Hello and welcome to our in-depth article featuring our nightmare-fuel playable race; Raknar!



In this article, we’ll give an extensive look into Raknar, how they will be implemented, what the players will be doing as Raknar, and what players should be expecting. So let’s get into it!

Raknar Evolution

Raknar will evolve and grow to become better predators. Unlike dragons, Raknar do not have stages, instead, they have passive abilities that increase with consecutive use. The more Raknar use their abilities; such as attacking, pouncing, or creating their own version of armor, the more they grow into a truly terrifying creature of the hunt. A fully evolved Raknar will be an armored up killing machine capable of taking down almost any fauna or player.

Raknar Webs

Raknar are be able to craft webs that they will be able to use to trap their prey. These webs will not be crafted using collected resources, contrary to both dragon and human crafting. Raknar will innately produce their own web material (called silk) and can use this as a resource to craft their web. This will be noted by a meter in-game similar to dragon molting. As with all Raknar abilities, the more it is used, the more powerful the web becomes. For example, a newly pupated Raknar may only be able to craft a small web due to not being able to produce enough silk, however, a fully matured Raknar may be able to trap a human or even an adult dragon as they produce enough web to build in between trees.

Raknar Combat

Raknar, from the very start, are born for combat as all of the tools for murder are built-in; ready to kill other creatures. Raknar can pounce on prey using the power of their legs and claws, use their deadly pincers to stab their enemies and deal significant damage, and, as alluded to above; kill anything that gets trapped on their webs, rendering their prey helpless. Raknar do have a weakness though, as they lack armor after being newly pupated and are susceptible to fire. If humans or dragons suspect a nearby Raknar, a handy torch or dragon fire breath is what stands between them and their sure demise…

Nuggets and Resources

Raknar, when sufficiently grown, are able to harvest from nuggets deposits. As pointed out above, Raknar do not start out with armor, so in order to make armor, they harvest nuggets and then grow metallic-infused chitin in order to survive attacks. The more often a Raknar’s is hit, the more its body will adapt the chitin in order to protect itself from future harm. A freshly pupated Raknar with newly grown copper chitin will find that it has barely any defense compared to the medium-growth silver chitin Raknar. Different ranks in nuggets also mean different defensive values; gold nuggets may even provide some fire protection, making a golden chitin Raknar a more menacing opponent than an armored up human to an adult dragon. In short, the higher the rank of the nugget, the more defense said nugget will provide from tasty humans and pesky dragons. Upon death, however, Raknar will notice that they lose some armor. They will have to regrow it in order to keep their defenses up.

Raknar Mobility

Unlike dragons and humans, Raknar are unable to swim; upon entering a deep enough body of water to cover a Raknar’s head they promptly drown. However, Raknar have other ways of traversing around bodies of water. Raknar can skitter along cliffs, ledges, mountainsides, and any surface that other creatures their size would not be able to utilize. Scale a mountain and locate prey with ease with night vision then scurry back down to catch that unsuspecting human off guard.



Hive Queen

A new feature that will be part of Trials of Ascension is Raknar will all be part of a collective group; a swarm led by the Hive Queen. The Raknar Hive Queen, a non-player character, will be located in the depths of TerVarus’ land and provide support through temporary boons if a Raknar provides her with proper tributes such as food or other consumables. However, failing to provide her with tributes for too long and other Raknar will be alerted to remove the offender from the swarm. Raknar will have to make sure they can either outrun the Queen for long enough, or eventually succumb to the Queen’s desires and provide tributes once again as the Queen’s forces will get tougher and tougher with each wave that is sent out.



Playstyle and Difficulty

Raknar will be the easiest to play early on, however as time progresses it will become more difficult later as dragons grow and humans build footholds. Raknar start with offensive capabilities naturally on their limbs and because of that, they can easily hunt fauna and other players both during the day and even easier at night thanks to their night vision. Raknar should not have too much trouble locating and subsequently killing any prey they come across in order to restore their hunger. However they may find that even though bigger webs will lead to bigger prey being caught and killed, bigger webs also lead to bigger targets on their back. They will have to stay well out of sight in order to successfully catch and not be caught themselves.

