If you want to get involved, make sure to read all the guidelines here: http://forums.cardhunter.com/threads/mitternacht-playtest-guidelines-rewards.10155/

There are rewards for playtesters, and the sooner we can confirm everything’s okay (or fix any issues that come up), the sooner we can officially release the content!

The door shuts behind you. You hold your silver weapons aloft and demand surrender. Countess Jovana laughs.

“Foolish heroes. Everything that was done here, was done to bring you to this place. You thought you could save Cardhuntria from corruption by coming here and defeating me?”

She cackles, and Yurik chuckles.

“This place has been haunted long before Lord Makhail died, long before he ruled. This is the place where Saint Hedvig the Black was murdered. It is a holy site for us nightfolk. Her spirit remains in the soil, her blood in the walls. We are her new agents, and once we have transformed you, nothing will stop us.”

You agree that if she can defeat you, the brightest adventurers in Cardhuntria, that the rest of the kingdom would not stand a chance. But given all your feats, your rich legacy, the potent silver you wield, you assume that she cannot. On this day, you will bring peace to Cardhuntria, as you have so many times previous.

“Enough of this nonsense,” you spit. “We end this now.”

“Indeed,” she giggles. “Indeed.”

You charge, and then you remember nothing else.

Card hunters, welcome to a new age. The corruption of the Countess Jovana has spread across the kingdom. Svitlana fights on valiantly, and everywhere her Silverwood Inquisition does its best to protect small enclaves of humans, elves, and dwarves from the creatures of the night.

King Osirius has fled his castle, and rules from exile in the Silver Forest. The true masters of Cardhuntria are Jovana and Yurik, and, of course, their most loyal ghouls: you.

The foul magic of St. Hedvig has transformed the very land. Everywhere is darkness and treachery. Bands of inquisitors turn on each other over rumors of corruption. Witches cackle in every forest. Towns, where they have yet to fall to rampaging werewolves, have become the playgrounds of poltergeists. Priests of every order have turned on their sacred texts in order to experiment with the new black magics available to them, and many have been enlisted by Count Yurik as ghoulmakers, raising a regimented army of zombies and vampires.

Nothing is as it seems and everything is dangerous.

Walpurgis Night is here.

We will open our test server for a public playtest of our new expansion tomorrow. Detailed instructions on participation will be provided. Stay tuned! =)

They are stronger than previous foes, and manage to back you into a corner. Luckily you share this corner with the pedestal upon which Joleph’s lance rests, and you grab it in a brief moment of heresy and survival instinct. Its magic makes short work of the beasts and you decide to borrow it until your mission is done.

You find some other useful items in the temple: holy robes and small charms capable of turning blades.

Fully outfitted for your final confrontation with the creatures of the night, you ride on and reach Castle Mitternacht by noon. No guards try to stop your entry. You push the heavy doors open and step in.

Only a few paces into the entry hall, all the rumors about Lord Makhail start to make sense. Strange voices emanate from empty rooms; cold breezes blow through unblemished stone. This castle is quite clearly haunted. Wispy spirits pop up from the floor, doing their best to scare you.

You are frightened but you press on. When you attempt to throw fireballs at the pesky spirits you notice that their ethereal forms make them impervious to your magic. Even Joleph’s holy magic doesn’t hurt them–but your cold silver flails make short work of any that dare come near.

Here and there they turn a flagstone into acid, but, all in all, you consider the spirits a harmless nuisance until they begin melting your armor with a powerful evil magic.

You spend most of the day locked in combat with these otherworldly foes. It is a harrowing journey from entry hall to throne room, and by the time you have defeated all the castle’s ghosts, night is falling. You understand that the night somehow fuels these monsters, but still, you cannot turn back now. You stand at the threshold to the throne room and see Jovana seated within. Count Yurik stands by her side, rapier in hand.

It is time to end this blight.

To be continued…

You find Captain Teadora and a ragtag band of inquisitors in a melee with a pack of werewolves, easily outnumbered three to one.

She sees you and lets out an exuberant war cry. You join the fray without second thought, and begin laying waste to the werewolves. You fight your way over to Teadora, and are surprised to see the small child cowering behind her.

“We broke rank to save him,” she explains as you take her flank. “His father was taken by vampires, and we spotted him wandering off into the night.”

The battle does not last much longer; you manage to rout the werewolves with your new weapons.

Teadora and one of her inquisitors kneel by the child amidst the piled-up carcasses of your foes.

“It is over, Sasha. We can go home now,” she says.

The child stares back, blankly.

“His skin looks a tinge blue,” Teadora’s inquisitor points out. “Is it just the nightchill? Sasha, do you feel cold?”

The child doesn’t respond. The inquisitor reaches for his shoulder.

“Sasha–”

In a flash, the child turns and sinks outsized fangs into the inquisitor’s neck.

The inquisitor staggers to his feet, shaken and bloodied. Teadora swings at the child with her silver saber, but the little vampire dissipates into a swarm of bats that flies off into the sky. Before you can react, the inquisitor’s skin has turned blue and he too is upon Teadora, fangs seeking flesh.

Teadora’s saber is too slow to fend off this attack, but just when you think it might be over for her, her form shifts, and with one arm she sends the former inquisitor reeling. The rest of Teadora’s band surround him and finish him off.

Teadora hunches over, then looks up at you with bright red eyes. You see fur bristling on her arm where she made contact with the vampire.

“Please… kill me before I finish turning…”

Before you can decide whether or not to grant her wish, her own men bear down on her with torches. She howls as she burns, but her agony does not last long.

You return to your camp with heavy hearts. Despite having known Captain Teadora only a day, you feel like you have lost a close friend and ally.

You will remember her sacrifice.

The rest of the night passes without incident. On the third morning of your travels, you spot Castle Mitternacht on the horizon. A string of smoldering townships lines the way. A desire for revenge consumes you. You’ll take the castle by storm. You’ll burn the whole place to the ground. Every fallen comrade, every injury you yourselves suffer, will only bring you closer to your final confrontation with the Countess.

You spur your horses onward.

To be continued…

“Welcome, heroes,” says Svitlana. “I was hoping the Baron would send you. Come, my silversmiths will outfit you.”

This is your first encounter with the elves of the Silver Forest. You’ve heard the rumors that fey blood runs in their veins, but they tend to keep to themselves, and it is well known that their forest is haunted and dangerous. Besides accidental appearances in the Caverns of Chaos, there hasn’t been a sighting of one of the feyborn elves in over a hundred years.

A couple smiths wheel a cart of weapons over to you. You arm yourselves and thank Svitlana.

“You look like you have questions,” says Svitlana. “Allow me to answer them. Ever since Countess Jovana’s ascension to the throne of Castle Mitternacht, the night has taken the land like a plague, transforming the peasantry into horrible creatures with no goal but the destruction of civilization. Witches, spirits, werebeasts, and vampires rampage across the countryside. These monstrosities are new to this land, but our forest is no stranger to such incursions, and our people have long known how to stymie them. In order to save the most lives, we are here to share our secrets with you, and to bring the fight back to the Jovana and Yurik.”

“We are learning how to forge these weapons ourselves,” says Captain Teadora. “It seems only elves can learn the magic required to craft potent feysteel weapons, so the townships are conscripting all able-bodied elves in the forges.”

Svitlana does not look happy about this, but she also does not seem too happy to have left her forest in the first place. She notices your concern and shakes her head.

“We guard our secrets jealously, it is true, but we are not cruel.”

“Speaking of which,” says a young silversmith by Svitlana’s side, “you should probably wear these. They will identify you as members of our inquisition against Jovana’s blight, and turn silver before it can harm you.”

You accept the badges hesitantly. “Inquisition?”

“In order to enlist as many people as possible in our fight, we had to appeal to their sense of mob justice,” explains Teadora.

You nod. It would be good to end this conflict as soon as possible. Silver pitchforks, flails, and staves in hand, you announce that you will attack the castle immediately.

Svitlana wishes you well, but warns you to be careful.

“You might not notice the afflicted until it is too late. Sometimes you can spot a wound or deformity, but most of the time people look perfectly normal until they have their fangs in you.”

As if on cue, one of Teadora’s guards howls, then pounces on her.

She deflects his first attack effortlessly, but even as Svitlana’s elves ready their magic he begins to grow and charges again. His clothes burst at the seams, exposing thick fur. Thankfully the werewolf is outnumbered and quickly dispatched, but the rapidity with which he attacked convinces you that Svitlana’s warning was warranted.

Svitlana’s elves check Teadora carefully for wounds. “You never know when the corruption could spread.”

The entire camp mourns the fallen soldier. You excuse yourselves, thanking Teadora and Svitlana and explaining that you want to make haste. The castle is still a little more than a day’s ride away.

Later that night, you relax by your campfire, and reflect on your new information. The werewolf in Svitlana’s camp seemed fast and incredibly tough. You briefly consider that it might not be bad to be so strong.

To be continued…

Perhaps the trouble started further back. Lord Makhail had always been a private person. He never married, and rarely journeyed beyond his walls. He left his title to the Countess Jovana and her young husband Yurik. Unheard of until recently, the couple has a strange demeanor that lends itself to rumors.

Ever since they installed themselves in Castle Mitternacht, the servants swear they’ve witnessed an endless string of frights. One thing they’ve all attested to is the growth of the bat population.

The rumors reach the king, but he has no patience for them. He insists that the new lords of Castle Mitternacht are upstanding folk. The Baron of Shieldhaven is skeptical. He visits you at your Keep on the Hinterlands under cover of night, traveling alone.

“Heroes,” he says, “King Osirius has never met Jovana or Yurik. He has not seen how unnatural they are. Even the way they walk!”

He demonstrates.

“There are also various… disturbing reports from the towns near Castle Mitternacht.” The Baron looks unsure how to continue. Finally, after sighing, he shakes his head. “It would be best if you went and saw for yourselves.”

He assures you that you’ll be well paid for uncovering whatever foul plot is afoot at Castle Mitternacht, and you set out in the morning.

…

The sun is setting on your first day of travel. The first town in the Countess’s lands should be just around the bend. You look forward to a warm meal and soft bed before continuing on to the castle in the morning.

“Halt,” comes a voice from the shadows. You don’t see anyone, but then you notice rustling in the trees around you. “We have you surrounded, and we’re armed to the teeth in fey steel. Identify yourselves, and don’t try anything funny.”

“We’re from the Keep on the Hinterlands,” you respond. “You may know us as the victors of Cardstock.”

“Oh!” Several figures in sewn cloth hoods jump down from the trees and kneel. “Apologies for our insolence, heroes. We did not recognize you in this dusk light, and, as you may have heard, the night is dangerous here.”

They escort you into town. A makeshift gate opens before you, then closes behind you.

“We can never be careful enough,” says the leader of the band, who introduces herself as Captain Teadora.

You notice the bright silver barbs along the fence.

“Fey steel?” you ask.

“We don’t really understand it either,” she admits, “but you’re not the first aid sent our way. Svitlana, Warden of the Silver Forest, has been arming the resistance in these lands. Our assailants are nigh impervious to traditional weapons, but her retinue have magic that cuts through their defenses like butter.”

You decide you’d like to meet this Svitlana. Teadora agrees to lead you to Svitlana’s camp in the morning.

“For now, we rest,” she says firmly. “Travel is much safer by daylight in these lands.”

To be continued…

This expansion contains a LOT of new content: 35 new cards and around 250 new items. You can expect to crazy new card mechanics and items that should really shake up the metagame. Although the name and theme of this set is still under wraps, we can tell you that it features appearances from many new characters and places as well as old favorites like Crazy Sal, Wym, and Dzedd Grimsong.

Let’s get a little more specific. Expedition to the Sky Citadel brought you a ton of new cards and mechanics but missing from that set were any new race or class skills. Not so with this set! We made sure to cover every item slot this time around, and skill items actually got a little bonus love.

First let’s talk about racial skills.

Humans get Vanguard, a duration 2 trait capable of small, but significant, marginal bonuses to your party’s position. Vanguard comes on our new “Positioning” skill line, which ranges from Bossy Positioning—pairing Vanguard with Attack, Soldier!—to Savant Positioning, which adds Vanguard to an unprecedented double Forward Thinking. Of course, the advent of a bronze trait for humans means there’ll be some better tokenless human skills coming to the mix to compete with the likes of Raging Battler and Cautious Mobility.

Dwarves don’t get any new traits—they maxed out their trait luck already with Blind Rage and Immovable—but they get a new armor card that’s almost as good at preventing damage as Reliable Mail… and that’s not even looking at its special effect! Dwarven Resilience is in full force, a variant on Arrogant Armor that kicks in whenever your character takes damage… purging both them AND their attacker!

Elves are known for being nimble, and now they’re nimble like never before. Fleet almost makes their racial move card, Dash, into a Fly—they won’t get over rivers with it, but they can skirt enemies, jump over caltrops, and more, all while moving quite fast. In fact, they move so fast that area-of-effect attacks and harmful terrain deal them less damage. Elven Rapidity skill items combine Fleet with other Elven staples like Pathfinding and Elven Maneuvers.

Elves actually get a second new trait, but we’re not going to reveal it quite yet, because it ties more directly into the set’s theme. Here’s a teaser:

=D

What in Cardhuntria could be this be?

Now let’s talk about class skills!

There are six new trait cards for class skills in this set, two per class. One each per class is tied to the main theme of the set, and we’re going to keep them under wraps for now. But below you can see the other three traits!

Each is designed as a way to give the class something new to do, and as a more incidental benefit rather than a deck-defining thing. Wind Dancer helps step attack warriors put up some mediocre defenses (it’s also quite nice with Leadership!); Blight makes melee priests pack a little extra punch; and Acid Leak… wait, what does Acid Leak do? Is it really just a random effect that will probably never help you?

Stay tuned for more acid shenanigans. =)

That’s it for now, but expect more spoilers soon. We’re currently working on finishing up our item art and fixing a few bugs, and then we’re planning to get everything thoroughly playtested (details forthcoming).

Upon completing a level 15 adventure, Gary will tell you he’s ready to GM this totally new module. The first battle might be a tough one for first time spelunkers: at the entrance to the caverns, your party is confronted by a random selection of powerful monsters pulled from anywhere in Cardhuntria. Things only get weirder, from there, as the next several battles take place on randomized battlefields, and your own party’s makeup and abilities will be shuffled as you progress. No two fights will be the same!

Caverns of Chaos is a treasure hunt, and the final reward for beating the adventure is a priceless legendary treasure, obtainable only by completing the adventure: the Crown of Chaos! To win it, though, you’ll need to beat ten increasingly difficult battles in a row without losing—there are no retries, as the magic of the caverns expels any exhausted adventurers.

Actually completing the Caverns of Chaos may be extremely difficult, but the random battles are a fun and fresh experience every time that allow players with a wide range of skill to taste this new mode.

The rewards are good, too, with each battle after the first guaranteeing a rare or better item (the last three battles reward epics or better). We expect this to be the best farming spot in singleplayer, with a loot rate similar to high-level ranked play. Club members rejoice!

Completing the Caverns of Chaos will also unlock the special adventure Return to the Caverns of Chaos, which consists of the same ten battles, but allows you to use your constructed party on every stage. If you ever wanted to put your level 23 characters to the test, this is it.

Caverns of Chaos will go live on October 13th, alongside Mauve Manticore 10, the winning items from Aloyzo’s Arsenal 3, and our regularly scheduled Halloween content. Oh, and one more thing… it’ll be free!

We’re happy to say that, thanks to the tireless efforts of Farbs, this will now be possible. You’ll be able to form a team of two or three players and adventure together through the campaign or in multiplayer.

How does this work?

In co-op each player controls only one character. Let’s say you, Amanda, are playing with two friends: Bert and Charlie. The round starts and you, Amanda, can now either play a card or pass to Bert. If you play a card, that ends your team’s turn. If you instead pass to Bert, he can now either play a card (thus ending your team’s turn) or pass to Charlie. Whether Charlie passes or plays a card, his action ends your team’s turn, since you’ve now all had an opportunity to do something.

To stop Amanda hogging all the play, the first player on your team will rotate each turn, so if Amanda played a card then Bert will get to play (or pass) first on your team’s next turn.
 

What about two player co-op?

You might notice an issue with two player co-op: you only have two characters instead of the usual three. Naturally, this is a bit of a disadvantage. To compensate, both characters on your team will draw an extra card each round. In playtesting, we’ve found that this compensates quite well for the missing character.

How do you form a team?

You can form a team at any time in game by clicking on player’s names (in the chat box or friend list) and inviting them to your team. There’s a handy new “co-op” button on the world screen that brings up the chat box and friends list.

If a player accepts your invitation, your team will form with you as the leader. Once the team is formed, you, the leader, will direct them onto adventures or multi-player battles.

The easiest way to create teams is to friend the people you want to play with, so you can quickly find them via the friends list.

How do you pick which character you want to use?

When you are in a team, your party will be temporarily set aside and you must pick a new character to use (from your existing roster). You can pick any character as usual – from the keep or by “modify party” at the start of an adventure. Your regular campaign (and multiplayer) parties are not affected by these choices.

Do teams persist?

Teams will disassemble as soon as every member of the team logs out. If the team disassembles mid-adventure, you’ll have to start that adventure again.

If one team member logs out or disconnects, the team will hang around waiting for them to rejoin.

The team leader can dismiss team members if they wish, but that will disassemble the team and cancel any current adventure.

How do you get into an adventure?

When the team leader starts an adventure, every member of the team is informed and given the option to join. If they don’t tag along, the team leader will have to wait until the members click on the adventure themselves. Once everyone is assembled, the adventure will start. Battles will also not start until everyone on the team has joined.

How does loot work?

Loot works in pretty much the same way as it does in single-player play. Everyone on the team gets whatever loot they normally would have got for completing the adventure or battle.

As a bonus, the whole team will get quest rewards for helping their team leader complete a co-op quest, even if some of them have finished that quest before.

In addition, if you’re lucky enough to find the loot fairy or hidden bandit when playing co-operatively, you’ll all get two extra Rare items!

What if a team member hasn’t unlocked the adventure?

Because the team leader can start an adventure, it’s possible for a member to have not unlocked that adventure yet (or not have bought a treasure hunt). It’s also possible for a team member to get invited into an “exhausted” adventure that they have already completed that day.

Team members are allowed to play these adventures that they haven’t qualified for, but they will only receive loot for each battle – no special end of adventure loot will be awarded to them. They won’t get treasure hunt rewards for hunts that they haven’t purchased (yes, they can still go back and purchase the adventure and get those rewards later).

Can you get experience and level up in co-op play?

Yes! It’s possible to play through the whole campaign in co-op, should you wish to.

You do have to finish the tutorial before you can start co-op play though.

What about competitive multiplayer?

You can play casual and custom multiplayer games in co-op mode. Ranked and league games do not support co-op play at this time.

One side can play multiplayer in co-op mode and the other can play alone if you wish.

If your team leader starts a co-op multiplayer game, you do not need to join that game – you will be automatically joined to it when an opponent (or opposing team) joins.

Don’t forget that you have to select a co-op multiplayer character to use in the multiplayer keep.

More questions?

Ask on our forums. Co-op is a complex new feature, so there may be problems or bugs. Please don’t hesitate to report these.

Unfortunately there’s one small problem here – classes define battlefield roles in Card Hunter and a warrior being able to shoot makes them behave like a wizard.

So, although there are guns in Expedition to the Sky Citadel, we still put items into slots that make sense for the classes. A gun is basically like a staff, so it’s limited to wizards.
 

The Laser Blunderbuss has two powerful Mega Laser attacks, supplemented with a bit of electrical mayhem from a Mighty Spark. Pull the Trigger is for when you are feeling lucky and two Laser Sprays are mandatory actions that attack everyone in sight. So when packing the Laser Blunderbuss, stay well away from your colleagues.

Warriors do get their own cool weapons though:
 

Although it includes futuristic laser attacks, you can see that the Starknife is still very much a warrior’s weapon, focussed around melee attacks, with a powerful new block as well. One other thing you might observe is that this is a level 19 item. Because Citadel adventures go up to level 21, so do the items you find in them. This makes them more powerful than the level 18 items you might have been finding at the end of the campaign and it should add a lot of interest to what you can do with those major power tokens.

What about priests? Don’t worry, they won’t miss out either. Divine Weapons maintain the theme of priest gear being melee focussed with additional assist abilities.
 

As well as old favorites, like Mighty Bludgeon, this handy powermace gives your priest access to radiation effects. Radiation in Card Hunter is all about putting handicap attachments onto the target, so it fits right into the Priest’s arsenal. In addition, Genetic Engineering provides a handy new way of dealing with unwanted attachments.

To wrap it all up, here’s what fully kitted out level 24 Elf Warrior looks like!