In this series of “Revisited” articles, we’re taking a look at iconic or interesting locations in the playable part of the Riven Realms and invoke their unique atmosphere. Music plays a key role in building the game’s ambiance, and so we’ve decided to prepare short videos to get the vibe across.

In this article, we’re taking a closer look at the fixes and improvements introduced since the most recent major update, bringing together the key changes in one place. With the release of the Expedition storyline’s final chapter, we reached a major milestone for Vagrus, but our work on the game continues. Since its release, we’ve been steadily addressing community-reported issues, improving performance and stability, and polishing the experience through patches and hotfixes across all platforms. As of late, the focus was on campaign map movement and trade economics. You can jump to the list of changes at the end of the article.

Since our last article on the design and lore considerations behind some of our companion cosmetics tied to Supporter Packs, some of you have expressed an interest in reading more about such insights. Thus, we return, this time to discuss another companion’s alternative attire. And that companion is none other than Vorax, everyone’s favorite, annoying Undead cook.

Hey everyone,

Today’s update brings some tweaks to the recently released Expedition questline’s final chapter as well as further performance improvements and fixes. Before delving into that, however, we wanted to reflect upon the big update and its reception.

The response to the final major content update has been truly overwhelming. We've received a great many kind messages over the past few days, and one thing we've seen again and again is that many of you had been waiting to experience the Expedition storyline in its entirety before diving in. Knowing that the completed journey is now in your hands means a great deal to us.

After a road that was almost as long and arduous as that of Kharandar and his merry band of explorers, we have finally reached our destination: the closing chapter of the Expedition storyline is now available to all owners of At the Heart of Ruin! The free content is accompanied by a slew of performance improvements and tweaks, which we believe, improve the games significantly.

After discussing the Supporter Pack cosmetics of the dark knight Sedarias in a previous article, we thought balance would be best served by taking a similar look at Javek, the sorcerer with telepathic powers. Naturally, these two Companions (who you can get via the “Old Acquaintances” DLC), as well as Vorax (who everyone gets for free), have their own unique appearances when you also get one of the Supporter Packs.

This week’s update brings the chunky penultimate chapter in the Expedition storyline – a series of free updates that expand At the Heart of Ruin. The action and the drama really ramps up in this one, and the intrepid vagri accompanying Kharandar’s folks in their journey into the forsaken core of the fallen Dwarven kingdom will have to make some really tough decisions. Although one last part is still missing to conclude the storyline, the expedition is now closer to its destination than ever before, tensions are mounting, while the terror and discoveries of the forgotten western coast will shake even the most stalwart of explorers.

The Riven Realms have a grim reputation for the many wastelands, deserts, and cursed locations inside their confines. However, even in such inhospitable environments, life has found a way to cling on. In some cases, new life has thrived, demonstrating an almost uncanny resilience and adaptability. This, however, is not a unique trait of the Riven Realms. Quite the contrary.

In the video game industry of the last decade or so, it has become increasingly common and appealing to talk about involving players in developer decision making, though what this means exactly can vary greatly between projects. In this article, we’ll discuss some elements related to eliciting, handling, and incorporating player feedback in Vagrus, so if you are interested in how you all had an effect on this game, dive right in!

If you have been following our updates, you might have noticed the mention of Exploration Encounters receiving vignettes. What are they? In this context, vignettes are small pieces of lineart (in an ink-on-paper style) that accompany bits of text to invoke a certain atmosphere. Vignette sets are assigned to Exploration Encounters based on their location, environment, and foes. For instance, the districts of Dum Garok have their own sets of these illustrations to invoke the place’s unique character. A whole other set of them appear in Exploration Encounters in the Ember Mines.