It's been one year since Heretic Operative was released, and we are celebrating by releasing a major new update!
- New difficulty modes! While the same standard challenging balance is still available by default, now you can choose which difficulty level is right for your play style. There are no XP adjustments based on difficulty, so play whatever you enjoy the most. To win on "Excommunicated" will require mastery of all of Heretic Operative's gameplay.
- New free Operative! Corrian the Disavowed brings some powerful new abilities to the table, like gaining additional Action Points and being able to recruit for free. However his dark side leaves him vulnerable to Corruption. Using him requires a difficult choice: embrace his abilities and plan for the inevitable consequence, or attempt to bring him back on to a more sustainable path?
- Lots of balance changes! We have made another major pass across all the spells, items, and Townsfolk in the game to try and bring some of the under-strength ones up to par. A significant pass was made to improve the Townsfolk that require an Action Point to interact with. Carefully spending your Action Points is the most important mechanic in Heretic Operative and we wanted to make sure there were many viable options.
If you enjoy this new update please let us know in the forums or by leaving us a review. We're a very small studio and your feedback matters a lot to us.
Full patch nodes below (and viewable in-game):
1.2.1 - 10-FEB-2020
New Features & Content:
- Difficulty modes!
* "Initiate" lowers skill check difficulty, gives bonus starting resources, and +1 Action Point each turn. Perfect for learning the game or just experimenting.
* "Operative" is the standard mode the game is balanced around.
* "Excommunicated" is a challenging mode where both skill checks and combat are more difficult, and the Cult gets to start with one additional Cultist. If you find the normal game a little too easy, this mode will test your skills!
- New Operative! Corrian the Disavowed can generate extra Action Points and recruit Townsfolk without Influence, but can easily fall to temptation...
Balance Changes:
- Night damage dice now generate Corruption for every 3 points of damage (improved from 2/dmg).
- Illusion spell "Inquisition" now costs 10 Corruption (down from 25), and generates 1 Influence when used.
- Elven spell "Treant" now requires 4+ Tranquility to cast (down from 5+).
- Pouch of Endless Gold now gives 3 gold per turn (up from 2).
Many items or Townsfolk that require an Action Point to use are now more worthwhile, to better reflect the cost of using the AP.
- Hermit (Lost Temple) no longer requires a Lore to use Arcane Wards.
- Treasure Hunter (Ancient Temple) now has a higher chance of success.
- Fishmonger (Docks) now gives 4 Rumors for 2 Gold (was 1 for 1).
- Librarian (Museum District) now has a higher chance of success.
- Herbalist (Farmstead) now costs 2 Influence to recruit (was 4), and only costs 1 Gold to use (was 2).
- Shopkeeper (Farmstead) now costs 2 Influence to recruit (was 4), and only costs 1 Gold to use (was 2).
- Blacksmith (Farmstead) now costs 4 Influence to recruit (was 6).
- Mayor (Farmstead) recruitment requirements adjusted to match costs of other Townsfolk, to 10 combined Influence (was 12).
- Farmer (Farmstead) work now reduces Corruption (-10) in addition to paying Gold.
- Guard Captain (Frontier) work now pays 3 Gold (up from 2).
- Dubious Merchant (Frontier) now pays significantly more Gold for items, between 4 and 7 (was between 2 and 5).
- Veteran (Burning Woods Rebuilt) now pays 4 Gold (up from 2) when getting the Gold result for raiding.
- Healer (Hideout) now generates 1 Fate in addition to healing.
- Barkeep (Copec's Tavern) action now reduces Corruption by 5 when nothing is going on (was: no effect).
- Provisioner (Forgotten Tomb) now offers 3 items to choose from (was 2).
- Explorer (Desolate Isle) now gives 3 Rumors when trading Lore (was 2), and also lowers Corruption (-10).
- Item "Life Water?" now is usable at -2 Tranquility (was -5).
- Item "Utuk in Amber" now reduces Tranquiliity by -1 (was -2).
- Item "Notes on Suspicious Activity" now generates 4 Rumors when successfully used (was 2).
- Item "Hawksdottir's Amulet" now costs 5 Corruption to wear (down from 15).
- Item "Wand of Projection" now costs -1 Tranquility to use (up from -2).
- Item "Scrolls of Prophecy" now generates 8 Rumors and 8 Fate when successfully used (was 5 and 5).
- Item "Orb of Divination" now generates 4 Fate when used (up from 3).
- Item "Orb of Provenance" now consumes 3 Fate when used (down from 5).
Bugfixes & Misc:
- Fixed a bug where Malhal Raiders would not properly steal gold from the Tavern
- Fixed a bug that would cause randomly picked spell targets to not be very random.
- Main menu now shows whether or not the Blood Cult DLC is available.