While it isn’t a surprise to see a game improve further as the community around it grows and various feedback is sent in. Now that Tribes of Midgard has reached over one million players, they have continued to push forward on their plan to bring out a new saga, but it is how they are doing this that is a bit surprising. After having a test session with Norsfell and Gearbox, then heading back in on a solo session to put together the video at the end of this article that features all of these updates, I have to say that this game just keeps getting better and it was already one of my highest reviews this year!
Season 2: The Serpent Saga
Reaching season 2, the first thing to note is that we will be facing a serpent boss this time. The dreaded Jörmungandr will slumber no longer! But how to reach this boss is much different than how you reach the wolf boss, Fenrir. In fact, instead of gathering fragments, you need to master the new biome and find him yourself.
In this new season, we have been given the ability to interact with the water in the game. This means you will be able to swim and build boats to take. When you are swimming, there will be an energy meter and when that meter runs out your health bar takes place of the energy meter, giving you a finite amount of time to get across the river or find land if you crash in the Open Seas biome. The best news about this has to be that dying in water no longer eats up all the materials you had and instead the loot you would have dropped will appear in the same place that you revive at.
Once you master the Open Seas, you will need to find islands out in the waters that give refuge to one of three beacons that have to be lit. In order to light a beacon, you will have to find it on an island out in the water, park your boat, survive a short obstacle course, fight the enemies guarding the beacon, and then interact with it to light it. Once you light up the third beacon, the location for the serpent saga boss, Jörmungandr, will appear on your map.
Note that you can not just pack up a boat! Once you place a boat you have built in the water, that is where it is going to stay. If you cannot get to other beacons within the same body of water, you will need more than one boat.
Now, when it comes to making boats, there are actually three different options. Of course, first, you will have to find the Shipyard that will be out on a random ash beach in the world and then build it up the same way you would the farm, quarry, or lumber yard. After it is built, you will also have to improve the building to get the ability to build better boats. At a first-level Shipyard, you can build a basic boat that holds one player. At a second-level Shipyard, you can build a good boat that holds up to four players. At a third-level Shipyard, you can build the best boat which can hold the entire lobby (up to ten players)!
First Thoughts
Some of the little updates they added to the game make it make better sense and aid the players. My favorite little addition has to be that the village starts out with level one gates on all sides. This makes it much more probable for players to explore the world through the first two days to find and gather everything they need to get their goals accomplished.
The fact that this new saga boss is NOT replacing the previous one is also a huge plus factor with this update! If your crew is skilled enough, a single Saga run can lead players to defeat all four Jotunn’s, Fenrir the wolf, and Jörmungandr the serpent. Piling on more opportunities, all of which are technically optional to the players to accomplish, is a brilliant decision as it lets both new and concurrent players play the game and complete the challenges they would want to.
Opening up the water of the game to be more than an instant death is such a relief. No more accidentally dying from a bad escape maneuver. No more losing all of your collected goods from silly mistakes. And I haven’t played with a single person yet who didn’t think it was weird that a Viking-based game didn’t have boats. This new biome, water mechanics, and boss choice all are just the most logical step forward for this game to have made.
Tribes of Midgard has definitely just improved greatly and given its player base a new reason to get back into the game - if they even stopped in the first place. While it is great to read all of the updates that are coming to the game, it is even better to see them in action. Check out the video below as I show off a bunch of the new stuff from the update, including some of the neat aspects of the included ‘Yulidays’ event.
