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Icarus has a mighty skill tree with over 250 talents to pick from

As someone that's constantly stalking survival games, I’ve been keeping an eye on Icarus. Through some bushes. While covered in mud. Dean "DayZ" Hall’s return to the survival genre is a speed-dating version of traditional survival games, dropping players into shorter sessions (lasting hours and days rather than months) where you make planetfall, set-up a base, grab resources, then sell them post-mission. To keep players interested in the long run, there's a lot of character progression, with over 250 talents to unlock. Here's a small look at them.


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The Talent Tree



[h2]What is the Talent Tree?[/h2]

With over 250 combined talents to choose from, Icarus' Talent Tree gives you the ability to reflect your unique play-style inside three primary archetypes: Survival, Construction and Hunting.

This time around we will cover Survival and Hunting, with Construction coming in its own separate post.

[h2]Survival Tree[/h2]
The survival tree is designed for general character survival on the planet, storm detection and weathering, resource gathering and consumption, farming, and anything to do with a character’s basic needs.



[h3]Resources[/h3]
Do you like collecting materials? If so, unlocking the talents in this branch of the survival tree will make your yields more fruitful. Once you begin missions to mine exotics and return them to the orbital station you'll find a talent waiting for you called "Exotic Specialist" which marks one Exotic Deposit on your map to get you underway as fast as possible. It will save you time and maybe even your life.



[h3]Exploration[/h3]
If you know our Community Manager Lorii, who explores but finds herself in some sticky situations like luring bears, unlocking talents in the Exploration branch can ensure you a quick getaway!

Swimming in Icarus is necessary for cooling off when your character gets too hot, if you are on fire(?) or need a shortcut. You can also swim to escape a predator. Luckily for you there is a talent to allow you to zoom through water quickly and it might even be faster than running. Here you are also able to unlock abilities to support your team like storm detection, better shared XP gain and Field Medic that allows you to revive your friends with more health.



[h3]Hunting[/h3]
Talents like On the Trail make you a master tracker, highlighting animal footprints to give you a advantage while hunting. There are complementary buffs for crouched shots, cheaper arrow crafting and more efficient resource gathering from prey to make you a valuable team member no matter the mission you're undertaking. And perhaps the most notable talent here, Running with the Wolves, makes you neutral to wolves so they won't bother you unless provoked with an attack.

[h3]Cooking / Farming[/h3]
Here you'll find slower food decay, increased food buff durations, raw meat ingestion perks and talents for farming! That's right, FARMING! Ever wanted to grow your own food? In Icarus you can. This branch of the survival tree means you can work your Green Thumb to your heart's content with a handsome amount of crops to prove it.



[h2]Combat Tree[/h2]
This tree focuses on talents for damage-dealing weapons like bows, spears and firearms to protect and advance through to the late game.



[h3]Bows[/h3]
Movement speed is integral to hunting pursuits, especially as a bow wielder who sees a new target and wants to quickly move into a good spot to go for the kill shot. Here you have the chance to unlock talents that bleed your prey and/or completely immobilize them.



[h3]Spears[/h3]
Spears are reliable for multi-tasking, using them for both melee and projectile damage. When equipped with a spear, if you utilize one of the stamina regen talents, you'll find yourself catching your breath much more quickly. This is both good for your endurance when crossing multiple terrains in one stint or chasing a predator. In this branch you'll find other talents like cheaper spear crafting and throwing a spear to put out a fire (don’t ask).



[h3]Blades[/h3]
Everyone loves a stealth kill! Want to get the upper hand on your prey? While crouching with a knife, there is a talent here that makes you almost undetectable. Ever wanted to skin your prey instantly? If you work your way down the branch, you can. The knife is a great tool that has many uses and we trust you will execute all of them here.

[h3]Firearms[/h3]
Nice try, Prospector! We will delve into the details of these in a separate post. Because they sure deserve one.

[h3]There is more to come![/h3]
Your character is your identity on Icarus and as you customize your antics to suit any mission you'll feel yourself grow, improve and refine as a player.

Join our Discord server, we would love to have you! Discord.gg/SurviveIcarus

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1149460/ICARUS/

The Planetary Tech Tree



[h2]What is the Planetary Tech Tree?[/h2]

When you first land on Icarus as a poor prospector you bring nothing with you. As you start gathering stones, sticks and flora with your bare hands, mine rocks using your newly crafted pickaxe, chop down trees and collect wood with your stone axe, you’ll earn experience points (XP), level up and earn points to unlock items to craft in the Planetary Tech Tree.

The items you choose will help you customize your own play style and increase your chances of staying alive longer!

The first two tiers of Icarus’ planetary tech tree have over 150 items for you to unlock and craft.

[h2]Tier One[/h2]
Tier One provides the foundational tools to survive as a prospector. These items are fast to craft, use easily found resources and set you up with the basics to survive on Icarus.



[h3]Basic Hunting[/h3]

Wolves and Bears are in abundance on Icarus’ more Earth-like terraformed areas and will approach you if you’re in their line of sight. Without the bare minimum of a Wood Spear, Wood Bow or Stone Knife, you may become a meal.

  • Stone Knife: requires Fiber, Sticks and Stones.

    It has baseline melee damage, skinning efficiency (how much leather you collect per skinning), yet low projectile damage when thrown from afar.

  • Bone Knife: requires Wood, Leather and well... Bones.

    Slightly higher melee damage, providing more efficient skinning as well as better projectile damage compared to the Stone Knife.

  • Wood Spear: requires Fiber and Sticks.

    Decent melee damage with projectile damage to boot! If you're interested in getting up close and personal with your enemies, this spear is for you. You can also aim and throw from a distance while being able to retrieve it from inside your prey or from the ground.

  • Bone Spear: requires Wood, Leather and Bones.

    Better melee and projectile damage than a Wood Spear.

  • Wood Bow: requires Fiber and Sticks.

    Sufficient but limited projectile damage. Accompanying the bow are two choices of damage-inducing arrows made from Stone orBone. If you happen to be lost or need help, you can also craft a Flare Arrow to pinpoint your position in the sky or a craft a Flame Arrow to set something alight!






[h3]Basic Shelter[/h3]

Building in this tier has the sole purpose of providing a shelter to survive within your immediate means.

  • Thatch: is your quick craft option.

    While only requiring easily accessible materials such as Fiber and Sticks, thatch shelters give you limited durability. If you are away from your main homestead this is a good choice for a temporary hunting shed. Just remember to stay away from fire!

  • Wood: provides something a bit more rugged!

    As you weather your first storms inside your cabin, you'll need a Fire Whacker to stave off flames and Repair Mallet to fix your structure's durability. Your odds of outlasting torrential wind, rain, and thunder increase drastically here but you must stay alert!


[h2]Tier Two[/h2]
Once you’ve hit Level 5, you will be granted access to the second tier! From here you will unlock the Crafting Bench from which every other craftable item stems from. Tier two is a little more technical, pushing you to be more strategic when gathering your resources and deciding what to spend them on. Raising the question: What are you trying to achieve during this session?





[h3]Enhanced Hunting[/h3]

  • The Stone Furnace: smelts a range of elements including Iron, where you can craft deadlier weapons like the Iron Knife, Iron Spear, Crossbow and bolts. Want to hunt more efficiently? This is the way.

  • The Skinning Bench: is great for improving your Meat, Fur, Leather and Bone gathering as your "value-per-prey" efficiency is increased per carcass. Rather than skinning your kills with a knife in the field, carrying carcasses back to the bench will provide more resources.


It is important to note that you need to have a complete cabin (connecting floors, walls, roof) in order to use the Crafting Bench and the other heavy duty items that require protection from the elements.




[h3]Enhanced Building[/h3]

  • The Masonry Bench: gives access to Stone tier construction, making your home a far safer haven than wood could ever provide. Storms shouldn't be an issue for you now, prospector.

  • The Carpentry Bench: makes room for players to get creative with their interior design, but most importantly adds an extra layer of durability during storms. You also gain the ability to create ‘trophies’ of your favourite hunts to add some flavour to those bare walls.




[h3]Armor[/h3]

  • The Armor Bench: this is your first time being able to craft your own armor, congratulations! Each type has its own perks and purpose, suited for each of our biomes. Crafting Leather Armor provides a quality upgrade to protect you from early-level elemental exposure. Fur Armor is ideal for cold to freezing environments, while Ghillie Armor provides a clever advantage as you blend into the forest and shrubs around you.




[h3]Consumables[/h3]

  • The Herbalism Bench: enables you to bake, cook and create sustainable food options with nutritional perks and a larger expiry window. These will alleviate the constantneed to be on the lookout for prey. Bread Dough is a must have, yet Stamina, Oxygen and Health Pastes provide boosts that can give you an edge in a tricky spot.


[h3]What are your thoughts?[/h3]
We've aimed to provide prospectors with a full toolkit of core survival features, with many more for you to discover. We will dive into tier three and four's more advanced machinery and materials another time.

Join our Discord server and take part in the conversation! Discord.gg/SurviveIcarus

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1149460/ICARUS/

Watch The Making Of Icarus: Episode 10 Now!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Following on from our latest Community Update, in this week’s episode we are talking about our performance testing regime, particularly leading into our upcoming beta!

Icarus needs its players for the final stage of development before launch. Find out why by watching the video!

Join our Discord and chat with us! https://discord.gg/surviveicarus

Community Update #2 - To The Moon


[h2]GREETINGS PROSPECTORS![/h2]

It's been a jam-packed week following our announcement of Icarus launching on August 11! During this time we've seen an influx of folks in our Discord (also looking at you, Rust community!) and a bunch of new wishlists and pre-orders.

Thank you for your support, we are in very high spirits and are eager to get our game into your hands. So now that Icarus has a launch date, what's next? In July, we begin our "staggered" beta! Yes, you read that correctly, we are having a BETA!

[h2]THE STAGGERED BETA PROCESS[/h2] Gate One: Under NDA, RocketWerkz developers' close friends and family get to play. Gate Two: Under NDA, we invite core Discord community members to sign up via a provided Google Form. Gate Three: No NDA. Open for fans who pre-ordered the Deluxe edition. Gate Four: No NDA. Open for everyone who pre-ordered. Next: Launch!

We don't have set dates for each step in the beta process. Rather, once we've successfully scaled up, listened to feedback and met our goals for each gate then we'll move onto the next step and gradually invite more people in. Don't worry, we'll let you know when there is an opportunity for community members and pre-order supporters to try Icarus before 11 August.

Are you a content creator keen to get yourself a free key? Hold tight! We will launch our Rainmaker.gg campaign shortly.

So prepare yourselves, Prospectors! You may get your hands on Icarus sooner than you think!

[h2]CREATOR SPOTLIGHT[/h2]
[h3]Introducing Matty Mojo![/h3]

Matty resides "down-under" and has created multiple YouTube videos on Icarus, mostly based around our live streams. One of the most unique videos that have been created around our game is one of his research pieces on Icarus' Greek lore and how it connects to our title. Talk about thinking outside of the box!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
"I started my small channel on crafting stories in survival games, and learnt that the true test of a game in that genre is - can you craft your own story within it? I've grown to love the survival genre, I love the immersion, and love the wonder of what is over the next hill? And I love to see people try something new, and Icarus is definitely that, so on that measure alone the Icarus project deserves upmost respect. I'm confident with Dean at the helm, with the vast experience he has in this genre he can steer Icarus to a truly exciting place. For me, the adventure is only just beginning and I look forward to etching my story into the landscape of Icarus." - Matty Mojo

Subscribe to Matty's YouTube and follow him on Twitter!

[h3]That's all, folks![/h3]
Exciting times are coming, we are about to get so busy! Make sure to join our thriving Discord server Discord.gg/SurviveIcarus and follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/surviveicarus/

- Lorii

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1149460/ICARUS/