Stoneshard News

Hello everyone!

Meet patch 0.9.2.0, bringing a wealth of new content focused on Brigands and their Bastions, along with various fixes and improvements. There's also one previously unannounced surprise that we'll reveal below…

[h2]ADDITIONS[/h2]

Important: due to changes to the Bastion generation algorithm, all previously saved dungeons have been reset. This means that if you have a save in a dungeon, loading it will spawn you outside.

• Added 3 new Bastion Contracts: “Underground Workshops”, “Stolen Shipment”, “Hostage Rescue”.
  
  
  
  
• Added 3 new Bastion Conditions: “Iron Discipline”, “Hefty Stockpiles”, and “Revelry”.
  
  
  
  
• Added numerous new room templates to the Bastions.
  
  
  
  
• Added one new Catacomb Condition: “Rite of Ascension”.
  
• Overhauled the Brigand faction to make their tier progression more gradual and visually distinguishable. Many old Brigands received new abilities, stats, and sprites.
  
• Added 13 new Brigand types, including 3 Mini-Bosses.
  
  
  
  
• Added 11 new Brigand abilities (7 of which are connected to one of the Bastion Conditions).
  
  
  
  
  
• Reworked each character’s unique perk:
  
  
  
  • Dirwin - “Ranger's Grit”:
    
    Starts the game with "Make a Halt" already learned.
    
    Grants "Butchering" 20% chance to harvest pelts, regardless of the damage type used to kill the animal. Increases this chance by 1% and grants +1% Experience Gain (up to +20%) for each Hunting Ground visited for the first time.
    
    Grants 1 Ability Point and 1 Stat Point for every 3 Ability Points invested into the "Survival" tree.
    
    
    
    
  • Jorgrim - “Blood and Glory”:
    
    Allows "Butchering" to harvest various trophies from Mini-Bosses.
    
    
    
    Delivering a trophy while turning in a contract grants additional +10% Reward and +10% Reputation. Also grants 1 Stat Point and +2% Weapon Damage for every 3 trophies delivered for the first time (up to 5 times).
    
    Killing enemies grants +5% Experience Gain for 60 turns (the effect stacks up to 10 times).
    
    
    
    
  • Arna - “Vow of the Feat”
    
    Each enemy within Vision increases the rate of "Heroism", "Optimism", and "Prudence" activation by 20% (up to 100%) and grants +5% chance to trigger "Second Wind".
    
    Each received level improves the effects of positive Psyche states by 3%. Additionally, reduces the cooldown between their activation by 50%.
    
    Killing dangerous enemies grants additional Experience depending on the character's level.
    
    
    
    
  • Jonna - “Magical Erudition”
    
    Grants +5% Power of the corresponding School and +5% Miracle Potency for each unique magic treatise in the Inventory.
    
    Grants -1% Backfire Chance for each magic treatise read for the first time. Grants +1% Experience Gain for each Ability Point invested into Sorcery trees.
    
    
    
    
  • Velmir - “With Great Vengeance”
    
    Killing Mini-Bosses replenishes Morale and Sanity.
    
    If there's a Boss or Mini-Boss within Vision, applies all enemies within Vision with +1.5% Damage Taken for each Mini-Boss killed for the first time (up to +30%). Grants +1.5% Experience Gain for each Mini-Boss killed for the first time.
    
    Grants +10% Reputation Gain and 2 Stat Points for each killed Boss.
  
  
  
• Added 55 new weapons and armor pieces, 17 of them unique.
  
  
  
  
• Added new rare hunting trophies: Gulon Liver, Wolf Tongue, Moose Kidney, Troll Gland, and Boar Tusks.
  
• Added three new dishes: Taiga Rassolnik, Gulon Liver in Apples, and Glazed Wolf Tongue.
  
• Replaced Giant Rats with Rat Swarms.
  
  
  
  
• Added wild bird nests with lootable Eggs.
  
  
  
  
• Added Rats to certain locations as small neutral animals (similar to Crabs)
  
• Added Seaweeds to beaches, which can replace vegetables in certain cooking recipes.
  
• Added a new plant - Lavender
  
• Added Owls to the woods
  
• Added new Caravan Camp animations to Leif and Verren.

[h2]CHARACTER PACK[/h2]

And now for the promised surprise: we're excited to present a free Character Pack, adding three new playable heroes - each with their own unique perk, starting equipment, and lines!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3423690/

• Mahir of Jacinth. A follower of the ancient teachings that interpret the Path to Truth quite literally, Mahir draws strength from long journeys and the relentless pursuit of self-improvement.
  
  
  
  
• Leosthenes of Nistra. Trained from childhood to serve as an Agemon, a bodyguard to the Great Despot, Leosthenes knows better than anyone that traditional warfare and magic are far from mutually exclusive.
  
  
  
  
• Hilda of Fjall. This seasoned huntress and shipwreck survivor relies not only on her own prowess but also on the blessings of the spirits, which she appeases with regular offerings.

We hope these new heroes and the mechanics they bring will add a bit of novelty to your adventures before the proper implementation of Custom Characters ;)

[h2]BALANCE[/h2]

• Significantly increased the duration of most dishes’ effects.
  
• Increased the amount of Experience granted for killing most enemies.
  
• Adjusted some cooking recipes to allow for more flexibility.
  
• Added a new stat, Abilities Energy Cost, that acts as a base coefficient, while Skills Energy Cost and Spells Energy Cost serve as its modifiers
  
• Expanded the range of the Backfire Chance stat: it can now go into negative values, allowing it to properly reduce the base Backfire Chance of spells.
  
• Caltrops now do more damage when thrown and will no longer break when hitting the target directly.
  
• The “Miasmas” Condition: reduced the base Intoxication Gain (independent of the Dungeon’s danger level) by 20%.
  
• Adjusted the Supply and Demand system to track each Commodity type individually. In practical terms, buying or selling grain will no longer affect the prices of coal, for example.
  
• Ranged enemies will now drop their remaining ammunition if they have any left upon death.
  
• Reduced the negative impact of Followers and installed Caravan Upgrades on Fodder Consumption.
  
• Reduced the base price of Fodder.
  
• Reduced the amount of Fodder received from most ingredients.
  
• Reduced the base repopulation time for Distant Dungeon by 4 days.
  
• “Cleaving Strike”: increased the base Bleed Chance.
  
• “Onrush”: increased the base Weapon Damage bonus.
  
• “Mutilating Lunge”: increased the base Bleed Chance.
  
• “Cut Through”: increased the base Weapon Damage and Armor Penetration bonuses.
  
• “Onslaught”: reduced the base Daze Chance.
  
• “Armor Break”: increased the base Daze Chance.
  
• “Arcane Lore”: reduced the bonuses by half.
  
• “Will to Survive”: reduced the scaling of the Damage Taken bonus by half.
  
• “No Time to Linger”: no longer allows “Sudden Lunge” to be used without spending a turn, instead granting it a significant Weapon Damage bonus and greatly reducing its Energy Cost and Cooldown Duration.
  
• “Impaling Lunge”, “Precise Hits”: the effects are now also activated if the target is affected by “Net”.
  
• Changed and fine-tuned the stats of many items.

[h2]QOL[/h2]

• Improved camera handling while edge panning and moving it with MMB. Holding MMB no longer resets when hovering over UI elements, and edge panning now allows for smoother, more precise camera movement instead of being limited to cardinal directions and diagonals. Additionally, edge panning now works with the Global Map.

[h2]STABILITY[/h2]

• Fixed the crash caused by activating the “Sleep” effect while moving items into the Caravan Storage.
  
• Fixed the rare crash caused by “Defiled Remains”.
  
• Fixed the softlock caused by Girruds dying on the same turn as using “Tongue Pull”.
  
• Fixed the Esc key softlock caused by removing a currently active mode's icon from the hotbar.

[h2]FIXES[/h2]

• Distant Dungeons will now close one day after being cleared instead of immediately after arriving at the Caravan Camp or a Settlement.
  
• Fixed the bug that caused the Well of Souls to stop spawning Wraiths indefinitely after summoning three of them at the same time.
  
• Fixed Life Drain triggering twice when reflecting damage.
  
• Fixed Contract-related debuffs with indefinite duration (such as the “Curse of Decay” applied by the Grimoire) being removed from the character after receiving a similar but finite debuff from a basic enemy.
  
• Improved the system for spawning contract items (such as Anatomical Diagrams) in Dungeons, allowing them to be more evenly distributed rather than appearing mostly on the first floor.
  
• Fixed the bug where the Expiration Time of Cabbage would reset after splitting it into parts.
  
• Fixed one of the Craftsmen at the St Wald's Bridge repairing incorrect item types.
  
• Fixed the hover of Leeches displaying incorrect stats.
  
• Fixed the incorrect positioning of pop-up hints on certain screen resolutions.
  
• “Unstoppable Force”: fixed the interaction with “Keep Them Coming” to allow the activation of “Mighty Swing”.
  
• Restored the missing Orient Quiver and Reinforced Bolt Quiver.
  
• Fixed the issue with Charge skills' targeting around multi-tiled enemies.
  
• Fixed the money exploit in the Brynn Bank.
  
• Fixed some dishes missing their intended Crit Efficiency bonus.
  
• Fixed the incorrect categorization of “Seal of Finesse”.
  
• Fixed the bug allowing the Manticore to sometimes occupy the same tile as a Runic Boulder.
  
• Fixed the issue preventing some unique items from spawning.
  
• Fixed Bran missing his Damage Dealt stat.
  
• Fixed the possibility of activating positive drug effects while affected by “Aftermath”.
  
• Fixed the bug preventing rain in some locations.
  
• Fixed the momentary “blinking” effect displayed by every Crowbar in the inventory when prying open locks (now it will be displayed only by the actively used ones).

[h2]AI[/h2]

• Enemies are now capable of using abilities while in smoke.
  
• Fixed animals ignoring thrown items.
  
• Animals in settlements will no longer flee if the player disturbs the order there.
  
• The Brynn Hospital Patients will now longer flee if the player disturbs the order there.
  
• Fixed fleeing Wolves incorrectly switching their AI state when affected by “Howl”.

[h2]MISCELLANEOUS[/h2]

• Renamed most Skeletons to better reflect the Order's hierarchy. Added new descriptions to some of them as well.
  
• Wigmar now has his own special Contract dialogues, descriptions, and certain other phrases related to them.
  
• Changed the visuals of equipped cloaks.
  
• Updated the icons of several effects.

[h2]STONESHARD DEMO[/h2]

We'd also like to announce the end of support for Stoneshard: Prologue as a standalone title. Starting today, a free demo version with the same content is available on Stoneshard’s store page, still offering everyone a chance to try the game out before purchase.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/625960/Stoneshard

Those of you who have already added Stoneshard: Prologue to their library can continue playing it, but it will no longer receive updates and will be removed from the Steam Store in the near future.

======================

Until next time!

[h3]QOL[/h3]

• Restored the Steam Cloud support.
  
• Added an auto-sort button to the Caravan Storage.
  
• The Caravan Travel hover will now display the Pack-Up Time.

[h3]STABILITY[/h3]

• Fixed the crash caused by moving Fodder to bags.
  
• Fixed the crash caused by applying knockback in certain situations.
  
• Fixed the carpet-related crash.
  
• Fixed the rare crash caused by closing one of the dialogues in the Prologue.
  
• Fixed the crash caused in certain situations by Sentinel Inn's maid on the second floor.

[h3]AI[/h3]

• Enemies should now correctly perceive Campfires as obstacles and destroy them if they’re in the way. Reduced Campfires’ durability.
  
• Fixed the bug causing enemies to sometimes become Hostile from overly large distances.
  
• Fixed the bug causing multiple enemies to sometimes occupy the same tile. In particular, this should solve the issue with enemies being able to walk into one another when swapping places.
  
• Fixed the inconsistencies with Bears’ aggro when damaged by an attacker outside of their Vision range.
  
• Fixed the bug causing enemy AI to switch back and forth between Hostility and Idling when engaged in combat with both the player character and some other faction.
  
• Fixed the bug preventing Fleeing enemies from opening double doors.
  
• Fixed the bug causing enemies to wander into their own traps while Idle or Suspicious.
  

[h3]FIXES [/h3]

• Removed the exploit allowing Pot duplication.
  
• The Mercenary rescued from the Order’s Prison will no longer provide a hint about a Distant Dungeon if the player character is already aware of its location.
  
• Fixed the “Take All” button not working correctly at lower resolutions.
  
• Fixed enemies’ “Spot Weakness” triggering twice per turn.
  
• Petrified enemies will now receive bonus Pure Damage not only from physical attacks but also from magic.
  
• Fixed “Rune of Cycle” not dealing Arcane Damage if the summoned Boulder knocks the target back.
  
• Using “Leg Sweep” now grants the user Knockback Immunity during its first stage to prevent the ability from breaking after getting knocked back by a counter.
  
• Fixed “Last Stand” ignoring the degree of received Injuries when calculating its current Cooldown.
  
• Fixed the issue with Fodder stacking when dragging and dropping it into closed bags.
  
• Fixed Runic Boulders damaging and confusing the caster when used to cast Geomancy spells after taking damage from an enemy.
  
• Fixed “Push the Falling” replenishing Energy twice when using “Mighty Kick”.
  
• Fixed the bug in the Prologue’s Corrupted Chapel that overwrote the autosave after each reload.
  
• Fixed “Tactical Advantage” granting its bonuses on the next turn rather than when switching Tactics.
  
• Fixed “Cut Through” applying its penalties after the strike, not before.
  
• Fixed the Well of Souls being able to change its AI state.
  
• Fixed the rare bug preventing the dialogue with the Prologue’s Proselyte Guard from starting.
  
• Fixed “Shieldbreaker” debuffs persisting one turn longer than intended.
  
• Fixed the bug preventing critical staff strikes from replenishing Energy in certain situations.
  
• Fixed the bug causing Follower-initiated dialogues (such as the dialogues connected to some perks) to sometimes erase their queued Camp events.
  
• Fixed the stacking issue with items in the Caravan Storage.
  
• Fixed the bug preventing the player character from being transported to Denbrie’s Jail when arrested on its outskirts.
  
• Fixed the bug causing some Dungeon Situations’ to apply their buffs to any enemy brought inside.
  
• Fixed “Determination” attacking neutral NPCs.
  
• Fixed the issues caused by throwing consumable items at closed doors. Said items will now land on the tile in front of hit doors and then produce relevant effects.
  
• Fixed the interaction between Smoke Bombs and closed double doors.
  
• Fixed the rare softlock during the “Fate of the Brewery” quest.
  
• Fixed the collision issues with Runic Boulders after saving and loading the game.
  
• The Watchtower Tavern’s player chest can no longer be interacted with through walls.
  
• Fixed the incorrect formula for the “Damage Dealt” entry in the Statistics menu.
  
• Fixed the bug allowing to swap Camp banners from any distance.
  
• Fixed potions losing the name of their effects after dropping them on the ground, then saving and loading the game.

[h3]TEXT, VISUALS, AND SOUND [/h3]

• Added a sound effect to the Stoneshard in the Prologue.
  
• Fixed “Overflowing Power” and “Stone Spikes” critical damage pop ups being displayed as basic damage.
  
• Fixed the layering and sound effect issues with the basement door in the Rotten Willow.
  
• Fixed the list of ingredients sometimes failing to fit within its recipe hover.
  
• Fixed the collision issues with boards from broken doors.
  
• Fixed one of the stages of the “Hiring the Ranger” quest missing a description.
  
• Fixed Fodder being assigned an incorrect sprite after dropping it on the ground, then saving and loading the game.

Hello everyone!

The work on the next content patch is well underway, and very soon you'll be able to take on new Bastion contracts, experience their unique Conditions, and see some familiar things in a new light...

In the meantime, we’re excited to share our new trailer with you! The previous one has served us well since the Early Access launch, but it's now quite outdated. So, we set out to create a more complete showcase of the game, incorporating every major feature added with "Rags to Riches". And for the voiceover, we invited none other than Scott Moat - the voice of Verren in the Prologue.

Every view is much appreciated, so if you’d like to support the project, make sure to watch the trailer on YouTube.

Thank you for staying with us!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]