Hello, Fellow Arkers!
I am Hyung Ju Lee, the leading developer of Chrono Ark.
Let me briefly introduce the upcoming v1.7 update that covers the Twisted Land.
(The actual content might differ from the peek.)
1. Object Improvement
This is the main improvement of the Twisted Land update and includes the most changes.
First of all, the player could not choose the objects that appeared on the field. The number of them was also not that many.
After the Twisted Land update, the player can choose one out of two for all event objects except the shops and chest rooms.
This adjustment has been made to give the player more choices to create more unique gameplays as they insist.
We plan to add more objects to the previous pool of less than 10 to create additional variables during the gameplay. There will be new mechanics added for this.
Also, you can combine items at the campfire instead of the blacksmith to lower the dependency on the blacksmith.
Object Summary
There will be about 40 event objects. Let's go over some of them briefly.
The Fallen Library
- You can enchant equipment up to 2 times.
There are no other functions like changing a skill book into a scroll.
This is an example where the purpose of previous objects has become more straightforward and more transparent.
The Maid’s Quarter
- You can battle with maids and receive a skill book - Healing 101.
It is a battle object that can only be encountered at Stage 1.
battle objects have more serious difficulty compared to a normal encounter. Sometimes, an Elite Monster for the Object can appear.
Also, you cannot gain a Soulstone from the special battle.
(New Monster added to the previous Stages)
Sanctum of Sword of the Forest
- A sanctum with graves of Sir Dorchis from the older generations.
- You can pull out equipment, Sword of the Forest.
- The only boss of this Stage will always be 'Sir Dorchi.'
It is a special object that only appears after Stage 1-2, where you complete the Sir Dorchi quest.
There are objects where you can receive a fixed reward with a higher risk under specific conditions.
Of course, Sir Dorchi will no longer appear as a regular boss as this new event object is added. It will be more challenging to beat Sir Dorchi.
Casino
- You can play a minigame by pressing a key at the right timing to receive an item.
The Trials
Five objects are counted as The Trials in the Twisted Land. They appear randomly as other objects do.
The Trials are the objects to challenge your party. There is no risk of trying the Trials since the player will return to the pre-battle moment after the battle. However, the Trials are tricky objects to pass that require every strategy you can use.
Trial of Wisdom
- Challenge your deck and receive the reward if passed.
The player will be able to choose one of the conditions below.
(Except Lucy's skills)
- Pass if the sum of the costs of 6 skills drawn
- Pass if you draw 2+ skills that apply Pain Debuff out of 6 skills drawn
There are various conditions like the above.
Trial of Power
- The player enters a battle with an enemy that doesn't have HP nor take any action.
- Pass if the total damage dealt for three turns is above a certain amount.
The maximum total damage dealt will be recorded after every Trial of Power.
Trial of Time
- Trial of Time activates when the player enters a battle with a boss of the Stage.
- Pass if the player defeats the boss in a certain amount of time.
- The timer doesn't tick during the attack effect or the enemy turn.
As we have mentioned before, The Trials are one of the event objects. All objects will have two choices for the player to choose from. You can decide to pick Trial of Time if you want a more challenging boss battle. Otherwise, you can go with another Trial if you're going to play the game while thinking carefully. We have decided to give the player choices to build unique and fun objects depending on their playstyle. This allows the game to have a variety of designs and fun on the objects.
Trial of Courage
- Pass if the player survives for three turns from powerful attack moves.
Trial of Chaos
- Pass if you meet a special condition during the next battle.
Due to the object improvements, there will be minor changes on obtaining items(potions, equipment, relics, Golden Skill Book, etc.) due to the object improvements. There will be new unique items added like Golden Apple.
3. The Sanctuary
Stage 4, The Sanctuary, will go through adjustments due to the object improvements.
The Sanctuary will be the Stage where the player can use the accumulated keys and Gold and collect even more items.
4. Active Items
There will be various elements added that the player can utilize to build the team by adding multiple objects.
Active items are one of them.
Active items are items that the player can use during combat. They can be used for a certain number and are rechargeable.
Active items can be activated when you equip them at the right side of the Inventory slot.
Lucy's Necklace and Charon's Soul Thurible will be regarded as special items to be used from the Inventory as before.
Active items' effects can vary from Draw 1 skill or Restore 1 Mana to dealing damage to an enemy depending on current active buffs. We will add some mechanics to the game where the player can play around with certain active items.
5. Lucy’s Curse Skill
Some new objects can expose the player to various risks.
One of them is Lucy's Curse Skill.
Heavy Bag - Cost 5 Mana. It cannot be Played.
Lousy Reflex - Exclude, Cannot be Played, Place this skill at the top of the deck at the start of each battle.
We will add various other Curse Skills.
6. Skill Upgrade & Downgrade
The player can give a special effect to skills for the run by upgrading them.
- Cost one more Mana but cast twice.
- (Can be upgraded if Pressel is in the party) 50% bonus effect if drawn by Prophecy.
- (Can be upgraded if Charon is in the party) Give one stack of Encroachment to a target.
We will add various skill upgrade effects other than the above.
However, skills can be Cursed and get downgraded.
- Increase Count by 1.
- Remove Swiftness.
- Cost one more Mana.
- Give Exclude.
Skills that are upgraded or downgraded cannot be discarded in a usual way. They also cannot become a Fixed Ability.
7. Potion Improvements
Potion Identification and Potions that increase a particular ability are removed.
Potions have a more substantial effect overall. They are now more suitable in an emergency. A variety of potions are added.
The player can now only use at most three potions in a battle.
This limit is due to the more substantial effects of potions. Now the player can use other new consumables or active items, so we had to balance out the overall game difficulty on the deck, party, and active items.
New potion mechanics are designed to maintain the game balance and be more flexible than capping the number of potions in the Inventory.
There will be new elements such as event objects and special items like Golden Apple that buff a specific ability for the run since the buff potions are removed.
There are many minor changes for this update, but please understand us for not going through all of them!
6.UI Improvements
There will be various improvements to the user interface.
This v1.7 update includes the most significant adjustments so far. Please understand that it takes longer than usual!
Development Roadmap after v1.7 Update
We plan to create the hidden Stage for the True Ending and plots first after the v1.7 Update.
(The concept art of the hidden Stage: The Crimson Wilderness)
(The battle stage of the Forgotten King that We will add in the v1.8 Update)
We will complete the roguelike portion of the game, including the True Ending and the endgame contents after the v1.7 Update. We will move on to additional elements afterward.
The brief development roadmap is as follows:
6 Different Storyline Cutscenes
A New Hidden Stage - The Crimson Wilderness
The Final Stage - ???
The Final Boss - ???
(The above will be developed as our priorities)
The Chrono Ark development team, including myself, truly loves this game. We keep trying to build a more fun game and polish more elements of it.
Thank you all for waiting for the game to be completed.
Additional Elements after the Final Contents
The additional contents after the final contents are as follows:
(We can change this depending on the development process. )
New Attack Idle of a Monster
New Investigation Member - Ilya
New Character Skin (All character's skins will be added as the game's official launch.)
We are preparing many elements other than the above, so please hang in there patiently!