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Well Met Traveler! If you're reading this then guess what? You've made it! Welcome to the elite group of people with access to the upcoming Expeditions: Viking Beta in December. The Beta will be running for the majority of the month starting around the 15th of December and ending in the new year. We've got loads of new stuff for all of you to test and we're eager to get your feedback.



"So where's my Beta info!?" You ask? Well for very secret reasons, they're not in this mail, but Beta Access codes for Steam and additional information and instructions will be sent to you in an email closer to the launch of the Beta. That's not all though! With the launch of Expeditions: Viking coming in Q1 of next year, we're going to be giving Newsletter subscribers unique pre-launch and launch bonuses as a big thanks from all of us over here, so stay tuned to the Newsletter friends!

Gather Your Party Before Venturing Forth

Raiding villages and hamlets is hard work if you're just one Viking. Loot and thralls are heavy, not to mention the trouble with trying to row a long boat on your own. That's why you get to bring friends!



Looting a village is good wholesome fun for the whole clan! But... And there's always a but, isn't there? A number of you keen eyed folks have noticed that when it comes to party management and combat, we've been showing a lot of the same characters. This has led some to believe that your motley hird (that's a joke, right there) wont be as... Motley, as it could.



Well, fear not! We haven't showed you other crew members yet, because YOU haven't made them yet! Look! We're bringing identical twins on our adventure! "Wait... What did they just say?" We imagine you saying. Well you heard us! Once you start recruiting mercenaries for your pillaging adventures, you get to create them yourselves!



The story characters will still be there for all the lovely chattiness and banter, but by allowing you to make your own crew members, we're hoping to allow you to create exactly the party that's right for your pillaging needs!



The tool should be good to go for the Beta, and we can't wait to hear what you think of it. Shiny Things to Look at!

Speaking of adding a bit of character, our Game Designer, Daniel chips in on the importance choice, and how it affects not just your character, but those around you too. We'd go on and on about it, but honestly, it's easier if you just let him do the talking, so click the video below! Dev Blog video! Clicky clicky! A special thanks to all of you that watched and commented on last month's Devs Play, we'll make another next month!

Dungeon Quest

So how do we go about planning all those choices? Well, we've included a dialogue tree for a never before shown area from the Britain Campaign: the dungeon of Eoforwic (modern day York). Essentially, all dialogue looks like this, with multiple choices that can lead to many different outcomes.



In this case it also doubles as a nice way to show off a small teaser from the new dungeon tiles. We'll be showing you more of that at a later time. We spend a lot of time making sure that blindly attacking isn't the only option for an encounter, and while you might not always be able to avoid a fight, we try to make sure that you can at least mitigate it-- if your character is clever enough.

Pyromancy... "Because if it can burn, it should be on fire" - Some clever bloke We've been working a lot on skills these past weeks. We showed you some of them last month, and we're currently busy sorting out the animations for them, from our mo-cap trip to Warsaw. We'll be talking a lot more about that in the December issue, where we dig into the new skills, their synergy and so on, but for now, a small teaser for at least one of the skills, and what it does. While setting people on fire may not be the easiest way to make friends, it sure can warm their heart! Speaking of fires, and player choice, we've also begun adding the places where players leave more of a visible fingerprint on the world.



As stated, we want your actions to matter. Now, you wont be destroying every building you come into contact with, but there will be several turning points in the game, where you decide what manner of Viking you are, and how that affects the world around you.

Wrapping Things Up That's it for this month, but we'll be back before you know it, with all things Expeditions: Viking. Now remember to keep your eyes open for the Beta key email which will be sent out en mass before the Beta begins.



Fair wind friend, and safe travels!



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