Kickstarter Update #32 - Meet our New Stats System
You kick the tomb door open, sending it flying off its hinges. Ha! And the rest of the party said you were an idiot for putting all of your points into strength…
Your eyes fall upon the chest standing in the middle of the room. Its lock is ancient, but solid. Even so, it only takes a few blows from your fists before the wood cracks, snaps, and your hand smashes through the lid. "Pfft. Rogues," you mutter. "Who needs 'em?"
You toss aside the broken wand (magic is for wusses, and you don’t have the memory for it), the broken bow (who needs finesse anyway? Useless attribute), and scoop up the jewels within.
You shoulder your huge backpack with ease and stomp towards the door, ignoring the dust, cobwebs, and the pressure plate right in front of you. You don't even notice the the click as the trap door opens and you plunge into the darkness of the pit below. After a few minutes the dust settles, and cautious skulls start to peek over the edge. "Not very perceptive, eh?" one chortles. "Should've put some points in Wits..."
The silhouette of an undead necromancer appears above you, its empty eyes crackling with power. It draws back a hand, ready to bring a hail of death down on you, and screams-
Welcome to Kickstarter Update #32!
Today we’re celebrating the launch of our second major patch to the Early Access version currently available on
Steam and
GOG. As ever, Swen has the details.
Patchnotes
Just like before, we’d like to remind you that
playing on the latest patch will invalidate your current saved games. If that’s an issue, there’s a handy guide on how to play the older version of the game on our
Patchnotes page.
As Swen discussed in the video, this patch has seen some major changes to how attribute points work. We wanted a system where you felt
every point that you put into an attribute like strength, intelligence, or wits, so we tore down what was there before, tried a bunch of different prototypes, and rebuilt the whole thing from scratch. Now your attributes will be a much stronger influence on how you build your character, and how you play the game.
Every time you put a point into an attribute, we want you to be able to able to feel your character getting stronger/tougher/faster/smarter, so we’ve tied the attributes more closely to the gameplay. You’ll have to consider how your stats will affect the damage you do, how well you dodge, what armour bonuses you’ll get, how much vitality you have, how it’ll affect your memory slots, and how you’ll perform in combat.
Your primary attributes now form the foundation upon which your character will grow and develop throughout the game, rather than something you spend 2 minutes on and then forget about. We think the system is a big improvement on what was there before and we can’t wait to hear what you think
in our forums.
Of course that’s just the start of what we’ve been doing! We’ve also refined the arena lobbies to streamline your experience, we’ve improved combat visuals, we’ve balanced the fights better, we’re changed weapons, changed talents, changed combat abilities, and so, so much more.
If you’d like to see the complete list of all 150-something improvements, additions and fixes, just
click here.
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Larian needs you!
Are you a budding Sourcerer? Can you tell Zandalor from Arhu? Bellegar from a Cheesemonger? The weresheep from a killer bunny? Then you might be just the person we’re looking for!
2017 is going to be a crazy year for us, and we’ll be hitting the ground running with two big conventions:
PAX South (Jan 27th-29th) and
PAX East (Mar 10th-12th). We’ll be showcasing Divinity: Original Sin 2’s PvP and campaign modes to Divinity fans, RPG fans, and- well, any other fans we can get our hands on! (Never mind their boyfriends, girlfriends, best friends, minor acquaintances, parents, children, and Nick the Janitor if we get a chance.)
But we can’t do it alone.
We’re putting out a call for people to help us man our booths in
San Antonio and
Boston to ensure everyone who drops by has an awesome experience. So if you’ve ever wanted to be part of Team Larian, or just to get a behind-the-scenes look at how events like PAX are run, this is your chance!
Volunteers will help us run our booth, organise lunches, manage the queue of players, direct press toward the dev team, and occasionally dance in the aisles for our entertainment.
Volunteering for the Larian booth is a great way to meet some of the dev team, share the fans’ excitement, and see PAX from an exhibitor’s point of view. You’ll also get a three day pass, and you'll have some time to explore the PAX floor when you’re not manning the booth.
We’re looking for fun-loving, energetic and sociable fans who love our game as much as we do.
If you’re interesting with volunteering with us,
just fill out the form here.
(Please note that while we are happy to supply all volunteers with passes, and feed you on the days you’re working with us, we cannot cover travel or accommodation costs.)
Larian’s Very Own Advent Calendar!
We’re as excited as anyone for the holiday season, so to get ourselves in the mood we’ll be publishing an advent calendar from the 1st - 25th of December. Although maybe “Advent Calendar” isn’t quite the right word. Because you’re not opening doors, and you’re not getting any chocolate. Instead, you’ll be watching a picture evolve over the course of December, trying to hunt down the codes that will let you download daily digital Divinity goodies, and maybe even winning spot hardware prizes from our friends at
Roccat.
Just head over to
Facebook or
Twitter for more details.
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A New Home in St. Petersburg
Our St. Petersburg Office has found itself new digs! We were starting to outgrow the old office, and we’re hoping to take on even more staff in Russia (see our
jobs page for more details), so we’ve moved to a historical quarter of this great city, right by the Moyka River, with a view of more stunning church domes than you can shake a sceptre at.
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And Finally…
Before we sign off today, we want to roar ‘CONGRATULATIONS!’ to David Walgrave, one of our producers, who became a Dad in the last month! We’d like to think that his experience of crunches in Larian Studios has prepared him for many sleepless nights and lots of screaming, but we expect nothing quite prepares you for that adventure. All the best, David!