Recently, I asked on Twitter and Facebook which specialization I should reveal first: the Animator, the Trickster, or the Sorcerer. The Animator and Trickster were clearly the most popular choices among the three options, but the Animator managed to win by a narrow margin in the end. And honestly, this might be one of my favorite specializations in the game, so I’m really excited to share this one with you.

Before I get started, I’d like to explain a few things about how specializations work in Siralim Ultimate.

Specializations versus Classes

In previous Siralim games, players chose from one of five classes for their character: Chaos, Death, Life, Nature, or Sorcery. Each class had several unique perks that changed the way your creatures behaved in battle. It’s a totally fine system, and everyone seemed to enjoy it. So, rather than making any massive adjustments to how this class system works in Siralim Ultimate, I simply decided to add more options for you to choose from. Now, character classes are called “specializations”.

There’s a whopping fifteen specializations for you to choose from at the start of the game. Each one comes with its own starting creature. Some specializations are a bit more difficult to understand than others, so I’ve assigned a difficulty to each one so that new players can choose beginner-friendly specializations, while veterans of the series can experiment with more challenging specializations if they want. To be clear, however, the “beginner-friendly” specializations are no less powerful than those that are tuned for expert players.

Each specialization comes with a unique wardrobe costume and title. And, if our Kickstarter performs well enough, I’d love to add a few specialization-specific side quests to flesh out each one. And if the Kickstarter does really, really well, I have a few additional specializations in mind that I’d like to add on top of the promised 15.

Even after you’ve chosen your specialization, you can switch to a different one later on. You’ll unlock additional specializations by reaching a certain favor rank with each of the 15 original gods. Changing your specialization is as simple as visiting your castle and talking to an NPC after you’ve unlocked additional specializations. When you change specializations, the game will remember your previous specializations’ perks so that you don’t need to re-allocate your points every single time you want to switch things up.

Unlike in the previous Siralim games, your character no longer has a level. The only thing your character level did in Siralim 3 was grant you perk points, which seems like a bit of a waste. Instead, you’ll now gain a perk point each time you complete a Realm Quest at your highest-ever realm depth.

That’s pretty much all I have to say about how specializations work from a game mechanics perspective. Now, let’s take a look at the Animator specialization!

The Animator

Playstyle

Animators have access to a unique creature called an Animatus. While the Animatus takes on the appearance of a Nightmare Golem, its stats and trait are much different from the normal version of this creature.

The Animators’ perks all focus on creating the perfect version of their Animatus. Think of it like a Frankenstein type of thing. Your Animatus will grow more powerful based on your actions, and it will even steal benefits from your other creatures to ensure that it is the biggest powerhouse in your group.

If you played a Death Mage in Siralim 3, you might be familiar with this concept already (in the form of “Saia”). However, unlike the Death Mage, the Animator is 100% dedicated to its creation and offers far more customization to make your Animatus feel like you built it yourself.

Perks

Please note that the numerical values shown for each of these perks is not final yet. Any values shown in {brackets} increase as you level up the perk, but for the sake of clarity, I’ve provided you with their maximum values already.

Animatus – A unique Nightmare Golem joins your party. This creature can be upgraded and modified via other perks. In addition, Undertaker Glokta will join your kingdom and provide services for you to enhance your Animatus.

Endowment – At the start of battle, your Animatus fuses with a copy of the second creature in your party.

Note: this means that you can’t fuse your Animatus as you can with other creatures. This perk is interesting because it allows you to quickly change what creature your Animatus is fused with, so you don’t need to commit to a particular fusion long-term.

Molecular Betrayal – At the start of battle, your Animatus steals {50%} of your third creature’s Attack, Intelligence, Defense, and Speed.

Cogmind – At the start of battle, your Animatus steals your fourth creature’s non-Ethereal Spell Gems.

Note: You’re probably wondering what an “Ethereal” gem is. Those are simply what we’re calling “Temporary” Spell Gems from the previous games.

Damnation’s Edge – At the start of battle, your Animatus steals your fifth creature’s innate trait.

Note: notice the word “steal”. This means that your fifth creature’s innate trait will be replaced by a “dud trait” that doesn’t do anything for the rest of the battle.

Forged By Pain – Your Animatus shares the damage it takes with your sixth creature.

Dancing Blade – Your Animatus’ Artifact takes on a life of its own, giving your Animatus a {25%} chance to attack a random enemy at the end of each creature’s turn.

Dark Anima – Your Animatus’ Spell Gems take on a life of their own, giving your Animatus a {25%} chance to cast one of its spells at the end of each creature’s turn.

Anguish Through Awareness – Your Animatus starts battles with {3} random buffs.

Desensitization – Your Animatus has a {60%} chance to ignore debuffs.

Thrive On Death – After your creatures are killed, your Animatus gains {50%} of their Attack, Intelligence, Defense, and Speed.

Death and Decay – After an enemy is killed, your Animatus casts Corpse Explosion.

Note: Corpse Explosion is a spell that deals damage based on the number of dead enemies.

Gray Matter – Your Animatus gains {5} Spell Gem slots.

Forbidden Magic – Undertaker Glokta now sells items that allow you to boost your Animatus’ base stats.

Note: these work like Tomes from previous Siralim games. However, you can only give a creature a total of 15 of these items, so you’ll need to choose the stats wisely.

Masterpiece – Undertaker Glokta now allows you to change your Animatus’ race.

Animatus Customization

Your Animatus can be customized in several different ways. Undertaker Glokta is an Animator-exclusive NPC that you’ll find in your castle. He sells all kinds of different items for your Animatus, and provides a number of interesting services as well. One such service is the ability to change your Animatus’ skin. Here are a few skins that Nieve has come up with:

Aside from that, Glokta sells items that allow you to boost your Animatus’ base stats. There’s a limited number of these items you can feed to your Animatus, but you can reset them at any time and feed them new ones if you’re unhappy with your original choice.

Lastly, for the sake of opening up more opportunities for you to build your party around the Animatus, Glokta also allows you to change its race.

Please note that nothing mentioned in this blog post is finalized. I reserve the right to change or remove anything mentioned in this post at any time. If you’re reading this post after the game has already launched, your best bet is to forget everything you just read because very few of the things I write about will remain untouched in the final product.