Hi all,
It's been some time since any updates have been shared. This is because the chapter 4 update has entered the beta phase and updates are paused until it is finished. As promised, I would release a devblog to present the new things coming with the new chapter so here we are!
For those of you simply interested in the release date, we are aiming for release by the end of April!
Let's dive into the new things!
A Word Of Warning
It should be mentioned beforehand that this new content is aimed at people who have grinded a fair bit. I consider this new content to be a part of the "endgame". If you haven't been working on your skills and boosting your stats, you will likely have a very very rough time! These enemies and bosses will be much much harder than any of the previous content you've done before - and yes, that includes hardcore bosses!
New Continent!
The next area you will be exploring is a lovely place called The Twisted Jungle. It used to simply be 'The Jungle' but yeah... Stuff happens.
The area will be open to anyone who has defeated the final boss of chapter 3. To get there, simply enter your boat at the docks and head on south of the map!
... Speaking of the map, one of the first things you will notice is that the old world map is gone! Out with the old, and in with the new way of travelling!
You will now be sailing around with your actual player in a boat, similar to how you're used to from the Shrouded Isles expeditions. More on that later!
New Enemies, New Bosses!
The most obvious new addition is of course that you will be dealing with 4x new sets of enemies and 4x new bosses!
Let's introduce them below!
First up, we have the mythical creatures, controlled by their leader, the mind flayer.
Second, you will encounter a strange group of seemingly good knights, accompanied by their general Sir William!
Should you somehow still be alive, next up you will be dealing with the island Sentinels! They do not have a leader, but there is a pretty big thing down there called "The Warden".
For the best of the best amongst you, you will have one final barrier standing before you - the malignant. A bloodthirsty collection of thugs under control of the immortal Drakken leader, Lord Drakkan - the most important asset of Noctadriel himself. He will be your final encounter for this new chapter.
Still not quite tired from fighting after all that? Have no fear, for the new arena will be waiting for you right after this!
New Progression System
As with any new chapter, the power creep for the player continues! In this chapter you will gain access to the "Blood Pillar"! This is a powerful runic stone owned by Lord Drakkan which has to be empowered through blood sacrifice. After enough sacrifices, you will gain talent points that you can freely spend across many new powerful talents!
A Brand New Skill
With the release of chapter 4, a new skill will be available right from the start: Cooking!
Even though it is being released now, this skill will be available right from the start of the game. It is meant to make the early game grind a bit easier, and provide endgamers with a decent toolkit to help with more difficult fights! The skill will be levelled by gathering ingredients all over the world and then following recipes to cook up whatever stats you're looking to boost!
Updated Skilling Content
As is tradition, new chapter means increasing the skill cap for the existing skills! You will now find the new max level is 50. This means that for those who have previously earned Hero Ranks for maxing their skills, this hero rank is now gone and will have to be earned again! Every skill has had a bunch of new stuff added for the new levels however to make levelling them more pleasant.
Dragonriding
A new way to get around the game has been made available. For those of you who have been aging up their dragon pets, that fruit will soon pay off! If you have a dragon of adult age (or higher), you will be able to bind them as a mount for your character. You can unlock this ability by either:
1) Defeating Lord Drakkan and creating a new Drakken Talisman
2) Buying the pilot license from the gem store (for those of you who can't wait!)
Expedition Expansion
Of course a new endgame grind will be needed. While there are no new online dungeons available right from the start (there will be, no worries!), the mists have revealed yet another island range!
If you travel far enough you will discover The Frozen Mists, inhabited by a new set of enemies - the Samurai. Be careful as these enemies are much stronger than the weaker Gladiators!
However, in order to reach these new cold lands you will have to go through some additional trouble...
Your boat is now an upgradeable and customizable boat! You will have to hunt down supply crates across the islands to find upgrades for your boat, like building a heating system that allows you to pass into the Frozen Mists!
Additionally, once per expedition a Premium Supply Crate will spawn on a random island, which contains cosmetic upgrades for your boat! You can add a trinket to your sails, and change the color of your sails as well.
Of course new expeditions means that the Boon Pillar will also have new boons available to grind for!
I won't spoil them all, but below you can see one pretty good upgrade!
Physics Rework
While this is not a visual change I can present to you, I want to reveal that a lot of underwater engine work has been done to improve the performance of the game. To achieve this, I have pretty much redone the whole AI/Combat/Movement/Boundary system from scratch. I have removed physics from the engine entirely and replaced it with a more performant static system. For those of you that struggled to maintain 60FPS before, you will notice dramatic improvements. The new system also allows for much more effects and enemies to be on screen without causing any impact.
With this I want to warn you about a few things however:
Dashing feels very different, but now gets you stuck almost never anymore!
Hitboxes for damaging enemies have changed, but in favor of the player. The hitboxes are now slightly larger but they are consistent across the game.
Parry and collisions with enemies now are different, but more forgiving.
I'm probably underselling this, but you will notice this change immediately upon launching the game.
New Player GUI
Since we are putting everything in a new coat of paint, the player GUI has undergone the same treatment.
The GUI has been moved around so that it takes up way less of your visual space. The middle of the screen now remains pretty clear and the ability icons have been shrunk accordingly. Some visuals have been added to indicate what buttons you are pressing to make it more interesting for viewers. This new space also opened up the gates for having a new boss bar for the bosses, which is way cooler to look at than the old small bars! They also give you more accurate information.
Still not convinced this is better? Than you can always toggle back to the legacy GUI via the settings!
(And yes, the slimes have had a visual update too!)
More Stat Increases!
Alchemy has had the cap of vials increased by another 10 levels so you can get to grinding! Additionally tier 4 vials are available once you get your hands on some tier 2 fish from the fishing skill.
Furthermore, the scripture system has gone through a visual rework as well and has more scriptures made available. Additionally the cap of scriptures has also been increased.
New Equipment
A whole new suite of strong equipment will be available for anyone grinding out the new content!
And yes, I'm talking a lot of equipment.
Achievements
Due to Steam limitations we were hitting the 100 achievement cap of the game. Because we love achievements and didn't want to be forced to stop making them, an in-game system has been made for all the achievements!
You will it in your journal just below the gem store! Only the major achievements will now be available in Steam, and all the inbetween can be done from in the game! As a small little motivator, "The Emperor" skin has been made available to anyone who completes ALL of the achievements!
Various
There is plenty more to mention, like the endless list of changes and bugfixes, new server-side events, new hero ranks, new recipe drops, the list goes on! But you will discover these as the patch goes live near the end of April (maybe first part of May, you never know what pops up...).
Was That It?
First of all, what do you mean?!
Joking of course, there is still plenty of stuff coming during the lifecycle of chapter 4 as well, just as before! Releasing this one does not mean I will be working on chapter 5 (which will be the final chapter of the game) right away. I'd love to spoil some more about the cool stuff still coming in chapter 4, but I will be keeping my mouth shut until they are nearly ready for release. You can expect at least 2 major updates during the lifecycle of this chapter. I will as usual of course drop these reveals early - on our Discord!
Thanks!
For those of you who have stuck around for all this time, I want to sincerely say thank you. I know it's been a while since the game has gotten some new stuff, but I hope you understand it will be worth the wait. Big patches take time :)
Thank you for reading, and see you in the Twisted Jungle soon!
~ Teeny