The latest free update to Conan Exiles lets you explore the atmospheric but dangerous Midnight Grove dungeon. You can attempt to prove yourself worthy to learn the Jhebbal Sag religion or start taming your very own pets. On the other hand, maybe striking fear in your opponent’s heart with the new off-hand combos and specialist arrows is more to your taste?

This update has something for everyone!

Scroll down to the bottom of this post for the full list of fixes.

Please note:

Previous Xbox patches have been on the larger side and we know this isn’t ideal for a lot of players. This is due to Granite, a software we use to compress and improve textures. Whenever we do a Granite “bake”, the Xbox patch tool thinks we’ve done more changes to the game than we actually have. This causes the large patch sizes. For the future we are making a remaster of the Xbox build image (replacing the launch one), which will require that this patch is a one-time 55 GB download, after which each new patch should be smaller.

If we do nothing, then each new patch we make that touches textures in some way, will be 25+ GB every time.

HIGHLIGHTS

New Dungeon: The Midnight Grove

New Pet taming system

New offhand combat mechanics

New Specialist Arrows: Light Arrows, Tar Arrows, Poison Arrows, Ivory Arrows, Explosive Arrows, Healing Arrows

New thrall hunger mechanics

Fixed 2 critical crash bugs reported by the community

Fixed an exploit used to circumvent raid timers

Fixed several exploits used to duplicate items

Pet system and taming

You asked for it and we are happy to deliver:

From today on forward you will be able to tame and raise your very own pet(s). Explore the Exiled Lands with your trusty companion by your side or build a farm to have them produce materials for you.

You will want to start your career as a Beastmaster by building an animal pen for your new future friends. These shelters come in three different tiers and have 5 available pens to hold your animals.

Following this, you will need to obtain a baby or an egg. These can be found in the world, and on certain (rare) vendors so keep your eyes open while you travel! You’ll be able to place your baby pet version into the pen and have them grow into an adult and trusty companion over time.

However, don’t forget to feed and treat them well or you might just end up with a carcass!

While you have a baby animal in your pen, the type of food you offer it will influence your chances to have your baby grow into a greater pet version: A rarer, more powerful and special looking variation.

The new pet system will also introduce the mechanic of thrall feeding. Special Feed boxes and Thrall Pots are available for easier, automatic food distribution to several pets or thralls for those of you who are planning for bigger armies of two and four legged friends.

While keeping your pets happy and fed they will eat any type of food that they can digest. However, feeding them their favorite snacks will grant them temporary buffs.

Very conveniently, live animals will also produce dung, which is used to create compost for your planters.

Even in the sad and unfortunate event of your pet’s untimely death, you can still make use of them. Placing dead pets inside a Liquid Separator will grind them down into blood, bone and hide resources.

Jhebbal Sag Religion and the Midnight Grove

Do you have a beast inside? Then you will be excited that with this new update we also introduce the 6th and final religion of the primal god, Jhebbal Sag, Lord of Beasts. Unlocking his religion is quite different than the previous ones:

You will need to track down one of his followers out in the world, learn a crafting recipe and create a special potion to gain access to the Midnight Grove where the god himself will test your worth to be granted or denied the right to worship Jhebbal Sag.

If you prove yourself worthy, you will be able to learn his unique religion recipes, letting you craft his religious altars and tools, such as:

Lures : which will attract an animal of a special type within your vicinity. You can lure them into traps or force them to move to a different area

: which will attract an animal of a special type within your vicinity. You can lure them into traps or force them to move to a different area Hunters Potion : increases your accuracy

: increases your accuracy Night-Eye Potio n: gives you nightsight for a set amount of time

n: gives you nightsight for a set amount of time Sign of Jhebbal Sag: You place a sign on the floor and lure an animal over it. It will then get taken back to the God’s Domain. Depending on the type of animals you send him he will either deem it worthy or unworthy and send you back a type of champion to test your strength. The strongest of these champions will need to be harvested to craft the signature weapon that we think you’ll really love.

The new Jhebbal Sag religious path and the Midnight Grove Dungeon have direct ties into the Pet system. Once you can travel to the Midnight Grove you can use these trips to collect Shadebloom, which you use to create Shadespiced foods. These grant you a higher change of getting a rare, Greater, pet when you’re raising them in a pen.

Also, coming out alongside the Midnight Grove is a new dynamic respawn system, which will allow you to respawn at the beginning of the dungeon if you die.

Off-Hand Combos

There are some things that you associate with the Conan world, such as dual wielding certain weapon types. With our latest combat update, we are introducing two special off-hand weapons which will open up a lot of new options for you to face your enemies in battle.

Until now your main hand weapon was used for a very specific goal depending on which weapon you were using: Swords to cripple your enemy, Maces while going up against shields and if you want a mix of both you might have used an axe, for example.

As a new mechanic, equipping a shield or a throwing axe in your off-hand will now enable new combos. This will not affect your left click (light attack) but it will change the heavy attacks, leading to completely different heavy chain combos. The heavy chain will now include additional attacks depending on which off-hand weapon you have equipped.

These new off-hand hits also come with completely new properties: The throwing axe will cripple, and shields will add the shield smash property with each hit. If you combo a one-handed spear with a shield in your off-hand you will also get hyper armor during your attacks.

This means you can now add several debuffs or use different properties the same time. Use a Mace for sunder and shield bash then add the off-hand throwing axe to also add cripple. Or if you want to make a 100% sure your enemy gets crippled, why not increase the chances and use a sword and the throwing axe together for cripple mayhem?

Be warned though: these combos take a toll on your character and you might want to plan your builds and armor choices accordingly.

All of these combos come with really cool new combat animations and unique kickass finishers.

New Specialist Arrows

This update will also introduce the new specialist arrow feats which will unlock additional arrow types for all you archery fans:

Light Arrows (which will light up a small area temporarily on the point of impact)

Utility Arrows (healing arrows which do damage and deploy a healing over time cloud on impact), poison arrows which deploy a poison field upon impact), explosive arrows, tar arrows and corruption arrows. You can combine these arrows to create combos such as big explosions by shooting an explosive arrow into a poison field

Ancient Arrows

New Server settings

Private server admins should be aware of the following:

StarvationDamagePenaltyCap=n where n is the percentage of maximum damage that a thrall can take if going hungry for 7 ingame days

StarvationDamagePenaltyCap=0.0000 would mean taking max 0% damage over time

StarvationDamagePenaltyCap=1.0000 would mean taking max 100% damage over time and potentially killing the thralls

Patch Notes:

THRALLS/AI

Fixed a bug that would cause thrall health to reset to 100 HP

Thralls have now 50% increased health. That is to bring them in line with some of the greater pets and also make it more interesting to take a thrall out for exploration/hunting

Entertainer Thralls now provide buffs after having been on follow mode

The Crocodile boss near the N’batu’s Pack is no longer stuck and attacks the player

Fixed an issue where NPCs would stop aggroing after a player teleported several times.

Pets and Thralls that get stuck will now teleport back to the location they were deployed.

PURGE UPDATES

Optimized database cleaning to remove inactive clans

Better randomization for Purge spawn options

Distracted Purgers will no longer get sidetracked by random Points of Interest.

Set initial purge countdown to 15 minutes

NEW CONTENT

New Dungeon: The Midnight Grove

Added Werewolves

Added Nightvision Potion, allowing players to see more clearly when it’s dark

Added new offhand combat mechanics

Added new Specialist Arrows: Light Arrows, Tar Arrows, Poison Arrows, Ivory Arrows, Explosive Arrows, Healing Arrows

Thralls will now need to be fed in order to survive. Place food items into their inventory to feed them, or use the Thrall Pot to distribute food automatically. It will take a companion about 7 days to go from filled to starving

Added the option to visually remove text on signs made by people outside your guild. You will only see it if you click on it.

Added the option to visually remove text from all signs. You will only see it if you click on it.

Beehives now require Queen Bees to produce honey

ANIMATION UPDATES

Added new combat animations

– The Sword/Axe/Mace and Shield heavy chain will now incorporate shield bashes

– Throwing axes are now a part of your heavy chain combos when wielded with Swords, Axes and Maces

– The Sword/Axe/Mace and Shield heavy chain will now incorporate shield bashes – Throwing axes are now a part of your heavy chain combos when wielded with Swords, Axes and Maces Added new attack to the Spider Tarantula Boss

Added new attack to the Crocodile Boss

New knockback setup and animations for monsters

New Rocknose animations

Added new idle and threat animations

Updated surface swimming to work with a glowstick

GAMEPLAY CHANGES

We have added the ability to use bait to force a specific result in fish traps. For example, if you want Unappetizing Fish, you can force that outcome with insects. Grubs will catch Exotic Fish. No bait means you get a random fish, which is the way they work in the Live servers.

Preservation box’s inventory space is increased. Food will not decay in them if there’s ice in the box

Beehives behave differently: They still collect honey over time, but Worker Bees and Queen Bees will produce a lot more honey than an empty beehive

UI CHANGES

Moved Sunder debuff to the right side of the nameplate, where it belongs

Darkened the opacity on the background panel for container inventories

Added button to the server list where players can report downed servers

Added coordinate grid to the in game Map

In-game Map can now be zoomed out further

The menu can now be accessed during Character Creation

Implemented a confirmation prompt upon exiting game from Dedicated server

The map navigation is no longer inverted when inverting the Y axis on a controller

The “Cycle Filter” button no longer becomes unresponsive when cycling through all filters

Solved an issue with password protected servers not being displayed properly

Fixed an issue where resetting Video settings to default wouldn’t apply changes to Windowed mode and resolution

Fixed an issue where the in game map would be cut off in 4:3 and 16:10 aspect ratio

BALANCING

Vaults have now much lower hitpoints and will decay faster

Vaults max inventory size increased from 200 to 300

Glowing Standing Torch should now have the correct HP when placed down

Added more building and climbing blockers to areas where players aren’t supposed to build/climb:

– The City of Votaries of Skelos

– The Exiles’ camp between the Sandswept Ruins and Drifter’s Rest

– NPC village in Deckswab’s Retreat

– The City of Votaries of Skelos – The Exiles’ camp between the Sandswept Ruins and Drifter’s Rest – NPC village in Deckswab’s Retreat The Epic version of Conan’s Atlantean Sword is now more durable than its Mid Grade equivalent, as it should be

Fixed swapped ingredients for Ugly and Unapetizing Fish Tropies

Re-balanced armor bonuses to stats

Acheronian Longsword, Spear and War-Axe should no longer be more powerful than Star Metal equivalents

Fixed Corrupted Spiders so they’re not killed in one hit with Star Metal Greatsword

Avatar special attacks now damage buildings with the correct amount of damage. This is not a total fix for avatars as they are undergoing additional changes and updates as part of the siege system re-balancing. Set is still being difficult!

GENERAL BUG FIXES

Fixed some bugs related to NPC patrols around camps

Bossonian Bow can be repaired again

Status effects, journey steps and crosshairs should now be temporarily removed when cinematics trigger

Fixed an animation bug where animals would turn away from you after attacking

Fixed a bug where the player character would clip through solid structures when re-logging after sitting in a chair

It should now be possible attach fence foundations corner-to-corner at a right angle

Fixed a bug where Reinforced Wooden Awnings couldn’t be placed

All sloped wall pieces now detract the same amount of stability

Aquilonian Braziers, Hanging Braziers and Khitan Lamps should no longer be placeable underground

Fixed a bug where the sound of footsteps in water would play when walking on the edge of the Large Water Well

Fixed Iron Brazier in Deathwhisper Camp so it doesn’t float anymore

Fixed a bug where low tier items would lose all durability after having damage kits applied to them

Fixed a bug where the Noxious Gas debuff would wear off, even when standing in gas

Hatch Frames now snap to walls, door frames and frame pieces

Statues of Refreshment can now be placed near any of Mitra’s religious buildings

Giant Snakes and Alpha Snakes should now drop Reptile Hides when harvested

You should now be able to harvest Crimson Lotus Flower with Sickles

Jungle Birds now drop heads

Glowing Sticks should now be usable underwater

Fixed a bug where the expiration timer on Purified Flesh would display a negative value

Players should now be able to place walls next to stairs

Fixed an issue where the Witch Queen could be engaged behind the magical barrier

Fixed a bug where gamepad would lose functionality after controlling an avatar

Ostrich egg clutches under ground in the middle of the desert are are now above-ground

Fixed an issue where placeables would disappear if the base of the item was slightly below-ground

Fixed a bug where you could override the corruption limit by drinking Corruption Brew

Fixed a bug where bedroll map marker would disappear after respawn

Helped a Shaleback out from inside a tree by moving his spawn point

Fixed a bug where you wouldn’t do damage when jumping on another person’s head

Fixed a bug where the Palisades’ placement brush would give the “Spikes” debuff and cause lag issues

Fixed a bug where The Kinscourge would lose aggro if the player stands on a balustrade

Fixed a bug where dismantling a Wheel of Pain would cause it to drop an unlootable loot bag

Fixed a bug where Star Metal Pickaxe cost 0 points to unlock

You should now be able to change fuel type with a controller

Avatar Lifetime option is no longer missing in a single-player game

Fixed an issue where the clan member sub-menu wouldn’t appear on a 4K monitor

Carpets should now disappear when foundations are destroyed

Fixed an exploit where players could push themselves under the map using ceilings and climbing

Fixed a bug where the UI would disappear for the host of a co-op session when a client summons an avatar

Corrected HealthPool l for Hyenas and Shoebills

Fixed an issue with wolves not using all their available attacks

Fixed an issue where it wasn’t possible to refresh the server list

Fixed an issue where it wasn’t possible to queue crafting processes

Fixed a tooltip issue when a player character is unarmed

Fixed an issue with Sandstorms damaging players in the Swamp Area

"Show your religious Zeal’ Journey Step now unlocks at Jhebbal Sag altars

The player can no longer climb into the model of the Palace of the Witch Queen

Fixed an issue where after unlocking a new arrow type, the arrows wouldn’t be used up when used from the radial/quickbar

Brought item requirements for building the Altar of Ymir in line with the other Altars

Fixed additional issues where the player could get stuck in terrain

Njoror Battleborn should now spawn as intended

Fixed a crash related to the Volcano boss fight

Fixed an attack problem with werewolves

Fixed an attack problem with Gorilla boss

Fixed a collision problem that would deny access to certain areas in the north

Fixed a server crash related to thrall crafting queues (Please note: This might cause your thrall conversion timer to reset, but it will only be a one-time thing)

Fixed a bug where the Sunder debuff would remain permanently on a player

Fixed a bug where the Avatar of Jhebbal Sag would remain active for longer than set Avatar Lifetime

EXPLOIT FIXES

Fixed an issue where thrall inventories could be exploited to carry more items than intended

Fixed a bug where Archer Thralls would produce infinite amount of special arrows.

Fixed exploits used to circumvent damage restrictions

QoL UPDATES

Merchants now have names and are marked as “Merchant”, rather than “Fighter”

White placeholder icon for teleportation buff is now no longer visible

Various audio fixes

It should now be easier to place items on the Wall Hanging Shelf

Planters are no longer semi-indistructable when attacked with a trebuchet

Archpriests of Yog should now use the correct weapon rather than a Yog Cleaver

Removed the ability to apply Weapon Damage Kits to torches as it was causing bugs

Fixed missing collision on chests placed on the roof of The Well of Skelos

Items that are currently being used as ingredients in a crafting process will no longer be displayed as an available resource

Honey now stacks up to 100

Attempting to clan invite a player that is already in a clan will not trigger a popup with a warning

Fixed a bug where NPC’s hairline was not textured correctly (hairlines are important!)

Warpaints now also cover forearms

It is now possible to clear your Admin Password

Implemented SFX for highlighting Finalize Character in Character Creation

Fixed an additional bug that would cause a significant FPS drop when locking onto an enemy with more than one debuff

Food will decay very slowly when placed in pet Pens. The higher the tier of the pen, the slower it will decay.

Food will also decay very slowly when placed in food dispensers.

Added pet and thrall hunger system server settings to the admin panel

Pet feeding screen can now be opened from the radial menu

SOUND IMPROVEMENTS