Stoneshard News

- Fixed the crash caused by "Tempest".
- Fixed the crash caused by "Draining Sigil".
- Fixed the crash caused by "Blood Spit".
- Fixed the crash caused by using "Forceful Slam" on the same turn as moving to another location.
- Fixed the incorrect duration of "Blood Craze".
- Fixed "Deadly Tail" still applying its outdated debuff.
- Fixed "Sudden Lunge" delivering a second strike while dual wielding.
- Fixed the possibility of reading already studied maps.
- Fixed "Seal of Shackles" not prolonging the duration of its effect when used again on the same target.
- Fixed the Leatherworking Workshop's Bailiff demanding a larger bribe even when presented with the Recommendation Letter.
- Fixed Guards not reacting to the first bow or crossbow shot taken at them.
- Fixed Runic Boulders not being destroyed when summoned on tiles with traps.
- Fixed "Ramming Charge" being listed as a Stance ability.
- Fixed the Ethnarch's Funeral Mask triggering only once per playthrough.
- Increased the chance of triggering damage types' special effects. Standardized the duration of said effects.
- Reduced the spawn chance for some high level enemies (including Brigand Mages, Sanguimages, and Murkstalkers).
- Antitoxin will now halve the duration of Hangovers.
- Fixed the bug causing equipment hovers to not display negative changes to stats if they were compensated by an enchantment.
- Fixed Turncoats dropping weapons that didn't match their sprite.
- Fixed Wolfhounds not having a "swimming" sprite.
- Fixed the sound effect of "Resonance" disappearing after moving to another location.
- Fixed the possibility of triggering multiple death animations at the same time when killing enemies with critical damage.
- Fixed the bug causing stolen items to change their settlement tag to a new one when placed in a container owned by another settlement.
- Fixed the sprite depth of destroyed Deathstinger Hives.
- Fixed collision issues with dry trees in the steppes.
- The game now correctly saves the color of blood splatters on the ground.
- The game now correctly saves the color of dropped potions.

[h3]0.8.2.4[/h3]

• Bleeding is now considered a Lingering effect (rather than Physical).
  
• Increased the base Cooldown Duration of "Draining Sigil".
  
• Increased the Revenant Commander's Cooldowns Duration coefficient.
  
• Adjusted the use conditions for "Necrophage": Ghouls will no longer consume corpses while at full Health.
  
• Fixed the Brander's pyres sometimes remaining lit even after his death.
  
• Fixed the bug causing some passive abilities to become unlearnt after sleeping.
  
• Fixed the crash caused by "Net Throw".
  
• Fixed the crash caused by "Incineration".
  
• Fixed the bug causing the player character to voice enemies' speech lines when applying them with Stun and Daze.

[h3]0.8.2.5[/h3]

• Fixed the crash caused by "Spectral Haunting".
  
• Possibly fixed the crash caused by "Web Spit".
  
• Fixed Geomancy boulders not applying targets with Daze upon knocking them back into objects.
  
• Fixed unique items being ignored in the Statistics if found outside of containers.
  
• The Statistics' time-tracking system should now correctly sum up hours into days.
  
• Lowered the spawn chance for some of the new enemy types.
  
• Reduced the impact of some conditions and actions on the low level brigands and ghouls' Will to FIght.
  
• Nerfed Murkstalkers.
  
• Adjusted cooldowns and Energy Costs for some enemy abilities.
  
• "Lesser Ritual of Resurrection" and "Greater Ritual of Resurrection" will now set the reanimated Undead's Armor
• Durability to 0% and put their abilities on cooldown.
  
• "Curse of Decay" should now correctly remove stacks of the effect after using any abilities, not just Attacks.
  
• Fixed Weber's "trading" dialogue option disappearing after the Ancient Troll's death .
  
• Fixed the bug with Knud and the Map of the Old Homestead Surroundings.
  
• Fixed the Atlas of Aldor granting 5% Energy Restoration instead of the listed 10%.
  
• Changed the Fatigue gain from using skills [1.5% > 2% of the used skill's Energy Cost] and spells [2.5% > 2% of the used spell's Energy Cost].
  
• Changed the Curse of Bloodlust [-25% > -20% Max Health] and the Curse of Madness [+5% > +7.5% Backfire Chance].
  
• Fixed technical tags and formulas being displayed in some of the enemy abilities' hovers.

[h3]0.8.2.6[/h3]

• Fixed the crash caused by "Stone Armor".
  
• Fixed the bug allowing animals to attack the player character without warning if they have already participated in a fight with another creature.
  
• Fixed "Push the Falling" prolonging the duration of "Confusion" by an incorrect number of turns.
  
• Fixed "Seal of Cleansing" not removing magical and elemental entities if they are located on the same tile as the caster.
  
• Fixed the interaction between "Seize the Initiative" and ranged weapons which allowed the skill to apply its effects with a second shot (after missing the first one).
  
• Fixed "Blood Craze" not having the max duration cap.
  
• Fixed the bug causing Wraiths to disappear when the player moves to another location or loads their save.
  
• Fixed the 6th strike of "Anthems of Bloodshed" granting its bonuses to nearby allies even after missing the target.
  
• Fixed the bug causing Ghouls to disappear if they use "Necrophage" while the player moves to another dungeon floor.
  
• Fixed the bug allowing to use the "Reload" action while the left weapon slot already contains a loaded crossbow.
  
• Fixed the overly high Attribute requirements for unlocking some of the staff skills: "Now or Never" and "Triumph".
  
• Fixed the bug causing enemies to hit themselves in certain situations.
  
• Slightly nerfed the Apostate miniboss.
  

[h2]MAIN CHANGES[/h2]

- Added 9 new enemy types: Accursed Ghast, Ancient Ghast, Putrid Restless Soldier (2H Axe, 2H Mace, and Halberd variants), Wraith Monk, Wraith Cleric, Wraith Squire, Wraith Sergeant, Wraith Templar, and Wraith Commander.
- Added 5 high level minibosses. Undead: Ritualist, Revenant Commander and Wraithbinder. Proselytes: Brander and Juggernaut.
- Added 12 new enemy abilities.
- Added paper maps. Using them creates an outline of a specified area on your global map. Paper maps can be purchased from elders and governors (additional maps become available after you reach Benevolence with their settlement) or found as random loot in Mannshire and Brynn dungeons.
- Added a new artifact: Barbados the Lame’s Atlas of Aldor. Just like other artifacts, it has a chance to appear in distant dungeons.
- Added a Statistics tab (can be accessed through the Journal menu).
- Refactored the passive abilities exclusive to the player character, which made it possible to assign them to enemies.
- Fully reworked the enemies’ Will to Fight mechanic. The new version basically works as a gauge that can be affected one way or another through a series of random checks. And once a creature’s Will to Fight drops to 0%, it is guaranteed to start fleeing.

The list of conditions and situations that can potentially affect a creature’s Will to Fight:

• The creature is high on Health (gradually restores the creature’s Will to Fight depending on its current amount of Health).
  
• The opponent is low on Health.
  
• The opponent is Injured, Bleeding, in Pain, or affected by certain other negative effects.
  
• There’s an ally within Vision (increases Will to Fight depending on the ally’s level).
  
• The creature is low on Health.
  
• There’s a significant level difference between the creature and the opponent.
  
• The level of the character’s equipment is much higher than the creature’s level.
  
• The creature is Injured, Bleeding, in Pain, or affected by certain other negative effects.
  
• The creature loses Health due to the opponent’s attacks and abilities.
  
• Allies receive Injuries within Vision.
  
• Allies start fleeing within Vision.
  
• Allies die within Vision (the impact depends on an ally’s level and whether their death was a result of a critical strike or miracle-casted spell.

[h2]GAMEPLAY AND BALANCE[/h2]

- Rebalanced most enemies to maintain their power on roughly the same level as it had been before they gained access to additional passive abilities.
- Rebalanced the Experience gain from killing most enemy types - high level enemies (and minibosses in particular) will now yield significantly more XP.
- Changed or updated the following enemy abilities: “Curse of Decay” (former “Curse”), “Curse of Agony” (former “Curse of Weakness”), “Desecration” (former “Bolt of Darkness”), “Unholy Blessing”, “Lesser Ritual of Resurrection” (former “Resurrection”), “Blasphemous Sigil” (former “Sigil of Darkness”), “Spectral Haunting” (former “Dispersal”), “Soul Sacrifice”, “Grave Chill”, “Sacrificial Blood”, “Mark of the Feast”, “Draining Sigil” (former “Vampiric Rune”), “Blood Scent”, “Neverending Torment”, “Taste for Flesh”, “Swarm”, “Loud Barking”.
- Changed the special effect of Unholy Damage: [chance to apply “Curse” > Health Replenishment].
- Changed the special effect of Sacred Damage [Health Replenishment > Energy Replenishment].
Added a new Reputation perk, “Specialty Goods”, which makes additional paper maps available for sale.
- “Deadly Tail”: swapped the chance to apply “Sacrificial Blood” with a chance to apply “Mark of the Feast”.
- “Net Throw”, “Bone Throw”, “Web Spit”, “Blood Spit” now use the missile mechanic, giving them a chance to miss their target.
- Made it possible to block and dodge Girruds’ skills.
- Updated the Stealing Mechanic: NPCs should no longer be able to detect you through walls.
- The Casket with St Wald’s Relics now grants immunity to an additional effect, “Curse of Agony”.

[h2]UI AND QOL[/h2]

- Rewrote enemy abilities’ hovers in accordance with the Equipment Update III standards. Added a dynamic display of scaleable stats to enemy abilities’ hovers (their relevant Accuracy and Damage Dealt, for example).
- You’ll now be able to see enemies’ Will to Fight while inspecting them.
- When inspecting enemies, their abilities will be displayed in a predetermined order rather than randomly.
- The Character Menu and Journal tabs will now retain the position of their sliders when reopened.
- Improved the Global Map optimization.

[h2]FIXES[/h2]

- Fixed the bug causing different enemy types to use the same basic Health Restoration value.
- Fixed some AoEs having dead zones.
- Fixed the inconsistent display of certain AoEs and ability trajectories for different character’s positions in relation to the target.
- Fixed the bug preventing negative Dodge Chance from increasing the Accuracy of incoming attacks.
- Fixed the bug which allowed Pain to exceed Pain Limit.
- Fixed the Anmarrak being able to use “Wide Swipe” while its Tentacle Hand is actively participating in combat.
- Fixed Harpies and some other enemies using incorrect animations after recovering from “Petrification”.
- Fixed “Lion Leap” granting the Manticore an unlisted Dodge Chance bonus.
- Fixed the incorrect interaction between the dual weapons’ Damage and “Residual Charge”.
- Fixed Immobilization, Stun, and other similar effects not being able to interrupt Charge skills.
- Fixed the incorrect description of one of the Brynn Reputation perks, “Better Gear”.
- Fixed “Cleaving Strike” granting an incorrect bonus to Counter Chance.
- Fixed the potential softlock caused by missed “Distracting Shot”.
- Fixed “Onslaught” having its Cooldown reduced by an incorrect number of turns after failing to knock the target back.
- Fixed “Mutilating Lunge” having its Cooldown reduced by an incorrect number of turns after failing to cause an Injury.
- Fixed the buggy interaction between “Courage” and counters.
- Fixed “From the Shadows” applying its debuff even after missing the target.
- Fixed the incorrect duration of “Endurance Training” bonuses.
- Fixed the incorrect duration of “Startling Volley” effects.
- Fixed the combination of “Mighty Kick” and “Push the Falling” not prolonging some of the debuffs it’s supposed to.
- Fixed the Codex of the Triple Hand Order granting its bonuses even when the Undead or Proselytes die without the player’s direct participation.
- Fixed the disappearance of certain effect animations after moving to another location.
- Fixed the “Knockback” pop-up hint.
- New sprites for some items.
- New visuals for some Necromancy-themed abilities.

Hello everyone!

The work on Rags to Riches continues as planned, and it’s already evident that it’ll be the largest update yet. Right now our hands are full with implementing a whole bunch of different mechanics: Caravan Upgrades, improved Dungeon Generation, reworked Contracts, Cooking, better pathfinding for enemies. Some time is also being spent on conceptualizing new features that will be introduced to the game after RtR. And if all goes well, we’ll soon release a couple more devlogs highlighting the Caravan System and Cooking, which are close to being finished.



But since everything else still requires more time in the oven, we decided to release yet another interim update that will include some of the content originally intended for Rags to Riches. So, what can you expect from the 0.8.2.0 content patch arriving in the next few weeks?

[h2]NEW ENEMIES[/h2]

It’s been a while since the Undead faction received an update. We want to amend this by adding 9 new basic enemies: high level Accursed and Ancient Ghasts, Putrid Restless, and 6 new types of Wraiths.



A large portion of the Undead-specific abilities was reworked and redistributed between the existing and new creatures. Our goal was to put a stronger emphasis on the interactions between the faction’s elite, Ghasts and Necromancers, and ordinary walking corpses, the latter serving as a disposable resource.



As an example, take a look at “Curse of Decay” and “Curse of Agony” (former “Curse” and “Curse of Weakness”):



New bosses. For quite some time, low level Necromancer minibosses had a chance to spawn even in high tier dungeons. It will be changed in this content patch by finally introducing powerful tier 3 Necromancers to Brynn Crypts. Distant dungeons will have their own mage miniboss too - Wraithbinder, who, as you may guess from his name, specializes in summoning Wraiths. Additionally, distant dungeons will have a chance to spawn the Revenant as a miniboss - long-dead commander of the Order, resurrected by unholy magic.



High level Restless will gain a new ability, “Death Grip”, designed to make them more of a threat during mid and late game - it has a chance to Immobilize the character and is even more dangerous when combined with the curses applied by Undead mages. Then there’s a cloud of foul miasma surrounding the Putred Restless - the effect is somewhat similar to Harpies’ “Unbearable Stench” but stronger.



Proselytes will receive two new minibosses, since their high level dungeons also lacked variety in that department. Very soon, the cult will be joined by the Brander - a versatile miniboss with a focus on debuffs and using fallen allies to his advantage - and the Juggernaut, whose strategy is to disable the opponent, then demolish them with devastating strikes.





[h2]MAPS[/h2]

Another important feature that will be included with the upcoming content patch is reimagined paper maps. Many of you may remember them being briefly present in the game when it just launched in EA. And now paper maps are finally making a return - combined with the Rumor System and hints about POIs’ location, their new purpose is to make the exploration easier and more enjoyable.



The mechanic itself is very simple: interacting with paper maps will allow your character to fill up the blanks on their Global Map, painting it with rough outlines of the terrain, roads, dungeons, and certain POIs that you are yet to discover. Camps, hunting grounds, abandoned carts, shrines, and other similar locations can’t be revealed this way and will need to be found through exploration or rumors.



Keep in mind: all paper maps had been created before Aldor was ravaged by the war. Consequently, many locations won’t look the same way as they are drawn on maps: Catacombs, for instance, will be depicted as perfectly intact chapels and monasteries rather than caved-in ruins. Any Points of Interest that didn’t exist before the war (such as the Siege Camp) or weren’t known to a cartographer (such as the Witch’s Hut) also won’t be present on paper maps.



Some paper maps will be purchasable from Elders after you reach Benevolence with their settlement, and you’ll receive a map of the Osbrook region after your first conversation with Verren. Finally, there’ll be maps depicting distant, sparsely-populated corners of the Brynn March, which will be obtainable as random loot in high level dungeons.

[h2]WILL TO FIGHT[/h2]

Will to Fight and a chance for enemies to flee are relatively old mechanics, first added with the Way Forward update. However, for a number of reasons, we weren’t particularly happy with how they turned out. This is why we decided to rework them by making the following adjustments:

- First of all, enemies’ Will to Fight will now be visible when inspecting them, providing you with a rough idea about how close they are to giving up and fleeing.



- Fleeing enemies will no longer try to repeatedly reengage the character only to start running away again.

- The overall system also became more deterministic. Instead of the chance to flee, affected by specific conditions, there will now be a depletable Will to Fight bar. The number of conditions influencing it was greatly expanded too: in addition to receiving damage, critical hits and Injuries, enemies’ Will to Fight can be swayed by the presence of nearby allies, them dying or fleeing, certain negative and positive effects, the player character’s equipment, and so on. We’ll share more details in the patch notes.

- At the same time, some conditions will actually give your opponents an advantage: if your character is Injured, Bleeding, or low on Health, the surrounding enemies’ Will to Fight will receive a boost, making them less likely to retreat.

- It’s a well-known issue that enemies can’t be chased after they flee to another map tile. Essentially, it all stems from the limitations imposed by the game’s engine - GMS can’t process events that happen outside the room or map tile occupied by the player character.

Our original plan was to fix it in this very patch by adding a system that would emulate the transition of enemies between map tiles. But after some deliberation, we decided it would be a better approach to combine the system with the existing mechanic that allows enemies to follow the player character between locations. On top of that, we want to lay down the groundwork for future Random Encounters, which will also require NPC routes to be simulated on the world map. Unfortunately, this kind of major rework would make the update incompatible with existing saves, so the chase mechanic has to be postponed until Rags to Riches.

[h2]STATISTICS[/h2]

This small but fun feature will allow you to quickly review your character's exploits. Here you'll find details about the most important aspects of your ongoing playthrough: from the time spent dungeon-crawling to the number of desecrated graves and the amount of money you spent on drugs.



That’s all for now. Until next time!