Over five and a half years after launch, Funcom’s survival game Conan Exiles is still going strong. The game quickly became Funcom’s fastest-selling title, having sold 1.5 million copies by July 2018, and the continued support of the player base has translated into a steady stream of new content and features.
Following the release of the Isle of Siptah expansion in 2021, Funcom switched to a different model where free updates (the so-called Ages) were released for free to all players alongside optional Battle Passes for cosmetic items. After last year’s Age of Sorcery, 2023 is all about the Age of War, which is now about to enter its third Chapter.
Earlier this week, we joined a couple of press colleagues for a remote tour of the upcoming Conan Exiles content update scheduled to go live on December 14.
Despite the Age of War theme, the developers have also expanded the game’s base creation system with the introduction of Taverns. After rescuing a certain non-player character (NPC) from a Purge, she’ll let the players know she’s a lot better as a barkeeper than a fighter.
If you do choose to build a Tavern and place her behind the counter, NPC patrons will begin to arrive, populating the locale. The interesting tidbit here is that these NPCs are all hirable for a sum of money, providing a decidedly more humane way for players to gain hirelings compared to the game’s usual method of finding them in the open world, knocking them flat, and tying them to the wheel of pain until they break. When Age of War Chapter 3 first launches, the Tavern will attract firefighters and dancers, though a future update will also add crafters to the mix.
In the long term, the idea is also to build on the long-standing narrative staple that Taverns are where adventures begin. As such, players will be able to pay the barkeeper to bring in specific NPCs, who would then be able to provide directions for quests, journeys, or missions. This is part of a larger initiative to make the whole base feel more alive, so fans can expect similar features to be added over time.
Funcom also wanted to give allied archer NPCs a chance to finally shine. Until now, they would just charge and go into melee, which kind of defeated the whole point of placing them on top of a wall during a Purge defense. With a new item called Archer Post, players will be able to make them stick there, properly raining arrows on the attackers. Between that and the Burning Siege Cauldron, defending should be a lot more fun.
The update will also add a dungeon-building set, so players will have the opportunity to create their own (entirely cosmetic) torture chambers.
The upcoming patch is going to add camels to Conan Exiles, too. This will be the third type of mount in the game after horses and rhinos, and it’s particularly fitting given the importance of the desert biome in the game. Camels can now be tamed and ridden, and characters can also fight on top of them. Their speed in combat is balanced to be the same as horses, but their storage is twice as large.
The big new feature of Age of War Chapter 3 is the PvE Raid. Lore-wise, the Stygians have invaded the land, and their fortress in the ruins of al-Merayah can now be attacked. This fortress is made with the same building system and pieces that players use to build their own bases. Players can approach the issue of breaching the walls any way they want. They could bring trebuchets, explosive jars, and other siege equipment. Sorcerers can use one of their spells to get inside.
Either way you want to do it, there’ll be a lot of fighting once inside the fortress, leading up to a final boss: the Commander of the Stygian forces, who awaits in the inner chamber. While it is possible to make a beeline toward his throne room, the developers said a thorough exploration of the fortress would reward extra loot tucked away here and there.
Funcom recently confirmed Conan Exiles players can look forward to a fourth Age of War Chapter. While most features are still under wraps, Fatalities will be added to the game. They are a bit of a throwback to the company’s previous MMO, Age of Conan. These special moves can be performed when a human NPC is close to death, granting a satisfyingly gruesome kill and a short buff.
After the presentation, we were able to talk with Lead Designer Dennis Douthett about this Chapter and the future of the game.
Wccftech: Is the PvE Raid tuned for a group of players, or can you do it solo?
You can do it solo. Most of our content at endgame is tuned for two players or a solo player with a follower. A geared max level character could do this by themselves; it’d take a bit of extra effort, but it can be done.
Wccftech: Can you bring more thralls with you if needed?
Yes, you can bring pets, thralls, or your clan.
Wccftech: Could you raze it to the ground?
Yeah, it is fully destructible. It would take a long time, though, because it’s a high-durability building set. However, it will respawn when you leave so that you can repeat the PvE raid.
Wccftech: Is there a set respawn time?
It’s really quick. People just need to go far away for that to happen.
Wccftech: Do you plan to add more PvE raids to Conan Exiles over time?
Yes. They might not be as big as this one, but we would like to do more content like this.
MMORPG.com: Are there any unique rewards for completing the fortress?
The gold grind is a big part of it. The boss doesn’t have unique rewards. They’re legendaries and other stuff that can also drop elsewhere in the world, but this is a reliable source.
Wccftech: Can you speak to the future of the game? Will it continue to be developed in future years? We know you’re also working on Dune: Awakening.
Definitely. We have separate teams on these games, so there are no plans for Dune to impact Conan Exiles in any way. Conan will keep getting new content, new Ages, and new Chapters.
Wccftech: Are you still seeing a healthy player base, then?
Oh yeah, we are. As long as there are players interested in Conan Exiles, there will be more content coming along.
Wccftech: Are you also considering the option to switch to Unreal Engine 5, as some games are doing?
We don’t have any plans at the moment. It’s a thing we do revisit and talk about regularly, but it’s not on our roadmap right now. It would be a lot of work.
Thank you for your time.
