[p]Warriors![/p][p]We have heard your feedback, went through the messages and reports you sent us and today, we bring you a new update! It shall make your adventures in Gwern more pleasurable and also bountiful. We introduced some key quality of life improvements and changes, but keep in mind, the journey of Kromlech is still in its first steps and more crucial updates will come at a steady pace. Our team is already working on the next update, but for now, let’s focus on today’s news! [/p][p][/p]

Here are the highlights

Introducing faster loading times

[p]We have completely redone the loading system, which helped us to drastically reduce loading times, both while loading the game from the menu or while entering dungeons, but also while sleeping, fast traveling or, unfortunately, dying. The improvement is significant, but we are still working on delivering even shorter loading times in future updates.. Long waits are over, get back into the fray![/p][p][/p][p][/p]

Better onboarding

[p]We have already introduced a tutorial in our previous update, but this time, we also added useful hints to loading screens, added height indicators to quest markers, so you’ll know if your target is above or bellow ground, and also added visual and aural indicators of getting hit and getting low on health or stamina. We believe this change makes combat more understandable and enjoyable. 
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Improvement of blocking mechanic

[p]The guard/block system of shields and weapons has been redone. Shields and weapons are now draining stamina based on their weight. Shields now have a new parameter called Absorption which reduces the incoming damage potential and redirects it into stamina.[/p][p][/p]

Changes to Cronach’s movement

[p]Yes, our mighty hero was running as if the hounds of the underworld were at his heels. All movesets now have reduced speed, we also disabled sprint while Cronach is overencumbered. To make your encounters with tough enemies fair, we also prolonged the invincibility frame during dodging. [/p][p][/p]

Changes to lock-on system

[p]That pesky lock-on dot should work as intended now! The system is now more reliable and we also fixed related bugs, i.e. inability to lock on an enemy or disappearance of the lock-on dot.[/p][p][/p][p][/p]

Game size reduction

[p]We managed to reduce the size of Kromlech by approx. 10 GB, but we’re not stopping there! A more significant reduction is coming in future updates.[/p][p][/p]

Full Changelog

Gameplay

[p]Combat & Movement:[/p]

• [p]Reduced player movement speed by 20% across all movesets[/p]
• [p]Increased invincibility frame duration during dodge[/p]
• [p]Reworked block logic for shields and weapons — shields and weapons now drain stamina based on weight; new Absorption parameter reduces incoming damage and redirects it to stamina; weapon block damage reduced from 50% to 10%[/p]
• [p]Sprint now automatically resets after stopping[/p]
• [p]Sprint disabled while over-encumbered[/p]
• [p]Improved player lock-on targeting system[/p]
• [p]Fixed horizontal slash aiming while locked on[/p]
• [p]Fixed player attack aiming against animals — player now correctly adjusts slash height when fighting on slopes or stairs, instead of slashing straight ahead regardless of elevation difference[/p]
• [p]Adjusted timing of heal within the heal animation (heal occurs earlier)[/p]
• [p]Reduced Marauder collider thickness (better player reach during attacks)[/p]
• [p]Fixed camera movement during death[/p]

[p]Balancing:[/p]

• [p]Reduced enemy difficulty in early game — mainly wolves and bandits[/p]
• [p]Significantly increased Stability for mid/late game enemies (undead warriors, kings, lurgs, elite lurgs)[/p]
• [p]Increased base damage for lurgs[/p]
• [p]Increased enemy difficulty in High Risk zones; improved elite enemies — boosted stats, unique appearances, dedicated armor[/p]
• [p]Weapon balancing — Tier 2 and higher weapons weakened, stats reduced[/p]
• [p]Rebalanced stability for most armor (reduced previously left-in testing values)[/p]
• [p]Rebalanced shields following the new Absorption system[/p]
• [p]Limited drops from higher tier chests to max 3 items (protection against loot overflow)[/p]
• [p]Adjusted loot in bandit camps — Tier 2 weapons drop earlier[/p]
• [p]Significantly increased loot drop chance from enemies[/p]
• [p]Increased drop chance for oil and carnyx parts (added to more loot tables)[/p]
• [p]Fixed and adjusted loot quality in chests across the world[/p]
• [p]Fixed incorrect loot tables in some dungeons[/p]
• [p]Vendors (including Boastus) now have a modifier limiting max damage from a single hit to 30% of their HP — no more accidentally one-shotting the blacksmith[/p]
• [p]Adjusted Avenger skill tree — added mastery nodes for encumbrance modification[/p]

[p]Game Content:[/p]

• [p]Haven: added functional blacksmith and haven guard[/p]
• [p]Lettrek: added Beitorax's elite guard[/p]
• [p]Lettrek: chest in chieftain hut now locked behind guardians[/p]
• [p]Lettrek: expanded setup with patrol base and patrol at the cave entrance[/p]
• [p]Bandits: added new Celt warrior variant with different gear (working name "Berserker")[/p]
• [p]Adjusted interaction position at resource nodes[/p]
• [p]Added kill zones and blocking colliders in dungeons[/p]
• [p]Adjustments to starting zone setups — enabled chests, fixed wandering merchant tables[/p]
• [p]Added new encounters, chests, resource nodes, and spawn tuning across the world[/p]
• [p]Fixed shortcuts in Lettrek and Natuhuk areas[/p]
• [p]Fixed Lurg egg destruction[/p]
• [p]Added notification for shortcuts guarded by enemies[/p]
• [p]Added minor loot and props to tombs and underground areas[/p]
• [p]Fixed navmeshes (NPC movement)[/p]
• [p]Endurance now correctly resets after sleeping[/p]

[p]Quests:[/p]

• [p]Fixed prisoner rope-cutting interaction in captured outposts[/p]
• [p]Fate Points removed from quests (fixing Q1 Warm Welcome and Q2 Names of Renown exploit)[/p]
• [p]Fix Q30 (Crisis C4) — quest was stuck at the beginning[/p]
• [p]Fix Q38 (Crisis C12) — incorrect counter in description[/p]
• [p]Fix Q41 — quest stuck at the beginning[/p]
• [p]Fix Q29 — fixed edge cases in quest progression[/p]
• [p]Fix Hostile Hospitality — innkeeper can be interacted with after being rescued[/p]
• [p]Attacking spectators in Prasohlav's arena no longer turns the gate garrison hostile[/p]
• [p]Fixed Elioth's camp spawning in Newcomers crisis[/p]
• [p]Fixed conflicting events in one of the dungeons[/p]
• [p]Fixed positions of some crisis quest locations for better compass navigation[/p]
• [p]Quest Regicide navigation now points to the correct dungeon[/p]
• [p]Added navigation for quest Warm Welcome — after visiting Lughas's shrine, player is guided to the Kaeldwern gate[/p]
• [p]Adjusted tracking for quest Big Trouble, Little Lettrek — quest temporarily points only to Gersel's position; simultaneous navigation to both brothers is not yet technically possible and will be addressed in a future update
[/p]

UI & UX

• [p]Card detail texts reworked to rich text (styles, icons, etc. now work properly)[/p]
• [p]Fixed inconsistent UI textures (padding, dividers)[/p]
• [p]Changed "Tracked" icon in map and journal[/p]
• [p]Redesigned collection lists (quests, deeds, fireplaces…) — unified layout and improved readability[/p]
• [p]Updated Kromlech logo in menu + added Early Access badge[/p]
• [p]Added directional arrows to compass for better orientation when tracking quests[/p]
• [p]Fixed Ritual Site screen (unified slots)[/p]
• [p]Repositioned "Crises" and "Masteries" in booklet submenu for better usability[/p]
• [p]New loading screen with gameplay hints (20+ hints, more to come)[/p]
• [p]Fixed duplicate Barrow Armor entry in crafting menu[/p]
• [p]Fixed empty warpaint detail (removed temp text)[/p]
• [p]Fixed input icons disappearing from HUD after leaving booklet[/p]
• [p]Fixed blurred background in screens[/p]
• [p]Fixed Heat bar not updating on hit[/p]
• [p]Fixed crash when pressing I[/p]
• [p]Visually smoothed stamina drain (smaller value jumps)[/p]

[p]Localization:[/p]

• [p]Fixed numerous typos and localization issues in quests[/p]
• [p]Added translations and fixed existing localizations in Settings menu[/p]
• [p]Renamed antennae swords — two items shared the same name, now distinguished
[/p]

Audio

• [p]Rift audio — rift entrance, ambient balancing inside rift, rift heart destruction [/p]
• [p]Fixed bush sounds not playing on contact with characters[/p]
• [p]Fixed interior volumes in caves, fixed audio bleed from outdoor areas[/p]
• [p]Added missing ambient audio to Mine2[/p]
• [p]Added Bloodthirst curse audio[/p]
• [p]Added player vocal reactions on hit (pain sounds) and on dodge[/p]
• [p]Added low HP audio indicator[/p]
• [p]Fixed audio muffling when returning from inventory and craft/trade screens[/p]
• [p]Balanced notification audio mix in combat[/p]
• [p]Fixed incorrect music theme in Haven[/p]
• [p]Added SFX for quest notifications (quest started, completed, failed)[/p]
• [p]Fixed random muting of all sounds after loading[/p]
• [p]Unified death audio across systems[/p]
• [p]Smoothed atmospheric audio transition into/out of caves
[/p]

Graphics

• [p]Improved waterfall visuals[/p]
• [p]Fixed lighting and fog across dungeons (added lighting to areas with absolute darkness)[/p]
• [p]Updated interior lighting — visual improvements + fixed glowing groom[/p]
• [p]Improved lighting transitions between interiors and exteriors[/p]
• [p]Fixed colliders, sealed gaps, fixed misaligned models, hidden see-through rocks, overlapping and floating meshes[/p]
• [p]Fixed hair thickness across hair sets
[/p]

Optimization & Performance

• [p]Reworked reload system within a single map (soft loading) — day progression, fast travel, rest, and new cycles no longer require a full map reload, only replacing things that are no longer relevant. Significantly speeds up in-map transitions.[/p]
• [p]Optimized textures, compression, and model sizes (reduced invalid UVs, improved compression)[/p]
• [p]Optimized spruce trees and ground plants (texture reduction, topology, rendering speed)[/p]
• [p]Linked NPC computation to view distance setting — improved performance on low/medium[/p]
• [p]Optimized rendering in tutorial level[/p]
• [p]Parallelized navmesh computation during loading[/p]
• [p]Optimized groom rendering (reduced VRAM usage, sky lighting rendering)[/p]
• [p]Optimized per-character physics computation — approximately 1/3 performance improvement per character[/p]
• [p]Optimized GPU buffers → ~300 MB VRAM savings[/p]
• [p]Reduced UI texture data sizes[/p]
• [p]Removed unnecessary log files from save folder (fixed excessive folder size)[/p]
• [p]Fixed controls dropping out[/p]
• [p]Fixed performance issues near wolves and lurgs[/p]

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