Fractured is the first open-world sandbox MMORPG mixing action combat with fully interactable environments, appealing equally to lovers of competitive and cooperative gameplay. Jump right into the fray from day one. Defeat your enemies through your own skill and cleverness, not equipment or level.

Gather resources, craft, trade and venture into legendary travels as a solitary hero, or start a settlement with your guild and grow it into the next empire.

Fractured plans to bring together the best of Action RPGs and Sandbox MMOs, two genres that haven’t been successfully matched before. On one hand the game will feature a highly skill-based combat system that rewards tactics, reflexes and nimbleness of fingers; on the other hand, the user will be immersed in a fully player-driven economy, with an emphasis on realistic resource management, crafting and advanced world colonization features.

On top of that, Dynamight Studios wants to broaden its audience by allowing new players to be competitive from day one, by getting rid of the “grinding” mechanics that characterize the genre, and by implementing innovative rules on player interactions.

Alpha 2 – Test 3 is starting on Thursday, July 16, and bringing to life Player Cities, the Talent Tree, plus a ton of balancing changes!

This new test is likely to be the most feature-rich in our development history, beating even Alpha 2 – Test 2, which back in March brought to life new player onboarding (starting area + tutorial), the Vale of Shadows and a lot of related content.

So, without further ado, let’s see what’s new!

Player Cities

he largest addition going live in Alpha 2 – Test 3 is without a doubt one of the most awaited by the community – player cities!

If you own a Governor pack or above, you can claim a city territory right now on the world map. If not, you’ll be able to apply as governor in game by paying a gold fee (5,000 for a small city, 15,000 for a large city) and claim the area once you have the support of enough fellow players (4 for a small city, 14 for a large city).

Once the city territory has been claimed, citizens should repair the Town Hall, which gives access to all the city management features. After that, you are able to build roads and place personal land parcels connected to those roads. Those parcels can then be claimed by citizens, allowing them to build their own houses within the city.

Other than private land parcels, a governor is able to build the following public structures in the city:

• Tavern, where everyone can rest and set a new spawn point.
• Tailor, where all armor crafting now takes place (the generic Workbench has been removed from the game).
• Carpenter, where you can craft the following new items: Wooden Club, Quarterstaff, Shortbow, Longbow.
• Magic Shop, where you can craft the following new items: Mage Staff, Ice Staff, Fire Staff, Shock Staff.

Please note that some of the more advanced city features like the Tech Tree, sieges and resource nodes are not implemented yet, but they’re considered high priority for the following testing phases.

The Talent Tree

They’re finally here, the talents to further customize your playstyle!

The Talent Tree adds a ton of variety to your character builds and strengthens the feeling of character progression by allowing you to exchange Knowledge Points for Talent Points instead of spending them to learn discovered abilities. The current conversion cost is 1,000 Knowledge Points : 1 Talent Point.

Each character can unlock up to 60 Talent Points, which can be assigned on a tree consisting of 90 different nodes, which each node providing a different bonus and accepting a different amount of points. In sum, a classic RPG talent tree, with the peculiarity that you can create multiple talent presets and memorize a different one each time you rest – just like with abilities, no timed or paid respecs!

Survey Feedback

The survey we released after the May Open Playtest made it clear that balancing in Fractured had a long way to go, particularly in PvP. In this section, we’re going to focus on criticisms and how we’ve addressed them in Alpha 2 – Test 3.

Feedback on PvE and character progression revealed that:

• Roughly half of the players considered progression too fast, particularly in a group, while most of the others found it appropriate.
• PvE could be hard as a new player due to the lack of guidance on creature power…
• …but it was also frequently reported as too simple due to how easy it was to stun-lock monsters and exploit “leashing”.

Feedback on social features revealed that:

• Not having icons on the minimap for fellow party members sucked. This was the single most frequent feedback of the whole survey.
• The lack of knowledge sharing in a party made parties way less useful.
• Many of you would like to be able to invite other players in your guild/party without them being near.

Feedback on PvP revealed that:

• TOK (time to kill) was too low. This made builds based on burst damage the only viable options.
  • Critical Damage was the obvious culprit there…
  • …and Ice Spikes + Word of Power: Kill a worthy accomplice.
• Warriors could easily reach 100% in different magical resistances, giving them a huge advantage over mages.
• The duration of hard CC (e.g. Stun) was generally too long. This made group PvE too easy, burst damage even stronger, and soft CC spells obsolete.

Balancing Changes

And now, let’s get to the changes!

First, here are the two most significant changes that are going to reshape PvP in Fractured:

• Non-physical resistances now function like physical ones. This means their value now ranges from -1,000 to +1,000, which is then converted into a % of damage reduction using the armor formula. This change makes it easier to get to a decent level of magical damage reduction and harder to get to high levels. Also, since 1,000 converts to an 80% reduction, achieving total immunity is now possible only through spells such as Protection From Fire.
• Critical Damage now applies only to the base weapon damage, which means it no longer stacks with other damage bonuses (Strength, Melee Damage Increase, etc). Conversely, it’s easier to get passive Critical Chance from attributes and enchantments.

Attributes have been rebalanced as well:

• Strength had its bonuses/point changed as follows: Melee Damage 10 => 8, Endurance 100 => 50, Endurance Regen 1.2 p/s => 1 p/s, Carry Weight 5 kg => 6 kg. An overall nerf to the strongest attribute by far.
• Dexterity now provides a 1% Move Speed modifier per point.
• Perception now provides 2% passive Critical Chance per point instead of 0.5%.
• Constitution now provides 50 Endurance per point, but no longer provides passive Life Regeneration (which is now fixed at 0.02%/s) and no longer raises Carry Weight.

Abilities in the game have also received a ton of changes, so listing them all here is impossible. On average, they’re simpler (each has fewer effects) and the highest damages / longest hard CCs have been nerfed.

Last but not least:

• You can now see fellow party members on the minimap.
• Monsters become immune to damage / CC and regenerate Endurance faster when leashing.
• The number of kills required to complete the knowledge of monsters has been increased overall.
• Each monster now has a difficulty rating (DR), which represents the ideal size of the group that should be facing it. If the number of players getting loot rights is higher than the DR, each player gets less knowledge (and vice-versa).
• If a player gets loot rights (thus knowledge gains) on a monster, all fellow party members nearby get it too.

 

In Fractured, choosing where to start your journey doesn’t mean following a different series of quests in an otherwise identical game. Join the first MMO where the race you belong to has an actual impact on game mechanics, from the type of society you live in to the ways you can interact with other players.

1. No human is born good or bad. Make your choice to uphold the law or break the established order. From a righteous governor to a cruel brigand, any path is open to you on planet Syndesia. Beware, though: you’ll be subject to the rules of a feudal society, so think beforehand to the consequences of your actions!
2. Living on a planet overwhelmed by giant vegetation, Beastmen have developed a deep connection to nature that endowed them with super-human resilience and keen survival skills. If you enjoy a cooperative and defensive gameplay in a peaceful community, look no further: Arboreus is your new home.
3. Banished to a hostile planet scarce in resources and filled with dangers, Demons possess an inner evil alignment that makes it natural for them to prey on each other and on other races. Make Tartaros your choice if you’re hungry for blood and dream of becoming a legendary ravager, assassin, or worse.

Finding a broadsword in the corpse of a rat sounds a little unlikely? Forget about old RPG clichés and enter a world where every item is crafted by players. Exploit the uneven distribution of resources to get high profits when trading at faraway markets – but make sure you reach your destination alive!

Stake your claim to free land in the open world, secure it from your enemies and start your own cultivation and livestock business. Your products will never be in low demand since access to food and water is essential for survival, especially when venturing into long extra-planetary travels.

Wood, stone, metal, gems, herbs. Each planet is rich in some commodities and entirely lacks others. Explore the massive universe of Fractured to locate and harvest the rarest resource nodes in every region, but remember: locals might try to stop you as environment exploitation can damage a whole ecosystem!

Not all resources are fine with being harvested. Fur, hides, bones, carapaces and several other key crafting components can only be obtained through PVE combat. If you’re an avid monster hunter, Tartaros will be your dreamland… or perhaps your worst nightmare.

Tired of MMOs where the fun begins 80 hours after you’ve started playing? In Fractured, you’re free to join your friends in the most epic adventures right off the bat. Once the strengths and weaknesses of your character are set, you’ll be on a quest for knowledge and reputation, not attribute points!

Say goodbye to the conventional RPG level and skill systems you’ve seen way too often and embrace the power and flexibility of the Knowledge System. It’s about time you get rewarded for your courage and cleverness, not for the hours you’ve spent hunting zombies or punching a training dummy!

Take a moment to rest in front of a fire in your home, a tavern or your group’s encampment. Prepare a set of abilities to define your role in battle and assign your talent points to finely tune your build. Done? Time to enjoy the freedom of a MOBA with the persistence of a MMO!

Fractured is out to break the boundaries of the MMO genre by bringing the combat style you’ve loved in single-player Action RPGs into a complex sandbox universe. Learn to aim, dodge and master over 400 abilities and 40 unique status effects: only your skills and tactics will lead you to victory!

Stuck between a clan of bandits and a raging river? Animate the waters to protect you, or freeze them over to cross to safety – then melt them to drown your foes! In Fractured, the natural elements around you can always be exploited to defeat your enemies, even when all hope seems lost.

Looking for a new home? Find a suitable location and start a settlement with your guild. As a governor, you’ll be able to guide its development into a social, trading, or military hub. Beware, though: the rise to power of your city won’t go unnoticed, so get ready to protect it from hostile raids and sieges!