Hey Warlocks,

We’re back with some news about the upcoming Chapter 2 Rework, and boy, things are getting intense! Development is in full swing, and as we’re polishing the final details of Urd’s campaign, we’ve also been making major progress on Chapter 3, which is now almost fully fleshed out. We’re stoked about Kirsten’s adventure, and can’t wait to share more news after the Reworked Chapter 2 goes live.

Today we’re ready to pull back the curtain a bit more and share more about how Urd’s chapter is evolving. Let’s start with the basics - the new HUD!


This is one of the most noticeable changes we’ve made to Project Warlock II - switching from the old, classic HUD structure to a completely new one. Our main goal in this process has been simplicity. We want the HUD to be easy to read with as many details and as few elements as possible. The new structure balances the visual appeal and user experience and provides the necessary information through a modern-looking interface. Since the beginning of Project Warlock, we had different Warlock faces and expressions shown on HUD - we want to keep that in the new layout, the portrait is now bigger than before and isn’t constrained by the HUD frame anymore.

Each character is going to have a unique HUD. Reworked Chapter 2 will be released with the new HUD for Urd, and Palmer’s getting his own soon after that.


Chapter 2 is getting some important improvements when it comes to level design. We’re adjusting all the levels and arenas to make sure that the action is correctly paced. One major example would be that previously monsters in arenas would spawn right after one enemy died. This wasn’t working as we’d like as it significantly slowed down the action. All spawners, including the ones in arenas are on a timer so all monsters are going to appear at a certain rate, and will not wait until you get rid of a wandering straggler before reinforcements join the fray.


Since we’re implementing all systems from Chapter 1 to Chapters 2 and 3, Urd is going to have her own, unique Perks in the Stat & Perk Shop. Just like Palmer’s, four of her available perks are connected with the elements she wields - Poison and Crystal, each enhanced by 2 perks.

Urd’s unique perks are:

• Poison Cloud
  Grants a 10% chance to trigger a poison cloud when killing a monster.
  
• Poison Aura
  Grants a 10% chance to apply poison effect to monsters.
  
• Crystal Blast
  Grants a 10% chance for crystal explosion on killing an enemy.
  
• Crystal Aura
  Grants a 10% chance for an additional crystal projectile when firing any weapon.

Urd’s also getting a complete abilities overhaul, compared to the previous version of Chapter 2. While Palmer’s abilities are mostly utility ones, Urd is going all out with offensive spells. As we mentioned last time, the Spellbook is here to stay, although in a slightly different form. We’re saying goodbye to the Fire and Ice pages of the book since they are no longer elements Urd is associated with. Instead, the Poison and Crystal pages of the book will have separate cooldowns and are cranked up to 11.

• Temporary Speed
  This spell allows Urd to move much faster for a short time. You can upgrade the spell to extend its duration or make you invincible when using melee weapons.
  
  
• Poison Spell
  The Poison Spell deals corrosive damage over time, has no ammo limit, and can be upgraded to conjure a poison cloud which deals damage over time in an area, or poison enemies around Urd when opening the book.
  
  
• Crystal Spell
  The Crystal Spell deals crystal damage (duh…), has no ammo limit and can be upgraded to explode in an area, dealing heavy damage, or stun and penetrate enemies.

Urd’s arsenal is going through a significant overhaul. She’s keeping some of her previous weapons, but also reaching for new ones to amp up the rampage. We’ve prepared a sneak peek of two weapons coming in the Reworked Chapter 2 - Dynamite and Dual SMGs.

Dynamite

We’re working on the throw trajectory simulation. The aim (pun intended) is to make sure you know where the explosive is going to land in advance. This is a work-in-progress GIF of what we have in mind:

As you see, the dynamite trajectory is now a parabola instead of a straight line, and it detects walls. Yes, we hear you, the lighter is still not flipped correctly. Working on it.

Dual SMGs

What is it? Akimbo? Nope, that’s Palmer’s thing, but one of the upgrades for Urd’s SMG is two rapid-shooting guns. You know what they say - what’s better than one gun… TWO GUNS OF COURSE.


As we’re adding finishing touches to the Reworked Chapter 2, we’d love for you to try it out before it goes live, and share your thoughts regarding all the changes. We’re planning to have a Playtest session on our Discord server[discord.com] in the coming weeks. If you’d be interested in being amongst the first Warlocks to step foot in the Reworked Brutalist West, make sure to join our Discord[discord.com], check out the Playtest Club channel, and stay on the lookout for more news!

Until next time!