Hello Rabbits!
The Year of the Rabbit is coming to a close. When I started on Rabbit & Steel, my goal was to get it within this year... but game development always takes longer than you think it will.
Though, as I'll talk about later, the finish line isn't too far off. I'm not ready to commit to a specific release date quite yet, but I'm trying to get it out in the Spring.
Anyway, since the last blog post I've been working on items, characters, and some other random things. So I'll show you a few!
For all the bow-wielding sharpshooters out there, introducing the Sniper Rabbit!
The Sniper Rabbit has slightly higher base damage than most of the other classes (about in line with Assassin), and plays well at a range. Her AoE and defensive capabilities, however, are somewhat lacking.
First, her Primary. While fairly strong on its own, it has a somewhat unique property that it goes on a short cooldown if you miss. So don't spam it if you don't think your shot will land!
Her Special (we'll get back to the Secondary) fires homing shots that hit her target from anywhere on the battlefield. It can hold up to 3 uses at once, so it's good to keep some spare for when you might not be able to aim your primary. Its cooldown is a long 10 seconds... but that's a bit deceptive.
The Secondary gives her targets a "Snare" debuff. Snare will give you back one charge of your Special when it wears off, in addition to dealing some damage. The ability even has a little bit of AoE range, and if you hit two enemies with it, you'll get two charges of your Special back!
Lastly, the Defensive supercharges your Primary, and gives you a (very) brief boost to movement speed and invulnerability. Use it to position yourself for the perfect shot!
All in all, she's a very fun class to play, and has a lot of really interesting item combos. Starting with a debuff makes a lot of items useful right out of the gate, and the frequency with which she can use her Special makes a few items really good in her hands!
I've reworked the "Spark" status effect!
The Bluebolt Set is a grouping of items that add Spark to your attacks, or have effects that activate when you've dealt damage a certain number of times. Once unlocked, they'll appear in both blue and yellow chests.
This isn't all of them, but it's a few of my favorites!
The Timegem Set, by contrast, is a group of items that works well with items and abilities that hit slow, hard and heavy. They'll appear in both red and purple chests after you unlock them.
Again, this isn't all of them, just a few.
Finally, here's some items from Ruins Set. It's focused on some items with defensive buffs, as well as a few things that will make you very powerful... but also very slow.
(Please note that the numbers or effects on the above items might change in the final game, depending on how broken or useless they end up being in final testing).
I'm only showing off a little bit this time around, but I've got a lot more done behind the scenes.
So how far along is the game? Let me check the to-do list really quick...
New items: 100% done! (Though I do have ideas for even more if I have time...)
New trinkets: 100% done!
New playable classes: Just need to finish their store upgrades!
New stage backgrounds: 100% done!
New foes and raids to battle: That's a work in progress...
Story Cutscenes: Basically not written at all lol
So the remaining work is a little bit lopsided in terms of what's complete and what isn't. I'm hoping to have the above done by mid-March or so, and then spend however much time I need after that to polish, adjust and improve the game however I can.
That's all for today. Happy holidays, and see you in the new year!