Arkain News Network

Shar Dundred · Apr 24, 2022

24th April 2022
Ladies and gentlemen,
the time has come: Arkain is back and Act Six shows its first chapter!
This update also features some custom custom soundsets!
You can find the new version here in Downloads.

Enjoy!
Also keep in mind that you can support Arkain via Patreon - I appreciate that very much!

General:

New soundsets for Okri and Galareth the Great
New icons for Judicator and Ironforged units thanks to @r.ace613

End of Act Four:
- Kersidar now has Rain of Chaos instead of Inferno

Act Five, Chapter Four:
- Fixed the third and fourth Redfist wave arriving at the same time

Act Six, Chapter One:
- Released!

Shar Dundred · Apr 30, 2022

30th April 2022
Ladies and gentlemen,
the next chapter is in full production - and I dare say we are getting real political real soon!
'tis getting dark and bloody, I can tell you that much!

In the meantime, I have updated the last release with a few fixes and tweaks. The last misision
might be slightly less painful - unless you decide to attack the Bulls which ah they don't really appreciate.
You can find the new version in the Map Section!

I will update the upload in the Map Section every time an act is completed. This time it will also include
a chapter of the following act (just like last time), this will not be the case in the future however.

Enjoy!
Also keep in mind that you can support Arkain via Patreon - I appreciate that very much!

General:

Fixed Sniper Shot tooltip

Act Six, Chapter One:

Made the tooltip of Grofzag's Leadership Bonus less spoiler-y
Enabled mastery training research
The Bull Regiment now stars with all of its faction-specific technology researched
Fixed the hint message
Added two Searaider starting units
Increased the durability of the base of Daric's Mercenaries

Shar Dundred · May 1, 2022

1st May 2022
Ladies and gentlemen,
the time has come! The political game of Dark Elven society has begun!
Now get out there and start a civil war in the name of the Divine One!

You can find the new version here in Downloads!

Enjoy!
Also keep in mind that you can support Arkain via Patreon - I appreciate that very much!

Act Six, Chapter Two:
- Released!

Shar Dundred · May 16, 2022

16th May 2022
Ladies and gentlemen,
the first of the upcoming chapters has been completed - @Kasrkin has faced the terrors of
the Pyrrean Pass and is soon going to travel deep below to bring ultimate PEACE to the Dark
Elves!
Arkain Industries hopes that he is successful and doesn't die along the way - it'd be horrible
to pay that insurance money that we are totally not going to pay to ourselves.

Stay tuned!

Shar Dundred · May 16, 2022

17th May 2022
Ladies and gentlemen,
SURPRISE! The new chapters are up!
Yes you have read right! Not one but TWO chapters await you! One between the mountains of Pyrru,
one deep below the Dead Mountain itself!
You can find the new version here in Downloads!

Enjoy and stay tuned for future updates!
Also keep in mind that you can support Arkain via Patreon - I appreciate that very much!

General:

Renamed Greywof to Sergeant
Bull Shield no longer affects attacking speed
"Normalized" upgrade values of Warlock training
Fixed the ingame name of Thunderous Presence
Demonblood now requires a Black Citadel

Act Six, Chapter Three:

Released!

Act Six, Chapter Four:

Released!

Shar Dundred · Jun 3, 2022

3rd June 2022
Ladies and gentlemen,
work on the next update is still ongoing! It will feature at least one well-known chapter as well
as a brandnew one called "Forged by Iron and Blood".

I wonder if you can figure out what it might be about...
It will be one of a larger scale.

Stay tuned!

Shar Dundred · Jun 15, 2022

15th June 2022
Ladies and gentlemen,
work on the next update is still ongoing - and it is time I reveal what it is going to include:
The new, True Story exclusive, chapter "Forged by Iron and Blood" will feature the battle
of Larine and Cora against the nobles that support Retka's rebellion in Pyrru!
You will fight back the armies of Duke Woras, crush the opportunistic forces of Lord Korbaz
and purge the Order of the Tides from Lady Elrin and her collaborators.
Furthermore you will stand face to face with the Grand Army of Whitefield who has a rather
tragic role in the entire rebellion.

Forged by Iron and Blood will serve to give both Larine and Cora more character while also
giving the rebellious forces of Pyrru more time to shine - as well as General Whitefield who
has not really had much screentime at all and who was dragged into this conflict and sees
himself now forced to fight against those he would rather have fought side by side with.

Stay tuned for it!

I hope you enjoyed this little "deeper look" at the next chapter that, while giving you some
more insight into what is yet to come, doesn't reveal too much.
I feel that for new chapters it is good to explain what to expect while for existing ones it could
be interesting that I actually tell you what I changed and what the background of said changes is.
Without getting into detail, not as in a changelogish design but more of an overall overlook of what
to expect, similar to what you read above.

I have decided to write & post more such little insights because I feel that they help getting
a certain idea of what is to come while also being not too spoiler heavy.
In order to give patrons over at my Patreon page something back in exchange for their invaluable
support, I will give them earlier access to these insights - in time they'll also be published here so
those who are unable to support Arkain on Patreon will still gain access to that information, meaning
that you do not lose anything but still have a net gain overall. : - )
I appreciate all who support Arkain but I am sure you will understand why I have the urge to give
something a bit special to the people who are willing to support Arkain on Patreon.

That's all Arkain-related for now. There'll be faster progress coming soon, don't worry, I am not dead
and I do intend to speed things up again.

Before going to a completely new topic I would like to address something, given the recent Blizzard update:
For the forseeable future there are no plans to make Arkain compatible with any version above 1.31.
While I do own Reforged in theory, I don't intend to make any use of it until I am under the impression that
there's any upside for me doing so.
For people who do not have a non-Reforged version of WarCraft 3, I suggest using this link on Hiveworkshop
to get a version that allows them to play custom campaigns.

Lastly, for those of you who want to see some more Shar Dundred, I have recently uploaded some non-Arkain
related videos on my Youtube Channel.

There's also Arkain-related content some of you may have missed.

The channel will of course also be used for Arkain-related content so being subscribed to it is recommended just as well.

That is all from me for now, have a good day!

Shar Dundred · Jun 29, 2022

29th June 2022
Ladies and gentlemen,
the next True Story exclusive chapter is still in full production - I expect it to be tested by @Kasrkin
soon.

In order to make waiting a bit less... painful (or more painful, depending on your personal attitude),
I have decided to share a part of the CHARACTER LORE EARLIER.
In fact, I will share with you the lore about the very nobles you are about to face in battle!
You can find them in the hidden tag below - keep in mind that those are not all lore entries you will
get to read in the mission but I picked them for thematic reasons for you to read early!
They're from the perspective of Cora Redfist.

Enjoy and feel free to share your thoughts about what you read in the New Content Discussion [SPOILER]!

DUKE WORAS
The militant duke is Retka's chief advisor on tactics and strategy. While he is no military officer himself he has surrounded himself with many experts and is definitely skilled in matters of both short and long term planning. It also helps his case that he commands the vast armies of his lands. According to our Ironforged spies, he was promised huge portions of Toranite lands in exchange for his loyalty as well as a leading position in the military staff of the combined kingdoms in exchange for his support. He'd be a useful ally under different circumstances, but under current circumstances he is a traitor who needs to be dealt with - permanently.

LADY ELRIN
The family of Lady Elrin has always had strong connections to the Order of the Tides. Under her control, the family has expanded their influence and effectively taken control of the order with Elrin having more power within the order than even its actual leaders. She has abused the result of generations of friendship to control an order of water mages - I may be biased but I feel the urge to purge the order of this filthy influence. Once and for all.

LORD KORBAZ
This vain lord of Pyrru cares for little but his own power and influence. He portrays himself as the "protector of all nobility" and is known for his lavish feasts. Korbaz is also extremely ambitious. Our Ironforged spies tell me that Retka promised Korbaz the hand of his daughter in exchange for his loyalty - meaning that Korbaz would be the future king of Pyrru and Toran if Retka was successful. I hear that Korbaz once proposed the hand of his daughter to the Emperor and was denied - the ambitions of this man know neither bound nor dignity.

Stay tuned! Soon there will be a battle to fight. Or two. Or three...

Shar Dundred · Jul 2, 2022

2nd July 2022
Ladies and gentlemen,
you have been waiting long enough.

The time is now, the new chapter is here! Forged by Iron and Blood is available NOW!
You can find it here in Downloads!

It includes a few fixes and changes as well as the new chapter!
The next update shouldn't take as long as this one. ;-)

Enjoy and stay tuned for the next update!
Share your thoughts regarding the new mission in the New Content Discussion [SPOILER]!
Also keep in mind that you can support Arkain via Patreon - I appreciate that very much!

General:

Fixed a bug that made the quest log sounds play twice at the same time
Whispers of the Dark no longer increases Cora's damage permanently but instead increases the damage dealt by Zealots and Crossbowmen
Ice Crown of the Spider King no longer grants Berserk

Act Six, Interlude:

Released!

Act Six, Chapter Five:

Released!

Shar Dundred · Jul 9, 2022

9th July 2022
Ladies and gentlemen,

the release of the next chapter is drawing closer!
What will it be oh what will it be?
Like with the last chapter, I have written a little insight - which is available to you here on Patreon!

This information will of course also be made public in due time.

Stay tuned!

Shar Dundred · Jul 10, 2022

10th July 2022
Ladies and gentlemen,

the time has come! The Lord of Shadows is here!

Here is the insight I have given yesterday on Patreon.

As those of you who played the Second Human Book already know, the chapter is special in a way because a) you didn't have access to any heroes and b) you had access to the Elite unit - while also first meeting an important character.
The chapter has undergone a few changes compared to its original. There will no longer be any Golden Guard in the city; however it still houses a variety of enemies due to the fact that the Zirr and Rohir Nexus both have brought their faction-specific units to the field.
The Fallen Mage Guild was renamed to the Fallen Order of the Frost - yes, the order fought until its last breath to fend off both Retka and the Undead, now its members serve the will of the Watcher in death. This will be empathized on by the human forces in the city making use of undead Frost Ghosts and Revenants instead of their now "extinct" Cryomancers.

From a design perspective, I have of course adjusted several things but I am still satisfied with the overall theme of the chapter - which is no big surprise given that it has already been tweaked a lot back in the day.
One of the main differences will be that the player will no longer deploy a mix of Royal Army and Golden Guard units - we already had that in the last chapter - but instead use an Ironfist roster to fight their enemies.
Despite the importance of this place to Old Zyainor, Kazardius will NOT be featured in this mission - while it would be a chance to give deeper insight into his past, given the circumstances of his death and his overall relationship to the people of the Kingdoms, he would not be the best person to send to convince the Toranites into joining forces with the Undead.

You can find the new version here in Downloads!

Soon there will be more to play...

General:

Several grammar fixes
Items that used to be useable but no longer are are no longer clickable as if they were still useable rather than passive
Ironforged now also benefit from Dark Warrior (drastically increased hit point regeneration)

Act Six, Chapter Six:

Released!

Shar Dundred · Jul 16, 2022

16th July 2022
Ladies and gentlemen,
the next chapter has just been finished & sent to @Kasrkin for testing.
There will not be a chapter insight this time however I can tell you that the secret weapon
of the Tribal Dominion is entering the stage...

Stay tuned!

Shar Dundred · Jul 16, 2022

17th July 2022
Ladies and gentlemen,
here we are! The Secret Weapon of the Tribal Dominion is waiting for you to find it!
The new version is up and running!
You can find it here in Downloads!

Enjoy and stay tuned for the next update - and the final chapter of this act!

Act Six, Chapter Six:

Dead Flesh Golems are no longer being replaced by the AI
Shadow Stalkers are now replaced by Shadow Creatures when approaching Mayor Kent - Shadow Creatures are more powerful but no longer permanently invisible

Act Six, Chapter Seven:

Released!

Shar Dundred · Jul 26, 2022

26th July 2022
Ladies and gentlemen,
the next update is being tested at this very moment and will release soon.
In fact, if everything goes according to plan, the entirety of Act Six will be released to the
Map Section tomorrow!

The Chapter Insight has been released on Patreon and will be shared here soon as well.

Stay tuned, you will enjoy this update, I can tell you that much!

Shar Dundred · Jul 27, 2022

27th July 2022
Ladies and gentlemen!
The time has come! Act Six is finally complete!

The finale of the act just came in with both its final playable chapter "End of an Uprising" and its final cinematic "Lost Daughters"!

Here is the insight I have given yesterday on Patreon.
The finale of this act will see Gardon Bloodclaw face Retka and his rebellion one last time and decide the fate of the Kingdoms of both Toran and Pyrru - and, by extend, much much more than that!
The Order of the Tides has now effectively split: A part of them has sided with Cora while others remained with Retka's rebellion - many of them however remain neutral until the conflict is settled.
Both the Royal Army and the Coast Battalion are now making use of more air units while the Golden Guard has replaced its old and rather onesided unit list with a more diverse cast of units, including the Paladin and Angelic units.
Scarlett and her Kajon Marauders are still causing havoc - and Whitefield is also somewhere out there...
As for the end of the act, well... I will not spoiler this one but I dare say that both it and the end of the playable mission will surprise some of you!

You can find the new version in the Map Section!

Enjoy the final parts of this act and share your thoughts in the New Content Discussion!

Act Six, Chapter Six:

Fixed the transition into the cinematic after Mayor Kent's death

Act Six, Chapter Eight:

Released!

End of Act Six:

Released!

Shar Dundred · Jul 28, 2022

28th July 2022
Ladies and gentlemen,

since it has been a while, I have decided to update the one and only, legendary Arkain Character Tier List!

Many things have happened since its last update - and now thirteen new characters have been added!
Four more have been given their new icons to portray them properly.

Show us all how you rank them currently - and maybe even you will be surprised to see what has changed
since the last time you did it!

Remember to share your lists in the Round Table of Arkain!

Shar Dundred · Jul 29, 2022

29th July 2022
Ladies and gentlemen,

you have waited for a long time and now it is finally here!
The short story "The Orders of Elements" has been added to the Tales of Arkain!
Give it a read and share your thoughts in the Round Table of Arkain!

And do not forget to create your new Arkain Character Tier List and share it in the Round Table of Arkain as well!
Of course it would also be interesting to hear why you made your choices!

Stay tuned for future updates!

Shar Dundred · Aug 8, 2022

8th August 2022
Ladies and gentlemen,

I hope you are enjoying the completed Act Six as well as the new short story and the
updated Character Tier List!

Before work on Act Seven can TRULY begin - lots of planning has already been done and even
old @Kasrkin will look twice - some reworking is required.
First and foremost the Tribal Dominion needs an update and some serious rebalancing though
they are not the only ones who will receive some new toys. ;-]
RIP Shieldbearer meta

Stay tuned for updates!

Also, in 3 days, Arkain (or rather its presence on the Hive Workshop) will be eight
years old and it is still growing!

Shar Dundred · Aug 19, 2022

19th August 2022
In preparation for the upcoming act, the current act has received some updates!
You can download the new version in the Map Section.
You can find the changelog below.

Stay tuned for future updates!

General:

New icon for Sir Cheveran the Black
Orc Huntress now has Grunt stats
Fixed tooltip of Ghosts and Poachers

Act Five, Chapter One:

Replaced player Headhunters with Grellas Bonehunters

Act Six, Chapter Three:

Commander Serklos no longer switches rank between dialogues

Act Six, Chapter Six:

Lieutenant Claire Greendale has become a demi-hero who can be revived at the altar
Zed loses his Lone Wolf ability but can now be revived at the altar

End of Act Six:

Fixed Daric's team color

Shar Dundred · Aug 25, 2022

25th August 2022
Ladies and gentlemen,

work on the overhaul and following act are going quite well.
While many of you have a rough idea what comes next, there sure are many surprises inbound and many questions remain unanswered!
Will Ornasion be playable again?
Will Krom get an Angelic skull?
Whatever will happen to General Greymoore or Rath Wolfscar?
Will the new queen of the Elves have a "Long live the Queen" moment?

All of these questions will be answered!

There are some questions that are not going to be answered anytime soon however! One of biggest of these is: What happens AFTER the Second Voidwar? The Tales of Arkain give quite some insight but by no means enough!

What will happen AFTER the war? I would like to see what you think! Share your thoughts in the forum! Whether as a post in the Round Table of Arkain or Fates of Arkain (speculation and spoilers), as a piece of art or a little story is up to you!
I am curious to see if anyone gets close to the truth...

Shar Dundred · Aug 30, 2022

30th August 2022
Ladies and gentlemen,
work on Act Seven is going well. The legions of the Scarec Nexus are being called upon to go
to total war against all who dare face them, the Darkmind Clan prepares for siege and the Elven
Kingdom is facing not one but multiple invasions simultaneously! Meanwhile the southern realm,
unbeknownst to the Salrians for the time being, is about to face its greatest threat!

Stay tuned, there are still countless corpses to walk over before the war is over!

Also, be sure to check out the Fanmade of Arkain thread!
There's some great art being posted there - some of you may not have seen the newest additions just yet!
Go there now and check them out, you will regret it if you don't!

Shar Dundred · Sep 11, 2022

11th September 2022
Ladies and gentlemen,

today was not scheduled to be the update, which is why there is no proper teaser for the chapter,
actually I wanted to finish one more mission before release but I have been thinking that it has been
so long since I last gave you something new to play that I have decided to publish this update today
rather than keep you waiting.
Act Seven begins with a bang: The final mission of the Second Undead Book! It has finally received the
fixes and polish it desperately needed!
It is still the mission you know and love, leading the crusaders of the Scarec Nexus against the living,
but it has been changed quite a bit! Among other things you can expect some nexus politics.

I have to press one more thing: Act Seven is going to be something special, there are special plans I have
for it, something that has never ever been a thing in the entirety of the Legends of Arkain series.
This update does not include this special addition just yet as it is still in its preparation phase, but I do intend
to implement it and, if successful, the entirety of the True Story of Arkain will feature it.
That's all the information I am going to give you for the time being however!
You can download the new version here in Downloads!
Make sure to let me know what you think about the overhauled chapter in the New Content Discussion [SPOILER]!

The update is 0.69a instead of 0.69 because the "full" 0.69 is meant to have one more mission as well as the
aforementioned speciality!

Enjoy and stay tuned for the next update!
It will be cold... like revenge is best served.

General:

New model for Cora Redfist thanks to the marvellous modelling @johnwar and the awesome art of @VastanX!
Fixed Frost Wyrm's hotkey & icon position

Act Two, Chapter Seven:

Undead can no longer build Human or Orc structures

Act Six, Chapter Three:

Fixed Stormbringer hotkey

Act Seven, Chapter One:

Added!

Shar Dundred · Sep 24, 2022

24th September 2022
Ladies and gentlemen,
the time has come! The real release of 0.69 (named 0.69b because that makes more sense
than just removing the a) has come!

Before we talk about the new additions, let me just say a huge thank you to all the feedback
that you have given - your feedback and bug reports help further improve the quality of the
Legends of Arkain series and I appreciate that a lot!
Chapter One of Act Seven still had some issues but those have now been fixed!
I highly recommend playing the chapter again - not only because of the changes but also because
a special something has been added to the cinematic (details below).

This update features two huge additions:
First, Chapter Two of Act Seven: A Dish Best Served Cold!
That's right! The fate of General Blen Greymoore himself will be decided today!
And believe it or not, a certain choice will be involved - though not the kind you are expected, I can
tell you that much!

Second, I have teasered in the last newspost that Act Seven is going to be special. Featuring something
that has never before been a thing in the ENTIRETY of the Legends of Arkain series!
It is a very cool new addition that I am very excited about!
@VastanX has been extremely active with making tons of drawings for Arkain. If you don't know them yet,
how dare you, go and check them and all the other amazing Arkain art out right the hell now!
What does this have to do with the campaign? Well, Vastan was kind enough to provide me with drawings
that I would then implement into the campaign itself!
That's right! The great art of @VastanX has made it into the True Story of Arkain!
From time to time, during the cinematics, it will temporarily appear on screen!
You can see an example right here!

Outstanding, isn't it? And this is only one of three (currently!) added drawings!
More are yet to come! I am incredibly happy and excited about this new addition and want to
thank @VastanX for his contribution!

Here are some words from @Kasrkin:
"Welcome to Arkain, Vastan, know that you and your art shall be immortalized as long as this campaign exists."

However, I would like to remind you that there are also other great Arkain art pieces made by @Am.F, Rici98devil (who doesn't have a Hive account), @r.ace613, @Kuya-Zergy18, @merlockqueen and @Jayred0320 that are posted in the Fanmade of Arkain thread and I enjoy
and appreciate every single one of them and would love to see even more being added!
These art pieces not only add great value to Arkain, they also have already helped to affect the project itself!
They inspired new models by @Rhapsodie and @johnwar and icons by @r.ace613 to be brought into existance!
@Kasrkin and I both appreciate everything that is being contributed and look forward to see even more!

Please let us and @VastanX know what you think about these drawings being brought to the next stage - the campaign itself!
As I have already said, if successful, then I intend to add these amazing drawings to the entirety of the True Story.
Once again, thank you!

Now, you want to see the showdown between Rath and Blen, eh? Well then!
You can find it here in Downloads!

In other news I would like to tell you that I'll be kind of busy in the next few weeks and will therefore temporarily pause
progress on the True Story - but I will be back early to mid-October to give you more exciting chapters to play!

Here's the changelog! Enjoy!

Act Six, Chapter Six:

Brian's summons no longer cost any food

Act Seven, Chapter One:

Significantly decreased the power of the initial second portal wave (a mouthful, yes, but not a typo)
Added leadership bonus for Kazardius
Added an amazing art piece for Saint Loraine made by @VastanX
Enabled Destroyer research
Dialogues with the Golden Guard and the Stonelord Dwarves can no longer be triggered by Saint Loraine or Meya's Chosen
Saint Loraine now uses her proper icon
Added several item drops

Act Seven, Chapter Two:

Released!

Shar Dundred · Oct 25, 2022

25th October 2022
Ladies and gentlemen,
while it has been quite a while since the last update, the next chapter has been worked on for
quite some time now!
I won't spoiler too much just yet but it is going to be another True Story-exclusive map!

There's more yet to come. This act has some pretty important moments yet to come!
Fateful decisions are to be made that may either doom entire races - or be the chance they
had been waiting for!

Shar Dundred · Nov 2, 2022

2nd November 2022
Ladies and gentlemen,
to make the wait more bearable (or even more painful, WHO KNOWS?!) I have decided to
publish another short story - focusing on the Undead!

You can find the new short story "Council in the Mountain" in the Tales of Arkain!
Give it a read and share your thoughts in the Round Table of Arkain!
It will give you a rather unique look behind the scenes of the Undead during the time after the war!

Shar Dundred · Nov 13, 2022

13th November 2022
Ladies and gentlemen,
you'll have to wait just a little longer for the next chapter, but don't you worry, you'll be in good company.

How about introducing a little spoiler from the future this time, hm? Like, I don't know, a new force entering
the battlefield and an upcoming conflict? After all, the Tribal Dominion, the Ironfist and even the Undead are
increasing their power by forming alliances; why shouldn't others do the same?

In the picture below you will see a new force not only getting involved in the conflict but actually gaining more
power just by joining it in the first place as well as the hope that, one day, they may have a better future ahead
of themselves.

Special thanks to @Rhapsodie for providing the armored green dragon model!

Stay tuned to future updates & the release of the next chapter! It will be haunting quite some dreams for some time!

Shar Dundred · Nov 24, 2022

24th November 2022
There has been a temporary Hive issue that removed most Arkain material, along with several other maps, from the Map Section for some time.
It has been fixed by now however.

Expect a release of the long awaited exclusive soon. Very soon.

Shar Dundred · Nov 25, 2022

25th November 2022
Ladies and gentlemen,

you had to wait for quite some time but we have finally done it - yet another True Story exclusive
chapter has just been released!

A mission that never finished for the Second Undead Book - Dead Forest - has arrived! A huge battle
awaits you right in the Elven Kingdom itself!

Here is the insight I have given yesterday on Patreon.
Chapter Three of Act Seven, Dead Forest, is waiting for you! The eastern part of the Elven Kingdom has been devastated by war and corruption – and you are there to add some more!
The Golden Guard will control a powerful garrison but be completely surrounded by the bases of the Demon Slaves – the question is for how long? They have been immensely effective in taking care of their enemies in this place.
This chapter features a three-way battle: The Undead led by Ornasion and the fallen Queen Keera must crush both the Demon Slaves and Golden Guard – while they might be hostile towards each other, neither wants the Undead to win either!
Furthermore, the chapter will also give some insight behind the scenes of the Demons and introduce... well, that's for another time.

In addition to the new chapter, it also features some new fantastic drawings from @VastanX - and I hope to add
more of them soon.

You can find the new version here in Downloads.

Be sure to share your thoughts on thie True Story exclusive in the New Content Discussion [SPOILER]!

Enjoy and stay tuned for the next updates!

General:

Fixed the Fan of Knives icon position
Increased the armor of Shrines from 0 to 5

Act Four, Interlude:

The cinematic is now skippable

Act Seven, Chapter One:

Frost Wyrms are now affected by Reunited in Death
Added new drawings created by the amazing @VastanX!

Act Seven, Chapter Three:

Released!

Shar Dundred · Nov 28, 2022

28th November 2022
Ladies and gentlemen,
Arkain Industries hopes that you enjoy the newest addition to the True Story of Arkain - which
will soon receive an update with some fixes, tweaks and... some friends from the other side.
Of the grave.

After that, well... the war in the forest has only just begun. Not to mention that there are other
battles raging (or about to begin) far from the Elven Kingdom as well...

Stay tuned!

Shar Dundred · Dec 1, 2022

1st December 2022
Ladies and gentlemen,

the last release did receive a major update! You can enjoy it here in Downloads!

Be sure to let me know what you think!

General:

Slightly increased the training cost of Firemages

Act Seven, Chapter Two:

Added a cap to the amount of reinforcement waves that would spawn at the same time (both the spiders and the allied Darkmind Clan will not go above 80 food)

Act Seven, Chapter Three:

Frost Wyrms deal Magic damage again (as they should)
Removed a path to force the Glory Battalion to go through the Demon bases to attack the player
Limited the availability of Prides of Humanity to 1 for the base of the Golden Guard
Added allied spawns that are created within destroyed enemy bases
Replaced Necromancers and Banshees with Sorcerers and Seductresses

Shar Dundred · Dec 5, 2022

6th December 2022
Ladies and gentlemen,

following the successful update of the last chapter, work on Chapter Four of Act Seven has begun.
It features the return of an old friend that has been absent for a long time.

It will also feature a new scene with two characters that, so far, had no real interaction with each other.
That is all I will say for reasons you will understand when looking at the picture attached to this post.

Stay tuned!
Stay VERY tuned!

Also check out the new masterful art piece by @VastanX if you haven't already!
It will also be added in the next update!

Shar Dundred · Dec 13, 2022

13th December 2022
Ladies and gentlemen,

work on the next update is going very well, I am quite satisfied so far!
I'd say that currently I am about halfway done with it.

I also wanted to bring something up for a moment. Apparently the PTR for the next version of
WarCraft 3 Reforged reintroduces custom campaigns (took them long enough).

If custom campaigns really DO make their comeback in the official 1.35 patch, I want to stress
that I will continue NOT to support Reforged versions and that playing Legends of Arkain on the
Reforged client is bound to run into issues.

I expect the new patch to introduce new bugs and other issues that would require a lot of time
for me to look into - and that is only the ones I can even fix.
I still have concerns about the technical state of the Reforged versions and honestly I don't want
to waste my time with that, especially when Arkain is doing good progress.

Lastly, from now on, starting with the next update, I will put updates in the Map Section instead of
just attaching the file in the Downloads thread. It doesn't really make any difference for you, but it
does cause confusion that there is two versions of the True Story of Arkain on the website.
Since it doesn't really have any down- or upside for any of you (other than your download count no
longer being lost in the statistics like it has been so far), I don't see any reason to keep the current
method.

Stay tuned for the next update! I am sure you will enjoy what Arkain Industries is currently cooking!

Shar Dundred · Dec 18, 2022

18th December 2022
Ladies and gentlemen,

the time has come!

It might not be Christmas JUST yet, but Santa Shar still has many gifts for you!
Namely: TWO! NEW! CHAPTERS! In one update!

Since this is an early Christmas gift, the chapter insight will be released to EVERYONE at the same
time - I will say however that I am very very thankful to my loyal patrons at Patreon and all who
support this project. You are all awesome!

Command the armies of both the Ironfist and the Orcs against their new enemies! It is time for both
Salria and the Elven Kingdom to be invaded!

Whether it is about politics or sheer survival, all parties have their motives. Some well-known characters
and factions have also joined the fight!

Join them! Begin your invasions! Much is at stake!

You can find the new version here in the Map Section!

Happy holidays to all of you!

General:

Reduced Hydromancer base hit points from 370 to 330
Fixed Banisher caster upgrade tooltip
Shadows of the Shadow Master no longer affects Darksteel Golems
Naval Expertise now affects all mechanical units
Templars (except the ones called upon by van Durce's special ability) now have a new model thanks to @Rhapsodie

Act Seven, Chapter Three:

Keera now starts with an Orb of Darkness
Sorcerer and Seductress Adept trainings are now researched when starting the mission
Minor dialogue adjustments

Act Seven, Chapter Four:

Released!

Act Seven, Chapter Five:

Released!

Shar Dundred · Dec 23, 2022

23rd December
Ladies and gentlemen,

today I have something special for you - not a playable chapter but a poll to participate in!
If you could choose someone to rule the entire world of Arkain - who would it be?!
Unlike previous questions, this is not limited to the current conflict, but overall!
You can also choose a number of characters to rule the world together!

Click the link above and let me know, I am curious to see what you will say!
We have a lot of characters on that list, almost 100, therefore you can give up to 10 votes!
Of course, these can be either together or without any connection to each other.
I. e. you can vote Brian, Gardon, Aridon, Maronogin and Rahandir and want Brian & Gardon OR
Aridon and Rahandir OR just Maronogin alone rule Arkain!

Please also feel free to share the result and explain your vote in the Round Table of Arkain!
Also feel free to discuss each other's choices!

Arkain Industries wishes all of you Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Kasrkin · Dec 31, 2022

31st of December 2022
Hello everyone, it's your friendly neighborhood Kasrkin taking over the news once more in a non professional manner to wish you all a happy new year! I don't have much to say like last year but thanks for sticking with us as Legends of Arkain is over eight years old now, can't believe it myself most of the time. Thank you once more to everyone who contributes whether it be by: comments, art, models, feedback etc you're all awesome.

Now then to those that will be out partying have fun, to those staying home have a good day/night, to those time travelers already in the new year we will meet you soon.

Happy New Year everyone!

Shar Dundred · Jan 3, 2023

3rd January 2023
Ladies and gentlemen,

a new year has begun - a new year of Arkain!
I hope all of you have sobered up from the celebrations by now. ;-)
I foresee many great things for this project in this year.

The True Story of Arkain has been an absolute success so far, I am very satisfied with its
development.

I would also like to thank you all for supporting this project, be it on Patreon, the forums, by
contributing resources or art or simply by downloading and enjoying the project.
As @Kasrkin already said, you are all awesome.

In order to start this year with a bang, I have decided to upload the intro for the next chapter
of the True Story of Arkain for you to watch!

Check it out and let me know either in the YouTube comments or here in the forums what you think!
Also of course, as always, feel free to discuss what you have seen as well!

Enjoy - yes, it is about 19 minutes long, you're in for a treat!

Shar Dundred · Jan 8, 2023

8th January 2023
Ladies and gentlemen,

let's start this year with a bang, shall we?

In the last newspost, I have already shown you what the next chapter is going to be about - in fact,
you have already watched the intro there.

Now it is time to get right into combat! There are still some surprises waiting for you in the Elven Kingdom!

You can find the new version here in the Map Section!

Enjoy and, as always, share your thoughts in the New Content Discussion [SPOILER]

General:

Rage of the Exile no longer affects ranged units
High Quality Production no longer affects Sappers
Fixed High Quality Production not affecting Shredders
Aggressive Expansion now correctly increases the capacity of Shredders by 100 and mentions the Cannon Tower upgrade in its tooltip
Decreased damage bonus, chance and stun duration of Immobilizing Shot
Increased the research cost of Direwolf Rage
Slighly decreased the lumber cost of Venom Spiders and Vengeful Spiders
Overhauled Amari's leadership bonus - it no longer buffs elite units but instead gives access to warriors of the "new order"
New model for Bearmen Gladiators thanks to @johnwar and @Kasrkin

Act Seven, Chapter Four:

Endless War can now be researched
Shadowmage Master Training is now researched from the beginning of the map

Act Seven, Chapter Five:

Grella now gains Frenzy after her dedicated cinematic
The hint playing after Grella's cinematic now specify the effects of the unlocked bonus
Fixed an issue with the Grella cinematic
The Blackaxe Clan will now spawn units if its unit count is too low after the Grella cinematic

Act Seven, Chapter Six:

Released!

Shar Dundred · Jan 21, 2023

21st January 2023
Ladies and gentlemen,

progress on the next and final chapter of Act Seven is going well.
It will be a big battle for you to look forward to! One of many yet to come!

The update will also include some fixes and tweaks, such as Demonlords no longer being able
to charm your mechanical units (Destructors can now attack them without having their entire
crew fall in love with them).

Stay tuned!

Shar Dundred · Jan 28, 2023

28th January 2023
Ladies and gentlemen,
you all seemed to really enjoy the WIP cinematic last time and therefore I have decided to do
the same thing again for the final chapter of Act Seven!
This will not be a thing for Act Eight, just consider it a late "Happy New Year" addition.
You can watch it here!

Check it out and let me know either in the YouTube comments or here in the forums what you think!
Also of course, as always, feel free to discuss what you have seen as well!

Enjoy - and have a first look at what you can look forward to!

Shar Dundred · Jan 31, 2023

31st January 2023
Ladies and gentlemen,

work on the final chapter is going well but it will still take a while to complete!

Seven whole acts will be completed when the cinematic coming up right after it is finished.
That's a lot of acts - and we are definitely not done yet!

The exact number of upcoming chapters and acts is something that is being asked again
recently - and I'd like to inform you that the number is already set in stone, but kept confidental. ;-)
All I am going to share for now is this: It will be less than 100 chapters. While there will definitely be new
maps, their amount of new maps will not become extravagant.
Despite the fact that the True Story of Arkain has become one of or THE longest campaign of WarCraft 3,
it still stands for quality, not quantity and I prefer to keep it that way, no matter how fancy "that one
campaign with over 100 missions" may sound to some ears.

In other news:
15 months ago, the Legends of Arkain Character Tier List has been released!
Later the Legends of Arkain Faction Tier List joined it.

A lot of time has passed since then and I would be interested to see you all update yours and share them
with the rest of us!

"But Shar wouldn't it make more sense to wait until Act Seven is completely finished?"
I thought you were dead, Gary the non-existing user, but good question - now return to your dungeon, Kasrkin
will feed you later. Or not.

Anyway, the reason why I am putting this up now rather than at release is for a two reasons:
a) You have seen the intro of the final chapter already, I just published it three days ago. So you know what is coming
in the final mission.
b) The remaining cinematics that you have yet to see may or may not impact your opinion of some characters or factions.
I think it will be interesting for both you and me to see the direct impact of "before and after".

Share your updated lists in the Round Table of Arkain!

And, as always, stay tuned for the next update. You already know who is waiting for you - you don't want to keep them waiting for too long!

Shar Dundred · Feb 11, 2023

12th February 2023
Ladies and gentlemen,

the time has come: the final chapter of Act Seven has been released!

The first big battle for Salria has begun!

You can find the new version here in the Map Section.

Enjoy!

General:

Demonlords can no longer charm mechanical units
Decreased Shredder food cost from 4 to 3
Increased Shredder armor from 1 to 3
Increased Shredder base and max damage by 3
Increased Shredder hit points from 600 to 700
Decreased Shredder training time from 50 to 40 seconds
Decreased Seductress food cost from 3 to 2

Act Seven, Chapter Three:

The main base of the Golden Guard will now not start any attacks until two other bases have been destroyed instead of being activated with a timer
Added another outstanding drawing from @VastanX to the intro cinematic - I thought I already added it in the past, now it is actually there
Greatly increased the amount of starting forces of the player

Act Seven, Chapter Five:

Rippers renamed to Fanatics and Hearteaters renamed to Converters since they left the old ways of the Blackrazor Clan behind them

Act Seven, Chapter Six:

Added an Orb of Fire item drop
Fixed Dragonhawk Rider & Cloud icon positions
Added two masterful drawings from @VastanX to the intro cinematic & one to the ending cinematic

Act Seven, Chapter Seven:

Released!

Shar Dundred · Feb 13, 2023

13th February 2023
SURPRISE Ladies and gentlemen,

no, not a new map but an update for the one I released just yesterday - yes already!

I had some good ideas and also got some great feedback from you so I decided to throw this one out sooner rather than later.
Thank you all for pointing out bugs & giving amazing feedback - there's a reason why I believe, without a doubt, that the Arkain
sub-forum is the best part of the entirety of Hive!
TAKE THAT SITE DISCUSSION!

Most of the changes are for the new chapter though some will also affect other chapters.

You can find the new version here in the Map Section.

Enjoy!

General:

Increased the casting range of Rejuvenation for Red Priests and Elders
Fixed a typo of The New Guard

Act Seven, Chapter Seven:

Fixed the Spearthrower availability
Increased the killing threshold for the retreat of the Falcon Regiment
Punished a Goblin Shredder for tax fraud (he tried to avoid woodcutting taxes by joining the Cliffhunter Clan) by removing him from this plane of existence
Fixed Pechan's AI
Added some anti air to Pechan's base and gave him an orb
Fixed Frost Bolt hotkey
Adjusted Goblin Merchant inventory
Added a second Murloc reinforcement wave with some more Murlocs in it
Added Grella (AI) and Oneeye (player) to the mission - which is why another hero decided he was no longer required and did not want to fight anyway
Fixed the wrong icon positions and hotkeys in the Leadership Hall
Slightly buffed Commander Thorn's stats to be up less likely to die to allied waves
Replaced Orie's Thunder Bolt with Mirror Image and her Claws of Attack +12 with a Mindstaff so that she will have more mana and mana regeneration to sling spells at you
Replaced Sir Mecan's Ring of the Archmagi with a Medallion of Courage and a Lion Horn - rallying the Fallen Knights to his side for one final battle
Added a Cyclone spell to Orie
Added the Destroyer to the allied waves and added a dialogue for his first appearance

Shar Dundred · Feb 17, 2023

17th February 2023
Ladies and gentlemen,

the end of Act Seven is near - just one cinematic to go!
As this end of a very big act draws to a close, a decision has to be made.

I have hinted in the past that another Arkain Question Time would happen eventually.
For those of you who don't know or forgot what that is, here is a brief reminder:
Arkain Question Time (short AQT) is like an "FAQ) of Arkain. It is an event where people send
me Arkain-related questions via conversation. I collect these questions and then release them
in a single great post. As you can see in this thread, the questions also involve spoilers - and
also some funny/less serious questions (and answers).

The last Arkain Question Time has been after Act Four, now we are at Act Seven and a LOT has
happened since then.
The question is when the next Arkain Question Time should be launched. I see two options:
Either now, after Act Seven, or after Act Eight - I do not want to make these in the middle of an act.

I have no preference so I thought: Why not let you all decide? You are the ones who make AQTs work
in the first place so why the hell not?

So: When should the next AQT take place? After Act Seven or after Act Eight?
You can cast your vote here until the 26th of February!

Please refrain from sending me any questions as of yet, the event has not begun just yet.

Cast your vote & stay tuned for the soon to be released finale of Act Seven!

Shar Dundred · Feb 20, 2023

20th February 2023
Ladies and gentlemen,

the time has come. The End of Act Seven awaits you - and it includes some interesting things!
Some you may already know but from a different perspective, some you may already have guessed
and some that may utterly surprise you!

You can find the new version here in the Map Section!

It includes some VERY strong elements of the True Story that I am very interested to hear your
opinion on - please share it in New Content Discussion [SPOILER]!

This is the end of a very macro-focused act, the next one will be quite hot as well!
Don't let it burn you out just yet, the war is far from over!

Stay tuned!

General:

Fixed Batrider model for all WC3 versions
Nerfed Shadow Corruption by decreasing the miss chance from 25%/50%/75% to 15%/30%/45%
New model for Brian made by the amazing @johnwar

Act Seven, Chapter Seven:

Nerfed the overall Murloc reinforcements but added two Demolishers
Changed Sasrogarn's player owner from Neutral Passive to Allied Forces and added a small dialogue line for him
Added and adjusted several item drops
Buffed the defense of several enemy bases
Fixed Frost Bolt's hotkey
Fixed a bug that would have dropped items appear in the ending cinematic

End of Act Seven:

Released!

Shar Dundred · Feb 21, 2023

21st February 2023
Ladies and gentlemen,

to celebrate the release of this act, I have made a little something - it is more of an easteregg
than anything else but it is a small "behind the scenes" fun fact.
Enjoy and stay tuned for the next update!

No that's not how it works for other characters, I don't think I should need to point that out but I feel like I kind of have to still.

Shar Dundred · Feb 27, 2023

27th February 2023
Ladies and gentlemen,

on the 17th of February I asked when the next AQT should take place.

And now, the results are in - and they are EXTREMELY decisive!

I would like to thank everyone who participated - the result was extremely one-sided early on
and it is by no means close. A clear message & confirmation that making this poll was the correct
decision.

I will admit that I expected the result to be less one-sided but considering how many big maps are
ahead, it makes a lot of sense that it turned out to be like this.

It is clear then that the Arkain Question Time will be launched after Act Eight rather than Seven.
I will let you know when the time has come to send me your questions.

Until then... you can stay tuned for the next update - and for all its glory!

Shar Dundred · Mar 15, 2023

15th March 2023
Ladies and gentlemen,
the next act has begun! Time to bring some heat onto the battlefield!

Lord Harmos celebrates his comeback on the next map - as well as another familiar face: Vail!
Their dialogue has been given more depth - and someone else has also snuck into this chapter! Any guesses who it is?
You'll find out soon - and by that I mean NOW!

You can find the new version here in the Map Section.

Enjoy and share your thoughts in the New Content Discussion [SPOILER]!

Next up is something big!

Act Eight, Chapter One:
- Released!

Shar Dundred · Mar 23, 2023

23rd March 2023
Ladies and gentlemen,

work on the next chapter is going well!
Soon a legion shall be marching once more!

Until then I am interested in YOUR opinion AND imagination!
If you could pick one (or multiple) Arkain characters to join you in a RPG, who would it be?
Be it table top like DND or Pathfinder, a video game like Dragon Age or Elder Scrolls, you role-playing in RL, it does not matter at all! Go nuts!
Hell let Krom travel to Mass Effect through a worm hole and use a gun if you want to!

Whether single companion, team or full party, share your character in the Round Table of Arkain!
You can ofc share an endless amount of ideas and combinations, this is something that can be discussed A LOT I think!
Feel also free to say why you chose who as companion and, if you want to be fanzy, what class they would be!

Shar Dundred · Apr 1, 2023

1st April 2023
Ladies and gentlemen,

as the current act is being worked on, let us take a look into the future...
Even In Arkain, love finds its way after all.

Shar Dundred · Apr 7, 2023

7th April 2023
Ladies and gentlemen,
you know what time it is, the Ogres have finally arrived to join the battle!
But not just them! The Moghtar and Red Dragons too join in - though on which
side they fight is an entirely different affair!
From a gameplay perspective, there have been a few adjustments though the chapter
has always been very solid and therefore not changed in any dramatic way.
From a story perspective, there have been a few changes that you will find intriguing I
am sure!

You can find the new version here in the Map Section.

Enjoy!

General:

Fixed Vail's soundset

Act Eight, Chapter One:

Several cinematic fixes

Act Eight, Chapter Two:

Released!