PREVIEWS

Do You Have What it Takes to Become a God?

“The world will never be the same again. Aeli left us, but his legacy is still alive. There is still hope for Aelion – the gods came together to protect this world! We have to put our trust in them. Our faith will give them enough strength to battle the storm. - Asterius’s Encyclopedia - Skyforge”

What is it?

Skyforge is a free-to-play Sci-Fi Fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game.  The game takes players to a breathtaking universe where mortals and immortals fight for survival against invading gods and their armies. Skyforge brings to the table a unique and fun action combat system, cutting-edge technologies, interesting character classes, and a vast world that offers both instanced and non-instanced content.

Who’s it by?

Skyforge is being developed by Allods Team along with Obsidian Entertainment. Allods is a Russian based studio and is well known for creating Allods Online, the first major successful Russian MMORPG which launched in over 15 countries. The Allods Team was officially named in 2011 and have offices currently in Moscow, Voronezh, and Bishkek.

Obsidian Entertainment was founded in 2003 after the disestablishment of Black Isle Studio and are currently located in Irvine California. They are well known for the creation and development of many sequels to existing games and their ability to weave an engaging storyline. However they are most noted for their successful Kickstarter ($3,986,929) and the launch of Pillars of Eternity.

A Trinity that’s not a Trinity?

Classes are a little different than the norm in Skyforge. Rather than have you making alts, the game is set up so that you can only have one character per account. Fear not though! For those worried they will be stuck with a class they don’t like, Skyforge offers a system that works very similar to Final Fantasy’s job system, meaning you can pick, choose, and swap out classes on a whim. Depending on how you choose to advance your character, unlimited possibilites are available to suit every playstyle. While each class can do a bit of everything (you are an aspiring God after all), players will find that a particular class might be better suited for a specific roll.

Skyforge offers players 13 different classes that they can work toward getting as they progress and fill out their Ascension Atlas. Each class has the ability to heal and buff themselves for solo play but the familiar trinity is very much alive when it comes to group content and some classes just do things better than others.

There are three starter classes: Cryomancer (DPS), Paladin (Tank), & Lightbinder (Support). These three are regarded as the easiest to pick up and play and will get you into the game the fastest. Six advanced classes follow: Necromancer (DPS), Berserker (DPS), Kinetic (DPS), Archer (DPS), Slayer (DPS), Gunner (DPS), and are unlocked as players progress through the main story. The final four classes: Warlock/Witch (DPS), Monk (DPS), Alchemist (Support) and Knight (Tank) require the most skill and finesse to play.

Classes are interchangeable once they have been unlocked.

Ascension Atlas

Classes are upgraded through the Ascension Atlas, which is Skyforge’s take on a hefty skill tree. Think Path of Exile or Final Fantasy 10. There are two levels to the atlas: the lower level is where you learn skills and talents, while in the upper level you can unlock classes and special passive skills to help you in your journey toward godhood.

As you complete quests and participate in PvP or PvE activities you will collect three types of currency that you can spend in the Atlas:

  • Sparks of Destruction - unlock red nodes to boost power and energy
  • Sparks of Creation - unlock green nodes to boost defensive stats
  • Sparks of Balance - unlock blue nodes that open secondary stats and allow you to learn new talents
  • Class Sparks - used to unlock class skills and talents

Sparks are a gated currency and you can only gain so many per week. This is to prevent people from simply blowing through the whole atlas without experiencing the games content.

Stats are the same to your character no matter what class you are playing, meaning you won’t ever feel like you are moving backwards. If you decide to swap to a new class, your new class automatically gains access to everything you have unlocked. Eventually you will learn a special skill (ultimate ability) that will give you access to the upper level of the Atlas which is where the real fun begins.

What do you mean there are no levels?

Well there’s no leveling in the traditional sense. While you don’t gain exp like in a more traditional MMO, Skyforge takes a different approach and rather than taking a pure number to gauge your character's level, the game takes into account both skill and gear to create a score that is called Prestige. Prestige can be gained by equipping new gear, completing missions, doing group content or solo play, and by simply investing into your Ascension Atlas. As a player’s Prestige rises they will gain access to new areas, weapons, and gear.

So you want to be a God?

There’s more to becoming a God than just powers and skill. In order to take your place among the other deities of Aelion you are going to need some followers. As you adventure about and do Godly things to help the lowly mortals in their daily plight you might take note that your deeds haven’t gone un-noticed. Sure enough you hear voices proclaiming their faith to you and soon you’ll come to realize you have minions, followers, and the makings of an Order/Cult or whatever you want to call it.

Once you have amassed enough followers and gained their faith, players will be able to unlock their Divine form which will allow you access several special abilities based on your class. Things like mass AoE, the ability to heal yourself, 1 shot kills, and perhaps the coolest of all -- the ability to swap classes during a fight.

Now all this extra fun doesn't come without a bit of responsibility on your part. This is where Skyforge becomes a mini game within a game. Take good care of your followers and they will take good care of you in return.

Large scale content vs Solo Play

Skyforge boasts a great deal of content that is suited to all playstyles. From the solo player, to the small five man groups, right up to the 100 man guilds, everyone will find lots to do. Rather than go with a single openworld, Skyforge’s content is divided into a variety of open world and instanced content. Everything is shown on a player's Divine Observatory (map) so they will be able to see in real time, live hot spots of action.

So what are some of the things players can expect?

Invasions

Invasions are the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about large scale open world content. They happen at random times and involve the whole world with the object being to defend Aelion from invading hostile off-world Gods. They also trigger a warning system so players will know when and where they are happening.

Invasions have several stages. The first stage consists of a giant ship landing and hordes of invading minions flooding out onto the field. As time progresses more and more invaders will show up and eventually, once beaten back, players will progress to stage two: infiltrate the enemy ship and kill the Avatar inside. This isn’t as easy as it sounds. Ships are extremely hostile (filled with mobs and alien tech) and just making it to the end baddie will be an adventure in itself. Beat the Avatar and the group as well as the server will be well rewarded. Fail -- remember this is a battle of god vs soon to be gods -- and the consequences will not be fun.

Anomalies

Anomalies take  place across vast open areas and are centered around various 5 man teams fighting enemies next to …. well, anomalies. Each team must stay close to its designated anomaly and must pull enemies towards it and eliminate them. The key here is to minimize downtime. The more enemies you kill while staying alive the better the reward. Groups compete against each other to pull wandering mobs close to their anomaly for the kill credit in an interesting use of competitive PvE.

Distortions

Distortions are geared toward 10 man teams and the focus is taking on super powered bosses. These take place in an arena like setting and will have one very difficult encounter to defeat. There are lots of distortions available and as you beat one, a new one is unlocked and your team can progress up the scale. These encounters will require extreme coordination and all your divine skills to win.

Pantheon Wars

Patheon Wars are Skyforge’s version of guild vs guild. These fights are divided into two simultaneous fights that involve both PvE and PvP battles that require 100 players and last over the span of a single week. Everything is a go in these fights and quests including Divine forms. Pantheons are fighting for control over territory that will grant some pretty cool perks for its members.  These perks include enhancing the upper level of the Ascension Atlas, unlocking special costumes or vehicles, providing credits, Sparks and consumable resources as well as a small income bonus.

Raids

Raids are considered high end content for players that have unlocked their Divine form. Raids are centered around groups of 10 and will pit players against the strongest enemies Aelion has to offer. To be successful teams will have to know their classes inside out and be able to cooperate well with their team members. Not much has been said about raids yet, but it is known that two separate raids will ship with the OBT - Mechanoid Ship and Operation Isabella.

Player vs Player

PvP will come with several modes to suit many different styles of play. To master any form of PvP though, players will need to know the strengths and weaknesses of each class and make sure their team is well suited for the type of match they are after. Pre-made teams aren’t required as Skyforge has a great LFG tool.  If that’s not your cup of tea, depending on what kind of match you are looking for, the game itself will auto assign you to a team based on your Prestige rank. PvP rewards are similar to what you’d find in PvE questing so players will have a choice in how they want to earn their gear. PvP will come with the following modes:

  • Free For All (1v1v1v1v1v1)
  • Death Match (3v3)
  • Ring of Immortals (8v8 Capture pts)
  • Alcedon Facility (8v8 Payload)
  • Eastern Quarry (12v12 Capture the Flag)
  • Pantheon Wars (PvPvE 100+ , week long fights that combine PvE and PvP)

Pantheons (Guilds)

Pantheons are Skyforge’s answer to guilds. Anyone has the ability to create one, but in order to keep it active, quite a bit of work will be involved. On creation, a Pantheon’s Leader will have to recruit a certain amount of people within a few days or they will loose the Pantheon. Once a Pantheon is set up and good to go, members will have access to special missions and quests that will allow the Pantheon to grow in size. With a bit of work the guild cap can be raised to 150 in a short time. With more work, you can cap it at 250. And even more hard work after that will raise the cap further.

Where Pantheons get interesting is with its organization. Guild leaders can split members into small groups called clans and each clan can be assigned a commander. Clans can be divided however the leader sees fit.

Members also get some pretty slick perks for simply being a contributing member of a Pantheon. By helping out with guild quests players can earn bonuses to their character stats, gain new abilities, useful items for their followers and gain currency that can be spent on other cool things.

A Pantheon’s development is key to its survival and management of the stronghold is key. In order to grow members will have to build buildings, improve existing ones, conduct research into alien tech and more. Some sweet things you can get from the stronghold are:

  • Pantheon Chambers - This is what you upgrade to increase your guild max capacity and clan size
  • Champion Tower - Access to the Pantheon Wars
  • Power Sources - Generates required resources for upgrades
  • Distortion Analyzer - Locates Alien bases that are scattered across the world. This will trigger a type of ‘Storm the base’ kind of mission
  • Academy - Allows training in new skills/abilities, research, and other perks to help you and your Pantheon survive

In Skyforge, you walk the path from an immortal warrior to a mighty God as you fight to protect your world. The best of the best will succeed and shape the fate of humanity. Only a true God will be able to defend Aelion and all its inhabitants.

Published: September 3rd, 2015   |  4,579 Reads

About the Author

Soren
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Bacon lover. Gamer of games. Tamer of penguins. Lovable Saskie.
Always Remember: Never give up on your dreams, keep sleeping!

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