Rebel Wolves' upcoming RPG, The Blood of Dawnwalker, will feature three distinct skill trees: Witchcraft, Swordmastery, and Vampirism. Each tree offers unique active abilities and passive perks, allowing for a wide range of character builds and playstyles. Game director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz emphasized the studio's approach to skill design, aiming for a balance between abilities that actively change gameplay and those that provide character-boosting passive effects.
"The rule in the industry is always the same, that a good skill is a skill that actively changes something in the game," Tomaszkiewicz explained. "On the other hand, you cannot create a skill tree which has so many skills and all of them change something actively. [You have to create a] mix of skills which allow you to boost your character with the skills which actually give you [active abilities]. We try to find the balance between them and find the synergies between those skills to create the particular builds."
These skill trees are further defined by Coen's dual nature. Witchcraft abilities are usable only during the daytime when Coen is human, while vampiric powers are restricted to nighttime when his Vrakhiri curse is dominant. Swordmastery skills, however, are time-agnostic and serve as a bridge between the other two disciplines.
The Way of the Witch
The Witchcraft skill tree comprises 31 nodes, divided into 21 passive perks and 10 active abilities. Many of these nodes offer multiple upgrade paths. Witchcraft can be employed for both offensive and defensive strategies. For example, the Ravenous Flock ability summons a group of birds that inflict damage and stun enemies. Creative director Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz described how this spell functions: "You summon the flock of birds to circle one of the enemies, and every time they get damaged, the birds will cause AOE damage. They will flock around them and hit the other [enemies] as well. So you want some way to consistently inflict damage on the target so this AOE triggers as often as it can."
Casting spells often comes at a cost, with some requiring Coen's health. Ravenous Flock, for instance, consumes two activation charges and 40% of Coen's health. Synergies can mitigate these costs; the Unholy Vitality spell regenerates health after using active abilities, allowing players to replenish their HP by casting spells and then engaging in melee.
The Way of the Sword
For players who prefer to avoid the biological toll of magic, the Swordmastery skill tree focuses on Coen's physical prowess, featuring 22 perks and seven abilities. Abilities like Charge allow players to dash towards an enemy, dealing damage and stunning those in their path. Other skills, such as Walking Fortress, reward players with activation charges for successful perfect blocks, potentially filling a charge bar with just five blocks.
Swordmastery is deeply integrated with the game's fundamental combat system. Even characters focusing on other trees will need to utilize their sword regularly. The developers aimed for an intuitive directional combat system, though Konrad Tomaszkiewicz acknowledged a learning curve. As enemies become more challenging and develop new skills throughout the game, players will need to adapt their approach, with certain Swordmastery skills, like one that guarantees critical hits after a perfect block, turning the player into a formidable force.
The Way of the Vampire
The Vampirism skill tree offers some of the game's most visually striking abilities. The Blood Surge ability, for example, causes enemies to explode, dealing area-of-effect damage to nearby foes. This powerful ability requires three activation charges and costs 25% of Coen's health. This encourages synergistic builds, such as using Walking Fortress to build charges for Blood Surge.
Crimson Rush is another vampiric ability that increases active ability damage based on Coen's current health. The Vampirism tree also features a "Corruption" system, which requires players to consume blood to unlock higher-tier abilities. Players can choose to consume animal blood or human blood, with human blood providing faster corruption and health regeneration but carrying a moral implication. Ignoring this hunger can lead to Coen losing control, potentially impacting NPCs and story outcomes. This system adds a layer of choice, similar to mechanics seen in games like Dishonored and Infamous.
Players can initiate combat with powerful vampire abilities, such as an aerial attack that can heavily wound enemies or bosses, or a bite that replenishes health and builds corruption. The game's design allows for diverse builds, whether players specialize in a single skill tree or combine elements from all three, offering replayability as players explore different versions of Coen throughout the world of Vale Sangora.