Developers of MMORPG Albion Online have shared a new Dev Talk blog post to reveal more details about the major rework coming o Staffs in the upcoming Into the Fray update. Game Director Robin Henkys and Combat Designer Michael Schwahn tackled this upcoming massive change that essentially amounts to the from-the-ground-up rework of an entire weapon line.
In 2021, Albion Online got the War Gloves weapon line with its impactful, crisp and fun abilities that made old favorites feel outdated in comparison. The upcoming rework is coming to one of the largest weapon groups in the game, the Magic Staffs, with 6 weapon lines (Fire, Holy, Nature, Cursed, Arcane and Frost) and featuring over 220 items and 90 spells.
Most of the rework will launch in one-go with the release of Into the Fray update, with the rest coming in subsequent patch. The staff models have been redesigned and modernized with more distinct shapes and colors for better readability in combat and gearing. The team also introduced the greater distinction between One- and Two-Handed Staffs, including animation. The team set the following goals for the overhaul:
- Bringing the gameplay experience of Magic Staffs to a whole new level
- Making Staffs fun to use while also rewarding strategic high-level gameplay
- Giving Staffs a powerful and mighty feel on the battlefield
It was accomplished through the following actions made by the devs:
- Massively upgraded visuals (both graphical and VFX)
- Fully reworked player animations
- New audio effects created specifically for each spell
- Last but not least, numerous new and reworked abilities
