V Rising: Gloomrot - What To Expect From The Upcoming Free Expansion

Following in the footsteps of "Valheim," the early access game "V Rising" seemingly came out of nowhere in May 2022 to become a hit among fans of open-world survival and settlement-building games. While it lost most of its players just as quickly, developer and publisher Stunlock Studios remains hard at work, improving the experience, developing content, and pushing "V Rising" toward its eventual full release. 

Now, with the announcement of the "Secrets of Gloomrot" expansion, Stunlock is showing gamers what's to come and giving fans a reason to dive back into the dark world of Vardoran. Even better, this update is free and just around the corner with a planned release window of May 2023. While Stunlock Studios is keeping some details under wraps until launch, a new blog post on its website has given fans plenty to get excited about, including some additions that have been anticipated since the game first came out.

First and foremost, the coming update will introduce the titular region of Gloomrot. This new region will be located at the far north of the map and connected to both the Dunley Farmlands and the Cursed Forest. Gloomrot will feature a new biome that, based on Stunlock's description, will feature a mix of decaying wilderness and cities of magic and industrial technology. The details aren't clear, but there are hints of a steampunk vibe in this region.

In Gloomrot, players will find new enemies to defeat and new technology to research. It will also provide a second entry point to the Cursed Forest for those who have been frustrated by the bottleneck north of the Dunley Farmlands. For those vampires looking for a new place to settle and construct their castle, Gloomrot will also provide fresh locations on which to build.

An addition that may overshadow the region of Gloomrot itself (both figuratively and literally), the coming update will allow players to build their castles upward. This is a feature that players have asked for since last May and Stunlock Studios has previously indicated that it was working on a way to bring it to "V Rising."

Until now, players have only been able to add a degree of height to their castles by building stairs on hills, limiting where and how they could expand skyward. With this update, a variety of staircases will roll out that can be placed in other locations in a castle and used to create a new level. With these stairs, vampire architects can build up to three stories and take their fortress designs in new directions (mainly up).

Recognizing that these new designs could lead to some confusing or sprawling layouts that are difficult or time-consuming to navigate, players will also get the ability to research and build special teleportation pads to connect distant parts of a castle. Stairs, higher floors, and teleportation pads all promise to give players more room to create than ever before.

Players won't just get new stairs to add to their collection of building options. Other decorative pieces are also dropping. Along with these structures, the entire building system will benefit from some usability improvements to make it easier for players to design, build, and customize their vampiric domiciles.

It appears that a great deal of attention is being paid to outdoor spaces but the upgrades to the building system will apply to all areas. Stunlock Studios is presenting these updates as a way to streamline the designing of castles and decorations and work in more customization options going forward. As it becomes easier to select and change objects, it will be possible to add more options without adding too much clutter to menus. It's not just decorations that are being added either. Vampires on the hunt will have other items to keep an eye out for and earn.

On top of all the major improvements, "Secrets of Gloomrot" will bring lots of smaller but still exciting additions as well. Fresh weapons are coming so even veteran undead warriors will get to start upgrading their gear again and new technologies will be available so players will want to stockpile paper once more. There will also be never-before-seen enemies, a whole new school of magic, and upgrades to the spell system in general.

All of this and even more, including aspects that Stunlock has only hinted at so far, will arrive in this massive, free update in May. Fans will, no doubt, look for more information as we move closer to the release date and some players who abandoned the game after launch will have a big reason to reinstall it and resume building. It may still be in early access but "V Rising" is getting the expansions and support to flesh out its world.