Cam Wood, Associate Designer
and Artie "GraniteHeart" Rogers
Design Director
Hello Wizards,
We are writing today to give an update on the progress we made with the Spellements system as it currently stands in the Spring Update.
To learn more about our overall direction, check out our
previous notes on Spellements.
In that Diary, when Artie said that the revisions to the Spellement system was a long-term project, he meant LONG! This is not a one-time update, but closer to a 2 YEAR project! We revisited the design in Fall, and this Spring Update is just step 1. There is still much more to come.
In this dev diary, we’re going to be discussing the first main category of Spellements - World Spellements. World Spellements are the main progression Spellements which players acquire by first learning the spells through the story; they then get a chance to upgrade them throughout their normal gameplay experience. With World Spellements, it was important that all the methods of acquiring them be tied closely with the world they come from so that players can quickly learn where to get them in a way that makes sense. We decided to work on World Spellements for Arc 1 over the next few updates.
We plan to support several different sources of World Spellements, and we will be developing them more in the coming updates!
SOURCES AVAILABLE TODAY
World Bosses – The first source of World Spellements is from major bosses in each World, beginning with Krokotopia. This source is made for those who are at the appropriate level for the content. Spellements will be found on bosses at the end of each area in the World, and the bosses have a 100% chance of giving you Spellements, so that’s the best way to know if you're in the right place. Bosses will be dropping Spellements from their triad (Elemental or Spiritual), and Balance Spellements drop from all. The Elemental triad includes the Storm, Fire, and Ice schools; and the Spiritual Triad includes the Myth, Death, and Life schools. Bosses drop a variety of Spellements from the world you’re in and from several of the worlds you’ve previously completed as you progress through the quest line.
In this update, we have focused on Arc 1 Spellements, and this is how they will be distributed...
World | Drop 1 | Drop 2 | Drop 3 | Drop 4 | Drop 5 |
Wizard City | Wizard City 2 | Wizard City 1 |
Krokotopia | Krokotopia | Wizard City 2 | Wizard City 1 |
Marleybone | Marleybone | Krokotopia | Wizard City 2 | Wizard City 1 |
MooShu | MooShu | Marleybone | Krokotopia | Wizard City 2 | Wizard City 1 |
Dragonspyre | Dragonspyre | MooShu | Marleybone | Krokotopia | Wizard City 2 |
For Wizard City through Marleybone, we filled the blank slots with valuable Treasure Cards that you can use while on your way to upgrading your Spellements!
To ensure that World Spellements are only available to level-appropriate Wizards, these drops are Badge Restricted. To get a Spellement dropped in a world, you must have completed the previous world and you need to have not completed the
next world. For example, to get Spellements from Marleybone you must have completed Krokotopia and you must not yet have completed MooShu).
It’s no secret that a high-level player would be much quicker at farming lower level bosses, so to preserve the value of Spellements across all levels, these Bosses are reserved for level-appropriate wizards. Higher level Wizards
will have combat sources for lower level Spellements, and we will touch on that below under Future Sources.
Pet Retriever Talents – Wizards of all levels can use special “Retriever” pet talents to send your pet to fetch the contents of Wooden Chests. Once again, to hunt for specific Spellements, you will want to use your Retriever pet in the appropriate world. There are two types of this talent - the Elemental Retriever and Spiritual Retriever. (You can find Balance Spellements using either talent.) All levels of wizards can use this method. To unlock this talent on your pet, you’ll need special tokens that can currently only be found in the Doomsday Krok, Great Train Robbery, and Unforgiven Dead Gauntlets. Head on over to the Hatching Kiosk in the Pet Pavilion to snag a hatch with a pet that has one of these talents!
Cantrip Chests – While exploring Marleybone, MooShu, and Dragonspyre, you may run across a Cantrip Ritual Chest. Using the Cantrip “Magic Touch” (along with two of your friends) you can open these chests and get Spellements for everyone who helped unlock the chest!
To get Magic Touch, you must complete the Cantrips102 quest from Hampshire Buttersfield in Wysteria. Cantrip Ritual Chests are more specialized than the previous two methods as they will only drop Spellements specific to the world you find them in. This could be the best way to farm if you’re going for a specific Spellement!
Silver Chests – From Krokotopia to Dragonspyre, Spellements may also drop from the Silver Chests that you complete. Once again, these Spellements are specific to the world you find the chest in.
FUTURE SOURCES
Boss Rematches – Possibly the most exciting of the bunch, we have plans to introduce new combats where you can gather your friends to experience a rematch with the main villains of each world. This will be done with a special Housing item that you will be able to craft once you complete Dragonspyre. These items must be recharged after each use. Right now, we’re planning to cover each of the Arc 1 worlds featuring a Boss Rematch against the final boss from each of those worlds. There will be several versions of each new Boss Rematch depending on the player’s level, and you will always have to farm the Boss appropriate to your level to get Spellements.
Questing – As part of our goal to make World Spellements an integral part of a Wizard's progression, we plan to add Spellements as quest rewards for Arc 1. This will take place in a future milestone.
Fishing – This one is probably the furthest away, but we are really excited about the possibility of getting Spellements through fishing. I know a bunch of you fishing enthusiasts out there can’t wait to see this included!
For frequent updates on our various dev initiatives, please follow us on
Twitter!
Thanks community!
Cam Wood
Associate Designer
and
Artie “GraniteHeart” Rogers
Design Director
Dated: May 4, 2022