Hello everyone!
In today’s devlog, we’ll take another look at Caravan Upgrades. This time the focus is on the third category - “Traveling”. As always, a reminder: Caravan Upgrades are not Abilities and therefore don’t require Ability Points. Instead, they are unlocked with items and materials.
But let’s give these upgrades some context first. One of the Caravan's primary features is far-distance traveling. It can be accessed by talking to Verren at the Caravan Camp, then choosing a tile on the global map to travel to.
Caravan travels will work by the following rules:
- Your destination must fit two main requirements. Firstly, it must not be concealed by the fog of war (tiles are revealed either by scouting them yourself or by using paper maps) - the Caravan can’t travel through uncharted territories. Secondly, the tile must not contain dungeons, Points of Interest, roads, or bodies of water - only empty tiles are suitable for setting up the Caravan Camp.
Another thing to consider is how close your Caravan Camp is to settlements. If the distance is short enough, you’ll be able to directly access the Caravan Storage while trading, and your Followers will receive an opportunity to restock their wares.
- The Caravan has a limited max travel distance which can be increased with upgrades.
- The Caravan moves with varying speed depending on the terrain it has to traverse. Obviously, most suitable tiles are the ones with roads - they’ll be prioritized by the Caravan when possible. On the contrary, off-road tiles will take a significantly greater toll on both your time and resources.
- Before you can move out, you’ll need a sufficient stockpile of Fodder for your horses - the exact amount depends on the difficulty and duration of the chosen route as well as the number of acquired upgrades and Followers. Fodder can either be crafted from whatever suitable items you have at hand or purchased in bulk from merchants or stablehands in some settlements.
- Upon arrival, your Character will take some time to establish a camp. The time required depends on two factors: the tile’s biome and the number of Followers. Setting up a camping spot in the middle of an open field will be a much speedier affair than chopping down trees to make a clearing.
- There’ll be a limit on how often you can travel: after each journey, both Verren and the horses will need some time to recover. Initially the cooldown is a day and a half, but it can be gradually halved with specialized upgrades.
- Ol’ Tott isn’t going anywhere - his services will remain an alternative to the Caravan, although he’ll become much stingier with his prices. The main difference, however, is that the Coachman will only transport you between settlements and Outskirts - the Caravan is more flexible in this regard.
And now that we are done with mechanics, let’s move onto upgrades:
TRAVELING
Hitching Post
Requirements: basic upgrade (available from the start)
Effect: grants access to Caravan travels
Old Cart
Requirements: basic upgrade (available from the start)
Effect: sets the base Caravan Distance at 20 tiles
Worn Chests
Requirements: basic upgrade (available from the start)
Effect: grants access to 200 inventory slots of the Caravan Storage
Sturdy Wheels
Requirements: Set of Sturdy Wheels (x1), Bottle of Oil (x1), Carpenter Hammer (x1)
Effect: +25% Caravan Distance and Speed
Ironbound Wheels
Requirements: Set of Ironbound Wheels (x1), Bottle of Oil (х2), Nails (х6), Carpenter Hammer (x1)
Effect: -33% Caravan Rest Duration, -10% Traveling Costs
Sturdy Chest
Requirements: Sturdy Chest (x1), Rope (х2), Nails (х6)
Effect: adds 200 inventory slots to the Caravan Storage (up to 400 in total)
Spacious Chests
Requirements: Spacious Chests (x1), Nails (х6), Bottle of Oil (х2)
Effect: adds 200 inventory slots to the Caravan Storage (up to 600 in total)
Ironbound Chests
Requirements: Ironbound Chests (x1), Nails (х8), Bottle of Oil (х3)
Effect: adds 200 inventory slots to the Caravan Storage (up to 800 in total)
Fitting Accouterments
Requirements: Quality Reins (x1), Horseshoe (х8), Nails (х2)
Effect: +25% Caravan Speed, -10% Traveling Costs
Сustom-Made Gear
Requirements: Reinforced Harness (x1), Bolt of Cloth (x1), Rope (x1)
Effect: -33% Caravan Rest Duration, +25% Caravan Distance
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That’s all for now. Until next devlog!