LadyWYT

Very true! By "antagonist" I generally mean factions that would be considered the "bad guys", as the goal in most cases is to save the world and not destroy it. I do agree though that having multiple options and outcomes for the player regarding the story's path would be really cool and extend the game's longevity.

I also forgot to mention this earlier, but I do hope we see some sort of antagonist faction later. A cult that wants to bring more of the Rust into our current reality would definitely make for a cool one to battle against! I think the one thing scarier than the mindless drifters out to eat your face off, is perhaps a corrupt human/seraph determined to control which faces the monsters munch on.

Now I do think the game has a good mix of classes already, but one thing I noticed is that there is no definite support class. Before I get too far into the details though, one thing I should note is that some of the specifics regarding damage types are covered in this thread here: Likewise, I went with more of a "Friar Tuck" angle with this class, rather than the fantasy versions found elsewhere. Also keep in mind all numerical values listed here are hypothetical; I balanced them as best as I could but there's probably room for improvement. The Traits Pacifist: You deal 20% more blunt weapon damage, but move 20% slower when wearing two or more pieces of tier 3+ armor. Nearsighted: You deal 15% less ranged damage. Pilgrim: You move 15% faster on roads. Healer: You heal 50% more with healing items. Merciful: Exclusively craftable First Aid Kit, which can be used to heal others instead of yourself. ------ Why Monk? Because Friar Tuck is a cool character, and monks were prevalent during the Middle Ages. Additionally, monks fit into the "common folk" theme that all the playable classes currently share. Why Pacifist? As a general rule, it was frowned upon for monks to partake in bloodshed. However, the roads are still dangerous, and something is needed for self-defense. Thus, a preference for blunt weapons develops as a result, as these weapons are much less likely to draw blood when used in combat. Overall, I expect the Monk to play as a durable melee class that is able to keep allies alive and fighting. The reasoning behind the armor disadvantage is to try to encourage the Monk to avoid a direct fight if possible, as they aren't meant to soak up a ton of damage(that's the Blackguard's job, after all!) The class will likely be strongest in multiplayer scenarios, where the Monk will have allies to do most of the fighting for them(allowing the Monk to focus on keeping said allies alive, while helping deal some damage as well). In a singleplayer scenario, the Monk's bonus healing should help cover the higher incoming damage due to the armor penalty, though the Monk could also opt to wear a full set of high tier armor in some cases and just deal with the movement penalty as well. The gear I would generally expect Monks to use is a high tier piece of armor in the chest slot, with the head and legs covered by gambeson or other pieces of lower tier armor. For weapons, the club will be the preferred weapon in the early game, or the quarterstaff for longer melee reach. Later in the game, a mace/shield combination is probably the best choice, as the shield will help soak up incoming damage and mitigate some of the armor penalty. However, I could also see a warhammer being a powerful choice in the right circumstances. The Monk is also a class that I expect to be appealing to players that like to build a lot of infrastructure, due to the movement bonus they get when traveling on roads. Of course, it could also be a more appealing pick on servers where there are already a lot of roads paved. As for the First Aid Kit, I'm not entirely sure of the details other than it should include Alcohol Bandages as an ingredient(perhaps leather and a regular linen bandage as well?). Ideally, it heals for 10 HP baseline(which would be 15 HP for a Monk), and while it could be used by any class it's best used by Monks due to the healing bonus. My initial thoughts is that it should be an item that can only be used on another living entity in order to avoid the situation of the Monk healing themselves when they meant to heal an ally. However, it could probably also work with rightclick to heal oneself, and shift + rightclick to heal a different target instead.

If nothing else, it could be stuff that the traders sell. Then it acts as a currency sink for players to spend gears on.

So what you're saying is...we seraphs need to go do some goofy poses nearby to mess with Dave! Dave's "body" module also reminds me of the Apollo space capsules used back in the day. I doubt that's what's going on with Dave, of course, but you never know!

I'd say if Jonas didn't build him, someone familiar with Jonas tech did. None of it looks organic like the drifters, so I don't think it's a mutation of anything, exactly. More likely it's either a "friendly" machine with an unknown/forgotten purpose, or it's a machine gone rogue. If Dave is a communication device, my guess is he might be the "microphone" end of the Resonator in the Resonance Archive. I heard someone threw a spear at Dave once and managed to hit him, resulting in a horrific scream that the entire server heard...right before it crashed. Granted, I heard this tale in the strange lands of YouTube comment section, so I'd say Crazy Pete's stories are more likely to be true. I've been wondering if Dave isn't the Salvation Engine gone rogue. Some of the shapes are similar, though that could just be a result of sharing a designer with other tech. That being said, if you folded him up just right...I think the silhouettes could match. Not to mention that if the Salvation Engine could turn humans into seraphs, it could just as easily turn the infected into monsters and continue to do so, especially if it went rogue shortly after activation. If this is the case, perhaps it got sealed away in a different reality, which in turn destabilized the flow of time. That would certainly explain why Dave only shows up during a temporal storm or others periods of low temporal stability.

Shapeless crafting is what crossed my mind. I'm not entirely sure how it all works on the code side of things, but I think the way shapeless crafting typically works is checking for a keyword or two to make sure the materials are correct(like "stone" or "wood"), but otherwise doesn't care exactly where you put it in the crafting grid when crafting the item.

I'm a little on the fence about this one. On the one hand, it's kind of cool having some materials be more difficult to acquire, thus giving them added value when building with them. At the same time, it's also frustrating when you really want to use that material and have to spend hours upon hours trying to get ahold of it. I don't remember how many stone types there are in the game, but I'm pretty sure there's more than 8-9, so making the recipe craftable as long as each one is unique seems fair. If nothing else, make the bauxite required(since it's the only bright orange one and you'll need to find bauxite for other things anyway) and let the rest be random uniques. Alternatively, the recipe could be left as-is and a couple of variants added instead--light and dark mixed stone. They could each utilize the lighter stones and darker stones respectively, giving players both more building options as well as a slightly easier time hunting down one of the variants to build with. It doesn't seem like something that would be too difficult to add on the coding end of things either.

I love it! I do this in my worlds as well, even if I'm the only player there Although I'm pretty sure if I was going the multiplayer route I'd end up as that rough mercenary type that only ventures into town once in a blue moon. What I need to do though is create a world that I actually hold onto for a while. I had a couple that had a couple hundred hours of playtime each, but they both got wiped when I was trying to figure out hardware issues The world I'm on currently...the resources feel okay but I am not loving the bright orange rocks that are everywhere. Back on the subject of hoods though--I'm really not sure how easy or difficult this would be to implement, but if you could "disguise" your seraph identity by wearing certain headgear and covering clothing...I don't really know what purpose it would serve outside of roleplaying with other people. It depends a lot on how NPCs are further implemented. If there are NPCs that are wary of or otherwise antagonistic towards seraphs, I could see it serving as a way to deal with some of them. Or perhaps just existing as an option to get a bit of extra flavor in some interactions, but achieving the same end goal as talking to them without a disguise effort.

Subterranean sauna time? I'm okay with filled barrels being unaffected(unless they just contain water), as it would be otherwise annoying to deal with in gameplay and a potential mess to have to code. Rain barrels though would be incredibly useful for drier regions, as well as a nice slice of realism.

I'd wager stuff like this(and other cold weather gear) would be more likely to come with an update to the colder zones, as those are currently lacking right now. I also never thought of wearing a straw hat in the winter to keep my ears warm! It doesn't really make a lot of sense, and I typically go hatless anyway because I like the look better(in wintertime I explain the logic with either the hood on the fur coat, or the character in question having enough hair to keep most of the cold out). The irony is that depending on the individual's playstyle, odd combinations of attire might be worn anyway no matter what the ambient weather is or how weird it looks, provided the stats on it are good enough. It tends to be a min-maxer thing and is typically a humorous thing to witness when it occurs. Edit: Because I completely forgot to note this--raccoonskin cap please! I don't know how you'd craft one, exactly, given that we don't have animal-specific pelts, but already have the raccoons for it. We just need the hat!

It's such a little thing, but I love this idea. Roleplaying isn't everyone's cup of tea, but everyone likes customizing their character. And when it comes to roleplaying Vintage Story has a very strong foundation for that kind of gameplay as well. I used to roleplay a lot back when I still played WoW, enjoying the adventure of exploring the world and whatnot, but there just wasn't a game to really fill those particular niches after I quit. Oddly enough, Vintage Story managed to fill that void though, even better than WoW ever could. I'm not sure how the coding would work though; it feels like an action that may require the head slot to be free(at least on for the cosmetic slot). Some of the hats available could probably be worn under a hood just fine(like the gem-encrusted fur hat), but others just don't make any sense at all(looking at you, bamboo and straw hats!). Of course, that could just be left up to the player to decide for simplicity's sake, no matter how goofy it might look. And some players do prefer goofy rather than serious.

Precisely the reason I didn't touch Clockmaker in that regard Hilarious mental imagery and it'd likely be a whole lot of fun to do! Possibly, although they do already fill that niche with the general boost to all ranged damage. If they needed a bit more to help even out their playing style though having a small advantage to hunting animals would work. It would also make them a bit more beginner friendly given that they could deal with aggressive animals much more easily, and it would be an attractive pick for veteran players that have issues with aggressive animals. Underground is where they run into more difficulties than most other classes to balance them out; the majority of fighting will be melee, which isn't their specialty, and they'll need to speed a bit more time underground in order to gather the same amount of ore as other classes. It also fits nicely with the lore we have to work with. I think Bardo from the "Ghosts" short story is meant to be a hunter, and while he's not shown hunting any animals the story treats him as an experienced ranger type. He also had trouble dealing with drifters, as they didn't seem to play by the laws of nature.

Just target the bed, press and hold left-click until it breaks. It will drop as an item that you can pick up and place elsewhere. The only exceptions are beds that are in claimed spaces(like the trader beds--you won't be able to swipe those), and the beds that are decorative clutter in the ruins(you'll need to repair these with glue before breaking them in order to get a decorative item--they don't work like normal beds).

That's either got to be the best hot spring due to the meteoric iron, or the worst hot spring due to there being no actual spring. I suppose it depends on whether you want resources, or utility. I've seen a few cases similar to this. I expect that water physics will probably receive an update at some point in the future. At least empty barrels that fill with water when it rains--that would be nice.

Jonas Falx seems to be the guy responsible for all the temporal technology and how the player came to exist in the world as we know it. As I understand, he was either a prominent alchemist, or an accomplished engineer from the lower class(perhaps even both!). He may have also been at least partly responsible for the calamity that befell humanity and destroyed the Old World, but there's not yet enough information to determine that for certain. Whether he's still alive or not is also unknown, although there are a few clues that strongly suggest he is indeed still alive somewhere and we may meet him at some point. What's also worth noting is that many of the Old World eventually elevated Falx to god-like status due to his technical prowess, and humanity's survivors may still revere him as a mythical figure(especially given the prevalence of rusty gears as a trade currency). It's hard to say for certain on the latter until villages and other NPCs are added though. Given the level of "real world" technology available in the game and mentioned in the lore, I think the Old World was meant to be set in the Late Middle Ages. The player is not human, hence the oddly colored skin. The traders are human, and if you'll notice that when you stand next to them, you're a bit taller as well. According to the lore, we are entities called "seraphs", although what exactly a seraph is and how much they differ from humans is somewhat vague, at least for now. As I understand it, seraphs were human once, likely ones that allied with Falx in his endeavors to save humanity from the Rot plague. They seem to have been sent forward in time somehow by a Falxian creation, and became seraphs in the process. I expect this subject may be explored a bit more with the next update, though it remains to be seen.

https://us.etrade.com/e/t/user/login?TARGET=https%3A%2F%2Fus.etrade.com%2Fetx%2Fhw%2Fwelcomecenter%253FsubSeq%253DY Does it look like this? Maximized Borderless only removes the white border from the box the game runs in if you have it windowed. If you run a two monitor setup and want to click off the game screen for a moment without the game minimizing, but don't want to see the Windows taskbar either, try Fullscreen + Always On Top. That should keep the game running fullscreen on one monitor without minimizing if you click on the other screen for a moment, without the taskbar getting in the way of the game screen. Now if you do that and the Windows taskbar still insists on including itself in the game screen, I would check your settings on Windows taskbar to make sure there's not something there causing an issue.

Pretty much this. The only thing I would add is that I've noticed that surface copper deposits tend to spawn in a rough 50 block radius from one another(I say very roughly, given I've not measured the actual distance). So if you've found one deposit and marked it, it's often worth looking around the nearby area to see if there's another. The prospecting pick and cave method is also good, although it involves a lot of digging typically, and is very risky early in the game. If you're up to the challenge though, it's a highly effective method. What I generally do is run around marking the surface deposits and picking up the little pieces on the ground, and then panning the last little bit I need to get a pickaxe and hammer. Once I have those it's just a matter of going back to dig up the surface deposits, crafting a prospecting pick, and finding my way to ingredients for bronze.

You could try tinkering with the settings and see if it helps, but otherwise yeah that's normal. As others here have said, the player is intended to get a torch before nightfall, or at least a campfire. I think on nights that have a full moon(or close to it), you'll have a bit more visibility that you normally would, but it's still ideal to have a torch or other portable light source if you're going to be traveling at night. Alternatively, you could also start in one of the climate zones further to the north, and have some light practically the entire day...as long as it's summer, that is. I don't recommend starting in those zones if you're brand new to the game, however, as they come with more challenges to survival than the standard Temperate and warmer zones.

Exactly, though I've something else in mind for a class bonus to blunt damage, that involves creating a new class entirely. That's a thread to be posted on a different day though, once the idea has had more time to marinate. One idea I forgot to include was some sort of belt-fastened lantern, or miner's headlamp, to assist underground or in other situations where the player isn't able to use anything in their offhand. However, that's also one of the drawbacks of using big weapons or ranged weapons--they don't do well in confined spaces(which is why a player might want to switch to a smaller weapon for those situations, or bring a friend). There's also already an answer to that problem in the game with the night vision headgear. While the headgear might be difficult to acquire, it suddenly becomes more valuable to do so given the opportunities it opens up. Clockmakers are still in a weird spot with this layout because while they're not great in general combat, they're perhaps the best for clearing dungeons due to the inherent damage bonus against mechanicals. So they're going to have an easier time cutting through mechanicals even when using the "wrong" weapon type; give them a hammer and they'll smash the machines even faster! I would expect the Blackguard to lag behind a bit in this area due to those resistances, unless they happen to be using the ideal weapon type. Overall though, the Blackguard should still remain the undisputed king of close-quarters combat scenarios. I do like the idea of an extra crit chance with daggers for Malefactors--it fits their playstyle and I think with a combat rework they might need to have a bit more going for them in the fighting department, given they're meant to be adept survivors. The preference for daggers would also pair nicely with poison crafting, as Malefactors will have an advantage here as well due to their harvesting bonus. The one class I'm really not sure about is Hunter. They already have issues dealing their ranged damage at night/underground, and taking away the option of the offhand light source is going to make that issue a bit more prominent. On the other hand, being able to kill something before it can reach you is a big advantage in itself. Likewise, Hunters would be getting a couple more options in how to deal their damage, in the form of the crossbow and poisoned arrows. So it should balance well enough overall, but it probably becomes a bit more challenging for new players to play as, given how much Hunter will probably struggle underground.

I know it's already on the development roadmap, but I've got ideas that just have to come out and this one is mostly hammered out in my mind. I'm mostly thinking of a rock/paper/scissors approach, in which damage is split into slashing, piercing, or blunt types(outside of a couple of special cases I'll cover later). Be warned, it's a bit of a read ahead. Weapons Weapons fit into three general categories--one-handed, two-handed, and ranged. One-handed weapons only require one hand to use, allowing players to use something else in the offhand slot. Two-handed and ranged requires the use of both hands, meaning that the offhand slot will need to be empty in order to effectively use these weapon types. Swords The most basic of weapons. Arming Sword: The standard weapon we all know and love! Does a decent amount of slashing damage and is a solid choice in most scenarios. Is a one-handed weapon. Falx Blade: Similar to the Arming Sword, but does a bit less slashing damage in favor of having a damage bonus against supernatural mobs(either a flat damage boost against them, or a high chance to land a critical hit that does significantly more damage than the standard). The reasoning for this change is that the Falx Blades are described as being adept at killing drifters and the like, where standard weaponry has failed. Thus I wanted to give it its own special niche to encourage players to pick it over other weapons in certain scenarios. Blackguard Shortsword: I'd say this one is a bit of special case since it's a class-specific craftable. It has the same base damage type as the Arming Sword, but has the damage bonus against supernatural mobs as well given the occupation of Blackguards. Is a one-handed weapon. Greatsword: This one does significantly more slashing damage than the Arming Sword, with a longer reach but slower swing time. It's also a two-handed weapon, so the player will need to use both hands to wield it properly. The larger blade also requires two ingots to craft rather than one. Dagger/Knife: A small one-handed weapon with a very short range, fast swing time, and low base piercing damage rather than slashing. Unlike the others in its grouping, this weapon has a very high chance to ignore a target's armor completely and can also be poisoned for extra damage per hit. I expect this weapon to be a high-risk/high-reward choice for assassinating armored targets, or just an interesting niche for those looking to vary their fighting style. It's also a weapon I would expect to have more value in PvP scenarios rather than in singleplayer. Axes I'm going to keep it simple here; the axe is a two-handed weapon that does a moderate amount of slashing damage(more than the Arming Sword but less than the Greatsword), and has a somewhat slower swing time as well. I would say the range is longer than the Arming Sword but shorter than the Greatsword. This weapon's niche would be dealing with shields, ideally by chewing through the shield's durability faster than other weapons. This weapon can also cut down trees(it's the same axe we already have, just with a couple of combat upgrades). It's another weapon that I expect to have more use in PvP than singleplayer, though it could be a solid option for players who want that Viking look. Bludgeoning Weapons These weapons I expect to be some of the most effective choices for dealing with heavily armored targets or mechanicals. In regards to how it deals with armor, I envision a scenario similar to axe vs shield--blunt weapons do bonus damage to the armor's durability. Mace/Club: A simple one-handed weapon with a short range and slower swing time, but decent blunt damage. The club is the earliest version of this weapon, with the mace being the metal option that can be forged later. Warhammer: Has a good range and does significant blunt damage per swing(swings at the same speed as the axe, or slightly slower). It's a two-handed weapon as well as doing much more damage to armor than maces/clubs can do. Polearms These weapons have the longest range of melee weapons, and typically do piercing damage rather than slashing or blunt. Spears and pikes will also be available at bronze, iron, and steel tiers rather than limited to copper. Spear: Decent damage comparable to the Arming Sword(perhaps a bit less), with a range and swing time comparable to the Greatsword. For gameplay purposes, the spear counts as a one-handed weapon, allowing it to be used with items in the offhand or thrown as a projectile weapon. Quarterstaff: Entirely wooden construction. Has the same range and swing time as the spear, but does a smaller amount of blunt damage instead. While it requires both hands to wield as a weapon, it may be equipped in the offhand slot for a small movement speed bonus, making it useful for exploration. Pike: Does the same piercing damage as the spear and at the same speed, but with twice the melee range. As a result, it requires both hands to use, an extra stick to craft, and cannot be thrown. Ideally, this weapon should also have a minimum effective range, meaning that enemies that get close enough no longer take significant damage from the weapon. Ranged Bows: Same as we have now, except the arrows now do piercing damage and can be poisoned for even more damage, provided one has the right resources. Crossbow: A ranged weapon requiring iron or steel parts and projectiles. Has better accuracy than standard bows as well as doing much more damage per shot, at the expense of a much slower reload time(could manage about two shots in the same time that a standard bow could fire 6-8 shots). Can also be poisoned, and loaded in advance of use. Armor Leather/Gambeson: Resistant to slashing damage, but not to piercing or blunt damage types. Blunt damage, however, will not apply the extra durability loss penalty on hit. This type of armor is still the most ideal for players that wish to retain more mobility or ranged accuracy. Chain: Good resistance to slashing damage and moderate resistance to blunt damage; small resistance to piercing damage. Scale/Brigandine: Excellent resistance to slashing damage, with a moderate resistance to piercing and blunt damage. Lamellar: Moderate resistance to slashing, piercing, and blunt damage. A good choice for early armor that tends to be overshadowed by other armors later in the game. Plate: Highly resistant to slashing and piercing damage, with good resistance to blunt damage--the highest level of protection at the expense of mobility and ranged accuracy. On the subject of armor, my general thoughts is that plate armor should be the best overall protection and require special tactics to deal with, which is where weapons like the warhammer should shine. One thing I would like to see though, that doesn't currently exist in game, is something like an archer's breastplate to offer a bit more protection for ranged characters. I'd expect something like this to offer and bit more protection than gambeson or leather while still retaining mobility and accuracy, but not protecting to the extent that the full chest armors will. Enemies I see four general categories here: Animals: Vulnerable to slashing, piercing, and blunt damage. Depending on what kinds of animals get added later, some could be resistant to certain damage types, but for the most part the player should be able to handle an encounter with them. Predators I would expect to do some kind of slashing and/or piercing damage. Prey animals I would expect to do blunt damage, potentially mixed with some slashing or piercing, depending on the animal. Large predators such as bears could have some damage resistance so that they are still a threatening encounter even to an equipped player. Supernaturals: Drifters and their ilk. Surface drifters should be a bit more durable than the average animal, perhaps having a small resistance to all three damage types. Higher tier drifters could become increasingly resistant to blunt damage while retaining the same base resistances to slashing/piercing as the surface drifters. My expectation here is something that provides a bit more of a threat than normal animals; ideally, this also encourages the player to craft a Falx Blade or two to help deal with them. Mechanicals: Locusts, bells, and their like. I would expect them to be quite resistant to both slashing and piercing damage, but weak to blunt damage. On that note, I'm not sure that I'd want the bells to be much tougher than they are currently--they already take several good whacks from a Blackguard's iron/steel sword to kill and having them take much longer than that would probably be annoying. Ideally, 2-4 whacks from a blunt weapon should be enough to put a bell out of commission, with about twice as many whacks required from other weapons to achieve the same result. Now, doing that would put the Clockmaker in an odd spot, enabling them to possibly kill most mechanicals in one hit. However, Clockmakers also have the penalty to health, melee damage, and distance with ranged weapons, so I think it's probably fine. Humanoids: Humans and seraphs. Currently, we have yet to meet other NPCs outside of traders, so it remains to be seen if there will be any seraph characters to meet(outside of other players, that is). Humans I expect to meet eventually given that the traders are human, and mention human settlements(that will be implemented sometime in the future). In regards to humanoid NPCs though, I would expect their damage resistances to be based on what they have equipped. Boss Battles I think there could be a lot more potential here with different damage types and resistances. Boss mobs I would expect to be quite resistant to most everything to help ensure that there's a proper battle that takes place, but not to the extent that they become a hassle for the player to deal with(damage sponges aren't really fun). The last thing you want when designing an encounter, in most cases, is for the player to kill the boss in a couple of hits. Where I see the shenanigans really ensuing is in how the bosses attack. Special attacks like a powerful slam ability suddenly have a lot more meaning if it can tear a huge chunk out of your armor's durability, and will encourage the player to avoid the attack if they can rather than take the hit. Taking too many hits like that suddenly means that there's no longer any armor offering protection, leaving a complacent player in quite the predicament. ------------ And that's gonna have to be a wrap for this post, because the keyboard is starting to look a lot like a comfortable pillow. Hopefully it's not too convoluted and generally makes sense. I haven't figured out numbers for any of it, and it feels like I'm forgetting something, but I think I covered most of the territory I wanted to. If nothing else, I hope it's entertaining to read!

True. Too many disadvantages and then we're right back to square one. That's one of my thoughts on it, yeah. Although I'd rather have a good burst of initial damage and then a bit more damage over the next few seconds, provided it's an entity that actually burns. The main drawback I see is potentially setting your own stuff on fire, however, the better option might be just reducing the drop chances of burned corpses. That way it's still a solid option for players to use when dealing with groups of enemies(without constantly starting fires!), but not to the extent that it can be used to farm them easily. In regards to the firestarter side effect, I think that might be something that could possibly be added later, after there's a good way to put out fires. I like your thinking! I finally tried the beenades the other day. A little underwhelming for what I was hoping for, but still fun to use. The problem is they aren't craftable so when I find them I end up not ever using them because it's difficult to get more.

Given the wonky nature of temporal stuff, that could actually be a canon lore thing

The only use I'm aware of for aqua vitae currently is high tier bandages, but the drawback is that the alcohol evaporates too quickly for those to be useful for anything other than a quick remedy at home. And even that utility is heavily overshadowed by the fact you can get the same job done faster with the cheaper bandages, for a lot fewer resources. However, given that aqua vitae is a very strong alcohol, it would be cool if we could fill a jug up with it, and then stick a fuse in said jug(such as a piece of twine or strip of linen) to create a firebomb to use on drifters and other enemies. I think this would be a fun, albeit dangerous, weapon for later in the game that would also provide a good incentive for players to actually brew aqua vitae. The materials aren't so expensive either that it becomes not worth crafting, or unattractive to use when actually needed(which can happen with expensive items). In regards to balance, its strength is also its biggest weakness. It explodes in an area and sets targets on fire, thus doing damage up front and an additional amount over time. The issue with a fiery explosion though is that it also tends to set things other than the intended targets on fire as well. So this wouldn't be a good weapon choice to use when fighting with melee-focused allies. Likewise, it's also not the best choice to use around a lot of flammable things(like trees, grass, or a thatch roof!) Rain is also going to put a literal damper on this weapon as well. I think the most optimal scenario for a firebomb is likely underground when dealing with more than one or two drifters. It could also be handy during temporal storms, with the risk of setting some other stuff on fire if you are above ground. As far as throwing it...maybe you'd need to hold a torch in your offhand in order to light the fuse, and then have a set amount of time to throw it? It could also just be a throwable object, no lighting required, but I feel the fuse lighting might be a bit more engaging and allow players to fiddle with the throw timing to pull off some potentially crazy stunts.

And now I know what to name a tavern once I manage to get one built.