Welcome back Commanders,
Now that you know your way around the new capital of Níwenborh, it is time to shift focus over to Artifacts and how they can be used to facilitate your exploration of the peninsula and improve your combat prowess.
Artifacts are sources of immense power which you’ll discover and collect as you venture out on quests. The Commander can equip up to three different artifacts at any one time. With The Dragoness: Command of the Flame we really wanted to emphasise replay-ability with roguelite elements such as the Commander’s Revival Spells and the Quest Challenges. To compliment these mechanics, you’ll also have the opportunity to forge your own randomly generated artifacts as you rebuild the capital of Níwenborh!
"They Belong in a Museum"
During a quest, you’ll often come across treasure troves scattered around the map. While a chest will contain resources, piles of loot and adventuring gear will always contain an artifact.
When collected, an artifact will immediately be added to the Commander’s inventory. To make use of an artifact’s unique abilities, players will need to equip them into one of the Commander’s three artifact slots. Be advised however that you cannot equip identical artifacts, thus preventing you from stacking duplicate bonuses.
You’ll take your entire artifact collection with you on a quest, and you can be freely swap out and equip as you see fit to help you overcome challenges as they arise.
Because of the diversity of artifacts available, some may suit certain situations better than others. For example, Radiant Light increases the commander’s view range to aid in exploration and planning, while Shield of Might increases the shield value of all beasts in the army to give you a defensive edge in battle.
All artifacts discovered during a quest will be brought back with you to the capital and can be used again on subsequent quests, or taken to the Ancient Forge.
Fire up the Forge!
In our last post we showcased the Ancient Forge capital building and touched on its various uses including Artifact Forging and Shard Smelting.
Throughout your travels, you’ll come across Green Shards which can be smelted down at the Ancient Forge to create a random artifact. By purchasing Magic Dust upgrades you can gradually increase the % chance of a higher level artifact being produced.
The Smelting Efficiency upgrade can be used to lower the cost of Green Shards required to smelt new artifacts. With a fully upgraded Forge you’ll find that you’ll be churning out exotic and valuable assets in no time at all!
The Enchanted Anvil upgrade will unlock Artifact Forging. This useful ability enables the merging of two identical artifacts to create a higher-level version. Merging two basic artifacts will yield a level 2 result, and merging level 2 artifacts will yield a powerful level 3!
It’s always worth keeping hold of a few duplicate artifacts of various levels to use in Forging later into your campaign as your quests and objectives change, and require a more specialised approach.
Remember that any unwanted artifacts can be exchanged on the Black Market, so keep smelting!
Check back soon as in our next post we’ll be looking at Part 1 of the Bestiary and highlighting some of the beast units that you’ll be recruiting into your army as you travel across the Drairthir Peninsula.
The Dragoness: Command of the Flame launches on 1st September 2022!
See you again soon,
- Crazy Goat Games & PQube
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