With the announcement of Astellia’s release into the Western market, we’ve been keeping a close eye on the questions folks have been asking. A whole lot of you have been asking for more details on the origins of Astels, and what these fantastic little companions will do to enhance aspects of your gaming experience in Astellia.
Early on in the development stages of Astellia, we explored a multitude of different game concepts. All in pursuit of features that would bridge the ever growing content gap between players who enjoy solo play and those who prefer to party up to tackle more challenging encounters. While also expanding the horizon on standard party compositions (ie: Tank, Healer, DPS), giving players more freedom to play the classes they desire. After several iterations and a lot of important lessons learned, our team felt confident the Astel system accomplished the aforementioned goals.
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Astels come in three power ranks, fulfil one of seven different combat roles, and have a full lore rich backstory. Servants, while weakest in terms of raw power, are easier to maintain and offer greater diversity in the amount of combat roles they can fill. Guardians are the next tier up, with a considerable power boost at the cost of an increased drain on the resources needed to maintain their presence. Saviors are the greatest of all Astels, boasting a nearly unrivaled amount of destructive power, but may only be invoked for very brief periods of time.
In combat, each Astel has a unique set of abilities to carry out their specific role, including a special combo attack triggered by specific player character skills. Knights are the stalwart tank, providing damage reduction and high threat generation. Warriors and Assassins increase physical attack and traverse the frontlines punishing unwary enemies, or preventing opponents from fleeing. Scholars and Muses provide increased healing power, battlefield support through healing, and augmentations in the form of buffs. Mages and Archers increase physical or magic range damage, suppress enemy movement, and unleash wanton destruction from the afar.
Careful planning of your summoned companions will allow you to further augment your strengths and offset your weaknesses. While opening up interesting group compositions and dynamics in the process. Speed clearing a dungeon with an extra damage dealer, by using tactical play and multiple healing companions for example. For solo players, you’ll be able to focus on playing the class you desire, without feeling penalized by low damage output, a lack of healing, or not having a tank.
In addition to supporting you in combat, Astels can be upgraded in a multitude of ways, increasing their overall power and providing players with special passive buffs. Socketing gems will augment their stat power, gaining experience and levels increases their base stats, and star rankings that drastically increase their combat prowess. Reaching specific milestones will reward players with superior costumes for that Astel, and showcasing your achievements along with additional buffs.
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Acquiring an Astel is a permanent and powerful addition to your character, which can be accomplished through normal gameplay. Such as completing primary storyline quests, where new Astels are introduced as critical events unfold, or as a reward for defeating a challenging dungeon boss. Should you receive an Astel you already own as a reward for completing a dungeon, it will automatically be consumed, applying the experience points towards increasing the Astel’s star ranking.
There’s a lot of depth to the Astel system, and we’re certain players will find even more creative and interesting ways to make use of it. We hope you found this first look at the Astel system informative and helpful. We know everyone’s excited, and has loads more questions. Reach out to us on Facebook or Twitter and sign up for the latest news on our website HERE.
