Hey Folks,

we have been a bit busy. Sorry about that! Now we are coming back big time with a patch that is a culmination of all the changes we have made on the main game over the course of the last nine months.

COVID did not help matters for us but overall, we are happy with our progress thus far. Read more about how 2020 went for us in our blog post here: 2020 Year-End Summary.

Vagrus - The Riven Realms News

As you could tell from the list of changes, we have been busy improving the main game. We added several new regions, expanding it to about 70-100 hours of playable content (depending on playstyle).

We are immensely honored, happy, and proud to share that Vagrus has been nominated for two awards in the upcoming Unfold Games Awards show, and got into the finals of the Digital Dragons - Indie Celebration completion. It feels like quite an achievement for a game still in Early Access, especially since hundreds of high-quality games entered both of these contests. The nominees were selected by a panel of judges comprised of top industry professionals. Both competitions have their own form of audience awards, so you can support Vagrus if you like until those digital polls are open:

- Unfold Games Awards: Best Game Design Award

- Unfold Games Awards: Audience Award - Vote for Vagrus

- Digital Dragons Indie Celebration: Community Award - Vote for Vagrus

We cannot express how much these mean to the whole team, how their love for the game and dedication to turn it into something truly special got recognized in the form of these nominations.

We are also grateful to You, our players, for having made it possible for Vagrus to get here. Your continued support, constructive criticism, and dedication to the game keep pushing us to deliver more and better.

Now let's jump into the details of what's included in this new build:

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Patch 0.5.31 - Codename: Second Chances

Important Note: Considering the extent of these improvements, there is little to no chance that we broke nothing in the process. Assume that we did not want to make anyone's life harder. If you see something amiss, please flag it to us using the usual channels, like the inbuild reporting tool (F1 button), forums, and our Discord server.

General changes

• Open-world turn limit increased to 25 days (previously 5 days)
• Companion Prowess cap in the open-world section raised from 2 to 5
• Second level Skill upgrades enabled for companions (and can be boosted to third)
• Vagrus now can run in the background
• Options menu overhaul
• Graphics configuration options moved to 'Options' (no pop-up at the start)

New/Updated Features 

• Mercenary Tasks were added
• Beast-Type change option added to the mansions (between Mammal and Reptile types)
• Dozens of new enemies (humanoids/creatures) added
• Impervious enemies introduced (they can be damaged only by magical means)
• Higher Authority now reduces Companion loyalty penalties
• Dynamic pricing allows for higher profits in smaller quantities
• Having a high reputation with Factions gives you fabulous treasures and useful equipment as a reward
• Having good standing with them also opens up better deals at markets under the Faction Offers tab

Leadership Perks

• 'Enhance' Perk and functionality enabled (allows you to raise Test chances further in Events)
• 'Traverse' Perk and functionality enabled (allows you to convert MMP to MP every few days)
• 'Exploit' Perk and functionality enabled (allows you to reroll available Trade/Mercenary Tasks)

Companion Combat

• Diminishing returns on successful Evades and Blocks introduced
• New Combat Traits implemented: Arcane Leech, Blood Magic, Channeling, Durable Spells, Frenzy, Life Leech, Siphon, Spell Penetration, Resolute, Defender, Diehard, Acrobatic, and Marksman
• Push and Pull effects can now switch the combatants in the front and back rows
• Move + Action skills can now go through occupied spaces automatically switching with whoever is standing there
• AI improvements - enemies can now use complex skills and are less likely to skip their turn
• Animation and decal refinements
• New SFX added for a number of enemies

Crew Combat

• Actions & Advanced Actions with the 'Command' Leadership Perk were added
• Enter Companion Combat from Crew Combat action enabled, allowing you to fight a portion of the foe with your Companions during a Crew Combat encounter, weakening them seriously
• Retreat/Disengage/Flee options mid-fight are now possible - they take a full round to execute
• Looting added
• Gather/Harvest items, money, and goods from fallen enemy units
• Destroy the enemy or make it flee and get all their valuables
• Goals on the defender side added & option to change your goal between rounds
• Defense stat introduced
• The options to Mount/Dismount at start of combat added
• Decide on the fate of the foe if they surrender or you capture them as they flee or retreat
• Enemy banners added in Crew Combat for flavor and categorization

User Interface Improvements 

• Event UI revamp including: buy-sell icons, hover effect, clickable choice box, dependency icon improvements, and tooltip improvements
• Camp UI 'X' button added (the most requested feature ever) - goes inactive if any camp action is started, like banter, etc.
• Price History is a new tool for all vagri to track goods' prices across settlements
• Equipment design changes - new slots, some unlocked by Deputy assignments
• FactionsBanner selection for your comitatus with unlockable options via 
• Revamped mini-comitatus UI (campaign view top left) with more information
• Revamped Node & Marker cards on the Chart
• Objective area markers for certain events where you need to scout a larger area (like bounties), so you know, at least roughly, the location
• Added the use of preview markers: this allows you to check the destinations of Tasks before picking them up in settlements
• Goods category filters on the Market
• Specify quantity button on the Market - mainly for Steam Remote Play users playing on iPads

Bug Fixes 

• The bugged 'Second chance' achievement supposedly fixed
• A metric ton of other smaller and bigger fixes from the last nine months

Known Issues

• The initial load time is much longer than we would like it to be
• The companion combat AI has not been fully optimized yet, so enemy turns take longer currently

'Is Vagrus properly balanced now?'- Nope.

'Was it a step in the right direction?'- We think so. Please let us know how you find it.

Well, that's it for now. Quite a lot of things to, and more is coming soon to the main game!

Stay tuned, stay alive, conquer the wasteland!

- The Lost Pilgrims Team

Our crowdfunding campaign is LIVE. Take part in our Early Access journey!

Wanna get the game as early as possible with even more content? Please share our pages and posts with your friends through your favorite social media channel(s). Appreciate it! 

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