Dragonkin: The Banished News

Hello Dragon Hunters,

It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for, Dragonkin: The Banished Demo is available now!

[previewyoutube][link of the video][/previewyoutube]

[h3]WHERE & FOR WHOM?[/h3]
On Steam (exclusively) but for EVERYONE.

Download the demo now:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1863430/Dragonkin_The_Banished/

While this demo showcases content we can’t wait for you to discover, it’s only a fraction of what will be available when Early Access starts on March 6th.

Please note: any progress made in the demo won't be carried over to Early Access launch.

[h2]What to expect in this Demo?[/h2]

[h3]Prologue[/h3]
In this demo, you will get to explore the world of Dragonkin through the prologue, to give you a first look of the story.

[h3]3 pre-built characters starting at level 35[/h3]
After completing the prologue, you will have access to 3 pre-built characters:

• The Knight, the Oracle, and the Barbarian
  

You can customize them to match your playstyle by:

• Modifying their equipment
  
• Adjusting their Ancestral Grid
  
• Managing their Wyrmlings
  
• Leveling up to level 50
  

[h3]The city of Montescail[/h3]
The city will be available but with limited content. However, you can still access several essential services:

• The Jailer allows you to change your Wyrmlings
  
• The Dark Merchant lets you sell unwanted items
  
• The Apothecary allows you to craft potions
  
• The Jeweler allows you to create rings
  

[h3]6 difficulty levels & 1 endgame activity[/h3]
For those looking for a challenge, the demo includes 6 difficulty levels and an endgame activity:

• Dungeon Purification, a repeatable challenge that can be played indefinitely
  

[h3]2 distinct environments[/h3]
You will be able to explore 2 distinct environments, each with 3 different variations:

• The Perdition Sanctuary
  
• The Sunken Temple
  

Thanks for your understanding!

[h2]Want to closely follow the game's development?[/h2]

As usual, keep looking at our Steam page but we invite you to join our Discord. We’re building something awesome over there, and we want YOU to be part of it!

For the occasion, new channels on Discord are available to share your feedback:

Have feedback or If you want to share your opinion? Share them in #feedback.

Have fun!

“Built in the heart of the mountains, sheltered from Dragons and their voices, lies a huge city and bastion of humanity.”

Hello Dragon Hunters!

This time, we’re bringing something special to the table, as we finally unveil one of the most important aspects of Dragonkin: The Banished ; The city of Montescail.

But before that, we're excited to reveal that we're going to launch a demo for Dragonkin: The Banished on February 20th.

But back to the topic at hand, welcome to Montescail!

[previewyoutube][link of the video][/previewyoutube]


[h3]Multiple Heroes, One Town[/h3]

If you read our previous DevBlog that featured the single-player and multiplayer, you already know that before you create your first character, you’ll need to create an offline or online city or simply join a friend's existing online city.

If you want more details on how multiplayer works, please check our previous DevBlog:

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1863430/view/508445172204306551



Not only, Montescail contains various buildings that allow the player to craft various potions, train against dummies, manage their Wyrmlings, and much more, this city also serves as a hub for all characters created within it.

Each character has access to a Personal Chest, a private storage space where you can put your equipment.

All characters tied to the same city have access to a Shared Chest, a storage where you can put the equipment you gathered during your adventure.



Each character in the city benefits from the improvements and features unlocked within that city. With the group system, independent of your characters, you can progress the story or endgame hunts alone, together simultaneously, asynchronously, or even across different characters.

[h3]A City That Evolves With You[/h3]

The city of Montescail is divided into several districts, each representing a unique civilization from the world, Montescail will evolve alongside your characters.



The more you progress in the story or complete endgame content, the more Prosperity (XP) you earn. Each time your city levels up, you receive City Upgrade Points, which can be spent to unlock and enhance Services and Buildings. These upgrades improve the efficiency of Services, grant passive bonuses to your heroes, and sometimes unlock unique perks.

Though you'll need to prioritize which aspects to focus on, you'll have the opportunity to unlock everything as you progress.



[h3]So, what exactly can you do in Montescail?[/h3]

You will unlock a wide variety of merchants, each offering unique Services. This can be as simple as a Dark Merchant to buy items or sell your junk, a Memorialist to modify your equipment pieces, an Ornamentalist to craft ornaments for each armor type, an Arsenal allowing you to save and change your equipment presets.



You can also unlock various perks such as larger city storage, experience bonuses, damage, movement speed or even additional slots for your Ancestral Grid.

Green indicates upgrades you have already unlocked, while yellow show upgrades that are available but require City Upgrade Points to be unlocked. Some buildings have prerequisites that must be met to reveal the next bonus and unlock further upgrades.



Here an exemple with the Jeweler able to craft rings.



You can customize your ring by always selecting the desired attribute between courage, Intellect, Resilience, and Agility, followed by a primary (offensive) stat such as Cooldown Reduction, Life Drain, Summon Damage, then a secondary stat (defensive), such as Maximum HP, Barrier, or X Resistance.

As the ring's rarity increases, the values of these stats improve. Additionally, starting at Legendary rarity, you gain the ability to improve your ring further by adding a talent, which can stack with your itemization:

• Common: 1 attribute + 2 stats
  
• Uncommon: 1 attribute + 2 stats
  
• Rare: 1 attribute + 2 stats
  
• Legendary: 1 attribute + 2 stats + 1 Talent (1 point)
  
• Mythic: 1 attribute + 2 stats + 1 random stats + 1 Talent (2 points)
  

You may wonder what the Talents are! In short, these are earned and obtained via a points system. Each talent has several ranks with stacking effects and some even offer exclusive bonuses at the highest rank. You’ll get to know more in a dedicated DevBlog that covers itemization.

Now let's talk about the Apothecary to create special healing potions.



Here, you can customize your potion by first selecting the desired effect(s). The rarity of the potion determines the amount of healing it provides and the number of effects you can add:

• Common: No additional effects.
  
• Uncommon: Adds 1 effect
  
• Rare: 2 effects
  
• Legendary: 3 effects
  
• Mythic: 3 effects + 1 random effect
  

All these services and perks are meant to participate in the improvement of your character and itemization as much as possible.

[h3]A city that visually changes as you progress[/h3]

Montescail evolves visually with every improvement, each building subtly transforms as you upgrade them. Upgrading a merchant enhances their shop, improving the training camp introduces new types of mannequins, and unlocking certain Services result in the development of entire streets.







[h3]For the players that participate in our Early Access[/h3]

You will have access to exclusive customization options for Montescail. Here is a sneak peak of one of the city customization we plan to add at the Early Access launch.





To give you a bit of behind-the-scenes insight, our Environment Artist, Pierre, wanted to share with you more about his design process and how he shaped the look and feel of this exclusive Early Access customization DLC:

Originally posted by author

“Hi, my name is Pierre Huot, and I've been an Environment Artist at Eko Software for three years now. I've worked on several in-game environments, including the game's main hub, the city of Montescail.

For this first customization DLC, my inspiration came from imagining how the people of Montescail would celebrate and honor the heroes who sealed the Rift decades ago, preventing one of the dragons, Saur Iknog, from coming back.

The main idea was to decorate the city with various elements, such as banners, statues, and rooftops using a palette of white and gold, along with a unique color for each district. White symbolizes unity and neutrality among Montescail’s diverse inhabitants, while gold represents the Eternal Scales, central artifacts in the Dragonkin story that hold deep significance in each culture.

That said, I also wanted to highlight the individuality of each district through certain details, particularly the statues. Their styles and symbolism are more closely tied to the experiences of each civilization and how they perceived the great Rift War against Saur Iknog."

[h3]Navigating Montescail with Ease[/h3]

Given the vast size of the city, we understand that walking between the different buildings can take some time. That’s why we’ve designed a system to help you quickly access all of the city’s key locations and services. Just open the menu and click where you want to go, you’ll be able to move instantly between districts or interact directly with the merchant or store you want to engage with.

[h3]That’s it! For now…[/h3]



As we wrap up this DevBlog, some of the features displayed will be implemented throughout Early Access.

We are interested to know which aspects of the town caught your interest. Share your thoughts in the comments or hop onto our Discord server to discuss with our team!

As usual, stay tuned for more updates and reveals about our game consider adding Dragonkin: The Banished to your wishlist.

And don't forget next week, you'll be able try Dragonkin: The Banished when our demo drops on February 20th.

See you in Montescail next week fellow hunters!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1863430/Dragonkin_The_Banished/

Hello Dragon Hunters,

This week, we’re diving into the worldbuilding of Dragonkin: The Banished. In a world ravaged by powerful dragons, these once enlightened beings, transformed by countless aeons in exile, are trying to make their return.

As their blood seeps into the earth, corrupting everything it touches, and their voices ring out, influencing the minds of man. It will be up to a group of heroes to turn the tide against this draconic onslaught.

This is the world of Dragonkin: the Banished.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]If you want to know more…[/h3]

We’ve been regularly writing DevBlogs that give a deeper look at the systems in Dragonkin. If you’re interested, then check out our previous DevBlogs.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1863430/view/508445172204307116
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1863430/view/508445172204306551
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1863430/view/508444538590724447
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1863430/view/516325296815734848

[h3]What’s next week?[/h3]

We’ll share more about Montescail, your hub city, how it evolves... while giving a sneak peek at the itemization.



If you want to stay in the loop on all our news and updates feel free to join our Discord, we try to reply to everyone and answer any questions you may have. We’re building a really cool community over there and would love to have you involved!

And yeah, we’ll keep saying it, but wishlisting our game helps us a ton. If you’re excited, spread the word and let us know in the comments!

See you next week !

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1863430/Dragonkin_The_Banished/

Hello Dragon Hunters,
As you know, Dragonkin: The Banished will launch in Early Access on March 6th.

No doubt, you’ve got questions. Well, we’ve got answers! We’ll be updating our FAQ before and throughout Early Access in response to any questions you may have.



Don’t forget, you can submit your questions to our development team directly on our Discord or over in the Steam Discussions.

[h2]Frequently Asked Questions[/h2]


[h3]What type of game is Dragonkin: The Banished ?[/h3]

Dragonkin: The Banished is a Hack’N’Slash ARPG, set in a universe where humanity lives under the fear of Dragons. Trying to now escape the place they were banished to, these creatures corrupt minds with their voices or leave permanent scars on the land with their blood shaping the world of Dragonkin: The Banished.

[h3]Will Dragonkin: The Banished release on other platforms? [/h3]

Yes, after the Early Access has ended, we’ll be releasing Dragonkin: The Banished on other platforms (including console) with all the updates, changes, and additions that will have been made throughout the Early Access.

[h3]Is Dragonkin compatible with Steam Deck? [/h3]

We’re working to ensure that the game works on Steam Deck. We’ll be submitting the Early Access build for review to ensure compatibility. Expect to hear more closer to EA launch on March 6th.

[h3]Why is Dragonkin: The Banished coming out in Early Access?[/h3]

Dragonkin: The Banished will launch on Steam Early Access so that players can experience all the game already has to offer, as we work towards the full release, we’ll be using as much as we can player feedback into our updates to make the game the best it can be at full release.

However, the best part of being in Early Access is that it’s a collaborative process. We know how passionate the Hack’N’Slash community is and we want to use that feedback to finetune and improve the game. Lastly, Early Access allows us to invest more into the development of the game, giving us the room to expand beyond what we have planned in our roadmap.

If you want to read our full thoughts on Early Access, check out our DevBlog on the topic!

[h3]When does Early Access start? [/h3]

Dragonkin: The Banished will enter Early Access on March 6th. We’ll share the exact launch time in different regions closer to EA launch.

[h3]Where can I play Dragonkin in Early Access?[/h3]

During Early Access, Dragonkin will only be playable via Steam.

[h3]How much will Dragonkin: The Banished cost in Early Access?[/h3]

Dragonkin: The Banished will be priced at €24.99€/$24.99$/£20.99 at Early Access launch. We’ll also be running a 20% off campaign at launch, so there will be an extra saving for early adopters.

Any potential price increase at the full release will be determined at a later time.

Note: price may vary depending on your region.

[h3]Will there be Microtransactions in Dragonkin: The Banished? [/h3]

Microtransactions and in-game purchases are not part of Dragonkin’s design. Dragonkin will never be a pay-to-win or pay-to-progress-faster.

During early access, we will be giving cosmetics that will be exclusive to early access owners. After the full release, paying cosmetics and/or DLCs may be added if we think they might be of interest to players as well as free updates.

[h3]How long will Dragonkin: The Banished be in Early Access?[/h3]

We expect Dragonkin: The Banished to remain in Early Access for around one year, with regular updates and new content planned along the way. We’ll be sharing our roadmap shortly, so stay tuned for that!

[h3]What is in Dragonkin: The Banished Early Access?[/h3]

We’ve built a solid foundation for the launch of Early Access, this includes a prologue, the chapter one of the story, the city of Montescail, 3 playable heroes, 4 wyrmlings acting as character specialization and endgame content to keep players busy as they build out their Ancestral Grid and while we’re working on the next update.

We also have a roadmap for things we have planned to bring into the game during Early Access, such as a 4th hero, extra character skills, more end game content, multiplayer and more…

[h3]Is Dragonkin: The Banished playable in multiplayer?[/h3]

Multiplayer is planned, and we’ve been working on it for a while. For the development of Dragonkin, we switched to a new engine. We’ve been working on the multiplayer implementation for a while now, and will continue to do so throughout early access. This feature will be rolled out in one of our future updates.

Check our DevBlog dedicated on multiplayer if you want more information.

[h3]Is Dragonkin: the Banished always-online? [/h3]

Dragonkin: the Banished is not always-online. Dragonkin is designed to be fully playable offline whenever and wherever you want. This will be true even after multiplayer co-op is introduced.

We have planned some shared elements, your city state for example. But for those who prefer to hunt alone, you will be able to enjoy Dragonkin: The Banished completely independent and without the influence of any other players if you wish.

You will, of course, still receive all the updates and improvements we will bring to the game throughout its development.

[h3]Can I stream or make content about Dragonkin? [/h3]

You are free to make content or stream the game. We appreciate the thought and look forward to seeing what the community creates.

[h3]Is MyNacon Necessary? [/h3]

MyNacon is not required to play Dragonkin, if you do not wish to make an account, skip the process when opening the game. If you wish to opt-in later, you can sign up on the MyNacon website.

MyNacon offers you special discounts on all of Nacon’s products and games. You can also stay up-to-date with Dragonkin and your favorite games with the latest news.

[h3]How are you planning on involving the Community in the development process?[/h3]

As you may know, we recently invited players to participate in a closed playtest!

In a similar vein, throughout Early Access, we will sometimes conduct surveys on our Discord server. We’ll also have dedicated channels where players can share their feedback directly. You may have also noticed that we’re regularly monitoring the Steam forums.

We’re eager to take as many opportunities to interact and collect feedback from the community. Ensuring that no matter where you leave your feedback, your voices are heard!



[h2]Thank you for supporting Dragonkin: The Banished![/h2]

Your encouragement really motivates us to go forward as we continue to work on Dragonkin.
As always, we invite you to follow us on social media, join our Discord, and check out our Steam page for the latest news and updates.

Hello everyone,

We’d like to provide you with more details about the single and multiplayer modes in Dragonkin: The Banished, the latter of which will be added as an update during Early Access.


[h3]About Single-Player[/h3]

Dragonkin is designed to be fully playable offline whenever and wherever you want. This will be true even after multiplayer co-op is introduced.

We have planned some shared elements, your city state for example. But for those who prefer to hunt alone, you will be able to enjoy Dragonkin: The Banished completely independent and without the influence of any other players if you wish.

You will, of course, still receive all the updates and improvements we will bring to the game throughout its development.


[h3]About Multiplayer[/h3]

Now, let's talk multiplayer!

Multiplayer is planned, and we’ve been working on it for a while. For the development of Dragonkin, we switched to a new engine. We’ve been working on the multiplayer implementation for a while now, and will continue to do so throughout early access. This feature will be rolled out in one of our future updates (you’ll learn more about the release window when we publish our roadmap).

Here are some details about what we’re planning:

• Online multiplayer: With up to 4 players cooperating online and hunting dragons, either through the story or in endgame hunts.
  
• Montescail City: A shared hub where you’ll meet your friends and develop the city together. The number of friends who can share a city is still to be defined.
  
• Couch co-op: The local two-player co-op mode will be available upon the full release of the game. You’ll be able to play couch co-op both offline and online, and you can join other players only if your characters were created in an online city.
  
• Matchmaking: It will be possible to play with other hunters online by temporarily joining a city or inviting them to yours. As a guest, you won’t directly benefit from the improvements of the city you visit, but from your own city’s upgrades, which will continue to evolve.
  
  

[h3]Offline mode and online mode[/h3]

Before you create your first character, you’ll need to create or join a friend's existing online city. If you create one, you’ll have to choose whether your city, Montescail, will be in offline or online mode. You can create up to 8 characters per player in each city, but you can also create multiple cities, both offline and online.

This hub serves as the operational base for all characters created within it. Meaning that each character in the city benefits from the improvements and features unlocked within that city. With the group system, independent of your characters, you can progress the story or endgame hunts alone, together simultaneously, asynchronously, or even across different characters.

An offline city does not require an internet connection. It’s designed for those who prefer a solo and/or local co-op experience.

Beware: A character or city created offline will not be able to join the online game, and this choice is final. However, we are considering the possibility, in the future, of transferring your cities and characters from online mode to offline mode.

An online city requires a constant internet connection. It’s designed for those who prefer to play with other hunters or friends online.

• You can play Dragonkin: The Banished offline whenever you want, without an internet connection, even after the multiplayer mode arrives.
  
• Multiplayer is coming and will be rolled out in one of our future Early Access updates.
  
• Couch co-op is coming and will be available at the full release of the game.
  

[h3]Development is progressing well, and the next steps are coming soon[/h3]

The last few weeks have been very intense and crucial for us, especially with all the high-profile releases surrounding our launch window.

That’s why, if you’d like to support us, the best way is to leave a comment on our YouTube videos, let your friends know about the game, and add the game to your wishlist on Steam.

Next week, you’ll be able to learn more about the world of Dragonkin: The Banished.

Thank you again for all the kind comments; we hope you’re excited for Dragonkin: The Banished!

[h3]Feel free to join our Discord[/h3]
We’ll be increasing our presence on Discord over the next few days to gather your feedback and answer your questions. Don’t hesitate to come chat with us and share your thoughts before the Early Access release.

See you soon !