Hey, adventurers!
It's me, Buddy, coming to hang out and show off some cool new Absolute Tactics: Daughters of Mercy content as we get closer to release! This devlog actually comes from the Discord, (which you should join if you haven't,) The question was: How many levels are there in Absolute Tactics and how do they work?
The quick and dirty answer? 25! The longer, more complicated answer is down below!
Story Missions
Absolute Tactics features a full narrative following the adventures of Huxley, Max, and their friends going up against the forces of Father Eldritch and his (eponymous) daughters of Mercy. That unfolds through twenty-five missions each in unique, hand-made maps. Some maps will have environmental hazards, some will split the party between two starting locations and some will feature massive, sprawling battles between the Forces of Father Eldritch and the Corliss Town Guard.
But the core defining trait of Story Missions is twofold:
1) You only play each Story Mission once!
2) Story Missions include the deepest mechanical progression with rewards like new Class Handbooks, capital, consumables and, most importantly, new team members added to your roster.
Story Missions are going to be the backbone of any Absolute Tactics playthrough. They're going to set the pace and give you the lion's share of the experience, items and power that you'll be using throughout the game. But they aren't the only missions in Absolute Tactics.
Bonus Missions
If you are looking for repeatable missions to round out experience, gold, or maybe even some consumables in a level, though, you will have access to that kind of repeatable content! Bonus missions in Absolute Tactics get unlocked when you complete an associated Story Mission, which means from then on you'll be able to run the associated Bonus Mission as many times as you prefer! The good news is, that means you'll always have access to something to farm, especially if you find yourself falling behind in levels or power in the Story Missions. The bad news is, Bonus Missions tend to be less lucrative than a true blue Story Mission.
Bonus Missions are set on some of the same maps as the Story Missions, but they're typically remixed compared to what players might expect when they're replaying maps they've beaten before. Maybe the player will start from the opposite side of the room. Maybe the configuration of enemies, traps or chests has changed significantly. Maybe a global mechanic present in the Story Mission doesn't show up in the corresponding Bonus Mission or vice versa. It's a good balance between what you might expect replaying a map and what you'll have to adapt to!
Bonus Missions also carry a single, enticing secret to be gained by investigative players! I won't spoil too much about secrets since part of the fun is letting players figure them out on their own, but I will say that the secrets are trackable in the UI so if you have successfully found the secret (or failed to find the secret) that will be readily apparent to you.
Hordes of Mercy
Last but not least, there is one final game type that I'd like to give a little preview of! Hordes of Mercy is a post-game unlockable game mode that pits your wit and strategy against waves and waves of enemies. Like other horde modes in other titles, Hordes of Mercy will let you fight until you lose, granting you rewards for how long you and your team are able to hold out.
How will you build the most effective squad? How will you prepare for the onslaught of enemies? How will you turn the tables when things get dire? You can find out more when we play Hordes of Mercy in a future livestream!
That's everything that I wanted to show off today! Make sure you take a peek at the livestream on the Akupara Games Twitch channel this Friday at 10AM Pacific!