Dev Diary: The Economy of Issue #3

Greetings, Renegades! Having released the final Venture of Issue #2: Dark Arrival, it’s full steam ahead to Issue #3 and the major gameplay update you’ve likely heard a bit about already in a previous Dev Diary.

The more work put into a vision, the more the details are chiseled out and refined, and we’ve made good strides towards our vision for Issue #3. One of the things we were most excited about was the opportunity to reimagine the player progression, especially the ‘endgame’, and implement new gameplay systems that’ll keep the hunt fresh even after all the Artifacts have been looted.

We’ve cooked up a few things, and in this Dev Diary, we’re excited to share our plans to revamp the game economy and detail the parts that tie it all together: the Synthesis (Crafting) System, Charged Artifacts, and the Black Market!

SYNTHESIS: TINKERING TREASURE

We’ve been thinking up and sketching out a crafting system for a while now. Returning to the drawing board, one thing we wanted to tackle was player progression, and to create a system that would remain significant no matter the player’s level or progress. As Renegades hunt across X-Isle and extract loot with unique qualities and abilities, the Synthesis system adds an extra dash of discovery. Players experiment firsthand with the qualities of their Artifacts, finding what works well, what doesn’t, and what further enhances their abilities.

Currently, finding a new Artifact is mostly only exciting if it introduces a player to new abilities, or is the final Loadout piece to unlocking a new Class Card. Otherwise, finding a duplicate is rather lackluster, and having two of the same Artifact just means one’s going to be sold for currency.

With the Synthesis system, every Artifact and Trinket in your inventory will have a purpose no matter how many you’ve stockpiled, giving a fresh sense of discovery alongside a balance of risk and reward. And the rewards are certainly worth the risk!

HOW SYNTHESIS WORKS

Synthesis uses a combination of three categories of items: Artifacts, Treasures, and Tools. Improving your chosen Artifact is the goal, with Treasures and Tools being a selection of items based on the recipe you’re looking to use. You’ll find the latter items during your hunts, or in other places like the Black Market.

As with all experiments and discoveries, there’s always a slight risk of failure. It’s not guaranteed that a combination will work, or that they will work successfully every time. It all depends on the resources you pour into your Synthesis roll, by using Tools and maximizing a special gauge that will show your chances of a successful, failed, or lucky roll. The balance of risk and reward is at the core of Synthesis, and while it’s possible to end up with an item valued lower than what you started with, we felt this was necessary to counteract the benefits of success. Especially when the highest payoff – a Charged Artifact – is of such high gameplay value.

CHARGED ARTIFACTS

A new addition to the Artifact system, Charged Artifacts are the most powerful sort you can get your hands on. Obtained by completing challenges and trials, and crafted using the Synthesis system, Charged Artifacts hold several Affix Charges that are used up over matches. Once the Charges run out, the Artifact will revert to its Rare Quality and need to be Synthesized to regain its Affix Charges.

With all the possible bonuses of an Artifact, it also exhibits an additional special affix unique to the Artifact and is dependent on its Legendary, Masterwork, or Corrupted Quality.

• Legendary Affix: Grants an additional quality.
• Masterwork Affix: Grants an improvement to an Artifact’s existing attributes.
• Corrupted Affix: a Kiss/Curse mechanic that grants an improvement alongside a Corruption that significantly alters the Artifact's use in gameplay.

THE BLACK MARKET

Another system we’ve been working on for Issue #3 is the Black Market. To supplement the demand for Trinkets and Artifacts in the upcoming Synthesis system, players will now be able to purchase them in any quantity from a pool using Hawks and Wonderium.

You’ll find a fresh pool of items every day, but some item categories will be on the shelves more often than others.

• Trinkets: Frequent
• Artifacts: Infrequent
• Unstable Artifacts: Very rare

It's all coming together to build the foundations of what we think is a pivotal reimagining of the player progression in HAWKED. Our goal isn’t to add more systems to keep things different, but to expand or complement gameplay that’s already there.

There’s still a ton more to cover, and we’ll be back soon with more musings on what’s to come!