I liked Avowed, and having read through the notes for its summer update, patch 1.5, I reckon I’ll like it even more whenever I next decide to don the persona of a trickshotting Envoy.
This patch is the second of three seasonal updates Obsidian outlined that the game’d be getting over the course of this year. It’s brought a substantial rework of fighter and ranger skills, some extra unique weapons for you to get your mitts on, Steam Deck verification, plus a bunch of other tweaks and fixes.
The changes to abilities on offer to non-magical scrappers form the meat of the patch’s notes, and Obsidian say they’ve been made “to round out the classes compared to the Wizard tree”. Those damn wizards, always getting the fancy tricks.
The new abilities added in include the likes of a Shadow Step skill for sneaky stealthers that’ll let you casually “step into the Beyond, reappearing behind your enemy”, with upgrades offering the chance to do stuff like ensure these killer backstabs reset the ability’s cooldown.
Melee Maurices, on the other hand, get skills like reviving allies “from a great distance”, a Barbaric Smash that lets you absorb an enemy’s built up stun reserves if your “massive blow” kills them, and the ability to take a deep breath that immediately recovers all of their stamina. That last one’s something I need in real life.
Alongside that, Obsidian have aimed to address folks “not able to play specific builds that they wanted to early on in the game” by littering a bunch of extra unique weapons throughout Dawnshore, Emerald Stair, Shatterscarp, and Galawain’s Tusks. The former two have gotten the most, with six and five items respectively, mirroring the goal to frontload some more fun.
Meanwhile, enemies have been given some player abilities “such as Returning Storm, Ring of Tire, Taunt, Clear Out, Blizzard, and Tanglefoot” as well as new physical and magical barriers to block attack. So they should be equipped to try and hold off your newfound skillage.
Add in the Steam Deck verification, some changes to the cooking and crafting interface, and a bunch of bug fixes. The result’s a patch that looks to me like a decent excuse to dust off your facial shrooms if you fancy a fresh playthrough, even if it’s unlikely to turn your view on Avowed around if the release version wasn’t up your alley.
