Rend Reveals New Game Modes

Frostkeep Studios announced this morning that Rend will be seeing two new game modes on their Public Test Realm. Highly requested by the fanbase, these modes also come with changes to Research Sparks and Ascension Points. These two modes were developed in parallel with Rend’s Early Access roadmap features for the fall/winter and will go live this month once the initial testing is complete. The new modes are “Classic” and “Exploration”, and will break the world of Rend wide open for the players. This frees the players from pre-established factions and shielded strongholds, allowing them to weave their own tale in the world of Rend.

Unlike the original game mode – now called Faction War – Ascension through spirit collection will not be a win condition and Reckonings will not occur in the new modes – promoting
uninterrupted gameplay on persistent 60-player servers. On Classic servers, players battle for supremacy by laying siege to other players bases, doing battle in PVP wars, capturing Control Points and collecting bounties. These new modes allow players to form clans, and progression is per-character. There will also be no reputation system. Spirits can still be harvested, rewarding XP and Spirit Residue, though Yggdrasil’s spirit totals will remain unchanged.

The latest update also sees Research Sparks undergo significant changes to facilitate the new modes, but also to improve Faction War’s current format. Sparks will now drop from
creatures – with each family offering one of the four types. Ascension Point management will also be updated, moving from a per-server basis to a global tally tied to each player’s account. Ascension Points earned from gameplay in any of the three game modes and Ascension Perk unlocks will now count for all servers.