Indie developer Hunter Studio has released a new update for Lost Castle 2, adding the much-requested recruitable NPCs and more.

Here’s a rundown on the update:

The December update has arrived! No more dungeon delving alone; you can now recruit NPCs to build a full party before descending into the depths. Check out what we’ve added:

NPC recruitment

Players can recruit an NPC companion to join them on adventures at the camp’s bulletin board!

Players can recruit from 8 custom NPCs in total, including 2 familiar faces from the campaign. Most NPCs can be directly hired at camp, while others may be encountered randomly during combat, allowing you to swap them in to replace your currently hired NPC.

Currently recruitable NPC characters include:

• Kasumi
• Shadow
• Blazely
• Navarre
• Raven
• Seren

Players may also randomly encounter these special NPC characters (not recruit-able) during the game session:

• Nadia
• Nia

*Note: In 4-player co-op mode, hiring additional NPCs is disabled.

Advanced Rules Settings

We also added 3 new options you can turn on in the Advanced Rules Settings to add extra flavor to your runs!

• End of game DMG Stats
• Ally Knockback
• Random Level Paths

Settlement Achievement

In each game, players will receive up to 4 settlement evaluations based on their performance in that game.

New Camp Weapon Selection Mechanism

Upon completing specific conditions, players can freely choose their starting weapon at the camp.

Combat Adjustments

• Bow Inscription adjustments – Thundering Ranger Inscription and Strongarm Archer Inscription base effects adjusted, most resonances reworked.
• Adjustments to most of the Dual-Blades’ weapon skills
• Numerical adjustments to some treasures

Lost Castle 2 has been available in early access for Windows PC (via Steam) since July 2024. Get our preview here!