Greetings adventurers!
Today's game update delivers a wide variety of quality of life changes, adjustments to gameplay and dialogue, and a host of bugfixes. Here are some highlights, with a full list further below:
New QoL Features - Bestiary & Action Bar
We've added a new search bar for looking up bestiary entries, and you may now cycle through your various action bars to change their priority.
Review of Main Quest Dialogue and Cinematics
As some of the earliest content created for the game, we've reviewed and edited the texts and cinematics of the main quest line; changes are mostly subtle and the core experience remains unaltered, only delivery of the dialogue has been smoothened or clarified in places for an improved experience.
Modding: File Overrides
Modders may now employ override files to make changes to the game without fear of those changes getting reset after every official update. More on that below.
Hostile NPC Changes and Adjustments
Many hostile npcs in the world had inconsistent or nominal combat stats, we've combed through those and applied stats in a way that follows a consistent logic. Fair warning, some encounters have become quite a bit more dangerous due to this, and future adjustments may still be warranted.
Additionally, we made adjustments to the bandit fortress in an effort to prevent respawns on top of players overwhelming them in a frustrating way.
Below is the comprehensive list of changes.
Modding Improvements
File Overrides
You can now override entries from the original XML files using additional XML files. This means you no longer have to modify the base game files, which get reset after every update.
Simply create a new XML file and copy the entry you want to modify (such as a weapon or item) using the same `id`, then adjust its stats or values. The new entry will automatically override the original one in-game.
Currently supported override files:
Items
Npcs
Quests
Shops
Harvestables
New Visual Copy Attributes
Added new attributes that let you reuse the visual appearance of another item or NPC.
In items and npcs XML files, you can now use the `model` attribute to copy another entry’s visuals.
For items, this copies the inventory icon and 3D model.
For npcs, this copies the visual appearance of the referenced NPC.
Patch Notes
Reviewed and edited dialogue files and cinematics across the main quest line for a smoother experience.
Eloria no longer advises to seek a librarian that does not exist.
Adjusted combat stats on npcs across the main world / main quest line for a more consistent experience.
Addressed clipping/pathing issues inside etherlight dungeon, Mistywood scrying platform, Thornhill Dungeons and the Hallowed Cave.
Enemies in lower Thornhill Dungeons now spawn after Arren's quest too, to continue be farmable.
Fixed an issue in Arren summoning Eloria cinematic that caused a line of dialogue to not appear.
Fixed an issue that would leave Eloria at an odd location in dialogue when confronting Gabrius.
Foulvenom dagger now inflicts much more significant damage when paired with Eloria's weakness spell during the final encounter.
The Foulvenom dagger now comes with advice in its description on how it functions.
Fixed not being able to feed fish to Viola the cat in the prologue. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Negative stats on exceptional items (such as spell resistance on armor) are now correctly inverted, making exceptional items stronger rather than weaker.
Added a search function to the Bestiary.
Bestiary entries are now sorted alphabetically.
The Traits list is now sorted alphabetically.
Added buttons and keybinds to cycle action bar rows up or down.
Added keybinds to increase or decrease the number of visible action bar rows.
Adjusted Marauder Army Warrior respawns so they no longer appear too close to the player during the quest “Assault on the Bandit Fortress.”
Changed Wildgrowth and Ore Clusters to level 30 (down from 35), and adjusted their respective trait level requirements to 30 (down from 45).
Fixed Wildgrowth icons appearing on the minimap before unlocking the trait that allows detecting them.
Fixed items being lost when added to the last storage tab if that tab was full.
Changed the Defense level requirement to equip the Haywind Prison Guard Outfit in the quest “Prison Break” to 25 (up from 12) to better match the quest’s difficulty.
Potentially fixed an issue in the Mistywood fishing area where players would run away from the fishing cage and become unable to fish from it. We have not yet been able to reproduce this issue despite multiple reports, please submit an in-game bug report if it happens again.
Pressing F12 no longer opens the chat input box.
Reduced the attack time of Wrathful Torrent to 1s (down from 5s).
Fixed a bug causing the player to launch into outer space and become stuck when using Homecoming during a horse fast travel.
Improved save file backups: automatic backups now occur every 15 minutes for the last 2 hours, and hourly backups go back for up to one week.
Improved the healing amount of Elk Pottage.
The armor crate in Aercrest Manor now restores any missing armor pieces if you’ve lost them.
Fixed minimap icons not reappearing for harvestable resources when they respawned.
Removed an exploit when processing materials (such as refining ore or filleting fish), which allowed XP gain without consuming the material if it was dropped mid-process.
Fixed a section of the river north of Thornhill where players could walk underwater.
Fixed an issue in the quest “Battle of the Shearston Estate” where the Firestick Mixture could get stuck spinning in mid-air instead of igniting the target.
Fixed Cooked Clearwater Salmon not being edible.
Winterpine Log, Highland Cypress, Deadwood Yew, and Crystalbark Birch can now be used for canoe fast travel.
Winterpine offers the same distance as Oak.
Highland Cypress and Deadwood Yew offer increased distance.
Crystalbark Birch offers unlimited distance.
Fixed an instance where empty item would permanently block an inventory slot when added to storage bags.
Fixed Artisan Orders being inconsistent when offering mixed amounts of bank items, inventory items, and banknotes. Items can now only be traded from your inventory using items or banknotes.
Fixed frame rate affecting camera rotation speed when using the keyboard.
Fixed keybind changes sometimes resetting when the game reloaded.
Pressing ESC now closes the chat input box.
Fixed Cured Meat missing its buff icon and description for the physical damage boost.
Updated trait descriptions for Engraved Staff Handles and Smooth Bow Handles to specify that granted buffs are temporary.
Added a guidance message when attempting to climb over the brambles too early in the quest “Battle of the Shearston Estate.”
Removed a sheep stuck inside one of the buildings in Aercrest Manor.
Removed an unreachable bookshelf on the top floor of Aercrest Manor.
Fixed pathing to an unreachable area with crows in Grainwater.
Removed an unreachable Nature Golem in the Golemwoods.
Fixed the “Rural Village Work” achievement task description.
Fixed chicken kills in underground areas of Mistywood not counting towards the achievement kill count.
Number of other small adjustments and fixes for graphical glitches, missing colliders, NPC spawns, and unreachable objects.
What's next?
The dragons are coming, they are on their way! To recap, here's what we're working on:
Free content update, delivering a longer quest chain to slay an ancient dragon!
Search the Tomb of the Dragon Slayer and discover a terrifying old secret...
Travel the world in search of the Trials of the Dragon Slayer.
Acquire a collection of the Dragon Slayer's armaments.
Breach the Dragon's Barrow and overcome it in a legendary battle requiring wit and skill!
That's all for now, happy gaming!