Conan Exiles is gearing up for its next major content drop, Age of Heroes, coming in October to PC, Xbox, and PlayStation consoles, and the update looks to be a big one, especially if you’re into base building in the survival game.
At the center of the first chapter of the Age of Heroes update is a revamped take on settlements that aims to breathe new life into each player’s base across the exile lands. This is achieved by bringing thralls - the servants players gather, to put it mildly - to life in ways not seen before in Conan Exiles.
Characters are now given more realistic behavior and interact with a base in realistic ways, injecting activity into an otherwise static settlement. During a press preview yesterday, Funcom took us through a settlement that was bustling with activity thanks to the new living settlements system.
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Some of the interactions are simple, such as a Thrall simply looking for a place to go and meandering throughout the lanes of the settlement. Another Thrall got hungry, heading to a nearby campfire to get a bite to eat after a long day’s thralldom.
It should be noted, though, that just because a Thrall leaves a crafting station to go do something, whether it’s to walk aimlessly or go in search of a bite to eat, it doesn’t affect a station’s ability to craft at peak efficiency. You won’t need to hunt a Thrall down and press them back into service in order to craft a recipe - their manpower will still be directed towards the station that you’ve assigned them regardless of where they physically are in your settlement.
This is a nice quality-of-life feature, as the alternative is going on wild goose chases to seek out the Thrall you need, only to rinse and repeat at the next station.
By making this change, settlements looked more alive than I can remember. While our demo was hands-off, I could see the energy a fully built-out settlement can bustle within the upcoming Conan Exiles update. I can’t wait to experience firsthand for myself when the first chapter launches in October.
Also coming with Conan Exiles: Age of Heroes is a brand-new Companion system. Thralls can already follow you and fight alongside you, oftentimes turning themselves into meat shields at your beck and call. This new system is different.
Companions are a first-of-its-kind style of follower, with their own stories, and Companions themselves are shaped based on choices made by the player through their journey together. These Companions are named NPCs and are also fully voiced, transforming them from simple NPCs to living, breathing characters in your own personal Conan story.
The two companions available at the launch are the Khitan Sorcerer, Liu Fei, and Freya, the Aesir Warrior. Players will meet these new Companions and kick off their own personal quests, which, throughout the story, choices presented to the player will help determine the perks that the Companion gains when they join your settlement.
These Companions will be living, breathing citizens of your settlement as well., They will need to eat and sleep, which you’ll be able to see them accomplish as they roam their new settlement. The Companions can also die in battle, though they aren’t perma-dead. Rather, you’ll simply redo the questline and gain a “new” Companion, this time potentially with different perks than your last.
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The new living settlements and Companion system are but the first chapter in the new seasonal model Conan Exiles has been doing going back to Age of Sorcery. New Companions are in the works for future updates, and while we don’t know fully what Age of Heroes will bring with future Chapter updates, it’s an interesting time to be a fan of the survival game.
One major change is discontinuing a battle pass system, with Funcom diverting those development resources to core gameplay systems instead, which is a nice change in an oversaturated market of battle passes.
Conan Exiles: Age of Heroes is set to launch in October on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation consoles. Subsequent chapters will be released over the following months.
