Hello again.

Based on feedback gathered from v1.5 release, Chessmaster's Challenge is going to have some improvements which later will be ported over to the main project (An Empty Tome). Some changes are significant and considered as QoL improvements while some are just minor stuff that were forgotten to be implemented into the game.

First, let's take a look at general stuffs.

Character Traits

One of the major updates is Character Traits which makes each characters carry some additional attributes based on their proficiency and their base elements (which has been implemented earlier in v1.5).

There are five kind of traits:

• Striker: Characters who carries Striker trait has significant potentials in dealing more physical damage, either with or without augmentations from equipments and their own skillset;
• Defender: Characters with Defender trait has potentials in taking more damage without dying, either with or without augmentations from equipments and their own skillset;
• Support: Characters with Support trait excels in providing supportive aids to other party members, such as healing and positive buffs. There are some support characters with debuff kits and ailments as well;
• Caster: Characters with Caster trait has generally powerful spells in their arsenal, and highly dependant to their capabilities on casting their spells; and
• Special: Characters who don't fall into above traits are given with Special trait, which denotes their uniqueness as a party member. Characters with Special trait generally plays around their gimmicks that should be exploited to make highest impact possible in battles.

These traits are not only for show, because if there are some party members with similar traits and elements, all party members will gain bonuses based on kind of traits and elements each party members have. Take a look at picture below.

The bar below MP bar shows several icons that reflects the "dominant element" (the water icon) and "dominant trait" (the Special trait icon, but in different hue) present in the party. The triangle denotes the level of bonus all party members may have based on how many characters with similar trait/element present in the party.

Each bonus traits have their corresponding name and effects:

Formation

The formation menu has been updated following the previous update which changes the battle floor grid size from 8x4 into 8x3. In addition of the UI update, now everytime the size of party members has been changed, the formation will reset and the position of each battle members will be dynamically set depending on how many party members present.

Here's the example of 4-man party formation (note that Richter's initial position is at the second row and second column):

And here's the example of 2-man party after party arrangement:

Some UI changes

Some UIs have been changed for various reasons including fixing incorrect values and removing info redundancies on some windows. Here are some notable UI changes:

• The inventory menu now shows only two windows; the window at the top of the screen--which was initially present to show brief information about highlighted items--has been removed since there's a dedicated info window shown right next to the inventory window.

• Skill menu also receives similar trait as the inventory menu. Note the change on the actor window above the skill list window.

• Some corrections have been implemented on Status menu, and following the battle system changes, the Move Rate is removed from the stat list.

• Companions and Bestiary interaface also receiving some minor updates

• Shop interface also gets some revamp, following the item window UI rework

Battle Mechanics

Battle mechanics have been overhauled, which most of those have been mentioned in previous devlog. Some of the changes in battle mechanics are:

• The decision has been made regarding the battle field; the fourth row on the battle field has been removed, making the battlefield's grid size reduced from 8x4 into 8x3;
• Movements of all battlers reduced into 1;
• In compensation of much more limited move rate, the attack and cast range for all battlers has been increased by 2;
• While at the moment the enemies is still moving around in RNGesus' accord, the reduction of battle field size will also enforce them to gather round, making it easy for player to demolish them in swift strike (and vice versa; enemy troops may have the same trait to party as well);
• Enemy troop max size reduced from 8 to 6;
• Enemy troop will spawn in certain formation at the start of battle instead of randomized; and
• Several fixes including: push effect may causing freeze on certain conditions i.e. when there's no other valid grid position; and critical hit multiplier checked more than once on physical skills .

Recap:

Conclusion

While not all of the changes are listed here, all of them has been implemented into the v1.6 prototype which is undergoing some tests before being released. Some listed stuffs above are still a subject of change; there might be some slight differences in implementation in later release.

The v1.6 will be released in a few days, which will be announced in next update.

That's all for now. Cheers~