In 2016, Phoenix Labs began development on their first game. With a team heavily inspired by the Monster Hunter franchise, Dauntless began to take shape as an action RPG in which players, or Slayers as their characters are known, set out across the Shattered Isles to hunt down the Behemoths that began to appear after a world-shattering event.
The closed beta for Dauntless began in Sept. 2017, moving out of its alpha phase and allowing players to join into the hunt through purchasing one of the founders packs, each tier coming with its own set of unique rewards for players. Here’s a look at what players can expect now and in the future with Dauntless.
The basic concept behind Dauntless is simple: find the Behemoth that is causing trouble and put it down. Slayers can currently choose between five different weapons. The axe, hammer, war pike, sword, and chain blades each have their own unique play style and situational usefulness. For example, the hammer is a slow, swinging weapon that is used to deliver massive single-hits that can knock off parts of a Behemoth, where as the chain blades and war pike are much more focused on constant damage-per-second (DPS) and can open-up wounds and weak spots on the enemies during battle. While a Slayer can always bring their preferred weapon into battle, different battles may be more fitted to one weapon or another, depending on the Behemoths armor or speed.
Currently, Dauntless has fourteen different Behemoths that Slayers can take on. Each Behemoth has its own unique set of attacks and defenses and are divided up in separate tiers, one through five. As Slayers progress through the game they will gain experience and level up. While leveling doesn’t increase the Slayer’s base stats, it does dictate which tier of quests can be taken on. Each time a new tier is reached the new Behemoths become available to hunt, and the weapons and armor sets based on these new enemies become available in the shops.
Dauntless does have a party and guild system attached to the game, though it is still very much a bare bones structure. You can add and remove fellow Slayers to a friends list, but it currently has no way to tell if the player is online or not. Even when trying to contact someone in the chat, the game does not have an automated response to let you know that someone is currently offline, making it difficult to form consistent parties. The game does have a guild system where players can personalize a guild title and invite players under one banner. Like the basic social functions, it is currently a bare bones system, but Phoenix Labs has stressed the importance of this feature to the game and has updated its community consistently with features and ideas they will be integrating at a later date.
Dauntless has come a long way and still has a long way to go. The game is still clearly in the beta stages but does not try to cover it up from the player. Placeholder screens and “coming soon” banners can be found throughout menus in the UI and store. Phoenix Labs has so far done a fantastic job of keeping its community in the loop of development and shown initiative in taking player feedback when needed. If on the fence about buying the founder’s pack to get into the closed beta, the open beta for the game begins on May 24, and anyone with an account can participate in the game. Dauntless has a ton of potential, and I cannot wait to see what will come in the future.
Includes several titles.
Which was showcased at E3 2003.