Svarog's Dream News

Patch 6.1 prepares the game for the upcoming expansion and introduces over 30 updates and fixes to the core gameplay.

In terms of the core game, the patch primarily focuses on QoL improvements.
Some notable changes include:

• A new option on the map to display faction ownership of each region in the world.
  
• Filters added to the log page for easier navigation.
  
• A new game setting to enable character comments about the environment, including warnings about potential dangers during nighttime.
  
• The ability to move all alchemy ingredients to the alchemy bag with a single click.
  
• A new way to rearrange skill slots by dragging them.
  
• The addition of a class name for combinations of two or more classes.
  

We’ve also implemented another set of custom buffs for enemies across the world, based on feedback from testers.
The lore in the almanac has also been updated to better align with the new story introduced in the expansion.

For a full list of all 30+ changes in patch 6.1, check out the Steam forum post.

There are also 18 new Steam achievements that can be collected through the expansion, starting on January 9th.

Hello! There are less than two weeks until the expansion's release.
In today's article, we will introduce two new classes debuting with the expansion.

Beastbane
The Beastbane is a melee, order-oriented class that scales with the number of beasts you've hunted.
This class unlocks the ability to wield two melee weapons, a feature that has been highly requested by players in the past.
Dual-wielding weapons simultaneously applies the buffs of both, making the class as strong as the quality of gear you can find. This ability is balanced by the significant number of points required to fully unlock it.
If you enjoy investing heavily in passive skills and tearing through enemies with auto-attacks rather than relying on active abilities, this class is perfect for you.

Doombringer
The Doombringer is a chaos-oriented support class that is not dependent on any specific weapon.
Designed to be chaotic and counterintuitive, it’s a unique choice for those looking to experiment with something different. Its skills scale with the number of negative talents you possess, as well as with the newly introduced cursed gear.
Notable abilities include an AOE skill that charms enemies, turning them against one another and cursed eyes that grow stronger with time.
The class also offers a range of supportive skills, such as the ability to summon a container on demand to store loot, etc.

Both classes are showcased in this video: https://youtu.be/8ZiASLtiUSA

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As the year turns and the cold deepens, we look to Morana, the goddess of winter and death.

In the actual mythology, Morana was not well-loved by worshippers, leaving few preserved stories about her. In some regions, her tales were even conflated with those of Mokosh, blurring the lines between them.
One ritual tied to Morana has survived: a doll of straw, made in her image, is beaten, drowned, and burned to drive her away and shorten winter's hold.

The Game’s Lore:
In Svarog's Dream, Morana plays a central role, guiding souls to Veles in the underworld.

One tale tells of a village built around her shrine, where a powerful magician-priest rose to the status of a demigod, turned to other gods, and even dared to challenge Morana to a duel.
The battle ended in devastation, Morana obliterated the village and froze an entire region in eternal winter. The priest survived, though his body was shattered, forcing him to craft a mask and robe to conceal his ruined form.
You can find this priest in the southeastern parts of the map, where he is known as the Priest Guardian.

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That’s all for this preview article.
Happy New Year, happy holidays, and we’ll see you next year!

The release of our expansion is just three weeks away! This is the fourth article in our series about what the expansion brings, and this time, we will talk more about the new side content added to the game.

Faction Wars
The core game already featured faction wars as part of the main story, but they were limited in terms of which factions you could join and what territories you could conquer.
With the expansion, we’ve split the world into 16 areas, each controlled by one of six different factions.
As a player, you can now join any of these six factions and work to paint the whole world in their colors.

Conquering an area under your faction’s banner will replace the local citizens, introduce unique NPCs, and trigger related world events.



To conquer a territory, you’ll need to initiate a siege and assist your army, much like in the core game.
This content will be available as a late game side quests, which unlock either after completing the war portion of the main story or upon reaching a certain point in the expansion’s alternate main storyline.

Playable factions include House of Faith, House of Coin, Free People, Underworld Horde, Devourers (new) and Lizards (new).

A significant aspect of the game lies in the choices you make in the godly realm and the earthly realm, and how these two intertwine. With the Faction Wars update, we aim to make choices in the earthly realm more impactful.

Now, let's talk about a few other smaller updates that are related to crime and companions.

Mercenaries
You can now purchase slaves to make them companions and assign them tasks, such as following you, guarding your home, or granting them their freedom.
Companions can be equipped with any gear you provide. However, don't expect them to be very intelligent, as they function as standard followers. They are designed as a small side addition to the gameplay.

Head Hunt Quests
These optional side quests allow you to take contracts from bounty boards in villages. The more difficult the target, the higher the reward.
Some contracts might lead to crime-related troubles with villages, which ties into the last new mechanic we will discuss today.

Serving Crime Sentences
Previously, committing a crime (eg. stealing) meant you either paid your bounty or fought back, often escalating your troubles. Now, you can choose to serve your sentence to clear your record and regain your freedom.
We’re considering adding this feature to the core game in the future, as it feels like a natural fit.

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That’s all for this content reveal article!
Stay tuned for our next update, where we’ll showcase the two new classes coming to the game.

Here’s a smaller update on some additional content coming in the expansion.
Among other things, the expansion will expand the item pool with over 120 new unique items.

New Items
We are introducing a new category of items known as Cursed Items.
These are weapons and gear with attributes often surpassing those of divine equipment but balanced by unique drawbacks. Over 40 Cursed Items will be unlocked with expansion.
Additionally, we are adding more than 20 new offhand items, offering offensive options for players wielding one-handed weapons instead of shields.
The expansion will also include new food and alchemy ingredients, fresh herbs, and an array of new recipes for food and potions crafted from these resources.

More Roaming Traders
We're adding more roaming traders who sell rare items and roaming attribute trainers, making the world feel more alive. These characters will travel between towns, and you may stumble upon them randomly.

Caravan Protection
When talking about traders, we’ve also added a few side quests to protect traveling trader carts or simply pay a cart driver to travel across the map.
These quests aren’t very in-depth, but we thought they’d be a cool way to travel the map quickly if you’re not a fan of fast travel.



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We will continue with our lore posts, and this week we will mention:
Mokosh, the goddess of Water and Fertility, she is also associated with the Moon, Fate, and the protection of women.
In some descriptions, she is portrayed as an ugly woman made from the bodies of dead animals, who uses her charm to make others see her as a beautiful woman, while in others, she is simply a beautiful woman. It was believed that her sacred day was Friday, and women were expected to honor her by refraining from work on that day.

In one interesting myth, Mokosh had a son with Perun named Yarilo.
Yarilo was stolen by Veles and taken to the underworld, where he spent his childhood.
Once he grew up, he traveled from the Underworld to the Sky, passing through Earth and bringing Spring in the process. Perun, angered by Yarilo's upbringing under Veles, rejected him and smote him with lightning.
However, Veles resurrected him, and the cycle repeated, bringing spring to the Earth each year.


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Soon, more posts are coming.
Stay tuned to hear about new classes, areas, quests, and other new mechanics.

A long time has passed since the last patch, as we were primarily focused on working on the expansion.
However, that doesn't mean we haven't continued polishing the core game.
We have just released a patch with accumulated changes to the core game from the past few months.

There are over 30 improvements and bug fixes, you can view the full list of changes in this Steam forum thread.

We have also reworked the core game architecture to prepare it for the expansion. However, this will result in a much larger patch download size than usual.

In summary:

• We further polished movement and controls.
  
• We made balance changes, focusing on buffs and mini-reworks for dexterity-based skills.
  
• We fixed almost all bugs reported over the past few months.
  
• The patch also includes extra polish and several performance improvements.