This past December, we heard fresh word out of Corepunk that was generally a combination of good news and bad news: The game’s beta was pushed back, but the devs at Kyiv-based Artificial Core promised to share some gameplay footage later that month. It is now February, and it looks like that promised footage has come online after what can certainly be considered an understandable delay considering the continued assault on Ukraine.
In spite of the delay, the footage provided is certainly beefy, with over an hour’s worth of gameplay from the current build that zeroes in on professions, discussing and showcasing the four gathering and four crafting professions that players can take up.
Following these professions appears to be worthwhile, as gathering and crafting will level up not only the related profession but also the character. On the subject of profession leveling, each one offers characters three mastery levels to earn, though players who want to make the best possible items will need to focus on one gathering profession and one crafting profession.
Specialization also has the benefit of increased efficiency that makes players better at their chosen vocations. However, efficiency is shared among gathering and crafting professions, meaning when one skill’s efficiency improves, the other skills’ efficiency decreases, with drops being applied to the profession that has not been used the longest.
A dev blog that accompanies the new video further details work on bug fixing, optimization, feature additions, and backend improvements. As for the game’s first closed beta test, that still has no firm date or timing yet, but the post does state once closed beta is complete, updates to the game can be expected every quarter. Readers will recall that the game was at one point scheduled to hit beta in 2020 with a launch in 2021, but it’s suffered multiple delays along the way, even before the invasion of Ukraine.
