Another long round, mostly driven by playtesting the opening level with a full party.
The Mage
The third vocation is in with its first spells: a fire burst, a frost aura, chain lightning, a healing circle, and boons that set an ally's weapon on fire. You chant, wait for the staff to flash, then release to cast. The party mage now stays back, heals when someone is hurt and enchants the frontline at the start of a fight.
A bow that works
The Strider's bow is a rigged model now, so the string pulls back to your hand, an arrow sits on the string, and arrows fly, streak and stick in whatever they hit. Hold Alt to aim, click to loose, and the skills sit on the right mouse button and Alt with E or R.
Grabbing and carrying
You can pick up a pawn or a fallen body, carry it at the cost of stamina, set it down or throw it into a group of enemies. When a harpy drops you from the sky, a nearby pawn now runs under you and catches you.
Smarter, chattier pawns
Pawns guard against attacks that are winding up, back off when hurt, pull harpies down and go after the one carrying a friend. They also answer each other now, one voice at a time.
Hits you can see
Sword swings that strike stone, metal, wood or a shield throw sparks or chips with the right sound, and hits on flesh leave a blood slash that follows the swing.
Characters from parts
Instead of one model per character, a character is now described by a small appearance record: body, height, build, hair, beard and colours. The body is assembled from parts at runtime, which is the foundation for a character creator. Capes got cloth physics, and real strand hair is being explored.
