Hi! The summer break is over, and it's time to show some more stuff. I've been working a lot with my pixel artist over the last month, so there's lots of new content available. That being said, not all of it has been added to the game yet.
Rat shamans
You can meet them in more rat-infested areas of the Capitol ruins.
A shaman is able to directly target character's Resolve Points (RPs). When a character’s RP is zero at the end of the turn, they panic.
That being said, a shaman being able to drain 100 RPs in one turn is too much. I'll nerf it.
If you get too close, they can use their nova attack - which will knock you back.
I like the way the knockback mechanic is heading. Having the possibility to shuffle the enemies so that more of them are in range of, say, an AoE attack is always cool.
Also, shamans have a way of mass debuffing player units - but I will leave out showcasing that animation for now.
New UI for the momentum feature
The momentum meter, which I've introduced in the previous playtest, turned out to be a pretty nice thing. In short, you gather momentum when you kill enemies - and after the meter reaches 100%, you can perform a special, team-wide action that gives you a major boost.
This is great for breaking through some stalemate-like situations during combat, where you are fighting wave after wave of enemies with no prospect of breaking through.
Thanks to the graphic designer, there are now solid visuals for the momentum UI:
Momentum bar reaches 100% - the momentum Overdrive action becomes available.
Activation of momentum Overdrive action: major bonuses added to player characters.
I think that the momentum system needs even more: the player should be able to customize what buffs are part of the Overdrive action by leveling it up.
So, there you have it. I will be spending September on pushing as much as possible with the visuals of the game, and I am jumping back into mechanics after that - and then I plan on releasing another playtest.
Take care!
Sławomir “bryqu” Bryk