There it is, the third issue of this mini-devlog series dedicated to the summer DLC and free update. In the last article, I introduced you to the new gameplay mechanics we’ve added; now it’s time to delve deeper into the numerous minor changes and additions. Let’s go!
New Common Cards
Do you know how many cards Drop Duchy had at launch? Clearly not enough, because we’re adding 12 more in this update, available to all players and usable by all factions. When designing this bunch of cards, we had two goals: explore fun new mechanics and introduce new devastating combos.
For instance, we’ve added two technology cards that activate when you sell them between rounds: Shady Deal will trade resources for a massive Gold payout, while Spy Network can remove units from the next combat encounter. On the building side, we’re trying out something new with the Veterans Hall, whose number of starting units depends on the previous round: the more survivors left, the better it gets. You could, for instance, recruit a ton of soldiers during a peaceful round to buff it for a tricky combat.
In terms of combo, we noticed how much the community enjoys breaking the game with cards such as Commandery or Barracks, so we nerfed them added even more combo-enabling buildings! The Provision Convoy has the following text: “End of round: lose 10% of Food produced this round and recruit 1 unit for each.” If you commit to Food production, it can easily get over 100 troops. Another new building of the sort is the Jousting Ground, which enables powerful combos if you’ve got several Noble cards.
All these new common cards can be unlocked through the Progress Tree, and to ensure you’ve got enough Crown for all of them, we’ve also added 16 new challenges. These missions are focused on the early game and are designed to improve the progression pacing for newcomers.
Gameplay and Balancing Improvements
Now, there’s another piece of feedback we’ve heard loud and clear: how hard it can be to find certain combos as you unlock more and more cards. To a degree, this is how we thought the game should be played: we preferred the game to add more diversity and complexity as you progress, which naturally makes early strategies more challenging. To counter-balance this frustration, we’re making two changes to the progress tree.
First, for every 10 cards you’ve unlocked, you’ll gain a free reroll for each future run. Starting with a few free rerolls helps you find particular combos faster or military cards in harder difficulty modes. When you’ve used all your free rerolls, you still have the option to use Gold, of course. Second, if there’s a card that you hate seeing, you can use the “Banish” option in the tree to remove it from the loot pool for subsequent runs (you can’t update that while playing!)
Next, we’re also making a change to the Mercenary mechanic, which wasn’t useful enough in the current version: now the mercenaries you hire may occupy a locked slot (if you have some), so you can still pick all the buildings you need and benefit from the extra help.
In terms of balancing, we’ve made several changes to address specific pain points such as The Duchy’s starting building, The Order’s incredible power, and The Republic’s consistency. We’ve increased the need for Stone in several buildings (it was too easy to ignore it and still upgrade cards comfortably). One last change to mention, we’ve nerfed the infamous second boss, The Keep, by reducing the amount of trap zones!
Controls and Interface Changes
Once again, there are too many UI updates to mention them all, but here are a few important ones:
The Deck Overview menu has several sorting options
The building’s tooltips now mention the type
The Pause menu has been reworked to include access to Challenges & Collection
There’s a button to reset the entire combat path
The Belfry upgrades are now shown above the cards
Some card & challenges texts have been clarified, with additional tooltips added
Thanks for all the suggestions and feedback you’ve shared. Improving all these small individual things makes for a big improvement when added together!
Next, we’ve added some comfort/quality of life options for players who wish to customize their experience further to their liking. First, there’s a setting to disable, decrease, or increase the piece falling speed, as well as an option to disable locking with the down key (meaning you can only lock with the instant fall). Use these if you want a more relaxed and strategic experience.
Finally, we’ve also added the long-awaited “calculate the combat for me” option. Not my case, but I get that some players dislike the sense of uncertainty, so now you can view the result directly while planning your battle.
That’s All Folks!
And this wraps up the devlog. For more in-depth details, please read the detailed patch notes that will be released alongside the update and DLC.
We hope that everything we’re adding to the game will make the game more enjoyable, whether you’ve spent dozens of hours already or are just starting to play with this update! Rest assured development isn’t slowing down and we will continue to read all your feedback while preparing new surprises for the coming months. See you soon!
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