August 2026 Development Update - Introducing: The Grimoire
FELLOW KVLTISTS Hope this post finds you well. As we mentioned last month, we wanted to introduce you to the newest Weapon in KVLT: The Grimoire . So, this month's post is going to be all about it. The Grimoire Lore & Fantasy The Grimoire is an ancient tome that Lazar found a
FELLOW KVLTISTS
Hope this post finds you well.
As we mentioned last month, we wanted to introduce you to the newest Weapon in KVLT: The Grimoire. So, this month's post is going to be all about it.
The Grimoire Lore & Fantasy
The Grimoire is an ancient tome that Lazar found and has kept for a long, long time. It contains instructions on how to cast and wield forgotten spells.
During the campaign of KVLT, Lazar will find an ancient and long-lost arcane scripture that allows the wielder to summon creatures from another world. These creatures can then be unleashed as spells while wielding the Grimoire.
(Grimoire concept art piece by Juancho Riveros)
The origin of these creatures is unknown, but they certainly don't look like they're from our planet.
They are extremely aggressive. They can fly and move at high speeds, but the most terrifying part is that they will always seek out a host to infest.
(Grimoire creatures shape and colour exploration concept art piece by Juancho Riveros)
The Design Behind The Grimoire
For each weapon in KVLT, we wanted to try designing something slightly different from what you would normally find in an FPS, or at the very least, portray it through the tone and fantasy of KVLT as faithfully as possible.
You can see this in the Obrez, which is both a regular pistol and, in its Enchanted Fire mode, a railgun. You can also see it in the Combat Shotgun, which doubles as an arcane grenade launcher.
But the Grimoire is different.
We wanted to try our hand at something that wasn't present in the rest of KVLT's arsenal: a Utility Weapon.
You might be wondering, what do we mean with "utility"?
Well, you see: every single Weapon in KVLT´s arsenal is essentially a tool that will optimize encounters under the right circumstances.
The Obrez's Enchanted Fire allows you to snipe enemies from afar, as long as your aim is good enough, or even hit multiple enemies in a line.
The Combat Shotgun allows you to excel at close range and deal with groups of enemies using its explosive Enchanted Fire. It can also deny space with the damage-over-time effect left behind by the flames after the projectile explodes.
These weapons all do the same thing in different ways: They inflict lots of damage.
And while the Grimoire can certainly hit hard under the right circumstances, dealing damage wasn't our highest priority when designing it.
Regular Fire
As mentioned above, the Grimoire spawns a creature that will seek out a target. If it hits an enemy, it will then "infest" them, becoming a furuncle on their body, ready to explode.
But this is where the utility comes in...
If an enemy becomes sufficiently infested, meaning they have enough furuncles attached to their body, they will be slowed down dramatically. This can be incredibly useful when dealing with several enemies at once.
And it doesn't stop there.
If the projectile doesn't hit an enemy, the creature can instead attach itself to almost any surface in the game. Yes, including things you can pick up and throw, like an explosive barrel.
Enchanted Fire
Press the Enchanted Fire button while there are any Furuncles present, and they will detonate remotely, exploding and dealing a small amount of damage within a radius.
Congratulations: You've just built your own biological explosive barrel.
Ammo and Reloading
In order to provide utility at any given point in time, and given the magical nature of this weapon, the Grimoire doesn't use regular ammunition. Instead, it consumes your own Eldritch Energy.
So while this weapon can be extremely valuable in combat, you'll need to keep a close eye on your energy consumption at all times.
Homing Behavior
As we already mentioned, the creatures spawned by the Grimoire are vicious.
They will seek out a suitable host, and once they find one, they will relentlessly follow them until they can infest them.
This makes the Grimoire especially useful against enemies that are difficult to reach, such as Snipers, or enemies that are constantly on the move.
Utility
Besides slowing enemies down, you can use Furuncles to set up defensive plays like the following one.
Oh, and some enemies might drop special pickups when infested.
So that's something you'll want to keep your eyes peeled for...
We hope you're as excited as we are about this weapon, and please drop any comments and thoughts below.
And as always, feel free to join our discord server if you want to have a chat with the community and the dev team, share feedback, etc.
And remember...
