To make matters worse, some of the developers low-key said that it wouldn’t be a thing.And yet, on 2022 and against everyone’s expectations, the developers of Conan Exiles gave us a pleasant surprise when they announced that there would be a massive sorcery update coming. Better yet: for free and no DLCs involved. This was a clever move, as it ensured that there would be returning players as well as new ones.
Summoning demons, sacrificing prisoners and wielding dark powers. Even if it is not high fantasy, wizard players surely won’t be disappointed by this update!
Testers Confirm It: The Sorcery Update It’s Great!
Many experienced players were a bit wary about this new big update. But it turns out it’s much better than they had initially expected. Even with things unrelated to sorcery! For starters, this update nerfs a lot of formerly broken things. Thralls, while still powerful, no longer make you look like a sidekick. Mounted combat is still viable but not overpowered and bleeding is not as strong as before, and unmounted players have better mobility.
Stats and perks have been more diverse and agility builds with good damage have become more viable. Oh, and for those players who mod their games to death: modders themselves said they’re ‘not concerned’ about this big update, and they will adapt to it in time.
Sometimes, the difference between an abominable eldritch creature from the world beyond and a dear lifelong companion is but a single spell.
Delving Into the Dark Arts
There are people who feared that, with sorcery, fireballs and spammy spells would make their way into Conan Exiles. I was among those people myself. However, nothing could be further from the truth: the new sorcery system is actually very subtle, with a lot of spells that are learned immersively and come at a cost. Some of these spells will allow you to fall without dying, wrap everyone in darkness or fly in a winged horror like the wizard Pelias on Robert E.Howard’s Conan story The Scarlet Citadel.
There are also walls of fire, bridges of ice and deadly lightning storms that will allow players to have fun with them instead of in spite of them. Summoning demons, fantastic mounts or the dead themselves will also be a thing. Sounds overpowered? Well, get ready to obtain ingredients and spend some time to cast those spells! But most of all, be prepared to sacrifice the well-being of others… and your own!
Not your average fireball-casting wizard, that’s for sure!
Power at a Cost
With great power comes a great disadvantage: corruption. Those who wield the arcane arts will have to corrupt their bodies and souls, losing stats in the process. To go even further than that, Funcom has completely revamped the stat and perk system. As we mentioned before, it is now viable to have agility, strength and vitality builds. Also charisma builds, which will allow you to gather your armies. But that’s just a part of the new system.
If you do walk the path of corruption, you will be allowed to corrupt your own stats, obtaining benefits to the disadvantages that come with the loss of stats. Of course you can still be just a mighty barbarian and stay clear from those unclean sorceries. Still… can you resist the temptation?
With a great power comes a great darkness. Will you be consumed by it?
The Hidden Gem of This Update
There is something else that might go unnoticed by the flashy demon summoning and rituals: building. Building allows to move things with ease now, and it’s much easier as well to find the items you were looking for with a better, much more polished menu.
Those players who didn’t get into building before have a perfect chance to start now, and those who already did will have a lot of extra fun. It’s clear Funcom wanted our new sorcerers to build their lonely wizard towers and citadels of madness with ease. Do you agree with this article? Have you tested the update here? Let us know in the comments below!
This September Conan Exiles gave its players get a very early Halloween treat. Watch the official trailer here:
