00:05ARIANA SIARKIEWICZ
00:06ARIANA SIARKIEWICZ
00:06Hi, my name is Ariana Siarkiewicz and I'm one of the writers at Rebel Wolves.
00:11Over the past few months we've shared quite a lot about the game's story.
00:15Today we'll give you a glimpse of the activities our human-by-day, vampire-by-night protagonist Cohen can take
00:23on while exploring the open world.
00:26We start at night, in our vampiric form, heading toward a vantage point to get a better sense of our
00:32surroundings.
00:34Reaching a vantage point reveals nearby opportunities and helps us plan our next steps.
00:46Just gorgeous.
00:50If you brave these woods, folks say they're chock full of monsters.
00:57Village of Malagir.
01:00Codrin's Family's Land.
01:04Malagir Monastery.
01:07Its best days are long behind it.
01:09I don't think I'll find anything else here.
01:13Let's open them up and check nearby points of interest.
01:19Some are tied to Brancis' officers, more on them shortly.
01:24Others to hidden mysteries, haunted sites, and shrines used for fast travel,
01:29which can also serve as quest objectives.
01:34Let's mark one and head there.
01:48Early in the game, we can unlock a perk that allows us to transform into a wolf and move faster
01:55at night.
01:55It's quicker and more agile, though it comes with some limitations.
02:00There's also a daytime equivalent, but more on that later.
02:06It looks like we've come across a group in need of help.
02:10Whether we intervene is up to us.
02:12And both choices can lead to unexpected outcomes.
02:17We began with Death from Above, allowing us to quickly eliminate an unsuspecting enemy
02:22and gain the upper hand from the start.
02:26We have incorporated community feedback,
02:29and now there is no need to open the skill wheel to select a previously assigned ability.
02:33Instead, we can use Quick Selection.
02:42So did I, to be fair.
02:44I wasn't sure I'd get you out of this in time.
02:46But you did.
02:48Bless you.
02:49Bless you.
02:52For now, we need to recover.
02:54As a vampire, we restore health by feeding.
02:57Human blood is most effective.
02:59But in this case, we rely on animals.
03:03It's less efficient, but it will do.
03:06Feeding increases our corruption level.
03:09It's shown next to the health bar, at the bottom of the screen.
03:12The higher the corruption level, the more vampiric perks are unlocked for purchase.
03:18Nearby points of interest are marked on the map and indicated on the compass at the top of the screen.
03:23Let's head to the shrine.
03:26Here's the shrine.
03:28Damaged, so we can't use it yet.
03:30Desecrated.
03:31Looks like the shrine's missing its heart.
03:34But maybe I could restore it.
03:42The tracks, they're fresh.
03:47There's a trail nearby.
03:49Let's follow it.
04:01A group of Brancis' soldiers has set up camp.
04:05Let's clear them out.
04:11Voracious Bite allows us to drink blood from an unsuspecting enemy and gain the upper hand at the beginning of
04:17combat.
04:18But we're not able to drain this enemy fully, as his comrades quickly tend to his aid.
04:31We use Piercing Shriek to briefly stun the weaker opponent, giving us an opportunity to take on his commander.
04:39When an enemy blocks and interrupts our attack chain, we can use Charge to prevent a counterattack.
04:50Voracious Bite can also be used during combat as an active perk, allowing us to regenerate some health.
05:00A word of this reaches your master.
05:06With the camp destroyed, our infamy increases.
05:10More about this in a moment.
05:14Let's collect our loot.
05:16We've found the shrine's missing heart, along with a manual that unlocks a new perk.
05:22Precision.
05:23Let's open our inventory and head to the Recipes tab.
05:27As I mentioned, the manual unlocks a new perk called Precision.
05:32Once we read it, it becomes available in the Character tab.
05:38The exclamation mark indicates that a new perk is available, but we can't purchase it yet.
05:45Perks can only be acquired at a shrine by spending experience points, which are earned by completing objectives.
05:51And since we've just finished one, we should be good to go.
05:56We've also found the shrine's missing heart, so we can now fix it.
06:14With the heart restored, the shrine is rebuilt.
06:18We can now use it.
06:20Let's start with the perks menu.
06:22In the Swordmaster abilities, we find Precision now available for purchase.
06:26As you can see, it costs both experience points and a time segment, indicated by the hourglass icon.
06:34Let's learn it.
06:37Now let's take a look at the Vrakiri perks.
06:40With our corruption level increased and another experience point available, we can unlock new abilities, again marked with an exclamation
06:48point.
06:49The corruption level required to purchase a perk is indicated in the tooltip on the right side of the screen.
06:55Let's purchase one.
07:02Time passes as we acquire new perks.
07:05The night comes to an end, the sun rises, and a new day begins.
07:10Along with a new edict.
07:19Edicts are tied to the infamy system we mentioned earlier.
07:28The higher our infamy, the harsher the edicts, and the more challenging the world becomes.
07:35It's a sign that Brancis is vigilant and reacts to our actions in Bael's N'Gora.
07:42Infamy reflects how much we disrupt the operations of Brancis' followers.
07:47Let's take a closer look at one of his officers, Ambrus.
07:52In the right corner of the screen, we can see his level of aggression towards us.
07:57When it reaches its peak, a new questline is unlocked, influencing the story and shaping our future confrontation with Brancis.
08:07As you can see, multiple open-world activities are tied to Ambrus, all connected to his operations.
08:15Let's go back to the map to mark one of them, and then let's head there.
08:45We've arrived near one of Ambrus's warehouses, storing blood.
08:49Supplies.
09:00Charge is an ability shared between human and vampire forms.
09:04This enemy was weak enough to stun them with it.
09:24The Vrakiris store blood in places like this.
09:30Ambrus is responsible for keeping it safe.
09:35Oh, but we're not going to make his job any easier.
09:41Another group of soldiers stands in our way.
09:50We open with Broad Swing to weaken as many opponents as possible, then follow up with Burning Blood, which briefly
09:58stuggers the enemy and applies a damage-over-time effect.
10:05The prisoners' fate is grim, their blood is drained, then stored in places like this, where it awaits distribution to
10:12Brancis and his officers.
10:32Feels nice.
10:34Hitting them where it hurts.
10:49With the supplies destroyed, our infamy rises again.
10:55We've disrupted Ambrus's operations enough for now.
10:59Let's move on to another point of interest.
11:01A haunted site.
11:03Earlier we showed you how we can move faster at night by transforming into a wolf.
11:07To increase our speed during the day, we can unlock a hex, called Mercurial Fervor.
11:15Haunted sites are only accessible during the day, as they require blood magic, unavailable in vampiric form.
11:22Leading them strengthens our magical abilities, but also puts our combat skills to the test.
11:35The spirits here are restless. Perhaps I could help them somehow.
12:04All of the enemies are nicely grouped together. It's a perfect opportunity to use Ravenous Flop.
12:10A perk that damages opponents in an area, twice. First in activation, and then in the follow-up attack.
12:31The enemies are defeated, so let's collect our loot.
12:37These haunted sites may reward us with ancient texts, allowing Cohen to become an even more powerful wielder of magic.
12:51And that's just a brief look at open-world activities.
12:55Many more await, often tying back to the main objective, and opening up new storylines along the way.
