The Verse 3 previews continue to roar forth out of Pax Dei. Following a look at its optional subscription and its changing map, it’s now time to get into some real RPG meat and potatoes with a dive into inbound progression and item changes.

In gear-related matters, certain armor slots are being consolidated, items will now have a power score that scales with its quality and a character’s combat skill level, and armor will have specific classifications (light, medium, and heavy) as well as armor skills and integrated spells, even at common quality, all of which are intended to encourage mixing up armor types.

As for weapons, melee weapons will all have three of their own special abilities, while dedicated healing staves are being added, each with its own suite of healing abilities in order to let players create healers for dungeon groups. Heals heals heals. Both melee and magical weapon abilities will draw from a new resource known as spirit, and combat XP will be earned from killing enemies in order to improve specific weapon and armor skills.

In addition to these tweaks to gear, Verse 3 promises improvements to AI, aggro, and difficulty curves for a better dungeon delving experience, along with HUD updates that show off the spirit resource, make it easier to target friends, and add more hotbar buttons that eliminate the need to press modifier keys. There’s still no timeline for when this patch will land, but developer Mainframe Industries is once again promising big changes are en route.