Welcome back to another episode of “What’s coming next in Drop Duchy”!
Last time we covered the DLC faction The Tribe, launching on August 18th, and today I’m telling you more about the free update that comes alongside it. Specifically the new mechanics we’re adding to the game (I’ll discuss additional content and quality of life changes in the next article, otherwise, this one would’ve been too long!).
Reading the Stars
At Sleepy Mill Studio, we’re constantly monitoring the feedback you’ve been sharing and have noticed how randomness can be frustrating for some players. Therefore, we have made a priority of providing new tools to mitigate that randomness.
Constellations is a new gameplay feature available to all factions across all game modes that lets you select a power of your choice and trigger it whenever you need it during the round. The constellations have varied effects to modify the current piece to your liking: change its shape, its terrain type, or even remove enemies from it.
Each constellation requires a certain number of charges before use, which you automatically gain by placing a piece, so you need to decide when is the best time to trigger its effect. Maybe you’re running a river strategy and you’re missing one river piece to connect them all? Use the Pisces constellation to change the current terrain for a river!
The best part is that you don’t even need to stick to a particular constellation; you can freely change throughout the run (although it does reset the charges) if you’re pivoting to a new strategy or feel that a particular Constellation would be ideal for a specific situation. My favorite one is the Centaurus, which can turn enemy buildings into another type, allowing you to dodge some of those annoying effects!
Ready for a New Challenge?
With the addition of Constellations, runs feel more consistent, and it’s easier to pull off your satisfying combos (without constantly reloading saves). To give an extra challenge for super-rulers with hyper-optimized decks, we’re adding a fourth endless Act to the game.
After defeating the Dungeon, you now have the option to continue to push your run as far as you can in the new endless act. In this act, every location is a combat with more and more enemies. Don’t expect any rest, a Trading Fair, or anything else: it’s pure combat. You may, however, continue to grab some cards and collect resources to keep optimizing your deck, but be prepared for a tough challenge without an end in sight!
Don’t worry, when you eventually lose (and I promise you will), the run still counts as a Victory, and you should be able to reach new scoring heights.
Formidable Foes
In the endless mode, you’ll also meet a new enemy type: the Elites. Those military buildings may look familiar, but be sure to read their descriptions carefully, as each has subtle changes that significantly increase the difficulty.
For instance, you got used to shoving Rangers Bases and River Castles aside, easily preventing them from getting bonus troops? Well, the elite's version of those is inverted: you must place them adjacent to their preferred terrain to reduce their strength. Some Elite variants have increased range, and others, such as the Training Camp or Alarm Tower, also work with diagonals, turning the grid into a minefield.
We’ve prepared 20 Elite variants for this update, and for now, they only appear during Act 4, but we’re also considering adding those sporadically to the run. What do you think?
See you next time!
That’s it for today’s post about the new gameplay mechanics we’re bringing with this free update. Stay tuned for the next article, as we have a lot more in store (still free): new cards, new challenges, gameplay updates, and numerous UI improvements to make the game more enjoyable.
If you’d like to discuss this with the community and share your thoughts, you can use the Steam forums, Discord, or Reddit; we’re reading everything on all these platforms. Until then, have fun!
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