Hello, comrades in arms!

My name is Archer—and I'm War of Ashird's 3D motion animator, skill developer, and battle system designer! Aside from those things, one of my main focuses is in-game character development (including the skill tree and determining how level-ups affect character progression). In my field, one of our team's main goals is to let players customize their hero's development while making sure other characters feel distinct; after all, real people are pretty different from each other, right?

Since we described it in our campaign, some of you might already know that War of Ashird contains both grid-based battles (to conquer your foes and defend your land) and active turn-based ones (to take on powerful foes in life-or-death struggles)—but I'd like to describe those in greater detail today.

In grid-based battles, strategy is key! Every move you make will affect your chances of victory—and since you never know what might happen on the battlefield, the situation could change with every passing turn. Remember to plan carefully, give out your orders, adapt to new situations, and prepare to conquer all of Ashird!

Now, you might be thinking that turn-based battles will be much easier… but don't be fooled! The enemies in your way won't always be ordinary humans: some of them are the heroes and badasses that make up the Ashird continent—and worse, some of them are LITERAL DEMONS! In fact, the only way to defeat those is… Well, I won't tell you, but the key is to use your head and stay cool under pressure!

Now then, I'd like to move on to the meat of today's update.

As I mentioned in the beginning, War of Ashird's battle system is complex—so the idea that "one character can fit any situation" doesn't really apply to it. Why? Well, it has to do with the skill tree: some characters are better-suited for grid-based battles and others are geared towards fighting a single, much more powerful opponent in turn-based ones. Of course, you will be able to build your party members according to whatever roles you want them to fit—but the character's skills and stats affect which battle type they're suited for.

To better explain what I mean, we'll compare Chizuru and Yukiko:


Chizuru is a character with high Agility (AGL)—which gives her greater movement range and a higher evasion rate. She also has AOE skills and can make diagonal attacks with her weapon, which makes her ideal for fighting multiple enemies in grid-based battles.

In contrast, Yukiko is the opposite and geared towards one-on-one fights: she has a high crit rate and block rate, plus her high Dexterity (DEX) means she has an easy time hitting most targets.

Let me know if, in future updates, you want me to describe other characters! If you do, I'll try my best to give you a better picture of their skill-sets.

Now, let's move on to how character progression works—which is the main focus of today’s update!


Each of the playable characters has a unique skill tree with 50 abilities (a combination of passives, plus offensive and defensive perks). Everyone's is structured differently—and some of them have "dead blocks," meaning you cannot progress down that path further and will have to choose a different direction.



Pictured above: A dead block.

Keep in mind that, although some abilities might seem basic and are available to plenty of characters (increasing their ATK and DEF, for example), some of them are unique to specific ones.

Obviously I can't give you all of the details, but we'll use Roob as an example: As a great hunter, he's the only person who can place traps around the battlefield. Another example is that Tara is the only person capable of using healing magic; yes, you read that right: Tara is THE ONLY healer in the game—so remember to stock up on healing items before each battle!



Pictured Above: Images for potions, which restore 20%, 40%, and 60% of a character's HP

Besides their unique skill tree, each character has access to three unique skills and three upgrades to aid you in your adventure—and the many, many battles that entails. Just remember to keep this in mind: we all have our secrets, and your brave soldiers are no exception; maybe they'll end up surpassing their limits under the right conditions?

Yukiko, meanwhile, is all about precision and dealing devastating damage to one foe at a time. Thanks to her demonic weapon, she can perform frost attacks that slow enemies down.

Anyway, we'll leave it to you to discover the characters' strengths (and weaknesses)! Remember to choose your skills carefully, though, because there is no way to reset them; in other words: once you pick, there's no going back.

…But wait, there's more! In addition to those 50 abilities, you can raise a character's main stats by spending points you earn upon leveling up:

The main stats are as follows:

STR – Boosts your ATK, ¼ DEF, and ½ Max HP.

VIT – Increases your Max HP, DEF, and MDEF.

AGI – Raises your Evasion, ACT [speed in turn-based battles], and Movement Range.

DEX – Boosts your HIT, ⅕ ATK, ⅕ ACT, and CRIT Chance.

WIS – Increase your MATK, MDEF and Max SP.

LUK – Raise BLOCK Chance, CRIT Chance, Counter Chance, and Crafting Chance.

In addition to the strength your hero gains during level-ups, you'll also earn 1 or 3 development points—which you can then spend to further upgrade them however you want! Now, I know what you might be thinking: "Does this mean I might not always get 3 points to spend?" If you are, you're thinking correctly! When you level up, chance determines how many points you earn (so no save scumming!)

I guess you should pray to the goddess Jisu for more LUCK in gaining your points, no? Oh, wait! I didn't mean to give you a hint just now… LUCK has nothing to do with it! (Wink-wink, nudge-nudge).

Since we're approaching the end of the update, it's time to show off a new 3D model!

I present to you: Elemental Knight Astar Baccara!





As always, we'd love to hear your opinions!

Stay safe and see you next time!