Hello amazing Voyagers! Michael / Spacenorth here with some truly magical news about our latest update to Nera!
Spirits Reimagined
We've been listening closely to your feedback and we’ve heard repeatedly that players want spirits to feel more integral to your adventure in Nera. We couldn't agree more! Spirits are one of the most unique aspects of our world, and we've completely reimagined how they work to make them more meaningful, rewarding, and central to your journey.
Building a Sanctuary for Spirits
We’ve taken the Spirit Anchor even farther toward being the magical heart of your base! When awakened, your base becomes a true sanctuary for the spirits of Nera, offering them protection from the dangers of The Deep.
Spirit Anchor Awakening
The Spirit Anchor starts dormant and must be empowered to level 1 to begin its magic. Once activated, you'll unlock the ability to rescue spirits you find throughout the world – but that's just the beginning! Every time you level up your Spirit Anchor, you'll gain new benefits from providing passive healing, cleansing corruption, and powering magical stations in a radius around it. And, once you can build more Spirit Anchors, allowing fast travel between bases!
(note: this isn’t part of the playtest build yet!)
Creating a Spirit Haven
What's a sanctuary without some lush amenities? You can now craft special structures to attract more spirits to your base, including spots for them to lounge, little pavilions for them to relax, or hot springs for them to sit in!
Each amenity you place contributes to your overall Sanctuary Power, which infuses the more advanced, magical crafting stations in your base - check out the details below!
Finding Spirits in the Wild
We've completely changed how you discover spirits in Nera. No more dormant spirit eggs – spirits are now found throughout the world, some hiding, others in active danger from enemies.
Saving spirits isn't just about feeling good (though that's part of it!) – they'll reward you with incredible powers and knowledge.
Spirit Abilities
We've added a wealth of new magical abilities that you can unlock by rescuing spirits. Echoes can now equip four abilities (2 major, 2 minor) with effects like:
- Seal of Restoration: Place a healing circle that restores allies
- Flame Mantle: Surround yourself with fire that damages enemies
- Lightning Bolt: Strike foes from afar
- Stone Form: Turn to stone when near death, saving your life
- Spirit Light: Your companion glows at night, illuminating your path
And many more! Some abilities even help with traversal, like Fleet Foot for faster sprinting or Webbed Foot for improved swimming.
Knowledge Spirits
Other spirits will unlock special knowledge, granting access to unique recipes like:
- Looking Pool to change your character appearance
- Glowstone Arrows - arrows that glow and light up any enemy you hit
- Bracelet of Breath - increased oxygen capacity
- Decorative Rugs - pretty rugs!
And more!
Powered by Magic
Your sanctuary doesn't just look pretty – it's functional too! Stations within your sanctuary radius can now be powered by magic:
- Repair Bench
- Looking Pool
- Mana Forge
- Imbuing Bench
- Smithing Station
- Imbued Storage
The higher your Sanctuary Power, the more advanced stations you can use!
A Living World
All these changes are designed to make Nera feel more alive and magical. We want you to feel motivated to rescue spirits not just for gameplay benefits, but because you're restoring magic to a world that desperately needs it.
This is just the beginning – we'll be expanding the spirit system with more content, visual enhancements, lots of clarity work, and additional spirits in future updates.
Coming Soon!
These features are in our latest playtest build right now! While the UI is still a work in progress and some abilities might need balancing, we couldn't wait to get your feedback on this fundamental aspect of Voyagers.
Remember that these systems are very much in development, so please share your thoughts with us in Discord or through our feedback forms. Your input directly shapes how we refine these features!
- Michael and the Treehouse Team