Arkain News Network

[Shar Dundred]

10th May 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

the time has come to meet the Golden Guard again.

Praxeus and his companions have not been able to recover the grail from Salria and are now on
their way back to meet with Praxeus' brothers and sisters in arms.
But not everything is as it seems to be...

Be prepared to meet a surprise or two... And to face your ultimate challenge...

You can find the new version here in Downloads.

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

Changelog

General:
- Changed the armor type of Black Dragons and Red Dragons from Large to Small

Prelude Three:

• Fixed an issue with the Hammerfall Dwarves not using their hero properly
• Increased the number of Bear Riders of the initial attack
• Made the trees for the second part of the easter egg invulnerable until the runes are approached with the required items
• Fixed an issue of the enemy AIs not rebuilding lost structures properly
• Fixed the damage type of Gryphon Riders & cursed Blizzard for making me do this manually on every map

Prelude Four:
- Released!

 

[Shar Dundred]

10th May 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

vermin had found its way into the release version.
Do not fret however, the bug has just been terminated.

A new version has been uploaded without that despicable vermin creature.

My apologies for the inconvinience, enjoy!

 

[Shar Dundred]

12th May 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

this post contains spoilers regarding the most recent release. If you have not played it
as of yet, stop reading right now and go play it!

As for the rest of you:
I hope you all enjoyed the latest release!
Some of you have already shared their thoughts in the New Content Discussion [SPOILER] thread.
I invite all of you who have not as of yet to do so now.
It is a rather... eventful chapter after all!

I would also like to use this opportunity to talk a bit about the future:
I have by no means revealed all paths that will be a part of Legacy of Arkain but today I would
like to talk about one of them - the Path of the Nameless!
The Prelude of Legacy of Arkain is nearing its conclusion. We are not there yet but we are getting close!
It should therefore be little surprise that Veln's journey is not over but is just beginning.

And this journey will very much depend on your choices as players.
Not every path will offer the same amout of choices but for this path there are several roads you can take.
Do you want to embrace the past? Or will Veln continue being "Veln"?
You will get to experience these "roads" as the Path of the Nameless releases.

Speaking of Veln, there seem to be some misconceptions regarding his identity that I would like to clear up.
I am not going to reveal who he is at this moment in time, this is just a little fact that seems to not have been
communicated well enough for everyone.
When Praxeus and his companions found Veln, Veln did not wear his mask. It was made for him by a blacksmith
AFTER they found and helped him. That means his race, human, and his gender, male, are set in stone.
This is a small fact more than anything, most people so far have believed him to be human anyway, I just wanted
to clarify this fact for people who might have been unaware of Veln's place in the Legacy Character Sheet.

I hope this post has served to somewhat increase the "hunger" for what the future holds - I for one am looking
forward to it.

Stay tuned for further updates!

 

[Shar Dundred]

15th May 2025
Ladies and gentlemen

it is my honor and privilege to present to you today a special release for Legacy of Arkain:
The release of the final part of its Prelude!

Some of you may be surprised by this as there is much yet to uncover - and I assure you,
there will be time to uncover a lot in the upcoming paths.

The Prelude was meant to be an intro into Legacy of Arkain, showing the changes of the
world while also hinting at many events yet to come... Hints that maybe, just maybe,
help you make the decision which path you wish to play first - or maybe it just makes
you want to play ALL of them which is something I also cannot disagree with myself.

The finale of the Prelude is available to you in two different ways.
As always, you can of course find it here in Downloads.

The second option you have is to watch it here on Youtube:

Share your thoughts in the New Content Discussion thread.

Enjoy the final part of the Prelude - and stay tuned for what comes next.
The Choice. YOUR choice.

Changelog

Prelude Four:

• Removed two out of three Amulets of Spell Shield from the secret fight
• Removed Bladestorm from the secret fight
• No more Crown of Kings drop from the secret fight

 

[Shar Dundred]

20th May 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

I hope you enjoyed the latest addition to Legacy of Arkain - from what I have read so far,
the cinematic appears to have been rather... hot.

I appreciate the high interactions it has caused and I enjoy reading the different theories.
This comes once again to show that Arkain has a great and active community which I am
quite proud of.

With the Prelude done, there will be a small break before more content arrives - after all,
there are a few paths for you to take and such journeys must be planned ahead of time.

Speaking of which, allow me to present to you a new poll. After having been able to witness
the Prelude, I believe it is the right time to ask the (not so) simple question:
Which faction do you want to see more of?

There are a few options here, some might have been less interesting before the Prelude than
others, some might have been interesting for you both before and after the Prelude - and now
it is time to step back and consider it.

You can pick 1 to 5 options for the poll.
If you wish to further specify the sub faction or character, please make a post in the Round Table of Arkain.
I have intentionally kept some entries more open than others (i. e. the Undead have splintered quite
a bit lately) to encourage specifications.

I am looking forward to see what the results of this are going to be!

Dominion of Salria
The Dominion finds itself invaded by the Dwarves and below the peaceful surface, conflicts still remain – can their alliance make it through the turmoil?

Golden Guard Remnants
Defeated and few in number after the war, their relic and determination have been returned to the Golden Guard – what does the future hold for them?

Nation of Zyainor
With the heir to the throne assassinated, many in Zyainor thirst for blood – and many thirst for their blood as well – who will satisfy their thirst?

Remaining Kingdoms
Having lost much during and after the war, both the plagued Rengar and the desparate Kerrel find themselves with their backs to the wall – will the Kingdoms survive the upcoming onslaught?

Undead Splinter Groups
Disunited as they never were before, the various factions of the Undead all have very distinct goals, from survival or desire for power to utter annihilation of all – which goal will be reached?

Elven Kingdom
Reformed politically, economically and militarily since the rise of its new queen, the Elven Kingdom has been both an island of peace and intrigue in the center of the continent – but what dangers lie in wait for it?

Dwarven Realms
After many years of isolation, the Dwarves have left the Golden Tunnels to fight their foes and those who have wronged them – where will their wars lead them?

Dark Elves
Nominally loyal servants of the Watcher, the intrigant and selfish Dark Elves continue to play their own political and powermongering games while greedily gazing upwards – what will happen to them?

Empire of Rodan
The Empire has been far from the troubles of Arkain for a long time – but they never forgot the lands that once belong to them on the continent and their armies and fleets are mighty – how will they act?

Demonic Legions
The Demons have seemingly mostly stayed out of the continent since the end of the war, turning to internal matters instead, but there is movement on their political stage – to what end?

Other Factions
From the deepest depths and pits of lava to the icy mountains far above the ground, there are many who too have their interests in future events – what will these interests mean for the rest of the world?
Specify your vote in the Round Table of Arkain.

 

[Shar Dundred]

27th May 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

it is my pleasure and privilege to inform you that thanks to the outstanding work of the absolutely
amazing @Rhapsodie a certain master engineer and scientist Lord Marin has received a new model!

Is this a valiant defender in a last stand or the harbinger of a new, golden era?
Time will tell... Your choices will also define the details...

 

[Shar Dundred]

30th May 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

the poll has been online for a little more than a mere week and already one hundred of you have
participated.
For that I am both thankful & proud of this community.
The poll is still going but since we have reached 100 votes, let us take a look at the current results now, shall we?

When the poll launched, the Empire of Rodan was leading by quite a bit. While it is still in second place now, the Golden Guard
is not that far behind and Zyainor has pretty clearly taken the lead (for now, the poll is still going for 21 days).
Altogether, those three human factions have about a third of the votes for themselves.
Following those with some distance are the Undead - I believe the developments in the Prelude have given them a boost
since the last poll (granted, that poll had more options to choose from).
Aridon is probably very happy about the Undead beating the Dominion and its Orcs ratingwise but somehow I doubt that it
is because of him or those who follow him alone...

The last place is currently "shared" by the Dwarves and the Dark Elves. They're one vote apart at the moment and have been
switching a bit. Dark Elves were below Dwarves for a while.
I do wonder where the Lords of Lava would stand if I had added them...

I am curious to see if there will be more movement in the poll or if it will remain on its current level.

By the way, the astounding Marin model made by the outstanding @Rhapsodie has been published in the Model section.
If you appreciate his work like I do, drop a rating there if you haven't already.

Stay tuned for future updates!
The next newspost should feature some of the new factions that have yet to be revealed for Legacy of Arkain...

 

[Shar Dundred]

8th June 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

the poll is still ongoing and there has been some movement since the last announcement.

One of those options who has climbed the ladder bit is who we will be talking about today - the Demonic Legions!
The Demons have always played a major role in the events of Legends of Arkain, mainly as antagonists but especially
in the True Story of Arkain, more facets have been revealed and hinted at. But their playability has always been rather
limited.
At long last, in Legacy of Arkain, the Demonic Legions are going to be a fully playable faction!

The Demonic Legions

"Our kind has lived on this world long before your ancestors first opened their eyes, mortal.
Our lands are desolate and destroyed, our people are strong and numerous. If we weren't so keen
on turning on each other to further our own positions within our ranks, your Kingdoms wouldn't have
lasted a decade. You should be thanking me that I make use of you to triumph over one of my rivals."

Demon society is an intricate and complex matter. On the outside, Demons are often seen as a massive
tide that washes away all that stand in their way. But even those who are neither part of the Legions nor
any of their slaves know that on the inside, the Demons plot and scheme against each other all the time.
At the same time, the exact depth of the layers behind this system are not known to those on the outside - and
even not to many on the inside. They are split between into different legions and even those are not united.
There is only one thing that would truly unite them temporarily: A proper invasion of their lands. Under any other
circumstances however... anything goes.

Stay tuned for future updates!

 

[Shar Dundred]

15th June 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

last week I have announced the playable Demon faction - today I am going to reveal two
of the new characters you are going to encounter within this faction:
The ancient pitlord Xeltrek the Devastator and the cunning Matriarch Syzeela have been
added to the Legacy Character Sheet.
Give their entries a read and share your thoughts in the New Content Discussion [SPOILER].

Enjoy & stay tuned!

 

[Shar Dundred]

20th June 2025
Ladies and gentlemen

the last poll has almost concluded.
Once again I would like to thank everyone who has participated in this poll - and ask of you
to repeat this high amount of participation.

I doubt that this is a huge surprise for any of you, the last poll had an impact on how we proceed
from here.
I have used its results to get a clear picture for prioritizing and ask for your support once more.

A new poll has begun!
This time it is about specific paths rather than the entire factions.
To help with this decision, let us take a short look at the paths from the poll - some of you may
notice that paths talked about in the past are not included, that is intended, not all paths have
been added to this poll. I am still keeping a few aces up my sleeve.

Path of the Two: Attend to the whims of Ebira as she embarks on her quest to reshape the world of Arkain by attempting to right a wrong that was committed long before most mortal races first opened their eyes.

Path of the Watcher: Serve the Watcher of Arkain as he begins his quest to save the world of Arkain by starting his final war against the living before leaving this world himself. Are you savior or the destroyer?

Path of the Circle: Join the Circle of mages as they attempt to remove the influence of the warmongering Four from the world of Arkain.

Path of the Dragon: Lead the vengeful armies of Zyainor in their war against those who threaten them - both from the outside and from the inside.

Path of the Bloodclaw: Follow a father who lost his son as he is about to make a choice which will decide the fate of his entire dynasty.

Path of the Pure: Support the Golden Guard as they return from their long exile to return the light to this dark world through valor and righteousness.

Path of the Heroes: Accompany the long-time friends on their long journey to make Arkain a better place and to play their role in the events that are yet to come.

Path of the Nameless: Take control of Veln the Nameless as his memory returns to him, revealing which important person he had been before - and decide whether or not to embrace the past... or the future.

Make your choice - and discuss your options in the New Content Discussion [SPOILER].
Also, @Kasrkin and I have a bet going on about what paths will get the most votes - I am looking forward to find out who was right!

 

[Shar Dundred]

22nd June 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

within less than two days, the latest poll has already reached more than 100 votes.
For context, the faction poll needed a week to reach that threshold.

I am both impressed and proud of this rapid accumulation of votes and for that, I thank you.
As showcased by the options you were presented with here, the last poll results DID matter.

I want to empathize once again that the paths you see in this poll are NOT all paths that are
planned for Legacy of Arkain. What kind of world would we live in if the "Path of the Beauty"
was not an option to pick? Yes, that is an actual path.

Now then, let us take a short look, shall we?

As you can see, the Path of the Bloodclaw and the Path of the Nameless are currently on the top, followed by the Path of the Pure,
then the Path of the Circle and the Path of the Dragon. The distance between the two top picks and the rest is much larger than it is
between the remaining options.
While the Path of the Bloodclaw is currently clearly in the lead, for most of the time it has been a head-to-head race with the Path
of the Nameless - and the race is still ongoing for several weeks so who knows what might happen? Maybe one of the other paths
will even catch up to them, there is still enough time.

Many people want to see good old Gardon and his new family - many do also want to see more of the mysterious Nameless however.
I cannot fault either of them, there are a lot of reasons for both.
Seeing how close the other options are and from what I have read so far, it seems like the options I picked for this poll were not without
challenge for some of you - which I consider a good thing since it means you are invested/interested in all of them to a certain degree.

I am looking forward to present to you the first upcoming path - and of course, the ones that come after.
Stay tuned, for we all still have a legacy to consider...

 

[Shar Dundred]

3rd July 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

the poll is still ongoing - and while the top five are still in the same spots, it remains a close one!
Aridon is probably speechless right now about having fallen to last place and might conider this a justification for his genocide purge but that is his problem.

Today I would like to go a bit in-depth about the tech tree of the Demonic Legions - while they
aren't exactly in a high spot in the poll, I have read that many of you are looking forward to them
being a full race at long last and want to reward your patience by feeding your curiosity a bit.
Will this make the waiting more or less painful? Is this all some evil plot to make it more unbearble?
Time will tell! Maybe.

You might already be familar with the picture from an earlier newspost. I will not go into depth about EVERYTHING here but
enough to make sure you know some of the things you need to know.
Now let us analyze this image a bit closer, shall we?

Felguard
The classic tier 1 frontliner. Just like its undead counterpart the Deathguard it can be upgraded to remain a powerful unit
in your arsenal. That being said however, both the Deathguard and its living version got slightly nerfed now.

Succubus
Your basic ranged unit. Not only is this lady capable of dealing damage by her own, she can learn to buff herself and her
allies to deal even more damage to enemy units.

Overlord
While this unit didn't make it on this screen, I am sure you know what he looks like. A bigger version of the Felguard that
is providing auras to support your other units. While a solid unit on its own, it is better served as a support than your primary
melee option.

Infernal Machine
@Kasrkin's personal nightmare. This demonic siege unit starts out slow but it can be upgraded to become fast enough not to slow down
your armies. Well, unless you use the fast....

Felhound
A fast unit that specializes in hunting down spellcasters while being immune to their spells. It is also fast enough to outflank enemy
formations and attack vulnerable targets such as...

Sorcerer & Temptress
The Sorcerer is an offensive spellcaster that you might already know from the Kezzar Nexus. Like its undead version it can become capable of
using powerful spells to decimate entire armies.
Meanwhile, the Temptress focusses on debuffing enemy units, weakening them and making it easier for your armies to deal with them.

Lesser Infernal
A lesser version of the Infernal serves as your regular heavy unit option. While not magic immune or as powerful as its larger version, the
Lesser Infernal is not to be underestimated and is still more than capable to keep up with the heavy units of other factions - and its flames still hurt.

Fire Mephit
This flying unit primarily serves to harrass your enemies and damage enemy structures with its decent amount ot siege damage.
It can also sacrifice itself to deal massive damage to enemy air units which it cannot harm in any other way.

Flying Terror
A relative of the Succubi, this lady prefers to burn down anything that stands in its way rather than deceive them.
While they are no burtes, the Flying Terrors cannot help themselves but to cause havoc wherever they fly.

Void Drake
While somewhat related to the other dragon species, Void Drakes are very different from them and are closer to the other void creatures.
They are no less powerful than "normal" drakes but instead of "just" killing their targets, they use their powers to siphon the life out of their
enemies to sustain themselves.

Doom Guard
While they also did not make it onto the image, I trust you are all well-acquainted with the Doom Guards, after all they are one of the best-known
members of the Legions. An entire army of these powerful units can cause great damage to the enemies of demonkind - whether on the ground
or in the air, whether they are enemies without... or within.

Silent Sister
These succubi are the elite guard of Ebira herself, serving their mistress without question and without hesitation, never uttering a single word.
Rumors have it that, in order to prove their loyalty to Ebira, they had to cut their own tongues out. If they are still capable of other forms
of conversation, none outside their secretive order (or its mistress Ebira) would know.
Some Demons believe that Ebira has enslaved them rather than being naturally loyal to her - but only few would dare to say that out loud.
The Silent Sisters have abandoned the charms of a succubus in favor of armor and brute strength, but combine those with the elegance of their kind.
A deadly weapon in the right hands - and this weapon lies firmly in Ebira's hand.

That shall be all for today - there is still some left to your interpretation, it would be no fun if I told you everything, now would it?

I hope you enjoyed this read!

Stay tuned for future posts!

 

[Shar Dundred]

7th July 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,
the poll is still ongoing - and it is still looking close!

Meanwhile, I have been working some more on updating several things in Legacy of Arkain.
Among them is a graphical update for some characters.
I expect some of you to be rather distressed that one of the characters who got a new model
happens to be one of the most beautiful people in all of Arkain - but she wanted to go for a new
style, you cannot blame her for that.

A picture says more than a thousand words, so let me show you three undead characters who
benefit from a new model - as well as a comparison to their old model.

No worries, Meya can still open her mouth as wide as she used to...

Special thanks to the model creators @Ujimasa Hojo, @Greedy Procrastinator and @Rhapsodie!
Maybe you will get to see them in the campaign soon? Who knows!
Stay tuned to find out...

 

[Shar Dundred]

9th July 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

just two days ago you have witnessed the visual upgrade of several Arkain characters who are,
to put it bluntly, all dead. Well undead but that's beside the point.

Today I wll show you another character whose appearance has changed dramatically since the
True Story of Arkain... though for a very, very, VERY different reason. And THAT character is NOT dead.
This was made possible by the absolutely outstanding work of @Rhapsodie.

That being said, the character and certain other people in the world of Arkain would prefer it if she
either had not received a visual... let's call it change. and either remained the same or, well, died.
Opinions in that regard differ from person to person, both in-universe and... in this very forum.

The character has... "changed" since the last time you met. There is actually a single word that can
describe how this character is feeling these days. One factor that drives the character onward you could say.
Think you can guess which it is?

There is just one thing left to say:

Stay tuned & don't forget to vote in the poll if you haven't already!

 

[Shar Dundred]

15th July 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

the poll is drawing to a close.
While the victor is not set in stone as of yet and votes are still coming in, let me share something
with you.

The place where destinies are decided: The Keep of Fates!

It goes without saying that choosing your path is not everything you can do in this place... but more on that at a later date.

For now... stay tuned...

 

[Shar Dundred]

17th July 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

originally I had intended not to post anything here until the end of the poll.

However, due to Hive's recent... instability, I find myself wondering if I would even be able
to make this post here tomorrow.

Therefore, I have made the decision to push this post & its content to this day rather than
risk having you wait for longer than you have to - I also assume all of you do not mind getting
some content earlier anyway so Hive's outages have a positive.

Today I am bringing you not a new playable chapter or a cinematic. Today I am bringing you the
Keep of Fates. The crossroads. The conduit of your power from which you make your choice as to
which path you will walk.
The very point where legacies are forged.

It also includes quite dialogues from the paths. No long cinematics but still a lot of characteristic banter
as well as some spoilers of what is to come. You might be surprised.

Certain areas of the keep are still under construction but rest assured that there is more yet to come.

Currently none of the circles of power are working since no maps for the individual paths have been added
but every path has a dialogue that triggers upon selecting on of the people present for said path.

This patch also includes some minor updates to the past maps.

You can find the new version here in Downloads.
Enjoy & share your thoughts and impressions in the New Content Discussion [SPOILER]!

Changelog

General:

• Fixed Barrier spell description to show its duration
• Removed Hardened Skin from all Dragons
• Several model updates

Prelude Four:

• Changed the soundset of Amanda to Dryad
• Changed the hero class of Amanda from Warden to Reporter
• Fixed Amanda's position for the final section of the map
• Added a new dialogue line for Amanda's death
• Decided against pressing the "Kill Amanda" button

Keep of Fates:

• Released!

 

[Shar Dundred]

18th July 2025
Ladies and gentlemen!

The poll has ended and the results are here.
First of all I want to thank everyone who participated - we got a whole 140 participants,
that is quite a few votes!
I appreciate it, I really do. It shows how many people are interested in this.

Hive is not down at the moment so nothing stops me from writing this post!
I still believe that you didn't mind getting access to the Keep of Fates a bit earlier, eh?
Anyway:

Starting at the bottom with the Path of the Watcher, Aridon has remained at last place.
However, he wasn't that far behind the others.

Next we got the Path of the Two, Path of the Dragon and the Path of the Heroes sharing the next place.
Just imagine all those characters standing next to each other in-universe. Would get bloody.
I expected the Path of the Dragon to get more votes as many people had wanted a playable Thanok for ages
but honestly with the Path of the Bloodclaw also being present, Thanok had a rougher position than he would
have had otherwise so it isn't really that much of a surprise.

Granted, judging from the overall participation and spread of votes, I don't think that any option
presented here was "unpopular", the top two/three were just the most popular of them.

Speaking of which, the top three have defended their position against the other options.
Though the Path of the Pure and the Path of the Circle had been pretty close for a while, the Golden Guard won
out in the end.
It was also very, very close between the Path of Nameless and the Path of the Bloodclaw.
In the end, the votes of the Path of the Bloodclaw got a hefty boost that moved it ahead of the Path of the Nameless
but the latter has remained close on the former's heels.

Now, the next step is to move into the Keep of Fates and consider the options... and act accordingly.

Stay tuned!

 

[Shar Dundred]

26th July 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

it is my great pleasure to announce that the Path of the Bloodclaw shall be the first path to be
added to the Legacy of Arkain.

History does repeat itself it would appear. Gardon's journey during the Second Book era was
the first to be released and so it shall be again.

The intro cinematic has been finished yesterday. It will be released alongside the first playable
chapter once that has been completed.

Stay tuned!

 

[Shar Dundred]

4th August 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

development on the Path of the Bloodclaw continues to go well.

And... someone's sibling is going to make an appearance. And his legions will as well!
Why and how? Only one way to find out!

Stay tuned!

 

[Shar Dundred]

5th August 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

after the somewhat... shocking newspost yesterday, let us turn to something a bit different today.

I would like to thank @Rhapsodie for his continued support of Arkain.
He has repeatedly generously provided a number of amazing models for the project and continues to do so!
I cannot show you EVERYTHING just now but there are a few things I can show you.
Such as a new look for Richard van Durce and Gardon's youngest son Hotar!
Look at them, what a loving family!

HUGE thanks to @Rhapsodie for his outstanding work!
His dedication and skill is truly a boon for Arkain and he deserves nothing less than my most sincere thanks.

On this topic, I think it is about time to share an image of the Bloodclaw family, is it not?

Good thing nothing bad ever happened to anyone on this image. Can you imagine?

Special thanks to @johnwar for the edited Gardon model and of course once again to @Rhapsodie for the Hotar one.

I look forward to walk the Path of the Bloodclaw with you - I hope you are as well!

Stay tuned, it is only a matter of time...

 

[Shar Dundred]

11th August 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

on this very day, eleven years ago, the Arkain thread found its very beginning.

Eleven years! That's quite some time.

I want to thank anyone who has been following and supporting Arkain, be that from the beginning or later down the line.
You are all appreciated.

Special thanks go to @Kasrkin who has been testing Arkain since the very beginning.
All the pain he has suffered during this time has only fuelled his addiction!

Once again, for real, my sincerest thank you to you all who follow the project.
While I don't intend to release the next map just yet, allow me to share the intro to the Path of the Bloodclaw with you.

Remember to share your thoughts in the New Content Discussion [SPOILER]!

Enjoy and stay tuned for the release (soonTM)!

 

[Shar Dundred]

17th August 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

it is my greatest pleasure to announce the release of the first playable chapter of the
Path of the Bloodclaw!
The invasion of Kerrel has begun and Gardon is on his way to punish those who have wronged him.
His journey begins with facing the Order of the Air - and meeting a familiar face.

That is not all however!
This update also brings an update of the Golden Guard.
As announced previously, there have been some new models on the way. Including a full overhaul
of the Golden Guard thanks to Arkain's Forgemaster @Rhapsodie!
This also includes a unique model for the beautiful Captain Lindra - does this imply anything or is it just to make her stand out more?
Who knows!
You can find the new version here in Downloads.

Enjoy and be sure to share your impressions and thoughts in the New Content Discussion [SPOILER]!

 

[Shar Dundred]

22nd August 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

work on the next chapter is going well.

But today, let us once again take a look at one of the factions in Legacy of Arkain: The Imperial Army!
The Empire strikes back against the rebellious continent! It sends its armies to enforce Imperial order once again.

Utilizing their mighty legions, the remaining sea drakes of the fallen Dragon Regiment and the elite Aetthrix Guard, they will
gladly give their lives in the name of their Emperor.
Time and your own choices will determine how successful they shall be!

Stay tuned!

 

[Shar Dundred]

24th August 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

work on the next chapter is going well.

Are you all ready for round two? Someone certainly is!

Stay tuned and... energized!

 

[Shar Dundred]

1st September 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

a new month has begun - and it is a personal pleasure that I can releasea new playable chapter on this very day!

The invasion of Kerrel continues... but Gardon and his followers will soon find themselves facing another threat.

This new mission offers quite a lot. Not just will you face the armies of Kerrel, a certain elemental lord and others,
no, you will also get a lot of new lore to study - and quite some dialogues to read that will satisfy your urge to get
that Arkain lore you crave.
It is time to face the demons of the past.

You can find the new version here in Downloads.

Remember to share your thoughts, impressions in the New Content Discussion and discuss them there!

Enjoy!

 

[Shar Dundred]

1st September 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,
here we are yet again!

You have already given some feedback on this newest addition to the project and I thank you for that!
Almost 200 downloads within only a couple of hours, you guys rock!

I have also seen some speculations regarding the revelations made at the end of the map and am looking
forward to read more about that in the New Content Discussion!

I have just uploaded a small update for today's release - a hotfix to increase the challenge on
the new map by adding a few enemy production structures as well as buffing their defense.

More importantly though, our beloved direwolf Zed has returned from his trip to find a tree in
the forest to provide his valuable insight at the end of the map!

You can find the new version here in Downloads.

For those of you who cannot wait to listen to the wise words of the Zed, I have collected them for you here:

Enjoy!

 

[Shar Dundred]

2nd September 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

it is my pleasure to announce the creation of something that many wanted for the original Books:
A summary of all saved choices & their consequences.

Unlike it was the case with the books, I am going to do this for Legacy of Arkain in this thread:

Legacy Cache Log (aka "Saved Decisions and Heroes") [SPOILER]

In the later stages of the development the original First and Second Books, I have been asked on several occasions if I could provide an overview of things that can have an impact later on. While I did do that to some extent and gave you i. e. a summary for the Orc Books for the secret mission...

www.hiveworkshop.com

It goes without saying that this is a very spoiler-heavy topic, even compared to the New Content Discussion, so
use the information there at your own discretion. More information can be found in the thread itself.

I will regularly update it when new content becomes available.

Enjoy!

 

[Shar Dundred]

5th September 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

in the light of the recent chapter's release, I have decided to relase a new short story "Imperial Administration".
It gives you a bit more insight into the character of the recently introduced Catherine van Durce

You can find it in the Tales of Arkain thread, at the bottom of the human stories.
I am working on reorganizing the thread to reduce the scrolling you need to do, I already know how to do it, I just have to implement it.

Enjoy!

 

[Shar Dundred]

12th September 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

work on the next chapter is going well - and in order to get you a bit hyped about it, let me
share with you a little insight into what you can expect to see.

Stay tuned!

 

[Shar Dundred]

20th September 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

work on the next map is going well. It still needs some work but we are getting there.

To properly prepare you for this release, I have updated the first two maps for the Path of the Bloodclaw.
Most changes affect the second mission as it was too easy and we can't have that in Arkain.

You can find the new version here in Downloads.

Enjoy!

Changelog

Bloodclaw One:
- Added several civilian units and buildings

Bloodclaw Two:

• Removed 3 allied Barracks
• Doubled the spawning rate of enemy infantry for the second phase of the map
• Allied units are now teleported back into their base when the second phase of the map begins
• Increased the level of General Venduar from 7 to 10

 

[Shar Dundred]

30th September 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

it is my pleasure to announce the release of the next playable chapter of the Path of the Bloodclaw - Gateway to Rodan!

Finding themselves invaded by the mighty legions of the Empire of Rodan, Gardon and his forces have forged an alliance with
none other than Catherine van Durce to launch their own counter invasion, hoping that doing so will put an end to the Imperial threat.

Unbeknownst to him, Gardon is not the only one heading this way however - and other eyes are watching his moves as well...

This update also features an update to the Keep of Fates, letting you check the current status of your choices.
This will be overhauled when more paths are being added.

You can find the new version here in Downloads.

Enjoy & don't forget to share your thoughts in the New Content Discussion!

Changelog

Keep of Fates:
- Added a new command to check the state of your current choices (beta)

Bloodclaw Two:

• Changed the name of the enemy forces in phase two
• Fixed the unit rotations upon exiting the dialogues with Ira and Catherine

Bloodclaw Three:
- Released!

 

[Shar Dundred]

4th October 2024
Ladies and gentlemen,

I hope you are enjoying the recently released Bloodclaw Three!

While I had to upload a hotfix or two for it, its current state can only be described as completely satisfying.
I have also made a small update to the Legacy Cache Log as it did not highlight gameplay differences
in Bloodclaw Three related to the undead side quests before.
Small summary here:
Not destroying the Ejara in Bloodclaw One will result in Frost Wyrm attacks, not destroying both bases in Bloodclaw three will result in attacks from the Rohir Nexus, even if you destroyed them and left the Splecir alive.

Gardon and one set of his children are launching their counter invasion and you can look forward to seeing what will happen there!

That being said, I am going to take a temporary break from working on Legacy of Arkain for a while.
I will still be around but I will take some time before continuing to work on Bloodclaw Four and Five.

Until then... enjoy this little glance into the far future. Wherever might other paths lead...?

Spoiler

 

[Shar Dundred]

11th November 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

the temporary break I took has been refreshing but last week I have returned to working on the next
chapter of the Path of the Bloodclaw.

It is time to return home. Many eyes will soon turn their attention to what Gardon is doing - the events
in Rodan might shape the future of Arkain forevermore. And many old scores still want to be settled...

Bloodclaw Four WIP

Furthermore, the next release will also bring a small visual update. Zurae has disliked her outfit and asked
@Rhapsodie to help her with her makeover.

Finally, I want you to know that I want to try and finish the Path of the Bloodclaw in the year 2025. I do not know as of yet if that is going
to be possible as the last two months tend to be busy months for me so take that with a grain of salt.
Feel free to take that as a hint as for how many maps are left for that path.

Thank you for your continued support & stay tuned for future news!

 

[Shar Dundred]

18th November 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

work on the next chapter is going well!

Terrain work has been finished, triggers and AI are next.

You can look forward to the release, even if it still needs some time.
I can assure you there are more than just one in-universe characters that are looking forward
to your arrival as well.
Family, am I right?

Stay tuned!

 

[Shar Dundred]

26th November 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

it is time for the invasion of Rodan to commence!

Chapter Four of the Path of the Bloodclaw: Homecoming has just been released!

You can find the new version here in Downloads.

Enjoy & be sure to share your thoughts in the New Content Discussion!

Changelog

General:
- Fixed Bloodhound model disappearing & Gardon's flask shapeshifting (thanks to @g4ndalf)

Bloodclaw Three:
-Fixed the Altar not spawning for the second part of the map
-New model for Ca'la Zurae (thanks to @Rhapsodie)

Bloodclaw Three:
- Released!

 

[Shar Dundred]

27th November 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

already the new version uploaded yesterday has over 120 downloads!

Now it is time for some fine tuning, shall we say?

I have added some minor dialogue to address two things: The portal & the Darkborn.
At the same time I have added the following items to the latest chapter so you get some stuff to fill those empty inventory slots with:
Circlet of Nobility, Gloves of Haste, Claws of Attack +9, Ring of Regeneration, Medallion of Courage

For those of you who are only interested in the new dialogue & do not want to play the whole chapter again, I have added the new lines in the spoiler tag below.

As always, you can find the new version here in Downloads.

Spoiler: New dialogues

About the Portal in the intro cinematic
Grand Marshal Titus Invictus: Tell our soldiers not to touch that portal - I don't want them to go through and be ambushed. I also do not want to see what kind of magical explosion destroying it might cause. You never know with a spiteful man like Bloodclaw. Kill or capture him first, then have mages study it.

Encountering the Darkborn:
ELF VERSION
Parlea: T- these creatures... they l- look like their creation was... a- achieved through s- so much pain... How... dreadful...
Tojaz: ...
Velina: Kill first, pity later.

HUMAN VERSION
Laura: What on earth are those things?
Zurae: Remind me to ask the emperor before I set his palace on fire.

 

[Shar Dundred]

3rd December 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

I am glad to see you are enjoying the latest addition to Legacy of Arkain!

As work on the next chapter of the Path of the Bloodclaw continues, let us talk about its ending.
Or rather: Its endings.

Because yes, the Path of the Bloodclaw will feature not one, not two, not even three or four, no, FIVE endings.
Yes, you read that right. Five endings. Not counting you having commit Gardon suicide during any of the missions,
that's you creating your own ending.

This is one of the upsides of the paths, it allows me to create alternate scenarios and endings.
That being said, not all paths will have multiple endings, let alone so many possible outcomes, but here it just fits
for multiple reasons that will become much clearer soon.

Both your past choices and the ones you are going to make in the next chapter will have an impact - do not worry about
having to replay the entire path to get a different ending, the choices with the biggest impact are yet to come - though
certain past choices might already have locked you out of one of the endings.
But that's just one more thing the spoiler-heavy Legacy Cache Log is here for.

Stay tuned, be hyped! The Fate of the Bloodclaw will come.

 

[Shar Dundred]

8th December 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

work on the next chapter is going well!

It will still take some time until it is finished.
What I can tell you however is that some questions will be answered - one of which having been
asked quite recently:
Why are there Undead in Rodan?

Stay tuned!

 

[Shar Dundred]

14th December 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

work on the next chapter is going quite well, I have been inspired & motivated to work on it quite extensively.

I cannot say as of yet when it will be in a releaseable state, the cinematics, remaining triggers and of course in-depth testing will require some time.
I have already been testing several triggers & systems but a full map test has yet to be performed - and @Kasrkin will have quite a few things to test there I can assure you!

That being said, how about a little teaser to keep you on edge?
Your choices matter, ladies and gentlemen.

Stay tuned!

 

[Shar Dundred]

19th December 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

the Christmas holidays approach - and what better way to spend the time than with the final playable chapter of the Path of the Bloodclaw?
Exactly, there is no better way!

The Fate of the Bloodclaw awaits. I will not say too much about this other than you will meet a few characters - both old and new.
It also features a number of battles with said characters.
As I have already hinted at in the past, this mission will have five different outcomes.
Your choices matter. Make them count.

You can find the new version here in Downloads.

Enjoy and happy holidays to all of you!

 

[Shar Dundred]

19th December 2025
Ladies and gentlemen,

surprise! Two news in one day! What a time to be alive!

Given the high amount of possible endings the newest chapter has, I have decided to give you
all a small Christmas gift in addition to its release:
The cinematics of all possible options for you to watch!
Yes, that's right, you can watch them all here.

I have decided against adding the ingame dialogues & ALL variants the cinematics can have so that you
still have a few things you need to discover yourself.
You can watch @Jayborino's video to watch one of the elf versions!
The cinematics still serve their purpose of showcasing the different endings & how to get them.
Fine-tuning of all details is up to you, the player.

It should go without saying, but I will still put it here:
The cinematics are very spoiler-heavy. I recommend you to only watch them after having played the mission yourself!

Here you go:
Option A
Option B
Option C
Option D
Option E

An explanation which is which below in the spoiler tag.

Spoiler: Explanation

A: Aridon Path
B: Brian Path
C: Theodor Path
D: Tregakh Path
E: Solo Path

Enjoy & happy holidays!

 

[Shar Dundred]

26th December 2025
Ladies and gentlemen!

I hope your holidays were off to a great start! Let's imrpove them some more, shall we?

To really end this year properly, I have updated Legacy of Arkain yet again!

The outro of the Path of the Bloodclaw has been added.
Furthermore, the Keep of Fates has been updated!

You can find the new version here in Downloads.

But wait there's more!

As I have done with the final mission of the path, I have once again uploaded five variants of the outro
for you to watch. As last time, it does not include ALL possible combinations of choices but still a few of them.

Just like last time, It should go without saying, but I will still put it here:
The cinematics are very spoiler-heavy. I recommend you to only watch them after having played your own version ingame!
Furthermore, only watching it ingame will correctly "check" that you have completed the Path of the Bloodclaw.

Here you go:
Option A
Option B
Option C
Option D
Option E

An explanation which is which below in the spoiler tag.

Spoiler: Explanation

A: Aridon Path
B: Brian Path
C: Theodor Path
D: Tregakh Path
E: Solo Path

And finally here is the showcase of the new content in the Keep of Fates:

@Kasrkin and I wish you a good rest of the year & we will see you again next year!
Enjoy!

Kas Edit: As Shar said have a good rest of the year and my apologies for being scarce during the last months of the year. Good luck to you all and have a good one.

 

[Shar Dundred]

1st January 2026
Happy new year ladies and gentlemen!
I hope you had a good start into 2026!
Now let's make it even better, shall we?

Let us take some time to talk about what comes next for Legacy of Arkain this year.

We are starting this year off by moving away from the Path of the Bloodclaw and onto the next one:
The Path of the Nameless!

I have seen many speculations regarding the true identity of Veln the Nameless and I have enjoyed reading them all.
Some have speculated that Veln's personality will depend on the path you take - but I am sure all of you know by now
that this is not the case. The identity of Veln had been decided before Veln himself was even created.

The answer to the question who the amnesiac mercenary is will be revealed relatively early in the Path of the Nameless.
The more important question will be what YOU do with this knowledge.
Do you embrace the past? Do you move on? Who are you really? Are you Veln or are you [REDACTED]? And what do you want to do with that knowledge?
And when will Night Elves come to Arkain? No, Veln is not a Night Elf, get that idea out of your head right now!

There is going to be some cleaning up to be done in the Object Data before the work on the path itself can begin,
but I am very motivated to work on this path.
As for what comes after.... time will tell!

Stay tuned!

 

[Shar Dundred]

5th January 2026
Ladies and gentlemen,

as mentioned in the last newspost, I am currently cleaning up some Object Data, transferring some data while adding new one.
So I thought why not share some of it with you?
This isn't connected to the Path of the Nameless but still something that you might be looking forward to.

As you may recall, only three out of the Four have factions clearly dedicated to them:
Aridon has the Undead (well, far less than he used to thanks to a certain Redfist).
Tregakh has the Darkborn (he HAD Moghtar and Forgotten too but we know how that worked out).
And Zindrach has the Demons (the Demons just do not have a Zindrach anymore).

Our good friend Brian had factions aligned with him, yes, but not much of a real "own" army other than a few unit types.
That has changed - thanks to @johnwar for having created (most of) the models used here a long time ago.

Stay tuned!

 

[Shar Dundred]

8th January 2026
Ladies and gentlemen,

let us talk a bit more about the things that have happened in the background.

After the end of the Second Voidwar, the Elves have continued to change as a people.
As you all know their new queen Larine has had great interest in strengthening her people for a long time.
With the help of the Ironforged and several reforms, the military has been improved significantly.

The Ironforged were a vital part in this process - and they have become more than what they used to be.

I have heard some people wonder what happened to the hydromancers of the Order of the Tides after Cora's disappearance.
The answer is quite simple: The members of the order have been moved to the Elven Kingdom to aid in building up a new military - at Larine's request.

In addition to this insight into the military changes of the Elves, I have also released some new lore for Lord Restor, Grand Inquisitor Madaal and Drokarr the Breaker.
You can find it in the Legacy Character Sheet.
There is more lore written for more characters than what I have added here today but one thing at a time...

Enjoy and stay tuned!

 

[Shar Dundred]

14th January 2026
Ladies and gentlemen,

it is my pleasure to present to you the intro to the Path of the Nameless: The Masked One!

The Path of the Nameless is in full production.
I will not spoil who is behind the mask - for that is an important question. Can you find the answer?
But soon you will know the truth...

You can watch the intro on Youtube - it will be added to the campaign file when the first mission is released!

Enjoy!

 

[Shar Dundred]

26th January 2026
Ladies and gentlemen,

work on the next chapter is going well!

After having reworked some heroes by changing abilities, adding new ones and so on and so forth, I am now completely focussing on the first playable map of the Path of the Nameless.

The mask is slipping. Soon the true identity of the Nameless will be revealed - or should I say, decided?

Can you guess who Veln once was? Drop your three best guesses into the New Content Discussion [SPOILER]!

Stay tuned!

 

[Shar Dundred]

28th January 2026
Ladies and gentlemen,

today marks the day the Hiveworkshop has unlocked its Projects page for Hive's projects!
It allows for an easier project organisation - you might not have noticed this but this forum has already been implemented in it!

You can already find all information from the forum here - but better organized than in the forum!
Be sure to follow the project as I will eventually move all newsposts there.

Arkain grows stronger and so do we!

Check it out & enjoy!

 

[Shar Dundred]

2nd February 2026
Ladies and gentlemen,

you had to wait a long time. Almost one entire year has passed since Legacy of Arkain has been announced in February 2025.

Your support over all this time has been amazing, I cannot thank you enough for your continued support and @Kasrkin and I
are both looking forward to provide you with more content in 2026.
No matter what else is happening in this world, Arkain is here to make it brighter!

There is one question that has hung over this new project since the release of its first mission: Who is Veln the Nameless?
The stoic mercenary who lost his memory. Who is it under the mask? What secrets lie beneath?

Ladies and gentlemen, today is the day where I proudly announce that your question will be answered.
Today is the day where the mask falls - figuratively speaking.

The first mission of the Path of the Nameless has been released along with its intro cinematic.
Once you have played it all (or watched it all), I invite you to join me in the New Content Discussion [SPOILER] to discuss this long-awaited revelation.

You can find the new version here in Downloads.

Now, without further ado:
Enjoy! Sincerely.

Regards,
Shar & Kasrkin
Arkain Industries

Changelog

General:

• Simplified the tooltip of Bone Curse
• Several smaller fixes & tweaks

Bloodclaw One:
- Replaced the Blizzard ability of the Windmaster & Grandmaster with the new Whirlwind ability

Nameless Intro:
- Released!

Nameless One:
- Released!

 

[Shar Dundred]

5th February 2026
Ladies and gentlemen,

mere three days ago, the truth has been revealed.
The mask has slipped. The past of Veln the Nameless lies bare before you.

In case someone has not yet played the latest release, I will not drop the name of Veln's former self in this post.

I dare say that the reveal has been quite successful, very successful even! From what I have seen, you have greatly enjoyed it which is
amazing to see.

While some of you might still need time to recover (or even play), there is a question that demands your attention:
What do you want to see Veln do first?

That's right. The Path of the Nameless will split from this point on and I do not intend to work on both in tandem.
Therefore, the decision is yours. Do you first want to see Veln embrace his past? Or do you first want to see him abandon it?

Make your choice in the strawpoll! You have until Friday the 13th to make your decision.

Stay tuned!