Factions summon armies, settlements can be attacked and turned destitute, and bandit hordes wander the map. Gear up for a more engaging and challenging world. This is a massive change! Expect continuing balance changes and fixes in the coming months. Save files from v0.5.3 are NOT compatible.

Faction Warfare

Factions will now spawn armies reflective of their wealth and strategic interests. These armies attack settlements to expand their territory and will patrol and defend their holdings, creating a living world of conflict and conquest.
Join battles to defend cherished locations or tip the balance in factional conflicts. Strategic window lets you know the time remaining until a battle is completed.
Your participation will be rewarded with not just loot and experience but also a tangible impact on the game's evolving geopolitical landscape.
Enable the faction overlay while in the world map to see faction influence.
How it works:

• Factions spawn armies based on their wealth. Wealth is gained over time based on the number of tiles controlled by that faction.
• Unless completely defeated, wounded armies will slowly regenerate their troops over time.
• Multiple armies can join the same battle, assuming they are allied with one of the sides.
• To join a battle, one of the sides must be your enemy and one must be your ally (no joining Bandits vs. Gremlins).
• If a town is under attack, fire will be visible on the world map, even if it's on an unexplored tile or outside your view radius.
• The armies of enemy factions will chase the player, but tend to move slower than normal movement.

For more details, including information about how factions gain and spend wealth, see the recent dev blog.

Human Factions

Previously, there was a single generic "human" faction. This has been removed and split into 3 named factions: Verdant Guard Forest dwellers, who reside near where the player starts.
Stonewardens Empire loyalists, typically found in mountainous regions.
Aridax Fiercely independent desert dwellers.
Each human faction starts with its own territory and influence, which will shrink or grow based on the influence of other factions.

Bandit Factions

Three new wandering bandit factions have also been added. Eagle Clan Small groups with strong units, the Eagle Clan prefers the mountains and forests.
Cragwolf Outlaws A powerful, bloodthirsty bandit group, with a unique dual axes drop.
Barren Outcasts Ill-equipped but with larger numbers.
Wandering bandits do not control territory but will attack and wreak havoc on all non-bandit factions (including the player).

Desert Towns

To match the desert theme, Aridax towns have newly added building and pathway art.

Prosperity

Upon entering settlements (villages, cities, and towns), you'll notice a new feature: prosperity. Visible on the location window, prosperity is represented with an indicator showing its current level and the trend of where it's heading.
Prosperity is a direct reflection of the economic health of a settlement, influencing the availability of shops, presence of adventurers and quests, frequency of traveling merchants, and the number of guards available. The below screenshot is of a closed shop. As a town loses prosperity, shop owners will pack up and leave.
How it works:

• Settlements start with a hidden base prosperity amount. This amount is increased or decreased over time based on the number of nearby tiles controlled by the faction.
• Completing quests for a settlement causes prosperity to go up.
• Defeating nearby enemy dungeons makes space for factions influence to spread, causing prosperity to increase.
• If a settlement is attacked by a faction army, all local town guards and adventurers will team up to fight the invaders. If the battle ends in defeat, the town's prosperity is reduced to 0 (Destitute).
• If a settlement is under attack, it can be seen with a burning fire, even if the settlement is in fog-of-war or unexplored tiles.
• If a settlement loses shops, guards, or other NPCs due to low prosperity, they will return once prosperity has improved.
• Inns will never vacate a town, regardless of prosperity. This means you cannot lose your belongings if they're stored in an inn.

Prosperity Ranks

• Destitute(0-10)The settlement is nearly abandoned. It exerts no influence on the world map.
• Impoverished(11-30)Limited resources and low morale.
• Stable(31-60)The average, everyday life of a settlement with basic amenities available.
• Prospering(61-85)A flourishing settlement with abundant resources.
• Wealthy(86-100)The pinnacle of prosperity, featuring the best goods and services available.

Gremlin Dungeons

Added 6 new room types to Gremlin Dungeons for more variation. These rooms have a chance to spawns in small and large Fortresses.

Simultaneous Turns

This drastically speeds up combat when fighting in larger numbers. Instead of waiting for all enemies to take their turn one by one, entities will attack and move in the smallest number of batches. All combat now uses "Simultaneous Turns," allowing enemy units to take their turn at the same time.

Other Changes

• Reputation is no longer per settlement but is instead per faction, meaning reputation gained in one settlement unlocks bonuses for all settlements of that faction.
• Time now passes in the overworld while in dungeons. For example, if being chased by a bandit army, you can escape to a nearby town or dungeon. If enough time has passed, upon returning to the overworld, the army will have wandered away. Note this is up to a maximum number of turns, to ensure there is time to return to help defend nearby settlements while you are in dungeons.
• Added 2 new poisons: Jester's Toxin and Red Spigot.
• Added 8 new armor and weapon items: 3x Stonewarden Armor, 4x Dual-wielding axes, Furyforge Crown.