Expansion Devlog - Mountaineering

With the day of At the Heart of Ruin ’s release drawing closer and closer, we at Lost Pilgrims decided to focus on a series of devlogs for those of you interested in the gameplay mechanics, artwork, and setting of the expansion. This week, we’ll talk about mountaineering and show off the first Dwarf character and a new Companion appearance!

Traversing the Volcanic Wastelands

The expansion will bring a number of mechanical changes that come into play in the new regions, so we’ll introduce some of these concepts here. To support these systems, we’ll add new Equipment, and new Equipment slots for them to fit into as well.

While the town of Scrapheap lies at the foot of the mountain, we can safely assume that daring vagri will not stop there. Instead, they will try their chances up in the mountains where riches and peril alike await on a scale rarely seen before. What’s unique about the lost kingdom of Dvendarr Tharr writ large is the terrain and climate, an impossibly perilous offering of jagged rocks, lava rivers, earthquakes, ash storms, and sulfuric gas clouds. Such terrain is not fit for any beast – they either struggle to move on such terrain at all or perish too easily due to its dangers. That’s why we’re making the entirety of the mountainous area west of Scrapheap traversable only on foot, at least initially, which will prominently shift DLC gameplay.

Distances and Focus

Partly due to the rougher than usual terrain, elevation, the weather, and the walking, travelling between places will be slower but at the same time, things are actually closer inside the confines of Dvendar Tharr. It is a dense region, much denser than what players might be used to in the base campaign. Thus, we're preparing a more detailed campaign map to represent this region.

Party Size

Comitatus size will also be limited while mountaineering due to how difficult it is to maintain a larger group while climbing and traversing such rough terrain. This puts more emphasis on cargo capacity upgrades and bonuses on Workers and Slaves, urging you to specialize and rethink your build when ascending the Mountains of Fire.

Equipped for the Job

Along with this setup, we’ll be introducing new Equipment and slots to place them in. The first category is Mountaineering Equipment, which facilitates movement across the mountainous regions. The slots will only appear for owners of At the Heart of Ruin, as these pieces of Equipment will only be used in the high altitudes and impossibly craggy terrain of the DLC.

You’ll also have another separate slot for Protective Gear, which is needed to weather the many environmental hazards that constantly beset travelers. The good news is that this’ll be available to every player: you can use Calerus Protection Gear in this slot, so it’s not only for new equipment related to the DLC.

For both categories, various pieces of Equipment will be available through questing, Faction reputation, markets, or by simply stumbling upon them in random encounters.

Difficulty and Challenge

In terms of difficulty, starting the DLC will have the same requirement as Sunfire and Moonshadow did, which generally means a mid-tier comitatus. That does not necessarily mean that such a comitatus will be able to tackle all of At the Heart of Ruin. Your level of preparedness will be of utmost importance; testing oneself against the mountains can be a grueling affair that cannot be bypassed by sheer numbers of crew, as stated above. Powerful Companions, good