THRONE AND LIBERTY Gameplay Preview — Should you Play?
Sep. 27, 2024THRONE AND LIBERTY Gameplay Preview — Should you Play?
In thisTHRONE AND LIBERTYgameplay preview, we will be exploring the mechanics and concepts of the MMORPG that is launching on October 1st, and catching you up to speed on what to expect from the title. This is a Free to Play MMORPG with a lot of promise, it has a weapon-based class system, extensive exploration features, and even the ability to morph into several animals and take to the skies or sea.
The game’s story sets the stage for extraordinary battles. The Wraith of Conquest, Kazar, has amassed huge armies and threatens to engulf the realm of Solisium in Darkness. All kingdoms and factions in the land turn to the magic of the Star of Sylaveth, with a worldwide hunt for its powerful magical fragments that are seen as the only hope to resist Kazar’s invasion.
As desperation grows, power struggles arise and guilds are formed to go after these special items. In this context, you must strategically plan and determine how to outmaneuver rival guilds, all while preparing for the inevitable clash withKazar’srelentless armies.
There’s a lot more to the story that you can get into, but since that’s something best explored personally let’s instead focus on gameplay and mechanics.
One of the standout features ofTHRONE AND LIBERTYis that it deviates from the traditional class-based gameplay that many of the MMORPGs have. In most MMOs, players choose a specific class to fulfill a role at the start of their adventure, such as being a Warrior, Archer, Mage, or Healer, and stick to those roles throughout the game, with an option to create additional characters when they want to change it up a bit.
However,THRONE AND LIBERTYtakes a different approach which eliminates the need to commit to a class. Instead, players choose from a variety of weapons that tie to the abilities that the weapon types have. Each weapon type inTHRONE AND LIBERTYis associated with a set of unique skills and abilities, both active and passive. This allows for a highly customized experience and flexibility, as players can equip two weapons at a time and switch between them during combat, making their build based around their favorite two weapons.
I play a lot of MMOs and I can see the appeal of both styles, but I’m particularly interested in THRONE AND LIBERTY’S combat because it just looks so engaging. There are currently seven weapon types that the players can choose from, but more are expected to be added in future game updates. Let me run you through them:
If you prefer to take on the role of protector, theSword and Shieldcombination turns you into the ultimate tank. With this setup, you can draw enemy attacks, shielding both yourself and your allies when the heat of battle intensifies. It’s all about standing your ground and ensuring your team stays safe under your protection.
For those who thrive on fast-paced but heavy melee combat, theGreatswordis your go-to weapon. This versatile weapon lets you dish out heavy damage while staying mobile, making it ideal for players who want to dive into the action and dominate in close-quarters combat.
If stealth is more your style, theDaggergives you the tools of an assassin. With its speed and agility, you can strike from the shadows, confusing enemies and inflicting crowd control effects. The Dagger is perfect for players who prefer a covert approach, slipping in and out of danger while disrupting enemy formations.
For players who prefer ranged combat, theCrossbowoffers precision and speed. With the fastest attack rate and the ability to debuff enemies, this weapon allows you to keep your foes at a distance while dealing steady, reliable damage.
If you prefer to deal damage from even greater distances, theLongbowgives you the edge of a long-range marksman. You can rain arrows down on enemies from afar, staying out of harm’s way while delivering lethal blows with accuracy.
And of course if you’re looking for a mage role there’s theStaff, which allows you to deal significant damage to multiple targets at once. This weapon turns you into the sorcerer of the battlefield, casting powerful spells that leave a lasting impact on your enemies.
Finally, theWand and Tomecombination is all about support. This setup enables you to focus on aiding your allies in battle, providing healing and buffs that make you an essential part of your team’s survival. As a support unit, your role is crucial in keeping the fight going and ensuring your team stays strong in the toughest battles.
I think the seven weapon types offer a good amount of mixup to give players well-rounded roles in battle and offer opportunities for support and complementary gameplay when doing group content. A player could switch between a Greatsword for close-quarter combat and a Wand and Tome for healing in a single encounter, adjusting their role depending on the situation. Having a combination of weapons, along with specializations that come along with them, can make for complex builds and variety for players to engage in. Modern MMOs have a tendency to create “master of all” classes so I’m quite excited to see how the community approaches content and which playstyles emerge as the most needed for each content type.
Character progression is one of the most important parts of any RPG, so having a good character development experience is crucial for these kind of games with long cycles toward endgame activities. THRONE AND LIBERTY offers a straight-forward approach to the first 50 levels, where you will mostly benefit from doing regular quests such as those from your Adventure Codex, and get perks from opening up exploration quests by finding waypoints. The system isn’t grindy and you can crunch this into a 5 hour period if you want to really push it, but I personally find the leveling part to be one of the attractions of play.
As you level, you will note your skills can be upgraded from their starting point of “Uncommon Level 1”. When an upgrade is available, you can use Precious Skill Growth Books to improve both their quality (the “uncommon” part will become “intermediate”, “greater” or “special”) and their level, resulting in more powerful versions of your known abilities. This contributes to a constant feeling of betterment that is quite rewarding as you play.
In addition to selecting your weapon and abilities and leveling them up, you will have a lot of control over your character’scombat stylethanks to theskill specialization system. After reachinglevel 25, you will begin earning extra “skill specialization points” with each level up. You can then start allocating up to100 pointsinto variousweapon augmentations. These enhancements can modify yourskillsin extreme ways, such as increasing theirarea of effect, addingdebuffs, or allowing you tomovewhile using skills that usually keep you stationary. You can also extend thechanneling timeof certain skills to boostdamage. Additionally, eachweapongains a new skill through this system, bringing the total to12 unique skills per weapon.
The tinkering available from the skill specialization system brings builds to another level entirely, and gives you an enormous amount of freedom in how to progress your character to make it unique to your playstyle, and all of this with a rather easy reset button so you can adapt when something didn’t quite work out. And if all of that wasn’t enough, you can also transfer XP from one skill to another (with some limitations) so you don’t have to regrind your progress from scratch each time.
You will also need to use the Enchanting system to improve your gear and equipment.Gear progressionis done withGrowth Stones, available inwhite,green,blue, andpurpletiers. Higher-tier stones provide betterupgradesfor leveling up your gear.
Unlike traditional enchanting systems that riskweapon damageorloss, this system ensures thatenhancementsare applied without setbacks. Your weapon’slevelwill remain intact, and you won’t face the risk of failure. You can merge growthstones to create higher tier versions and obtain bonuses for your enchanting, and you can also transfer XP from one gear piece to another, ensuring you don’t lose your progress. There are some limitations to it so you’d have to look at the efficiency thresholds for when to do the transfer, but the fact that there’s a system in place for this is quite reassuring.
There’s a lot more to character and gear progression but it would probably be its own entire video, so the summary is that you should expect to have a quite engaging leveling experience and a lot of options and choices to feel you are progressing with your character as you go, as well as tools to swap and experiment without many drawbacks or regrinding.
InTHRONE AND LIBERTY, exploration is not just encouraged — it is a core component of the game. Much likeGuild Wars 2, where exploration is rewarded with experience, new locations, and materials,THRONE AND LIBERTYincentivizes its players to explore the vast world ofSolisium. However, this isn’t just a static world with static rewards, the game incorporates a dynamic weather system and a day-night cycle that affects gameplay in various ways.
Solisium’s world designreally stands out from other MMOs I have played because of its focus onverticalityandseamless exploration. You can climbtowering cliffs, exploredeep underground caverns, soar through theskies, and sail (or swim) acrossopen seas—all without loading screens, making the world feel immense and connected. Eachregionyou explore has its own unique features and quirks.
The day-night cycle inTHRONE AND LIBERTYlasts for five hours in real-time: four hours of daylight and one hour of night. Enemies can change behavior depending on the time of day, and certain NPCs only appear during specific periods. This adds a layer of planning to exploration, as players will need to adapt to the constantly changing patterns to plan their movements accordingly. For instance, some creatures might roam an area at night, making travel more dangerous but potentially more rewarding for those brave enough to venture out in the night.
Some abilities are also affected by the time of day. For example, theDagger‘sGhost Stepability grants increased movement speed at night, giving Dagger users who prefer the stealth-oriented playstyle an advantage during the night.
Weather also plays a significant role in the world ofTHRONE AND LIBERTY. There can be sunny days and clear nights, although it can also rain or be windy — with each weather condition occurring at random. Once it rains, it will last for 30 minutes, with guaranteed clear weather after for at least 2 hours. These weather conditions not only affect the aesthetics of the world but also impact gameplay and even accessibility of certain areas. For example, a castle sewer might become flooded during a rainstorm, making it inaccessible for players. The wind can also play a factor, as the trajectory of arrows will be influenced by its direction, and the wind can also aid players in reaching specific locations.
Transformations
To further boost exploration, your character also possesses the ability to take on a variety of unique forms, not only to blend into the environment but also to navigate and engage in battle with a tactical edge. Thesetransformationsaren’t just cosmetic; each form serves a practical purpose, allowing you to adapt to your surroundings and the challenges ahead.
Eachtransformationenhances yourmobility, giving you the ability to traverse difficultterrainor outmaneuver opponents. Incombat, transforming into adefeated bossprovides a significantstrategic advantage, letting you use theirabilitieswhen the situation calls for it. The system addsdepthto both exploration and fighting, making it more than just agimmick—it’s a key part of how you interact with the world and approach different scenarios.
At launch,Solisiumwill offertwo regions,nineteen territories,eight cities, andsix dungeons. You’ll also be able to face off againsttwo archbossesandeighteen other bosses, and the developers plan to expand the world with additional regions in future updates. This is a sizeable amount of content particularly for a Free to Play game, so I expect all the positives are raising alarms of “ok tell me about the store”. So let’s dive into that.
THRONE AND LIBERTYalso has anAuction Housein which players can trade their items and gear in exchange forLucent, their premium currency.Lucentearned from the Auction House can be spent normally, so players who choose not to spend real-world money are still be able to earnLucent.
I spent some time researching about monetization and there didn’t seem to be any player consensus on whether it means you must buy things to succeed or not. It will take a few months for anyone to fully see how these systems impact the overall game economy, but for me I need to get there and see how it actually affects ME while playing before I can make a call so I’m planning on playing through to endgame as soon as it’s out.
THRONE AND LIBERTYhas been flying quite under the radar as far as new MMO launches go, which is surprising as the premise of the game is great and they have put out some trailers that honestly amped me up. I like the idea of the flexible weapon-centric system and I really want to see if the combat delivers the dynamic and highly customizable experience that I’m theorycrafting, particularly given the previews of epic guild battles for both pve and pvp. And yes, I’m not gonna lie I do love the idea of turning into a dolphin or eagle and expanding exploration that way, I really do love to go around fantasy worlds and see what’s around each corner.
Because the game is F2P, there is no barrier to entry so I expect many people may want to give a try right away. Will you be one of them? Have you played the Beta or the Korean version? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Castielle
Senior Editor at Fextralife. I enjoy gaming, playing and watching sports, cooking yummy food, watching a good movie and hanging out with Fex.
