Hello and welcome back to another Chapter II primer. You may have heard some articles tossing around the term “Alachian Sea” when talking about our new content.
Well, hoist your sails and turn hard to port, today we will be talking about the region that give this zone its name - the Alachian sea! But, this watery realm is so much more than just a namesake. In Chapter II you'll be able to set sail upon the high seas in a nautically themed adventure, complete with a (sturdy?) vessel, a whole new set of talents, and plenty of booty to carry home. Can you grab everything you need before your luck runs out? Let's break out the spyglass and see what’s on the horizon!
First up let’s talk about your boat. While sailing the seas, you will have a boat that will replace your champion’s charge power, talents, and deck with its own. You will be able to customize your boat before every expedition on the Alachian Sea, including building a deck that is saved to the harbor and thus separate from your campaign deck. You will also select your talents, though at first you will be limited in your options. As you get your sea legs under you, however, you will unlock the abilities necessary to brave the deepest waters and furthest shores on Entrath.
Salty Dog
Unlike when playing with your champion, when captaining your boat you will have a hull instead of health. Hull will persist across encounters, so if you end an encounter at 17 hull, you will have 17 at the start of the next encounter. Cards that gain health, pay health, or lose health will not interact with your hull. If your hull is reduced to zero, don't worry, you'll be sent back to port for repairs and you can be back on the seas in no time.
What this does is create a unique “press your luck” style experience where every choice matters on the open sea. Do you sacrifice a troop you might need later to preserve your hull for the future? Or do you go in cannon’s blazing and trust in Kismet to carry you to your destination?
Now that we know how hull works, let's see what the boat talents are. The boat talents work much in the same way as your class talent tree except they only build vertically in a column. When you receive your boat, you will have three boat talents points to apply as you choose, though more can be found while sailing the Alachian Sea. It will be up to you to choose the talents that best support your playstyle and your deck.
There are four different trees that each represent a part of your boat - Mast, Crew, Cannons, and Hull.
Captain's Parrot: You begin the game with a Captain's Parrot in play.
Aye, Captain: It's Just You "I'm on a Boat!"
First Mate: You begin the game with a random uncommon troop with cost [(2)] from your deck in play.
Quarter Master: At the start of the game, put a random rare troop with cost [(1)] from your deck into play.
Basic Hull: Your Base Hull is 40. The Hull of your ship persists across encounters.
Armored Siding: You have Armor 1.
Heavy Hull: Your Base Hull is 60. you can't have dazed counters added to you.
Repair Crew: After winning an encounter on the high seas, you recover 5 Hull.
Tattered Banner: [BASIC]: [5] --> Draw two cards. Drawn non-resouce cards get cost +[(2)].
Crow's Nest: Troops you control have Skyguard.
Dragon Masthead: Your Tattered Banner talent instead has "[BASIC]: [5] --> Draw two cards. Drawn non-resouce cards get cost -[(2)]."
Enchant Masthead: Your Dragon Masthead talent instead has "[BASIC]: [5] --> Draw two cards. Drawn non-resouce cards get cost -[(2)]. Drawn resouce cards get "Draw a card.""
Cannons: You have "[BASIC], Cooldown 3: [0] --> Deal 2 damage to a random opposing champion or troop."
Newest Model Cannon: You get the newest model of cannon!
Master Gunner: Your cannons now target opposing champions or troops of your choice.
Premium Super Cannon: You get a Premium Super Cannon "[BASIC], Cooldown 2: [(3)] --> Deal 5 damage to target opposing champion or troop."
The Mast provides upgrades to your charge power while your Crew provides guaranteed troops for when the waters get rough. Cannons are somewhat unique in that they offer cheap, consistent abilities that are limited by cooldown. After you fire a cannon, you will need to reload as indicated by the text "Cooldown X." At the start of each of your turns, one cooldown counter is removed from your cannon. Once there are no more counters, it can be bombs away once again! Finally, as mentioned earlier, Hull keeps you afloat. Talents in this tree will let you venture further and further afield without needing to stop for repairs.
As you progress through the Alachian Sea, you will uncover additional boat talent boats to further improve your vessel. Each of these trees will help against different challenges you encounter across the sea. Figure out which talents will help the most against different types encounters and soon you will own the water.
Boat talents will be replacing your class talents while you are sailing. The only remaining piece of your character is that you will still have the same Shard Alignment rules for deck building. Since many classes have talents that grant cards and promote synergies for you to build around, we suggest that you try putting together a new deck before sailing out.
Water World
Alachian Sea encounters were set up for players to have a more open experience. Most nodes on the water have 2-4 different paths that they are connected to, so you have a great deal of flexibility when shoving off from shore. We tried out some different variations on how the nodes would interact after your hull was depleted, and after some extensive testing we arrived at a system of soft save points. Sea captains in a hurry have the option of bypassing encounters they have already defeated. This will allow even the most land-lubbary amongst you to continue on your main story quest. However, for those of you with salt-water in your veins, traveling across the Alachian Sea in one trip will yield sunken treasures! You will receive bonus rewards for each encounter you best in a single run. Can you push your luck and conquer every corner of these seas? We can't wait to find out.
Thanks for stopping by and checking out what is in store for you in the Alacian Sea. I personally am super excited to see players get into this and interact with Chapter II. I hope that you are too. Unfurl the mizzen mast, it's not too far off before you'll be setting sail!
Dan Clark-