Pirates Vikings & Knights II News

Happy Halloween everyone!

The Assassin Early Release Update is now available for download on Steam! There are still a few bugs to fix and this is still an early release of the class, but it's here for your enjoyment!

Please see below for a Changelog that details many of the changes in this release.



Silent swift steps, quicker crouch-walking and a higher tolerance for heights permit Assassins to approach from above, below, and indeed, from right behind with nary a whisper to betray their movements. The slightly less silent yet still significantly swift Stiletto delivers crippling backstabs from behind, but if a target should have the foresight to turn around before the killing stroke, it comes paired with a Parrying Dagger to repel medium-sized weapons.

The compact crossbow pistol projects all-wood bolts over medium distances, keeping you relevant even when in plain sight, and helps distract your enemies from your scattered caltrops which, when inevitably stepped on, will ensnare them for your teammates to close in and finish off, with you nowhere to be seen and long since gone…

• The sneaky spymaster is the 4th class to join the Knights team, and the 11th class to join the characters of PVKII. After her release, the Pirate Buccaneer will be the last class developed for PVKII.
  
• Knight Assassin is voiced by television presenter, video games journalist, and voice actor Elle Osili-Wood!
  
• Equipped with her Stiletto and Parry Dagger, Crossbow Pistol, Caltrops and a Smoke Bomb Special that stuns and blinds enemies near its explosion while cloaks the Assassin for 6 second for quick maneuverability!
  
• Assassin Achievements and Bot Profiles included!
  

Please Note

The following changelog reflects a working pre-release Beta containing finished and unfinished content released on Steam. As this will be a frequently updated work in progress, expect minor issues, bugs, and potential exploits. If you’d like to help make an impact for the future of PVKII both in short and long term, feel free to submit any aforementioned problems you run into along the way on our official Discord!

Immediate upcoming features/fixes

• Third person shield draw/holster animations
  
• Additional voicelines
  
• Updated Parrying dagger model and third person fixes
  
• Shield animation fixes
  
• Caltrop spread changes
  

Shields

• Shields can now be holstered and re-equipped by pressing the reload key, and the weapon can still be used after the shield breaks! With the shield holstered, the accompanying melee weapon can be used to parry
  
• Improved Huscarl Special Animation as well as included an uncommon alternate animation
  
• Updated all Weapon+Shields animations
  
• Restored missing faces on Viking Shields
  
• Huscarl Sword grip resized
  

Gibs & Dismemberment

• Gibs or Battered models for Shields
  
• Decapitation sound as well as full gib and gib impact sounds
  
• Removed gib and dismemberment death voices
  
• Gib physics improved
  

Particle Effects

• Added special explosions: special_explode_surfacewater, special_explode_underwater, updated keg explosions and added underwater explode sfx
  
• Archer special arrows are now on fire
  

Class Balance Changes and Additions

Bondi

• Increased Seax reach from 45 to 50
  

Man at Arms

• Increased Mace back attack modifier from 0.9 to 1.0
  

Captain

• Parrot can no longer be killed with kicks, sorry chest stealers
  
• Cutlass animations updated
  

Music

• Added Assassin’s Theme by Composer Matthew Harper
  

Translations

• Updated translations
  

• Thank you to our loyal fans for your dedication and waiting for new content!
  
• Thank you to everyone on the PVKII Developer, Beta Tester and Authorized Creator teams, and everyone involved in Octoshark Studios.
  
• Thank you to our countless applicants, creators, and contributors who had their hand in helping us make this update possible.
  

Check out some of the awesome Halloween Workshop Content created by fans! Here’s another fun spotlight video created by PVKII Dev Agsma - enjoy!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]



Official Site | Official Forums | Official Discord Facebook | Youtube | Twitter | Trello | modDB

Surprise! We've got a Halloween PVKLive Stream happening TODAY!

Knight Assassin is back for a gameplay encore and a special announcement. What is that you may ask? Well you'll have to tune in to find out! No tricks, all treat here! You're not gonna wanna miss this! Check Steam for Live Stream start times in your area!

Spread the word using #pvklive

We'll see you there at twitch.tv/pvkiidev

An update has been released for PVKII. Server owners, please update your servers! This update includes: class changes, enhanced bots, new music, and plenty of code and map fixes.




Classes

• Sharpshooter: Added flexes, toothpick, and matchstick
  
• Man-At-Arms: Updated Mace and Buckler animations by Lord B
  
• Heavy Knight: Updated Sword and Shield animations by Lord B
  

Balance

• Man-At-Arms: Reduced Crossbow reload time from 3.25 to 2.75
  
• Captain: Blunderbuss is deployed faster (from 0.50 to 0.25)
  

Code Fixes & Updates

• GrogBot: Bots now block, parry, and counter attack
  
• GrogBot: Added Extreme difficulty level (Command: bot_difficulty 3)
  
• GrogBot: Various tweaks to combat logic
  
• GrogBot: Decreased chatter frequency
  
• GrogBot: Fixed sched fail when seeking enemy trinket carrier
  
• GrogBot: React to damage while trying to refill hp/armor
  
• GrogBot: Fixed softlock when carrying a trinket with low armor
  
• GrogBot: Extended addbot command with new features, format is: addbot [-count ] [-profile ] [-name ] [-team ] [-class ]
  
• Added “friends playing now” to main menu
  
• Added randomizer mode (mp_randomizer and ruleset)
  
• Added new callvote to enable/disable bots
  
• Add "extendmap" command for server admins, extends map time limit by x minutes
  
• Rich presence now displays map name on Steam
  
• Special kills for Man-At-Arms are now marked properly
  
• Fixed several sounds playing twice with lag (zerk yell, kick impact, bondi special...)
  
• Fixed killstreaks being awarded on death in Team Deathmatch
  
• Fixed inaccurate damage display on debuff hits
  
• Fixed "extend map" callvote persisting over map changes
  
• Rewritten HUD markers
  
• Player Status HUD elements for territory gamemode
  
• Achievements: Remove crouching/ducking requirement from Lay Low Aim High
  

Map Fixes & Updates

• Minor map optimizations to te_sandstorm, te_tortuga, and tw_sandstorm
  
• Improved map spawns for bt_forgotten, bt_glacier, bt_townsquare, te_sandstorm, and te_tortuga
  
• Improved player clipping in bt_glacier
  
• Improved territory zone definition in te_tortuga
  

Music

• Added Captain’s Theme and Man At Arm’s Theme by Composer Matthew Harper
  

Translations

• Fixed missing localization tokens
  
• Updated translations
  

Official Site | Official Forums | Official Discord Facebook | Youtube | Twitter | Trello | modDB

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Missed PVKLIVE on Sunday? Watch it here on Youtube or on Twitch! Youtube Timestamps available in description! Please note all video footage, imagery and info below is work in progress and is subject to change.



Most comfortable in shady alleys, gloomy dungeons and dark castle halls, the Assassin strongly prefers not to be seen. Really, don’t look at her. She hates it and she’ll cut you.

In service to the Earl of Bamburgh as spymaster, at court and abroad she schemes, plots, spies, blackmails, steals, embezzles and kills to further the noble goals of her good Lord’s house. Operating from out of sight, she knows precisely when to use her natural guile to remain unseen and when to brutally press the attack and eviscerate all who oppose her.

Intrigue, evasion, deceit and cunning are the core of her devious toolkit. She’s not above dirty tactics to trick and outmaneuver her opponents – some people might say that makes her dishonorable, but those idiots are as dull as rusted iron. To them, her methods make her a lying, cheating, sinful, poisonous, backstabbing no-good cowardly murderer. To her that’s just another day at work.

The PVKII Knight Assassin!



Voice Acting
The Knight Assassin is voiced by television presenter, video games journalist, and voice actor Elle Osili-Wood! She has been named by GamesIndustry.biz as one of the most influential women in gaming. Seen on screen for a huge range of brands, including PlayStation, Ubisoft, BAFTA, and the BBC, Elle is one of the most recognizable faces in gaming, with over ten years of experience in the industry.

Elle brings a natural English charm, a cunning charisma, and a mischievous way to her Assassin character. Elle has been amazing to work with and we are very excited to have her be a part of PVKII!



Knight Assassin Overview
The Assassin is the fastest class in the Knights team, and fulfills the same role as the Skirmisher or Berserker. With a speed of 245, she is faster than the Berserker but slower than the Skirmisher. She is tied with Archer and Sharpshooter as the squishiest class, having 100 HP and 80 Armor.



Stiletto and Parry Dagger
Her Stiletto is a very fast weapon, it charges quickly and swings quickly. All of its downtime is in its recovery. Even the Skirmisher's cutlass has a longer wind-up. The Stiletto has a reach of 48, which makes it the shortest primary weapon in the game. For comparison, the Sharpshooter's dagger has a range of 45 and the Skirmisher's cutlass has a range of 50. Most importantly, the Stiletto can backstab, which has a damage modifier of 1.98. A fully charged backstab does 90 damage. The Assassin is best played as an opportunist, waiting for openings to capitalize on. Unaware or distracted enemies are her best targets.



Crossbow Pistol
The Crossbow Pistol starts with 5 ammo and has a max of 10. It deals 40 damage, the same as the Skirmisher's flintlock. It is less accurate and less damaging if you don't aim it, and deals less damage in melee range. The Crossbow Pistol can headshot, which brings its damage up to 60, same as a fully charged throwing axe. It takes 2 seconds to reload, which slows you down. If you take into account the steep arc of the bolt, you can hit enemies at almost any distance granted your aim is good enough. The Crossbow Pistol is very good at supportive fire, finishing off fleeing enemies, and snagging that last bit of your special in relative safety. While it's also really great for kiting, running out of ammo puts you at a very big disadvantage. Be aware that using your Crossbow Pistol will more than likely alert your enemies of your presence, reducing your capacity to land backstabs. The Stiletto and Crossbow Pistol are very effective when used in tandem.



Caltrops
The Caltrops are a utility weapon on a 30 second cooldown. It tosses 6 caltrops each of which deals 5 damage and slows enemies. You can either throw them forward or use M2 to throw them directly behind you. Use Caltrops to set traps in chokepoints and other opportune locations to slow advancing enemies or cut off escape routes. Caltrops can also be used aggressively mid battle to try and trip up an enemy so they're easier to engage for yourself or your allies.



Special
For her special, the Assassin tosses down a smoke bomb that stuns and blinds enemies near its explosion and cloaks the Assassin for 6 seconds. While cloaked, the Assassin is the fastest character in the game, faster even than an enraged Berserker. Swoop in quickly to snag some unseen backstabs, or brazenly engage an enemy knowing they'll have issues tracking you. The Smoke Bomb also doubles as a very effective escape, and the stun and blind can save yourself or an ally from an attack.



New Maps!
Watch the PVKLive Video for more Assassin gameplay in new maps in development: te_shipment and te_vinland. Timestamps in Youtube video description!

Beasts of England
Beast of England, using the af_ prefix meaning Animal Farm, is a duel based, stay alive for as long as you can King of The Hill like gamemode. Taking place on smaller sized maps this mode brings a new element to PVKII where everyone is your enemy including any class from any team! Built for our player base size, competitive, and interactive for spectators. Climb to the top of the leaderboard by killing as many as you can. If you die you get put back in queue, and if you survive your next opponent seamlessly drops in! Check out some BoE Gameplay in the PVKLive video! Use timestamps to skip the crashing issues.



Thank You!
Thank you everyone for joining us for PVKLive! The video is available for viewing on Twitch, as well as Youtube! Tell your friends about PVKII - its kinda a cool game! We’ll see you in the future to show off our final character class The Buccaneer!

Be safe, be smart, and play pvkii! Dyarrr!

Check out PVKII Online!
Official Site | Official Forums | Official Discord Facebook | Youtube | Twitter | Trello | modDB

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

PVKLive is back! TODAY SEPT 27, 13:30 EST / 17:30 UTC for a first look live stream of our latest content! Including a nearly complete Knight Assassin, a new gamemode, and new maps!

Spread the word with #pvklive

PVKLive Streams only at http://twitch.tv/pvkiidev

See you in less than an hour scallywags!