For the last few months, we here at Blue Isle Studio have had our heads down working away at a major content update that should be coming in the next month or two (we’ll share a more specific date as soon as we can). This large update will introduce a number of new systems and will almost completely re-balance the flow of game progression.
Previously, we’ve shared some early details of this update’s new Farming System, but with today's preview post we’re putting the spotlight on Spell Crafting. This system is a complete overhaul of our existing spell system, and allows players a ton of room for experimentation and customization in creating their own unique spells. Let’s get right into it!
Procure Powerful Essences
One of the key ingredients in the upcoming spell crafting system is Magical Essence. These Essences, which can be found in a variety of elemental types, pulse with Ignus’ natural magic energy; with much training, experienced mages can harness this latent energy and use it to craft spells of fantastic and potentially devastating power.
The spell resulting from your concoction will vary depending on which essence type you use. Using Fiery Essence, for example, will create fire-based spells like flame beams and grenades, while using Storm Essence will create electricity-based spells like lightning strikes and static bolts. There will be a total of seven essences to work with, so you should have plenty of room to get creative and experiment!
Choose Your Weapon
The type of weapon used in the spell crafting process can also have a significant impact on the nature of the resulting spell. Choosing between a Staff and a Sword can potentially mean the difference between your spell taking the form of a simple bolt or an AOE explosive.
To further encourage experimentation, our Knowledge Tree has also been reformatted to organize weapons into progressions of material quality rather than streams of weapon types. For example, you can learn the recipe for the Wand of the highest quality available to you (based on your level) without spending points on the recipes for all previous Wands. Our hope with this change is to provide further build flexibility and prevent players from feeling forced to focus on just one weapon.
Add Your Modifier Ingredients
The final pieces of the puzzle are a new set of modifier ingredients that can be acquired through our also forthcoming Farming System (we’ll share even more about this soon). These ingredients, when tossed into the mix, can provide a number of useful enhancements to your resulting spell. Mandrake, for example, will apply a Bleeding modifier to your spell while Snapdragon will increase its range. You can experiment by mixing and matching up to five of these reagents to produce some interesting results!
Mix It All Together!
Once you've gathered your ingredients the last step is to throw it all into the Spell Crafting menu, choose the type of spell you want to create (ex. AOE, Projectile, etc.) and see what comes out! You'll be able to create all kinds of amazing results, so it's worth experimenting with different item combinations and seeing what you get. This entirely new selection of spells will also have a completely new and gorgeous set of VFX, so expect to be dazzled!
Coming Soon
We'll be sharing more about this massive update as the weeks leading up to this huge update roll by, so stay tuned! We want to thank you for your patience as we work hard on optimization and developing new content for the game as we continue to work our way through the Early Access process. All information shared today is still subject to change as we continue our work, so feel free to share your thoughts and feedback on the forums and in the comments below!