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Dune isn’t the only thing Funcom’s been thinking about. The third free season of Conan Exiles has been brewing for a while, and now the Age of Heroes is almost here. The first chapter of the new season introduces two long-requested features: recruitable Companions and more realistic behaviors and interactions for thralls. While more Companions will arrive in later chapters, the first includes two: Aesir warrior Freya and Khitan sorcerer Liu Fei. Whether you’re a hardcore Conan roleplayer or just in it for that sweet, sweet loot, Age of Heroes looks great so far. Here’s what you need to know.
Companions in the Age of Heroes
Companions aren’t full-fledged protagonists, but they have stories and legends of their own. Each of these fully-voiced characters comes with an associated questline, and your decisions during those quests will help determine your Companion’s abilities. You shouldn’t expect Mass Effect-level story branching, but having your choices matter a bit is a nice touch. It’s also a good incentive to play through these quests again to check out their alternative rewards. Conan Exiles is at its best when it fuses its story and systems together, and that’s what it appears we’ll get from Companions.
The second big addition coming in the Age of Heroes is Living Settlements. No more lifeless NPCs causing your base to feel like a mannequin factory. With the addition of emoting, schedules, and needs, thralls now feel much more realistic. They’ll fetch drinks when thirsty, eat when hungry, and even defend their home (or not so much). It’s a huge step toward immersion, taking Exiles a little closer to Robert E. Howard’s original Conan stories like “Rogues in the House” and “Queen of the Black Coast.” If anything, Age of Heroes looks even more ambitious than Age of War.
Mods, Battle Pass, and Beyond in Conan Exiles
The new Living Settlements system is also moddable from the ground up. Funcom isn’t just relying on its community to fix and expand the game, though. There will be a minor update between each chapter, allowing the team a chance to handle events, QoL issues, and bugs. An even bigger deal is the retirement of the Battle Pass (though the Bazaar will remain). It’s rare for games to receive regular free expansions of this size, and though Age of War had problems, Funcom deserves a cheer for the effort it’s putting in. We’ll see what all that blood and sweat’s worth when Age of Heroes arrives on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox X|S, Xbox One, and Xbox Game Pass in October.
