Last time around, we talked a little bit about the classes that will be available in the upcoming MMORPG, The Chronicles of Spellborn. This time, I wanted to devote some time to the idea of player attributes.

With the help of the Spellborn team, I was able to get to the bottom of their system. You see, the player attributes are made up of three main attributes: Body, Mind and Focus. Each of those attributes, in turn, is tied to one of the three character class archetypes that were discussed in the last article: Warrior (Body), Spell Caster (Mind), and Rogue (Focus).

Again, referring back to the previous article, The Chronicles of Spellborn allows players to eventually select "specialized classes" within their archetype. Each of these specialized classes (there are three specialized classes for each of the class archetypes) is tied to a second attribute:

Warrior
Blood Warrior (body + body)
Fury Hammer (body + focus)

Wrathguard (body + mind)

Spell Caster
Runemage (mind + body)

Ancestral Mage (mind + mind)

Void Seer (mind + focus)

Rogue
Trickster (focus + body)

Skinshifter (focus + focus)

Deathhand (focus + mind)

In the end, it's the second attribute (the one tied to your character's specialized class) that has the most effect on the character. Spellborn International provides the following example:

"A Fury Hammer, for instance, will have a basic value of 10 for Body, 20 for Focus and 5 for Mind . While an Ancestral Mage will have 5 for Body, 5 for Focus and 30 for Mind. (These numbers serve as an example)."

Ok, now that we've got the attributes and their associations with one another, it's time to talk about the ways that they will effect your game play.

Magic Affinity

Magic is split into three separate affinities: Rune, Spirit and Soul. Each of these affinities is linked to one of the main attributes:

• Rune - Body
• Spirit - Mind
• Soul - Focus

These affinities reduce the damage that a character takes from "skills of a specific magic type".

Skills

Your attributes play a large role in the skills that your characters will use:

The skills in The Chronicles of Spellborn (there are over 200 of them in the game) are all tied to one of the basic three attributes. The more powerful your relevant attribute is, the more powerful the skill is going to be. Rogues, for example, are going to have more skills that are focus-based.

States

Your attributes have an impact on the regeneration and degeneration speed of your character's states. What are states? You might ask... Well, I'm glad you did. Each character has three states: Physique, Morale and Concentration:

• Physique: Character run speed, linked to Body
• Morale: Damage output, linked to Morale
• Concentration: Character attack speed, linked to Focus

Improving Attributes

A character's attributes can be improved in a number of different ways:

• Level Increase: When a character gains a level, he/she gains "a number" of points that can be used to boost the scores.
• Sigils: Sigils in The Chronicles of Spellborn are used to replace special properties in items that give bonuses, sometimes these can be used to boost your attributes.
• Potions, Skills, Etc.: Like in many MMORPGs, there are temporary boosts available to attributes through things like potions and skills.

Wrap-Up

Obviously, attributes play a significant role in The Chronicles of Spellborn, affecting everything from character skills to resistances to how fast your character can move. It will be interesting to see how these systems all come together in a final product.