Questions about RoM's newest chapter, Fires of Shadowforge!

In July we had the chance to get ask some questions of Mandy Blumenthal, Producer of Runes of Magic, specifically about Chapter V: Fires of Shadowforge. Read on after the break for the details!

1.Give us the history of the new playable race, the Shadowforge Dwarves. Why are they just becoming available at this point in time?

The Shadowforge dwarves are a sub-clan of the Fireboot dwarves, which were included in Chapter IV as a NPC race. The Shadowforge dwarves broke off into their own clan, because they wanted to improve their skills using dark magic elements. They moved into exile and built a new capital for their folk in the underground of a mountain.

The Shadowforge tribe experimented with the dark magic successfully for a few centuries, but after a while they became careless and made a mistake. The whole folk of the Shadowforge dwarves fell into a stone-like sleep and got lost in their below ground kingdom.

Many years elapsed, until the Adventurer’s Guild found the entrance to the forsaken kingdom and broke the spell on the Shadowforge dwarves.

2.The dwarves will have two unique classes: warlock and champion. How do they differ from the existing classes?

Both classes use unique attributes in battle to deal as much damage as possible. The Champion is similar to the Warden, but has more flexible combat roles. Unlike the Warden, the champion has to decide which role he wants to take before starting a battle. He has two different options for playing in a group. He can be used as an off-tank while the rune robot form is active, or as a damage dealer in his dwarf form. As an off-tank, the champion can teleport enemies directly to him as well as dealing AOE damage. As damage dealer, he generates more single target damage and can focus his damage better, especially useful for boss fights.

The Warlock can be compared with the mage. Both classes deal lots of magic damage, and are able to do AOE as well as single target damage. However, the Warlock uses a new kind of energy, which is called ‘Psy.’ Every spell the Warlock casts spends focus and generates one point of Psy. After getting 6 points of Psy he can activate one of two different special modes. The first mode is the ‘Willpower Blade,’ a status in which the Warlock does more magical damage. The second one is the “Willpower Construct,” which allows this class to support group members for example by buffing their attributes.

3.There are female dwarf NPCs in the game, but currently only male dwarves can be created by players. Is there a lore reason for this, and will female dwarves be released in the future?

Female dwarves are not planned yet. The reason why we decided not to implement female dwarves was that it is the dwarven ladies who are ruling the family life and the house. Therefore it is the male’s duty to protect and fight.

4.Could you tell us about the two new zones added in the expansion? Are they both for end-game leveled players?

The two new zones which have been added to the game with Chapter V are not only for high level players. The first one, Taffrock, is a new starter region exclusively for the dwarves. Players who decide to choose a dwarf begin the game in this zone, and will teleport to Varanas after finishing the first levels.

The second zone, the Ancient Kingdom of Rorazan, is the new region for high-level players from level 70-72. Both zones include a new dungeon. 

5.Can you tell us about the summer festival event? What can players do, and what rewards will there be?

Along with the new permanent content, we added a new version of the crafting festival. Similar to last year, players must improve their crafting skills and collect materials to get new recipes and other rewards.

The latest adjustment we made was the constellation pet system. This is a new kind of feature where players have to bring resources to the event NPC. Twice a day they have the chance to get an exclusive pet after meeting the requirements.

This exclusive pet will be available only while the crafting festival is active. After the crafting festival ends and the next monthly event begins, the pet will transform into another one. So the players will see twelve new pets in the game over the course of the year. Each of these twelve pets can be upgraded twice to improve the buffs they give the player.