Book 1 Revisited: Oaklore to Hydra! on Artix Entertainment

Hey there, heroes!

This week, we've begun the Book 1 Revisited project! We've updated and cleaned up quests and towns and more from the start of the game up through the bridge Hydra!

We've gone all the way back to the start of Book 1 to do some clean up of Oaklore Keep! Perhaps the biggest change is that the major Oaklore Keep quest chains are better connected and more clearly accessible/directed!

What else have we cleaned up? Glad you asked!

We've fixed all the typos we could find! (And there were quite a few!)
Buttons, icons, and fonts have been updated.
Almost all parts of Oaklore (and quests!) have background music now.
Before being able to head to Falconreach, you'll now be required to help Sir Valence (Sneevil quests) and Sir Vey (Mollo Fruit).
Sir Valence and Sir Vey's quest chains have been cleaned up, and now tie into the main story's search for the Black Dragon Box. These changes will better set a minimum level for leaving Oaklore, since...
The Hydra boss has been updated with a proper attack rotation and may require some strategy to defeat! Thankfully (?) Sir Pent will provide some helpful Hydra Slaying Tips during the fight!
Rolith's UI has been updated, and he'll be a little more helpful now, directing you to who you need to talk to for each step of the Oaklore Keep story.
The Priestess' Message can now be replayed! Defeated Drakath and his bandits will earn you a new low level Stone weapon as well.
A couple of Sir Vey's quests have had some drops adjusted to better provide you with Sparkling Sand, and the Note from Sepulchure is now a guaranteed drop.
Sir Vey's shop items now only cost 1 Sparkling Sand per item.
The Darkwolf Bandit Ambush and Zorbak's Prank quests can now be replayed.
The Darkwolf Bandits are now a little more familiar with you... Drakath really wasn't pleased with you!
Some optional paths off of the path to Falconreach will now be blocked off until you defeat the Hydra.
Sir Baumbard has had some dialogue adjusted.
Some random/optional quests have been removed from Book 1 Oaklore to prevent bloat/distractions.
Guardian Smith in Bk1 Falconreach will now have a big ! over his head if you ahve the Forgotten Spear or Long Forgotten Spear in your invnetory.

There have been other small dialogue adjustments and fixes as well to provide a better flow for the story!

We learned a lot from this week. Including that ALL of Oaklore up through the Hydra might have been a bit more than we could healthily chew, especially once we start working through EVERYTHING that Falconreach has to offer. For example, this week, we wanted to work on reworking the Guest options from the Book of Lore (due to them being both spoilers AND overpowered for Book 1). We have plans for it, but we just didn't have time to implement them this week. We'll have to be careful going forward not to take on more than we can.

We hope you enjoy the updates, and if we missed anything, or if you have any feedback, please let us know!

Now for your regularly scheduled Dragon Coin cosmetic special!

The Valor's Claim cosmetic scythe is now available for 400 Dragon Coins! Color custom to Base and Dragon Eye colors, Valor's Claim will be a beautiful addition to any collection.

There have also been a number of bugfixes and balance changes and engine updates too!

Bk1 Warlic now has proper tracking, so he won't go on vacation early.
Twilly now leaves after the Gorillaphant battle. He does leave in the story, after all!
The Rolith guest has had his damage reduced significantly:
- Attack: 2x70% -> 2x50%
- Heavy Attack: 4x50% -> 4x30%
- Crushing Attack: 8x40% -> 8x20%
- Slam: 2x70% -> 2x25%
Character creation now displays fonts properly.
Female Rogue in character creation now has the correct back leg.
There is now a Volume toggle on the Login/Character Select/Character Creation screens (shares volume and preferences with the settings in Options)
Volume now changes by 5s rather than by 10s.
Base classes have been updated slightly.
Warrior, Mage, and Rogue defensive skills are now 150 Defenses, up from 140.
Mage's Meditate now does 1 hit of 100% damage, and provides +200 Crit for the next turn.
Rogue's Surprise Attack now has a 1-turn 50% weapon element DoT.
Rogue's Poison now has a 5-turn 25% DoT, up from 20% + stat damage.
Rogue and Mage stuns now do 50% damage when used.
Anything else I may have forgotten! (And I probably did, there was a lot this week!)