In the meantime, is there anything you can tell us more about the new elements? We don't want to see a repeat of the Gauntlet mistake, so I think we need to listen seriously to our players' opinions and consider our future plans.
You bet. You can expect regular updates on our development every month and test builds open to any players who wish to participate later this year.
You said that "events and activities continue to be plentiful in the run-up to the big update", do you really believe that? There are no attractive events throughout the year and since the addition of Radiant Escalation and Alaila it has been quite boring. People who don't speak English well or aren't enthusiastic don't check what the developers are saying on Discord. Could you please have more transparency and open communication with the players?
That's a great point - we can certainly try out best to have out comms in other languages as much as possible. This blog is fully translated, for example!
As for updates - it depends on what kind of player you are. For new players, more casual players, rotating hunt passes, gauntlets, trials, heroic escalations, and seasonal events is a lot of new stuff. But of course, if you're a long-time Slayer those aren't as exciting, I totally get it.
The content we're working on for this update, however, will hopefully get those vets excited.
Would weapon switching affect weapon based bounties, like would simply having the weapon equipped count?I'm assuming not but I wanted clarification, like the bounty that says stagger with repeaters, there are only so many options but with weapon swapping we could do it from it just being there??
How will levelling be affected, will both weapons get XP if both or are used in the fight or only the weapon that kills the behemoth and if it goes to both will it be shared 50/50 or 100/100??
And I know it's switching from one weapon type to another but I feel like that opens up space for one handed weapons, just wondering if it's a possibility??
I know I'm technically only allowed 3 but I have a suggestion As a QoL improvement could we get more accurate behemoth health info, like in the journal, not just telling us about the behemoth but also hp, moves etc.
Right now, both weapons get XP when they're used
It opens up a lot of cool possibilities, but we don't have plans for a one hander
I'd love to fill the journal with HP, moves, parts, etc yeah! that's a great idea
With the announcement of changes coming to Dauntless next summer, myself, and probably many other slayers, welcome the idea of these changes as the state of Dauntless currently is stale.
Dauntless is chucked full of potential and many players have been hoping for some time for the Devs to breathe new life into the game.
So my question is, given the state of Dauntless and how the Devs have seemingly not bothered much with the progression of the game itself, is Dauntless a project that the Devs are actually passionate about and want to see flourish?
I have played a fair few MMOs and it is does become quite apparent when a dev team may not be as invested in a gaming project as much as they could be, as this is what really makes any gaming project shine and become something that players truly enjoy, when the development team are behind the project 100%.
To be very transparent - we are only able to invest this much in Dauntless because this team loves the game and truly believes there's a huge future for it.
Question 1 I understand you probably can't speak much to this, but can you give a vague idea as to what the "weapons with unique identities" will be. Will they be something similar to exotics but slightly different?
Question 2 Have the devs considered giving a category name to weapons like the silver sword and golden claws? It's a very small thing but it would nice to have a way to refer to them as a whole
Exotics is a good example yeah. Here's an example I used earlier (just made up today, not an actual design ;))
Sword A uses old sword kit, frost damage, and can give shields with its special
Sword B uses new sword kit, blaze damage, and creates magma orbs you can hit to shoot
Sword C is new kit, shock damage, and has something like the shock mantle amp built into it
By reading your state of dauntless and seeing that you indeed plan on putting the hunting experience and the feeling of a more open world with various options into focus I was wondering:
Do you maybe think about bringing patrols and even expeditions back into the game?
Of course they‘d need to be overworked and given a new purpose but after all for the game to feel more open worldly with various things to do or to make your way through the shattered isles I think those modes might be „a vine addition to your collection“.
Patrols had a lot of benefits (feeling like you won and completed the objective, having a solid end moment) that we want to bring back - but we also want to keep some elements of surprise that we have on the hunting grounds. We will be bringing back the spirit of pursuit, but the idea is more
A main behemoth that is the goal of the hunt, plus a variety of side objectives that change each time you visit. Those might be chests guarded by enemies, an on-island quest, another behemoth, a secret power, a puzzle etc.
Early on Dauntless was touted as a challenging game where you expressed your skill through your ability to successfully slay a Behemoth, but as time went on it shifted into a bit more of a power fantasy where slaying the Behemoth became a given and skill expression was through how well you slayed a Behemoth. Any plans to shift/embrace where the power fantasy of the game currently stands?
Right now, Dauntless has leaned a little too far into the power fantasy smash the behemoth easily world. Where we want to be is a tiny bit more into the skill challenge. Behemoths are supposed to be the big bosses, the apex predators of the world. But they've become more like mobs to plow through. Expect slightly longer kill times, more specific answers for different combat situations.
This year will we have updates that will bring a lot of content? Will we ever see more game modes? For example, a way that we are a behemoth and we play it with friends and we have to kill our friends and they kill me. (I hope they understand me)
Not this year, but next year!
Are there any plans to add weapon levels and therefore behemoth levels above level 20?
Yes there are plans for weapon and behemoth levels above 20 (Ahrelia's answer is more nuanced than mine :P )
1.) will swapping between weapons have an effect? Like a parry (which would be sick) or attack speed boost. 2.) when can we expect a next behemoth? 3). How do you plan on keeping the game alive?
right now, weapons can be swapped with a single button or as part of a combo that connects combos on both weapons. We also are exploring abilities that trigger on swap.
You can expect Crudge as the first new Behemoth either with this update or in the first season.
We plan on keeping the game alive by taking this time, the support of the community, the support of the studio, and the talent of the dev team to evolve the game in the ways it needs to, to continue being fun now and in the future. Not a lot of f2p pve games get to be 5+ years old and we want to make sure we've got the right foundation to grow.
I was disappointed to learn on the official Discord that there will be no new elements until next summer. I was hoping that things would change when the new Gauntlet mode was added, but in fact it is a very boring mode, and I was even more disappointed when I learned about the above. Is there anything that can be added in small increments instead of all at once?
I hear you GENM, waiting isn't fun.
Taking the time to do it all at once, though, lets us really make the kinds of changes we think are important to the game and the kinds of changes that the community has been requesting for a very long time.
Read moreHey I am so incredibly happy that you are back and also with such great news that the game is far from over and will go on. And if that wouldn’t be enough I read the phrases „dynamic isles“ and „new Hunting experience and pursuit“ AND „open World like“so I am guessing there will be a pursuit like mode…guys thank you so much for listening.
Dauntless because of its core has so much potential and we do have a speedrun, a arcadian, a endless, a mission and a level based game mode. Although after pursuit and patrols went out the game laked on the real hunt based game experience.
My Question is: In bringing this „mode“ and working on more dynamic islands will the 10 original map models come back?(well some of them still exist but emberthorne cove, coldrunner key and the original hades reach where redesigned and I still miss the original designs). I mean the provide a more open worldy like feeling a bigger variation of islands can’t really be that bad and you do have the ...
Appreciate it!
Yes - pursuits and patrols had a lot of benefits that we lost when we moved to the Hunting Grounds. We intend to bring back those benefits.
Do you see weapon swapping as a way for adding new weapons?
Like weapons which would struggle to be a complete standalone experience in reality of current Dauntless, but could work great paired with one of classic weapons.
It certainly opens up our options in that way.
In the same way, it lets us push existing weapons into more niche or individual roles. Because we can present players with challenges that require specific answers, without it being unlikely they have that answer.
Will there be damage effects for radiant and umbral? Like how doing so much terra does healing and how so much shock shocks a behemoth etc
This is on the list! But we haven't settled on a design we like yet.
huh cool
Thanks for reporting - we'll look into it.
cant start silver sword quest line 🤡
It should be available for anyone who has crafted Urska's sword and has the top main Slayer's Path node unlocked. Let me know if you have met those requirements and still aren't seeing it!
It is in Ozz's store! But... you'll have to get into the Saint's Bond spirit for it to appear!
With a reply like this, you shouldn't be a product manager of anything.
Bad joke! It’s not that 440 is necessarily designed to be a hard block this season - just happens to be where folks have solved up to (for now) ChestNo’s response above is great :)
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