Hello, Warlocks.
Since releasing the Reworked Chapter 1 we’ve been working hard on the Chapter 2 rework, with substantial progress on Chapter 3’s development as well. Chapter 2 benefits from all the feedback we’ve received in the past, and has all the news systems implemented from the get-go.
We are happy with how things turned out with the Chapter 1 Rework and appreciate your reaction to the introduced changes. While Chapter 1 is content complete, and is locked down in regard to the general design, our audio team is working on new SFX and audio changes to bring to Chapter 1 soon, and we’ll continue to look at your feedback and bug reports and make the required changes while fine tuning some of the underlying systems at the same time.
With the upcoming rework of Chapter 2, we are ready to share some details of what you might expect going forward. Our goal with the Chapter 2 Rework is to make sure that Urd’s arsenal stands out, gives you more weapons and ways to mow through the hordes of hell, and fits the magical Brutalist Western setting of Urd’s Campaign. We want Urd’s progression to be more in line with Palmer’s, but there will be differences when it comes to specific upgrades that define Urd’s archetype.
Without further ado, let’s jump right into Urd’s tools of destruction.
Note: The weapon models are still in development. We don't want to show our hand just yet, and wish to leave some of the guns for you to check out when Chapter 2 update goes live.
Urd’s Arsenal
Magic Dagger
Urd’s most trusted companion. Dagger can stab quickly in melee range, and it can also be thrown for heavier damage. Each consecutive headshot kill regenerates throw charges and HP.
Magic Spear
Greatly increases the stabbing range, and can also be thrown to regenerate health.
Magic Tomahawk
Allows you to slash horizontally in a wide cone, and can also be thrown to regenerate health.
Revolver
It wouldn’t truly be a Brutalist West without a revolver. Urd’s gun is accurate and offers high damage output. It can be fired from the hip with less accuracy, but a higher fire rate for more firepower.
Buckshot Revolver
It’s a revolver, it’s a shotgun, it’s the best of both worlds! It can also be fired from the hip.
Magnum Pistol
Precise shooting pistol with a scope allowing accurate shots at a longer range. It packs a serious punch as it is loaded with extremely heavy-hitting bullets.
Pump Action Shotgun
Another Western classic. Deals massive damage but has a higher spread and lower fire rate than other weapons.
Shorty
Shorty has increased reload and pump action speed at the cost of the magazine size.
Winchester
A precision rifle, dealing high amounts of damage with pin-point accuracy, but low fire rate.
SMG
Urd’s keeping her SMG, which now has a high rate of fire and deals moderate damage. However, in dire situations, or when you’re out of ammo, you can now hit enemies in melee range with the stock.
Gatling Gun
A chunky modification to the SMG uses a crank to fire the rotating barrel for extra carnage.
Dual SMGs
What’s better than one SMG? Easy, two SMGs. If the fire rate wasn’t enough for you, you can now, effectively, double it. You can also use both SMGs to hit enemies with the stock.
Dynamite Stick
There’s surely a lot of dynamite lying around in the Brutalist West. As for how this works? It’s really simple - just chuck the highly volatile stick of dynamite at a gathering of monsters and watch the pieces fly.
TNT Charge
You'd think that a centuries old witch would know how to hold a lighter properly... We'll make sure she unlocks that ancient knowledge before the rework launches!
The TNT Charge does not explode when thrown - instead, you can shoot it to trigger an explosion or chain reaction of TNT charges.
Firecrackers
Firecrackers explode over time on the ground, dealing AOE damage. If you’re not that patient, the alt-fire will allow you to detonate all the charges at once.
Crossbow
Wonderful in its simplicity, the crossbow shoots bolts which penetrate monsters.
Ballista
Shoots explosive bolts that penetrate monsters. Bloodbath guaranteed. Perfect for making kill montages.
Multishot
Allows you to fire bolts in a wide cone, and can also fire bolts in a burst.
Urd’s Abilities
We’re introducing brand new abilities that better define Urd’s archetype. You might have noticed the absence of Spell Book in her arsenal. We want to make a clear distinction between characters’ arsenal of weapons and their abilities. Since Spell Book was closer to the latter, we’re re-introducing it with a twist. The Spell Book will give you access to a Speed-Up spell and cooldown-based Crystal and Poison spells.
Fire and Ice are up Palmer’s alley, while Urd dabbles in Crystal and Poison schools of magic.
Progression Changes
As mentioned before, we have redesigned the Urd’s progression system to align with Palmer’s progression system - now you’ll have access to a brand new Urd’s HUB filled with upgrade stations. She will share all Passive Upgrades and most of the Perks with Palmer, as each character will have a number of their own unique Perks to choose from. All this on top of the completely new weapon and skill upgrades mentioned before.
Similarly to Palmer, the fiery Witch will be able to imbue her weapons with runes - in this instance choosing between Crystal or Poison ones.
Level Design Changes
At this point, the overall layout of the levels are finalised, with the first half of the chapter as an introduction to characters’ arsenals and progression systems, while at the same time making sure that the power curve aligns properly across the whole chapter.
There is one major change concerning a certain level…
To fit in with the latest progression changes, the Lava Worm boss moved to another level - to make sure he has a chance to greet the player a bit earlier in the game. Similarly to Chapter 1 his defeat will open up the Passive Upgrades system to Urd.
New HUD
Some of you might have seen a screenshot of a work-in-progress HUD a while ago on our Discord. Since then we’ve refined it and we’ll be launching the Reworked Chapter 2 with a completely new HUD. It is a significant change that we feel looks and feels better than the old one, but we’d love your feedback on this. Our current plan is to introduce the new HUD to Chapters 1 and 3 in the future if the reception is warm enough.
The Reworked Chapter 2 is currently being playtested internally, and it will be ready for you to try it out in August.
As we’re ramping up the development of Reworked Chapter 2 and upcoming Chapter 3, you can expect regular updates on our progress going forward. We’re excited for the upcoming months, and can’t wait to share more news. But for now, we’re going to leave you with a small Chapter 3 teaser.
See you in the next one!