Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem Update - Beta and the Final Game
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A fresh development update for SolarFall Games' hack 'n' slash action-RPG Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem lets us know what the team is currently working on and tells us all about the recent progress on the game's beta. The update also shows off plenty of impressive looking work in progress screenshots, so be sure to check those out.
Here are the text parts:
Hello everyone!
We would like to share with you some advancement on the final game and how are things going in Wolcen Studio at the moment.
I. Status of the Team and current progression
Wolcen Studio now counts 33 employees at the office, and more will be joining us in the next months to reinforce the crew.
Our programming and game design teams are focussed on the Gameplay Beta transition and the revamps needed to finalize the gameplay.II. Beta advancement
- The artists are working on Act II and Act III content.
- All the armors are done for the entire game.
- The 4 Apocalyptic Forms are fully designed and are going through concept.
- The character artists are currently working on pets, including Kickstarter reward pets, validated apocalyptic forms, NPCs, and unique items.
We are progressing well on the Beta, but we have some refactoring to do that might take us some time. Like I told you on the last news, it is important that we finalize these revamps in order to avoid an early wipe. Even if this means that the Beta will arrive later.
Let’s give you a quick overview of some of these revamps:
1. AST revamp
Here is a mockup of the next AST interface.
At the top left, you have a filter that you can use to select types of skills.
On the left, you have the skills your character has learned.
You can drag and drop them at the bottom left, the skills you choose there will be in your action bar.
At the middle top, you have the skill name, its level, and the modifier points you’ve earned and you can use, and a reset button.
Just below that, you have the list of modifiers and their requirements.
On the top right, you will have the description of the skill you selected.
Just below that, you will have the modifiers description and the lore associated with it.
Why these changes?
We were not satisfied with the AST as it was. Offering only two options at each tier seemed restrictive and we wanted to offer more choice to players when it comes to customizing skills.
We’ve come up with this new system to allow that.
The upgrades will no longer be in pairs and each AST option will have its own cost.
You will gain points as you progress with your skills, and you will be able to use them in the AST to activate modifiers.
There can be similar modifiers such as “increase damage” types for each skill.
There also can be combinations that cannot be done for balancing reasons, although we will do our best to avoid that kind of situation as much as possible.
Overall, you will have the possibility to make game-changing combinations and this system will be the object of a great video to show you the possibilities it offers.
2. PST revamp
The PST is also going through big changes and it will most likely be the object of a future video too. It now contains 3 rings, and each one has its own possibilities.
In the Alpha, it was only possible to travel between rings vertically. In the Beta, you will also be able to travel horizontally between the PST sections, which will unlock tons of build possibilities too and will reinforce the class-free aspect of the game. Of course, you will still have the possibility to turn the PST wheel to associate anything you wish with your node entry.
Ring 1:
This is the first step for character orientation and 3 sections will be available for this ring with 15 nodes per ring.
It will focus on the three main attributes and their passive bonuses: Agility, Ferocity, and Willpower. Toughness remains a primary attribute as well, but it will be spread through this PST section to improve your character’s resistance to various damage.
Ring 2:
This ring is about archetypes and has 6 sections with 15 nodes each:Ring 3:
- 2 sections related to Agility attribute and Projectile/Rogue orientations.
- 2 sections related to Ferocity attribute and Berserker/Tank archetypes.
- 2 sections related to Wisdom attribute and Ailment/Raw damage bonuses for Mage affinities.
This ring will be about specializations and will offer 12 sections with 10 nodes each. This is where you will find very specific talents such as necromancer types or even paladin types.
At the release of the game, you can expect a Passive Skill Tree with 21 sections and a total of 255 nodes.
Only Ring 1 and Ring 2 will be available for the Beta. Ring 3 will be added for the release of the game.
