It’s not been long since Shiro Games launched its most recent DLC for medieval fantasy RPG Wartales, but the indie studio has been hard at work since then on a wealth of additional improvements for the strategic mercenary sim based on community feedback. With more than a million sales of the base game and a Steam user score sitting at 90% positive, Shiro says it has “been extremely happy to read what you had to say about our latest DLC, The Skelmar Invasion, and Wartales in general.” Its latest update steps the core experience yet again, and a Steam sale means you can grab it cheap if you’re quick.
The fifth community update for Wartales is pretty beefy. The main focus is on improvements to the core mechanics of the turn-based RPG, meaning all players will benefit from the likes of improved NPC and enemy AI and a set of new battle maps, but there are also fixes for specific expansions, with The Skelmar Invasion in particular getting some key tweaks. The primary point of attention here is character AI, which Shiro says “has always been quite predictable and tends to always attack the closest enemy.”
Update five adapts both movement and decision making to help make allies and opponents alike feel smarter and more interesting. Friendly NPCs will now take into account all manner of factors such as available skills, nearby traps and hazards, and the size of their potential effects. They’ll also prioritize not getting hurt over dealing damage, which Shiro says “should be glaringly beneficial to animals in your party.”
When making decisions, characters will consider the likes of their target’s distance and current status, along with the skills they have (options such as backstab might affect their chosen approach, for example). Enemies will similarly take these things into account, but your chosen combat difficulty and their unit type will impact the results. On lower settings, they’ll benefit from the improved movement but not the decision-making bonuses; as you crank the challenge up, veteran foes, and eventually all opponents, will start to make smarter choices.
Morale has been adjusted. The momentum-based system, which Shiro explains was designed to speed up battles, was actually causing some larger fights to take longer to finish. The calculations used have now been changed such that these bigger battles should progress faster as intended, and you’ll be able to reach the thresholds for Galvanisation and Victory conditions more quickly.
The update introduces seven battle maps, all of which are designed for encounters that take place around roads. It also makes some tweaks to classes. The new Crossbowman from The Skelmar Invasion will now get its reload mechanic at level five to unlock the most interesting aspects of the class earlier on. The Gunner’s Multiple Shot skill has been made slightly weaker as it was overperforming, while the Machinist’s Scatter Shot gets an upgrade to make it more potent. “Surely the most evil among you will even deliberately shoot their own mercenaries to trigger the effect on unsuspecting enemies,” Shiro teases.
Wartales community update five is out now, and the game is available at a 50% discount on Steam through Thursday March 13, meaning you’ll pay just $17.49 / £14.99 if you buy it now. There are discounts on all the DLC too, so be sure to take a look and see what catches your eye.
For more party-based shenanigans, try the best games like Baldur’s Gate 3. Perhaps it’s the thrill of a more simple time that calls your name? If so, the best medieval games have got you covered.
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