Stoneshard News

Hello!

Finally, we’ve polished our first abilities branch well enough, so this devlog will be completely devoted to the mighty fire magic – Pyromancy. Beware though: many heavy GIFs!

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

First we’d like to tell you how the ability system has changed in general in a recent year. As you remember, the Prologue used a so-called Tier-system – all ability branches were divided into 4 tiers, with each including one active and one passive ability. By investing a single SP you could unlock both skills at once.

Before & Now

However, the feedback was mixed, so it became clear for us it wasn’t our best idea: many players wanted more flexible system of levelling. Perhaps the old system would be just great if we were making short-sessional dungeon-crawler of some sort... But we aren’t, therefore we decided to take a more traditional approach.

Thanks to this, we made trees more diverse and interesting, since we were no longer strictly limited by rigid linear progression of exactly 8 abilities. Now each Sorcery branch contains 14 abilities – 7 active and 7 passive ones. Weapon and Utility abilities branches have fewer abilities: around 8-10.

And now let us explain the design philosophy behind the abilities branches – especially magical ones. There were lots of heated arguments over the general vision, but in the end we concluded that we should aim to make all magic branches as tactically different as possible. After all, it’s very boring if every magic school uses the same pattern of 2 AoEs, 2 nukes and some occasional debuffs, or something like that. So we tried to diversify magic branches in terms of intended playstyle.



For instance, Pyromancy is all about powerful AoE-spells, dealing tremendous damage when used at the right time in right combinations. If you love killing crowds of enemies with just several skillful casts, look no further – this’s the branch for you.

So, the most interesting part – the actual abilities! Also, unbelievable truth: we managed to do just great without even a single fireball.

Fire Barrage



Fire Barrage is the only non-AoE pyromantic ability. It consequentially launches three firebolts at the target, each dealing some minor damage. However bolts do increased damage, if the target is already on fire – so if you’re lucky to have your target set aflame by the first bolt, the other two will deal much more damage. Or maybe you’d set the target on fire with some other spell. It’s up to you, really.

Hellbreath (aka Firewave – RIP 2018-2019)



Prologue’s not so silent workhorse, the Firewave, has been reworked. This spell still deals decent area damage, but the shape of the zone was changed. We’ve also improved it with an interesting property: each target damaged by Hellbreath reduces active cooldowns of other pyromantic spells by 1 (including Hellbreath itself). An irreplaceable spell for keeping your spell rotation always ready for action.

Flame Ring



Doomsday weapon of some sort. This spell sets all neighboring cells aflame– along with the enemies, of course. Enemies affected by Flame Ring also have their Fire Resistance significantly reduced. You need to use this spell wisely – the pyromancers aren’t fully immune to fire, so an unthoughtful cast could lock you between the raging flames and cut off all possible retreat routes.

Melting Ray



This spell releases a fiery ray into the target tile, igniting and damaging everything on its trajectory. At the end point the beam explodes –the more targets were hit during the ray phase, the more damage the explosion would cause.

Incineration



Incineration is quite an interesting spell. It allows you to extinguish the selected enemy ... and then use the released thermal energy to cause an explosion of terrible power. The longer the extinguished burning lasted, the stronger the explosion – and the higher the chance that it will set aflame all affected enemies.

Magma Rain



Fiery rain covers the chosen area, leaving a magma puddle afterwards. Each turn enemies caught in the magma take minor damage and have their Fire Resistance slowly reduced – with a chance to be set aflame.

Inferno



Finally, the apex spell of Pyromancy – a terrifying Inferno. It creates a fire storm in the large area, dealing great damage each turn – what’s even better, the more enemies are trapped within Inferno, the hotter are the flames.

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

And, of course, some passive abilities insight:

• Feed the Flames – if the enemy’s on fire, each Fire Barrage’s bolt increases burning duration for 1 turn.
  
• Flame Saturation – restores some energy each time an enemy is set aflame within the vision range.
  
• Scorch – causes Hellbreath to debuff Fire Resistance of all damaged targets.
  
• Excess Heat – each enemy killed with Pyromancy restores some energy.
  
• Safe Distance - increases casting range of pyromantic spells by 1 tile.
  
• Baptism of Fire – taking fire damage reduces the duration of all active pyromantic cooldowns.
  
• Pyromania – increases Magic Power and Crit Chance for every burning enemy in sight (yes, casts can also become critical).
  

Well, that’s all for today. Can’t wait to show you the other branches and some other progress we’ve made. So stay tuned, and until the next time!

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

Also you can follow us on:

• Discord
• Twitter
• Facebook

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

Through pain, blood and broken bones — prevail and become a legend deciding the fate of Aldor! Stoneshard is coming to Steam on November 7th for $14.99!
(price may differ depending on the region)

To accompany the announcement we’ve also made a new trailer. Take a look!
https://youtu.be/VTeNIyVCsPo

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

Feel like you could've forgotten some aspects of these games? We're glad to help you with a quick rundown!



Stoneshard is an immersive hybrid of roguelike and RPG. In it you travel through procedurally generated world of Aldor as an opportunistic adventurer with his caravan. On your journey you will manage your own needs and those of your followers, fight relentless enemies while trying to preserve your own life and sanity. All while creating your own unique hero and shaping the fate of the whole country.

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



Police Stories is a top-down tactical shooter, in which you play as on-duty police officers — John Rimes and Rick Jones. Create a unique loadout out of multiple equipment choices and carefully coordinate your actions with your partner to fulfill your task. Just remember that you don't have permission to shoot on sight — less-lethal approach is preferred.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/539470/Police_Stories/

In order to not get lost in all the news coming from E3 — subscribe to HypeTrain Digital publisher page and our Twitter and Facebook. We will make sure you don't miss any important bits of information from us!

Hello!

This devlog isn’t dedicated to some specific topic – instead we’ll tell about many things we had worked on during the last month. Some stuff has not yet been fully completed and thus is left behind the scenes, so for now let's focus on more or less complete aspects.



This seemingly small and not very important feature took us a decent amount of time and efforts – but it was crucial to make settlements more alive and believable. Previously, we used a much simplified variant of NPCs daily routine: at a certain time they just left their workplaces to go home.



Now their daily routine is much more varied and rich: for example, in Osbrook, the first village the player encounters, local artisans like to have a good drink before going to bed – so after finishing their work they close their shops and first go to the tavern, then go home.



We’ve also introduced interiors for the whole village – now you can enter any house or even barn. Most artisans will be waiting for you inside, and not on the street like before – if their craft allows working outside, of course.





Another important improvement, designed to give integrity to the game world and ease navigation. No more sudden crypts in the middle of a forest or castles completely isolated from the outside world – most of the settlements and dungeons are now automatically connected by road network. Because of this, you’ll need to actually make an effort to get lost – if you keep the road, you are guaranteed to come across something sooner or later.



Of course, some places in the world will remain isolated – so, if you decide to abandon the road and delve deeper into the wilderness, there’s a good chance you may stumble upon a mysterious hut or some uncharted cave.



In addition, we are working on adding lots of new content: encounters, new weapons and skills. It’s too early to talk about it in detail, but here’s sneak peek at some of this new stuff:



Hopefully, by the next time we'll be ready to show off one of the most exciting parts of our game: skills. So until then!

======

Also you can follow us on:

• Discord
• Twitter
• Facebook

Hello!

In this post we will continue to reveal the lore of Stoneshard. If in the past devlog we told about the different factions of Aldor humans, this will be about other races: elves, dwarves and orcs. Though they won’t be factions you can maintain relationships with in the full game (because of fewness and remoteness of the dwarves and elves, and total hostility of the orcs), they’re still an important part of our setting. It is worth recalling that elves and dwarves will also be playable races alongside with humans.

"If you stumble upon a dwarf who isn’t willing to start a fistfight right off the bat, look at him more closely. My best guess - he's probably dead for a couple of weeks."
- Jurg the Innkeeper’s favorite joke


Once the Fjall mountains were a birthplace of a prospering dwarven kingdom, famous for its skillful craftsmen and stonemasons. Dwarves carved many cities in the rocks and connected them by a network of mountain roads – truly a miracle, considering Fjall’s harsh climate and difficult terrain.

However, Fjall crumbled to dust – and the dwarves were forced to leave their mountain vaults in search of a better life on the surface. Little is known about the last days of the once great kingdom, but in the dwarven sagas one often hears the mention of the Exodus, the Extinct Flame and the Great Famine –whatever that means.

Descended from the mountains to the frozen wastelands, those who survived Exodus quickly became savages. Spacious stone passages were replaced by huts and dugouts, skillful jewels – by hides and furs, and the famous smelting halls – with bonfires and primitive furnaces. Ancestors heritage was almost completely forgotten – as well as the spirit of unity once inherent in their folk. Forced to compete in order to survive, the dwarves divided into many fiercely warring tribes. The most numerous ones are Draggar and Ska’ar.

Draggar dwarves have earned notoriety for their passion for pillage and raids – alongside with other dwarven tribes, northern Aldor suffers the most from it. But because of this, they’re also known as dauntless and ferocious warriors. Aldorean nobility gladly hires them to their service – for a decent fee, the Draggarians will fight fiercely even against their own former brethren.

Ska’ar dwarves are more peaceful. They spend most of their lives on the high seas, tracking down all sorts of sea monsters and leviathans. Gathered meat and blubber is enough to survive even the longest winters, and skins and bones are used to make surprisingly durable weapons – some Ska’ar masters wares can compete even with their steel counterparts.

In Aldor dwarves could be met, but very rarely – small communities of dwarven folk can be found only in several northern settlements. These villages are also a common meeting points for Fjall traders and hirelings, who often stop by to exchange pillaged loot for human materials and supplies.

"You better be eating that damn soup, Bertie, or else I'm calling the orcs!"
- Unknown peasant mother


In ancient times the entire territory of Aldor was densely covered with a thicket. For centuries people conquered forest lands inch by inch for their settlements, fields and pastures. However, there were those who resisted the new ways, sparing neither themselves nor the newcomers. These tribes, known as the Forest Folk, were numerous once, but now only three of them remained - and one of them is the orcs.

Orcs are the most powerful, hardy and mysterious inhabitants of the Aldorean woods. If you ask any peasant whom he fears the most, the answer most likely will be “orcs”. Common folk, forest patrols and unruly children - everyone fears the orcs alike due to their unfathomable mysticism, disgusting rituals and inhuman cruelty.

Perhaps they would not have caused such terror, if at least it was known what makes them tick and what gods do they worship. However, it remains a complete mystery, and their actions seem to be absolutely devoid of any logic, moved only by meaningless violence – which makes them even more frightening.

Though orcs remained a serious threat to the people of Aldor for many years, they did not show themselves too actively. Devastating raids and forays happened from time to time, but rather rarely – most of the time orcs seemed to be unwilling to leave their native forests. However, everything changed in the last year, when a certain shaman managed to unite orcish tribes and declare the Sacred Warpath. Aldor, completely devastated by civil war, had troubles organizing resistance during the first months of the incursion, so orcs managed to won back over the centuries of persecution, laying waste to many peaceful settlements.

In six months the orc advance was finally stopped. But as long as the grandees of the Council and the Magistrate vied with each other in bragging about their merits in saving Aldor from orcs, the border guards are preparing for the worst: as the soldiers say, “it’s not us who stopped them; they just stopped attacking.” Who knows – perhaps after this sudden respite, Aldor will have to face an even more ferocious onslaught. There’re rumors of some weird, chaotic piles of branches, animal bones and human bodies found in the forests all across Aldor – so orcs must be really getting ready for something...

"Damn, I’m dying to see those pointy-eared bastards finally invading our good ol’ Aldor. Would be a bloody good reason to hang all those hagglers…"
- Some Brynn citizen expressing famous southern hospitality toward local elven merchants


If the traveler thinks of setting off in the direction of the rising sun, crossing the mountains, and then the eastern steppes and deserts, sooner or later he will find himself in the Jacinth Kingdoms – the great elven empire, occupying endless expanses.

Few people have visited Aldor – however, those very few who can boast of such an adventure, tell of many small kingdoms and principalities united under the rule of a single despot. Desert oasis cities, quaint temples-fortresses far to the east, and even steppe elves nomadic caravans – Jacinth is manifold.

Thanks to the undivided power over the most of the known world, Jacinth managed to accumulate untold riches - some of which he lets on for further expansion. Some princes became elven vassals voluntarily; some were bribed by generous gifts. The fate of the most stubborn was unenviable – so far no one has been able to hold back the might of a thousand elven armies.

Recently, as the peace in Aldor is becoming more and more fragile, Jacinth is apparently very willing to do anything to us this moment of weakness to get the local lands in its sphere of influence. Elven mounted scouts are more and more often being spotted on the borders, and elven goods have recently flooded the markets – which is unusual at the very least for a war-torn country. Evil tongues claim there’re reasons behind this – as they say, the Magistrate nobles are ready to do anything to enlist the elven support to win the civil war.

In Aldor itself elves are not uncommon, especially in large cities, where they are often make successful merchants, jewelers or mercenaries. The largest diaspora resides in Brynn, where one can found an entire elvish quarter. Those elves who reside in Aldor are very similar to humans in terms of culture, but they are still treated with suspicion and open hostility – which is greatly facilitated by the spreading rumors of their Jacinth collaboration.

======

Also you can follow us on:

• Discord
• Twitter
• Facebook

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