Arkain News Network

Shar Dundred · Jun 29, 2021

29th June 2021
Ladies and gentlemen,
the Knights of Kome are still sharpening their blades. However, in the meantime,
General Bloodclaw invites you to a forest full of spiders, insane creatures, undead,
demons and more!
You all know the mission but I have snuck in a surprise or two for you.

Also, I would like to send special thanks to @Rhapsodie whose amazing Revenant models
have allowed me to give the Splecir Nexus some new toys to play with - and some of those
toys have already been made available to you, the player, in the Slaves of the Demons mission!

You can find the new version here in Downloads!

Stay tuned for your favorite siege mission!
Coming soonTM

Shar Dundred · Jul 6, 2021

6th July 2021
Ladies and gentlemen,

remember the Elves in Castle Kome? No? Can't blame you, they were the easiest part
of the map and I suspect that some people may get PTSD just hearing the term "Castle Kome".
Castle Kome. Castle Kome. Castle Kome. Castle Kome. Castle Kome. Castle Kome. Castle Kome. Castle Kome.
Anyway, the Elves of Kome have a new leader who wants to make you suffer for every inch of the
way.
So yeah, they actually fit a bit more into Kome now.

Stay tuned for the release!

Shar Dundred · Jul 25, 2021

25th July 2021
Ladies and gentlemen,

you have waited long enough. The time has come. The gates are opening.
Let the Siege of Kome commence!

You can download it here in Downloads.

Enjoy!

Shar Dundred · Aug 5, 2021

5th August 2021
Ever wanted to read a short story of the Tales of Arkain? No?
Well, good news, today you do not have to read yourself!

Shar Dundred · Aug 8, 2021

8th August 2021
The Purge of the Pearl has arrived.

Join the Undead in their showdown with the Forgotten!
You can find the new chapter here in Downloads.

Shar Dundred · Aug 11, 2021

11th August 2021
Act Three, Chapter Three has received quite the update.

Charm has been disabled, the Ironfist is more active now and the leader of the Forgotten
drank his milk. Also someone discovered some hidden Arkain lore in the shadows of a closet!
No, I am not sure whose closet, I bet Largoth hid it in there though.

You can find the new version here in Downloads.

PS: No, the Scourge unit has not been edited. Yet. ;-]

Shar Dundred · Aug 12, 2021

12th August 2021
Alright, the Ironfist got lost in the forest (can you blame them?) but we told them to just follow
the road and I think they got the hint.
Uploaded a fixed version that also includes a fix for Rath for Chapter Two of Act Three.
I will start doing changelogs again with the next update btw, don't worry.
You can download the new version here in Downloads.

Furthermore, I would like you to bring your attention back to the Characters of Arkain thread.
@DD Mikasa has the time to maintain it once again and I would like to see it being a bit
active again especially with the True Story bringing new characters that, according to what
I have seen in other threads, do cause quite some speculation - and you know I do love my
speculation. ;-]
Let's reanimate the thread like Aridon reanimated Krom!

Shar Dundred · Aug 26, 2021

26th August 2021
Ladies and gentlemen,

the next chapter has been released. You will find that it is quite different from what you are
used to.

You can find the new version here in Downloads.

Enjoy!

Shar Dundred · Sep 5, 2021

5th September 2021
Ladies and gentlemen,

two more chapters are available NOW!
You can find them here in Downloads!

I surely hope you are ready for them!

Enjoy!

Shar Dundred · Sep 7, 2021

7th September 2021
Ladies and gentleman,

I sure hope you enjoy the latest update.
From what I have seen so far, I reckon you do!

Due to the rest of September being a busy time for me this year, I won't be able to post any updates until October.

I hope you are all having a good time and look forward to the finale of Act Three in October.

It will be a bloody one.

Shar Dundred · Oct 4, 2021

4th October 2021
Ladies and gentlemen,

you had to wait for a long time, but now the next chapter is here!
I hope you enjoyed September but don't worry, today's release will give you a... bloody good time!

Special thanks to @johnwar and @r.ace613, who created nice models & icons respectively, some of
which are being put to good use with this update - make sure to check out their work, there's some
cool stuff there!
The Goldaxe Clan finally has a fitting Spearthrower! You cannot imagine how happy I am about that one!

The update also includes the long awaited update of the Scourge, removing his Disease Cloud in favor of
something more... fitting.

The next update will include the End of Act Three along with fixes of anything else that @Kasrkin and you
find in the missions - make sure to report any bugs, I appreciate all reports!

Now, you know the drill. You can find the new version here in Downloads!

Shar Dundred · Oct 8, 2021

8th October 2021
The time has come, ladies and gentlemen.

Act Three has reached its end. Act Four comes next and it will include the FINAL missions
of the First Book period.

You can find the new version here in Downloads.

Shar Dundred · Oct 26, 2021

26th October 2011
Act Four is still in full production. While there's no release of any new mission just yet, I
wanted to talk a bit about it.
Act Three was a very micro heavy act. Act Four is going to be its polar opposite.
Those of you who are familiar with the First Books already know what is coming:
Krom's underground mission, the great battle of Elves and Dwarves against Orcs and of
course the final missions.
What you don't know yet is how they are going to be changed. And you won't get much
information regarding that juuuuust yet.
I will however talk a bit about the mission that is currently in development - the famous
underground mission of Krom. It is being changed quite a bit. As you may already know,
Krom no longer has access to his powerful healing ability in the True Story of Arkain. That
ability was one of the pillars that laid the foundation of victory for this particular mission.
Now however Krom is no longer alone: Both the unfortunate Mordin Hammerfall and the
beautiful Lady Meya accompany him - along with forces of the Rohir Nexus! This gives
you quite the powerful tools.
However, the enemy forces did receive some changes as well. Both the Grey Guard and
the Ironfist are no longer present. The Bloodstones have entered the battlefield, however,
as well as one of the Orders - whose short story I still need to finish and publish.
Stay tuned for the release of that mission and all that come after it!

In other news, I would like to turn your attention to this amazing thread: Fanmade of Arkain.
Both @Am.F and @r.ace613 have created some great art for Arkain. I for one highly appreciate
it when people are so invested in my project that they take the time to create stuff like this
for it. I highly recommend that you check out what has been published there & click the "watch"
button to be notified of any other art that may be shared there.
And of course: You are all invited to share your own Arkain art as well!

Finally, there is one last thing that I have only done in YouTube videos so far but I feel like I
should do it here as well. I won't do it here on a regular basis or anything because I want this
thread to be mostly informative but I felt like doing it this time.
I would like to say special thanks to the people who are supporting this project on Patreon.
It makes me very happy that there's people who enjoy this project so much that they are
willing to support it monetarily. It is yet another proof that the effort put into it is appreciated.
Of course, I appreciate all people who give feedback and enjoy the project.
There is absolutely no need for you (the person reading this right now) to become a patron to
be appreciated. I enjoy creating Arkain and I enjoy the fact that so many people enjoy it as well,
no matter in which way they support it. I did still feel the need to say a special thank you to the
people from Patreon.
~~SHAR FOR THE LOVE OF GOD STOP TYPING~~

Alright, I am going back underground before Meya starts doing things she is not supposed to- For
the love of- @Kasrkin, I told you not to let her out of the dungeon yet! Goddamnit, we need a new
mountain king, this one is dead. At least I hope for his sake that he is dead, god what happened here in the last five minutes...

Have a good evening/morning/afternoon/whatever!

Shar Dundred · Oct 29, 2021

29th October 2021
Ladies and gentlemen,
the Fanmade of Arkain keeps getting more and
more stuff added!
I for one LOVE it! Make sure you don't miss a single one by checking out the thread - or clicking
its "watch" button! Really lovin' this stuff.

Furthermore, the Arkain Alignment Chart now
features both an empty chart and a zip with all pictures used - feel free to use both to create
your own chart and share them in the thread!

Yes, I am advertising stuff around Arkain rather than new maps today, don't worry, new content
will come soon enough.

Finally I present to you: The Legends of Arkain Character Tier List!
Yes, it is exactly what it sounds like. You can now list the characters based on personality, character,
importance, hair color, whatever you want!
Feel free to share your results in the one and only Round Table of Arkain!

That's it for today, folks, have a nice day!
And don't worry, the next newspost will include the next version.

Shar Dundred · Nov 5, 2021

6th November 2021
The gates to Act Four have opened!
You can find the first chapter "Possession" here in Downloads.

Also: CHANGELOGS ARE BACK!

General:

Several grammar fixes

Act Two Chapter Seven:

Knights of Kome no longer have the Revenge for Kome ability - originally just wanted to rename the skill but decided to completely remove it to make life easier, you're welcome

Act Three, Chapter Two:

Players can now train Windriders
Knights of Kome & Prosecutors no longer have the Revenge for Kome ability - originally just wanted to rename the skill but decided to completely remove it to make life easier, you're welcome
Kome hero dialogues can no longer be triggered by Darkmind Clan units
Theoden no longer constantly harasses players when they are inside the castle
Theoden is no longer immune to magic (to the utter dismay of Kasrkin) but resistant instead

Act Three, Chapter Five:

Mordin no longer clings to life and is now considered undead

Act Four, Chapter One:

Released!

No, I don't like the new format with the lists either but the new Hive forces me to use it apparently.

Shar Dundred · Nov 9, 2021

9th November 2021
Art goes a long way, my friends.
Personally, I have rather lackluster 2D drawing skills at best. Fortunately, there are people such
as @Am.F, @r.ace613 and @merlockqueen who have better skills than me and provide some
Arkain art in the Fanmade of Arkain thread - if you have not visited that thread, I truly do highly
recommend it. I am also always happy to see new art being added, it puts a satisfied & happy
smile on my face every time - for real, it does.
"Okay Shar, we got it, you want more art and you want people to appreciate it, where's mah news?!"
That's a good question, Gary the still non-existant fictional user, now go back to your box.
My good pal @Rhapsodie has created a new model & icon for none other than General Dorbric Berangar!

Inspired by this drawing of the Bull General by @Am.F, @Rhapsodie has created a new model for this
absolute behemoth of a man - don't mind the wrong team color, the Bull Regiment is still using Teal.
This new model - along with its new icon - will be added along with Chapter Two of Act Four in the
not so distant future!
Big shoutout to both @Am.F and @Rhapsodie - as well as everyone who took the time and effort to draw
something for Arkain - you people and your drawings are all awesome and loved by both me and @Kasrkin!
And others too I am sure.

Stay tuned for the next patch - it'll be a green tsunami!

Shar Dundred · Nov 14, 2021

14th November 2021
Ladies and gentlemen,
the hour of the Green Wave has come!
Brace yourselves! The new chapter has been added!
You can find the new version here in Downloads.

In other news, I would like to bring your attention to another matter.
When Act Four has been finished, I intend to make another Arkain Question Time!

What is an Arkain Question Time? Mortals asking Aridon about their future?
Arkain Question Time (short AQT) is like an "FAQ) of Arkain. It is an event where people send
me Arkain-related questions via conversation. I collect these questions and then release them in a single
great post. As you can see in this thread, the questions also involve spoilers - and also some
funny/less serious questions (and answers). All these questions are welcome and I will include
as many as possible.
I will accept questions from today until Act Four has been fully released.
I will not "close" the timeframe for questions with the release of Act Four's final cinematic, I will
keep it open for a bit longer so that questions that come up during and/or after it can be included.
Consider it "open-ended" until further notice.

Feel free to send right away!
Please send me your questions via conversation so I can gather them more easily.

Since that is a big time window, I will continue to post reminders here along with the "normal" news.

Lastly, I would once again like to bring your attention to the Fanmade of Arkain thread!
There's some new cool stuff that I highly recommend looking at!

Stay tuned for future updates!

General:

Thanks to @r.ace613 Deadmen, Officers and Poisoners now have their own unique icons!
Thanks to @Rhapsodie General Dorbric Berangar now has a brand new model and icon!

Act Four, Chapter One:

Fixed hero cache

Act Four, Chapter Two:

Released!

I really, really dislike the new Hive demanding that I use this format to list something.

Shar Dundred · Nov 15, 2021

15th November 2021
No, no new chapter today - sorry to disappoint those who were expecting it.
Instead I am giving you an update for the last chapter - though some changes will also
affect others. The High Shamans of the Ironthunder Clan (a unit that used to completely
break @Kasrkin before it lost one of its originally three spells has been buffed while the
Dwarves lost their Spell Resistance ability - it made them ridiculously powerful against i. e.
the Ironthunder Clan which relies on its casters to deal most damage.
I have been pondering on Spell Resistance for quite a while in the past. For now the only units
that are keeping it are the Chosen of Hammerfall - I think that also helps to further differentiate
them from "ordinary" Riflemen.
I'd also like to thank @r.ace613 for creating some amazing icons for the Dwarves! They are very
much needed & I am very glad to have them!
Anyways, enjoy the update, you can find it here in Downloads!
You can find the changelog below.

In other news, remember that you can still send me questions for the Arkain Question Time event!
I am very happy to report that we have already exceeded the 100 questions mark today and I look
forward to more questions being added! Don't be shy!

Stay tuned!

General:

High Shamans now have more hit points, mana and mana regeneration
High Shamans now deal more damage
Dwarven units and heroes (except Chosen of Hammerfall) no longer benefit from Spell Resistance
Thanks once again to the amazing @r.ace613 several dwarven units and their High King Zarin have received new icons!
Fixed Storm Hammers hotkey

Act Four, Chapter Two:

Several grammar fixes
Slightly adjusted the base of the Bloodhand Clan
Fixed the Darkmind Clan quest not completing
Fixed the spawning of the Order of the New Lance happening twice
Increased the time it takes for your reinforcements to arrive by 100 seconds
Fixed Bloodstone Elite tooltip
Increased the levels of stationary enemy heroes to lvl 10
Fixed Bloodhand Clan AI
Replaced the item dropped by the Darkmind Clan Fortress
Added some Dragonhawk Elite units to the Order of the New Lance (since they foreshadow the Red Guard anyway, might as well get at least one of their units)

Kasrkin · Nov 19, 2021

19th November 2021
This is just a short message from just to tell you guys as we get closer to the holiday season I will be around less and less. Shar and I have always had a bit of trouble working together because of major timezone differences but in this case I will likely be gone until around the new year. This isn't ego on my part but the quality of missions that will be released around this time will likely suffer. Shar can't catch everything and my friend asks me to catch things that he cannot find as you can't always see the problem until it's in motion.

So as we start leaving November I'm asking you all to report whatever you can see that goes wrong, and I will be around in the background seeing messages and downloads that Shar sends my way but I will not be able to actually do anything about them most of the time.

On an unrelated note my thanks goes out to all that have contributed to Arkain be it testers, modelers, or fanart, or something else. We've never done this for acknowledgement but it does make us happy more than we say that all of you like the series so much.

Shar Dundred · Dec 4, 2021

4th December 2021
Alright, ladies and gentlemen, the time has come!
Pride of the Empire has been released - along with a brandnew interlude!

You can find it here in Downloads!

Shar Dundred · Dec 5, 2021

5th December 2021
Ladies and gentlemen,
Pride of the Empire has already received a massive update - I dare say it will be a lot more enjoyable
than it already was!
You can find the full changelog below!
You can find the new update here in Downloads!

Also, remember that you can still send me questions for the Arkain Question Time event!
I am very happy to report that we have already exceeded the 200 questions mark and I look
forward to more questions being added! Don't be shy!

General:

Because High Shamans weren't strong enough already, they have trained to learn the Mana Burn ability
Changed the armor of Apprentices from Large to Unarmored

Act Two, Chapter Five:

Herdon, Tormin and Ferdal now keep their Brown player color when they are rebuilt

Act Four, Chapter Three:

Gorthog now joins you when his base activates - he even brings a few Wyvern Riders along!
Rangul can now summon additional reinforcements throughout the mission
Despite having considered it, I decided against giving the clan specific units under player control their respective team color to retain readability
Increased the hit points of allied buildings
Increased the hit points of buildings owned by Selior's Elite Guard
Decreased the hit points of buildings owned by the Scarec Nexus
Vanessa has convinced the other clans to improve the strength of their towers, increasing hit points, armor and damage as well as including repair crews inside the towers to repair them
Ramerius' Divine Justice has been replaced with Divine Judgement, making the southern flank less overwhelming
Fixed a few triggers that used a specific unit and could therefore break when loading the game (thanks for that bug Blizz)
Destroying all towers behind walls at the initial entrances to the Imperial bases will now also destroy the walls surrounding them
Added a "safety switch" to avoid triggers being played when the mission is already completed
Allied and enemy casters and heroes now start with 100% mana when trained/revived
Increased the number of Burrows owned by the Darkmind Clan
Added a hint to highlight the increased food cap
Added another goldmine in the south eastern part of the map
Added a few military buildings for your allies - most notably Bloodhand and Deathbreeze
Decreased the likelyhood of the AI training Catapults, caster units and phoenixes
The northern attacking waves will now no longer go after your expansions unless the base of the Deathbreeze Clan gets destroyed - they will still attack your main base though!
Sasrogarn found a Potion of Greater Invisitility lying on the ground
Decreased the collision size of most ground units by 25% to improve game performance & AI behaviour
Your allies are now going to occasionally train Demolishers as well
Replaced the Darkmind Clan Stronghold with a Fortress
The Bear Regiment has requested support of several paladins
Progaderas now drops two Orbs of Fire upon death - use them as you wish!
The Windriders are no longer being paid by the enemy and will therefore stay loyal to the cause of the Orcs

Shar Dundred · Dec 7, 2021

7th December 2021
Ladies and gentlemen,
another day, another update!

Hopefully the last one for a while.
You can find the new version here in Downloads.
The changelog is right below.

Also, remember that you can still send me questions for the Arkain Question Time event!

Act Four, Chapter Three:

Lokar's vacation has been cancelled and he now revives after dying in combat
Selior's access to additional Cleavers has been shut down
All AI heroes and demi heroes have received increased hit points and damage
Progaderas now drops a Tome of Knowledge instead of a Tome of Power
Lerrig's buildings now correctly change their owner
Fixed the Goldaxe contracts to actually WORK
Slight terrain adjustments
Removed a few of the newly added allied military buildings

Shar Dundred · Dec 10, 2021

10th December 2021
Ladies and gentlemen,
the end of the year is closing in and so is Christmas eve - better make sure you get all presents in time!
Today I will present to you the next version of the True Story of Arkain - featuring the second to last
chapter of Act Four: Betrayal!
Getting nostalgic yet? The final chapter of the original First Human Book lies before you - all you need
to do is press the download button!
You can find the new version here in Downloads!

Enjoy!
Also remember that you can still send me questions for the Arkain Question Time event!

General:

Mortar Teams no longer have Spell Resistance

Act Four, Chapter One:

Fixed the tooltip for the Improved Weaponry side quest

Act Four, Chapter Three:

Added a new dialogue for the death of General Prideblade that will trigger when he and all his altars are destroyed
Decreased the time for Selior's base to activate
At the time stamp when Selior's base originally activated, a large wave of the Phoenix Regiment will spawn instead
Added sounds for the quest log
Changes made for hard difficulty:
- Your allies will all have less production structures
- All enemy heroes have gained Hardened Skin

Shar Dundred · Dec 10, 2021

10th December 2021
Same day, different news - kind of!
While not broken per se, I still wanted to release this update for Chapter Four of Act Four today.
I have decided not to change it to be more similar to Chapter Three of Act Four because the next
and final chapter of Act Four will already be following a similar mission design and I don't want that
same gameplay style three times in a row.
You can download the new version here in Downloads.

Act Four, Chapter One:

Workers are now properly removed from unit groups upon changing owner

Act Four, Chapter Four:

Added Sky-Fury Towers for the enemy bases
Added a dialogue for the first battle against the Demons
Lerrig can no longer hide in the final cinematic
Fixed Salana's AI
Increased the power of the Souleater Legion attacks and defense
Slightly decreased the training time of several demon units
Added two more demon factions to actively attack the player
The Hammerfall Dwarves can now replace lost workers

Shar Dundred · Dec 11, 2021

11th December 2021
Ladies and gentlemen,
the current Chapter Four of Act Four will receive massive changes - I considered temporarily
removing it but despite its flaws and what appears to be a rather common opinion, I do not
believe that it is really THAT bad that I'd need to completely wipe it from the history of the
True Story.
I have enough ideas to improve it and fix its issues thanks to the reliable feedback that has
been sent my way.

At the same time I am under the impression that the common opinion was that the battle
needed to be as massive as the battle between the Orcs and the Imperial regiments.
I would like to remind you that, from a pure numerical point, the battle is not as large.
Yes it is a big conflict that was build up for pretty much the entirety of several acts, but
it doesn't include as many soldiers as that massive battle does.

Also, I didn't think I would need to mention this but looking at the New Content Discussion [SPOILER] tells
me that I probably should:
Councilor Birram is occupied otherwise. He cannot partake in this mission because of events
that take place at the beginning of the Second Orc Book.

Stay tuned for future updates - I will release the changes of Chapter Four of Act Four along
with Chapter Five.

Shar Dundred · Dec 14, 2021

14th December 2021
Ladies and gentlemen,
the time has come. It is not the end of the act yet (the cinematic hasn't been released yet) but
we are THIS CLOSE!
Chapter Four of Act Four has been overhauled & Chapter Five of Act Four has been released.
You can find it here in Downloads.
Enjoy!

Also remember that you can still send me questions for the Arkain Question Time event!
Since we are reaching the end of Act Four, I am curious to see how much is coming up.

Finally I would once again like to bring your attention to the Fanmade of Arkain thread!
There's some new cool stuff that I highly recommend looking at!

General:

Increased the cooldown of Summon Trenfae from 30 seconds to 90 seconds

Act Four, Chapter Three:

Replaced several Fire Golems with Ancient Fire Golems

Act Four, Chapter Four:

Slight terrain adjustments
Renamed the Dreamhunter Legion to Souleater Legion
Replaced the Souleater Legion base with a Wolf Regiment base
Added a new main objective
Removed access to Gryphon Riders for the player
Fixed model and abilities of Veteran Knights
Replaced the starting Veteran Knights of the player with ordinary Knights
Replaced several Fire Golems with Ancient Fire Golems
Completely reworked the AI of most factions
Overhauled dialogues & cinematics
Revealed the truth about the attack from Genethas

Act Four, Chapter Five:

Released!

Shar Dundred · Dec 16, 2021

16th December 2021
Ladies and gentlemen,
the Arkain Question Time is still going and we've reached over 250 questions today!
I wonder how close we will get to 500!
Feel free to send any questions you want - "What if" questions are absolutely fine too, mind you!
If you look at past Arkain Question Time events, you know that I also take question that aren't 100%
serious and I treat the entire thing anonymous as well.
I wonder if I am going to regret that last statement.
Anyway, make sure to send whatever you got!

The finale of Act Four - and by extend the end of the First Book era - will be coming soon!

Shar Dundred · Dec 21, 2021

21st December 2021
Ladies and gentlemen,
Christmas is coming early this year!
The End of Act Four: Carnage has been released - along with several other updates!
Special thanks go to @johnwar and @r.ace613 who have given the mighty Gardon Bloodclaw
both a new model and a new icon!
GARDON FINALLY HAS A PROPER PORTRAIT! AND TEAM COLOR TOO! That has been bugging me
for YEARS - especially the former.
Not to mention the amazing icon of course!

You can find the new version here in Downloads. The changelog can be found below.
Now that Act Four has finally been completed, it is time to take a short break from map development.

Lastly, of course, I would like to once again remind you of the Arkain Question Time event.
We are currently sitting on over 350 questions!
I cannot wait to see how many questions are yet to come now that the act has been completed - I wonder,
will we be able to get to 500 this time? Well, we'll see!

Have a good time & happy holidays!

General:

New model & icon for General Gardon Bloodclaw thanks to the amazing @johnwar and @r.ace613

Act Four, Chapter Four:

Slight terrain adjustments to improve control of AI movements
Removed Thornkin, Branchlegionary and Gloomleaf units for the player
Added Mass Teleport for Aedale
Aedale deals Chaos damage now
Fixed player color of the Souleater Legion
Progaderas now correctly drops the Orb of Fire

Act Four, Chapter Five:

Replaced Kazardius' Hurl Boulder with Black Ray (same type of ability, just different visuals)
Created a unique item for Kazardius (it uses his icon for obvious reasons)
Added Resistant Skin to Korzar the Fist of Kazardius
Margazar is now correctly classified as Undead

End of Act Four:

Released!

Shar Dundred · Dec 23, 2021

23rd December 2021
Ladies and gentlemen,

thanks to the absolutely amazing & talented @johnwar and @r.ace613, the heiress of Zyainor will receive a new model and Icon!

Keep in mind that Vail will not start with these due to lore reasons but she will switch her old outfit in favor of this new one after Gardon's proposal.
It should come to little surprise that her character arc will be expanded upon.

Shar Dundred · Dec 24, 2021

24th December 2021
Ladies and gentlemen,
on behalf of Arkain Industries we wish you merry Christmas and happy holidays!
On that note... allow me to present you my Christmas gift!

Have a good time!

Shar Dundred · Dec 30, 2021

30th December 2021
Ladies and gentlemen,
the year nears its end and so does the Arkain Question Time event.

I am proud to say that we have exceeded the 500 questions mark and I am both amazed & thankful
for the high amount of participation - this will be an intersting one!

I have decided that, since the event started on 14th of November 2021, I will set the deadline for new questions
to the 14th of January 2022. I think that's still a reasonable time and not too long still.

Feel free to send me any new questions that you want to add up until the 14th of January 2022.

With that out of the way, have a good rest of 2021 & a good start into 2022!

Kasrkin · Dec 31, 2021

31st December 2021
Ladies and gentlemen as we approach the final hours of 2021 I would like to say thank you. Now Shar doesn't know about me posting this so if he yells at with the rage of a thousand suns well then that is that heh. It is strange to say it but the project is over seven years old now and that is quite something for even me to think about, someone who has both tested and written and more for Arkain. We've certainly come a long way, and thinking about this has actually got me stuck at this very line for a long time. People have come and gone, others have come back for a short time and that's been amazing as well, all of your support and criticism has helped us.

But somewhere along the way that little project that competed with some of the best maps and projects became something special. I'm not referring to Arkain becoming a hosted project, no, what I'm referring to is because of all of your guys' efforts Arkain somehow became a Community project with all of your contributions whether they be it models, art, writing, feedback or just sticking with us. It is still hard for me reconcile the things people make for Arkain and the old days but maybe that's for the best, time stops for no one and it's not always bad.

So, I know most of you are already out and about right now or just trying to enjoy yourselves at home but I'd like to wish you all a happy new year. To those time travelers already in 2022, we'll see you soon.

I hope you all have a good day and or night, and good luck to you wherever you are in the world.

Shar Dundred · Jan 11, 2022

11th January 2022
Ladies and gentlemen,
welcome to 2022 and its first newspost!
We hope you had a good start into the year - for this year also marks the beginning of the
Second Book era of the True Story of Arkain! One could almost say it is the NEW AGE OF THE SECOND BOOKS!

Either way, let us start the year by presenting some of the new stuff that is coming in the Second Book era!
This is of course just a mere selection (and actually not up to date anymore because someone already replaced two
hero models so they fit in better but I still kept the old picture because, well, insertrandomabsolutelyvalidreasonhere).
Special thanks to @johnwar, @r.ace613 and @Rhapsodie for providing the models for what you are about to see!
You guys are absolutely amazing and I thank you all for these and countless other contributions!
Anyway, I have tasted you for long enough haven't I?
No! I have NOT! Hah!
A huge shoutout once again to those who support Arkain on Patreon - who got earlier access to this.
Before anyone panics: No, I am not going to "hide" demos or anything behind a paywall like that.
I did feel however that I could start using Arkain's Patreon more often and I might as well post some more
stuff there - not exclusive but "available sooner". I am sure this is a good compromise not because I want to
push the Patreon but because I want to give back in some way to the people who were willing to support this project
monetarily.
I do value you all however, no matter in which way you support Arkain, never let anyone tell you otherwise.

ANYWAY
BEHOLD! The NEW Ironfist, the NEW Golden Guard, a NEW army of Demon Slaves and a NEW... well... just see for yourself...

This is not the entirety of the factions but the many models & icons created by the aforementioned authors (which is why say the Paladin unit is missing for the Golden Guard as well as two other units that are not entirely revealed yet).
Be sure to check out their stuff & leave good ratings!

Stay tuned for future updates! The Era of the Second Books is upon us all!

Shar Dundred · Jan 13, 2022

13th January 2022
Ladies and gentlemen,
we are approaching the end of the deadling of the Arkain Question Time event.
In retrospect, I feel like it has been too long, but I didn't like going back on my word after
announcing on which day the deadline would conclude.

The deadline will end on the 14th January 2022 at 1 AM GMT.
While this may seem quite abrupt (this being just a few hours from now), given the fact that
the event started at 1 AM GMT on the 14th of November, it has still been exactly two months.
Quite a few things have changed since then - Gardon has a coat and proper portrait now!
~~Among countless other things having been added.~~
Judging from the questions I have received over the past few days (highly appreciate the participation btw!),
there seems to be many repeating questions - which is not a bad thing, it means that the questions
that have been asked and will be answered are interesting to multiple people!

Stay tuned!

Shar Dundred · Jan 14, 2022

14th January 2022
Ladies and gentlemen,
the time has come! After two months, Arkain Question Time has concluded - and your answers are already ready!
Check them out!

Shar Dundred · Feb 3, 2022

3rd February 2022
The time has come, ladies and gentlemen. The beginning of Act Five is upon us.
This update includes both a cinematic and the first playable mission of Act Five.
You can find it here in Downloads.

Enjoy!

General:

Several grammar fixes
Fixed the collision of the Bear Rider model, huge thanks to @frostwhisper for the fix!
Increased the damage of Lightning Beam and Finger of Death from 500 to 600
Increased the damage of Finger of Pain from 250 to 300
Dark Arrow now also stuns the target unit for 5 (3 for heroes) seconds - and the animation has been fixed
Increased the cooldown of Dark Arrow from 40 to 50 seconds
Splitting now stuns enemy units and deals less damage - and the animation has been fixed
Increased damage of Swordsman by 1
Reverted Spellbreakers stats to be more similar to vanilla
Reverted Priest stats to be more similar to vanilla
Reverted Sorceress stats to be more similar to vanilla
Reverted Dragonhawk Rider stats to be more similar to vanilla
Increased the range of Spellbreakers from 250 to 300
Reverted Archer stats to be more similar to vanilla
Judicator buffs:
- Increased damage by 3
- Increased hit points by 10
- Increased build time from 30 to 35
Slight Valkyrie buffs:
- Increased hit points by 10
- Increased damage by 1
Replaced most models used by the Ironfist, HUGE shoutout to @johnwar and @r.ace613 for the models and icons!
Fixed hotkey for Frost Ghost's Blizzard
Adjusted the Walk animation speed for Contraptions and Fleshcutters

Act Three, Chapter Five:

Fixed Champion hotkey

Act Four, Chapter Four:

Fixed hotkeys for the summoned Doom Guard

Act Five, Interlude:

Added!

Act Five, Chapter One:

Added!

Shar Dundred · Feb 5, 2022

5th February 2022
Ladies and gentlemen,
I hope you enjoy the latest update and the beginning of the Second Book era!

Today I bring you not one, not two but THREE things!
Frist, a new update featuring several improvements. Minor stuff but I wanted to get it done anyway.
You can find the new version here.

Second, the True Story of Arkain has entered the Map Section (which you already know if you clicked
above)!
With the First Book era done, I approached my old friend @Alexen, the one who has become my rightful
and worthy heir as Map Moderator, and asked if uploading the campaign was okay since, well, it included
the content of three campaigns in improved form. He gave me the heads up so there we are!
Huge thanks to @Alexen, stay awesome my man!
He added Gardon to his AoS map a while ago btw. If you are into that, check it out here!

And finally, you all remember The Arkain Character Tier List, yes?
Well, The Arkain Faction Tier List has joined it!
Make sure to share your personal tier lists in the Round Table of Arkain and discuss them with others!
This is of course not limited to the faction list, you can still do the same with the character one!
The Faction Tier List is NOT COMPLETE. Most notably, most of the races of the Tribal Dominion are still missing.
The reason for this is that I want to add them as the True Story gives them more space to show their personality.
The Gnolls and Centaurs had a certain amount of screentime in the original books which is why I have added them already.
That and they were actively requested.
The other races, especially the Dark Trolls, I can already see people typing about them missing, will be added
at a later date, I promise.

I do hope you can spend quite some time with all mentioned above and enjoy yourselves!
As February and early March are going to be a busy time for me this year, I will not be able to post any
updates until mid March.

Stay tuned for March when we return to Act Five - and when we meet the golden elite and the burning rage of the Empire!

Act Two, Chapter Four:

Added a second goldmine for the Deathbreeze Clan when playing as them

Act Four, Chapter Five:

Replaced Risen with Nerogs for the Ejara Nexus

Act Five, Chapter One:

Small grammar & cinematic fixes

Shar Dundred · Mar 7, 2022

7th March 2022
Is it mid-March yet? No? I don't care.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are BACK!

The True Story of Arkain is back in full production!
Today's update includes a very important Interlude as well as an important, if somewhat short, chapter!

Now, without further ado, go on and check it out!
You can find the new version here in Downloads!

The High Lord Inquisitor of many titles expects you to be on time...

General:

New models for the Bloodstone Dwarves, huge thanks to @Rhapsodie for providing them!
Fixed the tooltip of Dark Arrow
Fixed the tooltip of Repair & Restore, thanks to @MyPad for pointing them out, never really noticed that
Various fixes

Act Five, Interlude:

Added!

Act Five, Chapter Two:

Added!

Shar Dundred · Mar 10, 2022

10th March 2022
Ladies and gentlemen,

work is going well on the next update.
The next chapter is already done & tested, however I'd like to release it along with its following
chapter for no other reason than releasing more content at the same time!
I want you all to stay tuned for that update, it will feature two chapters as well as a new playable hero.

See you soon!

Shar Dundred · Mar 11, 2022

11th March 2022
Ladies and gentlemen,

you didn't have to wait long, did you?
Well, here we are again! Two more chapters have been added to the True Story of Arkain!
Things can happen in a forest and one Orc's wrath can lead to many... interesting things.

Check out the new update! You can find it here in Downloads.

Stay tuned for future updates!

I highly recommend to play Act Five, Chapter Two again to avoid issues with Oneeye's skills in the future!

General:

Thanks to the amazing @r.ace613, Rhapsodie's Bloodstone models now have proper icons accompanying them!
Reduced the effect of War Aura from 70% to 60% despite massive protests from fans of Gardon and Lerrig
Demon Incarnation now tells you how long its duration is

Act One, Chapter Six:

Removed access to the Tomb of Relics

Act One, Chapter Seven:

Removed all instances of the Arcane Vault

Act Four, Chapter Four:

Fixed handicap
Removed the Fire Shield spellbook

Act Five, Chapter Two:

Fixed quest sounds
Increased the harbor defenses
Added a Rune of Healing and a Potion of Restoration to enemy drops
Replaced Oneeye's Dripping Venom ability with Mirror Image

Act Five, Chapter Three:

Added!

Act Five, Chapter Four:

Added!

Shar Dundred · Mar 12, 2022

12th March 2022
Ladies and gentlemen,

the time has come. Today I am providing you with an update that includes a feature you
all have longed for for a long time, even if you didn't know it just yet.
You had to wait for literal years to get it back.

Well, you have to wait no longer because LEADERSHIP BONI ARE BACK!

Yes, you read that right! And no, this is not the release of a new chapter: The ORCS get
THEIR VERY OWN LEADERSHIP BONI today!
From Act Five on, new Leadership Boni will made be available.
Mind you, however, that some time in the future, the AI will eventually be able to master
Leadership Boni to improve their own combat prowess.

Want to see the Leadership Boni in action again? Well then, go right ahead!
Check out the new version!
You can find it here in Downloads!

Act Five, Chapter Three:

Fixed some cinematic bugs

Act Five, Chapter Four

Stormbringers now correctly gain their adept/mastery training
Removed Slow Poison from Inara's Deadly Hate ability due to issues with Dripping Venom - she doesn't need it anyway
Inara now starts with her own unique item
Improved the quality of items dropped by the Keeps of the Imperial Army bases
The Divine Shield ability of Paladins now scales with difficulty, being on lvl 1 on Easy, lvl 2 for Normal and lvl 3 for Hard
The third Redfist wave now appears after a certain amount of time
Added a fourth Redfist wave because why the hell not ( :
ADDED LEADERSHIP BONI! (don't bother trying to find any other new ones in the editor, I didn't add them yet to prevent you from doing exactly that ; ))

Shar Dundred · Mar 19, 2022

19th March 2022
Ladies and gentlemen,

work on the next chapter is going well and I expect to release it relatively soon.
I am going to provide a little sneak peek to let you see what you can expect.

Stay tuned for updates!

Shar Dundred · Mar 19, 2022

19th March 2022
Surprised to see me again this soon, ladies and gentlemen?
Well then! The time has come for the Undead to make their move in Act Five!
The next mission of Act Five is up and running, go and play it!
You can find it here in Downloads!

Enjoy and stay tuned for the next update!

General:

Several minor grammar fixes
Captain Herdon, Lieutenant Tormin, Sir Ferdal and Claire Greendale have received their own unique models and icons thanks to the amazing @johnwar and @r.ace613!

Act Three, Chapter Six:

Kazardius' War Aura now provides 100% instead of 60% bonus to attack (limited to this mission)

Act Five, Chapter Two:

Oneeye now has regained (half of) his sight and will no longer claim that he needs the key when he already has it

Act Five, Chapter Four:

Moved Spider units to the Beastiary
Fixed the hotkeys for Spider units

Shar Dundred · Mar 21, 2022

21st March 2022
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am a bit disappointed that nobody noticed the absence of the Leaders Hall in the last update!
Especially after I literally added the Leadership Boni in the update before that!
I expect more vigilance from you!

Anyway, here's the update with some overall changes.
You can find it here in Downloads.

General:

Replaced the icon of Seekers

Act Five, Chapter Five:

Some dialogue adjustments & grammar fixes
Added a "dialogue" for Kazardius
Greatly increased the strength of the player reinforcements, especially the Splecir one - ever complained you never got to use Lifescorchers? Write this down in your calenders, kids, you are getting some heavy fire power!
Replaced the Zirr reinforcements with Ardoz reinforcements
Increased the hit points of Icekeepers
Added a Leaders Hall

Shar Dundred · Mar 26, 2022

26th March 2022
Good day ladies and gentlemen,
this may come as a surprise to you but today I bring to you: The two last chapters of Act Five!
This does not mean that Act Five is over, of course, the final cinematic is still missing and will follow
with the next update.
You know the drill, you can find the changelog below.
Now go and get the new version here in Downloads - that's an order!

Stay tuned for the next update!

Act Two, Chapter Two:

Fixed questlog

Act Five, Chapter Six:

Released!

Act Five, Chapter Seven:

Released!

Shar Dundred · Mar 27, 2022

27th March 2022
Ladies and gentlemen!
The time has come for the End of Act Five!
The classy ending of a the first act taking place in the Second Book era!
Sit back, relax and drink a cup of tea while watching the finale of the Act Five!
You can find it here in Downloads.

I will be taking a break for a while now - except fixing major bugs if they turn up that is,
but don't worry, we'll be back soon!

Enjoy the final cinematic of Act Five!

Act Five, Chapter Six::

Fixed player color of the Skullblade Clan

End of Act Five:

Released!

Shar Dundred · Apr 1, 2022

1st April 2022 - April Fool's
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am taking a break from my break to share with you something special I have been working on:
The Trailer of Act Six!
Yes, you heard me right! Given the importance of Act Six, I have decided that it deserved its own trailer.
It will reveal something that I know many, MANY of you have been hoping to see for literal YEARS!
You can watch it right here right now!

Shar Dundred · Apr 1, 2022

1st April 2022 - April Fool's
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am afraid the latest news had some rather... unexpected effects. War has come to the set.

Shar Dundred · Apr 2, 2022

2nd April 2022
Ladies and gentlemen,
it should go without saying but I enjoy crushing hopes and dreams too much not to say it:
Everything posted here yesterday was NOT serious news.
No Night Elves and no rebellion occured and no lives were lost over petty matters.
Well... Kind of but who's counting a few unimportant peons anyway?
I apologize to those of you who were REALLY REALLY waiting for that Night Elf release but
the day Night Elves enter Arkain is the day @Kasrkin dies a tragic, most unfortunate death
by accident. Truly horrible.
Did I just tell you how to get NE in Arkain? Maybe. Only one way to find out!
Disclaimer: Even after the death of any unfortunate testers, Arkain Industries reserves the right to not include any races that the
author Shar Dundred does not deem fit to be added to the world of Arkain, such as the case of the Night Elves.

Shar Dundred · Apr 14, 2022

14th April 2022
Ladies and gentlemen,
we at Arkain Industries hope that you have some good days ahead of you.
The True Story of Arkain will return to full production soon - stay tuned for future updates!
The wheels of fate are turning.... and the faithful go to war.
Also for the love of INSERTANYHIGHERPOWERHERE, put those mushrooms away, all of you!