Everything We Know About V Rising's Free Major Expansion, Secrets of Gloomrot

Secrets of Gloomrot will feature two vast new areas for you to explore — the North and South of Gloomrot. Enjoy a tale of a world that cares only for knowledge and those who can provide the most brilliant breakthroughs to their denizens. As best shown by Dr. Henry Blackbrew — a doctor not unlike Dr. Frankenstein — who is driven by a deep hatred for vampires as he fought Dracula's armies and spearheaded The Trancendum — a group of scientists obsessed with human evolution. 

With technical and chemical engineering on their side — and the brilliant creation of the ever-knowledgeable Dr. Henry Blackbew, the Monster — Gloomrot is a technological behemoth that vampires will face against and grow from.

From Silverlight to the Cursed Forest, explore new and re-imagined areas in the environments you've already ventured into. From a new vineyard in Silverlight, a brand-new Cursed Forest experience, and various new points of interest in Dunley Farms, the Secrets of Gloomrot fun begins even before you face one of vampire's worst threats yet — technology.

Venturing into the Cursed Forest, you'll see a new environmental hazard has been added — a choking mist that will obscure your range of vision. Although not much has been announced about this mysterious choking mist, we can only assume that the way to combat it will be new head gear to take advantage of.

Likewise, Vardoran also has some new weather, though why this fits into the "hazards" section hasn't been announced yet — new winds will shake the trees of this biome, but we're not yet aware of how it will bring us harm.

Meanwhile, in the electric lands of Gloomrot, vicious lightning strikes will force you to dodge out of the way to save yourself from unnecessary damage. We're excited to see how this will work in combat!

Vardoran is expanding with new trading hubs; although silver hurts, it never hurts to buy yourself a couple of goodies to survive a bit more on the lands! We don't know just yet what sort of wares the vendors in these trading hubs will have, but we do know that some of the NPC merchants are anti-vampire. We choose to focus on the positives and think that at least some of them are pro-vampire!

What self-respecting castle doesn't have at least 10 floors? Well, before Secrets of Gloomrot, V Rising's! The once-one-floor-only castles will now be many floors high! We don't know how many stories you will be able to put on your castle, but judging by some of the images, we can assume that at least three floors are supported so far!

Additionally, not only do we have new castle customisations coming! From various garden options to an updated building UI and new crafting stations, there are plenty of things coming with Secrets of Gloomrot once the expansion drops!

Time to face infamous vampire slayers. From Gloomrot runts to even the notorious Dr. Henry Blackbrew, can you defeat an army that held its own against Dracula's years before you? 

With 13 new bosses, including some updates across all of Vardoran, and 30 new enemy times, from mechanical creatures, mutations, and even mechanical marvels.

Magic in V Rising is about to get much better with reimagined spells to be more specialised. We haven't heard much about what this means, but we are looking forward to seeing how it will affect combat mechanics, especially with the various teaser options, including "master necromancer" and "dangerous illusionist".

Meanwhile, we're getting a brand-new school of magic with the Storm tab, which will allow you to take the power of Gloomrot into your own hands and harness electricity as a source of power. With eight different spells in the school (one dash, five regulars, and two ultimates), we can't wait to see what Gloomrot will add to our arsenal of witchcraft.

Go medieval and take advantage of the new weapon type, the Greatsword! Likely a mixture between the Mace and the Sword, we can't wait to see what sorts of abilities you will be able to take advantage of with this weapon in hand.

However, likely the most exciting one is the Dual Pistols. These experimental weapons are snagged from Gloomrot's own weaponry, allowing you to take advantage of their technology and turn the tides of battle!

Finally, and very excitingly, is the new Legendary Weapons mechanics. These one-of-a-kind armaments include randomised properties that will allow you to shape your build and become even more powerful — we can't wait to learn more about these and how they will be attained.

Prepare your spellbooks and build jewels to take advantage of the powerful new crafting item! Apparently, these new jewels will allow you to channel spells and modify them to your liking, giving you a unique battle experience that is unreplicated with most other vampires.

With six jewels to choose from — Chaos, Illusion, Unholy, Storm, Frost, and Blood — we can't wait to see how this will affect the combat, as not a lot of information has been given about this new system just yet.

Secrets of Gloomrot will also feature various other Quality of Life changes that will make traversing the world of V Rising more enjoyable. With new and improved visuals, more cosmetics to express your personality, better movement and inventory (likely my favourite new change), and more music and better sound designs, we are looking at a slew of updates that will make V Rising feel like a brand-new experience.

Finally, Stunlock Studios closes this with hype (as every good event and announcement does) with a peer into the future with the roadmap! Secrets of Gloomrot is only the first of many expansions that V Rising is receiving, with two more updates already confirmed according to this section.