Machine translation
Machine translation — the official text prevails.
Dear adventurers of the World of Twelve,
This devblog, written with a quill from our wise friends of the Ganymede family, will tell you in depth what awaits you in 1.49. This choice of quill is no accident: who better to talk about knowledge... because yes, that's the theme behind this upcoming update.
Whether you're by the pool sipping a cold drink or somewhere else, get comfortable and let's dive right in.
A bottomless well of knowledge...
What would an adventurer be without a faithful guide, a survival manual containing useful information about their surroundings, always within reach? The answer: an adventurer without an encyclopedia. In short... you, before this update. But don't worry: in our immense generosity, we're ready to share some of our knowledge with you.
Have you never wondered about the odds of getting a Lightning Cape from Master Crow, or which monsters can drop a piece of Purple Cloth? Or that Boar, exactly which zones of the game it can appear in? And good grief, which wand would give me at least 30 Intelligence, 20 Wisdom, and 1 AP...
You can see where we're going... that's exactly the kind of feature the encyclopedia offers.
It takes the form of a classic interface, with tabs separating the different categories. For this first version we focused on what we felt was essential: a bestiary, equipment, consumables, and resources. Each tab will have dedicated filters that can be combined with one another, as well as customized information based on what's useful to know at a glance.
The idea behind the encyclopedia is to let you navigate easily between different pieces of information thanks to numerous shortcuts, and to access them in just a few clicks.
Alright, let's take a tour and go through each tab to show you what's in store.
The bestiary
This tab will be your trusty companion (or nemesis, depending on your level, teehee) for all information about the monsters of the World of Twelve. The main view features a sortable table showing the name and family each monster belongs to.
You'll also find a loot preview, to get an idea of whether a monster drops anything, as well as its level range — essential for knowing which soul stone to bring with you into a dungeon.
On the filter side, you'll find a search by name, minimum and maximum level, sorting by family, category (archmonster, dungeon boss...), and habitat region.
You can select a monster to display its details in a dedicated window. From there, you get an in-game visual of the monster and its full loot table.
Let's dwell on this aspect for a bit, since there's quite a lot to detail.
Hovering over a piece of loot will display several pieces of information: its effects, its base drop rate, the rate calculated with your current Prospecting, as well as any obtaining conditions (such as keys that can't be obtained in a dungeon). The border around the loot also gives you an idea of its rarity: silver for loot with a base probability of 5% or less, or gold if the probability is under 1%.
The Prospecting threshold is also indicated. If it isn't met, the cell background will be red. If you're currently in a group, the group's total Prospecting is taken into account (although it isn't possible to tell whether you're all fighting together or not). Loot in the "Quest Items" category will be indicated on hover and marked with a green background.
In this display, you also have the option to swap the displayed monster for its archmonster equivalent (and vice versa if an archmonster is displayed). Another particularly useful feature: opening the world map with the monster's habitat zone.
At the bottom of the window, you'll find buttons showing the monster's levels, letting you display its main characteristics, hit points, AP, MP, initiative, and resistances. In the bottom right, you'll find the list of the monster's spells, letting you see at a glance the AP cost, range, whether a line of sight is required, whether the range is modifiable, or whether it can only be cast in a straight line.
Finally, two handy features:
First, you can share a monster from the monster list with a right-click, just like with achievements. Clicking a shared monster will open its detail view without the encyclopedia part, for a quick and efficient display.
Second, during a fight against monsters, opening the bestiary will directly display the creatures you're facing, handy so you don't have to search for them one by one. This special filter can also be used by clicking a monster group in exploration mode and selecting "Bestiary," which will display only the monsters in that group.
Here are a few illustrations of this interface:
There are still things we'll let you discover in game — let's now move on to the "Equipment" tab.
Equipment
The way each tab works is similar, so we'll focus instead on what's specific to this one to avoid repeating ourselves.
Let's start with the filters this time: the default maximum level matches your character's, to see what they can equip. You can also search by name and category, but above all select multiple effects to find, for example, all equipment granting at least 30 Wisdom and 10% Fire resistance. You'll be able to combine all these filters together to quickly find the item that suits you.
In the equipment table, you'll find the item's name, required level, category, and item type (normal item, set item, cosmetic item...). You'll also find two buttons: one to display the associated crafting recipes, and another to switch to the bestiary showing only monsters that drop this item as loot. These two buttons only appear if the item can be crafted or if a monster drops it. You can also access these buttons via the right-click context menu.
Clicking the item opens its details with additional elements, similar to what you find in your inventory: an item preview, a large list of effects, conditions, and characteristics if it's a weapon.
A button groups the usual item-related actions, such as sharing in chat or the associated recipes.
If an item is part of a set, the interface will display the set's information with a small new feature.
You'll now be able to click on the different items in the set to simulate equipping them. So even without having the item in hand, you can see the effects the set grants with 2, 3, 4, etc. items equipped. Not bad, right? Très chic.
Consumables and resources
Nothing really new on these tabs, which are quite similar to the equipment one, minus the "type" column and with different filters.
In the detail window, the effects table is smaller, which lets us display the item's crafting recipe — a small time-saver that avoids having to click the context-menu button.
While we're on this lighter tab, let's take the opportunity to announce that the item window that opens when you click an item shared in chat will now open the detail window, for all item types. Being able to see more effect lines has been requested for a long time, so we figured we'd kill two birds with one stone by unifying the display.
The improvements that make us happy
You'll soon discover the full list of changes in a dedicated article, but we can already reveal a few additions as a preview:
Colored resistance display
When hovering over a character in combat, resistances will now be displayed in color depending on whether it's a resistance or a weakness. A small visual addition that makes things easier to read.
Additional inventory icons
We've added new indicators directly on item icons in inventory interfaces. This lets you quickly see whether an item is marked as a favorite, or whether a cosmetic look is applied to it, without having to click on said item.
Monster illustrations
There were still quite a few missing illustrations for monsters (you know, the images shown at the start of combat turns). Since that left a gaping hole in the bestiary, we decided to draw them. We went back over the older monsters, but this will also be ongoing work whenever we add new content.
And that's not all...
The full details of the changes will be available in the changelog when the update is released.
Beta
To test this new version, a beta will run from Tuesday, August 11 to August 18. As usual, it will be reserved for subscribed players. This test phase will be shorter, as the main goal is mainly to validate that the encyclopedia works properly, its ergonomics, and any adjustments that need to be made before it's rolled out.
Closing words
With 1.49, a whole world of answers opens up to you. Whether you're a veteran looking for a forgotten detail or an adventurer still discovering the World of Twelve, the encyclopedia will let you quickly find the information you need, without leaving the game.
Our goal isn't to replace discovery or exchanges between players, but to give you an official tool, built directly into the game, offering reliable and always up-to-date information. We hope it will accompany you on all your adventures.
See you very soon in game to discover all this for yourselves.
The DOFUS Retro team