Not really. Battles are pretty much clusterfucks.
There is sandbox mode without the (bad) story.
It is comparable to Mount&Blade by having:
Please give examples of clever tactics in M&B. Depending on example it can be yes/no. A situation requiring it, would be rare.
Discount Live on June 7th & The Ember Saga DLC Release
Hi desert travellers, the
60% off
sale for Sands of Salzaar
that's right our biggest discount is now live for two weeks, together with new DLC discounts.
As we mentioned in the last blog, our regular updates following DLC 1 and 2 have resolved many of the issues concerning our players. With this new discount, we're also releasing our 3rd DLC,
The Ember Saga!
For this DLC, we've taken greater inspiration from the more asked-for content among the community. Considering the current framework of the game, we've taken note of your ideas and 3 new gameplay features have been packed into this DLC based on that.
The Ember Saga
is already available on Steam
and will become available on other platforms too once they get approved there.
Sands of Salzaar - The Ember Saga
StrategyAdventureRPGIndieSingleplayer
Jan 7, 2023
Add to Cart
-33%
4,99€
3,34€
The Ember Saga DLC Contains the Following:
The
Ember Saga
includes three content parts; you may choose to activate either or all of these:
Ember Workshop:
This comprises all-new side story content. As you progress through the story, you'll unlock the new features [Jewel Refinement] and [Jewel Fusion]. With these you can bring new life to jewels with good effects but low levels! There are new friends to be made as you continue through the story too. Invite them to join your party or learn new skills from them.
Child Rearing:
A brand-new way to interact with the Tavern Girls! Having confessed your passions to your dearly beloved, there's a chance you might just start a new chapter in your lives together, and start a family. Experience the trials and tribulations of parenthood, give your time and attention to your darling child, and see what kind of person they'll grow into—it's all down to you.
Among Legends
- Xin Qi Ji:
This includes a new [Selectable Class]. Xin Qi Ji takes on an assignment that leads him into the Salzaar deserts. With the Profoundness Style in his repertoire, just what kind of story will he embark upon among those swirling sands?
Ember Workshop: When it comes to the Machinos Empire's history, this is but the tip of the iceberg.
Tales of ancient dynasties; stories of eternal cities; legends of the Old King: they're all waiting to be discovered, buried beneath the sands. As fragmented, fleeting rumors, they live on.
And it's with this that the Machinos Empire reveals a snippet of its expansive history.
Following the Battle of the Black Sun, various missing-persons incidents began appearing across the desert lands. A dark plague encroached upon the tribes. Thoroughly shaken by the peril upon them, they whispered rumors of a bizarre half-metal, half-flesh creature out in the deserts. Legend has it that the beast could never die.
Speculation rippled across the tribes' population faster even than the plague. Yet the elders, drawing on their wealth of lived experience, claimed this creature the Vitalus Vitara remnants' masterwork.
The Sultans, however, were wrapped up in the throes of war, unperturbed by such rumors and legends.
Husnu, the Nasir Sultan, was one such example. His concerns lay instead with the [Ember Workshop] craftsmen, as awaited their latest weapon with bated breath. What's more, he'd caught wind that [Cherry] of the Ember Workshop had been posting up requests across the lands. Husnu hoped that, this time, she'd be able to find a few people up to the task.
Having received Cherry's assignment letter, we'll set out for the Redstone Keep. There, she'll fill us in on the details, and so, our involvement with the [Ember Workshop] shall begin. (Keep in mind that Ember Workshop assignments are challenging indeed. Take them on only once you know you're prepared.)
We'll make a new friend as we complete the assignment tasks:
Ember Ocher,
owner of the Ember Workshop. She can join our party too, and aid us in our plight. Yet the one pulling the strings, an enemy most powerful, grows ever closer…
Two new features can be unlocked as you embark upon the Ember Workshop tasks:
jewel refinement and fusion.
Use the Refinement Furnace to refine low-level jewels to enhance their power with all kinds of Magic Dust. (*Jewel dust can be obtained by salvaging jewels in the Ember Workshop.)
And with the Fusion Furnace, you can combine two jewels of the same level to form
a random, higher-level jewel.
If you wish to fuse jewels of differing levels, however, you'll need to first unlock the corresponding formulas.
Child Rearing: Children—even more of a handful than the tribe members!
Succeed in
confessing your love to the Tavern Girl of your dreams
, and you'll
have a chance
to start a family with her; raise a child, and start a whole new chapter in your lives. (Fail, however, and you'll have to pick yourself up and try again.)
You'll need to get involved as she carries your unborn child, taking part in a range of interactions together, and shouldering parental responsibilities. (A range of different events will affect the youngster's development, and thus their attributes.)
Eventually, the wait will be over and a new life shall be born into Salzaar. It's then that you must name your child; a name that shall accompany them throughout the years as they grow. (So make sure to choose wisely ).
Your newborn baby boy/girl will be cared for by their mother, but remember that you must visit often, too. Their development is split across four stages: Infancy → Childhood → Adolescence → Adulthood. In each stage, you'll need to make decisions that will influence the path their development takes. As you'll see, though, they'll go through rebellious phases. How you deal with their rebellion is up to you.
Your child will have sets of different character images and models for their Adolescence and Adulthood (also differing according to their gender). As they come of age, you'll also
get another chance to customize their features
, again altering their images and models.
Apart from their parents' skill pages, there's also
4 Bloodline skill pages
for children to select from: Bloodline Combat, Bloodline Archery, Bloodline Magic and Bloodline Healing. (You can pick a Bloodline skill for your heir during the One Year Old event, and once confirmed, this cannot be changed once confirmed. Choose wisely!)
Bloodline Combat: A combat skill page focusing on Strength.
• Blade Force: Unleash two rapid slashes, each dealing Physical Attack x 0.75 + Strength x 1 damage.
• Force Combo: Unleash Blade Force then three more strikes, each dealing Physical Attack x 1 + Strength x 1 damage.
• Vortex: Deal Physical Attack x 1 + Strength x 1.5 damage per second to enemies within 350 cubits.
• Slice Vortex: Unleash a vortex of air slices, dealing Physical Attack x 1 + Strength x 1.5 damage per second to enemies within 650 cubits.
• Clone Rush: Summon four shadow clones to stab at the target, dealing Physical Attack x 0.5 + Strength x 1 damage to enemies in their path.
• Clone Combo: Unleash a Clone Rush stab attack, then summon four shadow clones that stab forth to deal Physical Attack x 1 + Strength x 1 damage to the target and enemies in their path.
Bloodline Archery: A combat skill page focusing on Agility.
• Piercing Arrows: Fire an arrow that pierces enemies, flying 2,500 cubits in a straight line and dealing Physical Attack x 1.5 + Agility x 1.5 damage to enemies hit.
• Piercing Arrows: Heavy: Piercing Arrows gain Knockback effects and doubled damage.
• Scatter Hail: Fire 9 arrows, each dealing Physical Attack x 0.5 + Agility x 1 damage.
• Scatter Hail: Retreat: You dash backward 800 cubits before unleashing Scatter Hail.
• Web Shot: Fire a specially-made arrow that deals Physical Attack x 1.5 + Agility x 1.5 damage to enemies hit, then ensnares all in a 400-cubit range with a web. Those ensnared take Physical Attack x 0.2 + Agility x 0.5 damage per second, and are Slowed.
• Arcane Web Shot: Web Shots summon forth a Toxic Spider Queen on hit, lasting 10 seconds.
Bloodline Magic: A combat skill page focusing on Spirit.
• Fireball: Launch a fireball that explodes upon hitting an enemy, dealing Magic Attack x 2 + Spirit x 2 Magic Damage to all enemies within 400 cubits. Targets hit are Burned for 8 seconds.
• Pyromancy: Greatly enhance your Fireballs, increasing their blast radius to 800 cubits and explosion damage to Magic Attack x 5 + Spirit x 5 Magic Damage.
• Arctic Spear: Launch forth an icy spear that flies 3,000 cubits in a straight line, dealing Magic Attack x 1.5 + Spirit x 1.5 Magic Damage. Targets hit are Frozen for 3 seconds.
• Arctic Spear: Penta: You launch 5 spears with Arctic Spear, their damage increased by 50%. Deals +50% damage to Frozen enemies.
• Thunder Tempest: Summon forth 10 thunderclouds at random locations within the target area, lasting 8 seconds. Snow falls from the clouds, dealing Magic Attack x 0.1 + Spirit x 0.1 Magic Damage to those within a 200-cubit range beneath them for 5 seconds. A bolt of lightning strikes from clouds every 2 seconds, dealing Magic Attack x 0.3 + Spirit x 0.3 Magic Damage to those within a 200-cubit range beneath them. Targets struck by lightning are Shocked for 2 seconds.
• Meteorologic Mastery: Thunder Tempest summons an additional 5 clouds.
Bloodline Healing: A support skill page focusing on Spirit.
• Healing Zone: Create a 900-cubit healing zone, in which allies recover Magic Attack x 1 + Spirit x 1 Health per second. This zone lasts 10 seconds.
• Healing Zone: Filiality: Healing Zone takes effect at your location one extra time.
• Safe Zone: Create a 900-cubit safe zone, in which allies gain shield and Damage Reduction equal to 3% Max Health. This zone lasts 10 seconds.
• Safe Zone: Filiality: Safe Zone takes effect at your location one extra time.
• Blessed Zone: Create a 900-cubit blessed zone, in which allies gain Magic Attack x 0.5 + Spirit x 0.5 Attack. This zone lasts 12 seconds.
• Blessed Zone: Filiality: Blessed Zone takes effect at your location one extra time.
Having learned one of the four aforementioned basic disciplines, your heirs also excel in team effort attacks and can launch skills with you. But that's not all: as your heirs continue to grow, they'll learn a variety of [adventure skills] based on how they train.
Among Legends
- Xin Qi Ji: A Grand Chinese Swordsman
Xin Qi Ji is a collaboration character from our title
Among Legends
. He'll be joining the world Salzaar as the protagonist, featuring an all-new [Selectable Class].
[Xin Qi Ji]'s Attributes:
Arcane Talents - 0
Attribute Growth
Strength: 8
Agility: 6
Spirit: 1
Essence: 10
[Profoundness Style] Skill Page - Focuses on counterattack skills and strengthening physique. Comprises the Profound Sword, Profound Mind and Demon Sword.
• Profound Sword: Equipping a One-handed Sword changes basic attack to Profound Sword and increases Evade by Skill Level x 5%. At Profound Sword level 3, basic attacks cannot miss, be evaded or blocked, and deal Agility x 0.2 x Skill Level as extra Damage.
• Profound Force: Slashes forward to cause three blade forces that travel, each force dealing Physical Attack x 0.8 + 40 x Skill Level Damage.
• Force Absorb: Recover 15 x Skill Level% of the damage dealt by Profound Force as Health.
• Meteora Strike: Advance 1000 cubits forward, dealing Physical Attack x 1 + 100 x Skill Level Damage to enemies hit, then slash 8 times, creating blade force that deals Physical Attack x 1.5 + 150 x Skill Level Damage. Enemies hit by blade force are Forced together and Stunned for 1 second.
• Blade Shower: Blade Shower can be used within 5 seconds of using Meteora Strike to summon blades that strike at enemies in an area, with each blade dealing Physical Attack x 1 + Agility x 1 Damage.
• Headstrong: Increases Crit Rate by 5 x Skill Level%. Critical hits have a 10 x Skill Level% chance to cause Knockback and Stun enemies for as many seconds as the skill's level.
• Ghostly Sacrifice: Dons the Ghostly Sacrifice mask, gaining a shield equal to Essence x 20 + 500 x Skill Level.
• Ghostly Sacrifice: Wail: Lets out a piercing howl when donning the Ghostly Sacrifice mask, Stunning enemies within 700 cubits for 2 seconds.
• Ghostly Sacrifice: Stagger: Gains the Stagger effect while the Ghostly Sacrifice shield is active. When attacked in melee, stagger enemies back and deal Essence x 3 + 50 x Skill Level True Damage.
• Ghostly Sacrifice: Demon: The shield of Ghostly Sacrifice affects all allies within 700 cubits but is only half as potent.
• Profound Mind: Increase Max Mana by 5 x Skill Level%. Increase Mana Regen/s by 5 x Skill Level.
• Bastion: Increase your Damage Reduction by 10 x Skill Level.
• Bastion Commander: Melee units - Increase Damage Reduction by 10 x Skill Level%.
• Sword Mastery: When using sword weapons, increase damage by 5 x Skill Level%.
• Profound Claymore: Attacking enemies with the Profound Claymore alters basic attacks for 25 seconds.
The Ember Saga DLC is currently available on Steam, and it'll become available on other platforms too as soon as it is approved.
Feel free to join our Discord to talk about the DLC or the game at large, and share your journeys throughout the sands! Should you encounter any issues, you can always tell us about them in the Bug Report channel there. We'll collect issues and fix them as soon as we can!
emergent gameplay, similar to Mount&Blade/Kenshi/STALKER A-Life
Because its gameplay progression is closer to M&B, Pirates! or Kenshi.
because there's around 10 games in this game and at least 3 or 4 of them are closer to M&B than Diablo
I was referring to the "emergent gameplay" part being used as a reason to call it a "M&B-like" since Deus Ex and System Shock are where those terms came from.
I think the point is that what is emergent about it is completely different from Deus EX. Deus EX had some systems in place and level design built around making those systems relevant, while this game is centred around completely different systems that are more close to Mount & Blade. I haven't played Sands of Salzaar, but from what I've seen, it looks perhaps closer to Din's Curse, but most people don't know about that game, so calling it similar to Mount & Blade makes more sense.
Update Log - [Combat Improvements][Tournament Fixes][Editor Update][NewDLC Info]
1.0.40 Update Log
Travelers of the desert:
We've fixed some of the bugs we told you about last week with the [Tournament] and [Child Rearing] in this update we just launched. We've also made some tentative improvements that'll hopefully reduce lag in the mid and late-game, and we've upgraded the mod editor.
This update hits PC and mobile at the same time, so be sure to update your client.
[Combat Improvements]
We continuously receive frequent feedback regarding lag in the mid and late-game, and it's something we've always needed to improve. We've seen that the most frequent lag occurs just as both sides' forces clash, and part of this is due to the combat text.
We've therefore made some changes to the underlying logic regarding this, which should alleviate some lag during late-game battles. Naturally, fully fixing this lag isn't something we can do with just one or two changes, and we'll be going at it from other directions too (such as AI pathfinding, etc.) once we've solved the issue with the combat text, to attempt to resolve this issue from multiple directions.
And apart from this, we've taken the chance to make a few other changes too:
We've changed how critical hits are shown to make the visual prompts more intuitive, and we've differentiated magical and physical crits by giving them different colors.
We've also made changes to the attack speed and damage radius of all weapons. Attack speed now not only affects the cooldown of basic attacks, but also the animation speed along with both the fore and backswings. We've also changed the hitbox from its previous prismatic shape into a more intuitive conical shape.
[Tournament Bug Fixes]
Following the last round of changes, a few stubborn bugs still remained, which we've fixed this time around:
1. Fixed an issue where you couldn't participate in the Tournament again in the same town.
2. Fixed an issue where you would receive tournament rewards even if your team participated without you.
3. The game would suddenly freeze and the file become corrupt after a certain number of days had passed. We've now added protective measures to prevent this, which will automatically reset the Tournament DLC when this error occurs.
We've also fixed an issue a localization issue with the
[Child Rearing]
DLC that led to a code error. The bug would lead to a key quest progressing into the wrong quest branch, meaning that the quest couldn't be completed.
Furthermore, we've redrawn all icons for special [Ember Workshop] gear and quest items.
Previous Version
New Version
We've also made the following fixes and changes in the new update:
1. Improved the underlying logic behind damage calculations.
2. Fixed a bug where the Might, Agility, Essence and Wisdom of skills weren't included in the final calculation.
3. Fixed a bug that would invalidate strategy order configurations.
4. Divided up the difficulty further, allowing for individual dynamic changes to level caps.
5. Added an attribute affix that increases Might, Agility, Essence and Wisdom by a certain percentage.
6. Adjusted the Block attribute affix, added Block and Counter Block, Empower Block and Weaken Block.
7.Added objects/areas which are only traversable from one side in battle.
1.0.40 Temporary fixes
Through immediate feedback from our community of players we've discovered some issues in version 1.0.40 that we've made temporary fixes for
1. Auto-battle can not be carried out
2. Unlimited duration of invincibility buffs
3. Cannot learn NPC skills
[Editor Update]
We've updated the mod editor to make it easier for mod creators to use it. This includes improving the UI and adding a few commands, along with three viewers: Icon Viewer, Portrait Viewer, and Model Viewer. Hopefully these changes will be of some help to you all!
Within the Icon Viewer you'll be able to find all icons currently available in the game. Considering that some icons are readily used, we've also added a batch of new ones.
Within the Portrait Viewer you'll be able to find all portraits and avatars currently available in the came. These are marked with a corresponding portrait ID, so that you can more easily change out default portraits.
Within the Model Viewer you'll be able to find all character models currently available in the game. You can also directly drag weapons in the object category to the right to see their animations and special effects.
[New DLC Info]
We revealed a preview of the new DLCs we're working on last week, and we've naturally received feedback regarding this. We'll just say it: the DLC is coming on Dec 8, just as there are discounts running on the various platforms.
Exotic Wayfarer
The Exotic Wayfarer DLC will include outfits inspired by a variety of cultures, along with uniquely colored hairstyles. This DLC will also come with an item granting one free character customization (cannot be used to change gender), enabling you to change your appearance without first talking to the dresser.
Siege and Conquest
Following our DLC reveal, plenty of you were worried that soldiers getting stuck in walls would become an even greater problem than before. And that's indeed one of the issues we encountered during development. We tried to fix this in a variety of ways, including changing the display size of models for broader paths, and modifying collision body sizes and map boundaries.
We ended up using the aforementioned in part, and put most of our focus on modifying AI pathfinding. The pathfinding guideline we've added for siege battles should prevent this issue to some extent. Plus, this change will improve the issues of soldiers getting stuck in walls for the base game too.
We have created a set of city walls and gates with unique designs that differ for all regions (Ifrit Domain, Redstone Valley, Crying Rock, Twinluna Valley, Zagros Mountains, Umbra Cliffs, West Docana Desert). Have a look at our early design drafts!
As for which designs will prevail and how they'll look in the game when released, well, you'll just have to find that out later!
The Eclipse Hive
We mentioned in the preview that you could gather Eclipse [Clues] from the various regions and exchange these with the Mastigure Adventurer (usually found near the main city of the region's main faction) for [Boss Intel] in order to directly challenge that boss.
We've created 24 bosses for The Eclipse Hive, with each region apart from the Ifrit Domain containing 3 powerful entities and 1 super entity. Each of these has different mechanics from ordinary bosses.
As an example, the Twinluna Valley's super boss will in phase two pit you against a clone of yourself (with your skills, gear and attributes, but naturally with more skills due to being an AI).
Or when faced with the Dune Band trio, you must defeat all of them within quick succession of one another or they'll simply resurrect to no end.
Upon defeating a boss in the Land of the Eclipse, their loot will drop as a chest upon the ground. Be sure to leave the area only AFTER you pick up your loot. There's a confirmation box for leaving, though, so there's that.
For the 24 bosses in the 6 regions, we've created 36 pieces of legendary gear all featuring gear skills. Each boss has a 100% chance of dropping a unique piece of gear of a set gear slot, while each super boss has a 100% chance of dropping 1 out of 3 pieces (accessory, armor or weapon).
These new pieces of gear aren't just powerful stat sticks, rather, they all have their own quirky effects and mechanics that may be either good or bad. But when used properly, a seemingly bad effect may well be a great one.
New DLC Release Date & Discounts
The new DLCs are estimated to hit the stores on Dec 7, 10:00 PST. The Sands of Salzaar base game will be available at a discount for 2 weeks (Dec 7 to 21).
The PC discount will be our biggest ever at 60% off for the base game, and 50% off for both The Ember Saga and Tournament DLCs.
That's all for this update! Feel free to join our Discord to get in touch! Our managers will try their best to help you solve any issues you encounter in the game!
Captives Feature Launching - Biggest Discount Ever is ON
Travelers of the desert:
It's been a while!
We've mentioned in a previous update preview that we would add a new feature: Captives. It's been under development for a while now, and we're happy to announce that it's going live with this patch!
In the current build, once you defeat an enemy army, they will be able to rebuild a large army in just a few days and begin attacking you anew, which has led to overly frequent battles in the late game. Plus, war has been the only means with which to annihilate your foes once and for all. Thus, we've thought of adding the Captives mechanic to enable players to make captives of the enemy's wounded units.
If you want to learn more about the ins and outs of the new feature, or if you have any questions or worries, feel free to check out these two development journals where we go into greater detail and answer a few common questions.
Sands of Salzaar AnnouncementThu, February 1, 2024
Update Log - [Further Lag Optimizations] [Map Changes] [New Tournament Content]
Ver. 1.0.44
Sands of Salzaar AnnouncementFri, March 29, 2024
Update Log-[RAM Improvements][Progression-Halting Bug Fixed][Captives Progress]
Ver. 1.0.45
What's more, the game is
on sale at a price equal to our historical lowest price point for two whole weeks
on all platforms. This new update will hit mobile devices in two days.
Sands of Salzaar
Open WorldRPGStrategyWarIndie
Dec 16, 2021
Add to Cart
-60%
12,49€
4,99€
Sep 06 Update Log
●Addition: Captives Feature
Upon being victorious in combat, you make captives of the enemy's wounded units, with a chance to make NPCs your captives. There is a cap for how many Captive Squads you can have, and upon exceeding this cap, you have a 30% each day to lose 1-5 captives. However, should you fall in battle, the enemy may also lay claim to your heroes and soldiers.
You can check any NPCs and units you've captured by tapping the Captives tab in the Party menu. Here you may choose to either Convert or Release captives. NPCs and soldiers are converted differently, however. Once a few days have passed, you receive Conversions, with which you can convert selected soldiers.
NPCs take a longer time to convert and comprise several phases: during each conversion you converse with them, having a chance to progress onto the next conversion phase (this also triggers a cooldown). Complete several of these phases successfully to convert an NPC.
Please be noted that the function of auto-generating NPCs based on event won't be on live until next patch.
●Addition: Dungeon
We've added the [Dungeon] to the town, where captured heroes will be imprisoned. You can choose to either retrieve captives for a cost or—attempt a jailbreak. However, there might be a price to pay for jailbreaks, successful or not, so proceed with caution!
●Addition: Ransom Broker
We've added a new merchant character too, the Ransom Broker, who will conduct a new form of business: the trading of captives.
●We've reworked the Settings menu and added more quality options.
●Support for different resolutions has also been added.
●Fix: Fixed a bug where the Yaya DLC character's skills could lead to limitless health or instant death.
●Fix: Fixed an issue where ordering a character in a city owned by another faction would also cause that faction's units to deploy.
If you have encountered any problem, feel free to join our Discord to get in touch! Our managers will try their best to help you out.
