Hello Heroes!
As the Mist is getting closer every Night, the update shines bright through the darkness! Have you been able to complete Gildenberg and its 7 Nights yet?
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1105670/view/3133947998942677988
Today, Robin & Victor talk you through the analysis of this major update by giving you the whys & hows! Let's dive into it!
PERKS REWORK
Reworking the perk system
Last month on the Open Beta branch, we released a major update that changed the perk tree generation system. Before that, the tree was fixed and identical for all heroes.
Each hero is now given their own tree. Perks are divided into thematic collections, presented as columns of 5 perks (1 per tier). It involves randomness, the content of each tree being determined at the time of the Hero's generation:
- Some specific collections are not always present.
- Main collections are always there, but behind the scenes they have several possible perks for each Tier, so the result will be different between Heroes.
But why did we choose to do this? There are mainly two observations that led us to this decision.
Firstly, the old system was not flexible enough to add content. When we tried to create more perks, we quickly got stuck. With a fixed tree common to all Heroes, we couldn't afford to increase the number of perks infinitely, or else we'd make it very difficult for the player to choose a perk each time there was up a level. This also could result in a rather cluttered interface.
Secondly, and this is related to the previous observation, we were having a hard time implementing our intention to offer as many varied builds for the Heroes.
We had multiple goals in mind while designing this new perk system:
- Add more variety to enhance the rogue-like feeling.
- Encourage players to experiment more.
- Develop a system with more iterative potential than the previous one.
Note: When starting a new campaign, two of the columns will not be available from the get-go and need to be unlocked.
Reworking and tweaking existing perks and creating new ones
However, the system itself was not the only problem we wanted to address. We also found, and many players also pointed this out, that the quality of the perks themselves was heterogeneous, implying a content related issue.
Therefore, we did two things:
- Many perks previously featured in the game have either been reworked, tweaked or removed.
- New perks have been created, increasing the total from 40 to 75.
We didn't aim to make them all exciting by themselves, but we tried to increase the amount of exciting ones nonetheless. One axis we wanted to push were the potential synergies that the player could create.
Of course, with such an increased number of perks combined with a new system, the result can’t be considered perfect straight away, the idea is also to make the content more refined as we go forward, especially via balancing patches. So, your feedback matters!
Imagining new mechanics
Creating new perks was an opportunity to imagine new game mechanics. It goes along with the desire to create diversity in the way Heroes are played, not just in the choice of weapons.
Limiting randomness
In the old perk system, perks like "As Swift As the Wind" or the old "Energized" relied on a random chance to apply their effect.
Although the idea is not necessarily irrelevant, for this release we wanted to try to find more reliable alternatives for the players.
One approach we've been exploring quite a bit are counters. This principle had not been really exploited in the game before, but we believe that it is a viable way to increase the possibilities in terms of conditions.
Giving better information on perks
One thing that made the perk system unattractive was the lack of information. In the heat of the moment, it was especially easy to overlook it, beyond the most obvious effects.
In the perk tooltip, you can now view the real, dynamic value of the granted bonuses. This comes in handy if you want to have a clear idea of what a perk actually provides before and after you unlock it.
Perks providing a skill also show a preview of the one your Hero will get to add to their kit.
Adding new HUD elements
Above the skill bar, perks are now visible, which allows you to have a clear view of your Hero's build at all times. This new display also provides other features: conditional activation, highlighting when using a skill, dynamic bonus value, decremental counter, range on hover…
We also used this opportunity to display the current alterations of the selected unit. This is shown on both heroes and enemies.
NEW EARLY GAME MAPS
The Last Spell is a rather challenging game, and starting the game to immediately be given the daunting task of “finishing Lakeburg” can easily be discouraging. This is why we wanted to create intermediate maps that players would be able to complete without having to grind the Oraculum too much, giving short term goals that are attainable.
Additionally, we reworked the order and conditions of quite a lot of upgrades and unlocks. Our philosophy for upgrades is to not make them gatekeep-y, and having more maps with varying difficulties helps a lot. Veteran tactical players probably won’t need upgrades to beat the first maps, but they can really help players who are nearly there and still want to discover what’s up ahead!
Smoothing out the progress through the early stages of the game also allowed us to get a better idea of where we are headed with the general design of the maps and the storytelling of the game (keep in mind, Lakeburg was meant to be the only map at first, and last for 30 days!). Even if these maps are aimed towards new players, they let us experiment things that will help us make the next maps even more interesting.
Having multiple maps with different durations, layouts and waves has opened up a lot of “design space” for us, since some strategies will be more effective on some maps than others, instead of having to all compete on a single map. But without further ado, let’s talk about the maps themselves:
Tutorial: Swampfurt
Swampfurt is a map that will act as a tutorial for beginners. This small town is only connected to land through two wooden bridges, making it an easy place to defend. However, the magic circle does not seem as perfected as the ones in other cities… will this turn out well ?
For this map, we wanted newer players to be able to focus on the basics of combat first, without worrying about long term planning too much, so the map only lasts for one night and one day. After a few turns of the second night, a special cutscene will take place and players will be taken to the Oraculum. Forced losses can be frustrating, but with the previous version for the game, some players would try their hardest to win their first run only to discover that they were meant to lose and unlock upgrades, and that was even more frustrating.
The playable area is similar to a big corridor, making it easy to focus on the basics of the game like movement, AP, vision and enemy behavior. This is a map layout that could only work in the tutorial, because it would be way too easy to defend with some Oraculum progress, even against very strong enemies.
Gildenberg
Gildenberg is an abandoned mine, hidden deep inside the mountains. The natural obstacles make it a great place to defend against the hordes.
For Gildenberg, the objective was to make a map that would be easier to finish than Lakeburg. However, we didn’t want to just take Lakeburg and reduce the number of enemies: The Last Spell is a game about fighting hordes of enemies!
To achieve this goal, we had to find other ways to make the map less challenging. The biggest factor is that the map lasts for only seven nights. This puts less pressure on the economy or having to keep up with the number of enemies and their scaling.
Talking about enemies, the waves in Gildenberg are way less random than in Lakeburg, and features fewer types of enemies, so players will quickly know what to expect and learn to counter it.
Finally, the general layout of the map should make it easier to defend the haven : There are only three sides to defend, and there is a greater distance between the fog and the haven, making it harder for enemies to reach your Magic Circle. Additionally, a lot of obstacles will slow enemies down without hindering the vision of your heroes.
Even if the map is easier than Lakeburg, it still has most of The Last Spell’s challenges, so even veteran players should be able to enjoy a few runs on Gildenberg - especially when playing without most of the meta upgrades, or with apocalypses on.
OTHER
Reworking Opportunistic and Isolated
A smaller but still noteworthy rework concerns the attributes formerly named "Opportunistic" and "Isolated". The problem with them was relatively simple: they were too situational compared to others.
“Opportunistic” and “Isolated” are now applied to all attacks. They have been renamed as “Opportunism” and “Isolation” respectively and are now using a base-100 value (default: 100%) just like Damage and Critical Power.
Whenever your Hero's Opportunism or Isolation value is above 100%, they get bonus damage when the conditions are met, no matter what attack they use.
The corresponding skill effects (which were previously mandatory for a skill to benefit from those damage bonuses) are now referred to as “Opportunism Multiplier” and “Isolation Multiplier” and work just as advertised: the corresponding attribute's value is multiplied for this attack.
For example, if my Hero has 110% Opportunism and their skill has an Opportunism Multiplier x2, then during the attack the Opportunism attribute will be considered to have a value of 220%.
Reworking these attributes was in line with our goal to increase the possibilities for Heroes in terms of perks.
Repairable traps
One thing you may have noticed is that, previously, traps were the only buildings built by the player that could not be "repaired".
This was initially done to create a "disposable" side to them, but it could also make them more frustrating to use compared to ballistae and catapults.
Furthermore, it was not very practical that the only way to ensure that a trap had all its charges at the beginning of a night was to destroy an already activated trap and replace it with a new one.
So we decided that traps can now be repaired in exchange for materials.
Also, traps cost a few materials more than before but do not disappear anymore when they are depleted. This way they can be repaired at a lower cost (just like other buildings) rather than having to rebuild new ones for the original cost.
And that's a wrap for today! It was a long but well detailed post and we hope it was an interesting one for you! Tell us your opinion in the comments about the new update, we always welcome new feedbacks!
We are doing our best every day to bring you fixes & updates as soon as we can, even though unfortunately sometimes it can take a little bit longer than expected.
Have a great day, but more importantly great runs on these maps!
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