The Riven Realms, the setting of Vagrus, is a harsh, violent place. Up until now many players have felt that their ventures are the primary targets of this cruelty but with Mercenary Tasks, you will have the opportunity to return the favor. This facet of gameplay has been in the works since we began developing Vagrus, and it not only adds a ton of variation and replayability, but also goes a long way in softening up story content. Along with the branching story and trading, we consider mercenary work as one of the three pillars that hold up the game. Of course, we leave it to players which facet they want to concentrate on at times in each playthrough. Mercenary Tasks even allow for a completely combat-oriented gameplay, concentrating on forging a warband from your comitatus.

'They came at night - in the darkness that enveloped the valley, thick as ink. But then pale ghost light appeared and danced all over the carvings of the old tombs. The stink of terror was awful. And then I heard the screaming. Not that of the horrifying specters... but that of my comrades.'

Hey everyone, a quick recap of the patch/fix that went live during the weekend can be found here. Hopefully, the more egregious errors have been squashed, now onto the smaller ones as well as the upcoming content development before the year closes out. :)

New/Updated Features:  

• Exploit leadership perk enabled. Use RF to reroll available Trade Tasks  
• Objective area markers for certain events where you need to scout a larger area [like bounties] so you know, at least roughly, the location  
• Goods category filters on the Market  
• Specify quantity button on the Market - mainly for Steam Remote Play users playing on iPads  
• Goods pilfered by the enemy can be taken back if you destroy them in Crew Combat  - Entering major settlements with a larger armed force now requires a license  
• Vagrus now runs in the background

Bug Fixes:

'We may have lost the Krawags but by then the sun was high up in the desert sky and scorched the survivors relentlessly. My comrades fell one by one and we were so weak and thirsty that we just left them behind to die on the scalding sands. Only a handful of us reached those accursed ruins. One of the men recalled having seen the stone walls and broken arches on our march towards Dragmolac. We dragged ourselves atop another dune and there they were below us, like a jumble of rotten teeth sticking out of sick gums. But we still rejoiced upon seeing them because they had cover and shade; and that shade proved to be our undoing.

As seen in this short video, the option to flee from crew combat encounters has been added to Vagrus' latest build. No need to die against a horde of Jhakrae or a throng of Undead (or to load your game...). Run away and live to fight another day!

Specters are a relatively common phenomenon in Vagrus's dark, cruel setting but that does not take away from how dreaded they are. Angry, insane souls stuck between life and the afterlife, these sad creatures roam the forsaken places of the world - often locations where they were slain, haunting the abandoned reaches of the Empire. The initial challenge in encounters with Specters is finding ways to harm them: by nature, these entities are between worlds and thus can not be damaged by normal means. Once you find the means, they are less of a danger but must still be taken seriously.

Ah, yes, the Ghouls. Are they Undead? Not quite. But they are equally disgusting and very, very dangerous. This one is about to leap at a tasty target.

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Our crowdfunding campaign is LIVE at Fig.co. Get instant access to the Alpha build now!

'The Emperor brought the Twelve back when the Elder Gods abandoned us and with that divine act had sown the blessed seeds for the Empire's resuscitation. Is it not then most holy to imitate his act by raising the dead to aid and serve us in our struggles and endeavors?'

What did we learn when we started implementing the Specter and Shade enemies? Well, apart from them looking ghoulishly amazing, we realized that we need a new mechanic to best describe and present the idea behind them, that being physical damage defense and also methods to crack it.

So we added two new Combat Traits for these, Impervious and Unstoppable.

Ghouls are mysterious creatures whose origins you may be able to find out by playing Vagrus. They hunt at night, preying on beast and human alike, traveling great distances in packs. Their sickly, frail humanoid form hides terrifying strength and astonishing speed, which the Ghouls utilize to corner and eviscerate their victims. It is a common misconception to consider these creatures Undead because of their looks and name, they are far from it, falling into the category of mutants rather.