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The Protectors of the Monolith

Exploring an ancient Monolith of unknown origins was always going to be a risky job. From broken ledges to ankle-breaking heights, even an elite Mercenary such as yourself needs to stay focused… especially when there are strange, aggressive automatons attacking you from all angles!

These potent protectors spawn around the Monolith, although which ones you encounter depend on the Cartogram you’re tackling. Automatons come in a variety of shapes and sizes, which indicate their rank. Rank to who, however, remains a mystery…

[h3]Gnat[/h3]



Gnats are fast and agile machines that prioritise helping other automatons over attacking intruders. That isn’t to say you want to ignore them, though, as they provide healing and shields to their allies, making your task even harder.

They have a tendency to throw one last-ditch attempt at victory when their allies are defeated - by blowing up in an attempt to take you with it! Kill these bothersome robots first to avoid any messy outcomes.



[h3]Skirmisher[/h3]



These extremely quick and hard-hitting foes will keep you on your toes. Designed to assassinate any intruders, Skirmishers will jump at you with a forceful thrust of their dagger, before unleashing a flurry of stabs in your direction, and then vaulting away - going invisible in the process.

Dodge their wild strikes and track their movements - their invisibility is a blessing and a curse. Attack them during this period to leave them stunned and vulnerable, allowing for an easy kill. Fail to do so, and they will heal any damage done to them, before going for the throat once more.



[h3]Champion[/h3]



Living true to their name, Champions are an aggressive elite mechanization who will stop at nothing to eliminate any threat. Like the Skirmishers, Champions also have twin blades and are not afraid to use them, delivering deadly stabs one after another to those who aren’t careful.

Master your dodge timing to avoid their reckless charges, opening up an opportunity to perform a coup-de-grace for high damage. Don’t get too greedy, though, as Champions can drive their blades into the ground and send out pulses of energy, flipping the fight in their favour once more.

When this all-or-nothing machine gets weaker, they’ll summon the last of their strength to enrage, greatly increasing their attack power. Making one mistake while a Champion is in this state will have fatal consequences.



These are just three of the automaton types that will stop at nothing to eliminate you. You’ll need more than just wits to defeat them, however - In the next blog, we’ll look at how you can gain an upper hand by modifying your equipment.

Empyreal to feature in Indie Live EXPO!

We’re proud to announce that Empyreal has been selected to take part in Asia’s largest Indie Game Expo - the Indie Live EXPO!

Indie Live EXPO takes place on 13 April, where over 2600 games will be shown. You can tune into its livestream at 10AM BST/7AM EST/3AM PT/8PM JST and watch in English, Chinese, or Japanese.

Learn more about the Indie Live EXPO on its website and X page.



Exploring Empyreal’s Monolith

The Monolith is a strange and complex structure, full of lost secrets and technological advancements alien to The Company’s expedition team. While people like Dr Maria Thornton are studying things from afar, to truly understand the Monolith you’ll need to venture inside. And to do that, you will need a Cartogram…

[h3]Cartograms[/h3]

Cartograms are the levels that you play through while exploring the Monolith. You can think of these as “blueprints.” Empyreal’s levels aren’t procedurally generated and are exclusively hand-crafted for that more curated touch. However, the Cartograms determine the loot available in each level, add some random factors that diversify play, as well as decide the overall level of challenge presented, resulting in a different experience every single time.



You carry Cartograms in your inventory and there are two types: ones received from quest NPCs, such as Edmund Reyne, and ones dropped from defeated enemies. The latter will have their loot, Quadrant type, level, boss, elemental effects, and other elements randomised, while the former is the same for all players. You can see these elements when selecting a Cartogram in your Inventory, or at the Cartogram Portal, allowing you to focus on any specific loot that suits your build.

Cartograms have finite uses: you can unlock checkpoints and make use of a fixed number of Reset Charges should you die, but once your Cartogram attempt is over (whether you succeed or fail) you can trade or gift your Cartograms to other players using the Trading Post or Mailbox in the Command Centre.

Some Cartograms are also significantly harder than others, with enhanced loot available. But fear not: if all looks lost, you can abandon a Cartogram and sacrifice all loot gained on that attempt, allowing you to retry it again later when you are stronger.



[h3]Quadrants[/h3]

Think of Quadrants as different biomes. The Monolith is home to four Quadrants in total: Man & Church, Mind & Truth, Word & Life, and Depth & Silence. Each Quadrant is home to several distinct levels for you to explore, determined by the Cartogram you use.
During your adventure, unearth items called Curios to piece together the history of these ancient locations and learn of the people who once resided in them.

Man and Church



Mind & Truth



Word & Life



Depth & Silence



Empyreal Bounties 💰

Welcome to Just Empyreal


We've partnered with Just to reward your content and creativity. It’s their way (and ours) to recognise this brilliant community. Most importantly, any content you submit will always remain yours - we just want to help it shine.

Just Empyreal is the place to earn real-money rewards for creating great content while playing the demo for our upcoming Action-RPG.

Rewards:

These content creation challenges will have you earning real-money prizes in no time. Currently available bounties include Designing a new weapon, Taking a pretty screenshot, or simply Showing us your character with more to come soon.

Get involved here.

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Did you miss our Release Date Reveal and Game Overview? You can see that video below ahead of the May 8th launch!

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Stay up to date with the latest Empyreal news and see some behind the scenes content by joining our Discord and follow us on X, Bluesky and TikTok for more.

Be sure to wishlist the game on Steam and try the game for yourself ahead of the May 8th launch via the Demo, available now.

Begin your Empyreal Expedition on 8 May

Did you spot us in The MIX Spring Game Showcase? We are proud to announce that Empyreal will be launching on Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series S|X on 8 May, and that Empyreal will be priced at £24.99/$29.99/€29.99, with a 10% launch discount on Steam.

To celebrate this news, we’ve created a seven-minute Game Overview trailer, in which Creative Director Joseph Rogers delves into Empyreal’s key mechanics and narrative. Listen and learn, then practice in the Empyreal Demo to put yourself in the best position come 8 May.


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What is Empyreal?

Empyreal is a complex and challenging action RPG from Silent Games, where players must enter an enigmatic and ancient monolith to seek out hidden revelations that promise to transform our understanding of creation itself.

Did you miss our three part developer diaries? Check out Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3!