Stoneshard Update – New Dungeon Generation & Enemies

Ink Stains Games will be launching the Way Forward early access update for their turn-based RPG Stoneshard on September 24, 2020. Among numerous other improvements, this update will revamp the game’s dungeon generation system and introduce a bunch of new enemies. As such, the latest development update focuses on exactly that.

Have a look:

Hello everyone!

It’s been a while since our last devlog, but we are finally ready to tell you about many new additions which we’ve been working on. Over the next few devlogs we’ll detail most of the new content introduced by the “Way Forward” update, which will be released on September 24th. For now let’s begin with new enemies and reworked dungeon generation.

Overall System

The dungeon generation algorithm was rebuilt from the ground up in order to avoid the annoyance of persistent generation bugs. Now the game is capable of creating much more sophisticated and complex structures, as well as fine-tune dungeons based on many parameters. This will come in handy when we begin expanding the global map and improving the dungeon respawning system.

New Rooms

New dungeons will welcome you with a large variety of unique templates – other than the usual square rooms, dungeons will also contain rooms of uncommon forms and sizes. Twisted corridors, decorated halls, roomy passageways, collapsed walls – you’ll be able to encounter all of this and more while exploring crypts, catacombs, and bastions. This addition brought significant variety into tactical situations created by the game.

In the future we plan to further develop this concept by adding even more new rooms, including rooms with puzzles, special traps, and so on.

Secret Rooms

The dungeon generator can now create long-forgotten treasure rooms, the entrances to which are initially concealed from your character. Those aren’t easy to find, but the result is well worth the effort – observant characters will be rewarded with sizable loot and unique items.

In order to discover a secret passageway, you’ll have to make use of your Perception attribute – the higher it is, the higher the chance to notice that there’s something funny about that particular wall… You can also use the “Examine Surroundings” ability, which is now able to spot more than just traps.

Boss Rooms

Dungeon bosses are no longer cooped in tiny closets with a chest in the middle. Now they’ll be encountered in special rooms with enough space for maneuver and more valuable loot. For instance, necromancers can be encountered in special tombs, where they conduct their unholy rituals, or next to altar circles.

Skeleton Variety

The Undead faction received reinforcements. The skeletons, not unlike the existing bandits, will have different variants based on their dungeon difficulty. In the beginning of the game your opposition will consist of skeletons in rags, but in more dangerous dungeons you’ll have to fight well-armored and well-armed foes.

The skeletons fight with ultimate determination. Even in the most unfair fights they will hold their ground and never retreat.

Ghasts

Necromancy is a heavy burden. Upon acquiring the forbidden knowledge, weak-willed warlocks often quickly lose their sanity. Once the madness settles in, they transform into ghasts – a macabre shell of their former self, guided by a deranged obsession with death in all its forms.

Necromancers often turn ghasts into their servants, using them as commanders of sorts for their undead army – while skeletons and restless keep enemies busy, ghasts use their spells to support and direct them in combat.

The Restless Dead

The restless are favored by beginner necromancers, since it’s much easier to resurrect a fresh corpse rather than time-yellowed old bones. Due to their relatively recent death, the restless’ consciousness is much less fragmented, so it takes considerably less energy from a warlock to sustain them.

However, the restless’ most significant advantage is their incredible resilience. It’s not easy to kill something which is already dead, as rotting flesh, sustained with dark magic, is capable of surviving even the most grievous wounds. Thanks to their passive ability “Abominable Vitality”, each time a restless receives a killing blow, they have a chance to avoid death, losing a body part and completely replenishing their health in the process.

In order to ultimately put a restless in the ground, you’ll have to either bring their health down to zero a few times or deliver as many heavy injuries as possible.

That’s all for now. Until next time!