Verse 3 Q&A with the devs - Recap
Verse 3 wipe
- Relics return: For non-unique relics, you will get back exactly what was used in the original item.
- Gear materials: Gear will be broken down into raw resources during the wipe. This includes items that will be removed with Verse 3.
- Unique relics: These will disappear entirely. Faction relics remain and can still be used.
- Resources: Steel gear converts to pure iron. Any raw material harvested stays intact.
- Items at 0 durability: These will also return their base materials.
- Resource refunds: General policy is that materials are returned in their base form during the transition.
Gear & armor
- Movement speed: Armor types do not passively affect movement speed. Speed boosts come only from spells (e.g., foot-slot buffs), and these are temporary.
- Armor quality levels: Common, Uncommon, and Rare are the tiers available.
- Threat mechanics: Threat is influenced by damage, specific stats (on heavy armor and shields), and abilities. Both spells and weapon specials can increase threat.
- Crowd Control (CC): [list]
- CC Power on tank gear makes effects like stun last longer.
- CC Resistance reduces the duration of incoming CC.
Weapons & combat
- Item Power system: Item Power affects all stats and scales with item tier (+100 per tier), quality (+100 per quality level), and relevant skill (+100).
- Weapon switching: Still incurs a cooldown. No exemptions or changes planned for now. Bow functionality as a pull tool will eventually be adjusted.
- Zweihander: Not returning soon. The Great Sword model has been resized instead.
- Solo viability: Not all weapon/armor combinations are suitable for solo play. Some roles (e.g., tank/healer) are designed for groups.
- Animations: Most weapon skills use new animations; only a few reuse existing ones.
- Gathering tools: Require skill levels to equip. There are no sub-specializations.
- Damage scaling: Player skill level increases item power, which directly influences damage output.
- Weapon cooldowns: Default layout uses Q (short cooldown), R/F (longer cooldowns).
- Dual wielding: Might be added later, but only as fixed sets (e.g., “Dual Axes”). No plans for freeform dual-wielding.
- Skill progression: Combat skills can only be leveled by killing PvE enemies in Verse 3.
- Bow usage: Bows are good for hunting now. Ranger-style abilities and bow-specific specials are planned for a future update.
- Movement during combat: Characters move during attacks but cannot move freely until the attack animation finishes.
Skills, abilities & Grace
- Stamina bar: Only appears when stamina is not full.
- Ability canceling: Weapon specials are fully committed once activated. You cannot cancel or fake them currently. This may change in the future for some abilities.
- Grace & Miracles: No new Grace or Miracle content in Verse 3. These systems will be expanded later as part of broader social gameplay.
- Dodge system: A traditional dodge ability is not planned. Developers want group tactics over reflex-based mechanics. If dodge is ever added, it will have a long cooldown (20/30 sec).
Magic & spells
- New spell types: Divine Orb is a new healing projectile that requires manual aiming.
- Consecrated Ground: Reworked; now provides defensive benefits but no longer generates threat.
- DPS spells: No major damage spells in Verse 3. They are planned for future versions.
- Pilgrim’s Fire: Removed in Verse 3. Similar offensive spells will return as weapon specials later.
- Grace transfer: Not possible and Grace will remain non-transferable.
PvP & Lyonesse
- PvP experience: Killing players does not provide combat XP.
- PvP design: Abilities were balanced with both PvP and PvE in mind.
- PvP zone: PvP remains restricted to Lyonesse in Verse 3.
- Dueling: Dueling is a desired feature but not yet implemented. No ETA.
- Lyonesse 2.0: In development. Will offer unique rewards to increase PvP participation.
- Current Lyonesse map: No changes to layout in Verse 3.
- Resource incentives: Pure iron is now more abundant in Lyonesse. High-tier resource respawn timers encourage gathering there.
- Skill use in PvP: All armor/weapon skills are usable except Mesmerize, Haunting Memories, and Pacify.
PvE, dungeons & loot
- Forts & ruins: Increased number, especially in Home Valleys. Respawn times may still be tuned.
- Group composition: Balanced around 1 tank and 1 healer. Players may discover more efficient setups.
- Cave updates: Slight spawn/difficulty updates; lighting and utility improvements ongoing.
- Boss mechanics: Not in Verse 3. Foundations for future dungeon content are in place.
- Named NPCs: Now reliably drop unique relics.
- Dungeon maps: No in-dungeon maps are planned.
- Loot system: Remains unchanged in Verse 3. Further balancing is planned.
- XP gains: Higher-tier and veteran mobs give more XP. Veteran enemies are group-oriented.
Clans & group features
- Clan roles: No expanded roles in Verse 3, will come later.
- Party visibility: Marking groups for visibility is on the QOL wishlist but not coming in Verse 3.
- XP bonus: Group XP scales with group size and enemy tier (especially veterans).
- Clan emblems: No new emblems or uses added in Verse 3, but planned for future updates.
Mobs & camps
- Mob rebalance: All NPCs have been rebalanced for health, damage, and difficulty.
- Named vs Bosses: Verse 3 adds named NPCs with relic drops. No true boss entities with phase mechanics yet.
- Solo experience: Small ruins and caves now explicitly support solo/duo play. Larger camps and dungeons are for groups.
- Zebian cultists: Receiving visual updates. More variety and improvements planned for later.
- Damage scaling: Enemy power increases by tier (1-4) and type (normal/veteran).
- Bear hunting: Bears are tougher but still soloable with good gear.
Resources & economy
- Upcycling: Wrought iron and impure iron can now be smelted back to pure iron (resource-intensive).
- Economy rework: More materials are used across all tiers, reducing obsolescence.
- Node spawning: Static spawn blocking fixed. Nodes and animals now reposition if obstructed or overbuilt.
- Stack sizes: We acknowledge this needs work; no changes yet.
Crafting
- Healing staves: Crafted via weaponsmithing.
- Crafting rarity: Determined by rare materials. No mastercrafting bonuses in Verse 3 yet.
- Recycling: Planned for the future but not in Verse 3.
- Skinning tools: Higher-quality knives offer faster results. Still being balanced.
- Cooking: Carcass yields and recipes have been rebalanced.
- Consumables: Minimal changes in Verse 3; full overhaul planned later.
- Crafting range: No ability to craft from nearby/plot chests. No plans to add this.
- Solo crafting access: Higher-tier gear can be learned and crafted solo with PvE materials.
- Enchanting: Planned as a future profession; not in Verse 3.
Audio, graphics and performance
- UE update: Verse 3 is not on UE 5.5, but asset streaming and server transitions improved.
- Audio: New ambient music, clearer mixing, better spell/NPC sounds. Work continues post-Verse 3.
- FSR support: Disabled due to crash issues; devs are still investigating.
- Performance: Significant improvements in NPC streaming and rendering stability.
World & map
- Wildlands & Home Valleys: World reshaped to add more Home Valleys, slightly reducing Wildlands.
- Terrain features: Large trees remain. Terrain is gentler with fewer steep cliffs.
- Water features: Ponds added. No creeks or flowing water yet.
- Map changes: Only Kerys and Merrie swapped. No changes to Ancien/Inis Gallia.
- Citadel: Remains closed. Content will be revealed in the future.
- Trees respawning inside plots: trees on plots still appear. Plot setting to suppress them planned.
- Construction bugs: Known issues like the “4-plot square hole” are not fixed in Verse 3, but will be later.
- Mountains: Still present, though slightly softened.
Travel & mounts
- Fast Travel: Remains unchanged. Petra Mea is the only travel point.
- Plot teleportation: Not available and not planned, but related systems are in early development.
- Mounts & travel gear: Horses and carts are not in Verse 3. Planned for future updates.
Building & furnitures
- Lighting/Decor: No new decor or lights in Verse 3, but assets (e.g., sconces, clutter) are being created for later.
- Granite foundations: Available with Verse 3.
- Limestone pieces: Released with Verse 3.
- Building rotation: No vertical rotation planned.
- Animal farms & pets: Desired but no ETA.
Market System
- Buy orders: Planned but not in Verse 3.
Food & consumables
- Food effects: Foods still offer specific defenses, though their effectiveness was slightly reduced.
- Balance pass: Full food and potion rework is planned but not included in Verse 3.
Miscellaneous
- First-Person camera: Might come for building only. No plans for full first-person gameplay.
- Lore content: No new books/scrolls yet, but the framework is being laid for future narrative expansion.
- Night time: Slightly darker in forests due to denser foliage. General night lighting remains unchanged.
- Fantasy setting: The world is low-fantasy inspired by Game of Thrones. Magic exists but must be discovered. There are no fantasy races like elves.
- Haircuts: No option to change hairstyle in Verse 3; not planned for now.
- Swimming/Diving: Swimming is simple and meant for navigation (e.g., reaching islands). Diving is not supported, and no plans for it yet.
- Keybindings: Most gameplay keybindings are rebindable. UI keybindings may not be fully configurable yet.