Simplified Explanation of the Combat Rework

Published in News on February 12th, 2025

Big changes are coming to how combat works in Brighter Shores. Right now, each episode has its own combat level, along with separate obelisks. To fix this, the game is switching to a single combat profession that applies across all episodes. No more juggling different levels or episode-specific gear; your combat level and equipment will carry over seamlessly, ensuring your progress always matters.

One Combat Level for Everything

Before, every episode had its own combat level, meaning if you were strong in one episode, you still had to grind up from a lower level in another. Now, you'll have one global combat level that applies everywhere.

The maximum combat level will be 2000, which accounts for all four episodes that have been released so far (since each episode used to have a max level of 500). Every time a new episode comes out, the max level will increase by 500. So, for example, when Episode 5 is added, the max level will go up to 2500.

Reaching the highest level won't take more time than it did before—they're just restructuring the numbers. If you were the kind of player who wanted to max out combat in every episode, you'll still be able to do that, but now you'll have a single, continuous combat journey instead of four separate ones.

How You'll Level Up Now

Rather than leveling up only in one episode at a time, the game will mix enemies from all episodes into your progression. This means that as you get stronger, you'll be fighting enemies from different episodes in a cycle.

Here's an easy way to picture it:

• You fight the lowest-level enemies from Episode 1 first.
• Then you fight the lowest-level enemies from Episode 2.
• Then you go back to Episode 1 for the next difficulty tier, and so on.

This pattern continues as you level up.

Now, what happens when a new episode is released? Instead of making you grind all the way to level 2000 before experiencing its combat, the new episode's enemies are inserted into this cycle. That way, new players can fight Episode 5 enemies without having to reach max level first.

But what about existing players who are already high-level? That's where personalized striping comes in.

Personalized Striping (Tailoring Combat to Your Level)

A big concern was: what happens when new enemies are added? Will high-level players have to go back and fight weak enemies again? Or will some enemies become completely pointless?

The solution: the game personalizes where enemies appear based on your current combat level.

• If a new episode is released, its enemies will only appear at levels above your current progress; you won't have to go back and fight low-level foes again.
• Enemies you've already beaten won't get stronger, so you never have to redo fights you've already passed.
• This ensures that every player, no matter how far along they are, gets to experience the new content without messing up their progression.

Boss Fights Stay Balanced

Boss fights are always meant to be a challenge, and they need to scale properly as players get stronger. Instead of bosses having a fixed level, they will now always be a set number of levels above the weakest enemy in that episode.

Since the weakest enemy's level is now personalized to your progression, bosses will also be automatically adjusted so they stay challenging but fair.

Free Players vs. Premium Players

Right now, free-to-play players can only access Episodes 1 and 2, while premium players can experience all available episodes. This isn't changing, but the new system will now apply different level caps:

• Free players have a combat cap of level 1000 (since they only have access to two episodes).
• If your premium membership expires, you won't lose levels, but you won't be able to level up further until you renew your pass.
• If you buy a premium pass for the first time, the new episodes will be inserted into your leveling progression in a personalized way, just like when a new episode launches.

This makes sure that free and premium players both have a smooth, fair progression experience.

Weapons and Armor — No More Episode Locking

Previously, weapons and armor were tied to specific episodes, meaning you couldn't always use your best gear everywhere. That restriction is gone.

• Now, you can use weapons and armor across all episodes.
• Weapons and armor will still drop from enemies like before, and higher-level enemies will drop stronger gear.
• If you craft weapons instead of getting them from combat, they'll have a new icon to distinguish them when trading.

Crafting weapons will still work similarly, with crafted weapon levels based on your crafting skill. However, the economy is being rebalanced so that wealth gain remains fair.

Obelisks and Enchanting

The obelisk system itself is changing. Instead of being used for tuning weapons, obelisks will now enchant profession gear.

• The old "Obelisk" quest will be slightly tweaked to introduce enchanting instead.
• The Enchantress is moving to the Mine of Mantuban and will be renamed the Infusionist.
• The Lost and Found quest will be updated so that players help the Infusionist instead of Dabble.

Changes to Crime Den Raids

Previously, crime den enemies matched the crime den's level, but this caused an issue; by the time you reached Episode 4, those enemies were way too weak to be a challenge.

Now, crime den enemies scale based on both the crime den level and the weakest enemy in Episode 4, ensuring they stay challenging but fair.

Potion Reagents & Leather Offcuts

Some crafting materials, like potion reagents and leather offcuts, were too dependent on high-level enemies. This was going to be a problem since enemy levels will now keep increasing as new episodes come out.

To fix this:

• Potion reagents will drop from all enemy tiers, not just the higher-level ones.
• Leather offcuts will be dropped by more enemies, and some will now come from merchanting instead.

These changes make sure these materials remain accessible and balanced.

Capes & Leaderboards

• Old combat capes will be retired, and instead, new "episode capes" will be introduced.
• You earn an episode cape by reaching a certain level in every profession within that episode.
• New combat capes will also be introduced, unlocking at various combat levels.

For leaderboards:

• There will now be a single combat leaderboard instead of separate ones for each episode.
• Old episode leaderboards will become "legacy leaderboards", preserving past rankings as historical records.

What Happens to Your Progress?

When this update goes live, your current levels won't be lost, but they will be converted to fit the new system.

• Your new combat level will be based on how much effort you put into leveling, rather than just adding up your past levels.
• Your weapons and armor will scale up to match the new system, ensuring they stay relevant.
• Old combat capes will be refunded so you can buy the new capes.

What's Next? Upgrade Trees!

This is Phase 1 of the combat rework. Phase 2 will introduce upgrade trees, which will allow for more customization in combat progression. That part is still planned, but the developers want to get the single combat profession system working first before moving on.