Sick of battle royales? Well tough luck, cause here’s another one! Don’t be so hasty to write it off though: Instead of the standard battle royale shooter, Proletariat’s Spellbreak is based on a magic system, which immediately sets it far apart from pretty much any other major battle royale in the gaming sphere right now.
In Spellbreak, the mightiest of mages have taken it to the battlegrounds. You get to master deadly magic – not just one, but 2 elements simultaneously. From a variety of classes including Frostborn, Conduit, Pyromancer, Toxicologist, Stoneshaper, and Tempest, Spellbreak brings devastating yet versatile combat to the battle royale battles. Characteristic of the genre, you can still look for loot to improve your character overall, in terms of speed, mana, abilities, the rarity of elemental gauntlets, and more. The game also lets you equip an ability rune that you can use for rotations or aggression. In short, Spellbreak is packed with everything a battle royale game needs and is backed by stunning visual direction.
Welcome to Hollow Lands
The official battlefield of Spellbreak is called the ‘Hollow Lands’ and is set in the world of Primdal. As the game begins, you are told that you are no longer restricted from using your magic; it is yours to command. The map of Spellbreak is well-designed with many POIs and rune locations that encourage you to go for the ‘high risk, high reward’ playstyle and get high-tier gear at the earliest. The lore of the game promises to be deep and exciting, though it’s not there yet. It’s set to arrive soon with the introduction of a “Chapter System.”
Dual Wielding Battlemage
Spellbreak lets you wield not just one, but 2 magic-wielding gauntlets at once – yes, you wield magic through the use of gauntlets in this game. You start off with a primary gauntlet of your choice to progress your character with. The progression will reward you with an artifact (only visually, as it actually works as a backpack), titles, cards, emotes, and of course, Spellbreak gold which can be used to buy cosmetics in the item shop. Though your primary gauntlet stays with you and cannot be changed midgame, if you find a higher rarity gauntlet of the same element, you can use that to upgrade. Your primary gauntlet offers you better elemental perks, for example: While using the Frostborn, you can shoot a frost arrow towards a direction, and a glacier will be formed along its path, which you can then use to skate and traverse the area, allowing for faster mobility. Though the secondary gauntlet won’t have these perks, there’s freedom in that, as you can change the gauntlet at any point of time as you like.
While you can use your dual-wielding abilities as you like, one of the main attractions of this system is to combine your elements. You can create a toxic cloud using a Toxicologist and then light it up using Pyromancer to create a devasting fire cloud that deals deadly damage to your enemies. Similarly, you can create a tornado using Tempest and add lightning to it using the Conduit ability to create a thunder-tornado which, again, deals a heavy amount of damage.
The Key to Victory – Runes
Runes will be your vital element in every fight you pick – just standing at one spot and spamming your attack won’t do because you’ll be getting shot at too. You will need your agility to strafe through enemy fire and for this, the game offers a variety of runes, which are – Teleportation, Springstep, Flight, Invisibility, Wolf’s Bane, Featherfalling, and Dash. Teleportation, allows you to teleport a certain distance (pretty self-explanatory), which in turn lets you escape if you are stuck in the crossfire. Featherfalling enables you to hover in the air, which assists you to escape most of the splash damage and attacks while having the elevation advantage. Invisibility will be your key to escape sticky situations and Springstep will give you the height advantage. While the dash is good for chasing down enemies as well as avoiding attacks, Wolf’s bane will identify and mark your enemies in a limited radius through walls. Apart from the runes, you’ll also unlock your class perks as the circle progresses.
Brace for Battle
Spellbreak’s art style, environment design, character design, and magic animations are all very well done and reflect the hard work that the developers have put in. The low-poly visuals, engaging combat, and exciting feel of this game make it one of the best battle royales released this year. Make sure to equip yourself with a better amulet for an increased amount of mana, better boots for fast walking, and the best belt, as you will need your shields to survive the attacks. The game combat can go from 0 to 100 at any time. As you explore the battlefield and make your way towards the circle, as soon as you pick a fight with an enemy, things have a tendency to turn into really aggressive engagements, very quickly. Keeping to the high ground is the key to victory while managing your mana, hitting your spells, and dodging enemy projectiles are the most important factors for your survivability. Different elements serve different play styles – those with good aim can use the Frostborn ability and barrage enemies with hard-hitting frost arrows, while predator gamers can use Conduit to track opponents.
Real Talk
Spellbreak is perhaps the most creative battle royale to come out in a long time where your skills, knowledge of the meta-game, and build choices play a major part in your survival. With tonnes of factors that affect your gameplay style in the form of runes, equipment, and gauntlet upgrades, Spellbreak is an exciting entry to the battle royale genre and a good competitor to its peers. It is an easy recommendation for players who love magic styled combat and battle royales. And hey, it’s free to play!
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