you’ve shared since the full release. We hope that this update will be welcomed with open arms!

As always, let us know what you think of what's to come!



- Shiro Games