It was no lie. Now, your tavern bustles with life, serving patrons from the farthest reaches of the Exiled Lands. These are rugged folk, who have seen and survived more than most. This place is a haven from the war, but for the right price, they would follow you into the jaws of Set himself.
On December 14, your adventures in Age of War – Chapter 3 will begin, so we want to take this opportunity to give you some insight into one of the major new features we are launching in the update – Taverns!
Pour yourself a tankard, sit back, and read on.
Where Adventures Begin
It may be a trope, but it is one we love. In fantasy, taverns and inns are often a nexus. They are a place where information, rumors, gold, and people converge and mingle in a chaotic dance of brimming potential. Whether the mood be brooding, festive, or hostile, taverns are where legends are born.
This is the energy we brought into creating this feature in Conan Exiles. Overall, we want to add more content that makes the world feel more alive and reactive to the player.
Setting up the Tavern
To open your tavern you will need two things: a Barkeeper, and a bar counter. First, you must rescue the Zamorian Barkeeper from a purge camp. Keep in mind that it may take a few tries, because the Barkeeper is not guaranteed to appear in every purge. Speak to them and they will teach you the secret and ancient art of building a bar counter.
Craft the bar, place it in your base, and the Barkeeper can begin to work their magic. Over time, patrons will start to appear automatically. The more chairs and benches you create and place in the tavern, the more people will come to fill them. They may even enjoy a drink or two. Or ten.
Note that the area around the bar counter which becomes designated as your tavern extends upward as well as around the counter, meaning you can have a tavern with several floors, should you wish to. As long as you have seats available, people will eventually come to fill them.
Most importantly, some of these patrons are not just there to sample your drinks and hang out. For a fair price in gold, certain patrons are eager to accept work. For now, they are limited to fighters, bearers and performers – followers who can be placed on the ground instead of inside a crafting bench.
On occasion, particularly exceptional patrons will appear, whose services you would be remiss to ignore.
Your followers can now hang out in your tavern if you want, where they will behave accordingly, toasting and swigging drinks. Simply open the radial wheel, select “stand guard”, and slot them into one of the green outlines which appear on benches and stools.
What’ll it be?
Part of The Barkeeper’s job is to know people. In a tavern, lips are often loose, and everyone trusts the one serving the drinks. One way or another, information will reach the Barkeeper. As a result, they know how to reach people.
If you speak to the Barkeeper you will be able to open the brand-new Enlist Contacts menu. In Chapter 3, once you have rescued Isscar the Sellsword from a purge camp, you will be able to call upon him to access his shop on demand, full of items that are particularly useful in both purges and the new Siege of al-Merayah.
For now, Isscar is the only person on the list, but we are incredibly excited about the opportunities to expand this feature in the future, especially in relation to what we mentioned earlier about making the world feel more alive.
For example, this allows us to place people out in the wilderness that you assist, rescue, or meet, and have them appear on the list after that as a potential ally with unique services. This is what we mean when we say the tavern is a nexus. It gives you even more reasons both to go out and explore the world, and to return to home and hearth.
Make it Yours
With Chapter 3, we are introducing a lot of decorations to the tavern through the Battle Pass and Bazaar. We want you to have a lot of choice when it comes to the way your tavern looks. These include the Vanir Tavern Bundle in the Battle Pass and the Yamatai Tavern bundle in the Bazaar (available from Dec 28 – Jan 10).
Thank you for joining us for this look into taverns. Age of War – Chapter 3 arrives on December 14! In case you missed it, have a look at our blog on the Siege of al-Merayah, the other major feature coming in the update.
We can’t wait to see the kind of taverns you will build, Exiles. No doubt you will make them sing with the legends of your exploits!
Slay and Survive, Exiles!