Path of the Adventurer Q&A

Hello Paxians,

The development team recently gathered for a dedicated Question and Answers session with the players, focused on Verse 3 – Path of the Adventurer. To make sure you don’t miss any of the key takeaways, we’ve compiled a detailed, topic-by-topic summary covering the most important insights, updates, and behind-the-scenes perspectives shared during the discussion.

Whether you're curious about upcoming features, design decisions, or the vision behind this new chapter, you’ll find everything you need right below.

You can also read the full discussion.

Note that quite a few answers provided came directly from our Spotlights:

Pax vobiscum, The Mainframe Team

Verse 3 Q&A with the devs

Verse 3 wipe

Relics return: For non-unique relics, you will get back exactly what was used in the original item.
Gear materials: Gear will be broken down into raw resources during the wipe. This includes items that will be removed with Verse 3.
Unique relics: These will disappear entirely. Faction relics remain and can still be used.
Resources: Steel gear converts to pure iron. Any raw material harvested stays intact.
Items at 0 durability: These will also return their base materials.
Resource refunds: General policy is that materials are returned in their base form during the transition.

Gear & armor

Movement speed: Armor types do not passively affect movement speed. Speed boosts come only from spells (e.g., foot-slot buffs), and these are temporary.
Armor quality levels: Common, Uncommon, and Rare are the tiers available.
Threat mechanics: Threat is influenced by damage, specific stats (on heavy armor and shields), and abilities. Both spells and weapon specials can increase threat.
Crowd Control (CC):
- CC Power on tank gear makes effects like stun last longer.
- CC Resistance reduces the duration of incoming CC.
Armor types: Chain and Plate are both classified as Heavy Armor. Choice is mostly about material cost.
Helmet visibility: No option to hide helmets in Verse 3. We plan to add it later, possibly with PvP exceptions (i.e., others may still see it).
Dye system: Not in Verse 3. It is planned for the future, but time constraints prevented implementation.
Physical resistances: All physical resistances (slash, pierce, blunt) are now unified into a single Physical Defense stat. The original types still exist under the hood for future use.
Tanking: Tanks will be able to hold aggro on multiple mobs if supported by a healer.
Durability: Durability will not be increased. You will still need 2 or more gear sets for longer hunting sessions.
Gathering gear: Discussed internally, but it is not part of Verse 3.

Weapons & combat

Item Power system: Item Power affects all stats and scales with item tier (+100 per tier), quality (+100 per quality level), and relevant skill (+100).
Weapon switching: Still incurs a cooldown. No exemptions or changes planned for now. Bow functionality as a pull tool will eventually be adjusted.
Zweihander: Not returning soon. The Great Sword model has been resized instead.
Solo viability: Not all weapon/armor combinations are suitable for solo play. Some roles (e.g., tank/healer) are designed for groups.
Animations: Most weapon skills use new animations; only a few reuse existing ones.
Gathering tools: Require skill levels to equip. There are no sub-specializations.
Damage scaling: Player skill level increases item power, which directly influences damage output.
Weapon cooldowns: Default layout uses Q (short cooldown), R/F (longer cooldowns).
Dual wielding: Might be added later, but only as fixed sets (e.g., “Dual Axes”). No plans for freeform dual-wielding.
Skill progression: Combat skills can only be leveled by killing PvE enemies in Verse 3.
Bow usage: Bows are good for hunting now. Ranger-style abilities and bow-specific specials are planned for a future update.
Movement during combat: Characters move during attacks but cannot move freely until the attack animation finishes.

Skills, abilities & Grace

Stamina bar: Only appears when stamina is not full.
Ability canceling: Weapon specials are fully committed once activated. You cannot cancel or fake them currently. This may change in the future for some abilities.
Grace & Miracles: No new Grace or Miracle content in Verse 3. These systems will be expanded later as part of broader social gameplay.
Dodge system: A traditional dodge ability is not planned. Developers want group tactics over reflex-based mechanics. If dodge is ever added, it will have a long cooldown (20/30 sec).

Magic & spells

New spell types: Divine Orb is a new healing projectile that requires manual aiming.
Consecrated Ground: Reworked; now provides defensive benefits but no longer generates threat.
DPS spells: No major damage spells in Verse 3. They are planned for future versions.
Pilgrim’s Fire: Removed in Verse 3. Similar offensive spells will return as weapon specials later.
Grace transfer: Not possible and Grace will remain non-transferable.

PvP & Lyonesse

PvP experience: Killing players does not provide combat XP.
PvP design: Abilities were balanced with both PvP and PvE in mind.
PvP zone: PvP remains restricted to Lyonesse in Verse 3.
Dueling: Dueling is a desired feature but not yet implemented. No ETA.
Lyonesse 2.0: In development. Will offer unique rewards to increase PvP participation.
Current Lyonesse map: No changes to layout in Verse 3.
Resource incentives: Pure iron is now more abundant in Lyonesse. High-tier resource respawn timers encourage gathering there.
Skill use in PvP: All armor/weapon skills are usable except Mesmerize, Haunting Memories, and Pacify.

PvE, dungeons & loot

Forts & ruins: Increased number, especially in Home Valleys. Respawn times may still be tuned.
Group composition: Balanced around 1 tank and 1 healer. Players may discover more efficient setups.
Cave updates: Slight spawn/difficulty updates; lighting and utility improvements ongoing.
Boss mechanics: Not in Verse 3. Foundations for future dungeon content are in place.
Named NPCs: Now reliably drop unique relics.
Dungeon maps: No in-dungeon maps are planned.
Loot system: Remains unchanged in Verse 3. Further balancing is planned.
XP gains: Higher-tier and veteran mobs give more XP. Veteran enemies are group-oriented.

Clans & group features

Clan roles: No expanded roles in Verse 3, will come later.
Party visibility: Marking groups for visibility is on the QOL wishlist but not coming in Verse 3.
XP bonus: Group XP scales with group size and enemy tier (especially veterans).
Clan emblems: No new emblems or uses added in Verse 3, but planned for future updates.

Mobs & camps

Mob rebalance: All NPCs have been rebalanced for health, damage, and difficulty.
Named vs Bosses: Verse 3 adds named NPCs with relic drops. No true boss entities with phase mechanics yet.
Solo experience: Small ruins and caves now explicitly support solo/duo play. Larger camps and dungeons are for groups.
Zebian cultists: Receiving visual updates. More variety and improvements planned for later.
Damage scaling: Enemy power increases by tier (1-4) and type (normal/veteran).
Bear hunting: Bears are tougher but still soloable with good gear.

Resources & economy

Upcycling: Wrought iron and impure iron can now be smelted back to pure iron (resource-intensive).
Economy rework: More materials are used across all tiers, reducing obsolescence.
Node spawning: Static spawn blocking fixed. Nodes and animals now reposition if obstructed or overbuilt.
Stack sizes: We acknowledge this needs work; no changes yet.

Crafting

Healing staves: Crafted via weaponsmithing.
Crafting rarity: Determined by rare materials. No mastercrafting bonuses in Verse 3 yet.
Recycling: Planned for the future but not in Verse 3.
Skinning tools: Higher-quality knives offer faster results. Still being balanced.
Cooking: Carcass yields and recipes have been rebalanced.
Consumables: Minimal changes in Verse 3; full overhaul planned later.
Crafting range: No ability to craft from nearby/plot chests. No plans to add this.
Solo crafting access: Higher-tier gear can be learned and crafted solo with PvE materials.
Enchanting: Planned as a future profession; not in Verse 3.

Audio, graphics and performance

UE update: Verse 3 is not on UE 5.5, but asset streaming and server transitions improved.
Audio: New ambient music, clearer mixing, better spell/NPC sounds. Work continues post-Verse 3.
FSR support: Disabled due to crash issues; devs are still investigating.
Performance: Significant improvements in NPC streaming and rendering stability.

World & map

Wildlands & Home Valleys: World reshaped to add more Home Valleys, slightly reducing Wildlands.
Terrain features: Large trees remain. Terrain is gentler with fewer steep cliffs.
Water features: Ponds added. No creeks or flowing water yet.
Map changes: Only Kerys and Merrie swapped. No changes to Ancien/Inis Gallia.
Citadel: Remains closed. Content will be revealed in the future.
Trees respawning inside plots: trees on plots still appear. Plot setting to suppress them planned.
Construction bugs: Known issues like the “4-plot square hole” are not fixed in Verse 3, but will be later.
Mountains: Still present, though slightly softened.

Travel & mounts

Fast Travel: Remains unchanged. Petra Mea is the only travel point.
Plot teleportation: Not available and not planned, but related systems are in early development.
Mounts & travel gear: Horses and carts are not in Verse 3. Planned for future updates.

Building & furnitures

Lighting/Decor: No new decor or lights in Verse 3, but assets (e.g., sconces, clutter) are being created for later.
Granite foundations: Available with Verse 3.
Limestone pieces: Released with Verse 3.
Building rotation: No vertical rotation planned.
Animal farms & pets: Desired but no ETA.

Market System

Buy orders: Planned but not in Verse 3.

Food & consumables

Food effects: Foods still offer specific defenses, though their effectiveness was slightly reduced.
Balance pass: Full food and potion rework is planned but not included in Verse 3.

Miscellaneous

First-Person camera: Might come for building only. No plans for full first-person gameplay.
Lore content: No new books/scrolls yet, but the framework is being laid for future narrative expansion.
Night time: Slightly darker in forests due to denser foliage. General night lighting remains unchanged.
Fantasy setting: The world is low-fantasy inspired by Game of Thrones. Magic exists but must be discovered. There are no fantasy races like elves.
Haircuts: No option to change hairstyle in Verse 3; not planned for now.
Swimming/Diving: Swimming is simple and meant for navigation (e.g., reaching islands). Diving is not supported, and no plans for it yet.
Keybindings: Most gameplay keybindings are rebindable. UI keybindings may not be fully configurable yet.