KickStarter Solasta: Crown of the Magister Thread - now with Palace of Ice sequel DLC

[Orud]

According to the rules you are supposed to be able to use a shield hand for somatic components. Two-handed weapons are superior to using a shield even without this additional restriction. It's easier to pick up a couple AC from feats than it is to pick up damage.

And that's even without having reach weapons in the game.

In this game? Yes, since its easy to obtain the required AC to be a frontline combatant and the relatively small pool of powerful feats. Same goes for enchants: you're limited to only a handful magic items per character and weapon enchants are quite limited in power.

This isn't true for most games though, and I'm not just talking about D&D. Two-handing or single-wielding a weapon usually falls off quite fast as levels progress, the usual culprits being: double enchants, base damage becoming a smaller part of the damage pool at higher levels, etc... .

 

[Fedora Master]

This is at least the second time I see you obsess over a game you despise.

Which game was the other one?

Wrath of the Righteous. He (rightfully) complained about the game's many flaws and said it was shit, but kept replaying the first chapter over and over.

I find his willingness to give a game he dislikes multiple chances commendable, but at one point one has to learn to give up.

I will have you know, my attempts usually ended in the Abyss.

 

[J1M]

According to the rules you are supposed to be able to use a shield hand for somatic components.

???

Somatic (S)​

Spellcasting gestures might include a forceful gesticulation or an intricate set of gestures. If a spell requires a somatic component, the caster must have free use of at least one hand to perform these gestures.

Doesn't seem the case. Moreover, what would the point of the War Caster feat be then?

You have practiced casting spells in the midst of combat, learning techniques that grant you the following benefits:

• You have advantage on Constitution saving throws that you make to maintain your concentration on a spell when you take damage.
• You can perform the somatic components of spells even when you have weapons or a shield in one or both hands.
• When a hostile creature's movement provokes an opportunity attack from you, you can use your reaction to cast a spell at the creature, rather than making an opportunity attack. The spell must have a casting time of 1 action and must target only that creature.

And that's even without having reach weapons in the game.

Last time I played, reach weapons were in the game. I had Unfinished Business installed, but I only activated the party size option, so I don't think it was the mod's doing.

Regarding somatic components, maybe I am confusing rules between editions. I thought only heavy shields (which don't exist in Solasta) had that restriction.

Which weapons have reach? I did not find any as drops or for purchase.
https://solastacrownofthemagister.fandom.com/wiki/Weapons

 

[J1M]

According to the rules you are supposed to be able to use a shield hand for somatic components. Two-handed weapons are superior to using a shield even without this additional restriction. It's easier to pick up a couple AC from feats than it is to pick up damage.

And that's even without having reach weapons in the game.

In this game? Yes, since its easy to obtain the required AC to be a frontline combatant and the relatively small pool of powerful feats. Same goes for enchants: you're limited to only a handful magic items per character and weapon enchants are quite limited in power.

This isn't true for most games though, and I'm not just talking about D&D. Two-handing or single-wielding a weapon usually falls off quite fast as levels progress, the usual culprits being: double enchants, base damage becoming a smaller part of the damage pool at higher levels, etc... .

Correct, we are talking about Solasta in the Solasta thread.

 

[NJClaw]

Regarding somatic components, maybe I am confusing rules between editions. I thought only heavy shields (which don't exist in Solasta) had that restriction.

"Heavy" shields aren't a thing in 5E, at least in the core rules (I'm not familiar with the most recent handbooks, but I doubt they added anything like that).

Which weapons have reach? I did not find any as drops or for purchase.

I know I found a "pike" which had reach while playing Forsake Isle.

 

[Artyoan]

The reach weapons are UB only. I haven't actually played with them yet, though I've seen a streamer using them, and I'm not sure what option activates them. Didn't look through the UB lists enough for now but I'm sure I will when the next dlc is out and I'm trying new things. I know at a minimum they are placed on vendor lists for crafting but they may become droppable from a random +1/+2 loot placement.

 

[Fatberg Slim]

I completed Crown of the Magister recently on Scavenger difficulty. My party:

- Half-Elf Oath of Tirmar Paladin – Standard 2H melee paladin, got what I expected​

- Sylvan Elf Swift Blade Ranger – Started off very strong by having an extra attack early due to dual-wielding, then tailed off as the damage from his DEX-based light weapons couldn’t keep pace with monster HP. Per the rule set he couldn’t cast most spells with weapons in both hands, and switching hands was annoying but never a big deal (except when traveling on the map, when having 2 weapons equipped meant he couldn’t cast Goodberry and thus couldn’t rest )​

- Hill Dwarf Battle Cleric – Not as OP as typical clerics in contemporary D&D-based games, but definitely the most versatile character​

- High Elf Greenmage Wizard – Not the optimal choice for a party that already had access to druid magic, but I wanted to try something different. The archery was great for reliable damage every round (and later on-hit Entangle was nice), although bows may not be much of an improvement over 5E cantrips​

​

They were all pretty balanced in terms of their usefulness. I finished at level 10, with everyone 32 XP short of level 11 by the time they entered the last area and could no longer level up

Random thoughts:

- The faces didn’t bother me too much. I found one that I could live with and used some variation of it for all the PCs, and just changed the hair color to tell them all apart. Never got used to the styrofoam beard on the dwarf though. The voices were more annoying since there were only 3 per gender and some were grating (plus one of the female ones was suspiciously masculine )​

- Crafting - I don’t see this as a positive feature in games except for BG2-style crafting where you use unique components to make unique items, and I didn’t use it here except when I couldn’t find basic magic versions of the weapons or armor I wanted​

- Faction system was OK, if underdeveloped. I had no idea which ones were worth supporting based on ideology so in time-honored CRPG fashion I went with whichever ones offered the most useful equipment, and secondarily based on who had the least annoying voice actors​

- Plot was NWN1/2 base campaign-tier. It did the job in moving things forward and I can’t say I put much effort into following all the details. While it was a very minor plot point, I appreciated the part where all the people from the one faction are killed near the end of the game and the solution was just to resurrect them - often a plot hole in many fantasy RPGs when important NPCSs die​

- Combat was enjoyable for the most part. KOTC2 has better (and faster) overall combat and used tactics like shoving more effectively but I think CotM used elevation and flying/levitation better, e.g. the one battle in the ruins where there are lots of goblins peppering you with spells and arrows from hard-to-reach locations and you have to chase the fuckers down when they are a lot more mobile than you, and it never got old giving PCs the Spider Walk ability and seeing them run up and down the walls like 1960s Batman on meth . I also liked how light was used in combat. The legendary abilities were kind of bullshit but at least they kept the major boss fights more competitive​

- No major bugs encountered. The minor ones I can remember are item descriptions not popping up sometimes and some combat actions taking a long time to complete (this seemed to happen when the character got interrupted in a way the game didn't expect, e.g. by falling down after jumping or running into invisible monsters)​

​

Overall, I enjoyed my time with the campaign but have no desire to replay it or to use the same characters in a higher-level module. The Unfinished Business mod has some classes that looked promising for a future run in a different campaign:

- Bard (College of Harlequin – more of a melee bard which I prefer)​

- Druid (Circle of the Night – will this finally be a class that can use shapechanging effectively??)​

- Monk (Way of Tempest – even more punching)​

- Rogue (Acrobat – actually not that strong-looking but interested in trying the reach mechanic which I don’t think the base game has)​

​

I’d be interested in thoughts on how the combat in Lost Valley compares to CotM and whether it incorporates items or other features specific to the classes that were introduced afterwards.

 

[J1M]

Lost Valley focuses on 5 factions. They have some common interests, but as the player you decide which quests to complete and see the consequences, which include quests closing off and hostilities.

From a game design perspective, I find Lost Valley superior to the original campaign.

It also has some nice minor touches like a quest chain that requires Comprehend Languages to participate in.

For the upcoming DLC I am going to try using an Archery Fighter instead of a Rogue or Ranger.

 

[NJClaw]

The reach weapons are UB only. I haven't actually played with them yet, though I've seen a streamer using them, and I'm not sure what option activates them. Didn't look through the UB lists enough for now but I'm sure I will when the next dlc is out and I'm trying new things. I know at a minimum they are placed on vendor lists for crafting but they may become droppable from a random +1/+2 loot placement.

You're right, all reach weapons are from UB. During character creations you can select them as your starting equipment even without activating any mod option.

I’d be interested in thoughts on how the combat in Lost Valley compares to CotM and whether it incorporates items or other features specific to the classes that were introduced afterwards.

I feel like Lost Valley slightly improves on everything in the base game without ever making any leap in quality. I think anyone who enjoyed the original campaign will also enjoy LV equally if not a bit more. However, the real deal remains The Forsaken Isle campaign. Install Unfinished Business, download the 6-man version of the campaign, and enjoy this game like God intended to.

 

[Reinhardt]

I found one that I could live with and used some variation of it for all the PCs, and just changed the hair color to tell them all apart.

if you can tell dorf cleric and elf wizord apart only by hair color then it's biggest proof that faces are fucked up.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

I found one that I could live with and used some variation of it for all the PCs, and just changed the hair color to tell them all apart.

if you can tell dorf cleric and elf wizord apart only by hair color then it's biggest proof that faces are fucked up.

Height also

 

[Nortar]

I found one that I could live with and used some variation of it for all the PCs, and just changed the hair color to tell them all apart.

if you can tell dorf cleric and elf wizord apart only by hair color then it's biggest proof that faces are fucked up.

Height also

Dwarf cleric and elf wiz0rd.
Hint: the dorf has beard.

 

[Nortar]

Did anyone else have hard time activating teleport-circles in Forsaken Isle?

All of them took me some dancing around before triggering.
Sometimes I had to step on it from from different side, sometimes I changed order of my characters.
But now the exit from the Witch's place does not work no matter what I do.

Spoiler

Artyoan Any tips, could it be that I missed something?

 

[Artyoan]

Did anyone else have hard time activating teleport-circles in Forsaken Isle?

All of them took me some dancing around before triggering.
Sometimes I had to step on it from from different side, sometimes I changed order of my characters.
But now the exit from the Witch's place does not work no matter what I do.

Spoiler

Artyoan Any tips, could it be that I missed something?

The trick to those and any 2x2 blue transition squares is to pause the game, then set all your characters to move on the teleporter at once, then unpause. Then they will all run onto it and it should work.

Edit: Blue transitions might work with just four on them by now but I'm unsure if they changed that in UB or not

 

[gurugeorge]

I'm having a lot of fun with Solasta again using the Unfinished Business mod. Insane amount of options, most of which seem to work (at least the ones I've tried, like races, subclasses, spells and feats).

Some of the user campaigns are getting really good now too, and some of them are even tweaked for 6-man parties (e.g. Forsaken Isle or whatever it's called). The last time I played a user-made campaign a few years ago, you couldn't even have dialogue, now the same campaign (Slavers 4-parter) has dialogue. Pretty nifty.

Faces are still shit though

 

[gurugeorge]

Although we bitch about the faces in this game, pretty much all the rest of the art design and graphics is really good - the landscapes, armors, etc., and particularly the monsters, are really well done.

I recently encountered Trolls and Dryads, and they're both done in a way that's reminiscent of illustrations in old childhood books of Grimm's Fairy tales and that sort of thing - quite restrained and quasi-realistic, yet still stylized.

The troll has a great lolling belly, his face looks proper Trollish and he does great swings with his lanky arms. The Dryads actually look like they're made of wood, they look like female-shaped wood. And the attention to detail with their imperious swing of the club and "get off my lawn" animation is very nice. Really nice models that look great doing their animations.

When I first played the game the closeups annoyed me, but this time around I've taken to enjoying having the auto close shots and the rhythm of shifting between the top down view and the close-up view where you can see the animations, and the realistic-looking clutter in the background.

In a way the art design for this is better than the art design for the Owlcat games - they're well done, obviously, but a bit more generic in style, whereas Solasta's monsters seem considered and thought-through a bit more, as I said, restrained, with a side-line in quasi-realism.

I'm also really enjoying the banter. There are only like the 4 characters in the entire game, and you're always playing the same ones (although there's a kind of noble old man voice I heard briefly for one of the ancestries, can't remember which one, but it's a middle pick that's different from the usual grumpy dwarf voice, although it sounds like it might actually be the same actor, just doing a very different rendition). But there are just a lot of lines, so (forgiving the low budget) some of the conversations actually do turn out quite characterful, and gratifyingly like one imagined the character to be at CC.

 

[Abu Antar]

I'm nearing the end of the main campaign. The quest board is gone, and the story seems like it has to be done very soon. It's a mixed bag. I like the game, but there are many things that can be improved in a sequel.

 

[rojay]

I watched a bad video and learned that the dungeon maker tools will now let people make world maps, add joinable NPCs (up to a party of 10?) and obviously adds the new environments/monsters.

Supposed to be 25 hours of content.

Edit: also it drops 5/25.

 

[Infinitron]

I watched a bad video and learned that the dungeon maker tools will now let people make world maps, add joinable NPCs (up to a party of 10?) and obviously adds the new environments/monsters.

Supposed to be 25 hours of content.

Edit: also it drops 5/25.

https://wccftech.com/palace-of-ice-dlc-for-solasta-crown-of-the-magister-launches-on-may-25/

Palace of Ice DLC for Solasta: Crown of the Magister Launches on May 25​

Following the release of Solasta: Crown of the Magister in 2021, Paris-based indie developer Tactical Adventures continued to release content and fixes for its tactical cRPG based on Dungeons and Dragons' SRD 5.1.

The Primal Calling and Inner Strength DLCs added the Barbarian, Druid, Warlock, Bard, and Monk classes (with four subclasses each), the Half-Orc and Dragonborn ancestries, and the Wanderer background. The Lost Valley DLC added a new replayable campaign for level 1-12 characters, separate from the main game's story, and also introduced new subclasses and various improvements to the dungeon maker tool.

But the biggest DLC of all, Palace of Ice (priced at $14.99), is yet to come. Today, Tactical Adventures announced that it'll release on May 25th for PC and Xbox, delivering a massive campaign set immediately after the end of the story of Crown of the Magister. This time, the Soraks have infiltrated the Snow Alliance in the Gallivan region, and they've made a deal with demons to succeed in their goal. Needless to say, players will have to stop them and allow the Snow Alliance to freely elect a new Speaker.

The campaign is meant for higher level characters (10-16). Players may either bring their previous characters (provided they aren't modded or level 13+), create new ones, or select from a list of pre-generated characters. Two new ancestries have been added, Gnomes and Tieflings, completing the list of races available from D&D's SRD 5.1.


Backers of Solasta from the Kickstarter campaign will be happy to know that Vigdis Kaikonnen from the Ruins of Telema demo will return in Palace of Ice as a playable companion to the group, as I was able to notice in a play session with the developers. Another change due to the harsh biome is that players must be mindful of the biting cold and find fires or use other items to stave off the cold's effects, including conditions like disadvantage on rolls.

Beyond the aforementioned demons, there are also new Sorak foes to deal with. The Krathshar spellcasters, for instance, can extinguish nearby lights, which is particularly annoying since Soraks have big bonuses for staying in the dark.

After a taste of battle on a snowy bridge, the developers loaded another environment. The Snow Alliance is actually comprised of several clans, including Wood Elves and their signature tree-based settlements and underground Dwarven cities, so it won't just be snowy peaks. Dungeon makers will also get new biomes (four in total: Mountain Caves, Dwarven Settlement, Dwarven City, and Snowy Hills) for their custom campaigns and new monsters with the DLC, not to mention other free additions to the base game such as the world map, the NPC follower system, and character portraits for dialogues. Some of the modders already have their hands on Palace of Ice, which bodes well for the timetable of their future work.


The campaign of Palace of Ice will be very challenging, as most demon foes have a lot of resistance, especially against spells. However, Tactical Adventures promised the loot would be great, and players have access to many new subclass features and spells as they level up over the previous cap of 12 (which, by the way, is being expanded to 16 as part of the free update that also includes six new faces for the Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Halflings, and Half-Elves races). These include D&D classics like Finger of Death, Conjure Celestial, Firestorm, Dominate Monster, Earthquake, Spell Ward, Sunburst, and Thunderstorm.

Palace of Ice is also going to be pretty lengthy. The developers estimate around 25 hours of playtime without counting the side content, though they clarified that's more like side objectives than side quests for this campaign. There's even a degree of replayability, as players will be asked to make choices in the branching storyline.

Before the end of the play session, I asked Tactical Adventures what would come next from them after Solasta and Palace of Ice. I was told that they have lots of further ideas for the Solasta universe, but at the same time, it's time for a new project as some of the most common complaints on the game, like animations and character faces, aren't easily addressed with Solasta as is.

This would point to a sequel, although they did not confirm it in any official capacity. Either way, it'll be a while before that happens, but Palace of Ice and the many user-made custom campaigns are sure to prolong the life of Solasta: Crown of the Magister by a considerable amount.

 

[NJClaw]

Fedora Master I'll get ahead and preemptively answer your question with a screenshot:

No, they haven't.

Also...

The campaign of Palace of Ice will be very challenging

 

[gurugeorge]

Beyond the aforementioned demons, there are also new Sorak foes to deal with. The Krathshar spellcasters, for instance, can extinguish nearby lights, which is particularly annoying since Soraks have big bonuses for staying in the dark.

Ha! Finally, a use for those fucking bracers of Sparkle

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Beyond the aforementioned demons, there are also new Sorak foes to deal with. The Krathshar spellcasters, for instance, can extinguish nearby lights, which is particularly annoying since Soraks have big bonuses for staying in the dark.

Ha! Finally, a use for those fucking bracers of Sparkle

Don't you dudes just cast light on someone's armor?

 

[J1M]

Beyond the aforementioned demons, there are also new Sorak foes to deal with. The Krathshar spellcasters, for instance, can extinguish nearby lights, which is particularly annoying since Soraks have big bonuses for staying in the dark.

Ha! Finally, a use for those fucking bracers of Sparkle

Don't you dudes just cast light on someone's armor?

Nah, just avoid humans at character creation.

 

[Artyoan]

That fextralife rundown says you can add up to 10 npc's to your team with the new DM capabilities. I had assumed it would cap out at 2. Maybe he misspoke and meant 10 total for a party which would mean 6 added NPC's to the 4 char party. Still a lot.

Looked like one silver sorak that was new. Demons seemed like a logical next addition so I'm pleased with that. The environmental gear changes could be interesting if its also allowable in the DM.

There looks to be a flying creature that attacks and then retreats. I tended to find that behavior from the osprey annoying so I'm unlikely to make a lot of use of that. The Incubus demon is also flying but probably a caster enemy which is fine. Hoping for at least a couple dozen new enemy types.

Overall I really like what I'm seeing. If they are going the route of Solasta 2 then the ending might hint at it, I'd guess.

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.gamespress.com/Solasta-Palace-of-Ice-Release-Date-Announced

Monday, May 15, 2023 (Paris, France) - Award-winning* French game development studio Tactical Adventures has today confirmed the release date for Solasta: Palace of Ice.

This new campaign for the critically-acclaimed Solasta: Crown of the Magister launches May 25th for PC and Xbox players, and is the biggest content update so far for the already content-rich tactical fantasy cRPG.

The new Palace of Ice premium DLC gives players over 25 hours of new content, and that takes place following the end of the original Crown of the Magister campaign. Designed with higher level characters in mind (level 10-16), players will discover entirely new locations and weather effects, as well as new enemy types and high level character development (spells, items, armors, etc).

And that’s not all! Two new ancestries will be added to complete your party - Gnomes and Tieflings, playable on all available campaigns; as well as new ‘Palace of Ice’-themed environments in the Dungeon Maker.

Solasta: Palace of Ice requires the Crown of the Magister base game and will retail for $14.99 USD / €14,99 EUR / £14.99 GBP.

Tactical Adventures will also release Solasta: Lightbringers Edition on May 25th. This complete collection features the Solasta: Crown of the Magister base game, as well as all previous DLC content packs, like Inner Strength, Lost Valley and Primal Calling.

Please contact us to request review code.


For more information on Solasta: Crown of the Magister, visit the website, Steam page, GOG page, Microsoft Store, or Humble store. Players can also follow on Twitter, Instagram, like on Facebook, watch on YouTube and Twitch, and join the conversation on Discord or the official forums.

* ‘Best Game as a Service’ at The Pegases Awards in Paris, France, on 9 March 2023, ‘Best First Game’ at The Pegases Awards in Paris, France, in 2022.