Dragonkin: The Banished News

Greetings Dragon Hunters,

Today marks our very first Community Spotlight!

While everyone’s eagerly awaiting the upcoming major update, Nurõrgartt, we wanted to take a moment to highlight some members of our community and what’s been up to since the release of the Early Access on Discord.



Here are a few of our favorite picks:
[h3]Videos[/h3]

We’re always grateful to see new videos from players, and it’s exciting to see how players are exploring Dragonkin. We’ve spotted some fantastic guides and creative builds that we think you’ll enjoy:

[h2]#1[/h2]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKbgz8cvgLshttps://youtu.be/GKbgz8cvgLs?si=OSCJ0f09KRCLoC80
@idodmg

We couldn’t do that DevBlog without mentioning idodmg that has been making videos over and over for Dragonkin, and we’re so grateful for his enthusiasm! We’re convinced his tips & tricks video will help you!

[h2]#2[/h2]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiNVgi6CHPQ
@prixm

Prixm is one of our Bug Hunters on our Discord server and there they showcase a Barbarian build on the highest difficulty available!

[h2]#3[/h2]
https://youtu.be/kyEwIK5uEAE?si=0n6n9xb5BNtufthO
@SlashingCreeps

We couldn’t hold ourselves from adding a bit of French to this DevBlog, SlashingCreeps! Check his take on the Oracle.


[h3]Community builds[/h3]

We love looking at the builds of our community and seeing how our players approach the Ancestral Grid differently ; here are some community builds that caught our eye since Early Access launch:

[h2]#1[/h2]
@mumpitzmaster

Mumpitz shows us a Meteoric Projection Barbarian build using the Electric wyrmling, obliterating enemies on its path.

[h2]#2[/h2]
@Wormweed

Wormweed presents us a Knight build using 'Shatterng Shield', creating an electric tornado of shields that can slaughter anyone who gets too close…

[h2]#1[/h2]
[h3]Choose the next sneak peek![/h3]

Happening now on Discord until April 18, 2025, 3:00 PM

Help us decide which sneak peek we’ll reveal for the upcoming customization pack!

We’re giving YOU the power to decide which class gets the next sneak peek for our upcoming customization pack! The choice is between the Knight, Barbarian, and Oracle.

Here’s the deal:

• Head over to our server and add your vote!
  
• At the end of the event we drop the sneak peek for the most voted class.
  
• Make sure you get your vote in before time runs out!
  

[h2]#2[/h2]
[h3]Got Modifier/Skill Ideas? It’s Your Time to Shine![/h3]
Also happening on Discord! For an unlimited amount of time!

Have an idea for an awesome new skill or modifier? Come share your ideas on Discord! We’re really curious to hear what you’d love to see added!

Try to keep it realistic and consider how the existing modifiers and skills in the game will interact with each other.

Here are some ideas that the community has already submitted:



To participate, simply:

• Lead to ⁠#skills-and-modifiers channel on Discord
  
• Specify if it's a skill or a modifier
  
• Write your idea and a short comment on what makes it cool, fun or how it can scale
  

We've got tons of ideas already, but we'd love to pick or get inspired by the ones that you come up with!
We'll also let you know which ones came from the community in our future patch notes.

Disclaimer

• Skills / Modifiers created and submitted by the community does not mean they will be integrated into the game.
  Similarities to future Skills / Modifiers that make it into the game are fortuitous.
  Basically, it's for fun purposes!

[h3]That’s it for today![/h3]
Thank you for joining us again and keep an eye out for another community spotlight very soon. If you want a chance to be featured, feel free to share your creations with us on Discord!

Until next time!

Hello, Dragon Hunters!

As the next major update for Dragonkin: The Banished approaches, we’d like to give you a sneak peek at the environments of Nurõrgartt and the new Dragonkin you’ll have to face.

This new biome is defined by two distinct environments: the tundra and Fafnir’s glacier.


[h3]The tundra[/h3]

We love creating environments that are more than just backdrops for your adventure. Each of our levels offers the chance to discover, explore, and fight. The tundra of Nurõrgartt is no exception.

While hunting in the tundra, you’ll come across the Toriel Clan Village, nestled within the fjords, which you can visit and explore.









We designed the tundra’s mountainous plateaus as a cold, inhospitable land where life struggles to survive. Yet, here the Barbarians have managed to survive despite the influence of the White Dragon Lord, but they’re not alone…

[h3]The Walking Charnel[/h3]

One of the most striking threats in this region is the Walking Charnel, a golem-like creature formed of fused armor and skeletons, bound together by ice. When it lets out a chilling roar and slams the ground, it unleashes a devastating shockwave, slowing anyone caught in its path while dealing massive area damage.




[h3]Fafnir’s glacier[/h3]

Deeper in the mountains, in this frozen expanse, the cold bites deep, snow covers echoes of the past, and ice traps ancient ships from another era.

This is a battlefield scarred by countless conflicts, where ruins and remnants of war dot the landscape.









We wanted Fafnir’s Glacier to make players feel the isolation, while also showcasing the raw, untamed beauty of the frozen wilderness and tease the history of these lands.

[h3]The Icebreaker[/h3]

In this realm of endless ice and snow, it was essential to introduce an enemy capable of vanishing beneath the snow and ambushing players with devastating force.





This adds to the constant feeling of danger that looms over players in this harsh environment.

[h3]What else to expect in the upcoming update?[/h3]

There’s a lot coming in the next update! Such as, your hub, the city of Montescail, expanding with new services, and a new endgame activity: the Test of Will.

We’ll share more details very soon in our upcoming DevBlogs! In the meantime, check out our DevBlog on How We Plan Updates During Early Access:
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1863430/view/615409552076048002

See you soon!

Hello Dragon Hunters,

It’s been 3 weeks since the Early Access launch! Thank you once again for joining us in this adventure.
We receive a great amount of feedback here on Steam but also on Discord.

We receive a great amount of feedback here on Steam but also on Discord. We’re trying our best to answer everyone but as you can guess, that’s not always possible. Though rest assured, we’re reading through every review, post, and discussion!

That's why we're writing this post, to let you know what we are currently working on and explain how we plan to handle updates during Early Access.


[h3]Patches & Updates[/h3]

We're reading all the steam threads and your messages on Discord and currently fixing one issue after the other.

We believe that rather than trickling in small changes every few weeks, it’s more impactful to release larger updates every 2-3 months.

This allows us :

• To take the time to properly evaluate player feedback and apply changes that truly improve the experience. That includes quality-of-life, bug fixes, and gameplay adjustments.
  
  
• Pack in enough content to make it worth returning to the game for another few dozen hours.
  
  
• And finally, work at a sustainable pace, giving us time to test everything properly before it goes live. We really don’t want to rush out half-baked patches just to hit a schedule.
  

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1863430/view/498314610455086374

[h3]Regarding Quality of Life features[/h3]

During the playtests 3 months ago, for exemple, several players asked for a different camera. This feature was added into Dragonkin. We really want to continue incorporating feedback from our community into our updates.

Since launch there have been many things that players have found annoying or time consuming, as well as suggestions to improve general gameplay.

So we will try to address these one by one.

• Better visibility of important Fragments and Equipment on the ground.
  (Such as indicators to show whether a character/wyrmling skill is associated with the Fragment. And indicators to show if a drop is Divine, Draconic if not both.)
  
  
• A dedicated chest in town for Fragments (we know you've been asking for it).
  
  
• The addition of guides and tooltips as well as improving existing ones.
  
  
• A notification to alert the player when city XP is earned.
  (Such as when the player collects relics)
  
  
• The ability to share currencies and materials between characters in the same city.
  
  

Many players have expressed the wish to save their Ancestral Grid.

This feature will be introduced alongside the Arsenal, allowing you to save preset configurations of your Ancestral Grid but also everything regarding your character (equipment, attributs, passives, wyrmling, etc…), making experimentation much easier.

Additionally, many features are planned for the crafting system, such as the ability to modify an equipment, or transferring Draconic Corruption from one draconic item to another.

These will be gradually introduced over future updates.

For more information regarding this topic, please check: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1863430/view/506195274633317929

[h3]How about critical bugs?[/h3]

If a major game-breaking bug / Blocker bug shows up, we’ll push an emergency fix as soon as possible (like we did recently for quest issues).

For standard balance tweaks and minor fixes, we’ll roll those into the larger updates.

[h3]What are the major points we want to work on and address?[/h3]

Here are some key areas we believe require significant updates to address:

• Lack of impact or weight behind skills.
  
  
• Balance issues with character skills, with some being too weak and others too powerful.
  
  
• Progression balance is off.
  
  
• Enemies populations are not dense enough.
  
  
• Optimization.
  

[h3]A Message From Us[/h3]

Thank you for all of your kind words, support, and love since we announced the start of our Early Access! We still have a long way to go!

As a small team that has been working on this game for several years, it makes us so happy to see players enjoy the game. From the bottom of our hearts, we truly appreciate all the love and support you have shown us.

[h3]Your feedback helps![/h3]

Keep sending us your feedback - we love to see it, and are listening! We're committed to making Dragonkin: The Banished the best game it can be at our scale.

As always, for any in-game issues/bugs, please report any bugs here on Steam, or in our Discord! All reports are much appreciated, as we continue to work on bug-fixing!

Thanks for being part of this adventure!

Hello Dragon hunters,

It’s been a week since Early Access launched, and as you can guess, we’ve been pretty busy. There’s been a constant flow of feedback, ideas, and, as with any game launch, bug reports.

We read your input everyday and we’re thankful for the enthusiasm and commitment in helping us to improve the game. It’s clear we have a truly benevolent community that wants to see the game succeed.

That said, while we’re focused on releasing hotfixes and working toward our first big Early Access patch, we also wanted to take a moment to remind you that you can grab your exclusive free customization DLC.

[h3]Get your exclusive DLC[/h3]

If you didn’t know already, Early Access adopters can claim a free set of exclusive cosmetics! That covers unique customization for each class but also customization for your city.





[h3]Dragonkin: The Banished - Founder Pack 1[/h3]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3462450/Dragonkin_The_Banished__Founder_Pack_1/

It contains:

• 6 exclusive pieces of equipment including a chest and a helmet for your heroes (2 per character)
  
• 1 exclusive visual effect allowing you to add wings to your characters
  
• The exclusive complete pack "Fête du bannissement" including cosmetic elements for your city: statues, roofs, flags and pennants
  

This pack of cosmetic elements will only be available for download for a limited period from the game's release on March 6, 2025 until the release of the first Early Access update in Spring 2025. Once the date has passed, it will no longer be possible to obtain these elements

[h3]Where to find them?[/h3]

You can find them in-game in the inventory menu:



You’ll also be able to customize your city by pressing X:



[h3]Unlock more appearance[/h3]

By selling armor and weapons to the Dark Merchant, you can unlock their appearances.

These appearances will then be added to the customization menu, where you can browse all available options and change your current look.



[h3]Will there be customization for the Tracker?[/h3]

Of course we didn’t forget the Tracker!

She’ll have the same level of customization as the other characters.

[h3]Be there![/h3]

Don’t hesitate to join us on social media and Discord if you haven’t already. We hope you’ll join us, whether to share your builds or ask for tips!

Hello Dragon hunters,

We’ve been reading your reports on issues over the week.
Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to report these issues to us.

We’ve got a hotfix for you today, addressing several bugs and blockers.

We continue to look into your reports and are working on further fixes and as always, reach us on Steam forums or Discord if you run into trouble.

[h3]STORY [/h3]

• Fixed Son'kan escort in story chapter 1 “The Lost Scale” Quest.
  
• Fixed Gerome not validating the quest objective properly after joining the player in the jungle in story chapter 1 “Knowledge is a weapon” Quest.
  
• Added a quest icon on the "Join Son'kan" objective in the story chapter 1 “Back to the light” Quest.
  
• Updated objective trigger size to prevent from being missed after joining Son'kan in the Trackers Camp to talk to Yula and Cornelys in the story chapter 1 “The enemy unmasked” Quest.
  

[h3]ENDGAME[/h3]

• Fixed Hunting Board Quest 3-1 reward not working.
  
• Fixed Hunting Board Quest 3-3 not validating correctly.
  
• Fixed Hunting Board Quest 5-4 not being completable.
  
• Fixed Hunting Board Quest 4-7 not being accessible due to both previous ones.
  
• Fixed Hunting Board Quest 8-1 not being completable.
  
• Fixed the compass indicator not working properly after dying in some Endgame Hunts.
  

[h3]GAMEPLAY[/h3]

• Fixed an issue where NPC could be stuck running on the spot, preventing them from moving further.
  
• Fixed an issue with NPC allies that could be lost by players because they were stuck out of screen instead of teleporting near the player if too far away.