Hello, Solo-raiders! 👋 Welcome back to our System Spotlight! This one is for those of you who want a few more friends around while you're out adventuring: We're working on a Pet System! And before you ask, no, we’re not talking about the wolf you transform into when you sprint. At least, not yet…
Instead, you'll have a variety of different pets to choose from, each bringing their own unique set of passives into battle. Your pet can actively help you during combat, with abilities ranging from healing and support to passive auras and crowd control.
We're still working on the system and the different options you'll have available, but we're excited to give you another way to customize your adventures and, more importantly, have a friend around while you're committing violence against the local wildlife.
When it comes to the pets themselves, their main differences will be their appearance and substats. Each pet will have its own substat that gives you a small bonus. For example, a Turtle might increase your healing by 10%, while a Spider could reduce your pet skill cooldowns by 8%. Pets will work like items, meaning you can naturally find them as drops from raids. However, we don't want you to be stuck without a pet just because you haven't found a rare one yet, so you'll always have access to a basic pet that lets you use the Pet System and its skills. As you find higher-level pets, their substats will become stronger as well.
Our goal is for pets to feel different enough to be interesting while still letting you pick your favorite without worrying about losing too much efficiency. If you really like the Turtle, Spider, or whatever other little creature you find, you should be able to bring it along because you like it and it fits your playstyle, not because it's the “best” choice. Pick the little guy you like, bring them along, and let them help you commit some crimes against the local monsters.
And no, you can't pet the pets, but you can pet the animal spirits, which includes the Wolf, so we are still eligible for the Can You Pet The Dog catalogue on Twitter!
Of course, having a pet that can help you in combat means they're going to need some skills of their own. Pets will have a separate skill spellbook, where you'll be able to see and manage the abilities available to them. Unlike your normal skill tree, pet skills won't be upgradable, instead, you'll unlock new pet skills as you level up, giving your companion more tools to work with as you progress through the game. But if you don’t feel like using the pet, you can just unequip their skills. Once you've unlocked them, pet skills will be automatically equipped on a second line of abilities, separate from your character's own skills.
And there can be quite a lot of variety in what these skills actually do. Your pet can help with healing or CC, increase your resistance, provide shields, or offer different kinds of utility. Some abilities will be active, meaning you simply press the button and your pet does its thing, while others will be passive and tied to the pet's aura.
Aura-based skills are all about staying close to your pet, then you'll benefit from whatever effect its aura provides, whether that's increased movement speed, regeneration, or another useful bonus. However, the passive skills are only active when you have them equipped, so you’ll need to decide if it is worth it to have an active or a passive skill in that slot depending on your playstyle.
The goal is to make pets another tool you can use to shape your playstyle without making them feel like an entirely separate character you have to manage. You don’t really feel like controlling the pet? Well, just get a bunch of passive skills. Feel like having a passive skill is not worth it? Just equip active ones. Or don’t! Your pet is yours to customize. With different pets, unlockable skills, active and passive abilities, and plenty of ways to support your character, there's room to find a little companion that fits your playstyle.
And yes, we'll keep working on ways to make them as cool as possible!
Look at that, you made it to the end! Are you interested in participating in playtests and getting to know more about what the devs are doing? Check out our discord!
Thanks for the support and see you in the next one 😉