Stoneshard – Bolt Thrower Early Access Update Live

Bolt Thrower, the latest early access content update for Ink Stains Games’ challenging turn-based RPG Stoneshard, is now live. The update introduces a new character, two new weapon types, two extra ability trees, new items, some balance adjustments, and numerous miscellaneous fixes.

The link above has the complete patch notes, but if you’re more interested in a closer look at some of the bigger new features, you should check out this earlier announcement. Have a look:

Hello everyone!
In today’s devlog we’ll give you a quick overview of some major additions of the “Bolt Thrower” content update, which will be released in just a couple more days – on June 2.
In the previous devlog we’ve already introduced crossbows. Now it’s time for the second new weapon type:
SPEARS
Spears are two handed weapons. They have fairly average base damage, but they compensate for it with high Armor Penetration and Accuracy. Other than the spears themselves, this skill tree also includes halberds. At the moment they deal two damage types at the same time, Piercing and Slashing, but in the future we’ll probably expand on this mechanic.
While other weapon skill trees focus on dealing damage or mobility, the spears are best explained with a single word – “control”. One of their main mechanics is Immobilization. Offensive spear Skills have 2 tiles reach, so immobilization allows you to keep your opponent at a relatively safe distance, weakening them with precise strikes as they try to approach.
Active Abilities
Nail Down – a strike to the legs. If the enemy is adjacent, deals bonus damage with a chance to Knock them back. If they are a tile away, deals bonus Bodypart Damage with a chance to Immobilize.
Impaling Lunge hits two tiles in a line with extra Bodypart Damage, Armor Penetration, and Bleed Chance. If the affected target is Immobilized, these bonuses are doubled.
Maneuver moves you to an adjacent tile, decreasing Active Cooldowns for spear Skills by 1 for each enemy within an area. After that grants an effect which decreases Damage Taken and increases Block and Crit Chances. This effect gets extra stacks to its strength for each Cooldown it reduces.
Pikeman’s Stance is a stance-based Skill which gradually raises Knockback, Immobilization, and Bleed chances, while also granting bonus Damage. It’s worth mentioning that stance mechanics were changed – more details in the patch notes on June 2.
Determination delivers a free hit with extra Bleed Chance to each enemy who steps on an adjacent tile during next turn.
Passive Abilities
Stay Back! – when enemies step on adjacent tiles, they receive a penalty to Piercing Resistance for 1 turn. This passive also gives you a chance to trigger Impaling Lunge on basic attacks.
Precise Hits grants bonus Immobilization Chance to your strikes. Attacks against Immobilized targets have bonus Accuracy, Bodypart Damage, and Bleed Chance.
One at a Time! – grants bonus Damage and Block Power for each adjacent enemy.
No Retreat – staying put on the same tile grants a stacking bonus to Block and Crit Chances, as well as reduces Cooldowns Duration. Moving to a different tile resets the bonus.
Wounding Spearhead – spear crits deal extra Damage based on the target’s current Health. The higher it is, the higher the Damage.
DUAL WIELDING
Another new skill tree being added with the Bolt Thrower update, it’s meant to fully develop dual-wielding playstyle. The skill tree’s main mechanic is Hands Efficiency. It acts as a resource of sorts: certain Skills and circumstances temporarily increase it, while others – decrease. This makes the gameplay as a berserker more strategic, since you’ll need to skillfully juggle your abilities to maintain high damage output.
Active Abilities
Flurry of Blows delivers two dual attacks with decreased Hands Efficiency.
Enough for Everyone performs a strike which marks the enemy with a special effect – each time you attack a different target, you’ll deliver a strike to the marked enemy as well. Each instance of this effect increases Hands Efficiency.
Deflect is a powerful defensive Skill. For 1 turn it raises your Block Chance to 100% and grants extra Block Power, but reduces Hands Efficiency for the next 2 turns as a trade-off.
Concentration is a stance-based Skill which gradually raises Hands Efficiency, Accuracy, while lowering Fumble Chance.
Whirlwind delivers a strike to an enemy, switches places with them, and then does the same maneuver with another adjacent target until there are no nearby enemies who didn’t take a hit. Each Whirlwind strike slightly decreases Hands Efficiency, so it’s best used when this stat is high enough.
Passive abilities
Berserk Tradition grants bonus Hands Efficiency, Dodge and Crit Chances, as well as Crit Efficiency for each armor slot which doesn’t grant you Protection (with the exception of belts, jewelry, and cloaks).
Dying Fervor greatly boosts Hands Efficiency when your Health drops below 50%.
More Blood! – this passive instantly replenishes “Flurry of Blows” Cooldown if it manages to kill its target, while also increasing Hands Efficiency for a few turns.
Unstoppable – if an enemy affected with “Enough for Everyone” dies, this effect is transferred to a random nearby target.
Dual Wielding Training – Skill usage grants bonus Hands Efficiency for the next turn. Doubles the bonus if both equipped weapons are of the same type. Additionally, using weapon Skills also performs an off-hand attack.
NEW CHARACTER
We’ve added a fifth playable character to the game – Velmir, who hails from distant Skadia.
“In Skadia the most grievous offences must be paid for in blood. When Velmir learned about his brother’s treacherous murder at the hands of a man named Dražan, he abandoned his life as a seafaring merchant without hesitation to personally make sure the justice is served.
For a few years Velmir had been tracking the murderer, who at first went into hiding in Skadia, then fled to foreign lands. Eventually, the chase had brought them both to Aldor. Dražan surrounded himself with bodyguards and attempted to lie low in one of the cities, but Velmir managed to hunt him down nevertheless. The bodyguards just delayed the inevitable – the reprisal was swift and violent.
Once the blood feud had been settled, Velmir realized that his life was now void of purpose – after everything which had transpired, returning to his old trade wasn’t an option, nor did he actually want to. After long consideration, he decided to stay in Aldor and became a bounty hunter, so that he could continue following trails and bringing vengeance over and over again.”
Velmir’s unique trait is “To Each Their Own”: when Velmir is attacked, he gains bonus Accuracy, while the attacker is applied with extra Damage Taken for the next few turns.
Velmir’s starting Affinities are Maces, Spears, Ranged Weapons, Athletics and Combat Mastery, making his early build paths quite varied.