Heretic Operative
Heretic Operative Update 1.2.2
We have just released a small patch for Heretic Operative that fixes a couple of ways you could get the game into a bad state under the right combination of circumstances.
Have fun fighting off the Cult, and stay tuned in 2021 for some info on what we've been working on next....
Bugfixes:
- Fixed a bug that would cause the game to be soft-locked when attempting to clear Cult sites under the right conditions.
- Fixed a bug where the game could sometimes fail to end properly when the player has no Operatives remaining.
Year One Patch now Live!
- New difficulty modes! While the same standard challenging balance is still available by default, now you can choose which difficulty level is right for your play style. There are no XP adjustments based on difficulty, so play whatever you enjoy the most. To win on "Excommunicated" will require mastery of all of Heretic Operative's gameplay.
- New free Operative! Corrian the Disavowed brings some powerful new abilities to the table, like gaining additional Action Points and being able to recruit for free. However his dark side leaves him vulnerable to Corruption. Using him requires a difficult choice: embrace his abilities and plan for the inevitable consequence, or attempt to bring him back on to a more sustainable path?
- Lots of balance changes! We have made another major pass across all the spells, items, and Townsfolk in the game to try and bring some of the under-strength ones up to par. A significant pass was made to improve the Townsfolk that require an Action Point to interact with. Carefully spending your Action Points is the most important mechanic in Heretic Operative and we wanted to make sure there were many viable options.
If you enjoy this new update please let us know in the forums or by leaving us a review. We're a very small studio and your feedback matters a lot to us.
Full patch nodes below (and viewable in-game):
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1.2.1 - 10-FEB-2020
New Features & Content:
- Difficulty modes!
* "Initiate" lowers skill check difficulty, gives bonus starting resources, and +1 Action Point each turn. Perfect for learning the game or just experimenting.
* "Operative" is the standard mode the game is balanced around.
* "Excommunicated" is a challenging mode where both skill checks and combat are more difficult, and the Cult gets to start with one additional Cultist. If you find the normal game a little too easy, this mode will test your skills!
- New Operative! Corrian the Disavowed can generate extra Action Points and recruit Townsfolk without Influence, but can easily fall to temptation...
Balance Changes:
- Night damage dice now generate Corruption for every 3 points of damage (improved from 2/dmg).
- Illusion spell "Inquisition" now costs 10 Corruption (down from 25), and generates 1 Influence when used.
- Elven spell "Treant" now requires 4+ Tranquility to cast (down from 5+).
- Pouch of Endless Gold now gives 3 gold per turn (up from 2).
Many items or Townsfolk that require an Action Point to use are now more worthwhile, to better reflect the cost of using the AP.
- Hermit (Lost Temple) no longer requires a Lore to use Arcane Wards.
- Treasure Hunter (Ancient Temple) now has a higher chance of success.
- Fishmonger (Docks) now gives 4 Rumors for 2 Gold (was 1 for 1).
- Librarian (Museum District) now has a higher chance of success.
- Herbalist (Farmstead) now costs 2 Influence to recruit (was 4), and only costs 1 Gold to use (was 2).
- Shopkeeper (Farmstead) now costs 2 Influence to recruit (was 4), and only costs 1 Gold to use (was 2).
- Blacksmith (Farmstead) now costs 4 Influence to recruit (was 6).
- Mayor (Farmstead) recruitment requirements adjusted to match costs of other Townsfolk, to 10 combined Influence (was 12).
- Farmer (Farmstead) work now reduces Corruption (-10) in addition to paying Gold.
- Guard Captain (Frontier) work now pays 3 Gold (up from 2).
- Dubious Merchant (Frontier) now pays significantly more Gold for items, between 4 and 7 (was between 2 and 5).
- Veteran (Burning Woods Rebuilt) now pays 4 Gold (up from 2) when getting the Gold result for raiding.
- Healer (Hideout) now generates 1 Fate in addition to healing.
- Barkeep (Copec's Tavern) action now reduces Corruption by 5 when nothing is going on (was: no effect).
- Provisioner (Forgotten Tomb) now offers 3 items to choose from (was 2).
- Explorer (Desolate Isle) now gives 3 Rumors when trading Lore (was 2), and also lowers Corruption (-10).
- Item "Life Water?" now is usable at -2 Tranquility (was -5).
- Item "Utuk in Amber" now reduces Tranquiliity by -1 (was -2).
- Item "Notes on Suspicious Activity" now generates 4 Rumors when successfully used (was 2).
- Item "Hawksdottir's Amulet" now costs 5 Corruption to wear (down from 15).
- Item "Wand of Projection" now costs -1 Tranquility to use (up from -2).
- Item "Scrolls of Prophecy" now generates 8 Rumors and 8 Fate when successfully used (was 5 and 5).
- Item "Orb of Divination" now generates 4 Fate when used (up from 3).
- Item "Orb of Provenance" now consumes 3 Fate when used (down from 5).
Bugfixes & Misc:
- Fixed a bug where Malhal Raiders would not properly steal gold from the Tavern
- Fixed a bug that would cause randomly picked spell targets to not be very random.
- Main menu now shows whether or not the Blood Cult DLC is available.
Free DLC Update: Artifacts of Fate
These "Artifacts of Fate" generate powerful effects without any cost in Corruption. Some can generate Fate, others consume it, but each provides a valuable strategic tool to use against the Cult.
The content in "Artifacts of Fate" is free to all players of Heretic Operative, so have fun with the new cards!
Look forward to more new content, as the 1 year anniversary of the game's release is right around the corner...
Patch Notes 1.1.5
Balance:
- Most non-combat spells and Operative abilities no longer use an AP to cast, but have had their Corruption costs slightly increased and/or can only be cast once per turn.
- Vyrian's "Contemplation" ability now reduces Corruption by 25 (was: 10)
- Renni's ability "Research" now costs 1 gold, and no longer generates Fate.
- Townsfolk "Mentor" has been improved significantly, and now always either reduces Corruption or improves Tranquility.
- Townsfolk "Scout" now gives a significantly better results and is less likely to cause you to become lost.
- Night spell "Insight" now grants +3 Arcane skill (was +2).
- All 4 Night combat spells now have +1 combat die (Creeping Shadow, Darkbolt, Soulrend, and Unspeakable Truth).
- Elemental spell "Stone Shield" now costs 10 Corruption (was 5).
- Elemental combat spells "Firebolt", "Flamestrike", "Apocalypse", and "Rockfist" have had their Corruption costs reduced by 5.
- Elemental spell "Earthen Grasp" now costs only 2 Corruption (was 5).
- Illusion combat spell "Torment" now has +1 combat die.
- Elven spell "Forest Allies" now only gives 1 Influence when cast.
- Elven spell "Mending" now only heals +1 health instead of going to maximum.
Bugs:
- Fixed an issue that could show misleading combat results when dying to the Abomination Seed. (thanks: Mouth)
Heretical Notions #3
The Blood Cult has been out for a little over a month now and hopefully everyone has had a chance to wrestle with some of the challenges that they bring.
We've been a little quiet lately working on some internal C Prompt stuff like new game prototypes and other forward-looking pieces. However, we are definitely not yet done with Heretic Operative!
In the next few weeks we'll be pushing out a balance patch, touching a number of areas but primarily focused on giving magic a boost. While we don't want to lose the unique feel that the existing magic system has - forcing Operatives to confront the dangers of Corruption - we do want to make sure that using spells is viable even on harder difficulty setups.
As a very small studio, we really appreciate the time players have put into the game. We read every review and discussion post, so don't hesitate to share your thoughts!
Heretic Operative 1.1.3
It also includes a "reference" set of text for all the strings in the game, for anyone interested in doing text or language mods for the game. Thanks to Steam user "etrigane" (https://www.youtube.com/user/evasowana) for showing there's some possible interest in this sort of thing.
For more details on how to do text mods, I've posted a brief set of instruction docs on our Discord (https://discord.gg/KfjK973). The underlying game engine is fairly well suited for modding or adding new cards, so if there is interest in card mods, I'd love to add support for them in the future.
Meanwhile, I hope everyone is having a good time fighting the Blood Cult!
Please leave a review if you can, as our Steam reviews make a huge difference in how new people discover the game.
Blood Cult is now live! (1.1.2 patch notes)
Let us know what you think in the forums or by leaving us a review!
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New content:
- New Cult: Blood Cult (DLC)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1060830/Heretic_Operative__Blood_Cult/
- New Operative: Aethys the Enduring
Aethys is available upon reaching level 4, and is free for all players.
Gameplay:
- Arcane damage abilities now always give you at least one combat die, even if your Arcane skill is very low.
Bugs:
- Ambient volume setting was being ignored in some circumstances, now fixed.
- Frontier Adventure card "Finders Keepers" now correctly increases Corruption. (thanks: Zeru)
- Fixed an issue where the "Twisted Fate" story could fail if you recruited the Astrologer on the same turn the defeat timer completed. (thanks: Zeral)
- Fixed some inconsistent uses of Elven Archive vs Elf Archive.
- Difficulty icons for the Hideout now properly show that it contains both Social and Physical skill challenges.
- Added some bullet-proofing against combat abilities that result in no rolled dice.
- Fixed an issue where an incorrect Operative target could be listed in the log after drawing Event and Enemy cards.
Misc:
- Experimental support for text mods.
Heretic Operative - Blood Cult!
We are pleased to announce the first DLC for Heretic Operative - the Blood Cult!
Fully embracing the power of Blood magic, this new Cult is a dangerous adversary. Players will be required to change up their tactics to find new ways to fight the Blood Cult before all their loyal Townsfolk are rapidly converted to cultists...
Releasing alongside the Blood Cult will be "Aethys the Enduring", our first additional starting Operative. Aethys is completely free to all players of Heretic Operative regardless of whether or not you own the Blood Cult.
The Blood Cult will be arriving on April 19!
Check out the full store page here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1060830/Heretic_Operative__Blood_Cult/
Heretical Notions #2
Alongside the DLC will be a new free starting Operative for you to use - Aethys the Enduring.
- Natural Bloodmage: Bonus damage to Blood dice while injured.
- Enduring Will: Recovers Health every turn.
Like all our starting Operatives, using Aethys can really change up the strategies can use and the risks you can take.
Also - we now have trading cards! Check your Steam Inventory for them if you are an existing player. They are all based on various locations in the game.
Patch Notes - 1.0.5
Next week we'll share some more details about our first DLC and the free content that accompanies it.
New content:
- Added 4 new Adventure cards.
Gameplay:
- The Barkeep at Copec's Tavern can now generate more resources, and help in some adventure cards.
- The feast summoned by "Conjure Feast" no longer requires an Action Point to use, and can be used twice before disappearing.
- Tavern Adventure card "Cultist Ambush" now has an option that spends Influence instead of rumors, to avoid redundancy with the general use of Rumors to redraw Adventures.
- "Elven Herbalist" Adventure card is now more generous as to what constitutes "lack of Corruption".
Misc:
- Combat round results are now hidden until combat dice are finished rolling.
- Fixed a typo in Shadow Cult "Unnatural Darkness" card.
- Mercenary deck now has a proper repeatable "empty deck" reward. (Thanks: tiavals)
- Added a large notification popup when starting a new game or loading a saved game to make it clearer what is going on if the launch process is taking a long time.
Bugs:
- Blood spell "Mutilation" now properly gives Arcane skill. (thanks: Rainbow Lotus & tiavals)
- Fixed an internal string that could appear on the Ambush card view.
- Conjuration spell "Conjure Feast" is no longer referred to as "Arcane Feast" in some places.