SHIPWRECK FOLLOW-ON UPDATE: 5 kraken arena achievements, and a new birth feat that unlocks if all are done: PRACTICALIST (any class): gains spell and skill proficiency from USE twice as fast as normal; has a more than doubled chance of getting a skill/spell raise when already above class cap; needs 50% more xp to level than normal players; gains one talent point less per levelup (if class is BARD, gets 1 TP every 2nd level) 2.8.100: SHIPWRECK update! The shipwreck in the north east of Tartessos can now be accessed (with a bit of effort). Lots of treasure, some pirate opponents, secret puzzles, and an arena with very unique rewards, and a very unique host. Also, special arena rules... (water creatures can walk over tiles you can't. and take much less physical damage because they are mostly submerged).

SHIPWRECK update 2.8.100 is now live! The shipwreck in the north east of Tartessos can now be accessed (with a bit of effort). Lots of treasure, some pirate opponents, secret puzzles, and an arena with very unique rewards, and a very unique host. Also, special arena rules... (water creatures can walk over tiles you can't. and take much less physical damage because they are mostly submerged). And the biggest (and hardest) arena reward is a new type of unique item: it is alive, and slowly levels up (increasing its abilities, and gaining new ones).

fixes an issue with the geomancer monument quest in chapter 3

The ZOMOK SET is here ! Requires 4 items: DRAGON ROD (already existed, slightly tweaked) ACOLYTE ROBE (already existed, slightly tweaked) DRAGON BELT (new) DRAGON CROWN (new) Wearing all 4 gives a lot of fire resistance, some fire damage, hp+, STR+, and alters SUMMON DRAGON outcome (you still need to know the skill though): Without such set, the daily skill currently has 3 possible outcomes: A - nothing happens B - an enemy dragon appears C - a friendly dragon appears With the set worn by the skill user this changes to: A - a friendly dragon appears (and better change of higher one) B - nothing happens C - a friendly dragon appears (with better change of higher one) Also, the set allows for multiple use in the same battle (if the user wears this set), something that would otherwise always fail and result in enemy dragon. Also fixed in this version: sorting by set items now works.

2.7.200 is live now: - added 4 new, rare item conditions. fairly boring on their own, but combined as a GOLEM SET they improve the summon golem spell outcome (you can get a QUARTZ one instead of weaker ones, and at higher levels it just improves category by one. Quartz golems are fast versions of stone golems and never suffer from too-many-golem-weakness): ametrine, citrine, dumortierite, prasiolite - you can now advanced-sort by named and set items instead of just named items. does not seem to always work on older items. for those, clicking on the item once/ever fixed it though. - fixes an issue with multiple spider choker spiders appearing - makes the white set staff safe from sell-all procedure. all other new / set items are not unique so just have to find another one if you throw it out. - fixes the RALLY skill not increasing with use

fixes an issue with 'DONT NEED OLD NAME' item names popping up on games played recently.

Update 2.7.100 is now live! It brings: a) SET ITEMS (such as: new or revamped items that have an extra power effect if worn together) b) SET SUFFIX / PREFIX: suffix or prefix like "of the moon", "of the stars", "of the sun" that exist randomly on different items. If you wield items with all 3, you complete the CELESTIAL SET and get extra bonus stats. That bonus is displayed as a popup. If you ever need to re-read it again, just remove and equip one of the set items. The bonus in detail is not stated (revealed prematurely) in the item descriptions. c) MULTI EFFECTS: new item condition 'flint' which is a bit like iron, however if you wear 2+ items with it, you get fire and lightning damage added! d) and similar effects. stated as golden hint in the item descriptions. e) beefed up the SPIDERS CHOKER. now improves nature ally result f) fixed the dwarven bard and increased skill train limit

Fans and onlookers! As some may know, the game ESCAPE FROM CHAOS I am working on will feature its own unique musical score! Here is an exciting message from the composer and a cool link to some of his work: Dear all, I am very excited to take part in Volker's upcoming game Escape from Chaos (EfC) as music composer! I worked on the project on and off for more than a year now, and I am proud to say that the soundtrack is going through its final stages: Volker already started to include most of the tracks it in the alpha version of the game, and at this very moment it features 23 tracks for more than an hour of music. The full soundtrack will be released together with the game on Steam as a digital download; same on Bandcamp, and on all major streaming platforms. I am considering to do a physical CD release or even on vinyl, let me know if some of you are interested in having one A few days ago I just released a compilation of tracks I did for various projects in the last two years so you can have a guess of my composition style. I included four tracks that will be part of EfC soundtrack: 'This Wandering Soul', 'Away from Reality', 'Darkest Hour', and 'Escape from Chaos (Main Theme)'. https://flaviotraversa.bandcamp.com/ Please consider to follow me on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/Flabber92/) for any sort of news. Sorry for the huge post, I'll try to keep you updated with shorter posts in the future! Happy dungeon crawling everyone and be aware of the spectral dragon behind you.

And it is ... (spoiler shadow) [spoiler] A high-end shop for offhand weapons in Tartessos.[/spoiler]

- 4 new birth feats (no unlocking requirement): PERUN DISCIPLE is for fighters and barbarians. DAGDA PROPHET is for clerics or druids. BO MASTER is for monks. CHARGER is for druids and mages. - a new fixed party challenge 'BRAWLER' with a mix of the above (and a battlehardy rogue) - items you cannot find randomly (aka 'uniques') will no longer be sold under the 'sell all' shop special action - some smaller fixes - a small hidden secret

Coming soon: - 4 new birth feats (no unlocking requirement)
PERUN DISCIPLE is for fighters and barbarians. DAGDA PROPHET is for clerics or druids. BO MASTER is for monks. CHARGER is for druids and mages. - a new fixed party challenge 'BRAWLER' with a mix of the above (and a battlehardy rogue) - items you cannot find randomly (aka 'uniques') will no longer be sold under the 'sell all' shop special action - some smaller fixes - a small hidden secret

Fixes an old and annoying bug (when equipping items while the right side has LOOT or SHOP mode, then the item red/white colouring on the left gets messed up). Finally found it!

this update fixes a rare and very old bug that may prevent rooms from connecting properly, known to have occurred in orc lairs on occasion. Side note: am working tirelessly on ESCAPE FROM CHAOS, a DoC spinoff. More action focussed and roguelike-ish (no NPCs, no shops), hopefully finished by Christmas. Currently wrapping up alpha testing.

fixes little bugs that got noted over time: - corrects a dungeon room layout that can cause disconnected rooms - instrument pricing fix - Veridrac summon placement - drop bear pic - elf bow shop npc pic Am busy working on my new game "ESCAPE FROM CHAOS - a DoC tale". It will play in the same universe but have a more rogue-like fast-paced play style. Having/getting monsters as companions that can level up, instead of having more than one directly controlled human character. Cursed items, traps, a few other features but largely a similar turn-based 2D approach. Coming in a few months!

A new advanced player class has been added: BARDS! Accessible from the chapter 2 castle hall, all (!) starter classes can choose to become a bard. A Bard is versatile, but a master of none. Except ... 6 specific bard skills and 16 instrument-based powers. A total of 22 new player actions! Instruments are the bard insignia items, found in shops and very rarely as loot. Also in this update: - 6 bard-related achievements. - 8 instrument shops - 7 bard skill trainers - a unique instrument as arena award. but the solo arena challenge is: taking on the avatar. And he is pretty angry about being booted from the game! - the SLEEP condition. so far only inflicted by the bard skill, but soon monsters may do it as well. Sleep breaks if hurt. - lessened JUGGERNAUGHT restriction from ‘no jewelry’ to ‘no rings’ - righteousness feat now gives 10 div/emp for ANY class - change to MISFITS and MONKEYS and DARK LORD fixed party challenges: lowered their difficulty by 1 and improved the XP cap. Lowered DRAGONS difficulty from 8 to 6. - undead dragon guardian spawns at zero distance now (intentionally deadly if you can’t handle him) - added small chance for priest insignia to have a holy curse bonus - reduced the stun chance for (new) boomerangs from 70% to 62%, and increased the attack time. - insignia with two rolled boosts to the same stat/skill/spell now show these as ONE line

Yes. I have had many discussions with fans about having a BARD class. Also about activating the AVATAR class. And the answers in both cases led to an obvious conclusion: I could not add the BARD class because the number of class slots was fairly locked in. And I could not activate the AVATAR class because the concept would need a lot of lore and story but the current way the game plays goes against the virtue concept it deserves. So ... I will remove the AVATAR slot and add a BARD class. As an advanced class for starter classes to change to. If you are interested in the discussion and what I want to do with it, look here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/198849273863516/?multi_permalinks=505825923165848 and here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/198849273863516/?multi_permalinks=506857859729321

sorry for that glitch, should be all back now.

Fixed many smaller things, rune trinkets are not yet ready but coming along fine. Changes: - new item: ‘Courtland’s Cape’, +5% loot value and a few smaller perks
- fixed a few items’ text display where they had a speed impact disguised as a negative speedmalus. - fixed quickactions update after Zmaj arena reward - fixes an issue where class cap is not increased if your spell or skill is increased via your birth feat - fixed a VERY old visual glitch that caused red inventory item highlights to stick around too long - other fixes of bugs I was told about. keep them coming !

What I am planning to add next? RUNE TRINKETS. Still designing what exactly they will be. Current thoughts: 1. they are blank trinkets that can be carved with runes. 2. the carving is done by the same smiths that do item carving/naming. He needs the recipe, lots of gold and an empty trinket. Runes are not items. 3. the power level of the rune combination/recipe is determined by the skill of / time spent by the carver, which is a factor of how much gold you give them 4. guessing a rune combination that has an effect is very unlikely due to number of runes and 6-digit length of rune 'words'. But you will be allowed to try. 5. a carved rune trinket that has a working combination on it will act like an insignia (and take up that slot), and can be wielded by anyone. 6. possible rune powers vary, see more below. 7. you will find rune combinations throughout your journeys, on vampire coffins, tombstones, books on old bookshelves, scrolls, scribbled notes, scratchings on walls etc. 8. I will probably create ~50 rune recipes/power combos. 9. I am planning to determine ~100 suitable rune recipe places. 10. each savegame will determine the rune combinations for the 50 possible combos. they will not be the same between any 2 savegames / playthroughs / players. 11. each savegame will determine 10 recipes that will be placed randomly in 10 of the 100 locations. Possible powers will be a mix of what items and insignia currently grant: - granting a skill+ - granting a spell+ - granting health+ - granting mana+ - granting STR/DEX/speed/evasion/accuracy+ - vs undead bonus - bonus hp/sp/speed per kill - possibly granting skills or spells that otherwise won't exist in books or other form. But not from the start, first everything has to work smoothly. The amount of gold/expertise of the carver during the carving will determine the power level of the bonus. Intention is to make each playthrough a notch more different, a 'make something out of what you are given' type of direction. Further UPDATE: I put a few more notes down, here it goes: 1. Trinkets are a separate type of item. Taking up the insignia slot. There will be various grades, for now let's call them common, uncommon, rare, epic, legendary, godly. 2. The grade of the trinket determines the possible maximum level of the rune power. 3. Rune powers can be of a higher level if you have enough gold, found a suitable engraver, and have the right type of trinket to use. 4. There will be tier I, II, III rune recipes/powers. 5. and possibly later a 4th one which I will call 'enablers'. Like a passport that allows you to enter/survive certain planar adventures. Maybe. Just leaving options open... 6. Tier I, II and III rune recipes/powers can all be fitted in any type of trinket, however better grade trinkets allow for higher max level. May also determine a mandatory higher minimum level. To be decided. 7. Trinkets have a life of their own. They start their life at the level you create them at, thereafter they gain experience equivalent to the wielder. And they can level up beyond their start level. But do that ever more (exponentially) slowly. So they don't level up when a player does, they have their own thresholds. 8. Based on trinket grade (not rune power or level), I am inclined to impose a wielded level requirement. Because they are alive, they are picky about who uses them. 9. Need some good lore about what they are and why they exist. To clarify grade vs power vs level: A godly trinket (grade: godly) can be engraved with a 'Xarams wish' rune sequence (the power/recipe) of level 1. Thereafter, it may eventually level up to level 2. Which increases the bonusses it gives. When will this come through as an update? Not sure yet, it is definitely the next cab off the rank, but I am planning another move (back to my home country Germany) so that slows things down a bit. Thanks for playing this game and please consider leaving a review and spreading the word!

What I am planning to add next? RUNE TRINKETS. Still designing what exactly they will be. Current thoughts: 1. they are blank trinkets that can be carved with runes. 2. the carving is done by the same smiths that do item carving/naming. He needs the recipe, lots of gold and an empty trinket. Runes are not items. 3. the power level of the rune combination/recipe is determined by the skill of / time spent by the carver, which is a factor of how much gold you give them 4. guessing a rune combination that has an effect is very unlikely due to number of runes and 6-digit length of rune 'words'. But you will be allowed to try. 5. a carved rune trinket that has a working combination on it will act like an insignia (and take up that slot), and can be wielded by anyone. 6. possible rune powers vary, see more below. 7. you will find rune combinations throughout your journeys, on vampire coffins, tombstones, books on old bookshelves, scrolls, scribbled notes, scratchings on walls etc. 8. I will probably create ~50 rune recipes/power combos. 9. I am planning to determine ~100 suitable rune recipe places. 10. each savegame will determine the rune combinations for the 50 possible combos. they will not be the same between any 2 savegames / playthroughs / players. 11. each savegame will determine 10 recipes that will be placed randomly in 10 of the 100 locations. Possible powers will be a mix of what items and insignia currently grant: - granting a skill+ - granting a spell+ - granting health+ - granting mana+ - granting STR/DEX/speed/evasion/accuracy+ - vs undead bonus - bonus hp/sp/speed per kill - possibly granting skills or spells that otherwise won't exist in books or other form. But not from the start, first everything has to work smoothly. The amount of gold/expertise of the carver during the carving will determine the power level of the bonus. Intention is to make each playthrough a notch more different, a 'make something out of what you are given' type of direction. Further UPDATE: I put a few more notes down, here it goes: 1. Trinkets are a separate type of item. Taking up the insignia slot. There will be various grades, for now let's call them common, uncommon, rare, epic, legendary, godly. 2. The grade of the trinket determines the possible maximum level of the rune power. 3. Rune powers can be of a higher level if you have enough gold, found a suitable engraver, and have the right type of trinket to use. 4. There will be tier I, II, III rune recipes/powers. 5. and possibly later a 4th one which I will call 'enablers'. Like a passport that allows you to enter/survive certain planar adventures. Maybe. Just leaving options open... 6. Tier I, II and III rune recipes/powers can all be fitted in any type of trinket, however better grade trinkets allow for higher max level. May also determine a mandatory higher minimum level. To be decided. 7. Trinkets have a life of their own. They start their life at the level you create them at, thereafter they gain experience equivalent to the wielder. And they can level up beyond their start level. But do that ever more (exponentially) slowly. So they don't level up when a player does, they have their own thresholds. 8. Based on trinket grade (not rune power or level), I am inclined to impose a wielded level requirement. Because they are alive, they are picky about who uses them. 9. Need some good lore about what they are and why they exist. To clarify grade vs power vs level: A godly trinket (grade: godly) can be engraved with a 'Xarams wish' rune sequence (the power/recipe) of level 1. Thereafter, it may eventually level up to level 2. Which increases the bonusses it gives. When will this come through as an update? Not sure yet, it is definitely the next cab off the rank, but I am planning another move (back to my home country Germany) so that slows things down a bit. Thanks for playing this game and please consider leaving a review and spreading the word!

- ‘THE CLAN’ fixed party challenge added. Related achievement unlocks a new ‘EMITTER’ birth feat (granting poison cloud skills) - fixes an issue where ‘hmm’ sound OFF does not work on next load - now allows for lower case characters in names - disallow sp/hp healing via level up btn during combat - changed assassin guild quest to require 60 species, and yield less xp - fixed an issue where chain lightning would bounce without anything to bounce off (single target shouldn’t bounce) - made hell plasma and cryo charge faster to cast - reduces military training impact from 1.00 to 0.75 per point - lengthened the destabilise matter spell casting time This is mainly based on fan feedback, fan requests, fan bug reports. So thanks to all for letting me know! And please leave a review once you have had a good play. 8-)

- ADVANCED SORTING in shops and inventory/stash. New 'ADV' button that opens extensive dialogue screen for primary and secondary sorting criteria - HASTE bug fixed (on auto attack behaviours, it could slow instead of hasten) - the dragon arena now benefits zomok apprentices as well - you can now turn off ALL ‘hmm’ sounds, covers the dialogue ones, “!” discoveries in walk mode etc. (options page 2) - there is now an option to allow the game to be running in background on PC/Mac/Linux (page 5 of options), useful for split-screen setups where you do something else at the same time.

I have seen a few questions over the last months in reviews and forum topics and emails that I would like to publish responses to so that everyone knows about them. In no particular order: 1. You can duplicate your savegame into another slot by using the BACKUP button to create a slot-independent copy and then RESTORE onto a free slot. And making an in-game backup also helps you to reconsider an important class change choice or be sheltered from very rare file corruption catastrophes. 2. Once you complete the game, there is a 'fixed party challenges' mode unlocked (besides the DEFAULT and CUSTOM party choices on start). 3. There are PLENTY of options you can tinker with. Go to options from the main menu, or from the save/load/quit/options screen when in world exploration mode. 4. Health/Mana+ from birth feats not only impact HP/SP on birth but also a bit on each levelup. 5. Auto steam cloud sync has been activated a week ago, but generally you can manually make copies or transfer your files ('savegame' and 'Playerprefs') by locating the files in the directory that shows when you press DEBUG on page 7 of the options. You can transfer savegames between all platforms, and you can transfer Playerprefs (achievements) from mobile to PC/Mac, but not Playerprefs from PC/Mac to mobile. 6. there is no quest to retrieve the tools from the gnome burrows in the north. That is just a bit of narrative from the guy that lost them. 7. If you think you completed a quest and the NPC is not triggering the reward, try leaving the dialogue and talking to him again, using the quest related topics either from the quick left choices or in the QUEST sub-folder of topics on the right side. Sometimes if you do things in an odd order, the normal chain of conversation events is not clear and you need to bring the topic up. 8. there is no downside to losing an arena fight. no XP loss for 'dying' etc. Try them purely for fun and rewards. Some are intentionally tough though. The river city chapter 2 arena challenge disappears and is not there anymore in chapter 3 (replaced), so if you want to complete them all with one party don't do the chasm chapter-ending fight before you got that arena off your list. 9. You can leave notes in the MAP mode to mark your current location in a specific colour and leave a 50 char message. You can mark things like locked chests, cool monster spawners, trainers, quest givers etc. For busy maps like Tartessos this is HUGELY helpful. Once notes are in a map, you can click on the note for the map view to jump there (just the view window will jump, not the party). Each note also shows the relative coordinates compared to your current position. 10. if you want to see your unidentified items quickly, sort them by value ('$'), they then land at the very end. 11. IDENTIFY skill works automatically when you find something. If an item shows as unidentified then you tried all your luck. Take it to a shop for ID'ing for a small fee (or Parnosz for free!). 12. shops have a SPECIAL button to sell/ID a lot of stuff in one go. Be careful with it though (refer: BACKUPS ...). 13. if you like an item but it is too expensive, pay 10% to HOLD it. You still need to pay 100% to buy later though. And only one per shop. 14. if you are already a very advanced player and are trying to tick of the tough TIGHT-ARSE or ZERO-DEATH achievements, then take note of the crazy walled-in prisoner in the outlaw camp, he can tell you how many times (if at all) you violated any of the two related counters. 15. 'vs. undead' bonus only impacts melee and ranged weapon/unarmed attacks, not spells. Weapon bonuses (magic damage on a staff) also only impacts hitting something with the staff, not spells you cast. Just the way I chose to design it, could have been done differently but then I would have needed to nerf/balance it down. 16. Spellcasters cast spells faster by having a higher spell level. Not by having a higher physical speed. The speed stat does not impact spellcasting time or recovery. Speed impact on physical actions in combat is relative straight forward, but if you want to know more read the ‘combat’ section of the steam guide referred to at the bottom of this article. 17. Increasing Dex will boost evasion and speed and accuracy, increasing Str will boost physical damage. Both to some extent boost resistances. They have many smaller effects. Also, Str/Dex in excess of the required Str/Dex of an item lowers the malus (negative impact) to speed/evasion it quotes (for example heavy armor), up to fully negating it if you have double the required Str/Dex respectively. Equipping something with LESS than the required Str/Dex (through some tricks) yields progressively drastic speed / evasion penalties. 18. Higher weapon type proficiency unlocks new attack styles. Don't forget to select one or upgrade once you trained your skill (also over time). Proficiency also increases accuracy 1 point per point. And to make things more interesting, each item has its own combination and proficiency threshold for attack styles. So once you are highly proficient you may want to check out some cheap versions of different items to see what you can do with a staff at proficiency 90 ... (hint). 19. auto-save on map change is activated by default. Because on mobile devices in particular accidental app closing can occur if the operating system goes to sleep. But you can deactivate it in the options menu. 20. If you ever receive a ‘defeat monster X’ type of quest and you defeated it already, just talk to the person again (sometimes twice) and it will trigger the completion and reward for that quest. No harm done. 21. Almost anything gets harder or easier if you change the difficulty setting in the options menu. This is mainly meant to be used half-way during your first playthrough to calibrate the game to your liking. It should be challenging in my opinion, so I recommend ‘hard’ for RPG fans, ‘normal’ as default, ‘easy’ if you are having trouble, and ‘suicidal’ only for hardcore nuts that want to test if they know enough exploits and tricks to survive. Unlike many other games nowadays, very high difficulty does NOT give you a whole offsetting array of rewards. EVERYTHING is more difficult. Only exception is you have a better chance to get maximum allowed number of loot items from mobs and chests, and a notch higher max loot value. But that is not nearly offsetting the uphill battle that is created for you overall. 22. There are many long time players that have their own way of playing. This can involve grinding, farming, exploits, minmax strategies etc. This game is meant to work without any of these. Finding exploits is fun. Being told about them very early on is NOT. So don’t look for a complete set of game-winning moves. You don't need them. Explore for yourself. If stuck, ask for help in the forums or the facebook group (search for 'Dungeons of Chaos - Gameplay Discussion (Closed) Group' in facebook). But please don’t stop finding your own cool ways to beat the game. This is not a multiplayer game so it purposefully contains many ways to beat it, overpowered things you can get your hands on, exploits you can find, and paths to beat the bosses. 23. Once you complete the game and look through the tougher achievements, you may come across the ‘tight arse’ one. The way it works in details is, you can use gold to train skills or identify items or enhance items, and you can of course sell them. But you cannot BUY an item or spellbook. 24. Read signs and signposts, and tombstones and graffiti! 25. Don’t think morals have no impact at some point in your life. Be warned! In general, chapter 3 is less lenient in some RPG-kind of ways… 26. Have fun and don’t overthink it. If in doubt, drop a question in the forums or FB group. For many (more) in-game tips and mechanics, from character creation to stats to combat mechanics to damage and armor, this guide is pretty useful: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1159282013

Any issues please let me know. But bear in mind this is all auto-handled on steam's end, and the default is for it to be active for anyone. Fingers crossed!

Per user request, I looked into ways to make the buttons more reactive for mouse users. So buttons now appear light grey when mouse moves over them, and dark grey when pressed. Also, LAST reminder that steam auto cloud save will be switched on in about 2 hours from now as well, so if you are playing on multiple computers please click the DEBUG button on page 7 of the options and manually make a backup just in case something goes wrong. I have tested it and it seemed fine (with sync sometimes taking a few approaches to kick in), but I have no influence over the auto sync other than providing the correct file paths to the steam configuration. Fingers crossed!

Per user request, I looked into ways to make the buttons more reactive for mouse users. So in the next version (coming live in a few hours) this will be active on all buttons: buttons appear light grey when mouse moves over them, and dark grey when pressed. Also, just a reminder that steam auto cloud save will be switched on in about 12 hours from now as well, so if you are playing on multiple computers please click the DEBUG button on page 7 of the options and manually make a backup just in case something goes wrong. I have tested it and it seemed fine (with sync sometimes taking a few approaches to kick in), but I have no influence over the auto sync other than providing the correct file paths to the steam configuration. Fingers crossed!

So I have bee experimenting with the steam auto cloud save settings. I am going to spare you the details of the early results, but they were ... weird. Now, I have set it up in a way that it seems to work. If I install steam on a new machine and log in to my account and download DoC, it takes a minute to sync then starts with my achievements and savegames from my original machine. HOWEVER, since this is all auto-handled on steam's end, and since the default is for it to be active for anyone, I have to caution you folks that cloud syncing has the potential to cause harm, as by default it will overwrite things it deems superseded. So, here is my advice: - Before Feb 2nd, click the DEBUG button on page 7 of the options, open a file browser to that location and backup all files there ('savegame', 'playerprefs', 'backup'). Just to be safe. - If you only use one machine: that is it, nothing bad should happen anyway but with the above manual backup you are absolutely fine. - If you are already playing on two machines, and moving files manually each time: well you essentially have a backup going back and forth anyway so that is good. I am not sure how steam cloud will react when it notices two active and conflicting file sets, but most likely a popup will come up that will ask you whether you want to overwrite your local files with the cloud files (I had that once). Should be one-time and then all is in sync. - If you are already playing on two machines but have never manually synchronised the files ... meaning for example you are playing a party n slot #1 on one machine, and a completely different party in slot #1 on the other ... then you need to do some work. First: follow the 'DEBUG' file locations and backup both machine's files manually. Then, if you want to get them in sync, you could rename the savegames so that they don't conflict. You will not the savegame files use numbers #0 to #14 in their filename. So as long as you can stay within that range, you could technically combine two machine's savegames into one set. Then, once you have done that, load that file set onto both machines. When sync kicks in, it should find already matching files. May or may not still give you a popup if steam deems one to be the 'master' but letting it sync to master should cause no harm. Hope that helps! Any issues please let me know, although this is all happening at steam's end so I have no control over it apart from setting the right directory paths. Which I think I have. I am planning to switch it on this February 3rd.

In time for Australia Day, DoC gets a mob update: DROP BEARS!! Found in the chapter 3 (corrupted) version of the 'valley north' map. If you don't know where exactly then you haven't studied the map in enough detail. ;-) They drop on you, creating an instant encounter. And they are thirsty for blood...

3 new unique items are coming with this update, I spaced them over all 3 chapters:
- SPIDERS CHOKER (chapter 1 spider boss drop; adds poison dam, poison resist and some evasion, DEX -2), - RING OF THE SNOW OWL (ch 2 icy valley hidden treasure; magic damage, +1 speed per kill), - HELM OF ROSTAM (ch3 Chris the cryptkeeper drop; lightning damage, high armor, high STR requirement and wearing threshold) Also, - fixed issues with symbiant restoration-only auto tactics setup - typos

New things: - added SHRAZKIL and CHAAZ combo-bosses. and spectral wolves as supporting summon. This boss-combo is a rare ch3 spawn somewhere. The creator opted not to disclose where (they are NOT where the lizards are). - redesigned demonic warriors (if you are flanked by three, their attacks are now devastatingly coordinated) - fixed a nasty bug that made non-boss monsters be treated like bosses and make others flee when they die. which can cause chaos lord fight to end without a kill for example.

Changes: - added HAVOC, the boss cat. With a suitable unique loot drop ('HAVOC'S CLAW'. don’t miss the high threshold attack styles). He is rather nasty if you are not prepared for being crit-hit with cutting edge claws. So be warned and don’t open that door in the warlock’s main hall that he is sitting behind… - made the chromatic lindworm a notch nastier - fixed some spelling errors

Big addition for the hardcore fans: - ZOMOK’s ARENA (late-game super tough arena, 7 challenges some with multiple waves, unlocked via Zomok’s pets lever and a second ghost-related step): contains three new unique boss dragons, and new attack types Also: - fixed angered allies from regarding other monsters as their boss - increased chaos item return rate for stash and inventory (chaos chests) Merry X-mas and a Happy New year to all DoC fans!

Changes: - introduces a HOLD ITEM function in shops. For a 10% fee, they will make sure an item stays in their stock until you buy it. If you want to hold a different item in the same store, you forfeit the previous fee and hold on that item. Fee paid does not count towards purchase price paid later. - new option that if enabled prevents you from (accidentally/ever) selling a named item. also excludes them from “sell all” special shop actions - introduced a carver into the outlaw camp. He can name any item for a price. Re-naming costs more. (He can also carve runes into rune trinkets, but those have not been implemented yet.) - fixed an issue where dragon cave or floater abyss (or spider lair etc.) could move you prematurely to chapter 3 - corrected the RALLY skill tracking, no longer interferes with RAGE skills - added a COLOSSAL MANTICORE boss. placed below the castle, locked away for everyone’s safety … VERY tough boss. Deliberate. Also sprinkled some mobs and chests in the under-castle level, worth dropping by early in a ch3 play without engaging the manticore yet. - new unique item (manticore drop): VIKERKAAR. very expensive/valuable 1h blunt. odd stats. hint: check the weapon attack styles before judging it… - bug fixes

things fixed: 2.1.200: - more “his/her” fight log text corrections - fixes an issue for map entry quests if all popups are disabled 2.1.190: - fixes an issue with open geomancer guild quest - fixes an issue with berserkers will not preventing stun effect If you enjoy the game please leave a review! 8-)

smaller fixes: - fixes the equipment of the fellowship gang - safer randomised dungeon creation routine - made the bunny (samurai) challenge a notch harder - clearer fight texts saying you lost some xp because you fled. - corrected an error in the rally skill formulas If you enjoy the game please leave a review and spread the word!

Changes: - 3 new skills for KNIGHTS: oath of protection, rally and second wind. Some gained on class change (or load of a savegame with a knight in it), some have a trainer, some appear on random insignia, some don’t… - another tweak to knight challenge - adding a chance to resist stun effects to the BODYCONTROL birth feat - new option to turn off all popups (map mood, daily skill reset, quests) - if you are wearing an item with a strength requirement greater than your strength, the speed penalty that has always been applied is now showing in the item text when item is selected If you like the game please post a review and spread the word 8-)

This update has some tweaks trying to smooth out some play issues people have: - made the knight solo challenge a fair bit easier. - made EASY and VERY EASY difficulties a notch easier, they now result in lower monster health - added a BOSS HELP button to the main menu, giving advice on the 6 toughest monster challenges in the game If you are experiencing great difficulty playing the game, please let me or other fans know and apart from tips there is always the chance that I am able to tweak things where they make a wider sense.

Had some issues with 2.1.050 if anyone saw an empty fight setup and freeze, 2.1.051 fixed that. Overall changes in 2.1.055: - new birth feat ‘SOUL HARVESTER’ obtained from a fixed party challenge: "LIFESTEAL++, DURING FIGHTS: PER KILL: 5% HP, 5% SP, +2 SPEED, NO TORSO ARMOR, ZERO NIMBLE/DODGE” - new birth feat ‘FOUL ONE’ obtained from a fixed party challenge: "L/DRAIN DAM+, L/DRAIN RES++, SUMMONS UNDEAD, HP-, SUFFERS HOLY CHANT, NEEDS 2x XP” - ‘foul one’ has unique access to two skills: summon minor undead (cooldown skill from level 1) and summon major undead (daily skill from level 15). Their power is offset by the feat’s significant xp requirement downside - fixes a fight glitch and some auto attack spell glitches

- giving the ‘fellowship’ fixed challenge a heal insignia for both the ranger and the mage - fixing a bug where griffins could take you off the fight arena - rangers now get 2 mana per levelup, not 1 - SYMBIANT birth feat is active, as reward for the fixed 'misfits' party challenge: “CAN EQUIP ANY INSIGNIA ,SP—, HP-, HALF RESISTANCE VS: CRIT, POISON, PARALYSIS” - fixed an issue with mana overclock cost - fixed an issue where fixed party challenges would not show if choosing free game slot - minor other fixes

v2.1.010 is now live and brings the following: - after you have finished the game, a new game mode will appear when you start a new game; you can try the game with a preset party, preset difficulty and sometimes cap to achievement xp. Succeeding with any of these trigger new related achievements. - new boss: draco lich. and in-fight minions and surrounding undead minotaurs. all in new map: crumbling minotaur keep. new boss is the biggest yet and has nasty tactics - reduced the array of armor and shields that BA/BE can use. they should bash and kill, not tank and block like a knight. - added some new shields, will soon be added as unique loot or arena rewards - lifted str/dex requirements for some powerful armor. - added a new armor, will soon be added as unique loot or arena reward - changed both BA and BE level rotation bonus to "str","hp","armor +8","str","resist elem +3”,"hp","str" - fixed an issue where offhand weapons were deemed in use when fighting unarmed (fists or cestus/knuckles) - the rogue in the chapter 1 smuggler village now sells some basic offhand items - added RAGE to the skills the berserkers train - fixes speed bonus on juvenator staff

v2.0.425 is coming, with: - new mob: griffins. appearing in some of the mountain maps now (mountain path, icy valley etc.) - griffin boss: ROC. with unique loot item - added a suitable attack for a griffin: picks you up and drops you somewhere else on the battlefield Thanks for all your support, and please spread the word! DoC also makes for a great birthday and Christmas present for your tight-arse friends that could do with a bit of RPG love. Beats most your other ideas for presents, admit it!

Changes: - added an option (on page 2) to half the volume of the ‘hmm’ sound in the dialogue screen - added an option (on page 2) to make text in the dialogue box smaller. - higher armor for the poison drake

Working make some of the very vast areas a bit more rewarding to explore, there are now lizardmen and a poison drake in the watery cave in chapter 1. Also, this update (hopefully) fixes a dungeon-run button that appears in minimap mode when it shouldn't.

2.0.383 is live now, fixes smaller issues with apothecary birth feat display, and multi choice overlay keyboard controls. And until 11m 17 Oct, you can get DoC for 20% off, so tell a friend or gift it to someone that needs a good retro RPG fix!

V2.0.375 now live, bringing the following with it: - the point blank cooldown skill is now usable on auto - gradually lowered STUN effect where attack has less than half the strength of the target - you can now compare rings if only the second ring slot is used - you can now switch between first and second ring in comparison mode - you can now switch between two swap weapons in comparison mode - escape key to exit dimensional traders/takers - beefed up crossbow damages (affects newly found ones) - offhand items with moderate offensive properties: very class specific though: Main Gauche, SwordBreaker, Carnwennen - fixed an issue where force damage is overstated for attack stats with items - gave priest access to mass resist poison spell - fixed ongoing damage from auto-cast hell plasma - some minor fixes. and nerved fistfight archmage down again - dimensional trade input now costs more than 1 talent point if you have obsessed dwarves in your party (they need to overcome their greedy nature each time)

Changes: - the crazy prisoner now tells you if you are on track for the tight-a* achievement - blood lust now has some life drain resist as well - made the abandoned mines a bit more interesting… worth clearing them both out now. works on newly rolled dungeons only. - new keyboard control: space bar now reacts as a WAIT command in world view. if you want to wait a turn to lure monsters closer etc. Otherwise/previously/Touchcontrol effect with same outcome: open inventory and go back out.

2.0.360 is now live! If you are not checking in daily, have a look at the .351 changes from yesterday as well. .360 brings: 1. marksmanskill cap fixed for good 2. making birth feats more appealing, changes made to: - JUGGERNAUGHT (added RAGE and BERSERKER WILL skill++. works for new creations only) - TREE HUGGER (reduced itemslot restriction from 4 to 2. works for pre-existing as well as new players) - HALFLING and GNOME ANCESTRY: added med/high DODGE skill to benefits (works for new creations only). GNOME: added access to DECOY skill. - FROST HANDS: added major cold resistance boost (works for new creations only)

I am starting to publish guides in this community section. They summarise and/or mirror what I have captured on my Wordpress blog, updated for some relevant steam specific things. So far published: INSIGHTS INTO THE COMBAT MECHANICS PLAYER CLASSES WHAT NEW PLAYERS MAY WANT TO KNOW More coming in the next days, on birth feats, skills, spells, etc. Hope you like them! Volker

2.0.351 is here! Brings: - new NPC: a small white dragon (on warlock islands somewhere…). He has an arena of sorts, not just but particularly relevant to dragon blood players… - new mob (arena only): Zmaj the 3-headed dragon boss - more concise advice in the skill screen about whether use, or trainer, or none of those two can raise it (arena impact is not mentioned for summon dragon, on purpose) - changed some solo arena challenges, and will continue to do so to get the right difficulty level - skill descriptions updated - skill cap display fixed where birth feats impact class cap - fixes issue with marksman not gaining full marksmanship skill + on levelup

- MARKSMANSHIP skill. not trainable, but rather increasing with archer/marksman level, and to lesser extent ranger and samurai. increases ranged physical damage based on excess accuracy, and skill proficiency. this skill is given to existing parties on next load. Since bonus damage depends on the accuracy of each shot (which in itself varies depending on whether you use maximum range of your weapon or less), it is not showing in the attack stats. The skill is designed to make the archer class more attractive mid and late-game. - fixed a bug that caused non-bleeding allies to bleed - allies now get properly removed when dying from poison or bleeding EDIT: added skill reasoning

More updates included as of 2 Oct 2017: - added birth feat categories (see here for more details: https://dungeonsofchaos.wordpress.com/insights-feats/) - added a feat category selector for advanced players (unlocked by a new DARK LORD achievement). The selector allows for easier creation of quirky/rare players for your party - made the hp loss from negative birth feats small - unarmed attack style selection bug got fixed - fixed the short visual disappearing of secret passage notifications when triggered - added a missing archmage achievement

v.320 brings with it: - 2 items for the weapon slot than enhance UNARMED attacks, fairly inexpensive and dropping as regular loot from the start occasionally - a trader in Tartessos specialising in those - added over a dozen class specific single-player arena challenges in Tartessos - added 5 new unlockable birth feats as reward for those arena challenges - fixed an issue with dead players showing up in arena challenges - fixed an issue where non-allowed spells would still deduct mana and cost time If you like the updates and the game please leave a review and spread the word! Thanks, Volker

Latest update brought exciting changes: - added an unlockable inter-dimensional ( = across savegames) item selling option. unlocked via the 'Daklos' pub quest, then an opportunity opens in the abandoned shelter (chapter 3) to give away items that can appear in other savegames. - fixed an issue with bloodlust life drain damage replacing instead of supplementing item life drain damage - made xp level requirements a notch lower, most helpful in the level 40-70 bracket - lessened some xp reductions that applied to monster kills in high difficulty settings

2.0.280 is now live: - adding a SURRENDER FIGHT button so you can break off a fight you deem lost - fix for nature ally class cap - minor other fixes

More updates in the past 24 hours, please update every now and then. These are fan requests and bug fixes: - longer map notes (50 char) and commas are allowed - correct he/she use on levelup - backup naming works again - map naming works again Anything you feel missing or not working as it should please post a new discussion or in the 'bug' thread, thanks!

Several small updates have been made in the last 24 hours: - adding combat quickaction numbers so you know what you want to press - adding keypad/numpad support for SHIFT running - adding keypad/numpad support for adjacent actions in combat (note: diagonal actions are not allowed, combat works in plain 4 directions for close range actions only) - fixing the text input issues when naming characters. you can rename any character on page 8 of the options afterwards by the way Updates are frequent and small in data volume so please have auto-update enabled. Thanks! Volker