SWORDHAVEN News

[p]Greetings, friends!

This update to Swordhaven brings a fresh coat of paint to the world, improves overall balance, crafting, and quality of life, and also adds a few new locations with unique interactions we hope you'll enjoy.[/p][p]
[/p][p]First off, you can now become the owner of a plot of land with upgradeable facilities: from beekeeping and tree growing, to hiring staff, collecting wooden pigs, and much more.[/p][p]
[/p][p]The quest that grants you access to this hefty purchase begins in Swordhaven, though it will lead you beyond the city walls.[/p][p]
[/p][p]Another quest for both the Patrician and Thieves Guilds has been added, along with many new characters in Swordhaven; including a pawnbreaker with a different selection of interesting goods every day.[/p][p]
[/p][p]The first area of the Mines, hidden deep in the southern mountains, are now playable, if you can reach them. Though if you do, we ask that you not spoil anything you discover there![/p][p]
[/p][p]Weapons, companion techniques, and certain animal attacks were rebalanced for a better sense of progression, with another major update, this time to the Damage Threshold, soon to follow, perhaps in a patch between updates.[/p][p]
[/p][p]Ten new potions have been added to the world, including five utility remedies for specific conditions and five late-game, ingredient-heavy strong ones. Alongside them come new animations and a visual hint on your characters whenever they reach a new level.[/p][p]
[/p][p]Locations like the Lonely Shore near Clamreach received major updates, including a new area. Even more locations saw minor improvements, such as a new type of interactable loot container, additional ingredient growing spots, secret stashes, and more.[/p][p]
[/p][p]We have finally implemented the Shared Storage system. Now, every inn holds a special chest that shares its inventory with all others of its kind. Even the aforementioned personal mansion you can purchase has one.[/p][p]
[/p][p]Finally, there are cats now.

Thank you for checking out the update. As always, we greatly look forward to your feedback and suggestions, both on the forums and in our Discord!

Yours forever,
Atom Team
[/p]

Greetings, friends!



Another few months have passed, which means it's time for another Swordhaven update; this one inspired by both our roadmap and your feedback: ideas and suggestions from the forums, Discord, as well as those we have got while featuring our game on Gamescom this August.



Now, without further ado: what's new?



This update introduces the Merchant background. Like all the others, the Merchant gets a unique first companion, a personal quest, and their own dungeon.



The Thieves Guild has its first quest, and Swordhaven now has a few more characters, along with new loot and books for the bookseller. We've also started working on the end-game content, though it's still a bit too early to show it to you.



Several smaller locations have also been added. You can now explore the Bleached Bone Cave and the mansion near Swordhaven (which you'll be able to settle in the future). There's also a new test ferry NPC at the Drunken Snapper Inn who can take you to the upper part of the map.



Speaking of exploration, beta players can now try out a new mode of transportation we've saved for the mid-to-late game: sea travel. There's a work-in-progress version of the character who grants you Angra, a sturdy ship fit for roaming the Gulf of Swordhaven.



To make travelling the map more fun, both on water and on dry land, we've added new text-based and combat encounters. You might come across giant worms in the savannah, improved (and generally tougher) featherbeasts, new giant frog variants and jungle-dwelling pumas, or face off against pirates and sea jellies on the open seas.



The hunting mechanic has also been updated for the new region types, each hunt type featuring a unique flavour and a small percentage chance to discover and fight a unique hunt superboss in each of the three new biomes.



Taking your suggestions on board, we've expanded the character customisation options. New head variants have been added to the character creation menu, though they're still a work in progress.


Your companions got new pictures for their specific backgrounds.

Your suggestions have also influenced enemy and companion balance, the placement of HP bars (which now hover above everything), and the issue you reported with activating interactive objects from too far away, which has been fixed in all known cases.

You can also now craft a potion with the Enthrall effect, which makes human enemies fight on your side for a few rounds, and learn the Beast Call ability from a book found in Swordhaven, allowing you to use a Survival check to temporarily recruit non-boss, non-plant-based creatures for a few rounds at a time.



Another issue you reported was friendly fire, which is now fixed for most skills, with more patches on the way. Friendly fire will still apply for certain enemy skills and items, such as the explosive potions you can craft at the alchemy station.



As always, new weapon models, new armour and shield models and icons were added to the game with this update.

We really hope that you enjoy trying out the Merchant in Swordhaven 0.8, and please stay tuned for much, much more!

Yours,
Atom Team

Greetings, friends!

Time to share the next update to Swordhaven.



While last time we focused mainly on new and updated mechanics, this time the effort was directed towards adding fresh touches to the city of Swordhaven itself, as well as enhancing the diversity of the surrounding world.
Another aspect we focused on was continuing the previously existing questlines. Of course, there were numerous bug fixes that we managed to implement thanks to your incredible reporting.
The game was also optimised, certain weapons and armour were rebalanced, and new features were added.



First of all, the crown jewel of Nova Drakonia received the following:

• New interiors were added. Characters have also been added to previously existing interiors, some connected with little side-quests, for example check the Armour and Weapon stores;
  
• Another important interior now populated is the bookstore, meaning you can finally purchase all manner of crafting manuals, complete a quest from the first village, and discover a secret that... Well, the less we say, the better;
  
• Generally, the world has over a dozen new notes, books, and manuals. You can explore and read them for flavour, as well as to gather hints about what's to come;
  
• New interiors have also been added to the Docks and Slums, not all of them lived in, but still filled with loot;
  
• Lady Korryne, previously encountered in the final stages of the sprawling volcano dungeon, can now be found at her own mansion. Be sure to check out the related quest she offers, as it leads into a new dungeon;
  
• The Bandit background now also boasts a unique dungeon, complete with a related quest, puzzles, and a boss!
  

Now let's talk about the changes to the world:

• New biomes have been added, including jungles and savannahs. All of them have their own maps, filled with new types of random encounters that are more challenging, and feature monsters specifically designed to inhabit these areas;
  
• Three new hunting text-based minigames were also added to these new biomes. Search the jungles for rare alchemical ingredients and more. Hunt-related megabosses are soon to follow;
  
• Swordhaven sewers were revamped and we are starting to populate it with characters, as well as related quests;
  
• Without spoiling much, you can now also face... THE KRAKEN!
  

Finally, the technical and mechanical improvements:

• While this is still a work in progress, all Jackets now contribute to the wearer's Health pool, distinguishing them from Armours, which generally add Damage Threshold, and make light-on-their-feet stealthy builds much more viable than before;
  
• There were some difficulty tweaks made: harder monsters received a slight nerf, while their more pathetic brethren were given sharper fangs and claws. Hopefully, this update will provide a more balanced experience;
  
• Gamepad functionality was updated with an improved UX and fixes to certain control mechanics like full party control;
  
• Ragdoll-related issues were fixed, which includes Snapper death poses, some enemies falling through the ground, and other related glitches;
  
• Combat freezing glitch was eradicated as well;
  
• Unique soundscapes were provided for all new locations and interiors;
  
• It is now possible to view location names by hovering over the locations;
  
• New tutorials have been added at the beginning of the game, making the start more user-friendly;
  
• New player portraits have been added;
  
• Numerous player-reported bugs have also been fixed. We owe you one!
  

We've also used our time to begin work on some of the end-game locations we'll showcase in future patches, including a multi-level Balta Ore Mines dungeon.
A new character background is in the pipeline, and they will also receive a unique dungeon with a boss, complete with a tragic backstory.

There is much more to come, and we hope that you will enjoy this new step towards letting our Early Access title take shape and resemble the awaited release version more fully.

Please stay tuned, and be sure to leave your feedback in the comments or over on Discord!

Yours,
Atom Team

Greetings, friends!

It is finally time to share with you the newest major update to Swordhaven. Here is a general overview of what to expect as soon as you update your game to v0.6.0:


A new Player background has been added. The Waidelott is a priest of the Dragon Cult that came to Nova Drakonia for spiritual reasons, as well as to grow in their profession, but it will only be up to you if they succeed in this, or find a new meaning in life.


As with all other backgrounds, the Waidelott has a unique personal quest with a new dungeon, a unique boss enemy, NPC interactions, follower and more.


Speaking of followers, now every constant companion has a unique starting combat technique which may not be found in any of the skill trees. Some abilities heal, some are used for stealing, and some deal damage, buff allies or debuff foes, but all are sure to serve as fun additions to the gameplay.


Old Quarter is now fully built, with loot scattered in the outside areas and all interiors available for visitation, though populating them with people is something for the next update.

Other new locations like the bad side of the city and the city docks have also been added, though these are still very much a work in progress.
Just like we did with Old Quarter, we believe sharing them in this incomplete state with you is a way to show what is to come and listen to your feedback, so please pay them a visit!


Visiting these new places in the city will prove easy, since we have as of now added an interactive map that pops up whenever you transition from one place to another, letting you pick which already visited district to fast-travel to.


In regard to QoL, it has been significantly improved. We've added features to movement, such as preventing teammates from blocking access to chests. Although this new pathfinding system is currently a bit wonky in places where the old one wasn't, these issues will be addressed, and overall, we'll be left with much smarter movement for the release.


Also, now there's no such thing as a crafting failure where you lose your ingredients without crafting an item. With this new addition, your Crafting skill determines how much durability your tool loses after each attempt. This means you'll wear through your tools faster at low Crafting levels and more slowly at high levels, but your crafting will always produce the item you want.
We have also changed the last Crafting perk to something much more viable. Now you will have a chance to *not* use an ingredient and still craft the item you wish to make. We also added helpful %chance indicators that display your chance to pickpocket or lockpick after you make a single attempt to do so on Normal.
There is also now a Bluff skillperk that allows you to escape reputation diminishment when caught stealing or pickpocketing. It works great with the new chance display QoL feature, give it a try!


Speaking of Crafting, another important addition to check out is the new mining mechanic: Some random encounter maps now feature underground areas that can spawn ore veins, which can be mined with a pickaxe. Ore can then be crafted into valuable ingots if you've studied this recipe by reading an appropriate smithing manual. Ore veins also sometimes appear in cave-type story dungeons such as the Snatcher's Lair.


A number of lesser additions have also been made. Characters sporting new costumes and portraits. Guards now patrol the streets of Swordhaven. Spawners in the Sewers and on random encounter maps have been tweaked to prevent farming. We've added unique models to many loot items. Two new fully animated chest types have been introduced for dungeons and dwellings. The weapon modification information is now much more cohesive. Enemies in random encounters have been rebalanced. Additionally, new weapons have been added, including a unique dagger, a secret maul, and more.
The list goes on!


Finally, game slowdown in some areas has been eradicated thanks to your feedback. We really appreciate your help and hope that it continues in the future!

Yours,
Atom Team


New mods:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3513925059
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3505044111