Hello, Riders! It’s BK Ha, the lead game designer for the Riders of Icarus development team at WeMade. Since the Ranger’s Fury update announcement, the community has been buzzing with hype over the addition of this new class and upcoming content. I wanted to take this opportunity to give you more insight on what to expect with this upcoming update.
From the Shadows
Rangers have been working in secret for Hakanas for thousands of years. While Pegasus Knights and Dragon Knights operate out in the open, the Rangers are cloaked in the shadows.
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With their existence shrouded in mystery and the rumor that the blood of Zelnaris, the God of Ruin himself, runs through the veins of the Rangers, there’s a general public fear of the Rangers. There have been recent efforts made to bring the Rangers out of the shadows and further use them as they’re uniquely equipped to track evil energy, but there is still much work to be done.
Playing the Ranger Class
The Ranger class is incredibly versatile. MMO and RPG fans will find elements of the class familiar, but overall the Ranger experience is more dynamic and engaging than the classic ranged class combat class you find in other games. Rangers typically attack from range with their bow, but any enemy who closes the gap will be in for a surprise as the Ranger uses its vambrace for close combat melee strikes. Once you’ve struck a destabilizing blow with skills like Double Kick and Double Strike, you can decide to continue pummeling the enemy up-close or leap back and once again fire from afar with skills like Ruin Arrow and Chaos Burst. Rangers will need to master the ability to leap in and out of close combat to devastate the enemy.
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The ranged bow attacks use chaos as a resource much like Assassins use stamina. Ranger damage is dependent on Magic, so you will want to stack the Intelligence stat to maximize your effectiveness in combat. And if you find yourself short of chaos while fighting, your vambrace attacks will return chaos to you at the cost of a little health.
You can double-tap the left and right strafe keys to also enter stances. Bow Stance will increase your magic attack, whereas Vambrace Stance buffs your defense, increasing defense and survivability.
Into the Wastes
The Cloying Wastes is to the west of Tritael Rift. The area was initially settled as the war efforts required more and more materials. Due to its distance from the capital and the types who migrated to the area, the Cloying Wastes is full of independent settlements and the Hakainian army has little influence in the area. The Cloying Wastes is a large, open desert with a punishing heat. Riders will experience “Heatstroke,” an effect that reduces their natural health regen to zero. Riders will need to eat food in order to survive the desert.
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While in the Cloying Wastes, Riders will have an opportunity to discover more than 40 new familiars that they can tame and collect. Most of the mounts will have a desert theme, with one of the most popular ones being Wise Deva. This turtle has adapted to the desert with long legs in order to avoid the scorching sand. Not only is it very distinct and unique in appearance, but its seal also offers a high magic crit rate and increases health, so magic-based classes will want to tame this familiar more than once.
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Dungeon Dangers
Ranger’s Fury also introduces two new dungeons in Cloying Wastes: Temple of Sands and Fortress of Sorrows.
In the Temple of Sands, the demigod Skatrasha hid the secrets to its power in the temple and the Khabim Brotherhood wants its power for their own. You must stop the Khabim Brotherhood from gaining that power. Riders can enter the Temple of Sands starting at level 44, and heroic difficulty opens up at level 49. There are also two different ways that Riders can experience the temple in heroic difficulty. It’s recommended that parties new to the dungeon choose “Acolyte’s Walk” and experienced parties choose “Pilgrim’s Walk.”
The Fortress of Sorrows can be entered at level 49. Riders continue to track the whereabouts of Princess Lania, and that path leads them to the Fortress of Sorrows. This dungeon is filled with traps and bosses with challenges never faced before, so you will need all your skills and guile to prevail. In addition to new familiars, gems, and gear, the new Tyrant armor set with tempering levels already applied await those who dare seek them out.
That’s a brief introduction to the new Ranger’s Fury update arriving on December 15th. Riders can currently create their Ranger and reserve their Ranger’s name in preparation for the upcoming launch, and the Ranger’s Fury registration event allows any Rider with a level 15 or higher character to receive a Ranger’s Fury launch pack when the Ranger’s Fury content goes live. So, prepare for Ranger’s Fury and take aim this coming December 15th!
