Banner Saga 3 - A look at combat

The Banner Saga 3 will have more variety in its combat according to the latest kickstarter update.

Hi, everyone! I'm Matt Rhoades, Lead Designer at Stoic. I'm excited to share some of the new combat designs we have in store for you in Banner Saga 3. Hopefully this will answer some questions as well as serve to start more discussions in the community about what's to come.

Our unique Strength-versus-Armor dynamic has always been the hallmark of the Banner Saga trilogy, but Banner Saga 3 will utilize new combat-focused features that we haven't been able to implement until now.

Battlefield Variety

In Banner Saga 2 we had destructible props, such as barricades, but in Banner Saga 3 we want to create more dynamic battle boards that can change and evolve over the course of a fight. Picture a flaming urn that, when struck, tips over and ignites a line of oil on the ground, creating a wall of fire with which your enemies (or your heroes) have to contend!


Enemy Minds (Updated AI)

We're improving enemy Artificial Intelligence to make enemies feel smarter and more dangerous! We're enhancing ‘pathfinding' to let the enemy be attracted to or repelled from certain areas. This will let us tether enemies to make them better at defending objectives and also better at avoiding dangerous areas of the battle board (like fire pits). As a side effect, we will also be able to create battles that incorporate more hazardous terrain, which will make movement a more tactical choice for players.

We'll set AI target priority in a more granular way, which will allow us to do more interesting attack/defend scenarios, and tell stories through our battles with a higher fidelity. This will lead to more organic behaviors and new strategic opportunities for players who want to build a plan around anticipating enemy's actions.

Fighting in the Darkness

There's a growing Darkness overtaking the world, and we've been crafting new mechanics that differentiate these battles from what you've seen before. I'm not going to say TOO much, but I will tell you that you can expect a replacement for the war horn and a press-your-luck element. This should have even our most experienced players torn while trying to decide what to do.

Lastly, I want to mention our "Alpha Access to Game Battles." This will be your chance to try some of these new mechanics, including new bosses, in story - free battles that will help us gauge difficulty, fine tune some of our numbers, and, of course, make sure things are FUN! We're looking forward to sharing these battles with you and we can't wait to get your feedback on the backer forums.

More information.

Wow, I was expecting them to beat the $400k mark by now. It seems like after the initial launch, there has been some big slowdown. Maybe people simply want to see the game, but are not as excited about it.

I want to see the final chapter, but I do not see the need to give more money.
Maybe that's how others feel.

I will buy the game when it comes out probably, but see little point in adding money for these stretch goals. They probably should have put the playable dredge as $350k.

The others are very lacklustre in my opinion.

First one I backed and finished. Liked the art and the story. Disliked the battles a bit (strange system of armor and health). Second one I backed but liked considerably less (same old, same old - practically just an expansion).
Third one I won't back - looks and sounds too much the same.

Didn't care about the first touchscreen priority controllable by a nose game, care for the third iteration even less.