Dev Blog #4 - 🪓Weapon's Week ⚔️
Knights in Tight Spaces wouldn’t be true to its name and setting if it didn’t include plenty of arms and armour for the player to make use of. If you’ve played the Demo, you’ll have noticed different Archetypes receiving a number of effects from the new equipment system: more block, damage modifiers, weapon attacks that push folks about.
These effects can easily make the difference between winning and losing a close fight, so we thought we’d quickly go over the essential features of weapons, armour and consumables launching with the game. When heading to the Blacksmith for the first time with a bulging coin purse, keep the following in mind.
[h2]What’s Your Type?[/h2]
There’s more than one way to scrap in our re-imagined 13th-century England as one of several Archetypes. You can be a good ol’ fashioned Brawler, a trained Fighter, a Hunter, Rogue, Cleric or Sorcerer. Each of these has their own equipment slots that vary according to their strengths. To make use of armour, play as a Fighter or Cleric. Ranged players can pick Hunter or Rogue in order to equip a bow. And Magic players can either pick and outright Attuned character or hope they find an item that bestows such abilities later.
You’ll want to manage your party and balance their capabilities carefully. A party with no ranged option leaves you vulnerable on larger boards or against enemies with a bow of their own, while an unarmoured party will feel the sting of their mistakes much more keenly. Weighing up your playstyle and card choices in the context of your party’s Archetypes and abilities adds a new dimension to the design of the game in which your choices off the board can greatly impact your effectiveness on it.
[h2]Weapons[/h2]
The right weapon could help patch up a hole in your deck or help dispatch a hoard of a certain type of enemy. All Archetypes except the hand-to-hand Brawler can equip these.
Maces tend to punish targets with no block, making them effective against Skeletons and the Supernatural, but average against Knights. There are plenty of options for swords, with effects like Poison damage or ignoring block, while Axes offer a variety of effects including increased Combo generation or adding special cards to your deck. Polearms (two-handed weapons), meanwhile, tend to offer a longer range for attacks and can be useful for pushing enemies around the board. There are also some options more suited to the Sorcerer like the Scholar’s Stave, which increases the damage of magic attacks.
For the Hunter and Rogue, a range of Bows offer various options for emphasising either piercing damage or support attacks. Whether your marksman is a main character or a sidekick will dictate which option is best here.
[h2]Armour and Shields[/h2]
It’s worth bearing in mind that as exciting as all those weapons sound, they’ll also be used against you by the noble knights and morally ambiguous ghouls of the realm. When dodging isn’t an option, you’ll be glad of some protection. You’ll have to decide whether to prioritise mitigating some magic damage, protecting against incoming arrows, or hunkering down against swords and fists. If lumbering metal suits don’t sound your speed, there are also some Capes to try that offer some interesting effects at the cost of protection.
[h2]Consumables[/h2]
All classes can carry one consumable, which act as single-use cards in your deck that you draw each turn until used. These cover attack, defence and special abilities and can be used to supplement cards or equipment. Whatever your playstyle, there’s a potion, poultice or suspicious mug of mead to give you an edge in battle. Use these in a pinch to heal or buy you some time or be crafty and wait to combine with your weapon effects for a potent damage modifier or that Combo boost you need to pull off a finisher!
[h2]Keeping Track[/h2]
There are countless combinations of equipment and effects to play with, so don’t worry, you don’t have to remember which characters have which effects active – these will be displayed in the character’s status panel during the fight.
Whatever your equipment choices, these are not set in stone. You can swap out any item on any of your party members from the Inventory screen, accessible from the campaign map. Make sure to pay attention to the location and expected enemies for the next encounter and prepare accordingly.
We’re so excited to put all this new equipment in the hands of players and see what builds you can come up with! Wishlist and follow the game if you haven’t already and jump into the discussions here or on Discord.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2315400
These effects can easily make the difference between winning and losing a close fight, so we thought we’d quickly go over the essential features of weapons, armour and consumables launching with the game. When heading to the Blacksmith for the first time with a bulging coin purse, keep the following in mind.
[h2]What’s Your Type?[/h2]
There’s more than one way to scrap in our re-imagined 13th-century England as one of several Archetypes. You can be a good ol’ fashioned Brawler, a trained Fighter, a Hunter, Rogue, Cleric or Sorcerer. Each of these has their own equipment slots that vary according to their strengths. To make use of armour, play as a Fighter or Cleric. Ranged players can pick Hunter or Rogue in order to equip a bow. And Magic players can either pick and outright Attuned character or hope they find an item that bestows such abilities later.
You’ll want to manage your party and balance their capabilities carefully. A party with no ranged option leaves you vulnerable on larger boards or against enemies with a bow of their own, while an unarmoured party will feel the sting of their mistakes much more keenly. Weighing up your playstyle and card choices in the context of your party’s Archetypes and abilities adds a new dimension to the design of the game in which your choices off the board can greatly impact your effectiveness on it.
[h2]Weapons[/h2]
The right weapon could help patch up a hole in your deck or help dispatch a hoard of a certain type of enemy. All Archetypes except the hand-to-hand Brawler can equip these.
Maces tend to punish targets with no block, making them effective against Skeletons and the Supernatural, but average against Knights. There are plenty of options for swords, with effects like Poison damage or ignoring block, while Axes offer a variety of effects including increased Combo generation or adding special cards to your deck. Polearms (two-handed weapons), meanwhile, tend to offer a longer range for attacks and can be useful for pushing enemies around the board. There are also some options more suited to the Sorcerer like the Scholar’s Stave, which increases the damage of magic attacks.
For the Hunter and Rogue, a range of Bows offer various options for emphasising either piercing damage or support attacks. Whether your marksman is a main character or a sidekick will dictate which option is best here.
[h2]Armour and Shields[/h2]
It’s worth bearing in mind that as exciting as all those weapons sound, they’ll also be used against you by the noble knights and morally ambiguous ghouls of the realm. When dodging isn’t an option, you’ll be glad of some protection. You’ll have to decide whether to prioritise mitigating some magic damage, protecting against incoming arrows, or hunkering down against swords and fists. If lumbering metal suits don’t sound your speed, there are also some Capes to try that offer some interesting effects at the cost of protection.
[h2]Consumables[/h2]
All classes can carry one consumable, which act as single-use cards in your deck that you draw each turn until used. These cover attack, defence and special abilities and can be used to supplement cards or equipment. Whatever your playstyle, there’s a potion, poultice or suspicious mug of mead to give you an edge in battle. Use these in a pinch to heal or buy you some time or be crafty and wait to combine with your weapon effects for a potent damage modifier or that Combo boost you need to pull off a finisher!
[h2]Keeping Track[/h2]
There are countless combinations of equipment and effects to play with, so don’t worry, you don’t have to remember which characters have which effects active – these will be displayed in the character’s status panel during the fight.
Whatever your equipment choices, these are not set in stone. You can swap out any item on any of your party members from the Inventory screen, accessible from the campaign map. Make sure to pay attention to the location and expected enemies for the next encounter and prepare accordingly.
We’re so excited to put all this new equipment in the hands of players and see what builds you can come up with! Wishlist and follow the game if you haven’t already and jump into the discussions here or on Discord.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2315400
