Arkain News Network

[Shar Dundred]

Be sure to subscribe to this thread to stay up to date on Arkain news!

Here you may find all information about Arkain updates, patches, changes etc.

Whenever a campaign, demo or other Arkain-related material gets uploaded or updated, you will be informed about it here!
All other Arkain news will of course also be posted here.

 

[Shar Dundred]

21st January 2018
Official launch of Legends of Arkain as an official Hosted Project of the Hive Workshop!
The first characters have been added to the Character Sheet - many more are yet to come!

 

[Shar Dundred]

23rd January 2018
The first race mechanic, the leadership bonus, has been published. Check it out here:
Human Race Mechanic: Leadership Boni
Progress of Chapter Eleven is going extremely well, I expect the update coming soon in either
late January or early February.

 

[Shar Dundred]

25th January 2018
Today is the day many of you have waited for: The release of Chapter Eleven!
But, I gotta be honest with you: @Kasrkin and I had finished Eleven like two weeks ago and
haven't even touched it since.
However, this update doesn't just include Eleven: It also includes Chapter Twelve and a new Interlude!
Yes, you read right, this update brings not one chapter, it brings two new chapters and an Interlude!
We celebrate the ascension of the Legends of Arkain to the Hosted Project section this way!
The Interlude is so vital to the story, that you literally HAVE TO watch it before Chapter Eleven even
shows in the campaign loading screen.
Be sure to turn on your sound & music before watching the Interlude!
Have fun!
Second Human Book of Arkain Demo

Version 0.60

General:
- Several grammar improvements
- Purifiers now have mana to use their abilities
- Changed armor type of Goblin Airships from Medium to Large
- All Dwarven units now have Spell Resistance (excluding heroes)
- All Elven units now have Elven Heritage (excluding heroes)
- AI heroes will no longer sell their items
- Pride of Humanity airships now have Cluster Rockets - WATCH OUT THOSE WRIST ROCKETS!
- Removed Grunt variants, there is only the "regular" Grunt now
- Gardon now has the "Summon Zed" ability which allows him to call upon his powerful and loyal armored dire wolf companion
- The Order of the Holy Bastion upgrade has been improved and became a leadership bonus
- New race mechanic added: Leadship Boni! See details here: Human Race Mechanic: Leadership Boni

Chapter One:
- Fixed the issue that the side quest would not be completed if you killed your units yourself

Chapter Four:
- You now start the mission with Zed

Chapter Seven:
- Elites are no longer trainable
- Overseers are trainable
- If you chose Scarlett, Cora's items now appear at your base

Chapter Nine:
- Pride of Humanity airships no longer cost any food

Chapter Ten:
- Fixed Runepriests' adept/master training not showing on the unit
- You now start with a Blacksmith and an Arcane Vault

Interlude Three:
- Released

Chapter Eleven:
- Released

Chapter Twelve:
- Released

 

[Shar Dundred]

26th of January 2018
The following characters have been added to the Character Sheet:
Humans:
- Lord Genethas
- Lord Harmos the Guardian of the Flame
Demons:
- Ebira
- Lisara
- Lord Margazar
The next few days I will try to fill as many gaps as possible for both the Character Sheet and the Faction Sheet.

 

[Shar Dundred]

30th of January 2018
Many undead characters have been added to the Character Sheet:
Released the last Interlude for the Second Human Book & Version 0.70!
Have fun!
Second Human Book of Arkain Demo

Version 0.70

General:
- Nerfed attack rate bonus of Shadows of the Shadow Master from 33% to 20%
- Fixed van Durce's hotkey
- Fixed the issue that would cause you to have two Zeds after the Pack of the Bloodclaw upgrade - you must now re-summon him to become more powerful
- Decreased the size of Bloodfangs
- Justice spell:
* Renamed to Divine Judgement
* Decreased mana cost from 200 to 150
* Increased area of effect damage from 100 to 150, increasing the damage on the main target from 400 to 450
- Changed the recruitment cost of Bloodfangs from 200 gold to 160 gold and 20 lumber
- Increased the hit points of Chosen of Hammerfall from 675 to 750

Chapter Four:
- Zed now has the Lone Wolf ability in this chapter which acts as Reincarnation
- One of Us and Trained by Thanok now affect also the Elites that cost no food

Chapter Eleven:
- Fire Shield will no longer make a spellbook ability appear

Chapter Twelve:
- Fire Shield will no longer make a spellbook ability appear

Interlude Four:
- Released

 

[Shar Dundred]

5th of February 2018
The Second Human Book of Arkain is now reaching the final stage of its development.
The demo will receive only one more mission, Chapter Thirteen, the showdown between
Duke Volarian Redfist and his daughter Aedale and the demoness Lisara.
Your choices regarding Aedale in the First Human Book, the ones that seemed not to have any
impact so far, will have an impact on both story and gameplay of the mission.
Either along with the chapter or even before its release, another update will improve other
chapters and cinematics.
However, already we have reached a special point. Why? Because now, in addition to working
on the next chapter, I will also begin working on another version of the Second Human Book:
The release version.
Some of you may think "Where is the difference? Another version makes no sense!", but I want
to stress that, unlike in the First Books, I want the final version of the Second Human Book to
differ from the demo not only by including fixes, polish and the final chapter, but also add and
improve both story and gameplay elements that have been either postponed or were always meant
not to be included until the final version of the campaign.
One of the most notable elements will be special tweaks for the recently added Leadership Boni.
This tweak will feature something you may remember from the First Human Book: The ability to
change the personality of characters through new Leadership Bonus technologies for the existing
characters - yes, you read right, this means that some characters will receive another Leadership
Bonus in additon to their existing one - you may still only choose one, however!
This new mechanic will not only affect your gameplay, but also the story of this character.
Unlike the Aedale choices, this might be less obvious than you may first think.
This version will also give you new ways to solve the situation with the Elves and allow you to
alter the events regarding Salana and Larine depending on both new and past choices.

These are just examples, there will be more changes than just that, many more.
The demo, even in its "final" state, is not to be considered a full product. Unlike most games of
today's market, however, the DLCs with the missing cool stuff will not be added after release
for you to purchase, but instead before it (and for free, obviously)!

In the end, it will be worth your time to play the Second Human Book again instead of skipping
everything just to get to the final mission as fast as possible.
Your choices will have even more impact than they have now.

Brace yourselves. The war is far from over.

 

[Shar Dundred]

12th of February 2018
A new version, the second-to-last demo version of the Second Human Book has been released.
Work on the release version of the Second Human Book has made some good progress.
From now on, fixes will be applied to the release version rather than the demo due to
the many changes that are made. Else I would have to do everything twice.
News about Chapter Thirteen are scarce right now, but that is going to change over the next
days. I intend to go into full production of Thirteen.
There still are a few things I can tell you about Chapter Thirteen at this point.
a) It will be the showdown between Aedale and her father.
b) Your choices regarding the demonic artifacts will have a huge impact on this chapter.
Both story and gameplay will be affected by it.
c) It will be a micro mission without building a base & only a limited amount of units.
d) You will encounter Aedale's father, Duke Redist, her sister Orie Redfist and a number of members
of Redfists' personal army.
e) You will have no human units or heroes (excluding Aedale of course) at your disposal.

Second Human Book of Arkain Demo

Version 0.71

General:
- Fixed Summon Zed hotkey
- Increased the hit points and damage of Bloodfists

Chapter Eleven A:
- Replaced the Scepter of Healing carried by Praxeus the Holy Bastion with another item

Chapter Eleven B:
- Fixed Gryphon Rider icon position according to its hotkey
- Added two Pride of Humanity airships to the entrance of the fortress which will get replaced by Marin if they die
- Gardons' base now has more Shadow Towers
- Removed Elites from the base of Merlon and Birram
- Replaced remaining Elites with Honor Guards
- Lerrig and his forces now move next to your Castle when they arrive
- Marin now uses no more Destructors, but instead more Pride of Humanity airships to show his status as the supreme engineer of Arkain
- The Ironfist now has more Shadow Towers on the way to its base
- Replaced some of the items carried by Theoden of Kome (including the Scepter of Healing) with other items
- Added a second goldmine to the player base

 

[Shar Dundred]

16th of February 2018
The first WIP screenshot of Chapter Thirteen of the Second Human Book has been published!
Since Chapter Thirteen already had its teaser cinematic, there will be no new one.
The teaser cinematic is available in the Downloads thread along with all other teaser cinematics.

Hidden

 

[Shar Dundred]

22nd of February 2018
Today the public test version for patch 1.29 for WarCraft 3 has been released.
Link: WARCRAFT III - PATCH 1.29 PTR
Why do I post this here?
Apart from the fact that this is the biggest goddamn patch this game has seen in over a
decade, this version not only increases the limits of the editor (allowing me to go more insane
with stuff), it also increases the number of players and player colors up to 24.

Here are the new colors

And this is only a part of what has been changed!
How will this affect Arkain?
Well, if possible, I would like to upload the full version of the Second Human Book with the full
release of 1.29. I think the most notable difference would be the new player colors.
Will this slow the progress of Arkain's development?
Not unlikely since I will want to experiment with the new stuff, but I will not withhold content
to wait for any release. I will also not let the development of Arkain suffer because of this.

 

[Shar Dundred]

1st of March 2018
Today is the day: The LAST demo for the Second Human Book has been released!
The long anticipated showdown: Redfist VS Redfist!
There are no words for this release except one: Enjoy!
Second Human Book of Arkain Demo

 

[Shar Dundred]

11th of March 2018
The next race mechanic, Brothers in Arms, has been published. Check it out here:
Orc Race Mechanic: Brothers in Arms
Work on the full release of the Second Human Book is going well. I am currently tweaking
existing chapters, improving object data and, fitting to the theme of the thread, working
a lot on the Orcs and their allies, aiming to add more of their diversity in the Second Human Book.

 

[Shar Dundred]

24th of March 2018
Mere minutes ago, I have sent @Kasrkin the version that consists of all already published chapters
in their final state for testing. My next goal is to work on the two versions of Chapter Fourteen
while finishing the missing character sheets.

Stay tuned, we are reaching the final days of development!

 

[Shar Dundred]

30th of March 2018
The Golden Guard 2.0
The Golden Guard is receiving its final adjustments prior to release.
It has grown a lot since the release of the first versions of the Second Human Book, some ways
of its developments were just as I intended, some I could not have forseen myself.
They started with mere three units: Zealots, Crossbowmen (identical to the not-golden ones in the First Books) and Executors.
Now, the three units have become a total of nine units, with only two being shared with other human factions.
Today, we are going to take a closer look at the units that are unique to the Golden Guard.

The Zealot
Zealots are a more offensive infantry unit than the original Footman or the Defender, its Royal Army equivalent.
They have no Defend ability and are therefore less useful against ranged units or defensive structures than Defenders,
but their Critical Strike ability and higher overall damage allows them to be more effective against non-ranged units.
You will find yourself quickly replacing them with the more powerful Executors, but van Durce might find a way to make
them more useful in combat as well. A Zealot may be worthy to become a Templar, after all.

The Lieutenant
The Lieutenants are leader units like the Greywolves. They increase the overall effectiveness of their allied units and
their aura makes them useful additions to the other units of the Golden Guard.

The Crossbowman
Crossbowmen haven't changed much since the First Human Book, but their armor has gained some nice golden color and
can still be enhanced.
They are still your basic ranged units to support your frontline units, especially when facing enemy air units.

The Executor
The Executors are the most iconic unit of the Golden Guard. They are slower than Knights and have less armor, but their
Cleaving Attack and high damage turns them into horrifying opponents. Their halberds can devastate entire groups of enemies.
An army of Executors can be able to afflict high damage both to armored and unarmored opponents and turns a battle into
an execution.

The Angelic
The Angelics are demi-human beings who used to be ordinary priestesses of the Golden Guard. They were picked by van Durce
himself to be his chosen. Only the most skilled and most loyal are judged worthy of this gift.
In a sacred ceremony, the grail that van Durce carries with him, would be filled with blessed water and a few drops of the High Lords' blood.
The chosen would then drink from the grail, her already existing holy power would be doubled and she would obtain her wings.
The Angelics, while not very numerous, would be even more loyal towards the High Lord, than any of his other servants.
The Angelics, replacing the Chaplains, will fill serve as both supporting and offensive casters, possessing the ability to increase
your other units' combat effectiveness while also being able to deal high damage to enemy units.

The Paladin
When tensions between the different human factions reached their height, the Paladins, now leaderless, found a new leader and
joined the Golden Guard, more than willing to turn their holy wrath both against the enemies of mankind and against those who
would have fallen from the path of righteousness.
Paladins are the most powerful existing human cavalry unit, perhaps even the most powerful cavalry unit of all races.
While dealing less damage than the Knights and lacking their Charge ability, Paladins have more hit points and more armor and,
most importantly, possess the Holy Light ability. A group of Paladins can keep themselves alive for a longer period of time than a
bigger group of Knights may be able to.
With the Paladin and the Angelic, a deadly combination, the Golden Guard under the command of van Durce has no need for
"regular" caster units like Chaplains or Hydromancers.

The Siege Tank
Catapults? Who needs catapults when you can call upon Siege Tanks?
Like the powerful Destructors, the Siege Tanks have been crafted by Lord Marin to inflict enormous damage over large distances.
The Siege Tank is more expensive than its Catapult counterpart, but it is absolutely worth it.
And let's not forget about the flamethrower that the Siege Tank possesses to deal damage to those who get too close.

 

[Shar Dundred]

7th of April 2018
Many characters of the Orcs and their allies have been added to the Character Sheet!

 

[Shar Dundred]

11th of April 2018
A new age of Arkain! An age of conquest, of war... and torture!
Blizzard has released its 1.29 patch for WarCraft III.
As already pointed out in the news on the 22nd of February this year, this will allow Arkain to
improve even more and I will be able to release the Second Human Book with this new patch!
The two versions of Chapter Fourteen are going to be finished by me this week, unless the
new patch throws in things that would slow progress down (I hope not).
Anyway, this does NOT mean that the Second Human Book will have its full release this week.
@Kasrkin will have to do lots and lots of testing and the new 1.29 patch with all of its fine additions
will take some of my time. I mean, I get new tools, of course I will add them to Arkain!

That being said, I don't know if the patch breaks anything yet. I consider it a possibilitiy, however,
testing everything should help to find any possible bug.
I suggest all of you to get the 1.29 patch before downloading the full Second Human Book.
It will be created with that version and given the changes, I doubt you would be able to play
it without the 1.29 patch.
Prepare your armies and pikes, ladies and gentlemen, for soon the slaughter shall commence!

 

[Shar Dundred]

12th of April 2018
Today I have news that I cannot dress up in any positive way - I wouldn't try anyway.
The 1.29 patch, that we were all looking forward to, has resulted in causing a massive bug
TL;DR: I cannot work on any part of the custom techtree anymore. I can neither add techtree
requirements nor researches or even add upgrades to units or anything that is somehow related
to this.
Sadly, work on the techtree is imperative for the final stages of the Second Human Book.
We're not talking about some adjustments here and there, we are talking about things that are
ESSENTIAL to make the last chapters even PLAYABLE.
I have already discussed this matter with Hive's World Editor experts on Discord, them trying to
help fixing the issue, but ith no success whatsoever.
As with many bugs in 1.29, some people experience some bugs that others don't, I haven't experienced
some bugs that others had endured myself - for example, I don't have any issues with any custom icons,
despite having seen pictures that some people have bugs here!

One could ask "Why not go back to 1.27 or 1.28?".
Well. all versions of the Second Human Book, including the backups, have been in touch with 1.29.
Blizzard has screwed 1.29 up, there is no point in trying to put this any other way.
Not only does it cause damage to existing maps, it also sabotages the editor.
This one thing above is only one of the things they screwed up, for example, you also can't use the
minimap in the world editor properly anymore.

I am sure that there will be a hotfix/new patch at some point, but until that has happened, I cannot
continue working on Arkain.
At this point, I don't even dare touch anything with the editor since the next patch might break that as well.
Am I overreacting? Maybe I am, but I don't want to spend time with something that might be broken by
the next download of some patch/fix.

Until Blizzard fixes 1.29 and enables me to FINISH the Second Human Book, I am staying on hiatus.
I will NOT waste my time by working with a BROKEN editor.
I am, frankly, quite pissed that Blizzard has fucked up this patch so hard, it obviously wasn't ready for release yet.

See ya when Blizz gets their shit together.
~Shar

 

[Shar Dundred]

24th of April 2018
Yesterday, Blizzard has released its next patch for WarCraft III.
Already before they had done so, I have been doing some improvements, tweaks and fixes for
the last build of the Second Human Book - yes, despite saying I'd stay away.
I *might* have fixed the bug of Chapter Fourteen A. Maybe. Possibly. Hopefully.
I really hope I did.
I don't know if I have or not, it requires additional testing to be figured out.

However, as you know, the new patches have a tendency to cause new problems.
They need to be found and fixed.
Therefore, I have made a decision that I may or may not regret:
I have released another demo version, including Chapter Fourteen A.
Again, I do not know if Chapter Fourteen A works or not, but I also don't know if everything else
is working as it is supposed to.
Therefore I am publishing this almost-complete-version of the Second Human Book and ask you
all who follow the project to report every single bug that you can find.

And before you complain about Chapter Fourteen A if there are any huge issues with it, please
keep in mind that we were completely unable to test it due to the bugs and I am now publishing it
because I want *you* to a) experience the chapter prior to release and to b) help @Kasrkin to find
the bugs before he loses his damn mind in some demonic abyss. Again.

Here you go:
Second Human Book of Arkain Demo

 

[Shar Dundred]

7th of May 2018
Today is the day we've been waiting for!
It has been three years (with a few breaks on the way), but now we have it:
The full version of the Second Human Book of Arkain has been released!
It contains 26 maps in total.

Enjoy the story of Gardon and the Ironfist!

 

[Shar Dundred]

17th of September 2018
Damn, it has been an eternity since I last used this thread. I will do something about that.
For those of you who do not know yet, I have recently added:
An Official Arkain Timeline which can be discussed here
and a Worldmap of Arkain which I am still working on (at least the post-Second Voidwar one atm).

Also, just today, I have released two new short stories of Arkain called "Return" and "Report" in the thread Tales of Arkain.

I WILL have more Arkain news in the near future, so be sure that you are subscribed to this thread.
Don't speculate too much into it please, but I will still let you know that I am working on some Arkain content that you might find worth your time.

Also, absolutely unrelated to this but since I have been talking about the patches in the past, I will do it again:
Do NOT download 1.30.X of WarCraft III unless you want your game experience to be ruined.
As far as I know, that patch is causing TREMENDOUS trouble for custom games and WILL break your Arkain experience by buggin the game beyond measure.

If you were unlucky enough to already have downloaded it.... I hope for you that Blizzard will sort that out.

 

[Shar Dundred]

22nd of September 2018
The short story "Survival" has been added to the thread Tales of Arkain.
This story includes some stuff I have been tinkering with for a longer period of time, I think it can be
very interesting for you to read!

 

[Shar Dundred]

26th of September 2018
After a long time, I have decided to fix a few issues and also fix a bug caused by 1.30.
I have first uploaded a version 1.10 and just a few minutes ago 1.20 of the Second Human Book of Arkain.
Enjoy!

 

[Shar Dundred]

28th of September 2018
The short story "Cold War" has been added to the Tales of Arkain
Also, I would like to repeat what I said in the Second Human Book of Arkain thread:
I encourage you to report any bugs you have with the new version in the Bug Report thread.

 

[Shar Dundred]

8th of October 2018
The Undead bring not only one but TWO new race mechanics to the table! Be sure to check them out!
Undead Race Mechanic: Armies of the Dead
Undead Race Mechanic: Undying Craft

 

[Shar Dundred]

17th of October 2018
The Second Human Book of Arkain has received some bug fixes - hopefully all of it has now been fixed.
The AI of Chapter Eleven in the Legends of Arkain First Human Book has received a massive update that should fix most issues.
Some units will still be running through the swamp to get to the other side, but it works well enough regardless.

The Legends of Arkain First Orc Book and the Legends of Arkain First Undead Book have received a minor update along with the others.
Due to some of the balance changes made by Blizzard in their latest versions that affect Arkain because I was using the latest melee patches until now, I have decided to undo this.
You will now see less similarities to the actual melee when it comes to unit stats or upgrade costs, but nothing too big.
In addition, the First Books had an issue that made the Prologue crash, which has now been fixed. Also, the sea mission of the Undead now has a more fitting mission name.

Now that these issues have been dealt with - hopefully I will not have to fix anything else - I will completely focus on other things.
Expect some material to be read shortly.

Enjoy!

 

[Shar Dundred]

11th November 2018
The short story "Espionage" has been added to the Tales of Arkain.

 

[Shar Dundred]

23rd December 2018
Ladies and gentlemen,

Christmas is drawing close and I have decided to give you a small gift (yes, I know that it is a bit early, but I wanted to do it roday rather than tomorrow).
Today I have released a new short story called "The Heirs of Zyainor" in the Tales of Arkain!
This short story is actually a collection of five short stories describing, who would have thought, the heirs of Zyainor!

Have fun reading, happy holidays & celebrate in the knowledge that more is coming your way!

 

[Shar Dundred]

26th December 2018
I hope you all had/have nice holidays!
I also hope you enjoyed the short stories.
In fact, I wanted to let you know that in the next 1 - 2 weeks we will have something new for you to enjoy!

Stay tuned, I am sure you will not regret it!

 

[Shar Dundred]

31st December 2018
All of you ready for the new year? I surely am.
Today, I have released the first demo of the Second Orc Book of Arkain!

It seems no matter how many times or for how long I quit (was quite a while this time), it
keeps happening.
I will stop claiming to quit the project, at least not until it is done - and we still have quite a
while until that happens - even if I take a break.

The demo is avaiable in the Downloads thread.
It currently consists of two chapters and two cinematics - and also the first map where you make
your choices, of course.
I had wanted to include the third chapter before release, but the mission is causing a bit of trouble
at the moment, but I expect it to be released in January, I just wanted this release to still be this year.

I really hope you will enjoy the demo, even if it is not very long at this point, but there is much more to come!
You are welcome to use the New Content Discussion [SPOILER] to discuss the new content!
The Race Mechanic of the Orcs will also receive an overhaul as there have been a few changes. More news on that later.

Stay tuned!

 

[Shar Dundred]

2nd January 2019
Just a few minutes ago, I have uploaded version 0.11 of the Second Orc Book.
You can, as always, find it in the Downloads thread.
No changelog this time because it only consists of bug and other text-related fixes.

Of course, that is not all I have to tell you. As I mentioned in the last news, the race mechanic of the
Orcs has been changed a lot since the creation of that thread.
I will go into detail when I update the thread, shouldn't be too long from now until I do that, but I will
tell you that the update will allow even more customization of your armies than it originally did!
(For those of you who do not know what this is all about, feel free to check out the thread

I still plan to release Chapter Three in January, but not only that, I will also see if I can get
Chapter Four working this month as well! Chapter Five only if I am very lucky!
Due to the nature of the race mechanic of the Orcs, lorewise, it will take a few chapters
until it can get fully introduced.
While I of course know which chapter it will be, I will not just tell you this now because I feel it
should be more of a surprise.

I have also updated the Current Project Showcase with the current progress of the campaign.

Stay tuned!

 

[Shar Dundred]

6th January 2019
@Kasrkin has finished yet another short story (been a while since the last one, eh?) called "Burning Islands".
It can be found in the Tales of Arkain.
It tells you a bit more about what happened after Chapter Two from the human perspective of things.

 

[Shar Dundred]

14th January 2019
Progress on the next update is going very well. The next chapter(s) will be released next week.
In addition to that, we have two more news: The Redfist faction overview & the overhaul of the
race mechanic for the Orcs.

Let's start by talking about the race mechanic.
The Orc Race Mechanic: Brothers in Arms has been updated.
Instead of you, the player, choosing what races you want to use per chapter, you will have access to an immense
amount of units (more than 30!) once you have unlocked all units & races.
In order to make such a massive selection usable, some of them are not trained directly but instead
are treated as alternatives or upgrades for units you train normally (similar to the Destroyer & Obsidian Statue).
It will require more micro management, but this is made up by the fact that a powerful unit has the
training time of a weaker unit while the upgrade to the stronger unit is instant.

Now let's take a look at your newest best friends in the Second Orc Book: Duke Redfist and his legions!

The overall thematic of the Redfist is that they are elite soldiers who are fanatical enemies of
the Orcs and, as you may already have experienced in Chapter Two, love to burn the entire
race of the Orcs and their allies into the ground.
They are led by Duke Volarian Redfist the Tyrant himself who hates the Orcs even more than his
most fanatical followers.
The main weakness of the Redfist is that they lack air units. However, they are well aware of that
and may consider letting others deal with aerial fights...

The Crusader
The butter and bread unit of the Redfist, the Crusader is strong enough to be an even match for
the Grunt, unlike other ordinary human infantry units who are usually inferior to the Grunts.
Having access to both Defend and Critical strike, the Crusader excels his counterparts both
offensively and defensively.

The Hunter
When the Redfist is lacking the mages to set villages on fire or if they just want a flying monster taken down,
the Hunters are more than willing to fulfil their duty and do that with their Searing Arrows.
They also take full advantage of a strong, improved armor when hunting down various beasts.

The Conqueror
The Conqueror is the regular elite unit of the Redfist. Powerful and heavily armored, they use poweful flails
to destroy their enemies while their mental training allows them to resist some spells partially or even completely.
Special thanks again to @sagi5533, the creator of the Arthas Campaign series, for not only fixing the model, but
also giving me the skin he used for his own series so that this unit could be added to the ranks of the Redfist in
the first place.

The Red Priest
Red Priests are more than just healers for the Redfist. They also provide additional offensive power to weaken any
enemy forces. That being said, they are still very vulnerable and on their own hardly a threat, like all other priests.
However, if they are part of a larger group of Redfist soldiers...

The Merciless
While the Golden Guard has the Lieutenants, the Royal Army the Greywolf and the Ironfist the Overseer, the Redfist
has the Merciless. Extremely powerful elite soldiers that buff their allies while also being the most powerful unit in the
arsenal of Duke Redfist, those guys always mean trouble. And they REALLY hate the Orcs.

 

[Shar Dundred]

20th January 2019
Progress on the next chapters has been going very well. Nothing stands in the way of releasing
Chapters Three and Four in the demo update next week so far.
Not entirely sure regarding Chapter Five yet. If I can add it too, I will, but I don't want to rush
its release.
We are also experimenting with some other stuff that I do not want to publish yet. If everything
goes well, there will be something else updated next week.

Stay tuned!

 

[Shar Dundred]

22nd January 2019
Today is the day: Version 0.20 of the Second Orc Book has been released!
In addition to the bug fixes and new additions, like Okri's item now granting her the ability to
use mana burn, three new playable chapters have been added!
Furthermore, the Upkeep system has received a little overhaul.
While I considered removing the system entirely, I decided not to do that just yet.
However, as Arkain requires you to build up huge armies, the upkeep penalties are just too huge.
Therefore, the penalties have been reduced from 30% on Low Upkeep and 60% on High Upkeep
to 20% and 40% respectively.
All campaigns have received an update including this change.
Enjoy them and the new chapters of the Second Orc Book of course!
The new demo of the Second Orc Book can be found in Downloads

Version 0.20

General:
- Upkeep reworked: Low Upkeep now gives you 8 instead of 7 gold and High Upkeep now gives you 6 instead of 4 gold
- Increased the hit points of Merciless
- Decreased attack rate of Merciless
- Merciless gained Command Aura
- Merciless no longer has Defend
- Fixed Okri from being an Agility-based hero into being a Strength-based hero
- Grammar fixes
- Tooltip fixes
- Zarok now allows Okri to use Mana Burn (item ability)

Chapter One:
- Fixed the handicaps for easy difficulty

Chapter Two:
- Replaced two Merciless with Conquerors
- Added three more Grunts to the first Orc group
- Added two Crusaders to the side quest
- Slightly moved one of the first Redfist groups

Interlude One:
- Replaced the models of the two unnamed heroes

Chapter Three:
- Released

Chapter Four:
- Released

Chapter Five:
- Released

Edit: Thanks to the people giving feedback, I was able to find & fix a few more bugs with a hotfix!

Version 0.21

Chapter Three:
- Fixed hotkeys for several units

Chapter Four:
- Fixed Demolisher hotkey
- Fixed wrong text message when completing a side quest

Chapter Five:
- Added new dialogue line
- Fixed the bearmen choice

 

[Shar Dundred]

25th January 2019
I hope you have enjoyed Chapters Three, Four and Five.
Today another new update is released, it has no chapter this time, but it has added an
important interlude called "Lost Daughters" - a very important interlude that will launch
the REAL plot of this campaign!
Take a look at the new version of the Second Orc Book in Downloads.
I am sure you will not be disappointed!
Enjoy!

Also, here you may find a small hint regarding Chapter Six:

Hidden

Version 0.22

Chapter Two:
- Replaced Wound Healers with Red Priests

Chapter Three:
- Fixed Demolisher hotkey

Chapter Four:
- You can no longer upgrade the Stronghold to a Fortress

Interlude Two:
- Released

 

[Shar Dundred]

29th January 2019
Another week, another chapter - don't ask me to keep up with that speed, I can make no such promise.
Chapter Six has been released! The great battle between General Blen Greymoore and Rath Wolfscar!
You can find the new version in Downloads.
Who will win? There is only one way finding out!

Version 0.30

Chapter Six:
- Released

 

[Shar Dundred]

5th February 2019
As some of you may already know, Chapter Seven of the Second Orc Book was finished yesterday.
There is no new demo yet as I intend to release Chapter Seven & Chapter Eight together.
Chapter Seven is going to finally introduce the Orc Race Mechanic: Brothers in Arms!
It will also be the point from which on the Humans will start using their own - Human Race Mechanic: Leadership Boni.

Be prepared, the invasion of Salria is at head! And I can see red dawn on the horizon...

 

[Shar Dundred]

10th February 2019
Today's release is something very special.
Not only are Chapters Seven and Eight being released, they both also are the first chapters to
feature the Orc Race Mechanic: Brothers in Arms!
I am looking forward to read what you think about it!
But of course we shall not forget the story either! The two new chapters feature the first REAL
steps of the invasion of Salria! The first steps to create a new home for the Orcs and their newfound
allies!
Try out the new version in Downloads!
Are you ready for this massive invasion? You better be!

Version 0.40

General:
- Fixed tooltip for Military Edict
- Red Priests of Redfist now have a unique caster upgrade art icon
- Edited several hero models to have hero glow by default, removing all kinds of bugs regarding wrong team colors for hero glows
- Added the Demolish ability to Wallcrushers
- Grammar fixes
- Fixed the tooltip of Dripping Venom

Chapter Five:
- The sludges by the fountain no longer belong to the Souleater Legion

Chapter Six:
- Fixed Spider trigger
- Fixed several messages
- Aedale should now queue her spell animation in the ending cinematic as she was supposed to
- Moved two of the Kasrkin Sergeants to more fitting positions
- Fire Shield should no longer cause a spell book ability to appear

Chapter Seven:
- Released

Chapter Eight:
- Released

 

[Shar Dundred]

12th February 2019
I want to thank everyone who helped reporting the bugs they've found in 0.40. This has helped
me greatly to improve the quality of the new version.
This has helped me to bring up two hotfixes on the day of 0.40's release and now I have updated
yet another version: 0.43.
This version should have fixed all issues reported - and a few more! You can find it in Downloads.
Please continue reporting all bugs that you can find.

Here is the full changelog from 0.40 to 0.43:

0.43

General:
- Several grammar and other text- and tooltip-related fixes
- Shredders are now trained in your Great Hall/Stronghold/Fortress instead of Barracks
- Shredders no longer can transform into Warmechs
- Warmechs are now trainable in the Barracks
- Increased the food cost of Shieldbearers to 5
- Mechanized Warfare and Aggressive Expansion now also require a Laboratory
- Veteran Camps no longer claim to be Spirit Lodges
- Warmechs now require the Air Form upgrade to switch to their aerial form
- Fixed resource cost of Warmechs (no more cheap mechs for your war machines)
- Berserk now requires Troll Berserk
- Reduced Shielbearer base armor from 8 to 5
- Fixed length of description for Hammer of Kome (damn you Blizzard, do not allow me to type in editor if it does not appear ingame)

Chapter Eight:
- Flammedus' Centaurs no longer have any goblin units available (whom they cannot train due to the lack of Mechanized Warfare anyway)
- Flammedus' Centaurs now starts with Burning Oil, Liquid Fire and Centaur Hooves already researched
- Cliffhunter Clan now starts with Mechanized Warfare and Aggressive Expansion already researched
- Cliffhunter Clan now has Cannon Towers instead of Watch Towers
- Cliffhunter Clan now has Pig Farms instead of Burrows
- Deathbreeze Clan now starts with Advanced Spiked Barricades (Sasrogarn could not come up with anything better to make up to the upgrades of his allies)
- The Heavy Armor upgrade is no longer available if you have no access to Shieldbearers
- Added a few units to the player base defenses
- Redfist should now be able to properly recruit Conquerors
- Fixed the lack of enemy leadership boni
- Axethrowers, Dragon Lancers and Impalers are available again
- Cliffhunter Clan now trains Clockworkers instead of Peons

The next version to be uploaded, 0.50, is going to add the following chapters:
Chapter Nine: The Legion
Chapter Ten: Dogs of War
Interlude Three: The Duke

Stay tuned!

 

[Shar Dundred]

18th February 2019
Just a small progress report today to inform you about the development of the campaign.
Chapter Nine "The Legion" has been finished and is currently being tested. It will be released when Chapter Ten and the next Interlude are finished.
In addition to adding the next allies to your forces, the next release is also going to shed some light on events from not only the Orc Books - and it will answer some questions that the Second Human Book gave you.
There are rumors that a redclad power might appear in the red dawn but only because the future lies in shadows, there is no proof for such claims!

 

[Shar Dundred]

21st February 2019
Work on Chapter Ten is going well, Chapter Nine is also receiving some small adjustments as time goes by.
I expect the next release of the demo to add some very interesting parts to the story of the Second Books.
Especially the Interlude "The Duke" - which, despite the name, may still tell you a thing or two
about other major characters than "The Duke" - just who could that duke possibly be?

Speaking of revelations, a very small WIP spoiler of Chapter Ten waits just ahead!

What secrets lie behind? What horrors?

Well, two towers, obviously, duh!

 

[Shar Dundred]

24th February 2019
I am proud to announce that today is the day you have been waiting for:
The release of Chapters Nine and Ten and the third Interlude of the Second Orc Book!
You will fight them on the beaches, the mountains and the fortress!
Will you succeed? Will you defeat them? What horrible dangers await you?
Well, there is only one way to find out! Check the Downloads!

Version 0.50

General:
- Several grammar and other fixes
- Mechanized Warfare will no longer cause your Peons/Clockworkers to stop harvesting resources
- Removed Scout Zeppelins from the Orc roster
- War Zeppelins are now directly built from the Barracks
- Decreased the attack speed of War Zeppelins from 3 per second to 2 per second against air units
- Decreased the damage of War Zeppelins against air units by 3
- Increased the damage of War Zeppelins against ground units by 5
- Changed the color of the Deathbreeze Clan in all chapters from Dark Green to Emerald
- Replaced the model of the Outrunner with a new variant of the same model
- Fixed the caster icon for Elders
- Increased hit points of Sappers to 120

Chapter Five:
- Instantly skipping the cinematic during the mission should no longer cause your units to turn invulnerable

Chapter Eight:
- Gryphon Riders deal Magic damage now

Chapter Nine:
- Released

Chapter Ten:
- Released

Interlude Three:
- Released

 

[Shar Dundred]

25th February 2019
After some consideration, the Orc Race Mechanic: Brothers in Arms has received some changes.
The abilities that allowed units to turn into other, more powerful units, have been removed.
The ability caused some annoying bugs and also the micromanagement it caused was rather unneeded.
Units are still capable to turn into other units, like the Grunt into the Axethrower and the other way around,
but units like the Overlord or Clan Brute are now directly trained from the training buildings.
The new version also fixed some bugs, you can find it in Downloads!
Enjoy!

By the way, the next chapter may throw your keyboard underwater and the one after that may
be your nightmare.
Stay tuned!

Version 0.51

General:
- The Race Mechanic: Brothers in Arms has been changed to fix all issues brought by it:
* Units can no longer upgrade into more powerful units, those who were able to switch unit type for free still can however
* Bloodhounds, Shieldbearers and Clan Brutes are now trained directly from the Barracks
* Gladiators and Overlords are now trained directly from the Bestiary
* Bearmen and Dragon Lancers are no longer available
- Increased Shieldbearer food cost from 5 to 6
- Lowered Overlord food cost from 10 to 8

Chapter Seven:
- Replaced Bestiary with another Barracks
- Bestiaries can no longer be built in this mission

Chapter Eight:
- Flammedus no longer has access to War Zeppelins

Chapter Nine:
- War Zeppelins are no longer trainable
- Removed Liquid Fire upgrade

Chapter Ten:
- All gates are invulnerable now

 

[Shar Dundred]

2nd of March 2019
Ladies and gentlemen,
progress on Chapter Eleven is doing very well, it is still in the testing phase since @Kasrkin,
rightfully I must admit, pointed out that it is currently way too easy to be released - we already
were going easy with the difficulty so far, we gotta stop that.
As you may remember, Chapter Eleven was the point when the Second Human Book back then
got into its final development stages. It feels crazy to write this as the development of the Second
Orc Book had started like what three to four months ago and we are at that point yet again!
It seems that the current speed of progress is on fire - like the Orc Islands!
As you may also remember, Chapter Eleven was the point when the Second Human Book split into
two parts. This is not going to be the case with the Second Orc Book.
The reason for that is not that I had no idea or anything, I had something written in the script actually,
but I have decided to scrap it because... It would have involved a turn of events that was not only
unrealistic but also involved certain conditions that I did not want to bring to the table in any way.
That is not to say that there are no choices of effects of choices, hell no!
As a matter of fact, I am proud to announce that there is also going to be a secret chapter that is
available with a choice if certain conditions are met - the same conditions that also have impact on
another major event. I am not going to spoil anything yet, I will wait until the release of the secret
chapter - which is by the way VERY different from the one we had in the First Human Book, I can assure
you, it is much longer, is very different from what I have created thus far and has an extremely huge effect
on the storyline! - and also wait a bit more because I want to see if people can think of ways how to unlock it.

Stay tuned!

 

[Shar Dundred]

3rd of March 2019
Today we are releasing Chapter Eleven of the Second Orc Book: Dark Sea!
In this chapter you are going to face the combined forces of the pirates and the mercenaries,
meeting two new characters: Pirate Queen Zora and Taray the Guardian of Lightning!
These two will fight you on the island, fight you on the open sea, fight you on the beaches and
finally fight you inside their bases, using scoundrels and the power of lightning against you!
Prove that the Orcs are the rulers of the sea! Sink their ships and raze their bases to the ground!
But stay on your guard: sea ships are not going to be your only concern here!
Download the new version in Downloads and look to the skies!

In addition to the new chapter, various improvements and adjustments have been made for
older chapters. Here is the changelog:

Version 0.60

General:
- Increased food cost of Axethrowers to 3
- Increased cooldown for Zarok's Mana Burn ability from 9 to 15

Chapter Two:
- Added a new dialogue

Chapter Three:
- Cannon Towers are no longer displayed as an option for your Watch Towers to be upgraded into
- Added and expanded some dialogues
- Added a new enemy AI

Chapter Four:
- The Royal Army in the north and the south now has Barracks to replace lost units
- The Demon waves have been buffed and are slightly more randomized, offering a larger variety of Demon units
- Several unit & destructible placement adjustments
- Added some dialogues

Chapter Five:
- Added and expanded some dialogues

Interlude Two:
- Thanok no longer appears in the interlude

Chapter Seven:
- Added two big attack waves from the Golden Guard
- Added and expanded some dialogues

Chapter Eight:
- Added a few units defending the enemy bases
- Cassius' Forces now use Ares Knights
- Rebalanced Flammedus' stats to give him less mana but more hit points in exchange

Chapter Nine:
- Fixed Brockta's casting animations
- You now get notifications telling you how many roosts are left and the quest log also updates upon them being destroyed
- Increased Moghtar defenses

Chapter Ten:
- You now get notifications telling you how many of your side objective targets are left and the quest log also updates upon them being destroyed
- The Goblin Shipyard is now owned by the player and has an ability to exchange lumber for gold so you no longer have to move a hero close to it
- Windwitches no longer switch to Harpies
- Zelech now returns to his starting position from time to time if he has moved too far away
- Queens now deal Chaos damage
- The first wave of Fire Golems is now delayed and causes a message warning you about them - only the first one will warn you of the unwanted guests though!
- Later attacks of the AI are now stronger than before

Interlude Three:
- Added new dialogue options for those who completely destroyed their relationship with the Humans

Chapter Eleven:
- Released

Now looking towards the events that still await us, I see great armies of Humans. And a crown.... A crown made of bone.
Or... is it more than one?

 

[Shar Dundred]

16th of March 2019
"Hey it has been like two weeks now and Shar still hasn't released anything! Is he finally
running out of his speed energy, I got other things to do than get brutally butchered in Arkain,
you know!"
Answer: Nope!
Chapter Twelve has been completed and added to the demo along with the hidden Secret Chapter!
The question is how you can unlock the secret chapter! Well, it is rather different from the other secret
chapter Arkain had so far. I will not spoil you too much as I also want to see if you are able to find it
on your own!
The only hint I will give you is that it is nothing for diplomatic Orcs!
Download the new version here: Downloads

Now, here's the changelog:

Version 0.70

General:
- Several tooltip and bug fixes
- Conquerors are now affected by the Animal War Training upgrade
- The unit & item version of Command Aura now also only affects melee units
- Summoned Granite Golems are no longer affected by Orc upgrades
- Replaced the icon of Reincarnation
- Reduced food cost of Assassins from 3 to 2
- Decreased training time of Marauders from 40 to 35
- Decreased damage dealt by Gladiators
- Increased damage dealt by Maulers
- Replaced Warden's Bloodlust with Inner Fire
- Removed Mana Burn from Zarok
- New ability for Okri: Mana Burn
- New ability for Amari: Shadowbound
- New ability for Zairmak: Teleportation
- New ability for Sasrogarn: Lightning Shield
- Changed Grella's stat gain per level so that she gains less strength and more agility instead

Secret Chapter:
- Released

Chapter Six:
- Greymoore and his units are no longer handicapped on Easy

Chapter Eight:
- Changed the model of General Torash

Interlude Three:
- Duke Redfist now has a new model in the flashbacks

Chapter Eleven:
- Decreased the gold in the two mines on the starting island
- Fixed hotkey for the Orc Shipyard

Chapter Twelve:
- Released

I would also like to let you know that besides working on the final chapters of the Second Orc Book,
I am also writing a new series of entries for the "Heirs of Zyainor" in the Tales of Arkain!
Can't say for sure when I will be done, one short story has been finished so far, but like with the original
five entries for Heirs of Zyainor, I want to release five at once.
Stay tuned for both more stories to read and chapters to play! And don't be spooked out by the next
mission, you may meet some old friends!

 

[Shar Dundred]

20th of March 2019
Enjoyed the latest update? Hope you did for things are about to get harder from now on!
After consulting with @Kasrkin, I have decided to buff the enemy AI with the next update which will also bring you a very important Interlude!
Chapter Thirteen is also on its way. It is going to feature nothing less than the ultimate showdown with Duke Volarian Redfist the Tyrant!
He is bringing his elite forces and Bloodstone allies to wipe out the entire race of Orckind! And Commander Daric has run out of underlings so he will have to attack you himself this time!
Can you withstand the combined forces of your enemies who have hunted you for the entirety of the Second Orc Book? Do you have what it takes to lead the Tribal Dominion to victory?
You will know soon. The long chase is almost over and only one side can survive the onslaught!

Also, another series of short stories has been released in Tales of Arkain, "The Heirs of Zyainor Vol. II"!
If you liked the first five, I am sure you will like these too!

 

[Shar Dundred]

22nd of March 2019
Today I am bringing you the last Interlude (apart from the Epilogue) for the Second Orc Book,
called the "Birth of the Dominion"! I don't think the name leaves much to the imagination,
so I will not say too much about it!
I will say, however, that this is the point where many of your choices come to bear.
Like with the last Interlude, your past actions will have an impact here.
It is about time I explain this:
Several choices you have made in the First and Second Orc Books have affected your relationship
with the Humans. Causing them trouble, makes you gather so-called "Negativity Points".
If you have too many of these points, the Humans (and Vanessa too) will have no love for your kind
(or rather even less!) and consider you a threat. At the same time, if you want to play the Secret
Chapter you HAVE TO collect the points - those of you who already played it, know why!
In the spoiler tag down below you can find all variables that have an impact on your relationship
with the Humans!
Also, along with the update come a few fixes and changes, especially for Chapter Twelve, I highly
recommend giving it another shot!
You can download the new version in Downloads
Stay tuned, more is yet to come! Chapter Thirteen and the Redfist is drawing closer...

Version 0.72

General:
- Fixed a bug with Amari's Shadowbound ability

Chapter One:
- Removed the choice from the ending cinematic

Chapter Four:
- The blue base now rebuilds lost buildings even on easy difficulty so that they will not be overrun by the Demons

Secret Chapter:
- Added a few military buildings for the enemies
- Increased the hit points of enemy heroes (yes, even Sasrogarn)

Chapter Twelve:
- Fixed Brockta belonging to the player if he cannot be loaded from game cache
- Your allied heroes all start at either lvl 9 or 10
- Added a few military buildings to the human bases
- Increased the strength of some undead units
- Replaced some enemy units with new ones
- The Bonelords have finally found their lost sacred calcium supply and now have re-gained their lost powers (that means that some of their abilities have been replaced with more powerful ones and their stats have been boosted!)
- Increased hit points and damage of Undead buildings
- Replaced and added a few enemy heroes

Deeds that make you collect Negativity Points

- Attacking the Kasrkin in Ch. 3 FOB
- Attacking the Ironfist instead of the Moghtar in Ch. 4 FOB
- Disagreeing with Vanessa in Ch. 7 FOB (Killing all Humans)
- Killing the Humans instead of the Undead in Ch. 8 FOB
- Killing Salomar in Ch. 9 FOB
--------------------------------------------------------------
- Destroying the Imperial Army bases in Ch. 3 SOB
- Destroying the bases of the Bull and Phoenix Regiments in Ch. 4 SOB
- Destroying the base of the Royal Army in Ch. 4 SOB
- Killing Logan in Ch. 12 SOB

Effects of Negativity Points (mild spoilers)

Having 6 or more after Chapter Ten unlocks the Secret Chapter!
Having 6 or less after Chapter Twelve unlocks a special dialogue in the interlude!

 

[Shar Dundred]

24th of March 2019
Boom! Guess you didn't expect another news this soon, eh?
Or maybe you did, the current speed of the project is pretty impressive indeed!
For the record, I have NOT gone insane yet, I promise.
Anyway, today is a day many of you have been waiting for: A Red Day!
The final showdown with Duke Redfist and Commander Daric!
We are EXTREMELY close to the full release of the Second Orc Book, ladies and gentlemen.
You can find the new version in Downloads, as per usual.
What could possibly come after this final showdown? Maybe you will find out, the only way
of knowing is playing the game!
Enjoy!

Version 0.80

General:
- Several tweaks and fixes

Chapter Twelve:
- Fixed the allied AI not rebuilding lost buildings
- Changed the weather
- Allied AIs will now rebuild part of their towers if they lose too many of them

Interlude Four:
- Fixed some grammar
- Fixed some portrait colors

Chapter Thirteen:
- Released!

 

[Shar Dundred]

29th of March 2019
Today is a special day: The release of the last demo of the Second Orc Book!
In addition to the usual fixes and tweaks, it includes the Chapters Fourteen and Fifteen - yes,
the final chapters of the Second Orc Book!
You will stand before High Lord Renald van Durce, facing the Lord Inquisitor and his entire army
in battle.
It is not the first time you have to fight against the Lord Consultant and his allies, but this time,
it is the Dominion's turn!
Once you have defated the General of the Golden Guard and decimated his forces, you will have
to face Kersidar and his Souleater Legion to put an end to their machinations.
Are you up for the challenge? Time to prove it! Download the new version in Downloads.

The Epilogue, along with additional improvements, will be released in the full version of the Second
Orc Book.
Also, Pechan has received some changes to his abilities which will probably result in you losing
skill points. In order to fix this, you merely have to play Chapter Seven of the Second Orc Book
again and then launch Chapter Fourteen - or if you don't mind the points, just launch Fourteen
right away!

Stay tuned for the release of the full version!

Version 0.90

General:
- Several tweaks and fixes
- Replaced Pechan's Engineering Upgrade with Industrialism
- Pechan now stars with upgraded abilities to make up for the loss of Engineering Upgrade

Chapter Four:
- Added a Fountain of Healing

Interlude Four:
- Added a slight dialogue difference regarding Rangul's choice in Chapter Four of the First Orc Book

Chapter Twelve:
- You no longer start with all upgrades researched

Chapter Thirteen:
- Added a slight difference in dialogue regarding the events in Interlude Four
- You no longer start with all upgrades researched

Chapter Fourteen:
- Released

Chapter Fifteen:
- Released