Get ready to fight, Magnus!
We’ve got everything you need to know about Immortals of Aveum™: the ins and outs of first-person magical combat, how gear enhances your abilities, customizing your talent tree to fit your playstyle, and much more.
We’ll continuously update this blog post as we reveal new information, so be sure to check back regularly. You can also catch more Immortals of Aveum info from the IOA and Ascendant Studios channels:
THE WORLD OF AVEUM
Our story takes place in Aveum, a fantasy world where magic is part of everyday life. An ancient conflict, called the Everwar, has had the kingdoms fighting between each other over the control of magic, for thousands of years. Only two kingdoms remain: Lucium and Rasharn.
In the game you play as Jak, an incredibly powerful battlemage called a Triarch Magnus. Jak is an unusual battlemage in that he was never supposed to have magical abilities in the first place. He grew up destitute, orphaned, and fending for himself and other orphaned kids who became his family. He was thrust into the Everwar when his home city became the epicenter of a Rasharnian attack.
Jak lost everything in that attack, but in the process awakened his magical abilities. Angry and powerful, Grand Magnus Kirkan recruits him to join the Order of the Immortals who are fighting for Lucium against the tyrant, Sandrakk, and his oppressive Rasharnian regime.
The Order of the Immortals are Lucium’s most elite and skilled battlemages, or Magni. They take on the most dangerous and covert missions for their kingdom. Jak will have to rely on his own skills to take out enemies, solve puzzles, and move through the world. Your fellow Immortals and Lucium allies will be welcome friends in the coming battles against Rasharnian and other malevolent forces.
MAGICAL COMBAT
What does it mean when we say Immortals of Aveum has “fast, fluid, first-person spell-based combat?” Want to see how IoA’s magic combat looks first hand? Wondering what are the three colors of magic and how they work? We answer all that and more in this section, but for the full experience, watch the Gameplay Deep Dive video below.
Jak is an Unforeseen Triarch Magnus, meaning he has the rare ability to cast all three colors of magic: red chaos magic, blue force magic, and green life magic. In combat, Jak can seamlessly switch between the three different colors of magic with a quick wrist movement (button press or mouse wheel scroll) to swap his active sigil. Each magic type embodies unique qualities that make them useful in a variety of battlefield applications. Together, Jak can create destructive combinations to take down even the most ruthless of enemies.
Red Magic
Red magic, or chaos magic, embodies entropy and violence. It can create, rend and harness energy in extreme ways, including manipulating it to unleash a destructive beam or disrupting it to disorient enemies.
Red spells deal high damage over a large area of attack, but short range. Casting Red Magic feels similar to a shotgun and is very effective at close range. Bold and daring players will want to embrace Jak’s Red Magic abilities to dive into the heat of combat and face enemies head-to-head.
Blue Magic
Blue magic, or force magic, embodies force and the physical manipulation of matter. It can fire precise bolts, spontaneously form shields and defensive walls, or manipulate the flow of gravity. Blue Magic also powers a magnus’ ability to grapple and push or pull objects.
Blue offensive spells are long-range and very precise. They feel like firing a steady, accurate rifle. For players who like to hang back and plan their attack, Jak’s Blue Magic abilities allow him to pick off enemies with quick, individual shots from a distance, as well as use grapple and shield to strategically navigate the battlefield.
Green Magic
Green magic, or life magic, embodies growth, death, and transition. It can manipulate enemies and objects by altering them or their surroundings. Green magic can also be used to bind objects in place or hinder an enemy’s ability to cast or heal.
Green spells use rapid-fire magic projectiles that hone in on targets. Casting Green Magic feels similar to an SMG. Players who prefer a run-and-gun style can keep enemies guessing with quick movements and constantly peppering them with damage.
Using Magic Effectively
In Immortals of Aveum, Jak faces some truly unforgiving enemies. Although all three colors of magic will damage most enemies, matching your attack with the enemy’s magic color will more efficiently shred their defenses. Use Red Magic to take down Red defenses like a Chaos Armor buff, Blue Magic to destroy Shields, or Green Magic to halt an enemies ability to heal.
SPELL TYPES
Jak has an arsenal of spells at his disposal. As you progress through the game, you’ll be able to discover and unlock 25 spells that can be used in deadly combinations.
Strike spells are Jak’s primary attack and each color of magic has 3 Strike spells to use. The sigils equipped on Jak’s right hand determine which Strike spells are active for combat.
Red Strike Spells
- Breachfire releases multiple wide bursts of Red Magic. It’s similar to an automatic shotgun and is great for dealing with groups of enemies.
- Burstfire launches a ball of Red Magic that detonates after a short distance.
- Fragfire casts a single, wide burst of Red Magic that can stagger enemies at close range or send them flying.
Blue Strike Spells
- Shrikebolt fires precise and long range Blue Magic bolts, and it’s a great flexible option, especially for players that are good with headshots.
- Arclight fires a beam of Blue Magic that pierces all enemies in its path.
- Javelin releases a long range spear of Blue magic that you can charge it up to do more damage. Its powerful single shot is similar to a rocket.
Green Strike Spells
- Seekershards launches a volley of small Green magic homing missiles that relentlessly track targets. It tends to have higher damage but far less shots per clip than the other two Green Strike spells.
- Stormshards fires a swarm of homing projectiles, making it ideal for a run-and-gun playstyle. However, they become less accurate the longer the caster sustains continuous fire.
- Maelstrom rapidly fires a sustained volley of lightly homing Green magic projectiles that become increasingly more accurate with sustained fire, but it slows the caster’s movement speed while channeling.
Jak also has more powerful, bombastic attacks called Fury spells. Furies require mana to cast, meaning you’ll need to find and crush mana crystals to refill your energy stores and keep blasting away. Here are a few of Jak’s Fury spells:
- Shatter is a powerful Blue Magic spell that travels rapidly towards targets and explodes in a burst of blue spikes, damaging all enemies in the area.
- Bash sends you flying forward to perform a powerful blow infused with Red Magic. It is capable of staggering even large opponents.
- Torrent launches Green Magic projectiles at targets, seeking them out. High damage and range make this a powerful offensive spell.
Control spells assist in combat and can be paired with Jak’s primary attacks to unleash true devastation.
- Lash uses Blue magic to pull smaller enemies in towards you or pull you towards larger enemies.
- Disrupt emits a beam of Red magic to interrupt enemy attacks and stun them.
- Limpet launches Green magic blobs that attach to enemies to dramatically slow them down.
Each of these can be used in conjunction with Jak’s Strike and Fury spells to annihilate the legions of Rasharnian soldiers.
In addition, Jak has a number of spells, called Augments, that he can use in and out of combat. These can be used to scale precarious chasms, move large objects out of the way, access hidden locations, and solve a variety of puzzles found in temples and ancient colossals strewn around Aveum.
- Your Shield provides cover while you stay on the offensive by casting Strike spells through it. It can take several hits before it’s depleted, requiring a small amount of time to recover before casting again.
- Grapple lets you use Lash to grab onto anchor points and maneuver around the terrain and to hard to reach areas.
- Hover allows you to jump, then levitate for a short time to cross long distances or attack enemies from the air.
- Blink is your quick dodge to avoid enemy attacks. It can be used to avoid incoming hits or even pass through enemies and projectiles.
The most powerful, ultimate spells are called Dominions. Jak’s Dominion spell, Immolate, charges up over time to release a destructive beam of Red, Blue, and Green magic that can destroy anything stuck in its path.
SIGILS & GEAR
As Jak explores Aveum, he’ll find gear, gold, and more from defeating certain enemies, breaking boxes, and opening chests along the way. Here are the different items Jak will find and how each functions…
Sigils
The device on Jak’s right arm is called a sigil. Without a sigil, a Magni’s magic is unfocused and difficult to wield with precision. Sigils allow a Magnus, like Jak, to focus the magic within themselves and use it accurately, making it much more effective in combat.
Each sigil is designed to enhance a specific Strike spell in addition to boosting other stats. In order for Jak to effectively use a Strike spell, he must equip a Sigil designed for that spell. So if you want to use Jak’s Arclight Strike spell, you will need to equip a sigil with Arclight in its name. Since Jak is a Triarch Magnus and able to use all three colors of magic, he can equip three sigils at a time, one Red, one Blue, and one Green. You can rotate through your equipped sigils much like you would rotate through your gun loadout in other FPS games.
- Red sigils empower a Magnus’ close quarters combat capabilities with explosive force, and improve the close range impact, area-of-effect, and crowd control aspects of Red Magic, as well as boosting Red Fury spells.
- Blue sigils focus magic into powerful bolts for long range engagements, improving accuracy, critical damage, Blue Fury spells, and the impact of Blue Magic.
- Green sigils cast rapid-fire homing projectiles that are perfect for a run-and-gun style. These sigils tend to improve fire rate, homing, and Green Fury spell damage.
Gear
Totems provide stats that enhance your Control spells: Lash, Disrupt, and Limpets. Most items only boost stats for one color of magic. However, you’ll be able to find totems that have stats for other color spells. You can equip 3 totems at a time, one for each magic color, and rotate through them in your loadout.
Rings boost a variety of different stats, such as improving armor or reducing your Blink spell cooldown, but most Rings boost Fury spells with increased damage or enhance other aspects such as speed, capacity, or duration. You can equip two rings at a time, time, so you can synergize or double up on certain stat boosts!
Bracers are your primary defense item and provide the majority of your armor stats. They can also boost defense spells like Shield and Blink. However, there are a few offensive Bracers that forgo some, but not all, armor in favor of a damage increase.
Armor and stat boosts can only do so much to keep you alive. If your health or mana is depleted, you’ll want to find and crush health or mana crystals to restore your reserves. These can be found as loot drops, but you can only carry so many crystals at a time, so use them wisely!
SKILLS & TALENT PROGRESSION
Customize Jak’s magic to fit your playstyle! As a Triarch Magnus, Jak can flex into any or all of the Red, Blue, and Green talent trees to unlock over 80 talents. As you defeat enemies and pick up drops, you’ll accumulate experience, called Arcanum, which can be spent to purchase talents. You can stick with the coretalent path for a single color of magic or branch off into abilities that utilize multiple colors. Talents allow you to customize how you play and offer a number of enhancements, including reduced cooldowns, increased regen, boosting the overall power for each color of magic, even changing how your spells function. The choice is yours.
Stay In Touch
There’s lots to know about Immortals of Aveum! We’ll be diving even deeper into loot, crafting, exploration, talent trees, and so much more. Keep an eye out for future videos and updates to this blog post!
In the meantime, learn more from our team as well as some of the industry’s leading developers as we share insights into game development. Check out YouTube for more content from devs about their experiences creating some of the best games ever made. Our original podcast series, Rise Above, delves into the world of video game development through candid conversations with some of the industry’s leading devs. There’s also more insider content from our team in the studio blog.
