Hey folks,

Follow us this week into the bowels of the Crypt in this macabre world of the Necromancer. We’ll also discuss the Crypt and the Bedrock Beta. Please, watch your step on the way down, it’s quite slippery and the Necromancer has been hoping for a few new corpses…

The Bedrock Beta

Now, this is probably something you guys have been fearing for a few days, and we didn’t want to say it was happening until we knew it was actually the case, but: the beta is being delayed again. We aren’t going to be putting another date or timeframe on it as we don’t want to let you guys down again, but we are going to keep you as up to date as possible with our progress, starting today.

Our goal has always been to design a transparent system from the ground up to ensure maximum modding potential, part of this is that ensuring all of the assets and data we use in the game are available to you in Dungeoneer. We believe this goal is a cornerstone to making sure our community has all the power they need to develop the best mods. Unfortunately this requires us to overcome some rather unique challenges.

We’ve pushed through a number of anticipated and unexpected roadblocks in these first few months of development, however the most recent (unexpected) problem to arise has consumed a rather large amount of our resources and, as a result, caused core features to be delayed that are required for the beta.

The short version of the problem is that we ran into a memory issue when assets are loaded into Dungeoneer (our custom toolkit) which requires us to rewrite parts of it from the ground up.

Since we’re pushing back the Beta due to this roadblock we anticipate a delayed release of the final game, however there is a silver (maybe even gold) lining to this…

Due to these delays certain areas of development are going to have some additional time on their hands, so we’re going to put together an additional mini campaign that will be free to all backers and pre-order customers. This mini campaign will be released in stages throughout the beta and will give you a taste of the story before the final release of the game.

The TL;DR:

Beta has been delayed due to a technical issue. No exact date yet, but we will be posting weekly progress in our updates.

Release of the final game has also been pushed back.

Extra Mini-campaign to be released free to all backers and pre-order customers during the beta.

Now for the fun stuff!

The Necromancer & The Crypt

The Necromancer Doan was the first of his kind to walk the Overworld, his search to prolong life eventually soured as he was drawn by the allure of dark magic to aid his research. His success left him a husk of his former being, neither alive nor dead he continued his sinful research for time untold.

Few of his books survived when the High Inquisitor Annaud incinerated his Archives (with the Necromancer chained to his bookshelves inside) but those that did hold the secrets of undeath he managed to unlock. When an unwitting mage reads the pages of his dark work they too are cursed with the same lust as Doan…

Within the surviving tomes lies the secret of the Soul Pyre, which allows a Necromancer to trap the souls of the bodies cast upon it. These souls can be used by the godless Necromancer to empower dead bodies with life once more, raising them as undead Ghouls shackled to his will. As the Necromancer’s army grows so too does his power, yet if vanquished the Ghouls will wander aimlessly unless a Necromancer of equal skill is able to chain them to his own command.

With the command of an undead army at his side, the Necromancer is a fierce opponent whose power is not to be taken lightly — a welcome ally to any Underlord who deals regularly with death. To draw them to your dungeon you will need a Crypt, and, naturally, a supply of fresh bodies.



Abilities



Army of Darkness (Passive): The Necromancer gains a defensive bonus for every nearby Ghoul & Revenant.

The Necromancer gains a defensive bonus for every nearby Ghoul & Revenant. Necromancy (Passive): Every time a nearby unit dies (including undead), the Necromancer heals himself and all nearby Ghouls for 10% of their maximum health, and returns Revenants to full health.

Every time a nearby unit dies (including undead), the Necromancer heals himself and all nearby Ghouls for 10% of their maximum health, and returns Revenants to full health. Raise Dead (Active): Raises a Ghoul from a Soul Pyre in the Crypt. Long cooldown.

Raises a Ghoul from a Soul Pyre in the Crypt. Long cooldown. Mark for Death (Active): The Necromancer marks an enemy unit for death, causing all of his Ghouls and Revenants to attack it.

The Necromancer marks an enemy unit for death, causing all of his Ghouls and Revenants to attack it. Revenant (Active): Revives a fallen unit (friend or foe) to temporarily fight for him. Revenants slowly lose health over time until they die once again.

Revives a fallen unit (friend or foe) to temporarily fight for him. Revenants slowly lose health over time until they die once again. Reanimate (Active): Revives a fallen Ghoul. Long cooldown.

Thank you for your understanding through all of this, we know you want to play your game (we do too!) and we hope you’ll bear with us while we work out these kinks. We really appreciate your continued patience and support, we’ll see you here next week (or every day on our forums).

Until next time Underlord,

– WFTO Team

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