First insights: The upcoming huge "Excelsior" feature pack

Sneak Peek is a brief information about one of the upcoming game versions and may not reflect the final status of the content. Once the game version has been finalised, a corresponding Dev Diary will be published.

Dear Settlers,

This Summer it's time for new content and features again! In 2015, the XXL Level Cap Raise was announced at gamescom and rolled out shortly after. This year, another huge new content package will be released in September. It will actually be flying to your island - the new airship called "Excelsior" under the command of Sonya Graham. It will provide content for low-level, mid-level and high-level players.

Captain Sonya Graham is a well know female explorer/inventor and the captain of the Excelsior. Captain Graham's biggest achievement is the discovery of a way to use the ability of magical crystals to power industrial machinery.

The Excelsior is a legendary airship designed for research and exploration. The airship is filled with ancient data and unique artefacts.




Captain Graham's ship comes with a library and the technology to translate ancient and recent texts to unlock exclusive new quests and adventures! A new user interface opens when you click on the Excelsior. Spend a new resource called Crystals to try to generate text parts in the Oven of Truth.


The Oven of Truth - Runs on Crystals and... Truth

What do you have to do to use the Oven?

Select the parts you are aiming for at the top of Excelsior’s building menu and hit the purple button to fire up the Oven. You can also use the arrow buttons next to it to burn more Crystals and get more rewards. Not every attempt to generate text parts succeeds, but you will always get something in return, for example resources or buffs or zone-wide buffs.

Once you have earned enough identical parts, you can complete a text. Based on the type of text, you can acquire different rewards:
  • Letters reward quests.
  • Travel Guides award Ventures, a new type of adventure that combines Scenarios and military combat adventures. Initially there will be 6 different Ventures (2 per difficulty level).
  • Fairytale Books reward a campaign (adventure chain) consisting of multiple ventures.
How to get Crystals?
Starting at level 21, Crystals replace the daily login bonus (except for the gem rewards) and are the new reward for all daily quests. You can also use gems to make up for missing Crystals (29 gems per Crystal).

Captain Graham accompanies every player level 21 or higher throughout the whole content related to the Excelsior and Tutorial quests.

This is a brief overview of new features & content:
  • The Excelsior: A floating airship that provides new game mechanics with the Oven of Truth.
  • Crystals: Resources needed for the Oven of Truth.
  • New type of adventure called Ventures combining Scenarios and military combat adventures.
  • Venture campaign: "The Evil Queen" Fairy Tale Venture chain (5 Ventures)
    • Epic Farmyard: New Epic Workyard, reward for completing "The Evil Queen".
    • Completing a Venture of "The Evil Queen" always rewards the next one in the chain.
    • Completing the campaign for the first time rewards a new Epic Workyard and unlocks additional productions on subsequent playthroughs.

The Excelsior is already on its way to the test server. The test server version will be released with some placeholders, as certain features still require some work here and there. The first version is expected to be deployed on the afternoon of Thursday, 21st of July. Please check the news on tsotesting.com for more information.


During this year's gamescom, the Excelsior will be presented in our Community Booth at the Uplay Lounge (starting Wednesday, 17th of August). More information about the gamescom Uplay Lounge, the Excelsior presentation, Q&A sessions and maybe even a live stream will be announced next week.

Happy testing!
BB_Amta