Wayfinder Press Event - Everything You Need to Know About Airship Syndicate's Exciting MMORPG-Lite

Have you been looking to embark on a new, unique, epic adventure? Well, get ready because Wayfinder is coming soon and there’s a lot to love about this fast paced, open world, fantasy MMORPG-lite! Developed by Airship Syndicate, the same studio behind Battle Chasers: Nightwar, Wayfinder promises to be the developers’ take on an MMORPG, that will transport you to the mystical, and dangerous, world of Evenor. Last week, The development team, which included CEO Joe Madureira, Design Director Steve Madueira, and Director of Marketing AJ Lasaracina, held a press event detailing the ins and outs of Wayfinder, that coincided with their latest closed beta test.

Evenor is a world shrouded in a mysterious gloom that's corrupting everything in its path. If you haven’t watched the comprehensive introduction to Wayfinder yet, and you’re interested in learning about the precursor to Wayfinder, it’s an absolute must. As a short summary though, as a Wayfinder, you'll take on the role of echoes, fallen heroes from the past, reborn from the gloom to fight alongside Omen, and push back the corruption that continues to swallow the world. To do that, you will explore the world of Evenor, battle fierce creatures, regain your memories of a life long past, and confront the source of the gloom and hopefully save everyone.

One of the most exciting features of Wayfinder is its emphasis on boss battles and public events. The game boasts huge world bosses that will require you to band together with other players to defeat them. Public events are spontaneous occurrences that happen throughout the world, requiring players to work together to complete objectives and earn rewards. Many of these events are timed, and if you fail or don’t make it to the location on time, you’ll miss out, and have to wait for the event to come around again. While there is a big open world to explore alongside other players, there will also be plenty of dungeons and Hunt missions created for a team of 3. You can modify these dungeons and hunt missions with augments to make them more difficult, spawn different monsters, or drop different rewards. Hunt missions are essentially just boss battles, and while much of the content can be soloed, it’s always helpful to have a cohesive team with a variety of specializations. These missions also won't ever go out of style, as you can manage the difficulty, even at end game. There is also a helper system, where high level players will be rewarded for helping lower level players. 

In order to do that, and create a strong team, you will need to choose from three different archetypes in Wayfinder: Warmaster, Arcanist, and Survivalists. Each archetype defines a character's role in combat, but you can customize your character by changing their weapons and specializations. While a character might be part of a specific Archetype, each character has their own special abilities and unique mechanics. Although each character may start with a particular weapon type, weapons are not locked to any character, so you can build your Wayfinder with the weapon you like best. This opens up a lot of customization options, as certain characters can change their roles depending on the weapons they use and the specializations they choose.

When customizing your character, you'll have to make strategic decisions because you won't be able to have everything in the ability talent trees. You will also upgrade your character affinities, which boost base stats, like Health, Weapon Damage and Crit Rate. You can equally do so with weapons, all of which will take gold, and other materials in order to increase your affinity to the next tier. In addition to the customization options available through weapons and specializations, you can also earn new characters and weapons through the crafting system. The game also features an awakening system at endgame, where you can earn rewards and craft your heroes multiple times to gain power. Everyone must craft their characters, so get ready to roll up your sleeves for a little grind, because progression may level off a little more once you hit level 30 and end game, but the awakening system will ensure that you’ll continue to progress, even if it takes a little longer.

Instead of traditional gear, players will earn echoes and artifacts in Wayfinder. These echoes have specific stats and come in different rarities that require energy points to slot them. Some echoes even augment abilities, which means you can forego some stats in favor of adding cool new effects to your attacks, helping your team, or boosting your survivability. Artifacts act more like traditional gear, but they can be slotted and cultivated as you level. Some artifacts even have set bonuses, adding an extra layer of strategy to character customization.

While Wayfinder features a cast of unique characters with their own stories that will play out apart from the main story, you can still customize the way they look. The game will have cosmetics that you can earn in-game, including seasons where you’ll earn new cosmetics, characters and weapons. There are also special cosmetics called personas that will drastically change the way a character looks. Customization doesn't stop at just your character either. Player housing will not only play a big part in a way to express yourself, but you'll be able to earn special daily items and even buff your friends when you completely kit out your pad. Creating your own space will not only be fun, but it will be functional in Wayfinder.

Wayfinder is implementing the free and fair monetization model, following in the footsteps of Warframe. This means that nothing is going to be pay to win, and the majority of the items in the cash shop will be cosmetic. Players will also be able to buy characters, though all the characters can be earned in-game. This model ensures that the game remains fair and accessible to all players, regardless of how much they plan to spend. Currently Airship Syndicate plans to provide a new character and weapon every 3 months as part of their seasons, which will also have plenty of new items and rewards to earn.

As the latest closed beta for Wayfinder has just wrapped up, the team has stated that they are determined to launch into Early Access in May, with more testing dates headed our way before then. So far, Wayfinder looks like an amazing addition to the MMORPG genre. Its focus on boss battles, character customization, small scale cooperative play and larger scale public events, promises a fun and engaging gameplay experience. And let's not forget the free and fair monetization model that makes it accessible to everyone. If you want to learn more about Wayfinder check out our comprehensive preview of the game, and don’t forget to read our interview with Airship Syndicate for more details about end game! So get ready to join the fight and become a wayfinder in the world of Evenor!