The Storm Guard: Darkness is Coming news & patch notes

2018-05-08 Update 19 is now out of beta and available to everbody.

New Hero

The latest update brings a new hero, the Gnome Mage. He is a master of earth, fire and ice spells, many of them being AoE spells that can bring the pain to clumped up enemies.

German Localization

Germans can now enjoy the game in their native language.

Bugs & Balance

Minor balance changes to adjust the difficulty have been made. We also squashed some bugs. https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/11723680/35fa0c7435d6a35bab0aea986828cbcf9640a39c.png

Update #18

2017-02-23 Gameplay Change

• New animation for assassin's shadowstep skill.
• Casters will now use buffs more frequently.

Balance Changes

• Warrior's "Hamstring" cooldown reduced to 2 (down from 4), energy reduced to 3 (down from 5).

Bug Fixes

• Warrior's "Cyclone" now does more damage at higher levels.
• Can no longer put the same character into Sanctuary multiple times.
• Fixed description of Goblin Shaman's "Weapon of Fury".
• Potion after-effects can no longer be canceled.
• Dwarf King's "Counter Blow" no longer states that it requires the attacker not having moved this turn.
• Fixed a bug that cause characters to be moved to the wrong position in the roster when dragging them to other places.
• Ninja no longer shows a standard ranged attack icon at the start of a fight.

Thanks for playing The Storm Guard!

Update #18

2017-02-23 Gameplay Change

• New animation for assassin's shadowstep skill.
• Casters will now use buffs more frequently.

Balance Changes

• Warrior's "Hamstring" cooldown reduced to 2 (down from 4), energy reduced to 3 (down from 5).

Bug Fixes

• Warrior's "Cyclone" now does more damage at higher levels.
• Can no longer put the same character into Sanctuary multiple times.
• Fixed description of Goblin Shaman's "Weapon of Fury".
• Potion after-effects can no longer be canceled.
• Dwarf King's "Counter Blow" no longer states that it requires the attacker not having moved this turn.
• Fixed a bug that cause characters to be moved to the wrong position in the roster when dragging them to other places.
• Ninja no longer shows a standard ranged attack icon at the start of a fight.

Thanks for playing The Storm Guard!

Update #17

2016-12-29 Gameplay Change

• New player hero added: the Amazon. The Amazon is a hybrid ranged/melee character that can throw Javelins from a distance, then follow up with adrenaline-based melee skills. She has less range than archers but can switch from ranged to melee once she has built up some adrenaline to work with.

Balance Changes

• Elven Hunter's "Scavenger Shot" returns less energy (12, down from 15) and has its cooldown increased (3, up from 2).

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug that caused "Shame" to cause an exception when more than one Effect was active.

http://i.imgur.com/S4xY7gu.png

Update #17

2016-12-29 Gameplay Change

• New player hero added: the Amazon. The Amazon is a hybrid ranged/melee character that can throw Javelins from a distance, then follow up with adrenaline-based melee skills. She has less range than archers but can switch from ranged to melee once she has built up some adrenaline to work with.

Balance Changes

• Elven Hunter's "Scavenger Shot" returns less energy (12, down from 15) and has its cooldown increased (3, up from 2).

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug that caused "Shame" to cause an exception when more than one Effect was active.

http://i.imgur.com/S4xY7gu.png

Update #16

2016-09-09 Gameplay Change

• Red Dragon has a new passive "Deflective Armor" that makes him take reduced damage from ranged attacks.

Balance Changes

• Elven Hunter's "Burning Arrow" burning condition lasts 2 turns (down from 3).
• Elven Hunter's "Needling Shot" energy cost increased to 7 (up from 6).
• Decrease energy cost of "Flanking Shot" and "Precision Shot" to 4 (down from 6).
• Decrease duration of "Apply Poison" to 6 (down from 8). Reduce energy cost to 8 (down from 10).
• Increase energy cost of "Debilitating Shot" to 7 (up from 6).
• Decrease energy cost of "Troll Elixir" to 4 (down from 5).
• Reduce energy cost of "Penetrating Shot" to 5 (down from 6).

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug that removed a party slot after doing storyline missions in wrong order.
• Various bug fixes.

Update #16

2016-09-09 Gameplay Change

• Red Dragon has a new passive "Deflective Armor" that makes him take reduced damage from ranged attacks.

Balance Changes

• Elven Hunter's "Burning Arrow" burning condition lasts 2 turns (down from 3).
• Elven Hunter's "Needling Shot" energy cost increased to 7 (up from 6).
• Decrease energy cost of "Flanking Shot" and "Precision Shot" to 4 (down from 6).
• Decrease duration of "Apply Poison" to 6 (down from 8). Reduce energy cost to 8 (down from 10).
• Increase energy cost of "Debilitating Shot" to 7 (up from 6).
• Decrease energy cost of "Troll Elixir" to 4 (down from 5).
• Reduce energy cost of "Penetrating Shot" to 5 (down from 6).

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug that removed a party slot after doing storyline missions in wrong order.
• Various bug fixes.

Update #15

2016-08-19 Gameplay Changes

• UI panel transparency removed.
• Animation speed can now be set via slider.
• Dwarven Slayer renamed to Berserker.

Balance Changes

• Character level 6+ now grants percentage-based damage increase.
• Assassin's "Jump Strike" damage increased by 10 (per hand).
• Assassin's "Trampling Ox" damage increased by 10 (per hand).
• Ninja "Kama" now has 25% penetration (up from 15%).
• Ninja's Katana damage increased to 24-30 (up from 22-28).
• Ninja's "Crippling Slash" and "Wasting Hew" now do +15 damage (up from 13).
• Ninja's "Scissor's Bow" and "Windmill Bow" now do +12 damage per hand (up from 10).
• Dwarven Berserker's basic attack skills like "Agonizing Chop", "Disrupting Chop", etc. now need 10% health but do more damage.
• Dwarven Berserker's advanced and elite skills do more damage.
• Dwarven Priest's "Conviction" regenerates 25 health/turn (up from 20).
• Warrior now also has a "Stability" passive that gives him a 50% chance to resist knockdowns.
• Character level boundaries adjusted. Characters need more XP in the early game to level up. This may temporarily downlevel your characters after the update until you meet the need level requirements.

Update #15

2016-08-19 Gameplay Changes

• UI panel transparency removed.
• Animation speed can now be set via slider.
• Dwarven Slayer renamed to Berserker.

Balance Changes

• Character level 6+ now grants percentage-based damage increase.
• Assassin's "Jump Strike" damage increased by 10 (per hand).
• Assassin's "Trampling Ox" damage increased by 10 (per hand).
• Ninja "Kama" now has 25% penetration (up from 15%).
• Ninja's Katana damage increased to 24-30 (up from 22-28).
• Ninja's "Crippling Slash" and "Wasting Hew" now do +15 damage (up from 13).
• Ninja's "Scissor's Bow" and "Windmill Bow" now do +12 damage per hand (up from 10).
• Dwarven Berserker's basic attack skills like "Agonizing Chop", "Disrupting Chop", etc. now need 10% health but do more damage.
• Dwarven Berserker's advanced and elite skills do more damage.
• Dwarven Priest's "Conviction" regenerates 25 health/turn (up from 20).
• Warrior now also has a "Stability" passive that gives him a 50% chance to resist knockdowns.
• Character level boundaries adjusted. Characters need more XP in the early game to level up. This may temporarily downlevel your characters after the update until you meet the need level requirements.

The focus of this update is on bug fixes and balance changes. As new features can always introduce new bugs, we now entered a consolidation phase where we're ironing out the last bugs and making small balance changes to get ready for release.

Update #14

2016-07-13 Gameplay Changes

• Defeating the demon rewards equipment and a statue of lore that reduces costs in the training hall by 33%.

Balance Changes

• Higher level missions reward more gold.
• Higher rated monsters reward more gold.
• Levitation causes melee attacks to miss 90% of times (down from 100%).

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug that prevented statues from being rewarded.
• Fixed a bug that made the wrong dragon form to appear during the end game fight.
• Fixed a bug that accidentally used two scrolls of recovery.
• Delete sig les in ironman mode.
• Fixed "Ork Traders" event.
• Fixed bug that allowed upgrading skills beyond their maximum level.
• Dwarven Slayer now shows weapon base damage in character details panel.
• Show level-up dialog when leveling up after consuming a scroll of XP.

http://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/11723680/2a6d120062ff96fe3251c42c185e5bfa5994b16d.png

The focus of this update is on bug fixes and balance changes. As new features can always introduce new bugs, we now entered a consolidation phase where we're ironing out the last bugs and making small balance changes to get ready for release.

Update #14

2016-07-13 Gameplay Changes

• Defeating the demon rewards equipment and a statue of lore that reduces costs in the training hall by 33%.

Balance Changes

• Higher level missions reward more gold.
• Higher rated monsters reward more gold.
• Levitation causes melee attacks to miss 90% of times (down from 100%).

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug that prevented statues from being rewarded.
• Fixed a bug that made the wrong dragon form to appear during the end game fight.
• Fixed a bug that accidentally used two scrolls of recovery.
• Delete sig les in ironman mode.
• Fixed "Ork Traders" event.
• Fixed bug that allowed upgrading skills beyond their maximum level.
• Dwarven Slayer now shows weapon base damage in character details panel.
• Show level-up dialog when leveling up after consuming a scroll of XP.

http://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/11723680/2a6d120062ff96fe3251c42c185e5bfa5994b16d.png

Update #13 introduced a reputation system. Your decisions during the random events will have an impact on your reputation with a certain race. As a consequence, recruits and skills for heroes of that race will become cheaper or more expensive. This means some of your decisions have a lasting impact on how you relate to the rest of the world. For example, if a group of elves is chased by undead and you choose not to help them, then this is not exactly going to help your reputation with the elves. OTOH, if you help members of certain race then they will be grateful (and give you a discount). It's not always possible to keep a good reputation with all races, as sometimes you will need to choose (e.g. when dwarves and elves are having a fight and you side with one of them, then the other race will not approve). Overall, it's a funny new mechanic that gives a bit more meaning to your decisions. Reputation caps at 25, i.e. at 25% discount/penalty. This reputation mechanic was the last feature I was planning to implement and I really need to release this baby soon. Thanks for everybody who contributed. If there's still any issues, please let me know.

Update #13

2016-06-30 Gameplay Changes

• All heroes now come in two appearances so you have an easier time distinguishing two heroes of the same class . Now you can switch between the two appearances in the tavern/mission board by right-clicking the character and selecting the desired appearance.
• Introduced new reputation system. Your actions will now have an impact on your reputation with other races. A good reputation will reduce the cost of recruiting or training a hero of a certain race, while a bad reputation has the opposite effect.

Balance Changes

• Dwarven Champion's Overbearing Smash was moved from advanced to basic so he has a basic adrenaline skill.
• Dwarven Knight's Deadly Riposte was scaling up a bit too much.
• Dwarven Slayer has a toughness passive reducing constitution loss.
• Steward task durations reduced by 1 day (except cooking).
• Dwarven Priest's "Inspiration" no longer requires an action point.

Bug Fixes

• Dwarven Slayer starting skills now choose from whole skill set. Also, he always gets utter berserk (which is now a basic skill).
• Fixed a bug that prevented characters from finishing their steward tasks, getting new missions or new recruits after coming back from a mission.
• Fixed a problem with ballistas not turning or reloading properly.
• Fixed dwarven slayer's earrings which accidentally provided a lot of armor.

Update #13 introduced a reputation system. Your decisions during the random events will have an impact on your reputation with a certain race. As a consequence, recruits and skills for heroes of that race will become cheaper or more expensive. This means some of your decisions have a lasting impact on how you relate to the rest of the world. For example, if a group of elves is chased by undead and you choose not to help them, then this is not exactly going to help your reputation with the elves. OTOH, if you help members of certain race then they will be grateful (and give you a discount). It's not always possible to keep a good reputation with all races, as sometimes you will need to choose (e.g. when dwarves and elves are having a fight and you side with one of them, then the other race will not approve). Overall, it's a funny new mechanic that gives a bit more meaning to your decisions. Reputation caps at 25, i.e. at 25% discount/penalty. This reputation mechanic was the last feature I was planning to implement and I really need to release this baby soon. Thanks for everybody who contributed. If there's still any issues, please let me know.

Update #13

2016-06-30 Gameplay Changes

• All heroes now come in two appearances so you have an easier time distinguishing two heroes of the same class . Now you can switch between the two appearances in the tavern/mission board by right-clicking the character and selecting the desired appearance.
• Introduced new reputation system. Your actions will now have an impact on your reputation with other races. A good reputation will reduce the cost of recruiting or training a hero of a certain race, while a bad reputation has the opposite effect.

Balance Changes

• Dwarven Champion's Overbearing Smash was moved from advanced to basic so he has a basic adrenaline skill.
• Dwarven Knight's Deadly Riposte was scaling up a bit too much.
• Dwarven Slayer has a toughness passive reducing constitution loss.
• Steward task durations reduced by 1 day (except cooking).
• Dwarven Priest's "Inspiration" no longer requires an action point.

Bug Fixes

• Dwarven Slayer starting skills now choose from whole skill set. Also, he always gets utter berserk (which is now a basic skill).
• Fixed a bug that prevented characters from finishing their steward tasks, getting new missions or new recruits after coming back from a mission.
• Fixed a problem with ballistas not turning or reloading properly.
• Fixed dwarven slayer's earrings which accidentally provided a lot of armor.

Update #12 brings a new playable hero, the dwarven slayer. He's got not energy but his skills cost a percentage of his current health. Furthermore, he gets stronger the less health he's got left. So, you will want to keep him low, but not too low. We're already in June and I'm getting the game ready for public release. Therefore, the focus will now be on finding and ironing out any remaining bugs and getting everything ready. Any help with this will be greatly appreciated. If you enjoy the game, please also give it a thumbs up. Thanks.

Update #12

2016-06-19 Gameplay Changes

• New playable hero: the dwarven slayer. He has no energy resource but his skills cost a percentage of his current health. The lower his health, the more damage he does. He is a crazy guy who forgoes armor for more damage.
• New option to speed up attack animations by factor 5.
• Archer animations generally sped up.
• Refund 75% of the equipment cost for fallen team members (only if you win the battle).
• Added voiceover introductions for new neutral creatures (humans, dwarves).
• New Credits song: "The Fires of the Storm Guard".
• Mobility potions grant immunity to knockdown.
• Can now sell potions in town.
• Can now rearrange characters on roster via drag & drop.

Balance Changes

• Some AI skills that cause burning now have slightly lower duration.
• Level boundaries for level 5+ lowered. Thus, characters level faster in the late game.
• For normal games with missions costing stamina, tax income increased to 500 (up from 250). This should give players a wee-bit more gold to equip and train multiple heroes.
• Burning now does damage equivalent to 20% of max hp (down from 25%). AoE burning was a bit too good.
• Goblin Assassin's "Dagger Fury" does +20 damage (down from +25).
• Statues provide better benefits.
• Weapon penetrations scale with character levels. That way, penetration is not that bad early on but will get gradually better (as armor gets thicker).
• Troll and Warchief's high end skills moved back one level. They were too good in the mid game.
• Dodging no longer takes distance into account.
• Lowered chance of Portal, Crypt or Camp missions to show up to 10% (down from 15%). Chance of Occupied Village and Invasion both reduced to 15 (down from 20).
• Scrolls of XP now give 250XP (up from 100).

Bug Fixes

• "Bring Supplies" steward mission only granted 1 gold per level instead of 25. Fixed.
• Fixed a bug that caused the game to freeze when a character currently turning around to defend against a blow was killed/knocked down.

http://i.imgur.com/1F7SGDK.png The Dwarven Slayer forgoes armor and sacrifices health for additional damage.

Update #12 brings a new playable hero, the dwarven slayer. He's got not energy but his skills cost a percentage of his current health. Furthermore, he gets stronger the less health he's got left. So, you will want to keep him low, but not too low. We're already in June and I'm getting the game ready for public release. Therefore, the focus will now be on finding and ironing out any remaining bugs and getting everything ready. Any help with this will be greatly appreciated. If you enjoy the game, please also give it a thumbs up. Thanks.

Update #12

2016-06-19 Gameplay Changes

• New playable hero: the dwarven slayer. He has no energy resource but his skills cost a percentage of his current health. The lower his health, the more damage he does. He is a crazy guy who forgoes armor for more damage.
• New option to speed up attack animations by factor 5.
• Archer animations generally sped up.
• Refund 75% of the equipment cost for fallen team members (only if you win the battle).
• Added voiceover introductions for new neutral creatures (humans, dwarves).
• New Credits song: "The Fires of the Storm Guard".
• Mobility potions grant immunity to knockdown.
• Can now sell potions in town.
• Can now rearrange characters on roster via drag & drop.

Balance Changes

• Some AI skills that cause burning now have slightly lower duration.
• Level boundaries for level 5+ lowered. Thus, characters level faster in the late game.
• For normal games with missions costing stamina, tax income increased to 500 (up from 250). This should give players a wee-bit more gold to equip and train multiple heroes.
• Burning now does damage equivalent to 20% of max hp (down from 25%). AoE burning was a bit too good.
• Goblin Assassin's "Dagger Fury" does +20 damage (down from +25).
• Statues provide better benefits.
• Weapon penetrations scale with character levels. That way, penetration is not that bad early on but will get gradually better (as armor gets thicker).
• Troll and Warchief's high end skills moved back one level. They were too good in the mid game.
• Dodging no longer takes distance into account.
• Lowered chance of Portal, Crypt or Camp missions to show up to 10% (down from 15%). Chance of Occupied Village and Invasion both reduced to 15 (down from 20).
• Scrolls of XP now give 250XP (up from 100).

Bug Fixes

• "Bring Supplies" steward mission only granted 1 gold per level instead of 25. Fixed.
• Fixed a bug that caused the game to freeze when a character currently turning around to defend against a blow was killed/knocked down.

http://i.imgur.com/1F7SGDK.png The Dwarven Slayer forgoes armor and sacrifices health for additional damage.

Update 11 is now live fixing several critical bugs and introducing a few more changes. Here's the complete changelog:

Update #11

2016-05-31 Gameplay Changes

• Save files now require a unique name. This allows overwriting save files having the same name. File names are scoped to the town name, i.e. two different towns (=games) can have the same name.
• Town names must now be unique.
• Implemented "Ironman Mode" that only keeps the last autosave. That way, saves are permanent (and so are deaths).
• Can now scroll when moving mouse over the edges of the screen.

Balance Changes

• Some AI skills that cause burning now have slightly lower duration.

Bug Fixes

• Panning while holding the left mouse button is now less jerky.
• Fixed a problem with the "Orks attacking Undead" event.
• Fixed a bug causing black knight's slice & dice to freeze the game.
• Fixed a bug that causing a reviving zombie to freeze the game.
• Fixed a bug that prevented combat from ending when the party was wiped.
• Ninja attack range will only show when a ranged skill is selected.

Update 11 is now live fixing several critical bugs and introducing a few more changes. Here's the complete changelog:

Update #11

2016-05-31 Gameplay Changes

• Save files now require a unique name. This allows overwriting save files having the same name. File names are scoped to the town name, i.e. two different towns (=games) can have the same name.
• Town names must now be unique.
• Implemented "Ironman Mode" that only keeps the last autosave. That way, saves are permanent (and so are deaths).
• Can now scroll when moving mouse over the edges of the screen.

Balance Changes

• Some AI skills that cause burning now have slightly lower duration.

Bug Fixes

• Panning while holding the left mouse button is now less jerky.
• Fixed a problem with the "Orks attacking Undead" event.
• Fixed a bug causing black knight's slice & dice to freeze the game.
• Fixed a bug that causing a reviving zombie to freeze the game.
• Fixed a bug that prevented combat from ending when the party was wiped.
• Ninja attack range will only show when a ranged skill is selected.

Update #10

2016-05-20 Gameplay Changes

• Acting AI character is highlighted on the UI.
• Improved animations when dying/knocked down: hit animations used to interfere with death/KD animations.
• Knocked-down characters no longer tie up enemy characters as long as they are on their back. This means that ranged characters can use their ranged attacks/skills even when next to a knocked down character.
• Attach/Move confirmation panel is now much smaller so it is less obtrusive.
• Missions requiring stamina can now be switched off in the global options. Some players don't like the new stamina mechanic and can now opt out of it. Don't blame it on me if the game gets too easy though...
• Added Apprentice Healer, a playable "soldier" class that can serve as a free backup healer.
• Knocked-down characters no longer tie up enemies. Ranged characters can use their ranged attack if adjacent to a disabled foe.
• Added a dozen new random events (featuring dwarves).
• Allied AI controlled characters now have yellow tile borders.
• Ballista added (dwarven siege weapon).

Balance Changes

• Elven Hunter now has a 5% critical hit chance (+10% with full gear).
• Sparring now rewards 100xp (up from 50).

Bug Fixes

• Acting AI character is highlighted on the UI.
• Semi-transparent obstacles now properly show glyphs and UI elements.
• Ranged criticals are now properly reported as such.
• Dwarven Healer was lacking AI module so he was just standing around. Fixed now.
• Target frame rate set to 60fps to avoid skyrocketing frame rates on high end systems.
• Fixed issues with attack animations on many characters.

Update #10

2016-05-20 Gameplay Changes

• Acting AI character is highlighted on the UI.
• Improved animations when dying/knocked down: hit animations used to interfere with death/KD animations.
• Knocked-down characters no longer tie up enemy characters as long as they are on their back. This means that ranged characters can use their ranged attacks/skills even when next to a knocked down character.
• Attach/Move confirmation panel is now much smaller so it is less obtrusive.
• Missions requiring stamina can now be switched off in the global options. Some players don't like the new stamina mechanic and can now opt out of it. Don't blame it on me if the game gets too easy though...
• Added Apprentice Healer, a playable "soldier" class that can serve as a free backup healer.
• Knocked-down characters no longer tie up enemies. Ranged characters can use their ranged attack if adjacent to a disabled foe.
• Added a dozen new random events (featuring dwarves).
• Allied AI controlled characters now have yellow tile borders.
• Ballista added (dwarven siege weapon).

Balance Changes

• Elven Hunter now has a 5% critical hit chance (+10% with full gear).
• Sparring now rewards 100xp (up from 50).

Bug Fixes

• Acting AI character is highlighted on the UI.
• Semi-transparent obstacles now properly show glyphs and UI elements.
• Ranged criticals are now properly reported as such.
• Dwarven Healer was lacking AI module so he was just standing around. Fixed now.
• Target frame rate set to 60fps to avoid skyrocketing frame rates on high end systems.
• Fixed issues with attack animations on many characters.

Here's the complete list of changes.

Update #9

2016-05-01 Gameplay Changes

• Characters now have a stamina stat. Each mission costs some stamina. Stamina will be recovered every day. When a character is out of stamina, then he will have to rest in town to recover his strength. This basically means that you cannot run the same team every day but should develop more characters in parallel. Right now, the constitution mechanic is not sufficient to result in enough downtimes, esp. later on. The stamina cost per mission depends on the difficult level. This makes sure players who have chosen easy won't be affected by this mechanic as much.
• First storyline mission can show up earlier. As a consequence, you can unlock the fourth party slot way sooner. This should make the early game a bit easier.
• Loot mission on day 3 will increase early gold income.
• Side quests added. Side quests only show up once per game and are purely optional. However, completing them provides considerable benefits, sometimes there's a downside if you skip them. In any case, they are not part of the main storyline.
• Side quest added: the dwarven ambassador.
• Side quest added: the black knight.
• Black Knight human neutral character added.
• Skeleton King undead character added. He's a badass.
• Neutral dwarves added: some random events will now feature dwarves. You can even end up fighting them. In detail, a dwarven footman, knight, healer, battle wizard and king have been added.
• Level-ups restore lost constitution on characters.
• Character level boundaries are adjusted. All levels beyond 2 require a bit more XP to slow down the pace and give players a chance to earn more gold. Please note that this means that your existing characters may be downleveled (don't panic). Any skills they have learned will retain their level.
• Many random events will give you a hint about the enemy team composition so you can decide whether you want to engage. Sometimes, when you get surprised, you don't get that info.
• Some fights now offer the chance to avoid the fight. If you chose that option, then the game will do an escape roll taking you average speed and the average speed of the enemy into account. If you succeed, then you escaped and can continue on your way. If you fail, then you must fight.
• Add new consumables: scroll of experience (grants 100xp) and scroll of recovery (restores 5 constitution and 5 stamina). Both are non-purchasable but can be found during missions or looted after combat. The former can be used to bring heroes that are dragging behind in terms of levels up to speed, the latter can avoid critical downtimes.
• When purchasing another recruit slot in the tavern, a new character is added immediately.
• Buildings can now be selected in town by clicking on the respective models.
• Players can now earn Statues. Statues are errected in town and provide special (economic) benefits (e.g. discounts in armory or training hall, improved sanctuary, etc.). They cannot be purchased but are a special reward.
• Save games can now have a custom description.
• New building in town: the Steward's Office. Here, idle heroes can sign up for domestic duties so they don't get bored.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug that prevented story progression missions from showing up.
• Fixed a bug that prevented a character from executing a queued in movement when no longer active.
• AI casters will now use offensive spells without having LoS.
• Fixed a bug where you could not load a save game during a combat where a member died that previously cast an enchantment on anonther team member.
• Fixed a bug that cause the combat to freeze when opening character panels during the AI's turn.
• Fixed choppy camera movement when following moving characters around.
• Various other bug fixes.

Balance Changes

• Some warrior armor pieces are now available later in the game. Since we have higher gold income early, we don't want insanely armored tanks.
• Dwarven Priest's "Berronar's Touch" now heals for 75+50 per enchantment (up from 50+50). This makes it less dependent on enchantments.
• Dwarven Priest's "Bloom" now removes conditions when applying the enchantment not when it wears off. This makes the priest much more effective at dealing with conditions.
• Dwarven Priest's "Conviction" has a base regeneration that applies regardless of any conditions on the target.
• Games on Easy difficulty start with an extra 100 gold.
• Warrior gets AoE taunt skill to replace his passive taunt. Taunt will last 2 turns regardless of level.
• Guard starting armor increased to 40 (up from 35) and he gets a taunt passive ability. This makes him a better backup tank.
• Goblin Slinger gets a new skill: "Aim for the Head" causing dazed condition. This makes this little guy who otherwise is mostly harmless at least a bit more annoying.
• Assassin dual strikes slightly buffed (back to old level).
• Players now start out with 400 gold (up from 250). This is due to the fact that they now are supposed to develop more characters and could be suffering from early gold issues otherwise.
• Wyverns are immune to taunt.
• Tweaked gold and food rewards you get from encounters.
• Dwarven Champion's "Bull's Charge" now avoids attacks of opportunity making it a lot more viable (can zip from one target to the next). Cooldown increased to 4 (up from 3).
• Oger now has an enrage passive: if hit by a ranged attack, a shout is triggered that increases the movement speed. This makes it harder to kite the Oger.

Here's the complete list of changes.

Update #9

2016-05-01 Gameplay Changes

• Characters now have a stamina stat. Each mission costs some stamina. Stamina will be recovered every day. When a character is out of stamina, then he will have to rest in town to recover his strength. This basically means that you cannot run the same team every day but should develop more characters in parallel. Right now, the constitution mechanic is not sufficient to result in enough downtimes, esp. later on. The stamina cost per mission depends on the difficult level. This makes sure players who have chosen easy won't be affected by this mechanic as much.
• First storyline mission can show up earlier. As a consequence, you can unlock the fourth party slot way sooner. This should make the early game a bit easier.
• Loot mission on day 3 will increase early gold income.
• Side quests added. Side quests only show up once per game and are purely optional. However, completing them provides considerable benefits, sometimes there's a downside if you skip them. In any case, they are not part of the main storyline.
• Side quest added: the dwarven ambassador.
• Side quest added: the black knight.
• Black Knight human neutral character added.
• Skeleton King undead character added. He's a badass.
• Neutral dwarves added: some random events will now feature dwarves. You can even end up fighting them. In detail, a dwarven footman, knight, healer, battle wizard and king have been added.
• Level-ups restore lost constitution on characters.
• Character level boundaries are adjusted. All levels beyond 2 require a bit more XP to slow down the pace and give players a chance to earn more gold. Please note that this means that your existing characters may be downleveled (don't panic). Any skills they have learned will retain their level.
• Many random events will give you a hint about the enemy team composition so you can decide whether you want to engage. Sometimes, when you get surprised, you don't get that info.
• Some fights now offer the chance to avoid the fight. If you chose that option, then the game will do an escape roll taking you average speed and the average speed of the enemy into account. If you succeed, then you escaped and can continue on your way. If you fail, then you must fight.
• Add new consumables: scroll of experience (grants 100xp) and scroll of recovery (restores 5 constitution and 5 stamina). Both are non-purchasable but can be found during missions or looted after combat. The former can be used to bring heroes that are dragging behind in terms of levels up to speed, the latter can avoid critical downtimes.
• When purchasing another recruit slot in the tavern, a new character is added immediately.
• Buildings can now be selected in town by clicking on the respective models.
• Players can now earn Statues. Statues are errected in town and provide special (economic) benefits (e.g. discounts in armory or training hall, improved sanctuary, etc.). They cannot be purchased but are a special reward.
• Save games can now have a custom description.
• New building in town: the Steward's Office. Here, idle heroes can sign up for domestic duties so they don't get bored.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug that prevented story progression missions from showing up.
• Fixed a bug that prevented a character from executing a queued in movement when no longer active.
• AI casters will now use offensive spells without having LoS.
• Fixed a bug where you could not load a save game during a combat where a member died that previously cast an enchantment on anonther team member.
• Fixed a bug that cause the combat to freeze when opening character panels during the AI's turn.
• Fixed choppy camera movement when following moving characters around.
• Various other bug fixes.

Balance Changes

• Some warrior armor pieces are now available later in the game. Since we have higher gold income early, we don't want insanely armored tanks.
• Dwarven Priest's "Berronar's Touch" now heals for 75+50 per enchantment (up from 50+50). This makes it less dependent on enchantments.
• Dwarven Priest's "Bloom" now removes conditions when applying the enchantment not when it wears off. This makes the priest much more effective at dealing with conditions.
• Dwarven Priest's "Conviction" has a base regeneration that applies regardless of any conditions on the target.
• Games on Easy difficulty start with an extra 100 gold.
• Warrior gets AoE taunt skill to replace his passive taunt. Taunt will last 2 turns regardless of level.
• Guard starting armor increased to 40 (up from 35) and he gets a taunt passive ability. This makes him a better backup tank.
• Goblin Slinger gets a new skill: "Aim for the Head" causing dazed condition. This makes this little guy who otherwise is mostly harmless at least a bit more annoying.
• Assassin dual strikes slightly buffed (back to old level).
• Players now start out with 400 gold (up from 250). This is due to the fact that they now are supposed to develop more characters and could be suffering from early gold issues otherwise.
• Wyverns are immune to taunt.
• Tweaked gold and food rewards you get from encounters.
• Dwarven Champion's "Bull's Charge" now avoids attacks of opportunity making it a lot more viable (can zip from one target to the next). Cooldown increased to 4 (up from 3).
• Oger now has an enrage passive: if hit by a ranged attack, a shout is triggered that increases the movement speed. This makes it harder to kite the Oger.

Update #8 was just moved over from beta. Among other changes, it brings a new taunt mechanic that allows tanks to taunt characters taking the heat off the softer targets. Last but not least, it also adds the final battle against the ancient dragon for those of you who have progressed that far. This is a difficult battle, both, for the player and for the designer, so any feedback is highly appreciated. The next update will focus on bug fixes, balance changes (esp for the early game gold income) and will bring neutral dwarves and a new mission. Here's the change log for this one.

Update #8

2016-04-11 Gameplay Changes

• Final battle against the ancient dragon added. This is still draft and subject to change. Any feedback on this is highly appreciated.
• Level cap removed. Heroes will gain a small boost to base damage and health for each additional level.
• Dwarven champion gets a passive that grants double morale from kills.
• New Taunt condition added. Warrior attacks cause taunts. Taunted characters will prioritize the taunter over other characters. Taunting only works if the taunter is in melee range as the taunted character will not go out of its way to reach the taunter. Taunt is a one-sided mechanic working on AI characters only, the AI currently cannot taunt player characters.
• New skill for dwarven champion "Over Here!" taunts nearby foes.
• If panic reaches 100%, it's game over.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug that allowed another waypoint after you moved maximum distance.
• Fixed a bug that prevented characters from turning to new threat after movement.

Balance Changes

• Story missions will not generate more foes than party members. This allows unlocking additional party slots without being outnumbered.
• Reworked healer protection spells: "Shielding Hands" and "Shield of Absorption" now provide considerably more protection but have a minimum damage that will be applied.

Kill the Ancient Dragon to Win the Game

http://i.imgur.com/0midJ3P.png

Taunt Enemies to Tank Damage

http://i.imgur.com/SMOXMSH.png

Update #8 was just moved over from beta. Among other changes, it brings a new taunt mechanic that allows tanks to taunt characters taking the heat off the softer targets. Last but not least, it also adds the final battle against the ancient dragon for those of you who have progressed that far. This is a difficult battle, both, for the player and for the designer, so any feedback is highly appreciated. The next update will focus on bug fixes, balance changes (esp for the early game gold income) and will bring neutral dwarves and a new mission. Here's the change log for this one.

Update #8

2016-04-11 Gameplay Changes

• Final battle against the ancient dragon added. This is still draft and subject to change. Any feedback on this is highly appreciated.
• Level cap removed. Heroes will gain a small boost to base damage and health for each additional level.
• Dwarven champion gets a passive that grants double morale from kills.
• New Taunt condition added. Warrior attacks cause taunts. Taunted characters will prioritize the taunter over other characters. Taunting only works if the taunter is in melee range as the taunted character will not go out of its way to reach the taunter. Taunt is a one-sided mechanic working on AI characters only, the AI currently cannot taunt player characters.
• New skill for dwarven champion "Over Here!" taunts nearby foes.
• If panic reaches 100%, it's game over.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug that allowed another waypoint after you moved maximum distance.
• Fixed a bug that prevented characters from turning to new threat after movement.

Balance Changes

• Story missions will not generate more foes than party members. This allows unlocking additional party slots without being outnumbered.
• Reworked healer protection spells: "Shielding Hands" and "Shield of Absorption" now provide considerably more protection but have a minimum damage that will be applied.

Kill the Ancient Dragon to Win the Game

http://i.imgur.com/0midJ3P.png

Taunt Enemies to Tank Damage

http://i.imgur.com/SMOXMSH.png

Update #7 goes live and brings a couple of new things to the table. A new hero, the dwarven champion, has been added. There's also a new condition "dazed" which doubles the number of actions needed to use skills. Some people found it difficult to figure out why some skills on their bar cannot be used at a given time. The skill mouseover now explains the exact reason (cooldown, lack of energy, wrong weapon equipped, ...). There's also some crucial balance changes for the early game. I've also been looking into the final fight against the dragon but it is a bigger task and didn't fit into this update.

Update #7

Gameplay Changes

• Added new condition "Dazed". While dazed, characters need double action points to use skills.
• Daily recruits in Tavern won't have multiple instances of the same class.
• Level 2 missions will not appear before day 3.
• Special events that won't appear before a particular level will appear one level later on easy difficulty. That will make sure you don't run into anything too difficult early on. Normal difficulty is not affected.
• Skill mouseovers now state precisely why they are currently unavailable. When hints are switched on, then they give a more verbose explanation on why a skill is currently disabled.
• Increased font size on help bubbles.
• Introduced lightning and magic resistance. 20 resistance reduces corresponding damage by 20%. Lightning resistance works against lightning damage, magic resistance works against magic damage (e.g. damage you take from hexes or spells).

Bug Fixes

• Fixed "For Great Justice!" which did not give any additional adrenaline.

Balance Changes

• Ninja kamas do 15% penetration (down from 20%).
• Final Thrust does +100 damage (up from 75).
• Goblin Warrior block chance reduced to 15% (down from 20%).
• Elven Assassin's lead and off-hand attacks get a small buff. Dual attacks are slightly nerfed.
• Lowered cost of some of the Warrior's equipment.
• Ninja parry/evasion chances increased (15/15, up from 5/10).
• Level boundaries for level 2 increased to 600 (up from 400). This means you will stay in the early game for a bit longer and difficulty will not ramp up too early.
• Special events featuring huge monsters on level 2 and below will have one less sidekick.
• Golem's "Scrunch" skill pushed to level 3 (from level 2). Increased damage to 17 (up from 15).

Update #7 goes live and brings a couple of new things to the table. A new hero, the dwarven champion, has been added. There's also a new condition "dazed" which doubles the number of actions needed to use skills. Some people found it difficult to figure out why some skills on their bar cannot be used at a given time. The skill mouseover now explains the exact reason (cooldown, lack of energy, wrong weapon equipped, ...). There's also some crucial balance changes for the early game. I've also been looking into the final fight against the dragon but it is a bigger task and didn't fit into this update.

Update #7

Gameplay Changes

• Added new condition "Dazed". While dazed, characters need double action points to use skills.
• Daily recruits in Tavern won't have multiple instances of the same class.
• Level 2 missions will not appear before day 3.
• Special events that won't appear before a particular level will appear one level later on easy difficulty. That will make sure you don't run into anything too difficult early on. Normal difficulty is not affected.
• Skill mouseovers now state precisely why they are currently unavailable. When hints are switched on, then they give a more verbose explanation on why a skill is currently disabled.
• Increased font size on help bubbles.
• Introduced lightning and magic resistance. 20 resistance reduces corresponding damage by 20%. Lightning resistance works against lightning damage, magic resistance works against magic damage (e.g. damage you take from hexes or spells).

Bug Fixes

• Fixed "For Great Justice!" which did not give any additional adrenaline.

Balance Changes

• Ninja kamas do 15% penetration (down from 20%).
• Final Thrust does +100 damage (up from 75).
• Goblin Warrior block chance reduced to 15% (down from 20%).
• Elven Assassin's lead and off-hand attacks get a small buff. Dual attacks are slightly nerfed.
• Lowered cost of some of the Warrior's equipment.
• Ninja parry/evasion chances increased (15/15, up from 5/10).
• Level boundaries for level 2 increased to 600 (up from 400). This means you will stay in the early game for a bit longer and difficulty will not ramp up too early.
• Special events featuring huge monsters on level 2 and below will have one less sidekick.
• Golem's "Scrunch" skill pushed to level 3 (from level 2). Increased damage to 17 (up from 15).

Update #6

The newest update brings some of the improvements you people requested like the combat log and more options. Many other changes are included, we've been trying to improve balance on the monsters. Caster melee defenses have been nerfed whereas the Beholder has been buffed so it can better support its team. The Ninja got some new skills while tweaking her existing ones. We're hoping balance is getting close to where we want it to be. General Changes

• Ninja shows range of her shurikens/blow darts when selecting a target cell so you can find out if you can hit an opponent from there.
• Added combat log. The log is split into turns, one turn for each player's actions.
• Can now disable bars above character models in options.
• Narrator has its own volume in options.
• For skills with an AoE, highlight affected characters. This required some changes in cell coloring. Also, you must now confirm several AoE skills like shouts.
• Dwarven Priest's "Berronar's Touch" now also removes a condition.
• Dwarven Priest's "Cleansing Storm" renamed to "Inspiration" and now also causes energy gain for attack skills. Gain is now +2 (regardless of level) and up to 7 turns (down from 9).
• Events with a single large monster only will get company on higher levels. This is because single targets can be shut down quite effectively with CC skills.
• Warrior now has a new passive "Toughness" that reduces constitution damage to 50%. Since he'll spend most of the time tanking, he inevitably will take damage and this helps keeping constitution in check.

Balance Changes

• Burning is limited to 100 damage per turn (before fire resistance). Burning was absurdly powerful in the late game. Now it is still strong but doesn't own high health monsters as hard as it used to.
• AI hex removal spells have their cooldown reduced to 3 (down from 4).
• Beholder has a new spell: "Transfer Condition" that transfers a condition from an ally to a nearby foe.
• Mummy evasion chance reduced to 20 (down from 33).
• Goblin Shaman's evasion chance reduced to 15 (down from 20).
• Beholder gets an innate "Distortion" passive: attackers have a 20% chance to miss.
• Manticore claw base damage increased 35-40 (up from 25-35). This buffs its basic attack, lead attack, off-hand skill w/o affecting its sting finisher.
• Demon is restricted to boss mission.
• Ninja kama skills "Scissors Bow" and "Windmill Bow" cooldown increased to 2 (up from 1). They were too spammable.
• Ninja's "Armory of Sanctity" passive moved to Healer. Healer's equipment grants less armor.
• Ninja's "Focus" passive now scales with character level.
• Ninja gets new skills: "Triple Hit" (adv. kama skill) and "Onslaught" (elite katana skill).
• "Lightning Strike" starts with a cooldown so you cannot use it on turn 1.

Bug Fixes

• Casters now show fireball cursor when selecting the standard ranged attack.
• Dragonoid skill names were not set.
• Fixed a bug that prevented casters in melee from casting some spells.
• Goblin shaman now uses "Blood of the Ancestors" to heal himself.

Note: if you have saved during combat and then upgrade, then passives will not be fully updated for the current battle. That means the Healer won't have "Armor of Sanctity" and the Warrior won't have "Toughness" for the current battle. The next time you enter battle, the changes will be there.

Update #6

The newest update brings some of the improvements you people requested like the combat log and more options. Many other changes are included, we've been trying to improve balance on the monsters. Caster melee defenses have been nerfed whereas the Beholder has been buffed so it can better support its team. The Ninja got some new skills while tweaking her existing ones. We're hoping balance is getting close to where we want it to be. General Changes

• Ninja shows range of her shurikens/blow darts when selecting a target cell so you can find out if you can hit an opponent from there.
• Added combat log. The log is split into turns, one turn for each player's actions.
• Can now disable bars above character models in options.
• Narrator has its own volume in options.
• For skills with an AoE, highlight affected characters. This required some changes in cell coloring. Also, you must now confirm several AoE skills like shouts.
• Dwarven Priest's "Berronar's Touch" now also removes a condition.
• Dwarven Priest's "Cleansing Storm" renamed to "Inspiration" and now also causes energy gain for attack skills. Gain is now +2 (regardless of level) and up to 7 turns (down from 9).
• Events with a single large monster only will get company on higher levels. This is because single targets can be shut down quite effectively with CC skills.
• Warrior now has a new passive "Toughness" that reduces constitution damage to 50%. Since he'll spend most of the time tanking, he inevitably will take damage and this helps keeping constitution in check.

Balance Changes

• Burning is limited to 100 damage per turn (before fire resistance). Burning was absurdly powerful in the late game. Now it is still strong but doesn't own high health monsters as hard as it used to.
• AI hex removal spells have their cooldown reduced to 3 (down from 4).
• Beholder has a new spell: "Transfer Condition" that transfers a condition from an ally to a nearby foe.
• Mummy evasion chance reduced to 20 (down from 33).
• Goblin Shaman's evasion chance reduced to 15 (down from 20).
• Beholder gets an innate "Distortion" passive: attackers have a 20% chance to miss.
• Manticore claw base damage increased 35-40 (up from 25-35). This buffs its basic attack, lead attack, off-hand skill w/o affecting its sting finisher.
• Demon is restricted to boss mission.
• Ninja kama skills "Scissors Bow" and "Windmill Bow" cooldown increased to 2 (up from 1). They were too spammable.
• Ninja's "Armory of Sanctity" passive moved to Healer. Healer's equipment grants less armor.
• Ninja's "Focus" passive now scales with character level.
• Ninja gets new skills: "Triple Hit" (adv. kama skill) and "Onslaught" (elite katana skill).
• "Lightning Strike" starts with a cooldown so you cannot use it on turn 1.

Bug Fixes

• Casters now show fireball cursor when selecting the standard ranged attack.
• Dragonoid skill names were not set.
• Fixed a bug that prevented casters in melee from casting some spells.
• Goblin shaman now uses "Blood of the Ancestors" to heal himself.

Note: if you have saved during combat and then upgrade, then passives will not be fully updated for the current battle. That means the Healer won't have "Armor of Sanctity" and the Warrior won't have "Toughness" for the current battle. The next time you enter battle, the changes will be there.

Time goes by so fast, and it was busy times! Our first month in Early Access is over; time for a short recap. Overall, we made five updates to the game with a nice mix of bug fixes, balance changes and improvements. I'm quite happy with the progress, even though there's still a long list of todos and for every item resolved, a new one pops up. We have introduced new mechanics you guys suggested with the new zone of control and made the game more accessible to new players. A new hero, the Dwarven Priest, was added and probably will see a few minor changes. Balance-wise, I was hoping that after the first month, we'd be good and the game is definitely heading in the right direction, but I feel that a few balance tweaks will still be necessary over the next weeks. We will also have to talk about the end game at some point, particularly the dragon. Boss fights are always difficult to get right, and it will be important to walk the narrow line between a push-over and a frustrating experience. Also, the fight against the dragon must not reward a particular playstyle too much over another, or make the fight a breeze if you run skill X on character Y. Last but not least, big thanks to you guys in the community that have helped tremendously in shaping the game in the last month. Your feedback is much appreciated and helps a lot making this game as great as we all want it to be. Thanks for your dedication! Mark, Bitmen Studios.

Time goes by so fast, and it was busy times! Our first month in Early Access is over; time for a short recap. Overall, we made five updates to the game with a nice mix of bug fixes, balance changes and improvements. I'm quite happy with the progress, even though there's still a long list of todos and for every item resolved, a new one pops up. We have introduced new mechanics you guys suggested with the new zone of control and made the game more accessible to new players. A new hero, the Dwarven Priest, was added and probably will see a few minor changes. Balance-wise, I was hoping that after the first month, we'd be good and the game is definitely heading in the right direction, but I feel that a few balance tweaks will still be necessary over the next weeks. We will also have to talk about the end game at some point, particularly the dragon. Boss fights are always difficult to get right, and it will be important to walk the narrow line between a push-over and a frustrating experience. Also, the fight against the dragon must not reward a particular playstyle too much over another, or make the fight a breeze if you run skill X on character Y. Last but not least, big thanks to you guys in the community that have helped tremendously in shaping the game in the last month. Your feedback is much appreciated and helps a lot making this game as great as we all want it to be. Thanks for your dedication! Mark, Bitmen Studios.