Barony Dev Update - Automaton Mechanist Preview

It’s time for another Legends and Pariahs DLC preview - the Automaton Mechanist!

Mechanists come equipped to take advantage of the new Tinkering skill to craft traps, tools and allies! Weak in close combat, the Mechanist prepares for the situation ahead and lets the tools get to work and clear the path for them!

The Automaton Race:

Just as Automatons in the world have shown goodwill to the Humans, Automatons are the only non-human race allied with Humans and Shopkeepers! You will able to freely trade and recruit humans without the need for underhanded tactics playing as this race.

Cursed items also will be freely unequippable, though still provide negative effects and reduced effectiveness - Turns out you can't curse these machines. On that note, Incubi and Succubi are neutral creatures and share no interest in the cold heartless body of the Automaton.

To augment the Tinkering skill, these machines also get an innate +20 Tinkering Skill bonus when repairing items using Tinkering, meaning any item can be repaired at 80 Tinkering.

Automatons also start with a new Salvage spell to gather materials and sustain themselves:

Salvage Spell:

Transmutes all nearby items on the ground into Metal and Magic scrap without the need for a Tinkering Kit.

Automatons are also immune to the harmful effects of burning - heat is in fact the best way to keep a well-oiled Automaton running! See how with the new boiler hunger mechanic:

Automaton Boilers:

Automaton have a shared mana and hunger system through their boiler

Mana is represented as “heat” (HT). Casting spells consumes HT.

All food for the Automaton is consumed and added to the boiler’s burning time. Gemstones, scrolls and readable books are consumable and are the primary sources of boiler fuel Magical gems and scrolls generate an instant HT increase as well as fuelling your boiler. Consuming organic food has no effect. Automatons can consume scrap in a pinch to keep their boilers running, though can not reach maximum boiler capacity using scrap alone.

When the boiler is burning, the Automaton internal temperature raises (HT)

The boiler can reach a superheated state (blue) by continuing to add fuel. Superheated boilers rapidly increase HT but burn faster.

If the boiler is empty, HT is gradually lost over time. HT loss is percentage based and will deplete fully in the same time, no matter your HT capacity.

At 0 HT, the Automatons gears start seizing and start taking damage over time.

The Automaton starts to slow down with <25% HT.

Environmental notes:

Swimming in lava rapidly raises your HT, but will deal damage to your exterior. Burning effects while out of lava will not damage you.

Swimming in water rapidly cools your boiler and HT. Drinking a bottle of water cools your boiler, but the steam generates an instant HT increase.

A Flair for the Dramatic

Also when you die as an Automaton you explode in cinematic fashion!

The Mechanist Class:

Starting Equipment:

The Mechanist class comes equipped with everything needed to get started in the new Tinkering skill! This includes a Tinkering Kit, some scrap, and a few select Tinkering creations to help the beginning of your expedition.

If you need a refresher on all the new Tinkering skill features and items, check out the previous blog post here!

New Item - Leather Apron:

+1 AC, +2 PER, immunity to the Burning status effect.

Other starting items:

Tinkering Kit

4x Lockpicks

2x Bear traps

Crossbow

16x Metal Scrap

8x Magic Scrap

1x Dummybot

1x Sentrybot

Scroll of fire (Automaton) / Basic food (Human)

Mechanists start with 40 Tinkering Skill and 10 proficiency in Trading, Alchemy and Ranged.

Perception and Dexterity are two favored stats on levelling up, while Strength and Consitution are unlikely to increase.

Wrapping Up

Let us know what you think! Feel free to share your thoughts in the Steam discussion thread or join our discord!

What’s Next?

My next upcoming DLC blog update: I'll share some details about the Insectoid Hunter, and what we’ve done to overhaul ranged combat!

Until next time!

-wallofjustice