The Iron Oath News

Hello mercenaries!

To ensure quality with our future patches, we've created a new 'Public Test Branch' where you can opt in and help us test and give feedback on new changes before they go live. We'll likely be doing this with every regular patch going forward.

To opt in: Go to your Steam Library, right click The Iron Oath and select Properties. From there, go to the Betas tab and select "Public test branch" from the drop down menu.

You can use your current save on the test branch, but you will need to first copy over the file. Navigate to: "C:\Users\Your Name\AppData\LocalLow\Curious Panda Games\The Iron Oath", and copy your save file from the "saves" folder into the "testBranch_saves" folder.

We plan to push this patch to the live branch a little later this week (if all seems well). Thank you and we hope you enjoy the changes!



[h2]New additions[/h2]

• You can now repair gear from the management menu by using resources (such as Iron, Scrap, Wood, etc)
  
• Additionally, you can repair gear at a city's Market by spending coin (eventually this will be moved to a Blacksmith screen in the city)
  
• The Market screen now displays your roster and their gear, allowing you to easily compare gear in the market to what they have equipped
  
• Added a new UI element in the overworld to indicate when your next salary payment is due - you can hover this to see a detailed breakdown of all upcoming salary payments for the next year
  
• You can now set a frame rate cap in the video settings tab
  

[h2]Fixes[/h2]

• The Blighted Hulk will no longer cause a crash if they charge into an ice pit hazard
  
• Fixed a typo in the skeleton revive warning - it now will say 'Revives in 1 Round' instead of 'Revives in 1 Turn'
  
• Fixed a bug that occurred when opening the customization screen for a character from the party select screen prior to entering a dungeon
  
• The Hunger time modifier now works as described and characters lose Morale for every traversed tile, not Loyalty
  
• Burn immunity now properly works on units designated with it (like Charions)
  
• You can no longer click to attack an enemy with a taunted character (there was a very small window where it was possible to do so in addition to the forced attack from the taunt)
  
• While in dungeons, closing the provisions menu while hovering over an ability will no longer make the tooltip get stuck on screen
  
• Fixed an issue where resources in towns were not being saved properly
  
• Fixed an issue where you could reset an item's durability in a dungeon if you saved/loaded and then re-equipped the item
  
• Fixed a visual bug where it appeared that a character was being duplicated when completing the Strength and Numbers quest
  
• Fixed a bug where enemy channels weren't properly being interrupted from push/pull effects
  
• Culling Blades (spawned by the Spectral Reaper) now have a tooltip
  

[h2]Changes[/h2]

• The frame rate during the boot sequence is now capped to prevent certain issues
  
• Duplicate resources are now stacked in the Market
  
• The tooltips of all City Events have been updated to show all the modifiers associated with it
  
• Any City Event that affects the market will trigger an automatic update to prices and goods available
  
• With repairing now in place, the 'Forging' upgrade has been reduced to 20%, 35%, 50% (from 50%, 75%, 100%)
  
• To make deaths more meaningful, if a character dies their gear will also be lost
  
• Added buttons to 'Apply' and 'Undo' when researching company upgrades
  
• Added a maximum stack count for items in storage (this won't take effect for existing items)
  
• Moved the Deployment Phase graphic at the start of combat so it no longer covers your target's health bar
  

[h2]Balance[/h2]

• When a new Time Modifier is applied, your party will now lose 10 Morale instead of 5 (it was too easy to maintain full Morale - we'll likely be making more adjustments to Morale gains/losses in the future)
  
• You can no longer ambush, or be ambushed by bosses (ambushing a boss could make a difficult fight trivial, and being ambushed by one was extremely punishing)
  

[h2]Notes[/h2]

• Resources and items in cities might be incorrect until the cities refresh (this might take a few months of in-game time)
  
• Old gear from previous saves should be updated to reflect new changes (they should also have full durability)
  

Hello mercenaries!

We've just pushed out a new update with a good mix of fixes and changes. Be sure to update your game! Repairing gear didn't make it into this update, but we have implemented it on our end - it just needs a bit more testing before we push it live with next week's patch.



[h2]Fixes[/h2]

• Enemies can no longer use melee attacks while out of range of their target
  
• Lightning attacks will no longer critically strike wet targets (they only receive +50% damage)
  
• The Dreadknight's Pull of the Void ability now has a tooltip describing its effects (adjacent targets are Rooted)
  
• When zooming in on characters at the edge of the map, the camera will no longer glitch out trying to center them
  
• The Pyromania buff now expires properly
  
• Skeleton bone piles can no longer be feared
  
• The correct playtime is now displayed on files that have over 60 hours
  
• Fixed a rare crash that occurred when a House Skirmisher began combat on a certain tile in the marsh environment
  
• Duplicate quests will no longer spawn at the same time in cities
  
• If a character somehow gets onto an invalid hex at the start or end of their turn, they will be teleported to the nearest valid hex
  
• Certain quests were completing when entering the wrong city - this should hopefully be resolved now
  

[h2]Additions & Changes[/h2]

• The turn order is now visible during the deployment phase
  
• You can now hold Tab to display all hexes on the field during deployment and combat
  
• Ultra wide support has been added
  
• Retina display support added for Mac
  
• You can now see the blue 'pips' that represent ability charges while camping, and also in the level up screen
  
• The Pyrolancer's Fuelled by Fire passive ability now has a status icon to indicate how much of a buff they are receiving
  
• Changed the goal for the Eradicate Voidspawn quest so it triggers a mission complete after beating the boss, instead of needing to clear every battle in the dungeon
  
• Completing a quest objective now adds 240 days to its expiration time, giving you plenty of time to return to your employer
  
• Added an option to disable screen shake effects
  
• The bottom edge of some combat areas are now treated like a wall, allowing you to push targets into it and trigger bonus damage
  
• You can now change your company's name in the history section of the management menu
  
• The price of resources (Wood, Iron, etc) have been changed across the board and are now more valuable
  
• Added a new Cloth resource, exported by the city of Athirton
  
• Adjusted the durability and cost of most gear in preparation for the upcoming repair mechanic
  

[h2]Balance[/h2]

• Increased the Defense (+3) and Evasion (+2) stats of the Tower Shield
  
• Increased the fire terrain duration from the Pyrolancer's Wildfire ability to 8 turns (from 5)
  
• The Wildfire upgrades for duration now increase it by 2 (from 1)
  
• Changed the weighting of the 'Disorganized' time modifier so it can no longer trigger early on in a dungeon
  

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In order for us to keep track of community suggestions, we have created a Featurebase page where you can request features to be added to the game. Going forward, we will be using this list to decide what to include in our regular patches, with the most upvoted suggestions getting priority. If there's something you want to see in the game, please submit it here. You can post and upvote anonymously, or sign in with your Discord account.

You can hardly move for mercenary companies these days. At the entrance to every monster den, and parked outside every bandit camp, are countless bands of blades for hire, all bickering over who gets to claim the bounty. Early access RPG The Iron Oath is the latest game tapping into this trend, and you won't be surprised to learn it drops you in a medieval fantasy world, with frequent bouts of tactical, turn-based combat...
Read more.

Hey everyone! On Saturday we hotfixed an issue where a softlock would commonly occur when fighting Hoarwulfs (particularly when your characters became frozen). This morning's patch will fix a few other common bugs that were reported over the weekend.



[h2]Fixes[/h2]

• Fixed an issue that could occur when loading a save while the dialogue event window was open
  
• Fixed a soft lock that could occur when the Huntress performed an Attack of Opportunity
  
• Fixed a crash that could occur if you managed to get in a state where a character had fewer abilities equipped than required
  
• Certain conditions will no longer be removed when a target is knocked back (this was commonly seen with the Crippling Force stun upgrade)
  
• Temporarily disabled the falling rock hazards as they are causing a rare soft lock (will re-enable this in one of the upcoming patches)
  
• Characters generated above level 1 were sometimes not spending all of their ability points, resulting in them having less than they should (this has been fixed retroactively, so you may notice that some of your characters have points to spend)
  
• Shortcut number keys now work on the contract renewal screen
  
• Fixed an issue where the 'Barkeep's Husband' quest would not complete (if you currently have this issue, you should now be able to turn it in)
  
• Retroactively fixed a rare issue where the Path of Vengeance quests for Westmire or Redlands weren't being added to your active quest list
  

Hello mercenaries! Today's patch is a pretty big one with many bug fixes, balance changes, and QoL features (like skipping the prologue!). Be sure to update your client.

Going forward, our plan is to patch as needed on Fridays. Next week we'll be focusing on three commonly requested things: repairing gear, comparing items in the market to equipped gear, and the ability to see when your merc's salary payments are due (so you can plan accordingly). Here are the patch notes for this week:



[h2]Fixes[/h2]

• The damage from Burns now increases based on the number of stacks applied
  
• You can no longer cycle through temporary allies when viewing character sheets within party select (there was a crash you could trigger during the final fight of the prologue by doing this)
  
• Dismissing characters from the company will now update the UI to accurately reflect the current number of active units
  
• Dismissing characters from the company will now properly pay them the coin required to do so
  
• Available contracts in a city will no longer change upon leaving and re-entering the city, or saving and loading
  
• When an enemy is rooted, they will no longer pass on their turn if they have a viable target to attack
  
• The Huntress' Overwatch upgrade that increases its range to 3 is now working as intended
  
• Fixed a bug where if the Huntress killed an enemy with Overwatch, the next 2 enemies would take their turn at the same time
  
• If the target of the Guardian's Judgment ability dies, the channel will be aborted
  
• The number of stacks for the Guardian's Radiance passive is now properly displayed on the status icon
  
• When exiting a dungeon, the dungeon details tooltip will no longer get stuck on screen if you happened to be mousing over it as the overworld loaded
  
• Spectral Weepers will no longer fear their own allies
  
• The control maps for Wait and Guard are now shown correctly in the Options menu
  
• You can now open the escape menu in areas you previously could not (during AI turns in combat, and during dialogue events)
  
• The Charion Behemoth's death animation is now visible
  
• Channel length now updates properly in the ability's tooltip when upgraded (note: the initial channel length of some abilities is still off - this is being investigated)
  
• Can now enable debug settings by setting the value for DebugEnabled to True in the config file
  
• Skeletons that are summoned by necromancers will not be able to act until the next round of combat
  
• The point cost of incenses are now displayed in the company upgrades screen
  
• The Resuscitate upgrade for Healing Trance now works properly (previously it would only restore bleedout points if the target was knocked down)
  
• Re-enabled the Dreadknight's Pull of The Void ability
  
• The House Skirmisher should now deploy their Spearwall ability a bit more intelligently (The Skirmisher's AI still needs some fine tuning though)
  
• Fixed a scripting error that displayed a character's name as "0" during the introduction of the 'Direct Action' quest
  
• You can now target Sleeping allies with a Basic Attack in order to wake them up
  
• Certain Noble quests will no longer crash upon accepting them
  
• When loading a save file, the encumbered icon will no longer display unless you are actually encumbered
  
• Potentially fixed a crash that could occur when a player character died with certain buffs/debuffs applied to them
  
• Fixed a potential crash when channeling certain abilities
  
• The Risen Bonecrusher's Shield Bash attack will no longer Stun the target if they evade it
  
• After Waiting with a character, you will no longer be able to Wait a second time in the same round (doing so previously would forfeit their turn)
  
• The Stormcaller's Rainfall ability no longer applies multiple instances of wet terrain on a single cell
  
• Fixed a soft lock that could occur if all party members died except for one who was charmed
  
• The damage previews for Skewer, Sweeping Spear, and Holy Barrage now work
  
• The Wet debuff has been altered to do 50% bonus damage, instead of a forced critical (there still is an issue where units that run through wet terrain are not given the debuff)
  
• When using the Huntress' Hone and Overwatch abilities, you are now required to target the Huntress in order to use them (no more misclicks!)
  
• Potentially fixed an issue where characters of the same class could have different base Speed values
  
• Fixed an issue where a character who was 'Waiting' as the previous fight ended would incorrectly start the next fight at the back of the turn order
  

[h2]Additions and Changes[/h2]

• When starting a new campaign, you can now choose to skip the entire prologue, giving you immediate freedom of where to go
  
• Added a large font option for dialogue
  
• Holding spacebar will now quickly skip through all dialogue, only pausing when there are multiple dialogue choices available
  
• You can now close the dungeon provisions window by hitting the same key used to open it
  
• Added a new company upgrade called Draft Horses which increases your available storage space
  
• Your storage space now defaults to a capacity of 25, with all items contributing to it regardless of their type (previously it was based on whether or not you were encumbered in a single category)
  
• Added a Scouting Report to the party select screen, displaying which enemies you can potentially face (currently this only works for dungeons, not overworld encounters)
  
• You can now see the environment/tileset during the party select screen
  
• During the party select screen, you can now view the character sheet for people that are already assigned to the party without having to first remove them (hover their portrait to bring up the button)
  
• A skull will now display over an enemy's health bar to indicate if the attack will be a killing blow (in addition to the red glow we previously had)
  
• Enemy groupings are now more varied with a few other enemies mixed in (where it makes sense to do so)
  

[h2]Balance[/h2]

• The frequency of overworld encounters has been reduced, but have been made more difficult (more enemies)
  
• Removed the temporary immunity that was applied to your characters when they were repeatedly afflicted with the same status effect
  
• The Stormcaller's Wind Surge ability now cleanses all negative conditions (instead of only a few specific ones)
  
• The Stormcaller's Rainfall now heals for a small amount over time (in addition to its previous effects)
  
• The Pugilist's 'Mind, Body and Soul' ability now heals for a small amount (in addition to its previous effects)
  
• The Valkyrie's Skewer has had its damage reduced from 135% to 125% (based on Power)
  
• The Valkyrie's Sweeping Spear has been buffed from 100% to 135%
  
• The Huntress' True Sight ability no longer requires line of sight to the target and has infinite range
  
• The Pyrolancer's Return To Cinder ability now does damage equal to 60% of Power, increased from 20%
  
• The damage of the Pyrolancer's Infernal Pillar ability has been reduced to 150% of Power, down from 175%
  
• The damage shield granted by the Guardian's Safeguard ability is now 50% more
  

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Yesterday we did a live interview with the Escapist for their 'Design Delve' segment where we discussed the game's inspirations, design choices, and different aspects of its development. We had a lot of fun doing it and you can check it out below:
[previewyoutube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4oxL8KWojc[/previewyoutube]

We hope you all have a great weekend!