Now that Phoenix Labs has updated with the studio’s intention to release Dauntless: Awakening this year, the latest update reveals some of the overhauls, new Behemoth, armor system, and a new approach to lootboxes.
Dauntless’ battle pass system, the Hunt Pass, returns, with free and Elite options. There will be one pass every season, so if you have any unfinished passes that you started or backlogged, you'll get credit for the full rewards from those at the start of this new season to make up for the wait.
Elite tier offers a number of progression bonuses, new transmog, and new Umbral Repeaters: Alluring Moons. The free tier gets you things like weapon and bounty tokens, cell cores, Dull Aetherite, keys. Both tiers get some Canister pulls. What are Canisters? They’re lootboxes. The new way the team is handling cosmetics.
“Canisters are a new-to-Dauntless approach to offering cosmetics. We understand that lootbox mechanics are a sensitive subject, and we’ve aimed to add this feature with as much transparency and integrity as possible.” There will be two Canisters during the next update, one that features the Deep Sea cosmetic set and one for older Arcslayer cosmetics. Phoenix Labs says in the devblog that their promise of transparency means that no duplicates are possible. Hunt Pass pulls (and bought pulls for 300 Platinum) will have transparent odds. If you keep pulling, then you will be able to complete sets.
New weapons are on the way, with seven unique weapons obtainable through early questing, and 11 more available through weapon tokens or platinum. Speaking of weapons, you'll get weapon swap combo options and if you equip both a weapon and sub weapon, both weapons will get equal XP as you play.
The main questline gets an overhaul that will also serve as a better tutorial for the game and its modes and mechanics. Gameplay unlocks are tied to questlines, intentionally trying to link everything together. Cosmetics can be saved to loadouts so you'll be able to play around with different options quickly.
The new Behemoth is Karkonos, previously codenamed Crudge. This is the first new addition in a while, and was made with the community's input. Karkonos will drop parts to let you build a new armor set, and there will be a new dye.
The team promises more in-depth info on many of the big changes on the way.
