Dauntless teases exciting island gameplay additions coming this year

Phoenix Labs has plenty of things on the horizon for Dauntless, as they have told us recently. Now, a new blog post details some of these, focused on improving the island gameplay and even shows a few prototypes to get you in the right mood.

One of the most exciting features is the ability of the Behemoths to destroy parts of the environment, such as trees. No more these trees will be a sacred haven for slayers, as the Behemoths will have the (logical) ability to just crush the damn things like it was nothing. This is just one of the steps to make the islands and the battles feel more real, more alive.

The Shattered Isles could also use some more points of interest to stimulate discovery and exploration. Soon, you should be able to step into abandoned villages or wrecked ships from unfortunate slayers, places where you can learn a bit more about the lore, and, of course, discover items and crafting materials.

New methods of traversal are being explored, such as the smaller vents of Aether which throw your slayer into the air, reaching higher ground. This is only one of the examples, and the prototype below looks a bit odd, but with some work on the animations, it could be a nice addition.

The post ends with a mention of new islands, but there is nothing beyond a draft right now. Exciting news, nonetheless!