Hello everyone!
We wanted to follow up on our announcement for the Directium Update with our first Deep Dive! Every few days, we’ll be releasing a new blog post that delves into one of the core gameplay components that is planned for the Directium Update.
A Small Note
Before we move into our first Deep Dive, we want to briefly touch on the Playtest itself and what that means. We’re happy to announce that our first playtest will take place in a completely new and improved Hogsend - Our build team has been working tirelessly for the last several months on redesigning Hogsend from the ground up, and the Game Design team has been working hard to help design new content to fill the town with. We decided on this approach as Hogsend was quite outdated - last being fully renovated pre-Revelius, and also provides us an opportunity to design new areas which are specific to our new Directium Systems.
This playtest will represent a full 10 levels of content under our Directium System, and include all of our major mechanics and core gameplay features. Our goal with this is to create an experience where all players will be able to experience the true nature of how these new systems would play.
The feedback that we receive from the playtest will be invaluable to help us determine which systems work, which don’t, and which ones need further refinement. Based on this feedback, our goal will be to continue to produce playtests in different locations, working to slowly move through the world and revamp content in each area location by location, until the entire world is reworked. This will allow us to provide constant updates as we continue to roll out our new systems, so you all can experience the update faster!
Moving into our first Deep Dive, it’s time to talk about our first Profession System:
Herbology
Our design philosophy for these systems is to make these fun, but also easy to use. We’re taking the lessons learned from both Exploration and Revelius systems and putting them together to make a brand-new system for Directium. The end goal is to integrate these systems into all of the other aspects of Gameplay - including Renown, Quests, Gauntlets & Dungeons, and Living World Initiative.
At the core of all of these intertwined systems is Herbology. Plants can’t be used alone, but you’ll want to spend the time to grow them, as they are used as ingredients in Potions, Magical Cuisine, and Monstrology - And you never know when a townsfolk may request a specific flower or two.
Herbology has two parts: Scavenging and Growing.
Scavenging
To start out, Scavenging is the process of finding wild flowers across the world. These may be in towns, or near specific mob types. Although you can grab a few flowers from these areas, they often have long cooldowns - Which is why you’ll want to head to the nearest Greenhouse to begin the second half of Herbology: Growing!
Growing
The Greenhouse is equipped with planters, which you’ll unlock more of as you level up. Planters allow you to select one plant you want, and be able to harvest it endlessly on a much shorter cooldown. If you’re tired of the plant you’re growing, simply uproot it and plant a new one!
Herbology also has several upgrades that you’ll be able to unlock as you become more powerful. You’ll be able to customize your Herbology experience by adding Skill Points to different upgrades, which will allow you to grow plants faster, have plants out in the wild regrow faster, or even increase your yield from your planters.
We’re extremely excited to show off more in regards to Herbology in the coming months as we lead up to our first playtest! As always, if you have any questions, let us know, and we'll see you in the next Deep Dive very soon!
