I got to get a special early look at Dragon's Prophet's new features coming to the game at launch. Before diving into the end-game, PVP content, we got a bit of a refresher course at some of the latest features added to the game.
One of those new features included the Dragon Chamber, which is the expanded storage, allowing you to now store up to 96 more Dragons. It's nice for those who are slightly more sentimental and don't feel like letting their early Dragons go. The new Guild Tech, Sanctuary and Guild Altar bosses were shown off briefly, the latter is a pretty sweet way for Guilds to take on a variety of massive bosses inside their sanctuary. And lastly, the new Wintertide area and its dungeons were briefly shown, as Wintertide recently went live in the game.
This week, users will also get a few tweaks, such as a revamping and rebalancing of all the dungeons to give more of a challenge. There will also be a single starting zone, as to not separate players too much when initially starting, and Dragons will be able to be tamed a bit earlier than before. Based on player feedback, backpacks will now be able to be expanded to a third page, and companion pets will get an entire backpack to themselves, which means they'll no longer take up precious inventory space.
However, the most ambitious feature, which will be coming to the game on its September 18th launch, is the Frontier System. This System is considered to be the ultimate end-game, and with good reason. Guilds will be able to form massive alliances to take over various Frontier Islands. But this is no easy task.
To start this massive battle, players will first have to destroy various Crystal Towers located around the Frontier Island. They'll have to do this in combination with Siege weapons, as Crystal Towers have powerful shields protecting them. Once that's done, the attacking Alliance will have to amass 6000 points by completing various tasks around the Island.
Capturing strongholds for example, which are guarded by powerful NPC monsters, will allow you to then utilize those monsters as guards. You can even spend your earned Warforge Insignias (Frontier's main source of currency) to purchase Mercenary NPCs and place them strategically around the map to defend key positions.
There are also various resources scattered around the Island that have to be picked up and delivered to a Stronghold, which also accrues points toward the overall goal. This resource gathering option is for those who might not be max level but want to participate in the Frontier System regardless. It's this sort of flexibility that makes this so enticing.
So what's the point of taking over a Frontier Island? Does owning that Island with your Alliance sound good? How about becoming a High Lord of the Island? When an Alliance successfully takes over the Island, one player will be appointed Commander. This player will now have rule over that Island, being able to set things such as tax rates over player housing (oh yeah, you can totally buy a plot of land on any of these Islands), spawn unique NPCs, and set up unique quests to that Island, which can grant even more Warforge Insignias. It's basically a political system, with a high prestige factor built in. Want to be a ruler that everyone respects by lowering land taxes and offering a plethora of quests, or be the jerk who charges an obscene amount for land tax? It's up to you! And the best thing: As long as you're the Commander and you aren't overthrown by another Alliance, you have that complete freedom.
I'm really curious to see the Frontier System in action, since its ambitious premise is something I have yet to see in an MMORPG. Sure, TERA's political system seemed intriguing, but this constant back and forth between Alliances seems like perfect balance to give anyone a chance to become a ruler.
Aside from the enticing Frontier System, players also have a new World Boss to look forward to: a huge Bone Dragon, spawning in lower level areas, giving incentive for higher level players to revisit them. I've been told it won't be straightforward combat though, and will require the use of siege engines. Also, having mountable Dragons is one thing, but players have mounted combat to look forward to in the future as well.
Dragon's Prophet officially launches on September 18th, and is completely free to play. You'll also be able to find Dragon's Prophet on Steam when it launches, giving players an even more convenient way of accessing the game.
