Dev Update #23: Build 11 (Masterwork Equipment, Named Champions, New Havens)

Hey guys,

A large update has been uploaded to the beta branch. Not fully compatible with previous save files, recommended to start a new playthrough.

Opting In:

- Right click Dead Monarchy.
- Select “Properties”.
- Select “Betas” on the left menu.
- Select “rebuild” from the drop down list.

Over the past few months, I have been working on several major features. There were still a few things I wanted to add before releasing this update but unfortunately I caught COVID-19 so development was interrupted. I didn’t want to delay things further so I decided to just release the update as is.

Trinkets & Rings:

Trinkets that will provide stat regeneration per turn during combat for Attack, Strength, Defense, Focus, Agility and Resolve. Rings that will provide a permanent stat bonus while equipped.

Masterwork Armour:

16 unique helmets and 15 unique armours have been added. They can only be found on named champions out in the wilderness, masterwork equipment cannot be bought, it must be earned. The stats of masterwork armour will vary, they are not static. IE heavy armour 375, 400, 425, 450, 475, 500. Masterwork armour also has a chance of spawning with additional effects. Light armour has exhaustion immunity, meaning you can still fight even if you have 0 Stamina. Medium armour has Vitality regeneration per turn. Heavy armour has immunity to routing, so even at 0 Resolve, you can still fight effectively.

Masterwork Weapons:

40 unique melee weapons have been added, 5 for each melee weapon type. 5 masterwork ranged weapons (arbalest) have been added. 5 unique shields (pavise) have been added, but each unique shield has 10 different colour variants, so all up 50 different masterwork shields. Masterwork weapons will have a stat range and won’t be static.

New Mercenary Equipment:

The new noble houses will drop the mercenary variant of their gear, this includes new helmets and new armours. The equipment is “Ancestral” quality, one below from “Masterwork”. The new equipment will provide more variety for your mercenaries until you can acquire masterwork equipment.

Named Champions:

20 types of randomly generated named champions that have a chance of spawning in forts, ruins and graveyards. Each champion will drop masterwork gear if they are defeated, they are extremely hard to kill.

Noble House Factions:

Four new noble house factions have been added. House Lanrick, House Sidonia, House Acutis and House Kruger. Each noble house faction has a unique look. Whilst utilising the same weapons, they will fight differently compared to each other (different perks).

New Havens (WIP):

- The remaining four havens for the first continent have been added. So each haven will spawn contracts that will affect the related haven. Shops have also been set up for the havens and the surrounding outposts, they can all be interacted with now. Arenas and their champions are now linked, so you can progress through the arenas. A lot of text still needs to be updated/added though.

Arena Champions:

Four new arena champions have been added to the newly added arenas for all four cities. Baldric, Caspar, Jodocus and Gregor. Each champion looks different compared to one another and fight differently as well. Not as strong as the randomly generated named champions, but still provide a challenge nonetheless. The champions are now linked to their respective cities, so you can follow the story and attempt to slay the champions as you traverse across the world.

Additional Things:

- Each map quadrant is now under control by a specific noble house faction.
- Noble house factions will now spawn in their respective forts instead of raiders.
- Named champions will now have a chance of spawning in forts, ruins and graveyards. These champions are extremely hard to kill but will drop masterwork equipment. Forts will contain heavy armour, ruins will contain medium armour, graveyards will contain light armour.
- The arena champion Kaladur has had his group reduced from 18 to 6. Subsequent champions will have their groups gradually increased by +3.
- Fixed the issue of arbalest type units disappearing due to unintentionally triggering an AOO attack and not having a means to engage in melee.
- Fixed the issue of models disappearing when “Shield Smash” ability is used while a hammer is equipped.

To Do:

- New building interiors need to be added for the new cities.
- New texts need to be added for contracts, arenas etc for the new cities.
- Player camp.
- Player crafting.
- Additional contract types.
- Story updates.
- Fix the weapon duplication glitch when swapping weapons during combat.

That’s all for now, the next update will at the minimum address the first 2 things on the to-do list.

Cheers,
Kevin.