The first Dev Diary of 2021 for Arakion shows current progress as of February.

Hey Venturers!

Today's video shows off all the new character models. I want to preface this video by saying sorry for the delay, a few months ago I lost a lot of the source graphics for the game and had to recreate them, most of that is now done and we're about ready to start putting out updates! Be sure to check out the video below for new characters and more information!

Have a wonderful day!

-Lavidimus

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Thanks Farflame!

The latest update for Arakion announces that Early Access 02 will launch soon.

Dev Blog - Early Access 02

19 September - Lavidimus

Hey Everyone!

I'm happy to announce that after a long time in development, Early Access 02 will be launching soon! The [beta] will be launching sometime in the next two weeks (if you want to access it before then - come hit us up on Discord) - with a full launch likely one week after [beta].

With that said let us talk about what all is going to be added in the Early Access 02 Cycle. Please remember that each version (A, B, C, D) has a two-week development cycle. The version will release one week with a hotfix version the week after for feature refinement and bug fixes.

Early Access 02A

• Chapter Zero - An all-new starting chapter with new content to sink your teeth into!
  New Building Mechanics - Worldbuilding got a complete overhaul. It is now much easier to use, much more expansive and much more fun!
  Dungeoneering - Create and explore custom player-made dungeons! Take the banner off the corpses of players who have fallen in your dungeon or head to other dungeons and steal banners directly! Banners can be exchanged for numerous rewards!

Early Access 02B

• Crafting Update - Another 100 craftables ready to launch!
• Skill Update - A massive cleanup for skills.
• Combat Upgrade - General combat upgrade (This is part of the turn-based mechanics overhaul)

Early Access 02C

• Town Visiting - Visit and shop at other players towns. Each town can focus on unique research that allows specific blueprints to be purchased there.
  Turn-Based Mechanics - This is currently Acade's singular focus. He's trying to get it out as soon as possible and has gotten a lot done already.

In The Pipeline

• Chapter Two - This could be added at any point. It is mostly done but requires to fit seamlessly with the previous content.
• Steamworks - This will be implemented so that players can mod the game with their own world, pets, weapons etc. The basics of this are already implemented but it requires extensive testing. We also have to decide how expansive we want this to be in the initial launch.
• New Profession! - Keeping this under wraps for now but a new profession is about to launch!
• Extra Sexes - Finalizing the rest of the sexes that don't exit (IE Human Females)

Be aware that these are the general goals. Updates more than 3 out may change as we may shift focus to something else if it's deemed more important.

What took so long?

The first reason for the delay is that Arakion hasn't generated much revenue through its initial launch. This isn't a huge deal and was semi-expected but it did end up limiting my work on Arakion the last couple months as I focused on freelance work to get funds for development. With that said we're full-steam ahead again!

The more important issue was that Arakion desperately needs more community involvement. I decided that more town, dungeon, and world-building will greatly help in this area. Although these features will be launching relatively lightweight they should get much better with time. Being able to visit each other's dungeons internally has been an awesome experience and I hope you all get the same enjoyment out of it!.

That's it for today. Have any questions or comments? Leave them below, otherwise hit us up on discord at https://discord.gg/SRHhPyr

Have a wonderful day!

Lavidimus

Arakion has been released onto Steam early access with a launch discount.

Arakion Launches!

16 MAY - LAVIDIMUS
Open The Gates!
The gates of Arakion are now open - dive in and begin your journey!
As a thank you for being early adventurers, Arakion is launching heavily discounted! Not only that, but there is an additional 10% off for 1 week!

Begin Your Journeys
I am so excited for you all to begin your adventures! Currently, you can play through Chapter One, enjoy portions of the Sanctuary and even begin town building! Since this is early access your feedback is important - so head over to the forums to get involved!

What Comes Next?
Arakion is launching in Early Access for a reason, this is just the beginning. Through the coming months, the world of Arakion will expand even more. Moving forward, development each month will have a particular focus and theme. I listen closely to feedback head over to the forums and help make Arakion even greater!

As the testers already know and you're soon to find out, Arakion is updated regularly. You can usually expect [beta] updates weekly. Exactly how those updates will roll out on Steam will be discussed soon.

For the next couple of weeks, I will be focusing on player feedback for immediate changes before diving into the June dev cycle!

Start your journey today!

[...]

@Moddb Arakion will have crafting that is quite involved.

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About

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Unlike many other dungeon crawlers, you can’t go to spot X and grab the Hammer of Destiny to crush all foes. Instead, most equipment must be crafted. There are two aspects to crafting: developing new ideas and putting them together.

Developing An Idea

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The first thing to do before crafting is to develop an idea for an object. Ideas are primarily developed by taking a picture of a relevant object, such as this spear. However, ideas can also be developed by gaining traits, learning lore, reading storybooks and much more.

Taking A Photo

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In order to develop an idea with your camera, you first have to find a promising object. These are often accompanied by a rare species of blue butterfly. Looking at the object with your camera will highlight it, and taking a picture will grant you the new idea.

Crafting The Object

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Crafting the object itself is pretty straightforward. Head to the forge. Once there, you can either talk to the Forgemaster or simply open the crafting panel directly while you're near the forge. Click on the object, and, if you have enough resources, click 'craft' to craft it.

 

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Crafting Is Additive

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A Wooden Spear isn't very exciting on its own - the next part of crafting is where Arakion gets unique. Nearly every craftable object can be upgraded in different ways.

The spear has a number of unique upgrades. These include a Brass Spear, a Pitchfork, and a Javelin. In turn, each one of those items has their own set of upgrades - and so on.

Thanks For Reading!

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There you have it - the basics of crafting! Crafting is core to your heroes' performance, and selecting which objects to craft is nearly as critical as crafting them at all! Crafting is something that I love in Arakion and just another way to customize your heroes. Arakion launches Early Access on May 15th, be sure to dive in and tell me what you think about crafting!

Have a wonderful day!

-Lavidimus

Thanks Farflame!

It has been in development for quite some time and Arakion will now go into Early Access on Steam May 15.

Arakion Early Access is rolling out on May 15th! 

Get ready to begin your journey into the unique world that is Arakion. The one-of-a-kind dungeon crawling experience you all helped bring to life! Why Early Access? Well, Arakion is large. Our testers currently spend ~10 hours on current content in the first playthrough. So, although it's Early Access there is a lot to do.

As our testers have already found out, Arakion also gets updated a lot, weekly in fact! So be sure to check out the Roadmap & Updates to always stay up to date with Arakion's developments!

If you haven't already, be sure to head over to Steam and follow Arakion!

Over the next two weeks, I'll be showcasing all the new and awesome stuff in Arakion such as crafting, constructs, randomized dungeons and more! Additionally, shortly after the launch, I will begin holding polls and contests for the backer-created content such as the backer-created profession. More details on backer-exclusives soon.

Thanks Pongo.

Arakion: Book One will launch sometime in February.

News | Launching Soon and Testers
16 January - Lavidimus
Hey everyone

Arakion is full steam ahead ever closer to launch! The launch window right now is looking likely at the end of January or early February. I'm waiting for a few more pieces to fall in place and then Arakion will be ready to go!

In the meantime, Arakion is always looking for more testers. So if Arakion is something you think you would enjoy testing, email me at contact@arakion.com and I'll get you an invite to the Discord channel! I'll also begin posting updates more frequently now that we're closer to launch, so be on the lookout!

Have a wonderful day,
-Lavidimus

You can vote for the group based dungeon crawler Arakion on Steam Greenlight now:

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Greenlight Day Two | Over 75%

Hey everyone!

A huge thanks to everyone who has supported Arakion on Greenlight! Your comments and support are a huge boost! Because of you, Arakion sits at over 75%! 

As day two continues to roll on, it's important that Arakion hits 100% soon as voting will begin to taper off dramatically, If you haven't voted yet, be sure to head over to the Greenlight page and give Arakion a boost!

Thanks again for all your support and I can't wait for your journeys in the world of Arakion to begin!

-Lavidimus

Farflame spotted this Arakion video about skill upgrades:

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This video overviews skill upgrading in Arakion and how it vastly changes your character.

The following video shows the basics of Arakion's town builing mechanics:

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This is gameplay footage from Alpha2B.

Here is some gameplay footage of alpha 2A for Arakion book one:

Thanks Eye.

Eye found a video about the basic mechanics of Arakion in the new game forum:

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This video details all of the basic mechanics you'll find in Arakion. There are a lot of fresh takes on familiar mechanics as well as some new ones to the genre.

Eye noticed this video that goes into detail about weapon forging in Arakion:

Leveling has been completely replaced in Arakion in favor of three pillars of character customization that promote exploration. Today we're going to go over Weapon Forging!

Alpha 1E is coming later this week - Kickstarter update #68:

Minor update,

Just dropping in to let everyone know we'll be posting Alpha1E a few days late this week. A lot of new features and content has required longer testing than anticipated. We're expecting it before Sunday as long as nothing major rears its ugly head. I'll update as soon as it's up.

I appreciate the patience and as always if you have any questions drop them in the comments or send me a direct message.

-Lav

Also happy birthday to Andrew (the other developer). Turned 30 this week. As everyone else said it was too big, too difficult, too much on a limited budget he shouldered the responsibility when other coders dropped the ball. He's been working on Arakion for two years now and has done all of the core coding.

Arakion wouldn't have been possible without him and his constant dedication.

So thanks Andrew, and happy birthday.

On Twitter:

Screenshot Alpha 1E

Monk concept art

The promised alpha version of Arakion is coming soon:

For people messaging me, I appreciate your patience. We're rolling out the alpha in waves and as quickly as we can. If you've gotten a message from me already you can expect alpha within a few days if not you'll be messaged soon! It's just two people, and we're fixing bugs as we find them / get them reported, making new builds and sending them out, so there is always going to be a slight delay.

Thanks again and can't wait to get everyone in!!

-Chris

A new gameplay demo:

Thanks to Drithius for spotting this.

From the Kickstarter page:

The long wait is almost over! Arakion officially moves into alpha next week. I'll post a video update detailing how to get it, how you can help with development post launch and all the other tidbits.

Thanks Drithius!

There is quite a range of updates we have missed for Arakion, although most of them are visible to backers only. You can find them here.

The latest entry provides more information on the alchemist skills.

Basic rundown: 

The Alchemist is a mix of potion blending and raw power when manipulating the Earth. She gives the party a massive boost in skillpower and utility.

Pros:

• High energy reserve
• Powerful utility skills
• Reasonable damage considering the high utility.
• Special ranged and melee items that increase energy (books and journals)
• Can replace the monk as healer for the group

Cons:

• Low defense requires good group management strategy
• Low melee damage
• Most builds require a large amount of energy to be useful

Notes:

• High complexity (easy to ruin the character if not planned out properly)
• Depending on the build could be a late bloomer

A note on energy, as a refresher, skills use energy in dungeons / outside of the town map. Using a skill takes X amount of energy and you don't refill energy until you're back in town. So having a high amount allows you to plunge deeper into dungeons without having to head back to town to rest. It's about health and energy management and the Alchemist is a master of this. Why no energy regen? Simple your skills are extremely powerful. Now on to the good part!

Cris Taylor, the developer of Arakion tells us their forums are available now.

After a lot of discussion with the Arakion dev team for what we thought was the best way to approach the forums, I have finally decided on how the forums will be structured and they have been launched! The forums have been built around having a discussion. During development I believe a structure centered around discussion more than anything else, is the most important. This not only to keep you all engaged but lets everyone have an open line of communication with the development team and other gamers. 

Since I cannot automate people into backer status from Kickstarter or Indiegogo, what I need from you is just a little help. What you will need to do is register on the forums, then message me on here with your registered username. I'm sorry for this slight annoyance but in the future this will all be automated as the site becomes more integrated, we looked into trying to automate it as much as possible and couldn't resolve the issue for KS and IGG backers.

Why should I take the time to get Backer Status on the forums?  

Backer status not only allows you to proudly display your support of Arakion, but it also lets you join in the Backer only forum discussions. One of the perks of being a backer is that you get to help mold and create content that goes into Arakion, so please be sure to get your reward as a backer  on the forums!

Please be patient as you're transferred to backer status. I'll be working on it as quickly as I can.

So be sure to hop on over and join in the discussion immediately!

Forums

Now that Arakion has almost reach twice the amoun that was asked for at Kickstarter quite a few updates are available.

A small summary:

• Although the $50K has not been entirely met, the stretch goal will be added anyway, this means Fates Change and tablet support is added.
• You can continue to contribute to the development of the game by means of an Indiegogo campaign (which can be used with PayPal).
• A new stretch goal at $60K is announced (to be achieved via Indiegogo): Winters Edge consisting of:
  • A new armor type for each class (think thick armor built for war in winter)
  • An additional weapon type for each class
  • An entirely new zone (The Castle) 
  • A new set of buildings for your town
  • A host of new enemies and bosses
  • New traits
  • Additional skill customizations for each class
  • An additional fate weaver type (Cold Steel) *more on this soon*
  • A story revolving around who the "Ancients" are

The First stretch goal of Arakion has been met. This measn the card game is in. A third stretch goal was made public, which is the following:

$42,500: The Darkest Night

This stretch goal includes a story arc that brings a substantial amount of additional content to the game. During this portion of the game the sky has turned black and an undead army has been resurrected and begins to lay siege to your town. 

It is up to you to build defenses, fight back against the scourge, and uncover the reason they have come back. This story has you not only defending your town but exploring an entirely new zone with all the content that provides including dungeons, aesthetics and more.

During your travels you'll encounter a new set of enemies, find lost blueprints and save new NPCs. With all this content whats not to love about this stretch goal!

Specifically speaking this update includes:

• Additional defense mini-game where you must defend your town against raids.
• 1 additional zone that includes more dungeons, an abandoned town and a ruined castle to explore
• Additional enemies (Bone Giant, Zombie Dragon "he wants your braaaaaiiiiinnssss", a unique boss, and more)
• Multiple new buildings for your town
• Additional armor and weapons for every class

This is something I've really wanted to do, not only because I think it would be extremely fun to play through but because it adds an additional layer of depth to the game with town defense. As you can tell in the pitch video the town has walls so why not put them to use! If you really want this stretch goal to happen, be sure to tell everyone you know about Arakion so together we can make this the best game possible!!

In addition an update is available on the history of making Arakion.

First off, I hope you're as excited as I am to see where Arakion goes in the next 48 hours, the sky is the limit as they say! The update tonight is a purely video update, this was originally intended to be the "making of" video but it was beginning to become a bit of a time sync and in order to keep my word I have improvised and given you guys a slimmer version!

Before we get to the video update however I just want to mention a few important things. Since you guys are so awesome and amazing and we have reached the card game stretch goal, upon release of the card game online I'll be giving out codes to all Kickstarter backers for $20 in game currency for the card game. As I have stated before I will be using revenue from the online version of the card game to help fund additional content for Arakion.

Also, tomorrow there will be three updates an in depth look at the Battlemage, a look at the people joining the team after Kickstarter and the voices of Arakion #2. I hope you all have had a good Thursday and remember to keep spreading the word so we reach those stretch goals!!

The Kickstarter page for Arakion has two new updates, one giving more information on the armor and the other on music.

n the early update today I just wanted to go into a little bit about how armor works in Arakion. In Arakion instead of finding standard generic cloth armor, leather armor etc... that any class can wear, you forge armor that is customized for each class type. This allows you to craft armor that is specific for your character's play style instead of giving generic stat benefits. This opens up the freedom for me to implement armor pieces that effect class skills, give passive benefits geared towards the class and more. 

As you play through the game, much like you would forge new weapons, you will be forging new armor and equipment for your character. You will find rare recipes as well as materials that you will use.

In the example shown above you see a monk with a basic set of armor. After multiple forges this monk has added a necklace, scrolls, a "cape" and an arm brace. You will continue to forge new equipment and replace old equipment for your characters in this fashion throughout the game.

I’d like to give a quick update on the music of Arakion. Since the last time I posted, I have finished up the in-game music. I expanded on the melody used in the original in-game teaser, and made it more full. This is meant to be a pleasant piece that plays while the player is building up the town, hence the title “Rebuilding.” 

Rebuilding by Mike Skalandunas

Besides that, I’ve been working on remastering the main theme, and also finishing up “The Destruction.” From there, I’ll continue on to the music for the dungeon and also the battles.

I hope you guys like the finished track, and are excited to hear the rest in game and on the soundtrack. Thank you again for supporting Arakion and be sure to tell your friends about it!

With still 3 days to go, Arakion has been funded on Kickstarter. We have misses some updates on the game, so here is a collection:

Pets: 

• Pet types are feline, canine, arachnid and a unique Arakion pet 
• Each pet can acquire special abilities (carrying healing crystals things like that)
• Pets start with 3 energy, allowing 3 uses per dungeon before recharging. 

Specializations:

• 4 Passive and 4 Active specializations for each class
• 1 Passive specialization for each skill
• Active specializations are supplemental minor skills like healing for a warrior 

Aesthetics: 

• Additional reward tiers receive the helms from previous tiers
• More backer only helms will be announced soon
• There will be aesthetic headgear you can find in the game

Discount

Now down to business, first up on the agenda is the announcement of the discounted prices of the high end tiers. This will probably run through the rest of Kickstarter and starts at the $1,250+ level. They have been discounted by about 50% so if you had any interest in having a hand at creating content for the game now is your chance to get on it!

Stretch Goals

Next up is the change in stretch goals. A lot of people really wanted to see the card game and the infinity tower in the game. So the card game is now 30k and the tower is 35k, if you hit those stretch goals I'll work overtime to make sure they're in the game for you! I'll be announcing the new 42.5k stretch goal as soon as the card game is met!

The Seeker

Finally is the big announcement of the final class (for now) called The Seeker. The Seeker is is a gatherer of lost knowledge and a rogue. He deals substantial single target damage as well as finding hidden and rare blueprints (please note you can find these without the seeker, he's just good at it). He makes a great addition to any party and for anyone who is a completionist and has to find every hidden corner of the game, he's a must have.

The Seeker's skills include 2 Damage abilities as well as 2 gathering / finding abilities. His arsenal includes thin blades, daggers, shivs, crossbows and more. Later on today or tonight I'm going to be releasing an in depth analysis of The Seeker as well as concepts currently in production.

Before I get going I just want to mention that I'll be releasing 2-3 updates per day now through the end of the Kickstarter, and if you want to see those stretch goals met be sure to tell your friends about the game and spread the word!

A new update for Arakion has been made available. This time it give more information about the Battlemage, specializations and pets. Arakion is entering its last week on Kickstarter and is just over $3500 short of reaching its 25K goal.

Hey Kickstarters it's that time again,

Today I'm going to be announcing some major information regarding the game, if you have any questions about the update please leave them in the comments below and I'll get back to them as soon as I see them.

The Battlemage

The first thing I'd like to announce in this update is the release of the Battlemage (You'll be getting a preview of the Battlemage in action and armor in the next few days). Right hand wielding staves or wands with the left hand wielding swords, axes, clubs or staves. These lords of battle have the ability to unleash massive amounts of damage easily cutting through enemies.  

During early testing of these classes in prototyping, it's easy to tell this is going to be a extremely fun class to play. The four primary skills of these classes are:

• Arcane Bolt - Single target - long ranged spell
• Elemental Wrath - Area of effect - close range spell
• Charged Strike - Charge your weapons with arcane energy and strike at the enemy
• Arcane Shield - Shield your party to block damage

Specializations

Next up is the announcement of specializations. Specializations are another way to customize your character, they are an additional skill that each class has the ability to acquire. During the course of the game you'll have the possibility to journey on a quest and receive a tome to unlock a new skill for each of your characters.

• Each character can only have 1 specialization
• Every class will (probably) have 4 possible specializations
• Passive specializations also exist
• Specializations have far less customization than the 4 primary skills

Pets

Another major announcement today is the inclusion of pet companions. While each party consists of 3 major characters, you'll also start out with a pet filling a "fourth" slot. Pets were originally intended to be a stretch goal but after a lot of testing, I've concluded that they can be included at no additional stretch goal needed. 

Pets can be utilized to help assist your party. While they serve no combat purpose, you can train your pets to get additional resources, find secret areas, map out dungeons, and more. Each pet starts with 3 energy per dungeon and you have the option to spend that energy on what you deem useful. The more you utilize your pet the stronger they'll become so be sure to use them often!

At character creation you'll be able to pick what type of pet you want (there should be 4 at launch). Each type of pet starts out with certain specializations, hound pets start out with the ability to more easily find secret areas while the arachnid pets and map out dungeons more quickly.

Updates

Finally I'd like to say after testing some of the hats, I'm going to be including a full set of facial and head aesthetics for your character that you can change and customize throughout the game. These will supplement the backer only aesthetics that will be included with your Kickstarter pledges.

Tier Aesthetics:

• $15 - The Fez :: Ushanka :: Top Hat and Monocle
• $25 - Headband with a feather :: Goggles :: Cast Iron Steam-punk Helm
• $50 - Guy Fawkes mask (V for Vendetta) :: Jewelry set
• More on these in future updates

An update from the Arakion Kickstarter ($17.5k/$25k, 12 days) on creating the game world:

Arakion exists in an extremely prodigious and engulfing world. From the moment you first step foot in it, till the final battle, I'm striving hard to make everything feel like it has a place and reason for being.

In the same fashion the world is also highly interactive. You'll be able to interact with almost everything around you, a lot of time has been spent developing something that doesn't feel stale and static but is engrossing. In most games you will go from point A to point B, in Arakion you'll journey through the world being presented with multiple paths to get to your destination. If you're the explorer type, you will be able to go to massive open areas that have nothing to do with your main quest, finding dungeons and secrets and spending hours exploring the vast land that Arakion has to offer.

On the other hand if you prefer a more linear story, you'll be able to focus on the main quest and choose a more point A to point B approach. The world of Arakion presents you with a lot of options that don't bottleneck you, and that's the way it should be.

Chris Taylor informed us of the update of the stretch goals for Arakion on Kickstarted, with still being 9K short of the 25K goal.

Today I'd like to announce some good news,  great news, and for some of you, awesome news!

Let's start with the awesome news, as of today one of the stretch goals has become tablet support, this has been very requested and I am happy to announce that if the funding reaches $50,000 there will be tablet support! I have been working with a friend to figure out how to optimize the game for tablet and this morning we managed to get a test version fully working. Tablet support will be released for all version of tablets compatible with unity, ios, android etc... Please note that tablet support has a 1 month later planned release.

Next up we have an adjustment in the Card Game price. I have found a coder willing to work with me to bring you guys the card game much cheaper than planned, so I have brought down the initial price of the card game from 50k to 35k, this also includes the 10 trait pack that was originally at 30k.

A new stretch goal has been added at $42,250, the Infinite Tower. This is an endless dungeon that increases in difficulty each time you enter. Inside you'll find rare blueprints, materials, monsters and more. This tower will truly push your group to their limits!

Finally, if the game makes it to 50k, the mod stretch goal will be opened up at a later goal. This will include a full set of tools to create your own world and dungeons!

The long and short:

• Card game at $35,000
• Infinity Tower: an endless dungeon at $42,250
• Tablet support at $50,000
• Mod Tools eventually

Arakion is a "first person, group based RPG that includes extensive character customization, town building and adventuring in a story driven world". The art style is certainly different. Chris Taylor (no, not that one; not that one, either) is looking for $25k,with around $2k having been raised in the last couple of days. There's a thread here on our forums, or check out the Kickstarter.

Arakion is a modern take on a classic RPG formula. You're put in control of three heroes  trying to survive a world devastated by war. Adventuring in Arakion will take you across open land, into deep dungeons and even put you in control of rebuilding a desolated town.

• Character Customization! Character customization in Arakion is a refreshing take on the RPG Level-Up formula. Instead of skills and stats after X experience, your choices throughout the game affect your heroes. From the weapons you choose to forge, to the add-ons you choose for their housing, every decision has an impact on your heroes.
• You did what with my weapon?! Each character only starts with one weapon, one set of armor and four skills. You'll use the materials you find in the world to shape and morph your characters in to the heroes they'll become. Every decision you make has a permanent and lasting impact on your hero which resonates in the manner they play and interact with the world.
• Town Building! Using building blueprints you find, the people you rescue, along with the help of a mysterious stranger, you'll use ancient devices to rebuild a lost town. You'll have to choose wisely however, as some building decisions permanently prevent other choices.
• Combat!  Combat in Arakion allows you to choose real-time, turn-based or a unique blend of both. The core system of Arakion takes two old school styles of gameplay and merging them into one seamless combat experience. 
• Adventure! You'll adventure through dozens of dungeons, castles and open world areas while finding hidden passageways, collecting materials and crushing your foes.
• Story! The game features a deep and engaging story-line that spans generations. As you play through the game you'll learn about the history of Arakion and your heroes, as well as taking a part in shaping your heroes past with the unique trait system.