We are back with our fifth Dev Blog, wrapping up a busy January 2025!
We hope that your plans for this year are going smoothly and that everyone’s steps lead to happiness.
Today, we’re going to take some time to talk about the recent developments made to the combat systems during the development of Dungeon Stalkers, the choices made by the development team, and the direction we are aiming for.
Ultimate Skill Improvement
“We are giving the mage Nave, and the warrior Baran a major upgrade to their ultimate skills, so they can really perform dramatically when the going gets tough.”
Nave’s ultimate skill has been changed to a magic that fires a beam straight ahead, dealing continuous damage, and Baran’s ultimate skill has been changed to a skill that deals powerful area damage in a fan shape area using the existing skill ‘Death Crush’.
They will become true forces on the battlefield, Nave as a devastating ranged attacker and Baran as an unstoppable force. Use your new ultimate skills to change the course of battle!
Mana Stone - Unleashed
Mana Stone - Death Crush
Control Improvement
“We are trying to naturally reduce the discrepancy between the player’s judgement and actual actions when attacking, defending, and casting skills during battle.”
The development team has consistently received feedback regarding the frustration caused by attacking, defending, and casting skills during battle, and we have recognized this as an important issue, and have been considering the causes in various ways. After much discussion, we have decided to improve the following first.
- The discrepancy between the player’s judgement and the actual end point of the action
For example, after using Hilda’s skill “Bladeslam”, the player feels that the action has ended when the sword’s attack has ended. However, in reality, additional delays occur due to the animation of putting away the sword and getting up, and Hilda remains in place for a longer time than the player’s judgment.
We defined this time as “frustration”.
This delay was initially intended as a strategic element, giving opponents a window to counterattack.
While we understand the appeal of this deliberate pace, we felt it was ultimately hindering the overall gameplay experience.
As shown in the image above, we have added a point where the next action is connected to various skills and general attack actions, including Hilda’s ‘Bladeslam’.
Players will now be able to escape from the delay in action that causes a discrepancy between the actual action and their judgement, and they will be able to feel the difference between the fast paced and heavy actions.
Other Battle Improvement
“We have removed the stun animation when armor is destroyed to make the battle tempo faster and smoother.”
Now, even if the armor is destroyed, no stun animation will occur.
Previously, if the armor was destroyed during the actions, the action would be canceled, and the character would be knocked down defenseless. Exploiting this weakness was an important strategic element in the past battle policy, but in the current faster and smoother battle tempo, this penalty felt excessive.
Therefore, we have boldly removed the stun animation to provide a smoother battle experience.
To Conclusion…
As one of the development team,
I apologize that I can only explain the situation to those who are waiting through words.
We are doing our best to meet the Stalkers and to repay the valuable feedback you have sent us for Dungeon Stalkers.
Since the last test, the development team has been dedicated to development based on the following principles:
- Creating a high quality seasonal party matching game
- Reducing play stress difficulty
- Strengthening the unique characteristics and character of each Stalker
We are specifically targeting 3 player party based matching games. Our goal is to offer a smooth matchmaking process, polished gameplay, and a seamless transition to the next level.
We are also working on improving areas where each class’s unique personality and strengths were not fully utilized. (For example, we have added stealth abilities to Rio) We are also deep in discussions about enhancing the visual appeal and individuality of our characters, and we are developing a concrete plan based on these discussions that we will be implementing gradually.
We will continue to share our development team’s thoughts and direction with you. If you have any questions that were not covered in this Dev Blog or topics you would like to see in the next chapter, feel free to leave feedback on our Discord or Steam community.
Thank you again from the bottom of our hearts to all the Stalkers who have shown their continued interest in Dungeon Stalkers.
