Before talking about patch notes, we’d like to share a few things with the Dwarven Realms community, especially as it started to grow substantially lately.
In creating Dwarven Realms, my brother and I embarked on a unique journey driven by our shared passion for building something different. Unlike other ARPGs backed by teams of dozens if not hundreds of devs, with hundreds of millions in budget, we are just a duo of novice game developers, navigating uncharted territories in game development.
Video games are developed through cycles. The initial development cycle almost always occurs "behind closed doors" and is released only when the studio decides it's ready. While "early access" on Steam is very common - it means different things in different games. Dwarven Realms is a genuine early-access game. This means it currently resembles more of a pre-alpha stage you’d see in larger studios built games.
In Dwarven Realms the community takes part in the active development cycle. We treat our community as part of the dev team, we take feedback very seriously, and the folks actively playing are essentially part of the team.
This has many different implications, and we have to pay a price to move at the speed we’re moving, some of the trade offs we are making include the following:
- Data backward compatibility: The fact that the core systems change rapidly also affects all data models. Trying to keep backward compatibility or data migration will cause the game development and changes to crystalize and freeze. Until the game's core loop is established, wiping data is just too important. We constantly revisit the concept of permanent characters, which will be implemented when Dwarven Realms expands in size, stability, and complexity.
- Patch notes: When a game is stable, and the meta slightly changes from version to version, it is easy to update and keep patch notes. Furthermore, the player base expects this. Dwarven Realms changes in its core from every season in very short release cycles. This means everything changes. Items, Systems, Modifiers, Skills, Abilities, Enemies, Progression rate, experience, build, and almost everything in the game. Keeping detailed, updated patch notes in such an early game is impossible.
- Mid-season changes. While a stable meta is required for an ARPG with a competitive element, stabilizing the meta only from season to season will drastically slow down game development.
We see the frustration from some players who expect from Dwarven Realms the same things they’d expect from a triple-A game on Steam, even though it is in early access, and even for its very low price tag. We want to emphasize that Dwarven Realms is not for everyone in its current state. Some gamers love participating in this early point and feel their direct contribution to the game, while others want a more polished product. It's a journey, and it’s your choice whether to take part in it or not. We hope you'd join this journey with us.
Now, to Shadowforge. This season promises to reshape the game's meta, introducing meaningful changes to mods, progression, new abilities and challenging bosses.
Season 20 Patch Notes:
- We are introducing a new end-game event called Shadowforge. This event will help players get a substantial amount of materials to craft end-game bracers and let players find the powerful modifiers bracers offer so they can reach their desired end-game build.
- We have revamped ruptured levels 1 to 15, introducing more challenging boss fights with new bosses' abilities.
- Unique mobs that spawn in ruptures will now have special abilities, making them more exciting yet more challenging.
- We are introducing new container mechanics. Instead of random containers being spread out everywhere, mobs will now have a chance to drop containers. Containers will be rarer but also have more value and better loot. There will be multiple container types.
- This solves the problem of having to click on containers many times (based on player's requests)
- It also solves the meta of players going in and out of ruptures just to hunt for damage-reduction gems or dragonling cages, for example. They will randomly spawn as you kill mobs.
- We are now introducing rupture-scaled loot. This will apply to the entire boss chest, including stance fragments. It will also include receiving more bags of essences from higher-level rupture statutes, making pushing higher ruptures valid.
- We made adjustments and balanced the cards. Crit chance and pure damage cards have been nerfed, and others have been boosted to even the playing field and make things more balanced (based on the player's requests)
- There is now a male/female character creation screen. (Based on player's requests from both genders)
- All infused chests and Akkorus' chests are now gated behind the boss kill. You will have to kill the boss to get the reward. This will stop low-level characters from running the level 100 Akkorus map just for the stones. (Based on player's requests)
- Lightning totems have gotten a slight nerf, making it more balanced with the rest of the abilities. Our goal is to make it still a fun, viable build but more in line with the rest of the abilities. Changes include the time they stay on the screen and the number of times they strike. Also, balance the proc and damage their off-hands offer.
- More audio was polished and fixed, making some skills that triggered sounds constantly playable.
- All tier 2 item sets in Akkorus maps will require more oaks and will be harder to obtain. You will also find these vendors outside Akkorus, Min Loduhr, and Olympus.
- Dash has been split from space and now has a dedicated button, and players can bind it to whatever they want. It also takes 0.2s instead of 0.4s.
- Turning chat off in options (based on streamer's requests)
- Akkorus and Elven, Slug ruptures keys, are rare, making them much more meaningful. We closed the loophole from last season of FS having endless slug ruptures.
- You can now block Fellowships invites in settings (based on popular streamer requests)
- Archery will no longer require arrows.
- We are introducing non-FS bracer mods, making it viable for players who want to progress without an FS. Making Fellowships and Non-Fellowships characters on par isn't a goal; it's OK that folks in FS have a slight advantage; the long-term solution for this would be different leagues/ladders.