In all of Taern, there’s no Taernian who wouldn’t mutter a curse under their breath when they missed all of their attacks in a round despite favorable odds. And what if you could forge this anger into something tangible? Soon it’ll be possible, because in the next update, which will be implemented with a slight delay on 09.04, you’ll get a new feature - the ragebar!
We are aware that dying due to bad luck is irritating. Players do what they can but then it’s all about the rolls. This issue is most pronounced at lower levels where gear and their mechanics aren’t strong enough to affect combat and can’t make up for unlucky streaks. Bad luck is something that can discourage new players so much they quit before they can upgrade their characters to see their full potential. Nobody wants that. That’s why we started wondering how to turn the tables and make bad luck less irritating or even something anticipated.
That’s where the idea for the ragebar came to be. This feature will unlock for every player at level 7. What’s more, you’ll be able to enhance it by leveling up three new abilities. We’ve made sure it’s especially useful at the beginning of the game, giving players another chance at victory. After all, the more new players stay with us for long, the better for everyone. ;) However, as you progress throughout the game, the importance of the ragebar will gradually decrease. Of course, at higher level it’ll still be useful but more as a form of a small bonus and a way to make the gameplay more diverse than as a gamechanger.
In order to use your bad luck, you need to charge it first. What do you need to do? Well… simply fight. Rage points will be awarded when players experience unlucky situations in combat.
But what exactly is bad luck and, more importantly, how to measure it? After all, every player experiences and defines it differently. We also asked ourselves this question and answering it proved quite difficult. After many discussions and testing prototype version of the feature, we finally adjusted the parameters for the two following situations that will charge your ragebar:
- missed attacks - the higher the percentage, the more rage points you get
- received attacks - similarly to missed attacks, the lower the percentage, the more rage points you get. In order to get rage points, you need to assign at least one AP to the given zone.
Additionally, in both situations there’ll be a streak bonus. This means that the more missed (or undefended) attacks in a row, the quicker the ragebar will fill.
Moreover, the owners of pets will surely be happy to hear that if their animals are hit, the ragebar will also fill. However, attacks missed by the pet won’t provide rage points.
What will the ragebar actually do for you? The following three abilities will be implemented into the game together with it:
- Discharge of Rage - after all, is there a better way to make up for bad luck than an extra attack that is performed first in the round and independent of other actions set by the player that also has 100% hit chance?
- Recovery - sometimes you’re running out of resources and one extra attack isn’t enough to turn the tables. Perhaps you simply need to heal your allies but there’s no mana in your reserves? In this situation, you can use this ability to regain some mana and stamina at the beginning of the turn and to get a second wind.
- Furious Reflexes - or maybe you’d rather evade the accumulated attacks of your opponents? This ability will not only allow you to dodge all attacks from the chosen zone but it’ll also give you a chance to reflect the attack back to the assailant.
Apart from the ragebar, we’ll also implement a new mechanic that will test your reflexes. When the ragebar fills completely and you choose one of the abilities, a minigame will start. Its rules are simple - the closer to the target (meaning the green field) you can stop the indicator, the fewer rage points will be spent to perform the action. It’s well worth it to be precise, because the better you are at the minigame, the quicker you’ll get a chance to use the ability again!
The ragebar will unlock for every player who completed the tutorial for it. It’ll start automatically for every character who has reached level 7. Gaining rage points and using the new abilities will only be possible in PvE.
We’re sure you're wondering what’s going on with the next part of the main storyline that was announced in the roadmap. What we can say right now is that it still requires some work and finishing touches, so it’ll be released at a later date. The delay is caused by the fact that Act IV has surpassed our expectations and requires much more new models and areas than we initially planned. It’s also much longer than it was supposed to be. In other words, our writers let their hair down. ;) However, we’ll make sure the new content is well worth the extra waiting and that the allies from Taern won’t fail you. The new quests have a total of 300 stages and more than 72 thousand words in dialogues and will give you many interesting stories, emotional moments, fights, and challenges that will satisfy those who enjoy a good plot (for comparison, Act III had less than 200 stages and 41 thousand words).
Here’s one of the new areas that you’ll see in Act IV.
In addition to that, the challenge arena, initially announced for Q2, will be postponed to Q3. Take a look at the updated plan for the coming months below.
The update is coming and when it’s here, you’ll be able to experience the ragebar firsthand! Adventure awaits!
