Seekers of Skyveil, the upcoming PvPvE extraction RPG has held a number of closed Alpha tests over the past several months. The small team at Elodie, made up of gaming veterans from games like Rocket League, StarCraft, Diablo and Lord of the Rings Online, wants to flip the script on extraction shooters with their approachable gameplay and bitesize matches. We were able to jump in on the last test, and with plenty more playtests on the horizon, now is the perfect time for our impressions so you can decide whether it’s time you sign-up and jump in yourself.
As a PvPvE ARPG Extraction game, Seekers of Skyveil is not a game that you play alone. I was one of the lucky few, as my teammates during my play session were all highly skilled Elodie developers. Nikki, the Communications Lead, Jen Ortiz, the Design Director, and Athena Dai, Technical Game Designer were all available to answer questions and fight alongside me during my matches. In development for a year, Seekers has come a long way in a short time. “Our core gameplay loop is actually pretty solid,” Jen said. “We actually are talking about doing some revisions to our crafting system coming soon, but we're liking how it's playing out so far.”
As soon as I started the game I was introduced to my first Seeker in the lobby, a bespectacled wizard draped in purple robes named Lily. I flipped over to the Seekers tab and was met with a variety of unique characters that embodied many of the fantasy roles MMO players have come to know so well. There was Neri, a turquoise, long-eared creature with a penchant for healing and a rhythmic flamboyance that signals that she’s playful by nature. On the opposite side, there was Kumu, a tall, staunch tank, easily identifiable by the large wooden planks adorned as armor. I eventually played both characters in our two-bout play session, but they were just two out of eight potential heroes available to me.
We started on the Ancient Veil limited map for our first match. “This is a smaller map. It has less mechanics, fewer players. It's a place where we want people to actually start to learn the extraction gameplay loop, figure out how to play their seeker, how to engage with the creatures and the mini bosses, get loot and try their hand at some of the PvP without having huge disparities in gear,” Jen explained. It was suggested that players stay in the capped map for a while so they can earn gear and get a handle on their favorite seekers before they progress to the uncapped map, Ancient Veil Unbound.
We waited for our entrance to the map in a small force-field covered lobby where our potential opponents roamed around, sizing each other up. Once transported to the map, we were welcomed to a few starter crates that had some goodies to get those loot juices flowing. If it weren’t for my team of expert loot appraisers, I probably wouldn’t have known what I was picking up, or whether it would have been useful to me at all. Understandably, the loot will require more than a few games to really grasp how you should divide the spoils. Having the developers call out what was useful to whom really helped our team equip the available gear as we pushed through the match.
With 15 minutes on the clock, we couldn’t really waste much time. We had to find our loot and make our way to the extraction point before the aura storm arrived. The Ancient Veil map has a calming, natural aesthetic, with large, gnarled trees wrapped around stone, and ambient greenery abundant alongside the trails. Our first combat encounter was with a group of rowdy mushrooms, and it didn’t take long to dispatch them. As Kumu, my heavy swings did considerable damage, but it was clear that my teammates were doing most of the heavy lifting.
Kumu, as a tank, can do more than simply attempt to take aggro. His kit allows him to control enemies to a degree, with a few interrupt skills that can push or pull enemies, and even stop their attacks. As with many MOBA-style games, you will unlock your abilities as you gain experience during the match. I wasn’t quite sure which abilities to prioritize, but Kumu’s set never left me feeling like I wasn’t capable. Unfortunately, as a fledgling Kumu player, I didn’t know the enemies well enough to grasp when I should use my skills effectively.
In Seekers, Elodie Games uses a combat telegraph system to great effect. Enemies will telegraph their moves so that the player will be able to dodge or counter them. It makes it sound easier than it really is. You would think that knowing an attack is coming would allow you to simply dodge it, but you also need to understand the enemy to identify the type of attack. For example, when a Rowdy Shroom jumps in the air, it’s about to do an AOE spin attack that can follow you.
Without knowing the attack patterns, you end up taking a lot more damage. Luckily, Ancient Veil has a lot of places to heal. There are also quests and events, as well as some interactive elements to the world that can be used as a tactical advantage against AI or human opponents. Our first match ended with two minutes to spare on the clock and consisted of us fending off a few waves of enemies while standing in the extraction zone.
On my second match, I chose Neri and played the dutiful role as a healer. The shift in role really helped me, as I felt I had a better grasp of Neri’s skill set. The second match was also my first taste of PvP in Seekers. As with most extraction games, the pinnacle of successful PvP combat is the sneak attack. We happened upon another team going about their business, dispatching some monsters. Little did they know (nor expect) that our team was sneaking up behind them to deal a couple killing blows on their already strained health bars. We were able to defeat two of them while the third attempted to run to safety.
We gave chase to the fleeing Seeker, but a Thumpy Marauder, a huge tree-like being, ended their final team member leaving their team of 3 utterly defeated. Meanwhile, our team retreated to a curious secret cove nearby that was filled with treasure chests. The entire encounter was thrilling and rewarding. It was also another example of an encounter that can only come through the experience of knowing the game and the secrets of Ancient Veil’s map.
Elodie Games still has a long way to go before a full release. There are a lot of pieces of the gameplay puzzle that have yet to be worked out, including any type of economy, the ongoing changes to the crafting system, and weaving in new heroes and monetization. “We haven't discussed much about the business model,” Jen said. “Our intention is to provide a hero collector like experience similar to what you would get in a game like League of Legends.” The game is still in an early enough state that things could change as more feedback and player metrics come into play.
With only two matches to my credit so far, I still had fun, in no small part due to the energy and passion the Elodie Games team brought to the table. Seekers of Skyveil’s PvPvE extraction loop turned out to be a great experience after all. As for our vanquished foes, hopefully the thrill of the battle was enough to keep them coming back. If you want to give the game a shot for yourself, you can sign up to get into testing on their official website, or request access on Steam. Chances are, there’s another test right around the corner.
