Realmers!
Last week you were able to get a first look at our upcoming Realm Rework. Thank you, everyone, who provided feedback and had a look at the blogpost. This weekend we are going to have a first look at one of our new upcoming features “Enchantments” and the new one-room dungeon “The Tavern”. Keep in mind that especially Enchantments are in a very early stage and we mainly test the functionality of the feature. You will find portals in the Nexus to the new dungeon.
As always feel free to provide any kind of feedback on our social channels and the dedicated testing channel in the discord. But now time for the Designers to tell you more about the features.
Enchantments
The Enchantment system consists of several ways to enhance existing items with bonuses such as extra damage, stat boosts, on-hit procs, and the like. For the most part, this will take the form of collecting a new currency – Dust – and spending it with an Enchanter to enhance Tiered equipment. In this way, even mundane drops will become better and able to take your characters further into the planned new endgame tiers. In addition, small batches of UTs and STs will be given specific combinations of Enchantments to upgrade them with new and interesting abilities.
Enchantments and Seasonality
The Enchanting mechanics will only be available for Seasonal characters. By this, we mean that Dust and Engravings (see below) will only drop for Seasonal characters, and only Seasonal Characters will be able to access the Enchanter to modify what Enchantments any item has.
At the end of a Season, all Enchanted items will be transferred to the normal vault as usual and can be equipped by normal characters. However, they can no longer be modified as that requires Dust and Engravings. So your items will remain but locked in whatever combination you had when the season ended.
Accessing Enchantments
Enchantments can currently be accessed through the Enchanter, which is located in the Vault in the North East corner – opposite the Blacksmith.
Seasonal Characters can interact with them to bring up the Enchantments Menu:
| Menu Key | |
| 1 | List of enchantable items – if an item can be enchanted, it will appear here. |
| 2 | Currently selected item |
| 3 | Filter – display everything, UT/STs or tiered equipment only. |
| 4 | Enchantment slots – currently always show 4, but the placeholder graphics shows which slots are currently used. |
| 5 | Enchantment slot with enchantment. |
| 6 | Empty but unlocked Enchantment slot. |
| 7 | Locked Enchantment Slot – this slot can be purchased. If there is no button next to the slot it cannot be purchased. |
| 8 | List of Enchantments – shows only those available to buy or use on this item. If an enchantment cannot be applied it will not be shown, so in this case, no other Wisdom bonuses will be shown until the one on the item has been removed. |
| 9 | An enchantment that can be purchased for this item. |
| 10 | An enchantment which has been purchased for this item and can be applied. This can be done via the button or dragging the enchantment. |
| 11 | Dust currencies. |
Unlocking Slots
Unlocking slots will take a cost in Dust, depending on the item. An item needs to be generated with slots in order to unlock them though!
For this PT, all of the Tiered items will have between 0 and 4 slots when they are generated. All UTs will have exactly 1 slot. These will cost Dust to unlock, although the exact value needed has not yet been balanced.
Not every Tiered item has the ability to spawn with slots. Below is the table of the items which can be enchanted:
| Item Name | Type | Tier |
| Bow of Covert Havens | BOW | T12 |
| Bow of Mystical Energy | BOW | T13 |
| Bow of Deep Enchantment | BOW | T14 |
| Cloak of Endless Twilight | CLOAK | T5 |
| Cloak of Ghostly Concealment | CLOAK | T6 |
| Cloak of Nightmares | CLOAK | T7 |
| Dagger of Foul Malevolence | DAGGER | T12 |
| Dagger of Sinister Deeds | DAGGER | T13 |
| Dagger of Dire Hatred | DAGGER | T14 |
| Bloodshed Blades | DUALBLADE | T12 |
| Moonstone Blades | DUALBLADE | T13 |
| Soulforged Blades | DUALBLADE | T14 |
| Celebrant Flail | FLAIL | T12 |
| Divine Flail | FLAIL | T13 |
| Gravelord’s Flail | FLAIL | T14 |
| Acropolis Armor | HEAVY | T13 |
| Dominion Armor | HEAVY | T14 |
| Annihilation Armor | HEAVY | T15 |
| Golden Helm | HELM | T5 |
| Helm of the Great General | HELM | T6 |
| Helm of the Tribune | HELM | T7 |
| Masamune | KATANA | T12 |
| Sadamune | KATANA | T13 |
| Kusanagi | KATANA | T14 |
| Hydra Skin Armor | LEATHER | T13 |
| Wyrmhide Armor | LEATHER | T14 |
| Leviathan Armor | LEATHER | T15 |
| Longbow of the Endless Sky | LONGBOW | T12 |
| Longbow of the Morning Spirit | LONGBOW | T13 |
| Longbow of the Midnight Diamond | LONGBOW | T14 |
| Regal Lute | LUTE | T5 |
| Skyward Lute | LUTE | T6 |
| Nebular Lute | LUTE | T7 |
| Monarch Mace | MACE | T5 |
| Sovereign Mace | MACE | T6 |
| Grandmaster Mace | MACE | T7 |
| Morning Star of Repentance | MORNINGSTAR | T12 |
| Morning Star of Conjuration | MORNINGSTAR | T13 |
| Morning Star of Reckoning | MORNINGSTAR | T14 |
| Banishment Orb | ORB | T5 |
| Planefetter Orb | ORB | T6 |
| Dimensiongate Orb | ORB | T7 |
| Nightwing Venom | POISON | T5 |
| Baneserpent Poison | POISON | T6 |
| Necrofish Poison | POISON | T7 |
| Prism of Phantoms | PRISM | T5 |
| Prism of Apparitions | PRISM | T6 |
| Prism of Reveries | PRISM | T7 |
| Golden Quiver | QUIVER | T5 |
| Quiver of Elvish Mastery | QUIVER | T6 |
| Quiver of the Autumn King | QUIVER | T7 |
| Ring of Paramount Wisdom | RING | T4 |
| Ring of Paramount Vitality | RING | T4 |
| Ring of Paramount Speed | RING | T4 |
| Ring of Paramount Magic | RING | T4 |
| Ring of Paramount Health | RING | T4 |
| Ring of Paramount Dexterity | RING | T4 |
| Ring of Paramount Defense | RING | T4 |
| Ring of Paramount Attack | RING | T4 |
| Ring of Exalted Wisdom | RING | T5 |
| Ring of Exalted Vitality | RING | T5 |
| Ring of Exalted Speed | RING | T5 |
| Ring of Exalted Magic | RING | T5 |
| Ring of Exalted Health | RING | T5 |
| Ring of Exalted Dexterity | RING | T5 |
| Ring of Exalted Defense | RING | T5 |
| Ring of Exalted Attack | RING | T5 |
| Ring of Unbound Wisdom | RING | T6 |
| Ring of Unbound Vitality | RING | T6 |
| Ring of Unbound Speed | RING | T6 |
| Ring of Unbound Magic | RING | T6 |
| Ring of Unbound Health | RING | T6 |
| Ring of Unbound Dexterity | RING | T6 |
| Ring of Unbound Defense | RING | T6 |
| Ring of Unbound Attack | RING | T6 |
| Robe of the Grand Sorcerer | ROBE | T13 |
| Robe of the Star Mother | ROBE | T14 |
| Robe of the Ancient Intellect | ROBE | T15 |
| Scepter of Skybolts | SCEPTER | T5 |
| Scepter of Storms | SCEPTER | T6 |
| Scepter of the Firmament | SCEPTER | T7 |
| Seal of the Holy Warrior | SEAL | T5 |
| Seal of the Blessed Champion | SEAL | T6 |
| Seal of Invocation | SEAL | T7 |
| Serpentine Sheath | SHEATH | T5 |
| Great Shinobi Sheath | SHEATH | T6 |
| Sonic Wave Sheath | SHEATH | T7 |
| Mithril Shield | SHIELD | T5 |
| Colossus Shield | SHIELD | T6 |
| Shield of Orcish Regalia | SHIELD | T7 |
| Ice Star | SHURIKEN | T5 |
| Doom Circle | SHURIKEN | T6 |
| Dynastic Star | SHURIKEN | T7 |
| Lifedrinker Skull | SKULL | T5 |
| Bloodsucker Skull | SKULL | T6 |
| Mindwaster Skull | SKULL | T7 |
| Magic Nova Spell | SPELL | T5 |
| Elemental Detonation Spell | SPELL | T6 |
| Burning Retribution Spell | SPELL | T7 |
| Spellblade of the Sun | SPELLBLADE | T12 |
| Spellblade of the Heavens Light | SPELLBLADE | T13 |
| Spellblade of the Everlasting Death | SPELLBLADE | T14 |
| Staff of the Cosmic Whole | STAFF | T12 |
| Staff of the Vital Unity | STAFF | T13 |
| Staff of the Fundamental Core | STAFF | T14 |
| Sword of Acclaim | SWORD | T12 |
| Sword of Splendor | SWORD | T13 |
| Sword of Majesty | SWORD | T14 |
| Skyslash Tachi | TACHI | T12 |
| Sunset Tachi | TACHI | T13 |
| Godslayer Tachi | TACHI | T14 |
| Tome of Divine Favor | TOME | T5 |
| Tome of Holy Guidance | TOME | T6 |
| Tome of Hallowed Language | TOME | T7 |
| Dragonstalker Trap | TRAP | T5 |
| Giantcatcher Trap | TRAP | T6 |
| Depthchaser Trap | TRAP | T7 |
| Jade-Imbued Wakizashi | WAKIZASHI | T5 |
| Royal Wakizashi | WAKIZASHI | T6 |
| Virtuous Wakizashi | WAKIZASHI | T7 |
| Wand of Recompense | WAND | T12 |
| Wand of Evocation | WAND | T13 |
| Wand of Retribution | WAND | T14 |
As you can see, the core rule is that the top 3 tiers in any Tiered item category can accept enchantments.
The list of UT items will be covered in the Unlocking section below.
Known Issue – Unlocking Slots
At the moment you will need to change areas after you gain an item in order for the slots to be unlockable. If you give yourself something in the Vault, then open the menu, you may see the following error:
If you do, go to the Nexus and back, and you should be able to unlock the slots as expected.
Unlocking Enchantments
There are two ways to unlock and apply enchantments, and this depends on the items you are trying to apply the enchantment to:
Tiered Items
Tiered items require Dust – a new currency that comes in Green, Blue, and Yellow. Green will be the most common, with Yellow available from only higher-level dungeons. For now, all of the enchantments are using placeholder costs.
To gain Dust you can give yourself the Test Dust Charm. This needs to be used in the Vault and will grant 5k in all Dust types. This should be more than enough to explore the options available during the PT!
The current enchantments for Tiered items are simple levers that affect (usually) a single aspect of the weapon or item. For instance, there is extra damage, extra range, extra Defence, etc. Therefore the more slots an item has, the more it can be customized.
- Weapons have the most variety right now, as they have DPS-related stats boosts, as well as options to change many of the aspects of the weapon’s performance.
- Rings are equally versatile:
- The current logic is that you can turn any ring into either a dual-purpose ring or enhance its stats further.
- IE – a ring of Attack can become a ring of Attack and Defence, where the Defence stat max it can get is equal to the next lowest tier of ring.
- Or, you can use the slots to add enough to the stat the ring boosts that it counts as wearing a second, lower-tier version of the ring.
- So an Unbound Ring of Attack can have +8 Defence added to it through this system or a further +8 Attack.
- Armors add defensive stats, and also have a variety of on-hit procs, from healing to temporary stat boosts.
- Abilities add HP and MP, as well as Speed and Wisdom. Some also have additional damage and range, like Weapons.
- Currently, a number of other Enchantments for abilities are in development.
- See the WIP section for more details.
To unlock and apply an Enchantment, you must:
- Select an item from the list of those which can be enchanted.
- This will show a list of the options to have in the Enchantments list.
- You can then pay Dust to unlock each specific Enchantment.
- This will remain unlocked for the season for all copies of that item.
- So, for example:
- You select Spellblade of the Heavens Light
- You choose to unlock Extra Damage III.
- This means that ALL Spellblades of the Heaven’s Light you have or gain through the rest of this season will be able to apply this enchantment if they have slots available.
- However, you can use any combination of unlocked Enchantments on any Spellblades of the Heaven’s Light you have – they will not all start with or be forced to use the same combinations.
Once an enchantment has been unlocked, you can apply it to slots, so long as it is a legal option. You cannot, stack damage and damage, for instance, or range and range. This can be done by either dragging it to an empty slot or pressing ‘Apply’ to put it in the first available slot.
As noted above, this works for the Season. At the end of the Season, all Enchantments you have unlocked will require re-purchasing before you can use them again.
UT’s
UTs follow a different pattern to Tiered items, due to their complexity. As you might imagine, given how many UTs follow specific fire patterns and have unusual bonuses, allowing them to take a +X% fire rate or even adding extra projectiles to them could cause them to break or become overpowered.
This is why UTs will use a system called ‘Engravings’ to apply Enchantments. Each Engraving will apply a package of tailored Enchantments to the UT which should keep it balanced and not break any special fire patterns or other upgrades it has. This also allows us to focus on a smaller group of such items per batch, theme them to events and dungeons, etc.
For this PT the following UTs can be Enchanted:
| Item Name | Type | Gained From |
| Steam Pipe | Staff | Steamworks |
| Avarice | Dagger | 03 |
| Laser Pointer | Wand | Steamworks |
| Enforcer | Katana | 03 |
| Divinity | Sword | 03 |
| Bow of the Void | Bow | Void |
| Diplomatic Robe | Robe | 03 |
| Vest of Abandoned Shadows | Leather | Shatters |
| Gladiator Guard | Heavy | 03 |
| Overclocking Amulet | Ring | Steamworks |
The Engravings they gain will be dropped from the Hard-Mode Steamworks which is also under production at the moment. These Engravings will apply the following bonuses:
| Name | Applies To | Description |
| Iron Plating | Armour | Increases the defense of the item, and adds an on-hit heal effect. |
| Kogbold Spirit | Ring | Increases Hitpoints and Defence. |
| Heavy Hitter | Weapon | Increased damage, projectile size, and turns projectiles into large bullets or cannonballs. The projectiles also move slower but retain the same range. |
| Gatling Shots | Weapon | Decreases damage and projectile size, while turning the shots into smaller bullets. Also, increases firing rate and projectile speed without increasing range. |
Engravings work differently from normal Enchantments in that they require a consumable object to apply them. To test, you can give yourself
- Iron Plating Engraving
- Kogbold Spirit Engraving
- Heavy Hitter Engraving
- Gatling Shots Engraving
If you have these items in your inventory you will be able to apply the Engraving like a normal Enchantment. IE, select the item, and select to apply the Engraving. This will bring up a confirmation box and cost 1 copy of the Engraving.
Engravings CANNOT be removed or replaced after application, nor can they stack. So you cannot have Gatling Shots and Heavy Hitter on the same weapon, nor stack Iron Platings. Nor can you swap Gatling for Heavy after it has been applied.
WIP
The purpose of this PT is to get feedback on the functionality and usability of the system as it stands. The core is there, although using placeholder graphics for the most part. There are close to 250 individual enchantments, and not all of them have been balanced for every situation and combination, so please let us know if you find anything which breaks the game. Most values and bonuses on the tiered items especially are there to show progress instead of being solid values we will go for when this system is released.
Keeping that in mind, please try and focus on the system as a whole and not the individual bonus given by a specific Enchantment. While we welcome balancing feedback, for sure, we’d like to keep the discussion around things like the Enchanter, what you’d like to see on the interface, feedback on unlocking Enchantments, etc. If anything is very much over or underpowered then make a note of that in your feedback, but please do not make it the entirety of your report. Thanks in advance!
Coming Soon
This PT will also not be going out with all of the features of the final Enchantments system. Instead, it is covering what we have at the moment because, as noted above, we want to check that the core system is working and useable.
There are a number of new Enchantment mechanics in production right now, specifically ones that will even out the lack of content for certain Abilities. Things like a reduced mana cost, better stat scaling, increased AOE radius, etc. Suggestions for new mechanics people would like to see are also as welcome as balancing feedback, but this is just a note to let you know we are aware some items have a shorter list of Enchantments than others. This will be addressed!
Dungeon – The Tavern
The Tavern is a new one-room dungeon consisting of one boss fight similar to that of the Court of Oryx dungeons.
Note: The content for this PT is a work in progress. The art is placeholder and is not representative of the final content you will see on release.
The Tavern, as the name suggests, is a tavern, but not your run-of-the-mill tavern. Located in the fiery depths of hell, the tavern is frequented only by those who have been invited. The resident bard is always on call to entertain the guests, even those who are not welcome there.
The boss fight consists of 6 phases, each encouraging in some way, player movement, mainly in the form of rotating around the arena as a sort of tavern dance. We would love to know your thoughts on the fight and mechanics within each phase.