Keen Games has released Forging the Path, the eighth and final major Early Access content update for Enshrouded. As the studio confirmed back in January, this update is a stepping stone to the game’s 1.0 launch and console debut this fall. Since entering Early Access in January 2024, Enshrouded has welcomed more than five million players, and Forging the Path is easily the biggest systems overhaul the game has received to date.
Combat sees the most significant changes. A new focus resource fills up with each regular attack, letting players unleash weapon-specific special moves once the bar is full, and the system even extends to woodchopping and pickaxing. Melee weapons now have hold-to-charge heavy attacks that deal double damage and hit the enemy’s stun bar hard, and attack chains for two-handed axes, hammers, and greatswords have been overhauled to better sell the fantasy of swinging heavy weaponry. Enemies also react in stages now, moving from suspicion to active search to full combat, which opens up real stealth options for thinning out camps before committing to a fight. Wand range and durability have been increased, and the first-tier Fireball gets a larger explosion radius.
Progression has been reworked too. Skills can now be leveled up after unlocking, and armor perks can push skills past the normal cap available through skill points alone. Base unlock costs have been reduced to make it faster to reach the outer branches of the tree, and the skill tree layout itself has been redesigned to make hybrid builds easier to put together. Equipment upgrades also see a meaningful bump, with armor, shields, wards, and rings now upgradable with runes that unlock playstyle-specific perks.
One of the most requested community features finally arrives with Adventure Sharing, a dedicated hub where players can upload their version of Embervale, browse community creations, and download worlds to explore in person. A new craftable camera lets players snap showcase screenshots of their builds. Keen Games says this is just the first iteration, with future updates planned to add logic systems, interactive elements, puzzles, enemy spawning, and traps, which should eventually turn Adventure Sharing into a legitimate creative platform.
The update also takes aim at the new-player experience and quality of life more broadly. The areas around the Cinder Vault have been visually refreshed and redesigned to better introduce core gameplay, the quest log is now split into main and side quests with clearer highlighting, and crafting has been reorganized across new stations and a new factory. A new Quick Stack Station at the Carpenter automatically deposits stackable materials into nearby magical chests, and players can now pull materials directly from magic chests while building without needing anything in their backpack. There’s also a new Item Sets journal feature that rewards players for collecting full groups of biome building blocks, vanity outfits, weapon gems, and more.
We were about 20 hours into Enshrouded before other games pulled our attention elsewhere, and this is exactly the kind of update that makes a return trip worthwhile. The combat changes alone are a big deal, and with 1.0 and console launch on the horizon this fall, now is a good time for anyone who bounced off earlier in Early Access to jump back in.
