Dev Highlights from Behind the Scenes of "Desert Reign!"

Last week, we streamed a ton of behind-the-scenes art of the upcoming "Desert Reign" content. The stream began with a reveal of the next final boss: Taurok, the Crownbreaker who awaits you at the end of the Temple of Poseidon! Art Director Dwight and Game Director Tony then chat through a slide deck covering the female player model, the WIP character creator, new environments, new gear, and finally a couple additional enemies! Tomorrow is the last day to watch the VOD on Twitch, but you can now watch the full stream here on our YouTube channel! You'll see the video with some convenient timestamps for you.

However, we know livestreams aren't the format for everyone, so we wanted to break out important highlights for all players. Keep in mind, what you see below is not EVERYTHING covered in the livestream, but here's a quick rundown of key topics you might have missed:

Female Player Model

Concept Art

Yes! "Desert Reign" will introduce the new female model. This addition has been a long time coming. Rather than a simple reskin and minor adjustments to armor and animations, our directors set out to redesign them to be both practical and aesthetic for a female model specifically! This includes female models sporting long skirts instead of cloaks, among other subtle decisions! Check out the concept art for the unique revisions coming to all existing gearsets for the female player model, plus four hairstyle options in the works, then hear from the art director himself of his thought process and decisions:

Character Creator

WIP Menus

While we're still revising the UI menus and testing the integration of character creator, our directors answer a number of questions about how this new feature will function at its first iteration in "Desert Reign." The character creator will allow you to start from a collection of presets, then you'll have the option to adjust your model in 9 categories with non-destructive sliders for facial features like eyes, nose, mouth, skin, and others while allowing you to return to adjust your face shape at any time.

The following video is an example of the slider controls for the creator.

While we continue to avoid resetting world saves completely, it is likely at this time that we will be resetting all player skills in order to launch the character creator within existing saves. This is because skills are being uncapped to level 20 and will now be attached to the character specifically, but going forward, it will allow you to take both your physical preset and your skills with you to a friend's save. You'll be able to return to the creator to make edits to the character at any time.

The following image is a WIP of the Character Creator UI Menus, including placeholders of the 9 categories and a placeholder of the 3D model previewer. Lastly, hear the directors discuss this further in a few highlights from our livestream:

Environment

In-Game Stills

Like "Sisters of the Deep," this next major update "Desert Reign" will be overhauling one biome, in this case the Ancient Desert, plus adding a brand new raid zone: the Temple of Poseidon! The Crownbreaker teaser and the images below give you a glimpse of the Temple of Poseidon, a slice of paradise amidst the dangers and despair of the Ancient Desert!

New and improved shrine objectives will populate the biome, this time with a greater emphasis on story-telling. This update will also bring more weather mitigation, challenging players to navigate the oppressive heat of the Desert to unlock the Temple. Those who survive will be rewarded with a brand new weather facility, giving our mortal Spartans the godlike ability to control the weather. Listen to the following video for more hints on what's to come to the Ancient Desert:

Armor & Arsenal

Concept Art

Every major update for Dawn of Defiance during Early Access will present new armor and weapons! "Desert Reign" brings the Primus Gear, inspired by Poseidon and the regality of his temple! Our Art Director explained in last week's livestream the process by which he reached the final concept art, featuring integrations of the trident and deep sea creatures! See part of the process below:

"Desert Reign" will also be making adjustments to weapon tiers. The entry tier "Forged" weapons will have no specific perks, but two customizable inlays. The secondary tier "Unique" weapons will have a perk and one inlay for customization. Then godlike weapons, "Legendary" tiers which are earned through temple raids, will have unalterable, powerful abilities that will be balanced by specific burdens.

This update introduces the legendary Artemis bow, visually inspired by her Greek symbolism and lightly encouraging players to use the weapon in close range. Hear more about both this powerful bow and the Primus Gear from our directors:

Enemies

Early Art and Final Models

To uncover the truth on the Crossroads, you'll have to continue to the Temple of Poseidon and face his powerful court of enemies, including his High Priestess Nysarra. Reminding the god of his cursed love Medusa, Poseidon has brought Nysarra to his temple to be his Queen. The High Priestess is a boss in her own right, quick on her feet and coursing with power. See some of the early iterations of her design below and her final textured model:

Defending the Temple is Nysarra's guardian, the Ironwake Golem. Not only is he better equipped than the golems of the Desert, he is more experienced and more creative. See the evolution of his impressive armor and pauldron below:

Last but not least, Taurok the Crownbreaker. Poseidon's minotaur champion will be your final boss within his Temple. Dual-wielding two giant axes, you'll find this monster launches into terrible attacks that our team hopes you'll love to hate. Check out his official teaser here, then listen to the following video for our directors' thoughts on this milestone character:

If you wish to see even more images, make sure to watch the full livestream! Thank you all for your continued support of our game and our Early Access development! Thank you to everyone who came to support our stream live! If you enjoyed this behind-the-scenes look at our next update, please consider sharing our Crownbreaker teaser or any of the highlight videos above, so our game can reach even more players! Give us a follow on YouTube or Twitch for more similar content. Leave us a comment or a question on any platform. We look forward to hearing from you and sharing more information soon! Until our news post next month, cheers!