Vagrus - The Riven Realms news & patch notes

Hey everyone,

After a road that was almost as long and arduous as that of Kharandar and his merry band of explorers, we have finally reached our destination: the closing chapter of the Expedition storyline is now available to all owners of At the Heart of Ruin! The free content is accompanied by a slew of performance improvements and tweaks, which we believe, improve the games significantly.

The Heart of Ruin

The arrival of the final chapter means that the story of Kharandar’s expedition is now coming to an end, and with it, no new content is planned for the last expansion. Hopefully, the epic ending we’ve built up to will be as much fun for you as it was for us to craft it. It has action, drama, amazing and terrifying locations, as well as discoveries and lore for those of you interested in the world of the Riven Realms. It will also have its own victory slide at the end of a campaign, which hints at its importance as a storyline. We really poured everything into this one, as a gift to an amazing community that’s been with us since the beginning.

Take heed, however, that the Expedition is absolutely endgame content, and it will only be possible for veteran vagri with an abundance of resources and upgrades. In turn, it rewards successful explorers with some of the best possible gear in the game.

This also marks the ending of our development of At the Heart of Ruin, which, along with all the additional, free content we have produced for it, has grown to be our largest DLC, even if the actual territory is smaller than that of Sunfire and Moonshadow. In any case, if you’ve been holding out to experience the whole of the Expedition storyline in one go, you have to wait no longer.

Optimization and Performance

Alongside this final chapter, we're also releasing one of our largest optimization updates as of yet. Over the past months, we've focused heavily on improving performance throughout Vagrus, with major optimizations to combat, settlement interiors, and numerous other areas of the game. Combined with a wide range of fixes, balancing changes, and quality-of-life improvements, we hope this makes this new version the smoothest and most enjoyable way to experience the Riven Realms. Additionally, many achievements will now be calculated better and even unlocked retroactively for those who missed them due to glitches.

Feedback

Finally, as we approach the end of this long journey, we'd like to ask one small favor. If you've enjoyed your time with Vagrus, please consider leaving us a Steam review – it helps more than you might imagine. And if you know someone who would enjoy exploring the Riven Realms, now is the perfect opportunity to tell them about the game, as the Steam Summer Sale is currently offering discounts of up to 50% across Vagrus and its DLCs.

We’re incredibly grateful to all of you who have traveled the Riven Realms with us over the years. Your feedback, encouragement, and passion have shaped Vagrus into the game it is today, and we truly couldn't have done it without you.

And with all that said, it is time to take a look at the patch notes, which you can find below.

Important Note: Considering the extent of the improvements, there is little to no chance that we broke nothing in the process. Assume that we did not want to make anyone's life harder. If you see something amiss, please flag it to us using the usual channels, like the inbuilt reporting tool (F1 button), forums, and our Discord server.

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Expedition Part IV. (Update 1.3000706Z)

New Content

• Final Chapter: The closing chapter of the storyline concerning Kharandar’s expedition was added (you can pick up the thread in Camp ‘Overlook’ if you’ve been following closely), which includes a new map section.

• Endings: Ending slides were added in connection to the Expedition storyline.

• Rewards: Several new Gear and Equipment type rewards were added specifically to the questline.

• Foes: Two entirely new enemies were added – they only appear at the end of the Expedition storyline.

Combat & AI Improvements

• AI Speed: Significantly improved Companion and enemy combat AI processing speed, particularly for enemies utilizing complex move-and-skill combinations (for example, Ghouls).

• AI Targeting: Resolved multiple bugs where the AI failed to target Downed or low Vitality characters.

  • Enemies will now properly target Downed characters with standard attacks and Push/Pull Skills.

  • Fixed an edge case where the Moloch and similar large enemies ignored Downed targets.

• Downed Recovery & Regeneration: Fixes to how Downed Vitality works.

  • Downed characters now automatically stand up when healed to their maximum Downed Vitality.

  • Fixed an issue preventing the Regeneration Perk effect from ticking while a character is in the Downed state.

• Cover Mechanic: Re-enabled the intended +1 Armor bonus while in Cover (applied when a character is behind an obstacle or another character and is targeted by a Line of Sight type of Ranged Skill).

• Critical Hits: Critical hits now count the target's Armor less by 1 during the attack. This effect now applies to both characters and obstacles.

• Mitigation Rework: The Precise, Penetrating, and Overpowering Perks no longer completely nullify the corresponding defenses. They have been converted to graded reductions as follows:

  • Precise: Reduces Evade by 60% against the attack (previously 100%).

  • Overpowering: Reduces Block by 60% against the attack (previously 100%).

  • Penetrating: Reduces Armor by 3 against the attack (previously reduced Armor to 0).

The Incorporeal Perk still nullifies defenses completely.

• Blocking: The Block Armor Bonus (+1 Armor) now applies to any successful Block and is no longer suppressed by Skills with the Overpowering Perk.

Performance & System Improvements

• Asynchronous Saving: Saving is now asynchronous, significantly reducing loading times when leaving settlements or during camping.

• Tile Loading Buffer: The game now waits for campaign map tiles to fully load when returning from combat encounters, preventing the node grid from temporarily appearing over a blank map on slower devices.

• Settlement Optimization: Implemented general performance improvements when entering settlements and navigating menus within them.

• Steam Achievement Fix & Reconciliation: Fixed an issue where Steam achievements were marked complete in save files but failed to sync to Steam due to hardware crashes or cloud failures. Added a reconciliation system to retroactively unlock affected achievements.

• Hard Mode Achievement Tracking: Hard mode achievement eligibility is now tracked in the game log. The log will reflect whether mandatory curses were taken in time, and will post a notification if a required curse is dropped, rendering the achievement permanently unattainable for that playthrough.

• Performance Telemetry: Added background performance monitoring and logging to help pinpoint frame drops.

Note: Enabling "Send Crash Reports" on the disclaimer screen helps transmit these logs to the team.

Campaign & Economy Tweaks

• Camp Guard Calculation: Members of Passengers who are counted as Fighters are now deducted from the total number of crew that require protection during camping. They do not act as active guards, but they no longer count as non-combatants who need to be protected.

• Passenger Enchantment Rules: Passengers can now possess the Enchanted attribute. Because Passenger members are not tracked individually, either the entire group is considered Enchanted or not at all.

• Warehouse Management: The "Withdraw All" function in the warehouse now properly respects comitatus Cargo limits and will no longer fill overflow space.

Events & Texts

• Various smaller Event script fixes, especially in At the Heart of Ruin.

• A number of typos, mistakes, and stylistic errors were corrected in various in-game texts.

UI, Localization & Media

• Korean Community Translation Pack: Thanks to Kim Tae-yi, a player-made Korean community language pack has been published on mod.io. While still a work in progress, it offers a massive upgrade over the default machine translation. We highly encourage all Korean players to subscribe to it and share feedback to help the community refine it further.

• UI Overlay Fix: Fixed a rare bug where the Mercenary Event UI could open directly on top of the Crew Combat UI.

• Effect Properties: Tooltips now clearly indicate effect requirements. In combat, these dependencies are color-coded to show whether they are currently met or not.

• Trailers: Added subtitles to the Intro and At the Heart of Ruin trailers.

• Localization Updates: Fixed and updated text templates, UI elements, and tutorials in several localizations (primarily focusing on Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Russian languages).

• Extras&Background Localized: Localized the Extras Menu and the Background Art selection screen.

As ever, more is coming, so stay tuned and conquer the wasteland!

- The Lost Pilgrims Team

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If you like Vagrus, please consider sharing our pages and posts with your friends through your favorite social media channel(s). It is much appreciated! Website | Youtube | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Patreon | Discord

Vagri! Today, we have gathered recent news into a single post, including information on sales, the upcoming final chapter of the Expedition storyline updates, and some cool stuff on DLC Companions’ cosmetics. Let’s dive into that first!

Since the release of our second Supporter Pack that provides cosmetics to all Companions, we often get asked if the packs include new apparel for the DLC Companions. The answer is a resounding “yes”: both Sedarias and Javek (who you get by owning the Old Acquaintances DLC), as well as Vorax (who everyone gets for free), have a cosmetic associated with each Supporter Pack!

Sedarias, the Black Knight

For the ‘Ruinous’ Supporter Pack, the black knight’s appearance took inspiration from the Iron Guard, the elite bodyguards and enforcers of Scrapheap’s focal point of power: the Iron Tower. These warriors are known to pick and choose from the best scrap metal pieces the scavengers of the mountains bring in, and fabricate crude but effective plate armor from those. Sedarias’s appearance from ‘Ruinous’ follows this, granting the skeletal knight a more ironclad appearance than ever before.

For ‘Cultured’, we took inspiration from the diverse peoples and cultures of the Riven Realms, but for Sedarias, we actually went over and beyond – his knightly attire is based on the armor of paladins from the Green Continent. There, the Sacred League fights a seemingly endless war to keep the forces of Xeryn’s Empire at bay, blocking their path of destruction that would annihilate their realms. The Paladins of Viran, a sacred knightly order that wields holy incantations, is a keystone in the League’s efforts. In fact, the Knights of the Black Sun were created and named partly in mockery of these enemies of the Twelve. All too often, however, these paladins are slain, and their armor taken by Imperial forces. Thus came the design idea to see Sedarias in one of these recently appropriated and tainted plate armor sets.

Javek, the Telepathic Sorcerer

For the ‘Ruinous’ Supporter Pack, Javek’s appearance was based on a Dark Elven clan, namely the elusive Faergal. Despite staying with the design of a turban and loose cloth apparel, the cosmetics also have distinctly Moreldin elements, like the dark hued hardened leather armor pieces, the silvery decorative edges, as well as some curved, very Elven motifs. The slightly greenish coloring is specific to the Faergal Clan, as is the mind-enhancing gem embedded in the headpiece. Although Javek’s story and character does not match the Dark Elven theme at first glance, the pairing begins to make more sense (albeit still non-canon, like all Supporter Pack appearances thus far) when one considers who the Faergal are. In the major, final storyline of At the Heart of Ruin, this particular clan of Moreldin are revealed to be practiced psions, with their nobility practicing their own form of mind-magic, not too dissimilar to that of Javek.

For the ‘Cultured’ Supporter Pack, we leaned into another one of the many, diverse cultures of the Riven Realms to create Javek’s look – that of the Sadirar. Although they have not been mentioned as of late, those of you who have been deep into the main campaign probably know these desert nomads quite well. They worship the Great Spirit, but each of the four great tribes also follows one of the elemental great spirits, adapting their culture, way of life, and magic to their characteristics. Javek here is depicted similar to a Vitrar water shaman, his appearance complete with blue-white cloths with wave-like patterns, tattoos of the same type, and no headgear, but the wild, dense hair often associated with the Sadirar as a whole. Perhaps in another life, one less fraught with tragedy and despair, Javek would donate his many great talents to such a peaceful tribe and guide others in spiritual and mental healing. One can always dream.

Naturally, to be able to change the appearance of Sedarias and Javek, you must own them as main campaign Companions through the DLC Old Acquaintances, which adds them as main Companions to your campaign with their own, lengthy personal questlines.

‘Cultured’ Supporter Pack LIVE on Nintendo

We are pleased to announce that, starting today, the ‘Cultured’ Supporter Pack is also available on Nintendo! Supporter Packs help fund the ongoing development of Vagrus and our studio, while also including a unique cosmetic set for every Companion as a token of our gratitude for your support. The Cultured Supporter Pack will be available for purchase on its respective Nintendo store pages after June 25.

Ongoing Sale Season

Summer has arrived, and with it comes a season of great deals across many digital storefronts! If you've been waiting for the right moment to begin your journey across the wastelands – or to invite a friend to join your comitatus – now is an excellent time to do so. Check out our deals on Steam, Nintendo, PlayStation, GOG, Epic and Green Man Gaming.

Expedition – The Final Part

Although the penultimate part of the free Expedition storyline for At the Heart of Ruin has just recently been released, we haven’t skipped a beat, so the (epic?) conclusion is coming sooner rather than later. It will see Kharandar, the Dwarves, and, of course, the player character set out toward the fabled heart of ruin, the forsaken former capital city of Dvendar Tharr. Will you make it or succumb to the many dangers on the way, or perhaps fall prey to the madness that seems to permeate the inner kingdom? We prepared really awesome things for the big finale, including new enemies, locations, lore, and loot – hopefully, you’ll like playing it as much as we loved crafting it.

That would be all this time around. As ever, we are grateful for all the support and kindness we get from you. Until next time, keep being awesome, keep safe, and conquer the wasteland!

– The Lost Pilgrims Team

In the video game industry of the last decade or so, it has become increasingly common and appealing to talk about involving players in developer decision making, though what this means exactly can vary greatly between projects. In this article, we’ll discuss some elements related to eliciting, handling, and incorporating player feedback in Vagrus, so if you are interested in how you all had an effect on this game, dive right in!

How It Started

When we founded Lost Pilgrims and began early prototyping the game that was to become Vagrus, we already involved several friends in testing playable builds to get their feel on the concept. This inevitably led to some feedback that tweaked the plans, and soon afterward, more people chimed in from our crowdfunding campaign over at Fig (which has since closed down entirely).

These very early opinions did two major things. First, they baked into our development culture that we can and should reach out to players on specific topics or run ideas by them for a sense check. This is especially important for a tiny team like ours, we’ve always felt. Simply put, without extensive player feedback, there’s no way we’d be able to find all the issues and imbalances in Vagrus, and so whenever we thank players for their constructive criticism or activity in reporting issues, we are not giving out empty platitudes. You really do make a huge difference.

Narrative Framework

The other conclusion we drew from the first year of feedback was the sweet spot of narrative balance and depth that we and most of the players liked. Early testers played ‘Pilgrims of the Wasteland’, which is admittedly on the heavy narrative side, and they kept pushing for more, citing that it made the game stand out and feel lived-in. Thus, we went in that direction, but reduced the narrative complexity of the early main campaign. That, together with the way the open world gameplay inevitably places breaks between narrative bits, helped form and define the final flow of Vagrus’s narrative framework. In short, how we ended up with a lot of writing and story was based on players’ choice, but it slowed down production considerably, especially considering the quality standard we set for ourselves.

The Story of Two Combat Types

Later on, the other field where a lot of player feedback formed the end result was, of course, combat. Originally, there was one combat type, where the Companions would be front and center, because it was what the RPG side of Vagrus required and we also put a lot of effort into making these fully-realized characters. Its pacing did not sit well with a lot of vocal players, however, who were looking for skippable combat encounters, especially random ones. We also knew that with the travel and management aspects of the game including a sizable crew, we should also have a combat type where all the comitatus fights.

Thus, we brought the development of Crew Combat ahead of when we originally planned adding it. This rounded out the game with random encounters during travel, but we made it so that those who enjoy Companion Combat more can do just that inside Crew Combat to make it more appealing in general; in some cases even circumventing most of it. The other camp, who wanted quicker combat with less tedium, could now conclude Crew Combat encounters pretty fast.

Further Combat Tweaks

Although most players today do not remember this, the original plan for Companion Combat did not include idle animations. During Early Access, the overwhelming feedback on this aspect was fairly unified: animations would add a lot to a mostly static 2D combat. It wasn’t easy to animate over two hundred sprites in Unity with what we had available back then, but we committed to it and received generally favorable reactions. We’ve been improving these animations ever since.

Another example of player feedback changing development direction was also during Early Access. We were set to work more on the two types of combat, but the general feedback for the aspects of the game made us reconsider. Actually, most players wanted more clarity and variance on the game’s economy system, so that they can actually survive long enough to fight. Who knew! Thus, Faction Tasks were introduced, which not only solved early economy issues, but also introduced Factions and sent players down the path of gaining Reputation.

What Can You Unlock

There are matters in which we keep steadfastly to our own vision. If it were otherwise, the game would end up becoming a mish-mash of ideas. One example would be that some players felt apprehensive about seeing the whole continent's details on the Chart, mostly because they felt disappointed when they realized they cannot get everywhere. While we understand the concern, we really wanted to keep the immersion as high as possible – that this is a living, breathing world, where people know and talk about places that are far away. Hiding all that detail on the Chart specifically would’ve felt odd.

However, some were concerned that the Chart as it is suggested that perhaps quest progression would unlock further territories. While that is true in some cases, it is not so in others, which is understandably not great. We’re now reacting to this following other suggestions: including warnings after the game texts where the path will never open. This, although still immersion breaking, was considered low key enough to be added, so you will see it soon. Hopefully, it will prevent some players from trying to unlock something that is not there.

Closing Thoughts

Naturally, not all feedback makes it even to a consideration stage. For one, we have quite a lot of active platforms where our players communicate with us, and being a small team, we can’t always collate suggestions in an entirely exhaustive manner. We usually gather the most intriguing and most constructive ones to discuss internally, often tweaking suggestions and ideas, or even gleaning some other solution from how players want to go about it. Unsurprisingly, feedback that is articulated well, is constructive in its criticism, and is touched upon by many players tends to get the attention, though there have been exceptions. That said, now, towards the end of Vagrus’s development and market life-cycle after 8 years, resources for large changes are limited, so we do not expect such big shake-ups to occur.

A Huge Thank You!

As Vagrus still continues its journey in the world of video games, we're grateful for every player who has spent time in the wasteland, shared their experiences, reported issues, created content, or simply taken part in discussions with us and other players.

And if you've enjoyed your time with the game and would like to help us further, consider leaving a Steam review if you haven't already. Honest reviews help other players discover Vagrus and decide whether it is the kind of adventure they're looking for.

Whatever form your support takes, thank you for being part of this community and for helping make Vagrus what it is today, and supporting our studio to keep expanding the Riven Realms long term.

Stay safe, stay awesome, and conquer the wasteland!

– The Lost Pilgrims Team

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If you like Vagrus, please consider sharing our pages and posts with your friends through your favorite social media channel(s). It is much appreciated! Website | Youtube | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Patreon | Discord

Hey everyone,

We released a bunch of fixes for the last update (Expedition Part 3) yesterday, and now we are following up with the list of changes. There is a fair amount of stuff here, many of which were quite nasty, or at the very least, persistent, so we’re glad to have hunted them down. We hope this batch will make the experience much better.

Expedition Final Touches

With the previous update, only one, final (epic?) part remains from the Expedition storyline. Expect it in the upcoming months, though we can’t exactly say when – we’d like to do this material justice and test it extensively, since stakes are high at the end of such a lengthy storyline. It was our hope to conclude what was initially a stray idea during the initial development of the expansion, but which ended up becoming its core story, perhaps. Anyway, enjoy what’s already out, and expect its conclusion to be the next major update.

New Russian Language Pack

For those interested, there is a new Russian language pack over at mod.io, which is fresher and more extensive than the previous ones, so you might want to switch over to it. A huge thanks to Fesir for working on it as a volunteer! With all that out of the way, let’s move on to the patch notes for a detailed inventory of fixes this time around. Important Note: Considering the extent of the improvements, there is little to no chance that we broke nothing in the process. Assume that we did not want to make anyone's life harder. If you see something amiss, please flag it to us using the usual channels, like the inbuilt reporting tool (F1 button), forums, and our Discord server.

Patch 1.2900602B Codename: Expedition Part 3 Hotfix

Fixes and Changes :bug:

• Fixed the issue that caused certain choices in Events to softlock the game after Captain Thabran’s fate is decided after the foray into Dum Vurdanthos.

• Fixed an issue that caused an Event softlock after concluding the foray into Dum Norrkul.

• Fixed an issue that caused the path to disappear before Dum Norrkul.

• Fixed the issue that caused the Helminth enemy to act weird (well, not act at all, really). Fixed the Helminth enemy’s static idle size.

• The Fulg Rune now provides the +1 Action per Round in Companion Combat it advertises.

• The effects of the Dwarven Compass and the Dwarven Sextant do not stack, as originally intended.

• Fixed an issue that caused some location art in Events to appear “noisy”.

• Fixed an issue that caused some banners to appear blank in language settings other than English.

• Fixed an issue that prevented Events from triggering during the tutorial segment of ‘Pilgrims of the Wasteland’.

• Removed the Korean AI-based translation from the “supported” category. Reason: We have worked with some volunteers to improve the base AI translation, but considering the negative feedback on the results, we had no choice but to pull it. It’s still available for those who have it, but we would like to avoid unnecessary disappointment in general.

No doubt, there are more fixes in the near future, but hopefully the largest issues have been ironed out by now. Thank you, stay tuned, and conquer the wasteland!

– The Lost Pilgrims Team

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If you like Vagrus, please consider sharing our pages and posts with your friends through your favorite social media channel(s). It is much appreciated! Website | Youtube | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Patreon | Discord

Hey everyone,

This week’s update brings the chunky penultimate chapter in the Expedition storyline – a series of free updates that expand At the Heart of Ruin. The action and the drama really ramps up in this one, and the intrepid vagri accompanying Kharandar’s folks in their journey into the forsaken core of the fallen Dwarven kingdom will have to make some really tough decisions. Although one last part is still missing to conclude the storyline, the expedition is now closer to its destination than ever before, tensions are mounting, while the terror and discoveries of the forgotten western coast will shake even the most stalwart of explorers.

We’ve also collected a few of the highlights since the last major update below, should you be interested in reading about what else we’ve been up to. If, however, you are looking for the detailed patch notes, which also include the fixes and other tweaks, scroll to the end of this article.

Crafting the Riven Realms

On World Art Day, we offered a glimpse into our artistic processes and paid tribute to the incredible work of our artists. From the complexities of character art to the evolution of location and combat visuals, and the way music shapes the atmosphere of the Riven Realms, we explored the many creative layers behind the game.

Vignettes

Speaking of art, in one of our previous patches we introduced vignettes to our visual storytelling in Exploration Encounters. These small ink-on-paper style lineart illustrations accompany bits of text to help evoke atmosphere and immerse players further in the world of Vagrus. Different vignette sets are assigned to Exploration Encounters based on their location, environment, and the foes encountered there.

Life in the Wasteland

The International Day of Biological Diversity has made us think about the Riven Realms in the context of diverse life and how even such a ruined place might have a chance for a revival. While the Empire has not made outstanding efforts to heal the continent after it was devastated by the mad Elder Gods, plant and animal life has found ways to persist in the new, changed world on its own. Nowhere is this better demonstrated than in the greatly varied creatures that dwell in the Riven Realms.

Sale season

Summer is here and we could not be happier about this new chapter at Lost Pilgrims. We are celebrating with a major discount on Steam and other platforms, so do not miss them if you have been waiting to start your journey in the Riven Realms or you are looking to pick up one of our DLCs or expansions.

And with all that said, it is time to take a look at the patch notes, which you can find below.

Important Note: Considering the extent of the improvements, there is little to no chance that we broke nothing in the process. Assume that we did not want to make anyone's life harder. If you see something amiss, please flag it to us using the usual channels, like the inbuilt reporting tool (F1 button), forums, and our Discord server.

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Patch 1.290 Codename: Expedition Part 3

New and Changed Content

• The penultimate chapter of the Expedition storyline was added, including new locations, enemies, rewards, and Exploration Encounters. Players who have already reached the end can continue the story by interacting with Kharandar.

• Tweaked the Sunken Tower a bit so that important encounters trigger more reliably.

New and Improved Features :gift:

• Changes to Unity Assets management to decrease memory use increments over time – this positively impacts lower end PC memory usage.

• Another 60.000 words of base game content in Chinese was reviewed by our volunteer Chinese translators.

Bug Fixes :bug:

• Fixed an issue that caused the player banner to become blank in Crew Combat.

• Fixed an issue that caused Companion Combat to crash after characters receiving extra Actions.

• Fixed an issue that caused a collapsed Earth Elemental to move (sometimes to occupied positions).

• Fixed an issue that caused the Traverse button’s boosting to activate only after several clicks.

• Fixed the occasional micro-freezes of the campaign map.

• Fixed an issue that caused the “Hired Muscle” character’s images not to load.

• A number of smaller bug fixes and typos.

As ever, more is coming, so stay tuned and conquer the wasteland!

- The Lost Pilgrims Team

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you like Vagrus, please consider sharing our pages and posts with your friends through your favorite social media channel(s). It is much appreciated! Website | Youtube | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Patreon | Discord

This week, we have two things to talk about that are close to our hearts: we were invited to speak on the Into the Indies podcast, and we’ve just released a brand new update! Let’s get into the nitty-gritty of both.

Into the Indies

We’ve had the pleasure of appearing on Indie Game Picks before in the form of a written interview, but this time felt different. In this Into the Indies episode, our Creative Lead Geri Mácsai and Project Lead Gábor Szutorisz had the chance to sit down and truly reflect on the journey – how it all started from humble, uncertain beginnings, and how Vagrus slowly took shape through years of persistence, experimentation, and learning.

They speak openly about topics we’ve rarely shared before: the technical hurdles, the realities of funding, and the many decisions that shaped the game along the way. From the evolution of the fictional world itself to the origins of the DLCs, from the ideas behind the portal system to the creation of characters and the tightening of the timeline – this conversation offers a deeper look into the heart of the Riven Realms. Our devs also touch on the release and continued development of At the Heart of Ruin, the lessons they’ve learned, and what lies ahead for Lost Pilgrims.

You can check out the full episode below – we’re especially happy to be able to share it with our entire audience. If you’ve ever wondered why Vagrus is the way it is, this might give you some meaningful insight. And if you’ve ever thought about making your own game, we hope our story can offer a bit of encouragement – or a cautionary tale!

Into the Indies Podcast #6 - Lost Pilgrims

We’re truly grateful to Nikolis for the thoughtful conversation, and for following our journey since the early days. If you enjoy hearing from indie developers, we warmly recommend checking out Indie Game Picks and the Into the Indies podcast on YouTube and Spotify.

Update ‘Vignettes’

And now, on to the update! This is a smaller patch that fixes some issues and expands Chinese localization while adding vignettes (small pieces of atmospheric artwork) to Exploration Encounters.

• Vignettes (small artwork pieces) were added to Exploration Encounters to spice things up a bit

• Adjusted some Exploration Encounter nodes to make them more unified in their category/type/visuals

• Dwarven Mining Equipment now works as a requirement where Mining Equipment does, and it provides test modifiers where appropriate

• The Chinese Localization Community Pack was extended by another 50k words

• Fixed the issue of Kithassia NPC portrait missing from several places

• Fixed a Salt Mining Outpost UI issue

• Fixed tooltip delay issues in Companion Combat

• Fixed an issue with the Camp UI Defence tooltip when starting a New Game

As ever, more is coming, so stay tuned and conquer the wasteland!

- The Lost Pilgrims Team

Introducing the 'Ripped' Supporter Pack — available now!

Every character in Vagrus now comes equipped with a perfectly sculpted six-pack. No training required. No exceptions. Get yours today and bring some 'serious' core strength to the Wasteland.

#AprilFools

Vagri!

Today, Vagrus – The Riven Realms is on Steam’s Daily Deal, a prestigious spot that games rarely get to occupy, but it also has a new release of cosmetics and a beefy update with the continuation of the Expedition storyline, as well as some extras added to our Patronage Pack and OST. Last but not least, scroll down for a giveaway we’re conducting to get digital keys for Vagrus or its DLCs!

Daily Deal & Cultured Supporter Pack

We’ve been lucky enough to get in on the Daily Deal before, but this time, it is on the same day that our Cultured Supporter Pack drops, 18th of March! The Cultured Supporter Pack offers thirteen entirely new cosmetic outfits for the Companions have come to love (and hate?), a form of gratitude for supporting the continued development of the Riven Realms. To find out more about the pack, visit its store page.

We hope that the Daily Deal and the release of the Pack lead to more and more players discovering the Riven Realms and taking part in the many adventures Vagrus has to offer.

The Expedition Continues

The game’s update brings with it the continuation of Kharandar’s expedition in the dark depths of the subterranean Dwarven realm’s ruins. Will you find a way to fabled Dum Norrkul and reach the western shores of Dvendar Tharr? Progress the story to find out!

Package Updates

As of today, we’ve also updated our Patronage Pack to include a variety of new wallpaper art, among which you can find Vaelenesthil, Fort Erebus, Dum Garok, and many others for all owners. Our Original Soundtrack (OST) was also extended for all owners, and now includes every track that was added to the game with At the Heart of Ruin’s release.

Giveaway

To celebrate all of the above, we are having a major GIVEAWAY: now you can help spread the word about Vagrus and win a reward of your choice!

To enter, simply post about your favourite thing from the game on any platform – such as X (Twitter), Bluesky, Instagram, Tumblr, TikTok, Reddit, another Discord server, Weibo – while following the rules of the given platform; bonus points are awarded for screenshots, memes, clips, or fan art, and multiple entries are welcome.

Be sure to use the hashtag #vagrusgiveaway where possible and drop the link to your post in the #promo-and-media-coverage channel on our Discord server so we can track your entry. Multiple winners will be selected from the most creative, surprising and popular posts; the number of rewards will increase with the number of entries. The more the merrier!  Each winner can choose one prize (either the base game, or one expansion, or two smaller DLCs like Old Acquaintances and Supporter Packs) on your preferred platform.

The deadline for entries is March 25, and winners will be contacted via direct message. We can’t wait to see what you share!

Patch Notes

Although the most important element in this patch is the addition of new content, the update comes with a variety of fixes and tweaks, as always. A detailed list of additions and fixes can be found below.

Important Note: Considering the extent of the improvements, there is little to no chance that we broke nothing in the process. Assume that we did not want to make anyone's life harder. If you see something amiss, please flag it to us using the usual channels, like the inbuilt reporting tool (F1 button), forums, and our Discord server.

Patch 1.285 - Journey in the Dark - Part II

New Content

• The next chapter of the Expedition questline was added, leading adventurous vagri farther into the subterranean realm toward fabled Dum Norrkul

Features and UI

• Overhauled the Tutorial box (so that texts would not be squeezed into small text boxes)

• You can now use keyboard & mouse with the Steam Deck

Localization Updates

• Added localization for the cosmetics selection UI

• Fixed the issue of certain Codex entries not granted due to broken hyperlinks when playing in a language other than English – the fix works retroactively and with newly granted entries as well (even if it is not always displayed correctly)

• The first chunk of the open-world campaign (Events in Tor’zag’s Shelter) were added to the Chinese community language pack

• Translated the Chart’s legend box

• Various other localization/language display fixes

Bug Fixes

• Fixed the momentary freezing on Eylani's “Bulwark” Skill as well as a related combat clash crash

• Several Fog of War inconsistencies were fixed

• Added a missing Event title at the River Umbra Bridge

• Fixed a visual issue that sometimes manifested with the Twilight icon

• Fixed an issue with the Outrider image in Crew Combat that was related to updated tooltips during mountaineering

• Fixed an issue with certain campaign map tiles that were out of alignment

• Fixed an issue that prevented the automatic Vitality degradation of summoned Ancestral Spirits

• Various other smaller bug fixes

As ever, more is coming, so stay tuned and conquer the wasteland!

- The Lost Pilgrims Team

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you like Vagrus, please consider sharing our pages and posts with your friends through your favorite social media channel(s). It is much appreciated! Website | Youtube | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Patreon | Discord

This year marks the fourth occasion of the annual Turn-based Thursday Fest, showcasing some of the best and coolest indie games on the market today. Participating this time are turn-based RPGs, sims, grand strategy games, deckbuilders, 4X games, roguelikes, puzzlers, city builders, and much, much more!

You can see a breakdown of some of the most interesting – and scary! – games on offer on YouTube right now, where Jay from Trese Brothers Games and Sigrid from Unleash the Giraffe take you through them.

Naturally, Vagrus will be taking part in the Fest, and this year, like in the previous years, we’re contributing with some of our own pieces of art, and a second mascot – a lovable fox!

We’ll also be heavily discounting Vagrus during the Fest, with 55% off the base game and significant price cuts on all our other products. Check out our Steam sale and our offers on GOG, Epic, PlayStation, Nintendo and Xbox. Also, the YouTuber Phrosphor is streaming Vagrus during the Fest, so you can check out the stream here or rewatch it later if you have missed it.

Finally, we want to thank you – the players – for playing Vagrus and leaving a review. We’ve just broken 1500 reviews on Steam, and we’re ecstatic to have come this far, especially because a lot of playtimes on those reviews are mind-boggling! With this fact in mind, we bid you return to your adventures; stay vigilant, stay awesome, and conquer the wasteland!

– The Lost Pilgrims Team

We’re back and we've got news to share! First, our ‘Cultured’ Support Pack is approaching its release, and second, we’re updating our official soundtrack (OST) very soon, which will then include tracks from our At the Heart of Ruin expansion. Additionally, we’ll also be updating our Patronage Pack, which will now include wallpaper pieces from Sunfire and Moonshadow, Old Acquaintances, and At the Heart of Ruin.

But first things first: let’s talk about the ‘Cultured’ Support Pack: what’s actually in it? Well, we’ve put together a deliciously diverse array of outfits for your favourite (and, not so favourite, of course) Companions, all of which you are able to peruse and wishlist on our new store page from NOW on Steam, GOG and the Epic Games Store. The pack will be available for purchase from March 18 on all the PC platforms, Xbox and PlayStation. Nintendo will follow soon.

The ‘Cultured’ Supporter Pack contains outfits representing a variety of cultures from all over Xeryn, and if you’re looking for a taste of what it might look like, you can check out our Ruinous Supporter Pack, which includes outfits for companions that draw on themes central to our At the Heart of Ruin expansion. While the ‘Cultured’ Supporter Pack’s armor, helms, costumes, and clothing will be vastly different, you can expect a similar level of vibrance. In fact, some have already been revealed, and you can take a gander at them below.

The latest cosmetics to be revealed is that of Gor'Goro who receives not one, but two new looks in the Supporter Pack: one for his baseline look and another for his appearance once he has completed his storyline. The former imagines him as a typical Orc marauder - those warriors of the tribes of Darkmoor that raid and pillage the land to sustain their roaming warbands. The latter depicts him as a Protector of Angred - a member of a cadre of champions who took it upon themselves to police the capital of the Dragonlands in keeping to the ideals of the lost Golden Dragonlord. Naturally, these are merely fun, non-canon, alternative looks, but both suit Gor'Goro, the consummate warrior with a sense of justice, quite well.

Before we take a look at the wallpapers, let’s have a gander at the new tracks that will be included in the OST. On the store page, these will be shown as ‘Disc III.’ 

• Den of Scavengers (Scrapheap theme)

• Barren Valleys

• Scorched Plateaus

• Unfathomable Depths

• Fiery Mountains

• The Heart of Ruin

• Bonus Track - Battle Track 5

• Bonus Track - Battle Track 6

Now back to the wallpapers, of which there are many. The following locations, all of which are epic, have fantastic art drawn by our very talented artists. These, too, will be included in our Patronage Pack, updated on the 18th of March.

•  Sunfire and Moonshadow Key Art

•  The Onyx Outpost

•  Celeanos

•  The Ruins of Vaelentesthil

•  Fort Erebus

•  Stygios Lumber Camp

•  At the Heart of Ruin Key Art

•  Shadow Over Dum Garok

•  Subterranean Mushroom Field

•  The Bastion

Since it’s impossible to resist salivating just a little over these, let’s take a more intimate look at some of our favourites.

The grim Fort Erebus straddles the River Lethe despite the great danger the accursed waters represent – a testament to the Empire’s daring and perseverance.

The once mighty halls and rich vaults of the fortress city of Dum Garok have stood empty and pillaged for a millennium. Some say the place is cursed, that a shadow has fallen over it and shall never let go. Others fantasize about lost treasures and hidden truths that could be gained from its echoing chambers. Have you been there, vagrus?

And who could forget the ravaged Elven ruin of Vaelenesthil, teetering on the brink of obfuscation at the edge of the Bronze Desert? Certainly not this writer, and nary a single traveler who has traversed its once-majestic halls now buried under sand and stone.

Naturally, these are just a few of the greats. To reiterate, these wallpapers as well as the ‘Cultured’ Supporter Pack will be available from the 18th of March!

To kick off spring, we have also prepared a special treat for you in terms of offers. Our March Sale has just begun on Steam, kicking off a series of events on the platform — featuring the biggest discount in the game’s history!

Stay tuned for exciting news and a major patch coming later this March, with a new chapter from the expedition storyline!

That’s it for today’s post! Now we must far thee well – stay awesome, stay vigilant, and conquer the wasteland!

– The Lost Pilgrims Team

February has been busy at the Lost Pilgrims Studios. The last winter month gave us the chance to take the time and dive deeper into the lore relating to the Dwarves of the Riven Realms and their lost culture, but also to bring something new to our audience and prepare for the exciting things coming up in the next few months.

The Dwarves of Old

We decided to delve deep into the lore of the Dwarves, as it is becoming increasingly relevant for those currently enjoying our At the Heart of Ruin expansion, and who anticipate the updates of its ongoing story. Not to mention, of course, that Vagrus has always been aimed toward the discerning lore-enjoyer, and what’s coming will be no different.

One thing that becomes clear quickly upon visiting the ruins of Dvendar Tharr is that the lost kingdom is a tomb for Dwarves of the Third Age. Remnants of their grand architecture are spread throughout the cracked land and, as one swiftly finds out, below it as well. Vast subterranean realms sprawl below and within the mountain, and for those who go looking, they are almost always inhospitable.

Although there is a great sadness at most of Dvendar Tharr having been lost or made uninhabitable, there exists some hope that some of it can be salvaged. The question, then, is who will be able to salvage it, and to what end? Ambitious vagri, Dwarves with a reference for their rich past, or simply craven scavengers? For those who push deeper into the heart of ruin, all shall be revealed.

‘Cultured’ Supporter Pack News

We are still hard at work on the next supporter pack that was picked by you, the players. The pack is first and foremost a way to support the studio and the continued development of Vagrus, but in turn, owners receive unique cosmetics for all their Companions. The theme of this pack is “cultures”, that is, these non-canonical Companion looks are inspired by diverse cultures in the Riven Realms. Check out Harvek’s outfit, the second to be revealed from the new appearances.

Xbox Game Pass Debut

We are excited to share that Vagrus – Centurion Edition is making its debut in the “Deals with Game Pass” selection on Xbox, helping us spread the word about the game among a larger audience. Those with a Game Pass membership can now get this edition for a great price, for a limited time only.

Chinese Localization News and Happy Lunar New Year!

In celebration of the Year of the Horse, we are pleased to announce that the Chinese localization of Vagrus has begun, thanks to an incredibly dedicated group of players to whom we are extremely grateful. The team is entirely volunteers, who thus far have translated almost all of our UI texts, including item descriptions, encyclopedia entries, and quest details, as well as the main text of the standalone prologue campaign “Pilgrims of the Wasteland”, which also serves as a tutorial. If you would like to join the localization team or you are a Chinese content creator who would like to test the build so far, do not hesitate to reach out to us. We are eternally grateful for any support!

Stay tuned for exciting news coming this spring. Until then, stay safe, stay awesome, and conquer the wasteland!

– The Lost Pilgrims Team

Hey everyone,

Today we are excited to release part one of our Expedition updates, Journey in the Dark, which picks up Kharandar and gang’s story where we left off in the expansion: the expedition is ready to set out from Dum Garok and they are sending you ahead. Or, down below, to be exact, as the journey in the story’s continuation will take players underground first. We’ll also talk about the upcoming supporter pack, a Nintendo giveaway, and get into the patch notes.

Journey in the Dark Part I.

We don’t want to give away much, but this new kind of environment has its own rules, locations, and associated perils, and it was a fantastic shift from the mountainous hellscape of the expansion. We hope you’ll like exploring it, though be mindful that it cuts off at a certain point, and the continuation will arrive at a later date. There’s so much more coming to round out this story, and we hope you will enjoy playing it as much as we are putting it together.

Cultured Supporter Pack News

We are also hard at work on finishing the next supporter pack that was picked by you, the players. The pack is first and foremost a way to support the studio and the continued development of Vagrus, but in turn, owners receive unique cosmetics for all the Companions they have. The theme of this pack is “cultures”, that is, Companion looks are inspired by diverse cultures in the Riven Realms. Check out Nedir’s outfit, the first to be revealed from the new appearances.

Nintendo Giveaway

To end January on a high note, Handheld Players will be holding a giveaway, where you can win Nintendo Switch keys of the Vagrus base game, the At the Heart of Ruin expansion, and the Ruinous Supporter Pack. Follow Handheld Players for more information!

Sales

Our January discount calendar has been expanded, so if you have been thinking about getting your copy of the game at a lower price, now you can choose from even more platforms. Do not miss this opportunity to start your journey on the Riven Realms!

Patch Notes

Last but certainly not least, let’s delve into the patch notes. The most important element here is the addition of the chunky content, but the update comes with a variety of fixes and tweaks, as always.

Important Note: Considering the extent of the improvements, there is little to no chance that we broke nothing in the process. Assume that we did not want to make anyone's life harder. If you see something amiss, please flag it to us using the usual channels, like the inbuilt reporting tool (F1 button), forums, and our Discord server.

Patch 1.280 - Codename: Journey in the Dark

New Content :gift:

• Kharandar and the expedition’s story continues after the events of Dum Garok in the questline Journey in the Dark

• The subterranean realm was added to At the Heart of Ruin, accessible in the new questline, complete with new locations, encounters, foes, and friends

Features and UI :shiny:

• Companion cosmetics management UI was updated

• QoL change: the Warehouse Goods withdrawal can no longer cause Cargo overflow

• Chinese Language Mod created by amazing volunteers was added (due to mod.io being unavailable from China)

Bug Fixes :bug:

• Fog of War was improved in various places

• Fixed an issue with armored Gor’Goro’s portrait

• Fixed a glitch that caused a softlock after going through the realmgate to Kadaath

• Fixed an issue with the Chart’s zoom on high fps settings

• Fixed an issue that prevented certain Companions’ Loyalty change be shown in the game log

• Fixed an issue that caused Twilight levels not to cause their intended effects

• Fixed issues with the reputation interactions of certain pirate crews

• Abolitionist Faction reward tooltip updated to clarify why the faction rewards fall off when certain circumstances arise

• Fixed some controller-related issues in Crew Combat

• Fixed several issues with counter-strike type Skills across the board

• Fixed an issue that caused translated texts not to display on the Story Pane

• Fixed an issue that caused Rumor title translations not to appear

• Fixed the replacement of many Chinese, Korean, and Japanese fonts in the texts, which results in translated texts to display properly

• Many miscellaneous localization-related improvements (in Companion Combat, Character sheet, Settlement UI, Glossary, Journal, Price History, and Chart); it is still a work in progress, so let us know if you find anything

As ever, more is coming, so stay tuned and conquer the wasteland!

- The Lost Pilgrims Team

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you like Vagrus, please consider sharing our pages and posts with your friends through your favorite social media channel(s). It is much appreciated! Website | Youtube | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Patreon | Discord

Hey everyone,

This update brings with it the machine translated texts for the entirety of At the Heart of Ruin at last! Thanks to all of you for your patience – we know this took a bit long, but it proved trickier to implement than we had anticipated. Hopefully, now those of you who’ve been waiting for it can enjoy the expansion, too.

The update also includes a number of additions and improvements for several languages. We’ve changed the font for Japanese, Chinese, and the newly added Korean language to Noto Serif going by the recommendation of our volunteer translators on our Discord server (where we provide a space for each language’s machine translations to be improved by such awesome volunteers). Similarly, based on the term glossaries compiled by translation volunteers, we’ve completely re-translated the Japanese, Chinese, and Russian texts to vastly improve them.

Elsewhere, we’ve been busy working on the free additional content coming to At the Heart of Ruin. As we’ve previously revealed, it’s a continuation of a major storyline, and it’ll take players on an amazing, harrowing, arduous journey into parts unknown in the Riven Realms’ Fourth Age. Stay tuned, because the next big segment (after the unrelated “The Gangs of Varnurud” update) will arrive early next year.

Speaking of next year, we’ll go into a bit of hibernation until then, so we’d like to take the opportunity here and wish all of you a happy holiday season and a great New Year! We’re ever so grateful to our friendly, intelligent, critical, and creative playerbase and hope to deliver cool stuff for a long time to come.

Below you’ll find the patch notes. See you next year, vagri!

Important Note: Considering the extent of the improvements, there is little to no chance that we broke nothing in the process. Assume that we did not want to make anyone's life harder. If you see something amiss, please flag it to us using the usual channels, like the inbuilt reporting tool (F1 button), forums, and our Discord server. --------------------------------------------------

Patch 1.270 - Codename: Extensa Linguarum

New/Updated Features :shiny:

• “At the Heart of Ruin” expansion texts are now also covered by our opt-in machine translation

• Korean machine translation was added

• Japanese, Chinese, and Korean language machine translations now use a new font (Noto Serif)

• A complete (machine) re-translation of texts to Russian, Japanese, and Chinese

Bug Fixes :bug:

• Many fixes on machine-translated UI elements for Japanese and Chinese translations

• Fixed a rare case of skipping player Rounds in Companion Combat

• Fixed a rare case of the sounds not playing in Companion Combat

• Fixed the random Undead Crew Combat Encounters that had 0 Combat Strength

• Fixed several issues in the questlines connected to Wazirhai (Sunfire and Moonshadow)

• Various Event script and text fixes.

Stay tuned and conquer the wasteland! - The Lost Pilgrims Team ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you like Vagrus, please consider sharing our pages and posts with your friends through your favorite social media channel(s). It is much appreciated! Website | Youtube | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Patreon | Discord

Hey everyone,

This update not only brings another round of fixes and tweaks, but also adds a long quest called “The Gangs of Varnurud”, changes a location in the expansion, and introduces Fog of War to certain parts of At the Heart of Ruin.

Shoutout to Trese Brothers on Cyber Knights: Flashpoint

Before getting into 1.260, we’d look to mention our good friends at Trese Brothers, who’ve just hit a big milestone for their tactical RPG, Cyber Knights: Flashpoint, released earlier this year, while also running a sale. This deep tactical RPG puts you in charge of cyberpunk mercenaries, sending squads on tense heights amidst the megacorps and crime syndicates of the 23rd century. Like Vagrus, it’s a challenging, complex game. It’s not an open world experience or narrative-focused, instead mixing hand-crafted content with clever procedurally generated systems and a huge variety of character build options, for extreme replayability. If you like games like XCOM or Shadowrun, this one’s worth a look!

The Gangs of Varnurud

This lengthy quest ties up loose ends regarding the hostile scavenger gangs in Varnurud after certain decisive decisions. It is by no means a simple undertaking, and you’ll need to face some of the toughest warriors and lunatics the scavenger gangs can deploy – repeatedly! SPOILER ALERT! Completing it makes the region a bit safer (though it still remains one of the most perilous areas in game). You can access it after completing the quest “All the Way Down”.

Some locations in Varnurud also changed a bit. Chief of these is the appearance of the Ancients’ Causeway in the northern section, which is now a Point of Interest you can visit, with repeatable Exploration Encounters in tow. That’s not all, however, as the ancient monoliths might end up being the site for a certain new quest stage.

Fog of War

Smoke and ash have always been part of the environment of the volcanic plateaus and valleys of Varnurud (and the rest of the Mountains of Fire). To represent this, we are now adding a proper Fog of War feature to the mountainous area. It is perfect to represent the different scope of the mountains and the lack of visibility – a stark contrast to the mostly open wastelands of the vanilla game. This has been in the works for a while, and we hope you appreciate the added immersion.

And now, it’s time to get to our Patch Notes for 1.260!

Important Note: Considering the extent of the improvements, there is little to no chance that we broke nothing in the process. Assume that we did not want to make anyone's life harder. If you see something amiss, please flag it to us using the usual channels, like the inbuilt reporting tool (F1 button), forums, and our Discord server.

Patch 1.260 – The Gangs of Varnurud

New Content

• “The Gangs of Varnurud” questline was added. It is a difficult set of challenges you can attain after the Ember Mines are conquered and conclude the fate of the lunatics that prowl Varnurud.

• Ancients’ Causeway has changed to a Point of Interest with its own Story Pane and Exploration Encounter

• Scavenger gangs received a few new improvement texts (choices that react to certain quest or world states)

New and Improved Features gift

• Fog of War was added to Varnurud

• Ancestor Spirits (summoned by Orc Spirit Shamans or encountered in the wild) now deal magical damage as intended

• Various smaller Exploration Encounter tweaks

• Re-formatted several Gear effect properties for better tooltip texts

• Comitati can now only equip one set of backpacks at a time

• Comitati can now only equip one dowsing item at a time

• Hauling Litters can no longer be assigned to the Tools Equipment slot, but can now be slotted into the Cargo Equipment slot (alongside Miscellaneous, as before)

• Applied various improvements to Crew tooltips (for example, added Cargo capacity to Fighters and Scouts, and removed tooltips from Beasts when they are not available)

Bug Fixes bug

• Fixed an issue that caused a crash to desktop related to certain Journal actions

• Missing images in the Glossary are fixed (again!)

• Fixed the issue that caused Passenger-triggered messages to get stuck during the descent to Scrapheap (from Varnurud)

• A rare soft-lock on the camp screen was fixed

• Fixed the issue with retaliate-type combat Skills that prevented their triggering due to a lack of POW

• Removed summoned Obstacles that (hilariously?) got stuck as stowaways in certain comitati

• Fixed various Event soft-locks and text issues

As ever, more is coming, so stay tuned and conquer the wasteland!

- The Lost Pilgrims Team

Players’ reactions to At the Heart of Ruin are coming in hard and fast, and we’re delighted to see how our community is interacting with the expansion, providing praise, feedback, and articulate criticism, as well as reporting the bugs they find. Apart from tackling these, we’ve already started planning what follows – more on that later – and tying up some loose ends.

It has occurred to us that we’ve not brought the story to a satisfying conclusion with the more hostile scavenger gangs of the expansion – the Raptors, the Cleansing Conflagration, and the Crimson Skull. Thus, the first step in our roadmap has emerged; we wanted to create a bit of a conclusion when it comes to Varnurud’s wayward gangs, and we’re very close to releasing it.

“The Gangs of Varnurud” is a sprawling new quest line players will be able to start after throwing their lot in with one of the possible ally scavenger gangs. The story is complete with fearsome foes, challenging battles, and region-altering consequences! We advise vagri to meet these challenges carefully, as the fanatical scavengers are not to be trifled with.

The update that includes “The Gangs of Varnurud” will be released toward the tail end of November, so keep a weather eye on the horizon.

But we’re just getting started. This, dear vagri, is just the first step on the path to enriching the expansion. We plan to get a full road map of what to expect for the At the Heart of Ruin expansion moving forward as soon as we are able. Until then, enjoy the new quest and do as you always do: stay safe, stay awesome, and conquer the wasteland!

– The Lost Pilgrims Team

Hey folks!

Our friends at MuHa Games just launched their new game Project Thea in Early Access today!

It is a dark, post-apocalyptic strategy RPG where you explore the Wasteland, rebuild your colony, craft, cook, and fight weird and wonderful creatures using tactical card combat. If you like games with story choices, survival vibes, Slavic folklore, and retro-futuristic madness, give it a look.

The Early Access build already has a full gameplay loop and plenty to discover, and the devs are planning even more content, co-op features, and narrative updates.

Check it out on Steam here:

Congrats to MuHa Games - go show them some love!

Hey everyone,

While the studio is still trying to recover from the exertion of the last couple of weeks (or months, really) leading up to the release of At the Heart of Ruin, we are patching and updating the game with hotfixes to iron out any outstanding issues. A detailed list of updates and fixes are below at your perusal, but we’ve also started to conceptualize our next cosmetic pack because of how popular the first one turned out to be – go check it out! Important Note: Considering the extent of the improvements, there is little to no chance that we broke nothing in the process. Assume that we did not want to make anyone's life harder. If you see something amiss, please flag it to us using the usual channels, like the inbuilt reporting tool (F1 button), forums, and our Discord server. --------------------------------------------------

At the Heart of Ruin Hotfix 1 Patch Notes (v1.255)

Bug Fixes :bug:

• When reaching Tier 4 Reputation with a nemesis faction in At the Heart of Ruin, the other two will irrevocably become hostile now, blocking access to their bases and preventing interactions with them (as it was originally intended); the wrong states that can currently be achieved will auto-fix upon the first new reputation change with the gangs

• Fixed various Exploration Encounter issues, including hotkey overlaps with other game states

• Fixed an issue that caused a part of Crew Combat loot not to be added to the Cargo

• A bunch of Node visibility issues after loading a game were fixed

• The issue that caused Companion Combat victory to become a defeat in the Event path was fixed (though there might be edge cases, so please report this issue if it resurfaces)

• Missing effects for certain Gear were added, including the Runed Tongs, Runed Armorsmith Hammer, Kernel of Zhar, and the Basilisk Eye Charm

• Fireshield Crystal no longer unequips when Movement Points fall to or below 1

• Equipment that advertised Outpost effects will now actually provide them

• Falcons and Hunting Animals no longer only work in Varnurud

• Fixed an issue that caused Companion Combat to lock when a character using Acrobatics was struck by the Raptor Skill ‘Come Over Here’

• Fixed the issue that prevented Orc Spirit Shamans from summoning Ancestral Spirits

• Fixed the default artwork and settlement description of Scrapheap

• Various tooltip clarifications and updates were applied (a few remain on our list, though)

• Various errors under the hood were fixed (that may or may not have impacted gameplay)

Event Fixes (be wary of spoilers!) :pencil:

• Fixed several issues with the Ember Mines quest, including soft locks and doubled choice issues

• Fixed an issue that allowed players to conclude the Black Stalker quest on a path they did not choose (for those who got stuck with the Black Stalker this way, and want to keep on this path, there is a new choice to get rid of him)

• A rare case of a crash in Phlegetos Bridge was fixed

• A number of missing/wrong NPC portraits fixed in Events

• Various smaller fixes and text improvements

Miscellaneous Updates :shiny:

• Glossary was updated with entries on Exploration Encounters and the Throw-out mechanic

Supporter Pack Vote

We’ve also become aware recently that the Ruinous Supporter Pack has become quite popular among our players.

First and foremost: a huge thank you for picking it up!

When we came up with the idea of the Companion cosmetics, our goal was to give something worthwhile and cool to those of you who very kindly decided to support us this way, so we can continue enriching the Riven Realms and improve various aspects of the game.

Thus, we decided to create at least another such pack, which will further diversify Companion looks. So we put our heads together, checked notes, old concept artwork, shared some ideas, and came up with two distinct frameworks for possible packs:

“Cultures”

The concept of this pack is that each Companion would receive attire from a (more or less exotic) culture from the Riven Realms. It doesn’t have to be one that they are related to, but one that matches their archetype, rather. You can see some early concepts around this idea. Can you guess whose stuff you can see?

“Vocation”

The idea for this pack is that each Companion’s new look is based on a career, role, or vocation that they neglected or passed up to instead become what they are. Something they could have been, but instead chose a different path, or it chose them. Sometimes this vocation is still a part of their current identity, at least partially.

You Decide

We would like YOU to vote on which pack you’d like to see realized from the two above, based on the concepts and the thematic outlines! Let us know which one you would prefer on our Discord server where you will be able to find the poll.

If time permits, we’d like to release the second one in the foreseeable future, too, of course, but there are no guarantees. Also, be mindful that some details about the looks (and the above images) might change as we’re developing them. As with the Ruinous cosmetics, these are also non-canon appearances for the Companions and should be seen as cool, fun alternative appearances – more options for those who like such things. Let us know what you think by voting or commenting!

Free Future Content Updates

As we’ve previously said, we are still not done with At the Heart of Ruin. We are working on a series of free content updates for it, mostly expanding on the expedition storyline. The first of these additions, however, is going to go elsewhere: it’s a sprawling quest titled “The Gangs of Varnurud”, and it will provide some closure concerning the three most despicable and dangerous scavenger gangs of the Mountains of Fire. Keep an eye out for updates on that, because it’s coming sooner than you think!

Until next time – stay vigilant, stay safe, stay awesome, and conquer the wasteland!

- The Lost Pilgrims Team ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you like Vagrus, please consider sharing our pages and posts with your friends through your favorite social media channel(s). It is much appreciated! Website | Youtube | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Patreon | Discord

We are absolutely stoked to announce that our expansion, At the Heart of Ruin, is finally OUT! As usual for us, the project’s scope was vast, and after putting as much as we could into it, be they stories, features, locations, factions, artwork, enemies, or rewards, we’re proud of what we’ve achieved and excited to see what you make of it!

To coincide with the release, we’ve also just dropped our Ruinous Supporter Pack, which is a great way to support our small team while getting your hands on some optional Companion cosmetics.

If you’re wondering what’s in this expansion, in brief, we can tell you that you are in for a dark fantasy narrative adventure that focuses on a small but dense, multi-layered region. It is set in the Mountains of Fire, where the crumbling remnants of the old Dwarven kingdom of a lost age endure.

The expansion has many facets and a lot to offer – stories, locations, and features we’ve lovingly crafted – and here are the most prominent elements to expect:

• A savage, imperiled new region free of Imperial dominance and brimming with danger

• A slew of new locations and enemies in the usual art style and quality of Vagrus – more than in any single DLC before

• A large cast of NPCs, most of them new, while others are recognizable faces from old stories

• Three scavenger factions that are nemeses of each other, with their own quests and rewards

• Unique quests available through committing to one of two new minor factions

• Our most ambitious narrative undertaking since the release of the base game, both in complexity and narrative impact

• Expansive, branching, dark adventures that build on the rich lore of the Riven Realms

• Replayability due to the sheer volume of divergent outcomes, stories, rewards, and opportunities

• Exploration Encounters, a brand new game feature that offers procedurally generated challenges, obstacles, and chances to get loot outside the narrative-heavy sections

Traversing most of these new territories is unique and separate in some ways from the rest of Vagrus, and to those who have any burning questions, we’ve put together a post addressing them all. Take a look if you’re keen to understand everything a little better.

To celebrate the release, we are running a sale on Steam! Whether you’ve been waiting to begin your journey as a vagrus or looking to expand your caravan’s adventures, there’s never been a better time to dive into the dark and treacherous wastelands of the Riven Realms.

It’s also worth mentioning that more content in At the Heart of Ruin is forthcoming. There’s one storyline in particular that we’ve decided to flesh out further, and you can expect regular, free updates that build on what’s already there. As for the details, we’ll get into those soon! Stay tuned.

Otherwise, what are you waiting for? Get out there and get into it! Oh, and if you have the time, drop us a review, we’d appreciate it – every little bit helps. Perhaps above all else, stay wary, stay awesome, and conquer the wasteland!

– The Lost Pilgrims Team

In this week’s Devlog we would like to discuss how the content was developed for our upcoming expansion, answer some frequently asked questions, share some patch notes and show you a fun interview with Indie Game Picks that is combined with a giveaway.

Expansion Content

In the leadup to the release of At the Heart of Ruin on the 22nd of October (accompanied by the Ruinous Supporter Pack), we’ve already talked about new mechanics and features, like the updated throw-out or Exploration Encounters, but we thought it’s also time to touch upon the narrative and graphic art side of things.

As for the narrative, working on it was very exciting, because it returns to the first area we realized in a video game format – Scrapheap and its surroundings. In that way, it was a return to where we began as a studio and as writers for Vagrus, but we also went into a direction that involved a lot of new ground to cover. We really wanted to create a branching narrative structure this time where player choice is emphasized and followed through with the many branching, intertwining storylines. We believe that this approach not only aids immersion, but also adds a lot of replayability to those who want to see everything or experiment with how their choices are reflected in the region.

On the graphical art front, we also raised the bar by creating more location and combat backgrounds than ever before, which helps convey the diversity within the volcanic biomes, and also aids the narrative significantly. A good example of this is the Wound’s digital painting – it’s a horrifying place beautifully realized by our talented artists, one that adds a lot to the story when you get there.

We were also able to realize more enemy and allied characters than in previous DLCs, and we had a lot of fun coming up with powerful skills for them that will certainly make things difficult for intrepid vagri.

As a matter of fact, we’ve had so much fun creating At the Heart of Ruin, that we decided to significantly expand one of the major questlines in the expansion. However, we did not and could not want to delay the release any further, so we decided to go about it via free episodic updates. We really believe in this additional content, as it’s not “just” Events, but also completely new enemies, locations, map segments, character development, as well as twists and turns that will eventually lead to an epic finale. 

We’ll be working on these content updates parallel to our usual fixes and tweaks, and we don’t quite know how many of them will be added or when – mostly because squashing bugs in already released material trumps other things. The intensive part of this fixing process usually takes a couple of weeks with each big release like this expansion, but we’ll continue to improve Vagrus and all its elements long after that, of course. In any case, we’ll return with a plan about the post-release content updates later.

Expansion FAQ

We have also prepared an FAQ to provide useful information to those of you who would like to learn more or who are looking for information about a specific aspect of the expansion.

Q: In what part of the main campaign should I start At the Heart of Ruin? Is the expansion more geared toward a mid-game comitatus or do I have to finish most of the main game to be able to get the most out of it?

A: Similar to the previous expansion, the opportunity to unlock the expansion’s area can happen after acquiring a stable comitatus. That means 400 Bross, 3 Companions, and 3 Renown. However, going to the new areas when you just hit that mark, you will find that only several challenges there are doable with relative ease, and the farther you progress, the more tough it becomes. That is to say that specifically the mountaineering parts are not for fledgling comitati, and you are better off with a well-prepared group, powerful Companions, and sufficient resources.

Q: What part of the map will this expansion cover?

A: A fair bit of the Mountains of Fire in the west and the surroundings of Scrapheap. The former can only be traversed via mountaineering (without beasts and mounts, but with new ways to upgrade movement), while the latter works like a regular area.

Q: Will the path from Avernum to the Bronze Desert ever be open? I would still like to return to Scrapheap for metal as quick money in the late game.

A: You will find that if you are tenacious enough, certain paths will open up. Naturally, to access the Bronze Desert, you still have to own Sunfire and Moonshadow.

Q: Is the new expansion compatible with old save files?

A: Absolutely, as all of our DLCs and updates.

Q: Will there be a way for returning vagri to "jump start" a campaign?

A: Not as such, but you can use older savegames just fine, or – if you lost them, for instance – reaching the required 400 Bross, 3 Companions, and 3 Renown does not usually take long for experienced players. Note, however, that the latter parts of the DLC are meant to be a challenge even for veteran comitati.

Q: Will there be any new Companions added in the new expansion?

A: We are not planning to add more Companions to Vagrus, so the last two introduced in the Old Acquaintances DLC are the final two. However, in At the Heart of Ruin, players will frequently have a chance to deploy various NPCs from stories during long questlines, making them sort of semi-Companions. They even have their own loyalty system.

Q: Are the Exploration Encounters available in the base game as well as the expansion or are they exclusive to At the Heart of Ruin?

A: This iteration of Exploration Encounters was tailor-made to support the narrative and gameplay of the expansion, so for now, you will only see them there. And it might be the end of them, too, because although we’ve always wanted to add them more widely, it’s not yet clear to us how the community will feel about them. We think that there’s a lot of potential in them, but adding them in a meaningful way to the main campaign would also be a colossal development investment we’re not sure we can afford. If interest toward the expansion and the Ruinous Supporter Pack turns out to be sufficient as well as the playerbase embraces Exploration Encounters and resoundingly wants more, we’ll do our best to expand them and implement them more widely.

Q: What is the planned price for the expansion?

A: At the Heart of Ruin will be priced at $19.99, while the Ruinous Supporter Pack that releases at the same time will be priced at $9.99. Note that regional pricing might apply to these prices on certain platforms.

Q: Will the new expansion be released on all the platforms at the same time?

A: It will be released on the 22nd of October on all platforms except for Nintendo. Due to a more complex approval process there, we need more time for that particular release.

Q: Will there be localization upon release? 

A: In short, no, but machine translation will cover the expansion after a while, just like they do with the rest of the game. In more detail: Vagrus will never have official localization due to it not being financially viable, but we have put in a lot of effort to integrate machine-translations that can be switched on in the game. Please note that even though kind volunteers have been improving the machine-translated texts (especially the UI elements and some other areas), the general quality of these is nowhere near the original English version.

Q: What will the post-launch support be like? What's the development plan for after the DLC?

A: As usual for our releases, we will be fully supporting the expansion with fixes as required, but we will also be adding substantial extra content in the form of free updates. These will continue one of the major storylines in At the Heart of Ruin to bring it to an epic conclusion beyond what we’ve initially dreamed up for it. Exploration Encounters will also be expanded to diversify them further and build on the base feature (we have lots of ideas, but are also interested in what our players will suggest).

Q: What was your favourite part about creating this DLC?

A: The many amazing locations – especially their art, the stories that reveal more about this forgotten part of Xeryn than ever before, and Exploration Encounters, because they provide a new avenue of gameplay to diversify the things you spend time with in-game. We really hope that you will enjoy these, as well as the density of content and the previously unprecedented level of meaningful and branching choices.

Patch Notes

We have been hard at work not only to bring you the new DLCs, but to improve the gaming experience for those who have been with us for a while now, so here are a few things that changed:

• A new cargo throw-out system was implemented: read more about it in our Throw-out Revamp for Cargo article

• Every cargo-related stat was upscaled to allow for differentiation; e.g., Fighters and Scouts now carry a bit of cargo as well

• A new, separate Equipment slot for Protective Gear

• Regeneration & Conduit (Perks) are now stackable; each stack on a Companion has a 25% chance to trigger the Perk’s effect (up to 5 stacks)

• Nemesis faction losses are set to where originally intended (they were never supposed to be levelable at the same time)

• Some missing DLC entitlements fixed

• The button tooltips we accidentally broke are now back in action

Interview with Indie Game Picks

This week, Indie Game Picks interviewed us, where we had the opportunity to talk about Vagrus in general, the new expansion, as well as about some future plans. You can read the interview on the Indie Game Picks website and join the Giveaway on X, Bsky and Facebook to win keys for the At the Heart or Ruin expansion and the Ruinous Supporter Pack. Good luck!

That’s all for now! We hope you are just as excited about our DLC release next week as we are. Stay tuned for more information about the game as well as discounts, and join us on our social media platforms to spread the news about the release – it's always appreciated!

The Lost Pilgrims Team

In this week’s Expansion Devlog, we’re keen to discuss one of the newest and most exciting features we’re adding to the upcoming expansion of Vagrus: Exploration Encounters. We are also introducing two named characters from the upcoming expansion and inviting you to participate in the giveaways we are running on two of our social media platforms!

How Exploration Encounters Came To Be

While it would not be entirely truthful to say that the game’s development has always followed a carefully curated path, it is not exaggeration to mention that our imaginations have run boundless thanks to that, leading to a myriad of ideas and, occasionally, feature creep. We have, however, always felt that more Events to cover simpler matters – mining salt, random encounters, or procuring scrap, for example – would have a place in the game, even if their creation may not be the best use of our writers’ time.

During the development of our At the Heart of Ruin expansion, we reached a crucial decision point, one where we decided it was time to create an Exploration Encounter prototype, not so different from the one you see above. Thus, Exploration Encounters were born. You can expect Exploration Encounters to ship along with this ever-growing expansion. It’s just one more thing in a sea of new content we’re frothing at the bit to get out the door! While we sometimes think that we should tone down the amount of content we’re releasing, it can be pretty difficult when we’ve got such a supportive community that we want to deliver for again and again.

What Are Exploration Encounters

On a basic level, Exploration Encounters are a series of procedurally generated Companion Combat encounters, obstacles, and chances to get loot. In essence, they are shorter, more gameplay-focused bits of encounters and challenges grouped by location or theme. They are meant to provide resources if you overcome the risks, and break up traveling and reading a bit. Each location tailors its challenges specifically to what characterizes it. Launching a foray into a fiery cavern filled to the brim with Salamanders is, naturally, quite different than descending into the depths of an old mine, especially one occupied by gangs in a bloody war of dominance. Similarly, fighting oversized arachnids in a labyrinth of webbed gossamer provides markedly different rewards than those found among Varnurud’s (more) delusional gangs – of which there are many!

Encounters In More Detail

Getting started will be easy. One simply needs to find the right point of interest, go to the Story Pane, and select an Event that leads to an Exploration Encounter (you’ll find these fairly easily). This Event will provide some reference about what the player should expect from the Exploration Encounter(s) at this location, and then, typically, they’ll have to select a group of Companions if they choose to tackle one. Once started, Exploration Encounters generate challenges (combat, obstacles, loot) procedurally along certain rules tailored to the location.

After each challenge, test, or obstacle, you may decide to turn back or continue pushing, which creates a sort of risk versus reward gameplay segment where you need to evaluate your resources and capabilities in a dynamically changing gauntlet. Suffice to say, this is just the beginning. We’ve plenty of ideas to make this more interesting, and as always, we look forward to your feedback on changing it further in the future. Our primary focus is the expansion currently, but as things evolve, we’ll be able to better support or iterate upon what we’re building on the side, and we’re thrilled to see what you’ll think of it.

Intrepid Adventurers of the Molten Kingdom

It’s not often that a post introduces two important, named characters, but today is one such day, since both Kharandar and Dralla will be integral figures in our coming expansion.

First off, there’s Kharandar – a man of action and intent. A stalwart, even noble, leader. He is the one who speaks in the expansion’s trailer. Those who follow him trust his decisions and instincts above all others. They know that when push comes to shove, Kharandar will be there, calling the shots for everyone’s benefit.

And yet, a leader is nothing without strong advisors, lieutenants, and warriors, individuals with wise counsel to give. Kharandar needs people with know-how and can-do that rivals even the best. Dralla is one such woman, and over the long years the pair has known each other, she has demonstrated cunning, skill, and tenacity in everything she was sent to deal with. Dralla leads the scouts and reports directly to Kharandar.

So what role will these two play in the expansion, and what kind of operation are they involved in leading? For now, we can say two things: they lead a clandestine group of Dwarves with a secretive goal, and they protect both their own and their knowledge with their lives if they must. To learn who they are, what they do, and what they ultimately wish to achieve, you will have to earn their trust first. Then, and only then, may you be able to work alongside them.

Ruinous Supporter Pack Giveaways

This week we decided to make our Ruinous Supporter Pack teaser a bit more fun, and instead of revealing the full new Companion look, we only shared a close-up detail and invited the community to guess who it belongs to. If you are interested in joining the giveaways, check out our posts in the /r/Vagrus subreddit or over on X.

We look forward to sharing more with you soon. Until then, stay safe, stay insightful, and conquer the wasteland!

– The Lost Pilgrims Team

After over a year of development, the time has finally come to reveal the release date of our most ambitious DLC as of yet: At the Heart of Ruin will arrive on the 22nd of October! Alongside the expansion, our Ruinous Supporter Pack will also be up for grabs from the same day.

At its core, At the Heart of Ruin is a dark fantasy narrative adventure that focuses on a small but dense, multi-layered region where few dare to venture. It is set in the Mountains of Fire, where the crumbling remnants of the old Dwarven kingdom of a lost age endure, but it will take players to areas around that fiery realm, too. As we’ve recently discussed, while traversing most of these new territories, you’ll be working with a smaller party size, traversing rugged, mountainous terrain, and fighting some of the most fearsome enemies Vagrus has ever showcased. The expansion’s trailer also hints at these obstacles – and many more to discover or run afoul of.

The expansion has many facets and a lot to offer – stories, locations, and features we’ve lovingly crafted – so here are the most prominent elements to expect:

• A savage, imperiled new region free of Imperial dominance and brimming with danger

• A slew of new locations and enemies in the usual art style and quality of Vagrus – more than in any single DLC before

• A large cast of NPCs, most of them new, while others are recognizable faces from old stories

• Three scavenger factions that are nemeses of each other, with their own quests and rewards

• Unique quests available through committing to one of two new minor factions

• Our most ambitious narrative undertaking since the release of the base game, both in complexity and narrative impact

• Expansive, branching, dark adventures that build on the rich lore of the Riven Realms

• Replayability due to the sheer volume of divergent outcomes, stories, rewards, and opportunities

• Exploration Encounters, a brand new game feature that offers procedurally generated challenges, obstacles, and chances to get loot outside the narrative-heavy sections

Encompassing several long, branching stories that will alter aspects of the broader region, this expansion has been an ambitious undertaking for our team in more ways than one. The reasons for its long development are manifold – in order to achieve the complexity and narrative depth we set out to, the expansion grew to a size that rivals many contemporary full games. We should hasten to add that true to our form, we went a little overboard in this department.

The latter also means that we’ve expanded some of our earlier concepts to be meatier, more fleshed-out. In the case of a specific long storyline, we decided to go way beyond our initial plans. Because of this, we’ll be expanding that particular storyline for a while after release, using several free content drops to push it to its epic conclusion. A roadmap covering the specifics will follow along in due time.

As mentioned above, we’re also releasing the Ruinous Supporter Pack, which is mainly for those who wish to support Lost Pilgrims in our continued endeavor to expand the Riven Realms. As a way to express our gratitude, the pack contains new cosmetics (full outfits) for all of the Companions you’ve come to love (or despise; we don’t judge). These do not alter gameplay in any way, shape, or form, but are really cool alternatives for the sake of variety. 

The expansion and the supporter pack will be released on all platforms on the 22nd of October, except Nintendo, since their approval process is more complex and will therefore take a while longer for us to get the DLCs out.

As their arrival draws closer, we’d like to wholeheartedly thank you all for your continued support! Wishlist the expansion if you haven’t, share details about it far and wide if you want to help it reach more players, and of course, stay tuned for more updates!

Otherwise, stay vigilant, stay awesome, and conquer the wasteland!

– The Lost Pilgrims Team

Hey everyone,

We are closing off September with another article from our Devlog Series, this time discussing our solution to Cargo “overflow” as well as introducing a new character from the At the Heart of Ruin expansion. We are also revealing a new appearance from our upcoming Ruinous Supporter Pack and sharing some information about the Steam Autumn Sale starting today!

Throw-out Revamp for Cargo

If you have excess cargo, you’ll now be able to retain it so long as you stay put. It’ll be right there below your cargo hold’s contents under “overflow”, where you’ll initially be able to see six slots. If the cargo you would receive goes beyond those six slots, you can simply click the button next to “overflow”, and more slots will open up.

You’ll be able to access Goods in Overflow as you see fit – selling, storing, or consuming them, at least until you stay on the same Node. An absolute game changer for settlements and loot therein. In other words, excess cargo will finally work intuitively.

Maybe you get a quest reward in a settlement that’s far beyond your cargo capacity, or perhaps you pull a particularly large haul from hunting on a node out in the wasteland. Not a problem anymore – it stays accessible until you move on.

Some of you might be wondering why we didn’t do this earlier. And the truth is, we always knew this would be a massive undertaking from a coding perspective. To achieve it, we had to rebuild both the user interface and the logic from the backend. It was a challenge, but now we’re there, it’s being actively tested. The new revamp will be released alongside our coming DLC, and it’ll be available to all Vagrus players immediately!

Dwarven Scout

While last week’s Dwarven Enforcer provided an introduction to a more clandestine Dwarven group present in the DLC, it’s obvious that any group of warriors worth their salt needs ambushers and scouts, especially on the terrain of shattered Dvendar Tharr. Resourceful outdoorsmen at heart, these survivalists are all armed with crossbows and clad mail armor. Their skill in finding paths and traversing the terrain of these mighty crags is nigh-unmatched.

And all this makes one wonder: why do these Dwarves have need of such competent scouts? Are they planning a journey, perchance? Find out when you get to play the expansion.

Harvek’s New Look

Due to the great interest in the Companion appearances from our upcoming Ruinous Supporter Pack, we decided to show you more, this time its Harvek’s new look.

The cold and calculating mercenary Harvek has never shied away from violence, often going to great lengths in hurting others if the job required it. In line with that, his new appearance from the Ruinous Supporter Pack imagines him as a member of the Crimson Skull scavenger gang, fully decked out in their signature skull-and-blood gear.

Steam Autumn Sale

The Steam Autumn Sale has arrived! From today, you can get Vagrus at a discounted price. It’s the perfect chance to dive into the perilous world of the Riven Realms, lead your caravan across treacherous wastelands, and carve your own path through danger and discovery. Don’t miss out – the sale only lasts for a limited time. Check out our ongoing sales on GOG, Nintendo, and PlayStation, too!

That’s all for now. Stay tuned for exciting announcements coming soon, and until then, stay safe, stay awesome, and conquer the wasteland!

– The Lost Pilgrims Team

With the day of At the Heart of Ruin’s release drawing closer and closer, we at Lost Pilgrims decided to focus on a series of devlogs for those of you interested in the gameplay mechanics, artwork, and setting of the expansion. This week, we’ll talk about mountaineering and show off the first Dwarf character and a new Companion appearance!

Traversing the Volcanic Wastelands

The expansion will bring a number of mechanical changes that come into play in the new regions, so we’ll introduce some of these concepts here. To support these systems, we’ll add new Equipment, and new Equipment slots for them to fit into as well.

While the town of Scrapheap lies at the foot of the mountain, we can safely assume that daring vagri will not stop there. Instead, they will try their chances up in the mountains where riches and peril alike await on a scale rarely seen before. What’s unique about the lost kingdom of Dvendarr Tharr writ large is the terrain and climate, an impossibly perilous offering of jagged rocks, lava rivers, earthquakes, ash storms, and sulfuric gas clouds. Such terrain is not fit for any beast – they either struggle to move on such terrain at all or perish too easily due to its dangers. That’s why we’re making the entirety of the mountainous area west of Scrapheap traversable only on foot, at least initially, which will prominently shift DLC gameplay.

Distances and Focus

Partly due to the rougher than usual terrain, elevation, the weather, and the walking, travelling between places will be slower but at the same time, things are actually closer inside the confines of Dvendar Tharr. It is a dense region, much denser than what players might be used to in the base campaign. Thus, we're preparing a more detailed campaign map to represent this region.

Party Size

Comitatus size will also be limited while mountaineering due to how difficult it is to maintain a larger group while climbing and traversing such rough terrain. This puts more emphasis on cargo capacity upgrades and bonuses on Workers and Slaves, urging you to specialize and rethink your build when ascending the Mountains of Fire.

Equipped for the Job

Along with this setup, we’ll be introducing new Equipment and slots to place them in. The first category is Mountaineering Equipment, which facilitates movement across the mountainous regions. The slots will only appear for owners of At the Heart of Ruin, as these pieces of Equipment will only be used in the high altitudes and impossibly craggy terrain of the DLC.

You’ll also have another separate slot for Protective Gear, which is needed to weather the many environmental hazards that constantly beset travelers. The good news is that this’ll be available to every player: you can use Calerus Protection Gear in this slot, so it’s not only for new equipment related to the DLC.

For both categories, various pieces of Equipment will be available through questing, Faction reputation, markets, or by simply stumbling upon them in random encounters.

Difficulty and Challenge

In terms of difficulty, starting the DLC will have the same requirement as Sunfire and Moonshadow did, which generally means a mid-tier comitatus. That does not necessarily mean that such a comitatus will be able to tackle all of At the Heart of Ruin. Your level of preparedness will be of utmost importance; testing oneself against the mountains can be a grueling affair that cannot be bypassed by sheer numbers of crew, as stated above. Powerful Companions, good Gear and Equipment, an assortment of bonuses and enduring effects, and ideally, some already existing resources are all very much recommended to tackle the expansion.

Which leads us to wonder: will you be prepared? It’ll take some time to familiarize yourself with the new region as a /vagrus/, that’s true, but it’s also important to note that you won’t spend all of your time west of Scrapheap. The northern part of Tahrar Barak and the southern Penumbral Plains, lands around the trash-pile town, will be included in the expansion, too, and who knows what they hold for explorers, however bleak they may seem?

For one, they might have some… Dwarves!

Dwarves in the Mountains

While it’s true that most denizens of the Riven Realms know the realm of Dvendarr Tharr to be largely uninhabitable, this is not the case for everyone. Some are braver and bolder than the rest; namely, a cadre of Dwarves that has appeared within the old kingdom’s confines recently.

Among them are stalwart warriors whose charge it is to protect the others of their surreptitious group. Travelers and locals are noticing them and wonder why they are here and what they seek.

To answer your inevitable question: yes, it is very strange for Grey Dwarves to come together for anything, let alone in the dozens, which apparently this group’s members amount to. Whatever they’re doing, it’s unlikely it’ll be kept a secret for much longer.

And perhaps more importantly, will you find out?

We certainly hope so as we’re drawing ever closer to the day when At the Heart of Ruin releases. More on that in the near future.

Eylani, Raptor Champion

And since we’re talking about character artwork, we should mention the latest reveal in that regard, too. We have recently announced our upcoming Ruinous Supporter Pack, sharing the new look of Criftaa, Skornar, and Vorax. Following that, we asked you in polls on our social media platforms which new Companion appearance you would like to see revealed next, and the overall victory was Eylani, so here she is!

She has always felt a close kinship with all manner of beasts, but with her new cosmetic option, Eylani will become positively bestial herself. Clad in an attire akin to the most prominent members of the scavenger gang called "the Raptors", she is ready to hunt down the most dangerous prey of the Riven Realms. We hope you like this look as much as we do!

Fall Discount

Last but not least: to celebrate the beginning of fall – the perfect time to lose yourself in a harsh world of perilous journeys – we are running a Steam Sale. For a limited time only, you can get Vagrus for up to 45% off!

That’s all for now! We’ll hopefully see you in our next weekly devlog, but until then, as always, stay tuned, stay awesome, and conquer the wasteland!

– The Lost Pilgrims Team

Today we’d like to introduce one of our upcoming additions to Vagrus, the Ruinous Supporter Pack DLC, a small cosmetic package that gives you Companion skins for supporting Lost Pilgrims. Our art team has been hard at work on it for some time now, and we’re excited to share the cosmetics in more detail soon. You can find its store page here, where all the cosmetics in the pack will appear soon, and you can wishlist the pack for the time being.

This pack is primarily a way to support our small team, helping us to continue creating stories and games set in the Riven Realms. If you enjoy our content and want to see it expand, this is a great way to endorse the effort.

As a token of our gratitude for the support, this pack unlocks a single alternative appearance for all Companions in the game (unique to each Companion). These cosmetics are purely visual, do not alter gameplay in any way, and do not represent “canon” looks for the characters. Instead, they are cool alternatives themed around the At the Heart of Ruin DLC’s content and factions.

The contents of the supporter pack are:

• “Crimson Reaper” skin for Harvek

• “Stalker Supreme” skin for Criftaa

• “Sardakron Retainer” & “Sardakron Upstart” skins for Renkailon

• “Expedition Sapper” skin for Garrik

• “Venomous Fang Brave” & “Arachnid Warlord” skins for Gor’Goro

• “Waterseeker” skin for Finndurarth

• “Reeve of Varnurud” skin for Skornar

• “Conflagrator” skin for Nedir

• “Raptor Champion” skin for Eylani

• “Hollow Exile” skin for Vorax

• “Faergal Psion” skin for Javek

• “Ironclad” skin for Sedarias

NOTE: Renkailon and Gor’Goro receive two skins due to their unique, storyline-related changes in their appearance. For Javek and Sedarias, only owners of the Old Acquaintances DLC can access their respective cosmetics. To be able to access Vorax’s cosmetics, you need to download the free Vorax DLC.

That’s it for this week, folks! Stay safe out there; stay vigilant as well as awesome and, of course, conquer the wasteland!

- The Lost Pilgrims Team

Hey everyone,

We’re dropping a patch to fix some semi-serious issues while our main focus continues to be At the Heart of Ruin, our upcoming expansion. Here are some teasers before we tackle the patch notes.

First off, we’re revealing something that we hope you’ll never have to visit in game: the village the Cleansing Conflagration – the gang of pyromaniacal, murderous scavengers – call home. Though it may not look much, it is a place of terror, sacrifice, and depravity, where there are artifacts and effigies aplenty to remind you of what goes on here.

And what, you might ask, does go on here? Sacrificial burnings as part of religious sermons of a particularly delirious nature, of course. And while the Cleansing Conflagration can be found throughout Varnurud, most keep their depraved acts to this village, where various members are said to willingly sacrifice themselves, all in service to a vision of Xeryn’s future that contains only lava, fire, and ash.

But what kind of gang – or cult – wishes to see the very world they occupy wreathed in flame and utterly destroyed? That will perhaps become clearer in due time. We do, however, still recommend that you do not go anywhere near this village, for there is little save a fiery death for those who approach. Defy this advice at your own peril.

Besides these pyromaniacs, here’s another teaser for you in the form of character art - this one is hardly ostentatious; it does not aim to dazzle or inspire fear, but simply to show you one of the various factions of authority that exist in Scrapheap, the focal point of many coming adventures.

All of this is to say that we’d like to introduce you to the Iron Guard, the assortment of veteran warriors, both competent and well-equipped, who are responsible for defending the Iron Tower, the seat of power for Scrapheap’s ruler and steward, the Heap King.

The tales of how the Iron Guard came to be are many, but most understand that it formed as a result of a loyal company of mercenaries and their leader’s desire to settle somewhere. Even hardened warriors and trained killers grow old and need to settle down eventually. And in this instance, that place happened to be Scrapheap, as dilapidated and choked by ash as it has always been. Needless to say, to find out more about the Iron Guard, the Iron Tower, and what has become of its so-called Heap King since the Prologue, one will need to explore these lands and the town of Scrapheap itself.

One of the best things about our upcoming expansion is the sheer number of fearsome foes one will be able to bump into, and this time, we’re going to show you one of our favourites: the Basilisk.

The fearsome Basilisk is a creature of legend that exists across countless worlds and mythologies, evoking dread in even the staunchest of warriors and adventurers. In the Riven Realms, these reptiles began to make their appearance in Xeryn’s Fourth Age, some time after the Calamity tore the realms asunder. Found only in the Mountains of Fire, some say that they are sluggish lizards, yet the truth is that they can be both cunning and lightning-fast when under threat.

Aside from those sharp claws, it will come as no surprise to any familiar with such creatures that their most dangerous weapon lies in their stare, or gaze. Few concretely documented accounts exist in the Empire as to the death stare’s effects, yet rumors run rife – outright death, petrification, or even disintegration are said to be caused by merely looking into the Basilisk’s eyes.

All are gruesome fates, but which one is the truth? Could they all be true?

If any of this has piqued your interest, you will be able to find out about them when our At the Heart of Ruin expansion releases later this year. For now, onto the patch notes! Now let's jump into the patch details: Important Note: Considering the extent of the improvements, there is little to no chance that we broke nothing in the process. Assume that we did not want to make anyone's life harder. If you see something amiss, please flag it to us using the usual channels, like the inbuilt reporting tool (F1 button), forums, and our Discord server. --------------------------------------------------

Patch 1.2100717/21 - Codename: Dead Weight(less)

Performance

• We optimized the sizes of several art assets, resulting in smaller install size and a bit quicker load times.

• Slight Companion Combat performance improvement against certain enemies.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a rare issue that caused summoned/spawned Companion Combat entities to remain permanently in your comitatus (no more parasitic Deadweight!).

• Fixed an issue that caused Equipment drag&drop to drag the wrong piece of Equipment.

• Fixed an issue that misaligned Gear icons with names in their list on the Character Sheet.

• Fixed an issue that prevented loading save files in Dissonance mode.

• General controller-related improvements based on your Discord feedback.

Stay tuned and conquer the wasteland! - The Lost Pilgrims Team ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you like Vagrus, please consider sharing our pages and posts with your friends through your favorite social media channel(s). It is much appreciated! Website | Youtube | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Patreon | Discord

Hey everyone,

As you may have noticed, this last month was exceptionally busy for us on the virtual storefronts, especially on Steam, where Vagrus was featured in the Daily Deal program on May 30 (at a staggering 50% discount, the lowest price as of yet), then took part in the annual TurnBasedThursdayFest between June 2 and 9 (with a similarly attractive discount). The festival received a “featured” spot on the platform, which was a fantastic milestone for everyone involved.

Now, with these fantastic opportunities behind us, Steam Summer Sale is just around the corner (between June 26 and July 10) with new discounts on Vagrus. We will also keep the game discounted for an additional 3 day period after the Summer Sale.

Somewhat related to this, we have some news about pricing and the new DLC. Firstly, as we’ve been making great progress with At the Heart of Ruin, we are now confident to call it an expansion based on quantity of new text, intriguing locations, brutal foes, breathtaking art, branching stories, meaningful choices, and new features (even if technically it is not going to be a huge addition to the world map). Due to this growth in the quantity and quality of content – as well as the constant pressure of inflation – our pricing of the expansion will be $19.99 at release (with regional pricing applicable the same way as with our other products). Our goal has always been to keep the Season Pass at a package with a 20% price cut, so now, with the new DLCs price set, the Pass will receive a new $39.99 price (and Old Acquaintances a $9.99) after the extended Summer Sale.

Although we understand that price increases are never good news, we also have to face that producing content for Vagrus isn’t exactly cheap or quick, and demand for such a niche game is fairly limited (as a side note, none of our DLCs have turned a profit as of yet). However, we can’t raise these prices any higher, so in order to aid development, we might release a new supporter pack (with zero impact on gameplay) alongside At the Heart of Ruin in order to allow those who want to support us further an avenue to do so without penalizing players who do not or cannot do so.

Naturally, we owe great thanks to our supportive player base, without whom none of this would be even remotely possible – despite the odds, we can continue expanding the Riven Realms thanks to you! And so, until further news and updates, stay safe and conquer the wasteland!

– The Lost Pilgrims Team

Hey everyone,

Patch 1.2100526V - Codename: Pactum Diais

Performance Improvements

• Improved performance (especially in camp, Companion Combat, and Crew Combat) related to the background rework of tooltips.
• Thoroughly optimized our asset handling, freeing up a whopping 1.5 Gigabytes of hard drive space

Improved and Updated Features :gift:

• Changed the display order of DLCs in the Extras menu to make it more intuitive.

Controller-related Fixes (including Steam Deck) :pencil:

• Fixed the issue of not being able to navigate between UI levels on the Perk UI, preventing players from checking their tooltips.
• Crew Combat log scrolling now works as intended.
• Crew Combat actions can now be opened to read the effects they provide.
• Fixed a variety of small issues that caused softlocks, missing icons, and navigational anomalies in Events.

Bug Fixes :bug:

• Fixed the issue of misaligned MP costs on the campaign map. Additionally, the new way they are generated will cause a slight performance improvement on the campaign map.
• The cursor no longer disappears from certain positions while typing Notes for yourself in the Journal.
• Quick Camp now pays Crew every day, as intended.
• Fixed an issue that caused the same “What’s New?” pop-up window to appear automatically after its first appearance.
• Fixed some anomalies that concerned settings during Camping.
• Fixed an issue in “Pilgrims of the Wasteland” that prevented Price History from updating with visited settlements’ price data.
• Fixed a localization-related issue that caused Gor’Goro to be unassignable as Marauder Prime.
• Fixed an issue that caused the normal, panning/swaying movement of the location background art assets to cease.
• Fixed the alignment of Skill effect icons where they were a bit off.

Console-specific Fixes

• Fixed an issue on the Nintendo Switch that allowed the use of certain special characters in vagrus names, preventing the saving of the game.
• Fixed an issue that caused the game to crash on the Nintendo Switch if the platform-allocated savegame space was filled up. Now the game warns you if that storage space is about to be filled, and once it does, saving the game can not be done until savegames are deleted to free up space.

Hey everyone,

Hey everyone,

Patch 1.200 - Codename: New Horizons

Performance

• All around performance improvements.
• Additional improvements to the save/load game menu points (they could become choppy when you had a lot of savegame files).
• Significantly improved the performance in long Companion Combat encounters.
• Known Issue: the Camp UI can still become laggy; we are working on it!

Improved and Updated Features :gift:

• Save file sizes have been reduced (and more reductions are on the way).
• Reworked the Extras Menu (from the Main Menu): you can now check DLCs and artwork, as well as play music directly from there (the latter two only if you own the appropriate DLC of course – Patronage Pack and OST, respectively).
• Removed some useless settings from the game options (for example, the ability to turn off tooltips).
• Removed the option of double clicking/tapping for map movement – it is now default for mouse & keyboard users and disabled for controller users.
• Deleted the obsolete, very old logs from local files, freeing up some (tiny) hard drive space.

Controller-related Fixes :pencil:

• Reworked how Companion Combat is managed by controllers (resulting in much better and intuitive handling).
• Added context-switching for controllers, allowing for quickly and effectively changing active tabs and windows.
• Improved a number of tooltips and tutorials to adhere to terminology relevant to controllers.
• A few missing controller-related icons were added to the Chart UI.
• Fixed an issue that caused certain Task-related icons on the Chart to be unselectable with the controller.
• Improved the drag&drop functionality on the Cargo UI.

Bug Fixes :bug:

• The version number discrepancy between the main menu and the game log has been resolved.
• Fixed an issue that caused certain location background illustrations to appear blank.
• Fixed an issue that caused a soft crash during the tutorial (on Morwen’s Character Sheet).
• Fixed an issue that caused the Outpost to switch back to selling Salt even after it was given a “Keep” order.
• Fixed an issue that caused Deputies to be unassigned or prevented them from being assigned in the first place in machine-localized games.
• Missing text on many UI elements in the Chinese machine localization due to font loading issues have been fixed.
• The “Esc” key now consistently navigates to the Main Menu where it is intended to do so.
• Removed the occasional double tooltip from certain vagrus (leader) Perks.
• Corrected various inconsistencies in Events and fixed some typos.