0.12.2 — The Haven Depths and Arrival by Ship

The Haven Depths

Madfallsti's cellars now run four floors down: the Old Barrows, a cavern lake under stone gargoyles, and the Ember Deep, where a crimson dragon keeps its lair. A ruined chapel to the west, a cave above the south cove and a rope down a shaft on the south lobe lead in as well, and gates in the deeper halls carry you out to Losts, Ghodog and Ekh. Some walls hide a door: stand beside one for a moment, or reveal hidden things, and it is found for everyone nearby.

Arrive by ship

Every new character now arrives by ship: your first step is the end of Madfallsti's pier on Bridhill island, looking up at the town. There is no hometown to pick any more; Madfallsti is every new character's hometown, and its harbourmaster waits at the foot of the pier to tell you where to begin. The island's north-east headland and the south cove have new cliffs and paths.

A mighty blow can take a head, an arm or a leg

A killing blow that hits hard enough can now take the head, an arm or a leg: a heavy cut from a sword, an axe or a pole arm, or a blow or bite from a great beast. Monsters and townsfolk lose a part on most killing blows from a blade; players seldom do. Nobody can resurrect a character who was dismembered, in the Deep included; the death screen says so. On the Haven's island it never happens to a player. Options → Combat and aiming → Gore sets what you see: Full (the default), Blood, or Off.

Richer spoils

• Kills pay more, most of all the ones a new adventurer meets: fuller purses on goblins, kobolds, orcs, trolls, ogres, other folk and the risen dead; pocketless monsters sometimes keep the coin of someone they killed.
• Thirty-six new gemstones, from obsidian and turquoise to black opal, star sapphire and star ruby, and the crafting gems now drop from kills too.
• People carry supplies: balms and draughts, ale and rations, scrolls, crafting materials, stolen goods, now and then a gathering tool or a bandit leader's Horse Figurine.
• A balm now heals 23 health at once and again every 2 seconds, up to 10 times.

Combat

• Combat assist (Options → Combat and aiming): Off, Standard or Full. Standard turns a melee swing onto the enemy in reach, sends harmful powers to the enemy you chose and lets Target step through enemies; Full adds a guard against non-player foes and aim help for bows, throws and spells against them. Also new: mouse look speed and a controller turn speed-up.
• A harmful power cast at your target now needs a clear line to them: a wall, a building or a hill in between refuses the cast before it costs anything. Heals still reach a friend round a corner.

City Builder and phones

• On a phone the City Builder plays like a city-building game: drag a building's outline and place it with ✓, draw walls with a finger, move buildings and choose each one's look from its picture. A phone's build mode in the realm works the same way.
• Phone controls: swipe the move stick to dodge or keep running, vibration on hits, tilt aiming, a follow camera, a left-handed layout and Arrange the controls.

Fixes

• On some Windows computers looting, banking and people coming into view could freeze the game for a second or two; the log is now written in the background.
• The launcher never freezes while saving settings, signing in or starting the game.