We're going to do a series of articles focusing on specific parts of the game's development, explaining a bit how they work and their changes compared to the previous game.
The first thing we'll be talking about is the level up system, perks, and what changes we've made to it.
Experience
The level up system is the core component of Ziggurat, and what sets it apart from other roguelite FPS games, so the core concept is very close to the original: Enemies drop experience crystals when defeated, that will disappear after a while, and you need to pick up them before they go away. When you've earned enough experience, you'll level up, earning a new perk and a boost to maximum health/mana.
Improving pool sizes
The most important change we've made to the whole system is the way maximum stats are changed: Now the perk you choose will also determine which pool gets increased. So the decision to select perks needs a bit more thought behind it.
Perks
Perks are the main way to improve your powers in the middle of a mission, and range from a simple boost to mana capacity to a chance of burning enemies hurting you.
Perks come in two flavors: One-shot and "Accummulative" perks that can be upgraded for a stronger effect (Their max level has changed from 5 to 4).
Many of the "classic" perks are coming back, with some changes because of the new mechanics and features, and shorter dungeon size, and rebalanced to make all of them useful.
In the first release, the game already features over 90 perks, with many more to come in future updates, so we expect to hear lots of suggestions!
An important change is that now you can only choose perks once a room is cleared, as we felt stopping to choose perks in the middle of a fight would break the pace. You still recover health and mana right away upon leveling up in the middle of a fight, and it can be a lifesaver in tough situations.
Masteries
There's also a totally new kind of leveling up system called Mastery, that is only applied when a dungeon is finished (win or lose), and it will allow you to improve equipment and weapons. But we'll explain that in more detail in a future article.