While Wildlight Entertainment is shutting down the servers for Highguard on March 12th, the studio has revealed details about the last major update for the PvP raid shooter, bringing in a host of new content for its final days. The final patch brings with it entirely new systems, including an account-wide progression system and a skill tree. It will go live across PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S at 4 pm PST.
The account levelling system works by simply playing the game. Each match will reward players with XP, and levelling up leads to earning a skill point that can be spent on the skill tree. Players will start out at account level 0, and maxes out at level 100. The first level earned by an account gives five skill points, with following levels giving one each until level 40. This, in entirety, gives players 44 skill points to spend. The skill tree has 4 distinct branches dubbed Raider, Treasure Hunter, Harvester and Protector.
The Raider tree is focused on buffing abilities to enhance general combat efficiency. Abilities in the tree include Infiltration, Juggernaut, and Spearhead. Infiltration allows ziplines to go further into the enemy base during raids. Players with Juggernaut will get a short-duration overshield when destroying a wall. Spearhead gives players access to a Domesplitter and a Thumper Charge when the Siege Tower comes in.
Harvester focuses on Vesper gains and the power of the Warden Axe. It includes the skills Heavy Swing, Shatter Orb, and Field Crafting. Players with Heavy Swing can swing their axe with both hands, instantly destroying Vesper Nodes. Shatter Orbs allows players to destroy enemy soul orbs with their Throwing Axe or regular Axe Swing. Field Crafting gives players the ability to craft armor, equipment, and raid tools in the middle of the battlefield.
Treasure Hunter focuses on buffing the kinds of loot that players can find, with skills like Treasure Seeker, Archaeologist, and Artifact Mastery. Treasure Seeker allows players to find and open hidden chests at points of interest, while Archaeologist allows the selling of items to Trader Flynn. Artifact Mastery boosts the bonus magical properties of amulets when equipped.
Finally, the Protector tree focuses on boosting players’ defensive capabilities thanks to abilities like Resonant Walls, Unbreakable Armor, and Vanguard. Resonant Walls raises the durability of reinforced walls, while Unbreakable Armor prevents armor loss on death on a 2-minute cooldown. Vanguard allows allied players to spawn on you while you are defending your base.
Each skill can be unequipped at the click of a button, and resetting all spent points comes at no cost. The 44 points provided by the account levelling system will allow players to fully max out two skill trees, or spread their skill points around to their liking. XP gain has also been tuned to be incredibly fast, which will allow players to enjoy the skill tree at a quicker pace.
The update also brought with it a new Warden: Koldo. The Warden has been described as “a lost soul from long before the continent disappeared”, and makes use of his soul’s powers to protect allies. His passive ability is dubbed Guardian Angel, allowing him to automatically deploy his Tactical ability—Soul Shield—while reviving allies and protecting nearby friendly orbs from destruction. Soul Shield can also be used in the course of regular play to deploy a shield for Koldo and his allies. His ultimate ability is Battle Cry, which creates a battle standard that generates a protective dome. The standard can be picked up and dropped at will, giving more flexibility on where the dome can be placed. Standing inside the dome gives allied players faster health regeneration.
Finally, the update introduces the final weapon for Highguard—the Switchback. The weapon is a long-range double-barrel shotgun, giving players the versatility to engage in fights across multiple ranges. While typically a short-range shotgun, aiming down its sights turns it into a marksman rifle. Players can also use its twin barrels to quickly fire two bullets before needing to rechamber their next shots. The gun will be available in two gold versions through loot chests or Trader Flynn: the Basebreaker and the Repeater.
For more on Highguard, take a look at our thoughts on its launch and subsequent death.