Issue #8 – Venice, Scenarios and Augments

The team is hard at work on both Issues #8 and #9.

I’m really excited to see all new and deep game and content systems moving closer to launch. Both the Augment and Scenario systems are completely fresh features to The Secret World.

Issue #8 begins in the sunken Council of Venice chambers in Venice, before leading players into the scenario system where they will need to earn their Field Agent certification before being allowed to enter Tokyo.

I had a chance to test the most recent iteration of the scenario system and I was incredibly pleased with how it is coming along. There was a moment when my character, attempting to herd survivors into the Hotel Wahid, was caught out by a sandstorm which swept in: reducing visibility in the entire area and damaging my character. I was forced to find cover to survive, but the survivors I was escorting weren’t so lucky!

The random elements create a powerful difference in the experience and force you to adapt strategies on the fly. During one game, half of the survivors I was protecting revealed themselves as cultists and began slaughtering the rest. Not knowing exactly what is going to happen creates a level of challenge for even experienced groups.

Oh and for those of you who think you’ve “done it all” the nightmare versions of scenarios will be balanced around the highest (QL10.5) gear requirements. However if you like less of a hardcore challenge, the Scenarios will also be available in Normal and Elite mode as well.

Of course, that then leads into the discussion of rewards for completing Scenarios, which in turn leads to a discussion of the Augment system.

Augments fall into four categories. Each category of the wheel contains 10 Augments, and each Augment can be upgraded up to 5 times.

Base Augment items are recovered during Scenarios (in the beginning, but itemization of Augments will continue into future content) and must be crafted into useable items before they can be consumed to upgrade Augments in the wheel. The required crafting materials for each upgrade are clearly explained in the tooltips for the base items.
Once an Augment item is created, it can be consumed at a significant AP cost to learn/upgrade the appropriate Augment in the Augment wheel. In order to upgrade Augments past a certain tier a player must also increase his Augment Skill to the required level.

As you increase your Augment Skills, you increase your capacity to store AP. Players who have fully upgraded Augment Skills can store hundreds of AP.

Augments can be equipped on any of the 7 abilities in the hotbar – though abilities may not be able to slot all types of Augments. Augments can be upgrades which affect your entire character, or they can be narrowly focused and only able to upgrade the active ability that they are equipped on. Augments can only be attached to active abilities.

Overall, there are 200 different upgrades available to characters through the Augment system and in keeping with the general theme of The Secret World, it is absolutely possible to get all of them with enough dedication. We're really looking forward to see what players can do with the augments, and you'd better be prepared, because Tokyo is going to challenge you in ways you haven't even considered!
 

Issue #9

The other half of the team is hard at work preparing the missions for Tokyo. The characters and locations in Tokyo are really coming together and we’re really excited to introduce you to everybody from Inbeda, the leopard-skin bathrobe clad Oni mercenary at the bathhouse to Ricky Pagan, the rock-a-billy heartthrob who stayed during the Tokyo crisis to defend his favorite cherry blossom tree.

In addition, we’re working on all sorts of missions, drawing upon the experience we have gained over the past year, including a series of new investigation missions. Taking inspiration directly from Japanese custom, myth and legend – be prepared for some of the most mindbending investigations yet.

Finally Tokyo contains new monsters and new mechanics which will create a level of challenge for everyone regardless of gear. If you don't take the time to learn how to fight the monsters of Tokyo, you'll be kissing the concrete more often than not.

I’ll give you more information about Tokyo, the new combat mechanics and more, in next month’s letter.

Events

Finally, while we have our slow burning event in Agartha, we decided to spice things up a little and kick off a completely new and separate event. This event will start at the same time as another Golden Weekend, and you will not have to wait long at all. (Everything actually kicks off tomorrow!)

During this event, which we have titled "The Gilded Rage", players will find themselves pitted against yet another of the defense mechanisms of Gaia, this one rampaging through the regions of the world.

Over the course of two weeks, players will have the opportunity to earn all kinds of golden rewards!

In addition to those events, we are also currently running our "Get your art in the game" competition! You can submit entries by following the process here. The last date for submissions is the 15th of September, and once we have chosen our ten favorites, we will post them for the community to vote on. Get cracking, would be fashion designers!