Hi again!
We’ve been busy at Sleepy Mill Studio since the release of The Tribe DLC this summer. We continue to be floored by the game’s reception, and we’ve even had the honor of winning the Best Game Design prize at the Devgamm Awards!
Today, we’re back with another major update for Drop Duchy, once again bringing a DLC faction alongside a lot of free content (including some of the most requested additions from the community). Wanna know all about it? You’re in the right place!
Introducing The North
The North is a new Viking-themed faction available as DLC in the store for 3.99€/3.99$ and as part of the Complete Edition bundle. Like all the other factions, you can use The North to play any of the game modes.
I’ll soon publish another devlog to dive deep into The North exclusive mechanics and cards, here’s a little preview. In a nutshell, they’re combat-oriented folks who pillage production buildings for additional resources and earn bonuses every time they take damage. Their distinctive combat mechanic requires you to rethink your strategic approach. Some of the old combos may not be as efficient as with the other factions, but trust me, you’ll find new synergies to exploit once you master the North combat style.
Free content addition: New bosses
In the 1.2 patch available to all players, we’re adding three new bosses to add more variety to your runs! True to the original vision of the game, each boss (one per act) has special quirks that you need to pay attention to, and we’ve made sure they’re beatable with a variety of decks.
Here’s a bit of teasing about what you can expect from them:
The Gate separates the battlefield into two halves
The Fortification adds War Chariots to the deck to sabotage your siege
The Basilica has the powerful ability to steal your units for its own benefit
Each run is procedurally generated, so now you’ll get either boss of each act randomly. If you’d like to get ahead and prepare your strategy accordingly, make sure to scroll the map.
Free game mode: Ascension
Another much-requested feature was the Ascension mode, a staple of modern roguelite design. In Drop Duchy, Ascension is available as soon as you’ve beaten Normal mode with a faction, and it provides a more progressive difficulty than the ones we had in the game.
Each Ascension Tier, you have to select a certain number of modifiers among a long list, up to your preference and the strategy you devised. Do you go for an increased number of enemies, lower starting health, or more expensive card upgrades? Whatever you pick, if you manage to win the run, you move on to the next tier and get an exclusive reward!
Indeed, each of the 10 tiers offers a unique visual customization option, such as a health bar, a card back, or a grid skin that you can use with that faction. They’re purely visual and don’t do anything special other than looking nice and proving to the world that you’ve mastered the faction.
Quality of life: the Undo button
Yes, we finally did it —we added the #1 most-requested feature! With this new patch comes a button to undo the last piece. Believe me, implementing such a feature after the fact is a technical hurdle, so don’t be surprised if you spot bugs here and there.
Whether you accidentally pressed a button or didn’t realize a move was going to trigger unwanted effects, you can now revert the grid to its previous state. There are no restrictions to the mechanic itself; you can use it in all modes, all difficulties, but keep in mind that you can only go one step backward. Don’t expect to roll back your game to several pieces ago!
More content additions!
For the complete list of changes and additions, make sure to have a look at the detailed patch notes at the end of this post. Here are a few highlights:
New unlockable location: the Fortune Teller will allow you to customize your run by eliminating lots of cards from the loot pool (thus increasing your chances to get all the others)
New constellations: one for the mountains and one to shuffle the whole deck, if you’re feeling unlucky with the draw order
New common cards: we’re adding 12 cards for all factions, bringing new mechanics and strategic options. Would you like to try the technology that adds more long-shape pieces to the deck to get those sweet multi-exploration combos consistently? Or maybe you’re curious about the Wonder, the only card in Drop Duchy that can instantly win you a run if you accumulate enough resources!
New challenges, quality of life improvements (such as a button to preview cards before choosing map locations), tutorials, and comfort options.
Moving on
This major update marks the end of a chapter in Drop Duchy’s development. This update represents the complete experience we set out to create, and we’re incredibly proud of how the game has turned out. Before moving on to a new adventure, our next focus for Drop Duchy will be to bring it to new platforms. If that’s something you’d be interested in, make sure to follow us on social media. Until then, have fun in the duchy!
- JB, Game Director and CEO of Sleepy Mill Studio
Detailed patch notes
Added the DLC Faction The North with its faction cards, special combat mechanic & quests
Added 3 bosses (one per act), getting either boss at random
Added 4 new buildings & 8 new common tech cards (unlock from the progress tree)
Added a map location Fortune Teller to make choices at the start of a run (unlock from the progress tree)
Added 8 new common challenges
Added 2 new constellations
Added an Ascension mode, with 10 tiers for each faction and 21 modifiers to pick from
Added visual customization (unlocked with the ascension, changed from the Settings)
Added an Undo button to revert to the state of the grid before the last piece was locked
Added one extra category to select from in University
Changed The Keep & The Dungeon grid's heights to smooth out the difficulty
Bastion now works both on plains and fields
Buffed Recluse Monk effect
Added "Unique" tag to the Veterans Hall
Added a button to view the list of cards before making a choice in map locations (Guild, University, Fortune Teller, Village)
Added a "sort by selected" to the deck menu
Added the combat diagram to the encyclopedia
Added a tooltip to visualize "Aligned" effects
Round deck widget now gives the detail per terrain
Updated the towers icon for boss The Keep when two towers watch the same spot
Added option to disable screenshake
Added option to disable camera movement during activation
Added option to adjust brightness
Added option to show seals on cards during the runs
Fixed not being able to unequip mercenaries with a gamepad
Added "anti aliasing type" to options menu
If you want to discuss strategies and share your favorite builds with fellow rulers, don’t hesitate to join our official Discord server! And, don't forget to follow us on Social Media to keep up with the latest news:
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