Test Games/2022-05-13

Test games are special games occasionally launched by admins to test updates, experimental features and maps.

As test games are run to test specific things, they may not progress in the normal way (for example, heroes may be spawned artificially or monsters may be given additional mana) so that we can more easily test new features. They may be buggy or unbalanced, and may need to be restarted multiple times. Quest, achievement and stats progress may or may not be saved as normal. In-game tutorials and other text may not be updated to reflect changes being tested.

Test games help us ensure new updates work properly and allow us to get player feedback on possible new features and maps. If test games are running, anyone is welcome to join through the main portal in the lobby. We might miss some comments in game chat, so it's helpful to post feedback in the Discord afterwards.

What are we testing?

Today's test games include all adjustments from the previous test games alongside the below changes.

Venomburner

• Shortened fire duration.

With increased fire damage dwarves should no longer be ignited for extended periods of time.

Wither Skeletons

• Fixed an issue which allowed wither skeletons to stack sniper buffs off of any player
• Now have a visual indicator of their sniper buff.

This change allows wither skeletons to know when their sniper buff is active, and also provides dwarves some information at a glance about how threatening the skeleton they are fighting may be. This keeps in line with the idea which led to the longer sniper ramp up, that dwarves should not be mysteriously three shot by withers.

Arrow Resistance

• New monster trait
• Monsters with this trait take reduced damage from bows.
• Damage reduction is based on the monster type.
• Immune to being one shot by arrow hits from dwarves with rampages.
• Takes 130% damage from arrow hits from dwarves with rampages. (The same increase as a melee hit with strength)

Presently this effect is only on slimes, however it may be extended to existing monsters or new monsters in future updates.

Slimes

• No longer arrow immune.
• Now arrow resistant; takes 10% damage from arrows.

Players have expressed that slimes fit into the game nicely, but one consistent complaint has been their ability to exert pressure by sitting up on perches without any chance of getting removed due to arrow immunity. This change allows slimes to still easily approach and sit on such perches without fear of being quickly dispatched, but allows dwarves to displace them at a range without fear of getting grappled.