Alpha Phase 2

Alpha 2 - Test 1 started on Wednesday, November 20, 2019 at 4pm CEST.

Alpha 2 - Test 2 started on Wednesday, March 25, 2020 at 4pm CEST.

Alpha 2 - Test 3 started on Wednesday, July 22, 2020 at 4pm CEST.

Alpha 2 - Test 4 started on Wednesday, November 5, 2020 at 4pm CEST.

The scope of Alpha 2 development cycle is to add missing core features of the game. The three big ones are:

* The Knowledge System including the Talent Tree;
* Player towns;
* Arboreus & Wildfolk / Tartaros & Demons.

A number of minor features also still need implementing. Among them, three are a staple of any MMORPG:

* Party & guilds
* Carts & wagons
* Mounts

## New Player Experience

Feedback from the February Open Playtest convinced us to anticipate the introduction of a proper “early game experience” that is closer to the final one and can teach the fundamentals of Fractured. The result is a whole new starting area that includes:

* A local bank to store your items;
* Fields, crafting station and a tavern to rest at;
* A series of tutorial quests that showcase the Knowledge System and other game mechanics;
* New “starter” foes to defeat (Young Wolf, Black Bear, Black Widow Hatchling).

## Knowledge System

The Knowledge System is likely to be the most important core feature missing from the game today.

The first implementation won’t be 100% complete, but will feature:

* The possibility to choose a **background** for your character during character creation. Each background provides a starter set of abilities and items, unrelated to attributes, and has no influence over character progression.
* A **personal encyclopedia** menu that tracks the character’s progression in all fields of knowledge. Fighting creatures, studying plants, crafting items, etc, unlocks new abilities and provides Knowledge Points that can be used to learn the abilities unlocked.
* The resting phase, where abilities can be assigned to the hotbar among other ones learned.

## Social Features

**Parties** are non-persistent associations of players that allow sharing monster kill rights and a private global chat channel. By “non-persistent” we mean all parties are deleted in the event of a server restart – you aren’t removed from party if you log out.

**Guilds** are persistent associations of players with a unique name and tag. They provide the same advantages as parties but include more options such as the possibility of declaring wars and forming alliances (not yet implemented), and are crucially related to the upcoming player-run cities.

If you own a piece of land, you can add other players as friends or co-owners of your claim. Plus, you can decide who has access to each item in your claim choosing between several options (only you, co-owners, friends, party members, guild members, everyone). This means you can actually share a plot of land with friends, and can use chests to trade with other players.

## Enchanting

Enchanting is one of the key parts to equipment progression and customization. It adds modifiers to equipment in a predictable way, with a minor RNG component.

* Reagents are items that act as fuel for enchanting. They are harvested from plants and trees, mined from mineral deposits, looted from monster corpses, or crafted from other materials. Each reagent comes with different properties, called power aspects, and an intensity for each property. There are three categories of aspects: Primal (mind, body, soul), Manipulation (create, destroy, negate, transform, transfer), and Universal (air, earth, fire, water, death, life, chaos, order, time, energy, knowledge).
* To enchant a piece of equipment, the item must be put into an Enchanting Table together with up to 5 reagents. The combined type and intensity of the aspects of the reagents determines the modifier(s) assigned to the item. All reagents are consumed when enchanting.

## Stealth

Stealth is the main new mechanic coming with the abilities you’ll be able to discover in Alpha 2 – Test 2.

Once in Stealth mode, your character becomes invisible to all but yourself and your fellow party/guild members. When you’re within 6 meters of any creature (monster or player), a short timer starts ticking unless you move further away. Its duration depends on your Stealth modifier (based on Dexterity) and the revealing creature’s Detection (depending on Perception). When the timer runs out (or whenever you get more than 100 damage at once from any source), you’re instantly revealed, so watch out and be tactical about your movements!

## Heavy Material Carts

**Handcarts** can be built in claims; it can carry heavy materials such as logs and stones. This makes building a home less cumbersome than in Alpha 1 – a must, considering that larger houses will also be implemented.

## Character Death

From the next testing phase onward, a character dying will leave its body behind, including all the items it was carrying (both equipped and in the backpack). The corpse will stay for a while before decaying and disappearing, so you’ll have plenty of time to get back to it and loot it – unless you respawned on the other side of the continent, that is!

Speaking of respawn locations, don’t worry about endless corpse runs: after death, you’ll be able to choose to resurrect at home or at the last tavern you rested in. This makes paying a visit to the closest town a key step when exploring a new area… and if you really can’t make it back, you can still allow your party/guild members to loot your corpse!

## World Building

A biome / point of interest is chosen and populated with unique art assets and groups of creatures, each one featuring specific characteristics, abilities, and loot. Last time it was Deadwoods, this time it’s Goblin Territories with some pesky inhabitants. Included in Test 2 is Vale of Shadows

### Goblin Territories

Goblins mostly use Warfare and Assassination abilities.

#### Creatures

* **Goblins**
	+ Archer
	+ Cutthroat
	+ Enforcer
	+ Shadowdancer
	+ Trapper
	+ Warchief
	+ Death Shaman (Boss)
	+ Fire Shaman (Boss)
* **Wolves**
	+ Trained Wolf
	+ Warg

#### Creature Abilities

* Abjuration
	+ Absorbtion
	+ Protection From Fire
	+ Protection From Poison

* Alteration
	+ Verdant Regrowth

* Assassination
	+ Shadow Dance
	+ Shadow Step
	+ Shadow Walk

* Conjuration
	+ Infectious Burst
	+ Totem Of Decay
	+ Totem of Wildfire

* Invocation
	+ Firebolt
	+ Frost Blast
	+ Shocking Lash

* Marksmanship
	+ Net Trap
	+ Power Shot
	+ Ricochet

* Restoration
	+ Minor Healing

* Warfare
	+ Shield Block
	+ Shockwave

### Heartwood

After Goblin Territories, work will be done on the ruins of Heartwood, located in the very center of Myr. Once one of the most important temples of Tyros on Elysium, the mystical energy lingering in the air and in the earth still animates the ancient guardians of the holy place.

#### Creatures

* **Plants**
	+ Sproutling
	+ Tangler
	+ Treant
	+ Whipping Vines (Summon)
* **Elementals**
	+ Earth Elemental
	+ Greater Earth Elemental
* **Spirits**
	+ Woodland Whisp

#### Creature Abilities

* Warfare
	+ Battle Stop
	+ Concussive Strike
* Alteration
	+ Entangling Roots
	+ Petrify
	+ Shroud of Thorns
	+ Slow
	+ Verdant Regrowth
* Conjuration
	+ Acid Sphere
	+ Relocate
	+ Whipping Vines
* Illusionism
	+ Confusion
* Invocation
	+ Earthquake
	+ Shocking Lash
	+ Tectonic Outburst
* Restoration
	+ Minor Healing

As mentioned before, it’s possible we’ll have to cut down on planned new content for this test, which means some of the creatures listed above might not be going live.

## References

1. ↑ Fractured News (August 17, 2019). "ROADMAP TO ALPHA 2 & GAMESCOM". *Official Fractured Website*. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
2. ↑ Fractured News (October 09, 2019). "PORTING TEST WEEKEND & ALPHA 2 UPDATE". *Official Fractured Website*. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
3. ↑ Fractured News (October 31, 2019). "NO TRICK, BIG TREAT: ALPHA 2 LAUNCH REVEALED". *Official Fractured Website*. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
4. ↑ Fractured News (December 04, 2019). "OPEN ALPHA 2 WEEKEND & TEST EXTENSION". *Official Fractured Website*. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
5. ↑ Fractured News (December 26, 2019). "ROADMAP TO ALPHA 2 – TEST 2". *Official Fractured Website*. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
6. ↑ Fractured News (March 16, 2020). "ALPHA 2 – TEST 2 LAUNCH DAY REVEALED". *Official Fractured Website*. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
7. ↑ Fractured News (April 23, 2020). "ROADMAP TO ALPHA 2 – TEST 3". *Official Fractured Website*. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
8. ↑ Fractured News (July 08, 2020). "ALPHA 2 – TEST 3 LAUNCH DAY REVEALED". *Official Fractured Website*. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
9. ↑ Fractured News (July 16, 2020). "ALPHA 2 – TEST 3 POSTPONED". *Official Fractured Website*. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
10. ↑ Fractured News (July 08, 2020). "ALPHA 2 – TEST 3 NEW LAUNCH DATE". *Official Fractured Website*. Retrieved July 31, 2020.