KickStarter Stoneshard - open world roguelike RPG - now available on Early Access

[Teut Busnet]

it's not fake news, m8s - I remember playing in January and everything was seriously overtuned to fuck, but I didn't think much of it because there's not enough game yet to go around and the initial difficulty hump felt like proper padding to overcome

yesterday coincidentally happened to be the day I decided to try out the new update, feeling that enough time had passed since the initial storm of hotfixes; I ran headfirst into a 3 skull contract expecting to be fucked and I wasn't
weird, I thought, going without much difficulty up until the third contract in the vampire stronghold, where the boss fucked me just 1 strike short of me fucking him, so I came back, did the thing again, identified the unidentified potion I didn't bother with first time around, IT WAS A FUCKING LIFEDRAIN potion, which I then used to proceed to lifesuck the fuck out of the bloodsucking apostate

on my way to the brewery, I avoided all wildlife, remembering even wolves were fuckers, but in one case I lead a couple of bandits back to a boar I had passed previously, and though it returned to being passive after we dealt with the bandits, I took the furry cunt on and... handled it without trouble? back from the brewery, I took all the wildlife on (NOT BEARS) I'd been avoiding on the way there and it wasn't shit

what's always been truly traumatic is the difficulty shift from Osbrook to Mannshine contracts - 3 skulls again, fuck it,

Spoiler

BINGO FIRST TRY

Just play 2h maces, they're practically cheat mode

This is why devs should stop rebalancing everything every update lol

Any specifics for the 2h mace build? I would like to check out the new content without grinding too much...

 

[Iskramor]

it's not fake news, m8s - I remember playing in January and everything was seriously overtuned to fuck, but I didn't think much of it because there's not enough game yet to go around and the initial difficulty hump felt like proper padding to overcome

yesterday coincidentally happened to be the day I decided to try out the new update, feeling that enough time had passed since the initial storm of hotfixes; I ran headfirst into a 3 skull contract expecting to be fucked and I wasn't
weird, I thought, going without much difficulty up until the third contract in the vampire stronghold, where the boss fucked me just 1 strike short of me fucking him, so I came back, did the thing again, identified the unidentified potion I didn't bother with first time around, IT WAS A FUCKING LIFEDRAIN potion, which I then used to proceed to lifesuck the fuck out of the bloodsucking apostate

on my way to the brewery, I avoided all wildlife, remembering even wolves were fuckers, but in one case I lead a couple of bandits back to a boar I had passed previously, and though it returned to being passive after we dealt with the bandits, I took the furry cunt on and... handled it without trouble? back from the brewery, I took all the wildlife on (NOT BEARS) I'd been avoiding on the way there and it wasn't shit

what's always been truly traumatic is the difficulty shift from Osbrook to Mannshine contracts - 3 skulls again, fuck it,

Spoiler

BINGO FIRST TRY

Just play 2h maces, they're practically cheat mode

This is why devs should stop rebalancing everything every update lol

Any specifics for the 2h mace build? I would like to check out the new content without grinding too much...

Read again

 

[normie]

last tier of undead are fucking me up and forcing me to play my smartest
I make one overambitious move up because it's a slog, or don't move back to avoid unnecessary contact, and I'm donzo
I'll go back and bring a bed with me next time lol

 

[Salvo]

Game has only really 2 flaws slow animations and grind.

it's not fake news, m8s - I remember playing in January and everything was seriously overtuned to fuck, but I didn't think much of it because there's not enough game yet to go around and the initial difficulty hump felt like proper padding to overcome

yesterday coincidentally happened to be the day I decided to try out the new update, feeling that enough time had passed since the initial storm of hotfixes; I ran headfirst into a 3 skull contract expecting to be fucked and I wasn't
weird, I thought, going without much difficulty up until the third contract in the vampire stronghold, where the boss fucked me just 1 strike short of me fucking him, so I came back, did the thing again, identified the unidentified potion I didn't bother with first time around, IT WAS A FUCKING LIFEDRAIN potion, which I then used to proceed to lifesuck the fuck out of the bloodsucking apostate

on my way to the brewery, I avoided all wildlife, remembering even wolves were fuckers, but in one case I lead a couple of bandits back to a boar I had passed previously, and though it returned to being passive after we dealt with the bandits, I took the furry cunt on and... handled it without trouble? back from the brewery, I took all the wildlife on (NOT BEARS) I'd been avoiding on the way there and it wasn't shit

what's always been truly traumatic is the difficulty shift from Osbrook to Mannshine contracts - 3 skulls again, fuck it,

Spoiler

BINGO FIRST TRY

Just play 2h maces, they're practically cheat mode

This is why devs should stop rebalancing everything every update lol

Any specifics for the 2h mace build? I would like to check out the new content without grinding too much...

You will need some levels anyway, game is kinda grindy, I wouldn't do Brynn dungeons before hitting at least lvl 10 otherwise you risk getting fucked over by RNG

Anyway, pump STR and AGI to 15 (start with AGI for fumble), then go full PER

All skill points into 2h mace tree, abuse corners and position so that you knock people into walls, the debuffs will be so severe that you will almost never be hit

Combo is striker stance ---> mighty swing ---> skull crusher / unstoppable force



Since you do blunt damage you can also spec skinning, you will be able to skin everything since you don't damage pelts

 

[Teut Busnet]

Awesome Salvo, thanks!

 

[BanEvader]

I have to ask complainers: When was the last time you played game?* Updates changed and improved game a lot. It's hardcore game, main Dev is one of super rare Devs who didn't succumb to pressure of Steam Babies and didn't dumb down gameplay. Old Codex used to celebrate such Devs, but this is New Codex

That's all well and good, and admittedly I haven't pirated it in a long time.
That said, if there's still no character creation it's still vaporware.

 

[normie]

>final tier bandit stronghold
>2nd attempt after I greedily chase charged a bowman to the middle of a room in the charge range of a 2hand mauler and shieldguy
>boss dead, cleaning up, hand hurt
>FINAL dude with 10%~ hp left, cripples my hand so bad I drop the sword, on my last hp
>reflexively switch to shovel (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
>automatically dropped because of the crippled hand
>miss
>drop shield (????!!!!!)
>miss
>pick up sword
>mook raises shield
>put the sword in left hand
>dead

 

[Salvo]

After "finishing" a run in the current build I don't see how the devs can feasibly have you reach the end game without having hit the level cap (30) a long time before... Mannshire / Brynn are the first major zones, and considering how the game's grindy by nature and that the other two factions have yet to be released... yeah.

I ended up at lvl 17, and have still half the map to explore

 

[Jrpgfan]

I bought this game at EA release, played for a couple hours and dropped. The prologue was way better than the game itself.

Came back today and even though development is said to be slow, they did release quite a bit of content.

It still has a long way to go but definitely has a lot of potential.

Also, it's not like we have many options when it comes to non-ASCII(which I can't stand) "true" Roguelikes.

 

[Salvo]

I bought this game at EA release, played for a couple hours and dropped. The prologue was way better than the game itself.

Came back today and even though development is said to be slow, they did release quite a bit of content.

It still has a long way to go but definitely has a lot of potential.

Also, it's not like we have many options when it comes to non-ASCII(which I can't stand) "true" Roguelikes.

Agreed that the prologue played better, it focused on the actual meat of the game

 

[normie]

who cares

look at how beautiful it is

 

[normie]

the only thing bugging me is that lockpicking will prioritise the crowbar instead of lockpicks? I'd appreciate if there was a context option for forcing the lock (crowbar) and pick lock (lockpicking)

and trap disarming does not make use of the crowbar from the context menu in the field, you have to use it manually from the inventory

anyway, let's gooooooooo

 

[oscar]

Few thoughts from my latest playthrough (2H macer)

- Yep no way in hell am I spending a perk AND half my inventory (in a game like this where inventory space is so tight and essential to you making money) to be able to god-damn sleep in the wild or skip the 15g inn fee. The worst thing about this is its a "power vs convenience" choice. You could just as easily walk back to town but it's a three minute trudge through the same picked forest, the same picked berries and the same killed bandits and wildlife.
- Brynn is coming along nicely
- Had a great experience where I cleared a three skull dungeon but my character was dying from pain. Thought well might as well pop this star dust (fantasy cocaine? I do like this game's variety of drugs). Got rid of the pain but my guy had a bad trip and was vomiting himself to death (causing him to reach deadly levels of thirst and hunger, the latter since he'd just vomit up whatever I tried to feed him). Was sure he would be a goner since max health was dwindling rapidly but thought I might as well try limp back to town. Made it back to the town well and church with 2hp to spare
- Progressing the main quest is a trap in this beta since it loses you Verron giving you free rides around. Though the potion you get out of it is pretty damn amazing.
- The harsh survival mechanics are immersive in the beginning but become irrelevant pretty quickly. Bread is cheap enough that hunger becomes irrelevant after your first contract or two and thirst is irrelevant from the start (your canteen is far more than enough for the trip to the dungeon, clearing the dungeon and the trip home). There's almost no incentive to ever buy more expensive foods. Or even cheap foods since the maps are so abundant with forageable food.
- I like how weapons and armour are soft-tiered with some weapons doing pure damage, others trading base damage for more ability to stun/knockback etc. Makes you think a bit instead of nabbing the most expensive weapon in your category.
- Still haven't found a single secret room in 61 hours of play

 

[Harthwain]

- Yep no way in hell am I spending a perk AND half my inventory (in a game like this where inventory space is so tight and essential to you making money) to be able to god-damn sleep in the wild or skip the 15g inn fee. The worst thing about this is its a "power vs convenience" choice. You could just as easily walk back to town but it's a three minute trudge through the same picked forest, the same picked berries and the same killed bandits and wildlife.

It is suggested by the developers that the point of being able to make your own sleeping bag is not for carrying it around, but rather to be able to make it on the spot:

Investing into this skill is completely optional, and it is possible to purchase sleeping bags from some traders. Still, being able to craft them yourself will save you money and inventory space - it’s fairly easy to find the required items while exploring, and the materials themselves don’t take as much space as an actual sleeping bag.

Source: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/625960/view/5047974127378796105

I can see why some people don't like the idea of sacrificing inventory space for a sleeping bag, but this is a trade-off that encourages you to do much more drastic item selection if you don't want to go back and forth to and from an actual bed.

- The harsh survival mechanics are immersive in the beginning but become irrelevant pretty quickly. Bread is cheap enough that hunger becomes irrelevant after your first contract or two and thirst is irrelevant from the start (your canteen is far more than enough for the trip to the dungeon, clearing the dungeon and the trip home). There's almost no incentive to ever buy more expensive foods. Or even cheap foods since the maps are so abundant with forageable food.

A few things to consider when it comes to food:

1) Better food usually has extra effects, beyond just satiating your hunger or thirst.
2) Some meals are more filling than others, therefore saving you inventory space.
3) Food can go bad, so you can't keep it for later forever. In this regard some types of food can last for longer.
3) Water comes in handy when alcohol is involved, because you need to drink more water because of it. Also, you say thirst is irrelevant, but in the very same post state how you almost vomitted yourself to death, reaching deadly levels of thirst and hunger in the process.

 

[oscar]

“Make a Halt” allows you to combine a pelt, a length of rope, and some straw to craft a new single-use consumable - a sleeping bag. Sleeping bags give you an option to sleep and save your progress in suitable locations far enough from dungeons, settlements, and points of interest.

Those ingredients cost you ten inventory spaces.

A few things to consider when it comes to food:

1) Better food usually has extra effects, beyond just satiating your hunger or thirst.
2) Some meals are more filling than others, therefore saving you inventory space.
3) Food can go bad, so you can't keep it for later forever. In this regard some types of food can last for longer.
3) Water comes in handy when alcohol is involved, because you need to drink more water because of it. Also, you say thirst is irrelevant, but in the very same post state how you almost vomitted yourself to death, reaching deadly levels of thirst and hunger in the process.

1) A 2% morale boost (what barely ever dips below 100% unless you're in the middle of a fight getting your ass beat what is hardly the time to whip out a trout stew) or 1.5% over 50 turns bonus to energy recovery is hardly reason to buy the 80 gold foods over the 15 gold ones
2) Unless you're spending days in a dungeon for some reason a single loaf of bread is plenty to complete a dungeon without incurring even minor hunger (not to mention the boatloads of food you tend to find in dungeons)
3) Food expiration is irrelevant unless you were planning to wander to the other side of the map for some reason. In any case cheap bread lasts far longer than most of the expensive foods
4) That was because of the star dust overdose. In any case no amount of water flasks would have mattered because the PC would just vomit it back up in a few turns. I needed to buy medicine to lower intoxication before I could heal my character.
4a) There's very little incentive to drink alcohol. You can buy pain-numbing medicines without any of the drawbacks. I suspect it's intended as a morale restorer but spending a day or two sleeping at an inn and drinking (free) water and eating (cheap) bread will restore your morale for far cheaper than the half dozen bottles of wine you'd need to buy for a similar effect. Maybe buy alcohol if you really like the blurry screen effect or something. I almost always just sell it.

 

[Harthwain]

Those ingredients cost you ten inventory spaces.

See? A sharp improvement: 10 inventory spaces is 20% of your total inventory, as opposed to 50%.

1) A 2% morale boost (what barely ever dips below 100% unless you're in the middle of a fight getting your ass beat what is hardly the time to whip out a trout stew) or 1.5% over 50 turns bonus to energy recovery is hardly reason to buy the 80 gold foods over the 15 gold ones

Well, cooking is going to happen at some point. I do expect some changes then. If only to incentivize people to invest in the cooking skill. As a side result it's likely to boost the pre-made exquisite foods. Said exquisite food is supposed to work better the more fatigued you are. Besides that, people do buy stuff like garlic, lentil soup, smoked ham, pancakes or pretzels.

2) Unless you're spending days in a dungeon for some reason a single loaf of bread is plenty to complete a dungeon without incurring even minor hunger (not to mention the boatloads of food you tend to find in dungeons)
3) Food expiration is irrelevant unless you were planning to wander to the other side of the map for some reason. In any case cheap bread lasts far longer than most of the expensive foods

I am expecting long-distance treks to be a thing in the full game.

4) That was because of the star dust overdose. In any case no amount of water flasks would have mattered because the PC would just vomit it back up in a few turns. I needed to buy medicine to lower intoxication before I could heal my character.

4a) There's very little incentive to drink alcohol. You can buy pain-numbing medicines without any of the drawbacks. I suspect it's intended as a morale restorer but spending a day or two sleeping at an inn and drinking (free) water and eating (cheap) bread will restore your morale for far cheaper than the half dozen bottles of wine you'd need to buy for a similar effect. Maybe buy alcohol if you really like the blurry screen effect or something. I almost always just sell it.

This is a good example of "shit happens" though. I think you underestimate this particular aspect of the game. Alcohol fits right in there, too, as it is supposed to work as a field medicine for pain and morale*. Sure, you could just buy pain-numbing medicine and restore morale at an inn, but what when you don't have any pain-numbing medicine or can't spend a day or two sleeping at an inn, drinking free water and eating cheap bread? Also, you say it is a similar effect for far cheaper, but you don't calculate the value of your time that is spent in the process.

* Source: https://store.steampowered.com/news/posts/?appids=625960&enddate=1548206275

 

[The Wall]

New Teasers have been dropped, of the things to come in near future. Gory electrifying crit death animation has already been introduced via last patch. Several patches have been released during August, most bugs are fixed now and current version is stable. Whorehouse in Brynn is still missing, thou. Soon

Sexy PixelArt

 

[normie]

- Yep no way in hell am I spending a perk AND half my inventory (in a game like this where inventory space is so tight and essential to you making money) to be able to god-damn sleep in the wild or skip the 15g inn fee. The worst thing about this is its a "power vs convenience" choice. You could just as easily walk back to town but it's a three minute trudge through the same picked forest, the same picked berries and the same killed bandits and wildlife.

you make the calculation as necessary - you bring one along just pop it out in front of a dungeon, and if you spec it, you have Vigor status on demand out in the wild for sleeping like you'd get in inns AND 4 turns of vigor for every turn you rest by a campfire; if you've specced in things like Austerity and Adaptability, you have superpowered Vigor, it all comes together very nicely

- Progressing the main quest is a trap in this beta since it loses you Verron giving you free rides around.

the thing with Verron is is that he doesn't trade and he only hangs about with the cart where you last left him, he also doesn't take rides to the brewery, the Rotten Willow Tavern and Ralph & Son's Inn - Ol' Tott trades for decent prices and is always at every place at all times to cart you around + money isn't an issue

- Still haven't found a single secret room in 61 hours of play

I've found a bunch and only once was there something worthwhile inside, don't despair

 

[normie]

I understand I'm being completely Underrail-brained in suggesting this, but it could (?) be cool if there was an extra layer to investing in "skills" similar to Underrail's feats specialisation system, either by earning a new type of skill point to distribute for the sole purpose of beefing up skills you've taken, or by allowing to dip twice into skills with the existing skill point system, gaining extra and/or upgraded effects for specialising into a skill using a skill point or two

something like Evasiveness, for example, is yugely powerful and could use to be tuned down to be half as powerful as it is now, but it'd feel pretty good to invest something extra into it to turn it into the super skill it is

 

[newageofpower]

no character creation it's still vaporware

 

[Matador]

Picked this in the sale. Still playing the tutorial. The health/injury system seems very compelling

 

[BanEvader]

I'm here for the monthly check up.
Have they released character creation yet?

 

[BanEvader]

Okey dokey, see you in November.

 

[notpl]

Okey dokey, see you in November.

Probably smarter to do the check-ins on a yearly basis at this point.

 

[Takamori]

Given their schedule I'm kinda hopeful for a march 2023 update with the character creator?