Rise of the Godslayer (Updated: 10/01/10)

Story introduction

Far to the east, beyond the devil-haunted towers of Zamora and the wind-tossed waves of the Vilayet Sea, the Empire of Khitai spirals slowly into chaos. The tendrils of darkness spread through the lands, tainting them. The Hyrkanians, kept at bay for thousands of years by the Great Wall, now spill across the Northern Grasslands in a wave of savage slaughter. The once beautiful lands of Chosain Province burn as power-hungry warlords fight to control every inch of the land.

And behind the scenes, sorcerers play games of power for stakes that would shrivel the soul. The desert of black sand known as Kara Korum seethes with alien creatures, bizarre and twisted forms of life that cry out human voices yet attack with demonic fury. And deep in the vine-choked jungles of Paikang, the heart of the corruption beats to the rhythm of another world.

Now, the slave who became a liberator must walk the dark roads of the empire and rise against the darkness that dwells there.

Let the rise of the Godslayer begin!

• Embark on the most savage, sexy and brutal Conan adventure yet as you descend into the shadows that have fallen over Khitai, the fabled empire of the east! Ride across the grassy steppes and see the purple pagodas of Paikang rising from the vine-choked bamboo jungles. Unravel the corruption that threatens to taint the very heart of this beautiful land forever!

• Age of Conan's highly acclaimed real-time, action-packed combat gameplay is taken to new heights with incredible martial arts moves, ancient magic, and epic weaponry. Extend your character's powers through a new alternate advancement system that allows you to unlock a vast collection of new abilities that breathes new life into the revolutionary combat system!

• Begin your adventure as a Khitan, an all-new character race, and experience a wide variety of new low-level content. Venture into the land of Khitai as you embark on new quests and acquire new rewards geared towards players fresh off the boat from Tortage!

• A wealth of new content for high-level players! Explore vast overland regions such as the serene Chosain Province or the desert of black sand known as Kara Korum, and delve into numerous new dungeons such as the magnificent Pillars of Heaven. Battle all-new monsters and acquire countless new rewards such as fantastic weapons and armor sets!

• Engage yourself in a mature and deep storyline that brings dramatic storytelling techniques into high-level gameplay. Through hundreds of new, lovingly crafted quests you will follow in the footsteps of Conan himself, where you will discover that the actions of the great barbarian have caused a great upheaval in this far flung land. The truth behind King Conan's actions are twisted and hidden amongst the moral shades of grey of Kithan politics!

• Experience the true power of DirectX 10 graphics with enhanced visuals and new groundbreaking graphical features that brings the land of Khitai to life. The new visual style of the east will also provide a fresh, new look on Hyboria - the savage world of Conan!

• Pick your side! Join one of many warring factions of Khitai, complete assignments for them and slaughter their enemies to reap the exclusive rewards. As you gain influence in a faction you will earn ranks which in turn can be used to unlock incredible treasures. But watch your back, because the enemies of your friends will not hesitate to stab you in your back!

• Explore the lands of Khitai from the back of two new mounts - the Wolf and the Tiger. Starting out as defenseless pets, these creatures will follow by your side and can be grown into ferocious fighting companions through a series of unique quests. Ultimately you will be able to grow them into spectacular mounts that will carry you on your adventures!

GENERAL INFO
-No level cap increase
-No new classes
-New abilities, spells and combos
-Alternate Advancement Point system for new feat trees

NEW CONTINENT
-A new continent named Khitai based on Chinese and Korean culture
-A new race of Chinese and Korean culture named Khitan
-Khitai will have a larger area to explore
-Playfields will be linked in the region thus eliminating the need for travel NPCs and gated doors.
-Khitai is split into five large gameplay regions and players will be able to travel there from one or more of the major hubs in the game.

KHITAI REGIONS
-Gateway to Khitai (Level 20-40)
-The Northern Grasslands
-Chosain Province
-Kara Korum
-Paikang

KHITAN CLASSES
-Unknown at this time

NEW MOUNTS
-Tiger mount
-Wolf mount
-New mounts cannot be bought from a vendor
-New mounts can be tamed as a cub and trained to fight
-Player must craft a saddle before being able to ride new mount

NEW FACTIONS
-Ranks and titles which are faction based in Khitai
-Ranks unlock special rewards, titles and additional tiers of quests.
-Players will have to choose which faction they ally themselves to!
-Separate quest lines for each faction
-Betrayal quests
-Four separate tiers of armor for each different faction

NEW DUNGEONS
-Pillars of Heaven

LÄNKAR

• GC 09' Q&A: Rise of the Godslayer

• Rise of the Godslayer New Screens!

• Age of Conan: Rise of the Godslayer Trailer

• GC 09' Preview: Rise of the Godslayer

• Funcom to Present Details on the Expansion for Age Of Conan at PAX 2009

• GC 2009: Age of Conan Expansion to be Revealed at GamesCom

THE TRAILER

This list of frequently asked questions will be expanded on later.

When will the 'Rise of the Godslayer' be released and for what platforms?

'Age of Conan: Rise of the Godslayer' is in development for the Windows PC platform, with the release date yet to be announced. 'Rise of the Godslayer' is the first expansion pack for the best-selling new MMO of 2008 'Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures'.

Will I need the original game to play the expansion?

Yes, you will need an 'Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures' account in order to activate the expansion.

Can I use my existing characters in the expansion?

Yes, depending on your character's level. 'Rise of the Godslayer' contain a large amount of new content for high-level characters, but will also introduce content for characters at lower levels. The expansion will also introduce a new character race - the Khitan - and there will be new content for those characters after they leave Tortage.

What goals did the development team set for this expansion?

We wanted to expand the content of the game, and to add an exciting new continent to our game-world. The team has been challenged to take everything we have learnt over the last year and build upon it to provide even more interesting and dynamic game-play for our players.

Conflict is also very important to the expansion. Each region has a key conflict going on as a background to everything the player will experience and get to play through. Khitai is currently being torn apart by and is wracked with conflict, the source of the chaos isn't immediately apparent at first, but players will be able to learn more and more about the mysteries of this eastern continent as they progress through the regions.

Will 'Rise of the Godslayer' introduce any new land area?

Yes! The expansion will feature a whole new land for players to explore, the Empire of Khitai. The first glimpse that players will get of Khitai is actually from the western side of the Great Wall. The aptly named Gateway to Khitai contains rolling steppes that climb up to the foothills of the Mountains of Night.

On the eastern side of the Great Wall, the Northern Grasslands stretch as far as the eye can see. Beneath the shadow of the Kang Pagoda lies the village of Chow and further east, the frontier city of Pin Pin awaits. South of Pin Pin, the grasslands are swallowed by impenetrable jungle, while to the north the road winds across the River of Yellow Curses and into the desert of Kara Korum. East the grassland stops abruptly at the Khitain Escarpment. From the edge of the escarpment, you can see clear across the beautiful lands of Chosain Province.

Chosain Province, once a stretch of idyllic countryside, is now torn by battle. The northern city of Gun Hai and the southern city of Gun Xui are at war, and the once peaceful city of Shaulun has become a staging ground for mercenaries from across the world. The northern marshes, which bound the southern side of the River of Yellow Curses are populated by monstrous creatures, no doubt crawling across the river from Kara Korum.

Kara Korum, the desert of black sand, is eerily silent in comparison with the southern countryside. Nothing moves in the streets of the village known as Ghost Hill and a gentle breeze carries forth the stench of decay from the forest to the south. Northwards, in the center of Kara Korum, the high walls of The Crater dominate the landscape and the sense of the alien that pervades the landscape seems to stem from that place.

South again, and on the eastern side of Chosain Province gives way to vine-choked jungles of Paikang. To the north, through Souleater Pass lies Heavens Lake and to the east is Shatterspar Coastline, dotted with the wreckage of a hundred ships. But south is the imperial city itself, Paikang, its purple towered minarets gleaming in the sunlight.

How does Khitai differ from the other regions available in Age of Conan?

Visually it has all the difference that one would associate with an eastern culture - different architecture, different armor and weapon styles, and different landscapes.

Culturally, it is an empire in decline. One of the great themes of Howards work was the inevitable decline of civilization into decadence and then to barbarism. Khitai was a great empire, but it has rotted from within and only signs of the greatness still remain. Unlike barbaric Cimmeria, civilized Aquilonia or decadent Stygia, Khitai actually has elements of all of the stages of the cycle.

Finally, all of the regions in the expansion are connected to form a single coherent map. This means that players will be able to see the areas that surround them, and zone across border lines - much like we did recently in Tarantia Commons but on a much larger scale.

How will the layout of the world work in the expansion, is it still divided into zones?

Yes, we still use zones (or regions or playfields as they are often referred to as). But for the expansion we're putting all the regions next to each other and players will be able to stand in one region and look into the other. This is quite different from the original game where regions are detached from each other completely. This worked well in the original game because regions were spread over a larger map and filling the gap between them was not feasible, but we wanted to do something different for the expansion.

You will still experience loading when going from one region to another, but this should make it feel more "seamless" and provide the increased level of immersion that our players have been requesting. There will be no "travel NPCs" that takes you hundreds or thousands of kilometers away.

What is the background story for the expansion?

The story in the expansion is both about looking at the events of Conan's past and how they have shaped the world, and asking the player character some pertinent questions about their future. We know he is King of Aquilonia, but his past actions have also had serious consequences in other parts of the world, even well before he rose to the Aquilonian throne.

Conan's actions in the story "The Tower of the Elephant" were a catalyst for the events which have shaped Khitai for the last two decades. When the player enters Khitai, they are entering a land irrevocably shaped by Conan and the people of Khitai see Conan in a very different light to those of the west. Players will be able to discover exactly how the great barbarian's previous exploits have plunged the land of Khitai into darkness and chaos.

As the player travels through Khitai, they will also be called upon to consider the events of their own past in a new light. The question of immortality and what is the true difference between a man and a god will also feature prominently.

With conflict being at the core of the experience we have designed the content around presenting the player with meaningful faction choices in each of the new gameplay regions.

How will the new faction gameplay work in the expansion?

In each of the new regions players will encounter separate factions that are, for various reasons, in a constant state of conflict. Players will have to choose which side of each individual conflict they ally themselves to!

There will be separate quest lines for each faction that helps to weave the story of the conflict in Khitai in a way that has an impact on every player's experience.

You gain standing with a faction by killing their enemies and completing quests for them. You lose standing by killing members of a faction or taking betrayal quests.

Once a player's standing is high enough with a particular faction, they can complete ranking quests to earn ranks. Ranks unlock special rewards, titles and additional tiers of quests. NPCs will react to you differently depending on your standing with their friends or enemies, so be warned, your actions may not go unnoticed!

Will there be new armor sets in the expansion?

Yes, each faction has its own unique armor set, with four separate tiers to achieve within each faction. Gaining good standing with the various factions will allow players to earn these armor sets as they progress.

Will there be any new abilities for my character to obtain?

Players will be able to learn brand new combo attacks through the new expansion content and the alternate advancement system. As with the original game all our attack animations are expertly motion-captured and really bring the combat game-play to life! We couldn't explore the eastern theme and not incorporate some martial arts moves! Players will also be able to acquire new spells and other abilities.

Are there any new classes being added to the game in the expansion?

No, we felt that there was already the right number of class options in the game. We would rather focus on adding something meaningful and useful to all the existing classes. This is where the new alternate advancement system mentioned above comes in. Though this system players can get access to new skills, abilities, combos and spells for their existing characters.

Is the level cap being raised in the expansion?

We have chosen not to raise the level cap, but the expansion content will get harder as you progress through the various regions. Players will have to earn and master the various new alternate advancement abilities in order to take on the new content!

Will there be any new mounts in the expansion?

The expansion will introduce two new mounts: the Tiger and the Wolf. Both of these mounts are predators and are not used to carrying riders. Thus they must be captured young and trained to bear the weight of a human.

How do you train Tigers and Wolves to become mounts?

In the case of the Tiger mount, for example, it is a religious ritual for the cult that you must join. In order to capture their tiger, the player must travel into the woods unarmed and unarmored and kill the Tigress barehanded. Then they can pluck the mewling and defenseless newborn from the den and bring it back to raise it as their own. It first becomes a pet and the player must teach the tiger all of the necessary skills for survival such as hunting, stalking and battle. Once the tiger has grown large enough and if the bond is strong enough, the player must create a saddle out of various ingredients scattered across the land. Only then will the Tiger become a mount.

Will there be any new dungeons in the expansion; what can you tell us about them?

Yes, there will be new dungeons. For example, Pillars of Heaven is a group instance designed to give players 2-3hrs of playtime. The Pillars are actually a temple that was built thousands of years ago by the Lemurians. It was long since abandoned and recently has been claimed as a base for a renegade Hyrkanian chieftain known as Bhangi Khan. Bhangi Khan and his bandits have been plundering the nearby grasslands and players will travel to the Pillars to put an end to his reign. The pillars contain ancient traps and special puzzles which will require the players to think on their feet.

How are you approaching storytelling in 'Rise of the Godslayer' compared to the original game?

We are taking the things we have been doing with the live game and building on it further for the expansion. Dynamic and interesting quests will drive the story further for the player and reveal more about the mysteries of Khitai. The team is focusing on providing a more interesting and varied game-play experience as you have seen in Ymir's Pass and Tarantia Commons, areas that we added to 'Age of Conan' after launch through free updates. This time around you have much more important choices in each region of the game world. As we mentioned above, conflict is a pivotal aspect of the expansion, and the conflict in each of the regions will force the player into some hard choices!

Will there be a new race and what content will be available to new characters?

Yes, players will be able to create a Khitan character. The Khitan race will play through Tortage Island as all new arrivals in Hyboria do (but veteran players may notice a few changes here and there as the east has opened up), but when they leave Tortage they will return to their homeland in Khitai and be able to explore a large new region built specifically for players leaving Tortage to introduce them to the eastern lands and start to reveal some of the secrets of these new lands. While players won't be able to actually get past the great wall until they are much higher in level they will be able to play through this low level content in their own homeland.

How will the alternate advancement system work?

The alternate advancement system will basically allow players to use their experience towards special alternate advancement feats and combos. This will open up a lot of new potential abilities for players. In addition the players will also be able to 'train' these feats to a second level over time to perfect them. This will allow players to choose which of their new feats or abilities to focus on and decide which order they build them up in. This training will continue whether you are online or offline, and will take a certain amount of time to complete (depending on the power of the feat), so it is a tactical choice for the player as to which order they do this training.

Where are you getting inspiration from when developing this expansion?

First and foremost are the original Howard stories. There is not a whole lot about Khitai in those stories, but anything that is mentioned is tied to the expansion in some way. Also as we have hinted at above, key elements from one of Conan's most iconic adventures is key to everything that is happening in Khitai!

We've made a conscious choice to avoid the Japanese style of the Dark Horse Khitai comics - we've focused much more on the cultures of ancient China and Korea. We also use the recent Khitai sourcebook by Mongoose Publishing as a source of inspiration. And naturally there is a wealth of Chinese and Korean myth and legend to draw upon and write our own conanesque take.

Will there be any new music for this expansion?

Yes, we have retained the services of the fantastic composer of the games original soundtrack, Knut Avenstrup Haugen, who is putting together a great eastern themed soundtrack.. I think it was one of the elements of the game that people really responded well too, so we were very glad to be able to get him back on board for the expansion!

For how long have Funcom been working on the expansion?

In its early stages there were a very small team working on concepts and paper zone designs in the fall last year. We had a lot of focus on the live game last year and early this year, so that core team worked on the concepts and ideas during that period. Then at the beginning of the year we moved more people onto the expansion team and started full scale production.

How the new expansion will breathe new life into Age of Conan's post-Tortage experience.