Stoneshard News

- Added an option to unload crossbows.
- Reduced quivers’ prices.
- Reduced the penalty to Hands Efficiency after using Whirlwind. It also doesn’t last for 2 turns now.
- Fixed long-distance counterattacks..
- Fixed Petrification not granting Geomancy Power.
- Added visual stack indicator to applicable buff icons.
- Fixed grave collision after digging them up.
- Fixed “Enough for Everyone” causing crashes.
- Shooting distance in attack mode is now correctly calculated after switching between ammo types with different range.
- Fixed the bug with the character becoming invisible in the location with the troll.
- Parry now properly counters all received attacks.
- Fixed dead zones of “Impaling Lunge”.
- Fixed enemies not becoming hostile upon receiving Immobilization.
- Fixed bolt tooltips showing wrong values.
- Hail of Blows can no longer knock enemies back with its first 2 strikes.
- New visuals for magma puddles.
- Fixed to the audio.
- Various text fixes.

[h2]0.5.9.1[/h2]

- Numerous text typos and mistakes fixed.
- Removed skill energy penalties for shields as they already have flat Energy/Energy Restoration penalties.
- Increased carpenters’ stocks.
- Decreased NPC restock time by 30%.
- Morsel can be cooked now.
- Parry should counterattack every enemy attack except melee skills (melee skills not triggering counterattacks is a known issue, we’re investigating)
- Fixed outdated energy cost for some abilities (mostly stances)
- Returned broadhead arrows test damage to its intended value.
- Tailor now sells low-level shirts, gloves and boots.
- Added a spear and a crossbow to Osbrook barracks weaponstands.
- Fixed open doors using closed doors' collisions.
- Fixed inventory-related crashes.

[h2]0.5.9.2[/h2]

- Fixed invisible buff-related crash.
- Fixed range calculation.
- Fixed counterattacks not triggering on receiving melee skills.
- Fixed innkeeper post-quest discount exploit.
- Reduced weapon switch delay after location transitions.
- Fixed not being able to attack objects via context menu.
- Fixed 100% weapon drop caused by Deafening Roar.
- Fixed indefinite healing caused by Fleawort.
- Minor tweaks to Daze/Immobilization durations from the corresponding stat procs.
- Fixed Immobilization and Stun buffing Dodge Chance, if it was already negative.

Hello everyone!

The 0.5.9.0 “Bolt Thrower” content update has been released! The complete list of changes can be seen below:

[h2]MAIN ADDITIONS[/h2]

- New playable character: Velmir. A hardened revenger hailing from distant Skadia, he begins the game with Affinities for Spears, Ranged Weapons, Maces, Athletics, and Combat mastery.

- New weapon type: Spears – 24 new items.

Spears offer average Damage, but have high Accuracy and Armor Penetration, and their skills have a 2 tile Range.

- New weapon type: Crossbows – 17 new items.

Crossbows deal high Damage, do well against armor, and are much more accurate than bows, but they require to be reloaded after each shot.

- Arrowhead variation: ammunition is now split into 3 types with their own special properties: leaf-shaped, broadhead, and bodkin.

- New bag type: Quivers – there are 8 of them, 4 for arrows, 4 for bolts. They are equipped in the weapon slot and can store 2 to 4 stacks of ammunition.

- New ability tree: Spears – 10 new skills.

Immobilize enemies from afar, run them through with impaling lunges, receive defensive bonuses as you retreat, and deliver strikes to your foes as they approach.

- New ability tree: Dual Wielding – 10 new skills.

Deliver devastating flurries of blows, fight entire groups head-on, deflect incoming attacks, and cut through the enemy lines in a whirlwind of steel.

– New fauna: Hedgehogs and squirrels. Hunt them down for their new type of meat or precious squirrel pelts.

- New flora: Rhubarb and nettle. Don’t forget to wear gloves.

- Tweaks to ranged combat. Enemy and props sizes now correctly influence your shots’ Accuracy. If you want to improve your chances of hitting your foe, make sure there is nothing between you and the target.

Bows and crossbows are now considered a two-handed weapon with an option to equip appropriate ammo or a quiver in the second weapon slot.

[h2]BALANCE[/h2]

- New critical weapon effects: It may not be evident at first, but different weapon types have different crit effects. This mechanic has been there for quite a while, gradually becoming outdated. As a result, it has been reworked:

• Swords: 100% chance to apply Bleed for 5-8 turns
  
• Axes: +50% Bodypart Damage
  
• Maces: 100% chance to Daze for 2-4 turns
  
• Daggers: +220% Critical Damage against unaware targets. Burn 10% of the target’s Max Energy
  
• Greatswords: cleave through 3 tiles. 125% chance to apply Bleeding for 6-10 turns.
  
• Staffs: cleave through 3 tiles. Replenish 10% Max energy.
  
• Spears: +100% Immobilization Chance
  
• Bows: +100% Immobilization Chance
  
• Crossbows: +100% Knockback Chance

- REWORKED - Stance-based skills. Old stances functioned rather strangely: their duration and stack count were way too easy to ramp up and sustain throughout a fight, and it was entirely up to chance whether you lose said effect stacks or not.

Changes:

• Reduced the max number of stacks from 6 to 4.
  
• You gain 1 stack each time you use other skills from the stance’s ability tree.
  
• Basic attacks with an appropriate weapon decrease the number of stacks by 1, but prolong the effect’s duration by 1 turn.
  

These changes are meant to make stances more tactical: they can no longer be activated at the start of a fight and then completely forgotten till the end of it – the new system requires balancing between maintaining stance duration and stacks, which are spent on empowering your attacks.

- Reduced the amount of reputation needed to reach Amity and Respect (by 25%)

- Rebalanced hunger and thirst gain.

- Changed some equipment and weapon stats.

- Spear-wielding enemies no longer have placeholder skills from other ability trees, and have been assigned Spear skills.

- Ancient Troll now drops his pelt and tusks on death.

- Added a new stat: Immobilization Chance.

- Stun Resistance was renamed into Control Resistance and is now also used for resisting Confusion.

- Knockback Resistance was renamed into Move Resistance and is now also used for resisting Immobilization

- [Dual Wielding] Equipping dual weapons now also grants +15% Cooldowns Duration and +7.5% Fumble Chance.

- [Dirwin] His starting Dirk was replaced with a Short Dagger.

- [Dirwin] Maces Affinity was swapped for Staffs Affinity

- [Arna] Her trait now grants [-7.5% > -5%] Abilities Energy Cost and Cooldowns Duration, as well as [-4% > -3%] Damage Taken for each enemy within Vision.

- [Jorgrim] Maces Affinity was swapped for Dual Wielding

- [Greatswords] Feint Swing: removed the penalty to Damage. Removed the bonus to Accuracy (it wasn’t really useful, as the skill already drops the target’s Dodge Chance to 0). Feint Swing now grants extra Damage, while also lowering Fumble Chance.

- REWORKED - [Greatswords] Parry: now grants Block Chance and Block Power for 1 turn. Counterattacks now trigger on every received attack. Each strike you block reduces this skill’s Cooldown by 1.

- REWORKED - [Greatswords] Feast of Steel is now a stance-based skill. It decreases Fumble Chance, improves Accuracy and Crit Efficiency, while also guaranteeing each 3rd attack to Crit.

- [Ranged Weapons]: Taking Aim grants +[50 > 75]% Accuracy for the next turn. The bonus to Damage now scales with Perception.

- REWORKED: [Ranged Weapons] Precision: hitting a target after using “Taking Aim” grants “Exceptional Accuracy” for 2 turns.

- [Combat Mastery] Seize the Initiative – changed the max number of stacks from 4 to 6. Removed duration – the effect persists until the target affected by “Initiative Loss” either dies or leaves your Vision. Receiving “Initiative Loss” removes the effect of “Seized Initiative” and vice versa.

- [Combat Mastery] Setup - bonus Accuracy and Damage you gain after skipping a turn persist for [1 > 2] turns and can now stack.

- [Combat Mastery] Stance Training: if “Defensive Tactic” is active, stance-based skills start with 3 stacks on activation. If “Offensive Tactic” is active, using applicable skills additionally grants +1 stack to stance effects.

- [Athletics] Mighty Kick: upon landing a kick, reduce the enemy’s Control and Move Resistances for the next turn.

[h2]FIXES[/h2]

- The state of fog of war is now being properly preserved, so it no longer conceals previously visited locations.

- Changed the bug which caused huge Crit damage with bows.

- Just as it’s stated in stat description, blocking arrows and bolts now requires an equipped shield. This rule also applies to enemies.

- Removed the ability to shoot through dungeon walls and surface structures.

- Fast travel between villages now takes some in-game time and changes your character’s stats just like sleeping would.

- “Blessing” effect received a 1200 turns duration cap.

- Fixed Vivifying Essence not burning Energy on use.

- Fixed the use rule for fleawort.

- Fixed the softlock occurring while removing a piece of equipment when both the inventory and a container are full.

- The drunkard’s wife in Mannshire no longer flies around.

- Fixed context menu when lockpicking a container.

- Numerous fixes across all localizations.

- Torso condition now correctly displays its influence on Max Health.

- Fixed a number of mistakes in abilities’ formulas, as some of them didn’t work as they were supposed to.

- Optimized rendering

- Destroyed Unholy Altars no longer leave a lighting source behind.

- Wraiths no longer spray blood when hit.

- Effects no longer flicker on medium settings

- Fixed Ancient Troll being able to attack during regeneration.

- Many actions are now being properly logged.


[h2]VISUALS[/h2]

- Improvements to lighting system. It now takes objects’ relative position into consideration

- Made some tweaks to shaders

- Changed Jorgrim’s portrait.

Hello everyone!

In today’s devlog we’ll give you a quick overview of some major additions of the “Bolt Thrower” content update, which will be released in just a couple more days - on June 2.

In the previous devlog we’ve already introduced crossbows. Now it’s time for the second new weapon type:

[h2]SPEARS[/h2]



Spears are two handed weapons. They have fairly average base damage, but they compensate for it with high Armor Penetration and Accuracy. Other than the spears themselves, this skill tree also includes halberds. At the moment they deal two damage types at the same time, Piercing and Slashing, but in the future we’ll probably expand on this mechanic.

While other weapon skill trees focus on dealing damage or mobility, the spears are best explained with a single word – “control”. One of their main mechanics is Immobilization. Offensive spear Skills have 2 tiles reach, so immobilization allows you to keep your opponent at a relatively safe distance, weakening them with precise strikes as they try to approach.



[h3]Active Abilities[/h3]

• Nail Down – a strike to the legs. If the enemy is adjacent, deals bonus damage with a chance to Knock them back. If they are a tile away, deals bonus Bodypart Damage with a chance to Immobilize.
  
• Impaling Lunge hits two tiles in a line with extra Bodypart Damage, Armor Penetration, and Bleed Chance. If the affected target is Immobilized, these bonuses are doubled.
  
• Maneuver moves you to an adjacent tile, decreasing Active Cooldowns for spear Skills by 1 for each enemy within an area. After that grants an effect which decreases Damage Taken and increases Block and Crit Chances. This effect gets extra stacks to its strength for each Cooldown it reduces.
  
• Pikeman’s Stance is a stance-based Skill which gradually raises Knockback, Immobilization, and Bleed chances, while also granting bonus Damage. It’s worth mentioning that stance mechanics were changed – more details in the patch notes on June 2.
  
• Determination delivers a free hit with extra Bleed Chance to each enemy who steps on an adjacent tile during next turn.
  

[h3]Passive Abilities[/h3]

• Stay Back! – when enemies step on adjacent tiles, they receive a penalty to Piercing Resistance for 1 turn. This passive also gives you a chance to trigger Impaling Lunge on basic attacks.
  
• Precise Hits grants bonus Immobilization Chance to your strikes. Attacks against Immobilized targets have bonus Accuracy, Bodypart Damage, and Bleed Chance.
  
• One at a Time! – grants bonus Damage and Block Power for each adjacent enemy.
  
• No Retreat – staying put on the same tile grants a stacking bonus to Block and Crit Chances, as well as reduces Cooldowns Duration. Moving to a different tile resets the bonus.
  
• Wounding Spearhead – spear crits deal extra Damage based on the target’s current Health. The higher it is, the higher the Damage.
  

[h2]DUAL WIELDING[/h2]



Another new skill tree being added with the Bolt Thrower update, it’s meant to fully develop dual-wielding playstyle. The skill tree’s main mechanic is Hands Efficiency. It acts as a resource of sorts: certain Skills and circumstances temporarily increase it, while others – decrease. This makes the gameplay as a berserker more strategic, since you’ll need to skillfully juggle your abilities to maintain high damage output.



[h3]Active Abilities[/h3]

• Flurry of Blows delivers two dual attacks with decreased Hands Efficiency.
  
• Enough for Everyone performs a strike which marks the enemy with a special effect - each time you attack a different target, you’ll deliver a strike to the marked enemy as well. Each instance of this effect increases Hands Efficiency.
  
• Deflect is a powerful defensive Skill. For 1 turn it raises your Block Chance to 100% and grants extra Block Power, but reduces Hands Efficiency for the next 2 turns as a trade-off.
  
• Concentration is a stance-based Skill which gradually raises Hands Efficiency, Accuracy, while lowering Fumble Chance.
  
• Whirlwind delivers a strike to an enemy, switches places with them, and then does the same maneuver with another adjacent target until there are no nearby enemies who didn’t take a hit. Each Whirlwind strike slightly decreases Hands Efficiency, so it’s best used when this stat is high enough.
  

[h3]Passive abilities[/h3]

• Berserk Tradition grants bonus Hands Efficiency, Dodge and Crit Chances, as well as Crit Efficiency for each armor slot which doesn’t grant you Protection (with the exception of belts, jewelry, and cloaks).
  
• Dying Fervor greatly boosts Hands Efficiency when your Health drops below 50%.
  
• More Blood! – this passive instantly replenishes “Flurry of Blows” Cooldown if it manages to kill its target, while also increasing Hands Efficiency for a few turns.
  
• Unstoppable – if an enemy affected with “Enough for Everyone” dies, this effect is transferred to a random nearby target.
  
• Dual Wielding Training – Skill usage grants bonus Hands Efficiency for the next turn. Doubles the bonus if both equipped weapons are of the same type. Additionally, using weapon Skills also performs an off-hand attack.
  

[h2]NEW CHARACTER[/h2]



We’ve added a fifth playable character to the game – Velmir, who hails from distant Skadia.

"In Skadia the most grievous offences must be paid for in blood. When Velmir learned about his brother's treacherous murder at the hands of a man named Dražan, he abandoned his life as a seafaring merchant without hesitation to personally make sure the justice is served.

For a few years Velmir had been tracking the murderer, who at first went into hiding in Skadia, then fled to foreign lands. Eventually, the chase had brought them both to Aldor. Dražan surrounded himself with bodyguards and attempted to lie low in one of the cities, but Velmir managed to hunt him down nevertheless. The bodyguards just delayed the inevitable - the reprisal was swift and violent.

Once the blood feud had been settled, Velmir realized that his life was now void of purpose - after everything which had transpired, returning to his old trade wasn't an option, nor did he actually want to. After long consideration, he decided to stay in Aldor and became a bounty hunter, so that he could continue following trails and bringing vengeance over and over again."

Velmir’s unique trait is “To Each Their Own”: when Velmir is attacked, he gains bonus Accuracy, while the attacker is applied with extra Damage Taken for the next few turns.

Velmir’s starting Affinities are Maces, Spears, Ranged Weapons, Athletics and Combat Mastery, making his early build paths quite varied.

=======

That’s it for now – the rest of the changes will be detailed in the patch notes to the update.
See you in a couple days!

Hello everyone!

In today’s devlog we’ll tell you about multiple new features meant to make ranged combat more varied.
Let’s start with the main addition - crossbows. As you may have already noticed, some existing enemies are armed with crossbows, however those aren’t available to player characters and function essentially just like bows. This situation will change with the release of the Bolt Thrower update, which will become available on June 2-3.



Crossbows are now a separate type of weaponry. Just like in reality, they are much easier to learn than bows, so they have less significant penalty to their accuracy. They also have higher damage and armor penetration, which is achieved at the expense of their rate of fire - crossbows require a turn to reload between each shot. Just like bows, crossbows make use of the Ranged Weapons skill tree, it won’t be altered in this regard.



We’ve also introduced certain changes to bow and crossbow mechanics. Both these weapon types now occupy both hands with an option of placing arrows or quivers in the offhand, but not other weapons. Quivers are meant to make ammo management easier, as they can fit 2-4 stacks of arrows.

Additionally, they allow to quickly swap between different arrow and bolt types through the context menu. As a side note, crossbow bolts use their own quivers, since they occupy one less slot than arrows.



And finally - arrow types. There are now three arrow and bolt types in the game: leaf-shaped, broadhead, and bodkin.

• Leaf-shaped arrows are the default ammo type. They don’t have any special modifiers, offering standard damage and range values.
  
• Broadhead arrows were historically used mostly for hunting. They are heavier and wider, making them more damaging to both enemy health and their body parts. As a trade-off, they struggle with piercing armor. Their accuracy and range are also lower.
  
• Bodkin arrows are fairly light, so they have higher range. They are also good at penetrating armor and provide better accuracy, but are less effective against unarmored flesh than other arrow types.
  

In the future we also plan to implement additional arrowhead types to further improve bolts and arrows variety. Still, fantasy style explosive, ice, or magic arrows aren’t planned, as they fit poorly with the game’s setting. With the introduction of alchemy, there will also be an option to poison arrowheads, but it’s way too soon to talk about it.



That’s all for now. Until next time!