Wasteland 3 was considered one of the better strategy RPGs to release last year, and the game continues to grow. Developer inXile Entertainment revealed Wasteland 3's first major narrative DLC The Battle of Steeltown earlier this month, with a planned release on June 3, 2021. There will be another update before that in Patch 1.4.0, and one big change to the game will be the addition of an Animal Companion Kennel.
A number of patches have released for Wasteland 3 since the game came out in August 2020, both adding new features and improving what it already had to offer. For example, a Wasteland 3 patch dramatically cut down on loading times in October 2020, and just last month inXile Entertainment introduced a permadeath mode for players who want an extra challenge while exploring post-apocalyptic Colorado. Though Patch 1.4.0 is only confirmed to be coming "in the next couple weeks," multiple blog posts have detailed what it will include.
Animal companions were the focus of a post released on April 23. The biggest addition to th game is a Kennel where the animals that team up with different squad members will stay when dismissed, rather than being released back into the wild. As a result players can choose from an army of dogs, cats, and more to battle with; "collect 'em all;" or release them at will. Wasteland 3's companion type limit is also being removed, meanwhile animal portraits and UI icons are getting visual updates.
Friday's blog post also details updates to Polly the Parrot, who will receive a "Demoralize" ability that allows the bird to throw "many blasphemy-laden insults" at enemies. At the end, inXile lets players know that bugs causing Wasteland 3's non-animal followers to vanish are also being fixed.
Prior to this, the developer released a blog post on April 20 showing off another new feature coming in Patch 1.4.0: Crafting. Systems that allow players to craft weapons or other supplies are all over modern video games, from the Chapter 2 Season 6 crafting added in Fortnite to games based around the mechanic like Valheim, so it isn't a huge surprise to see such an idea added to inXile Entertainment's post-apocalyptic world.
Fans of Wasteland 3 will no doubt look forward to the content in Patch 1.4.0 and The Battle of Steeltown DLC, but the developer also teases that Steeltown will not be the game's "final stop" in its animal companion preview. At the same time, inXile Entertainment has another RPG in the works, meaning there is a lot to look forward to for anyone invested in the studio's success.
Wasteland 3 is available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One. The Battle of Steeltown DLC releases June 3.
Sources: inXile Entertainment, Steam
