Hey, oracles!
In the grand tradition of writing big ol' devlogs like the one my good friend, Riv, wrote on Tuesday about Sentinels (which you can check out at this link if you'd like a little more detail,) I figured I'd put a little time into writing one myself. This one is very simple. I just want to show you one of the core features in Astrea: The Map.
A lot of ink and footage has been dedicated to talking about the game inside of Astrea's battles but today, we're going to take a minute to focus on what the game has to offer outside of battles. What does the map that you move through look like? What sorts of decisions can you make? Why might you choose some of the destinations on your journey? Let's find out!
The map in Astrea is populated by different nodes, some of which you can see in the above. Every node does something different and you can hover over them to check out what they do specifically in the tooltip! Big nodes that glow red are battles, so let's talk about them first! There are three types of battle in Astrea: Normal Battles, Hard Battles, and Boss Battles!
One of the most common nodes you'll see blocking your path, battles feature the normal, expected difficulty of the game and the normal, expected rewards. There are many different types of battle that a player can walk into and they won't be able to see the specifics of who they're fighting beforehand. But they will know that they'll be rewarded with a dice chest and fifty star shards after every battle, so as long as you win, you're coming away with something powerful.
A little less common are hard battles, which feature a different set of more powerful enemies. Like normal battles, you won't be able to see exactly who you're fighting beforehand but you will see rewards and they are hefty! Defeating a hard battle will grant you a chest, one hundred star shards and a star blessing, so proving yourself victorious here will make a massive, massive difference!
And then least common of all are the boss battles! Boss battles cap off each individual region of the game with players needing to progress all the way through the map to reach. Interestingly, though, the icon above isn't generic; it's a unique representation of
that specific boss. Every boss in the game has their own icon so crafty players will be able to see exactly whom they're going to fight. Boss battles also have incredible rewards as well, offering players who beat them one-hundred and fifty star shards, a sentinel, a black hole blessing, and a golden chest containing an epic die! Additionally, beating the boss of a region will fully heal your oracle so it's a great way to recover health!
But battle nodes aren't the only nodes on offer in Astrea and navigating the map between other nodes is a massive part of the game. Here's a breakdown of the other nodes on the map!
The most basic reward in Astrea is the simple Chest! Each chest contains up to two dice for you to add to your dice pool. The dice you pick, though, won't be random, it'll be one that you directly choose of three options, one safe, one balanced, and one risky! And if none of the dice are to your liking, fear not! You can always feel free to skip adding dice to your pool in exchange for ten star shards!
There are other chests to choose from in Astrea as well. The blue chest, for instance, contains only Safe dice to choose from, guaranteeing that you'll be able to choose from the safest options available. Similarly, a green chest and red chest will direct you to only Balanced and Risky dice options for you! You'll be able to skip these dice for ten star shards as well from any of these three chests.
Speaking of Star Shards, you can also pick up fifty of them just by landing on that spot on the map! Star Shards are the core currency in Astrea, allowing players to really fine tune their build as they get deeper and deeper into the game. Picking up heaps of Star Shards can make a huge difference when your dice pool is stable but you want to find an opportunity to improve before moving to the final boss.
Speaking of star shards, this is one of the spots where you'll use them! A Forge Shop will allow you to spend star shards to upgrade the different die faces on your dice. Customizing die faces to remove some of the most dangerous effects will help you turn your riskiest dice into some of your most powerful dice.
The Sentinel shop, on the other hand, allows players to upgrade their little buddies and make them a more powerful piece of their build. The only opportunity to upgrade a sentinel comes from the star shop, so if you find a sentinel particularly key to your build, you can spend Star Shards to make sure it doesn't fall by the wayside as you progress.
The third shop type is the Epic shop! Everything in here is very powerful and incredibly impactful to your runs. Star blessings and epic dice, all purchasable for hundreds of Star Shards. Beware, though, since that cost makes it the most expensive shop in the game to visit. You had better save wisely if you plan to visit the Epic Shop and take advantage of the services there.
Another powerful opportunity to pick up Epic Dice, Star Shards and Star Blessings, Shrines allow you to pray to Astrea for power, riches or health! You will always be able to trade one of your precious hearts for an Epic Die or Star Blessing if you're willing to take the risk. But if you've lost a heart or two while traversing the map, you can also rest and replenish a heart here as well. Finally, if neither a heart nor a risk is worth it, you can always take a heap of Star Shards with you as well. Shrines always appear just before bosses so you can expect to find them before the hardest fight in the region.
Sadly, some shrines have been desecrated by the forces of corruption, removing their healing properties. These broken shrines will appear throughout the map and always allow you to sacrifice a heart for a boon-- or take fifty star shards if you need the money!
Other nodes offer perhaps the most deceptively simple, most straightforward choice: You must destroy one die in your deck; which one do you choose? The answer can be harder to decipher than you might think! Creating a dice pool with enough consistency and power to beat the bosses of Astrea is no easy feat and you'll need to choose wisely to get rid of dice that are clogging up your draw each turn. These are some of my personal favorite nodes on the map, so make sure you don't sleep on them! They have quite a lot to offer.
The Duplicate node offers the opposite choice! Choose one die in your deck and add another copy of it! If you're like me and you immediately think of the Epic Dice in your deck, be forewarned that Epic Dice are ineligible for duplication so you must choose something less obvious. One key to powerful runs can be to make a single die incredibly strong through the Forge Shop and the duplicate it multiple times for incredible effects! As long as you have the Star Shards, it can change your run immensely for the better.
The final node on the map, the Mystery! Inside could be anything! Incredible rewards! Devious trades of curses for power! An ambush! The Mystery node includes so much I can't get into all of the different details and permutations here, nor would I, since opening the box to see what's inside is half the fun! The mystery node does commonly feature choices with immense power but be forewarned that some of the most debilitating curses in the game will afflict you if you're too greedy!
And that's everything I have to say about the map! Those of you who've played the Astrea demo are likely well-aware of some of the ins and outs, ups and downs of navigating through Astrea's map. If you haven't gotten the chance to play, keep an eye out for when the demo goes live with events! I'll probably have more devlogs to write in 2023, thanks!
-Buddy
