The Ascension Atlas

We are very excited to finally tell the community about one of the most important elements of Skyforge – the Ascension Atlas!

In the Atlas you can learn skills & talents and unlock new game classes. It is also one of the key instruments of character progression. For each unlocked node you will receive prestige points, the analogue of “gearscore” in our game that reflects the degree of character development. But let's start from the beginning…

In Skyforge, the heroes of Aelion protect mortals and the whole planet from invading armies. To do that, an immortal hero must be able to both fight and constantly improve their combat skills. Unlike most other games, in Skyforge you can create only one character on an account, but this character has access to all classes in the game.

We did not come to this decision lightly; we tried to create variety in gameplay by making each class completely unique. With this approach to character development, players will not have to spend a lot of time trying different classes or trying to pick a playstyle best suited to them.

Once you’ve decided on your style, it’s time to start developing your character. As you complete quests and participate in various activities, you gain certain resources that will allow you to unlock various stats, skills and talents.

There are three types of resources:

Rubies of Strength. You can use them to unlock red nodes that increase maximum energy, which in turn increases your damage. You will also need rubies to unlock new abilities.

Emeralds of Life. They unlock green nodes that increase your defensive stats.

Sapphires of Knowledge. They unlock blue nodes that allow you to use secondary stats and learn new talents.

It should be noted that your stats are a common attribute of your character, regardless of the class you are playing. This means that when you switch classes, the new class will automatically enjoy the benefits and power of all of your stats. At the initial stage, the player will be able to choose from several classes and will have the ability to switch between them using a separate interface that is not connected to the Ascension Atlas.

The Ascension Atlas itself consists of two levels: the lower level where you can learn skills and talents, and the upper, global level where you can unlock other classes and perks – special passive skills that can be used regardless of the selected class.

Once you develop one of the classes to a certain point and learn a powerful special skill, an ultimate ability, you will gain access to the upper level.

Let's look at the whole system more closely.

Lower Level

This is a part of the lower level of the Ascension Atlas where you can learn skills and talents, as well as stats for rubies, emeralds and sapphires.

Once you unlock the ultimate ability node and gain access to the upper level of the Atlas, the development of the class will start to branch out more.

At this point, you will be faced with a choice: keep working on the selected class, perfecting it in different ways; or go to the upper level and move towards the not-yet unlocked possibilities.

Upper Level

For demonstration purposes, we are only showing a very small fragment of the upper level:

Here you can unlock new classes and perks. This level reflects the global progress of the character.

We use the term “Node” for all the dots on this diagram. You can set the course to a node of your choice and think out your progression tactics. Each node has a description, and all of them are visible from the start.

In the center of each cluster there is either a special power, or a new class. On this screenshot, there is a perk the middle of the central cluster which increases critical chance, while the perk in the middle of the left cluster is the Paladin class.

You can zoom in and out the Ascension Atlas interface for easy and convenient navigation. Below you can see the same upper level, but zoomed out more.

To sum it up:

• We have two levels in the Ascension Atlas: the lower one is for class development, and upper one is for global progression.
• Several resources are used to unlock the nodes in the Ascension Atlas.
• There is no need to jump between the two levels to increase your stats – they can be accessed on both levels.
• All stats that you gain are accumulated and saved, regardless of the class you are playing. Should you decide to stop playing one class and switch to another, you will not lose anything.
• Unlike the class-specific talents and abilities you unlock on the lower level, the perks you learn can be used by any class.

Please note that the game is still a work in progress. Depending on the results of the testing, parts of it can be changed or adjusted.

Sign up for the beta and stay tuned for the updates! We have much more to tell you! And be sure to like our Facebook page , follow us on Twitter or join our Google+ page so you never miss any Skyforge news or announcements.