Psyonix on Nosgoth: Beastmaster

We were invited to sit down with designer Jacob Mott and find out more about the significant update coming to Nosgoth, Beastmaster. Here's what the man from Psyonix had to say ahead of the incoming full launch of the asymmetrical multiplayer game.

Gamereactor: We thought we'd start off by asking about the current state of Nosgoth.

Jacob Mott: We've had a lot of players around from the very start who've definitely enjoyed it, and they've seen the game have a big evolution from originally having only three maps, two or three classes for each side, and almost doubling that into what we're currently at, with Beastmaster around the corner. We're especially excited for the game to come out of early access when we do get around to that - we're hoping to get a nice push of new players to get in here and get these new fresh perspectives on how the game is feeling for newer players. Definitely as it comes out we will be doing stuff like a balance patch and a general polish pass, just to clean up and to get things up to speed, but we're definitely excited to come out of early access and get a bunch of new fresh perspectives.

GR: Is it that kind of thing, when you mention that you've had a lot of players that have been around ever since the start, do you feel you need that influx of new players? Because of course, the veterans have a certain view on the game but maybe you want to open the game up to a wider audience?

JM: Oh yeah, it's always good to get multiple perspectives. Most recently we've been getting some experience from some of the upper ESL teams, which we're using to start our look at bug fixing, and a few changes for game balance. Once we do go for a full release and get some of these new players we will look at the metric data coming in from those lower rank queues and see if there are problem points that are hitting the lower queues that aren't quite as evident in the upper queues and finding that balance between making sure new players can get in efficiently and understand what they are doing whilst still catering to a very high skill gameplay for the upper tiers.

GR: Let's move on to Beastmaster - What's the vision for this update and what was it that you wanted to bring into the game with it?

JM: So the two big things that we really can bring in with the Beastmaster is that he's the first human character to have this secondary form that specifically grants him flight. So originally way back in the original prototypes, we were working around with a pet class and how you would use this and we weren't getting the results we were looking for. So we ended up shifting to this character with dual forms with two different focuses depending on the form he is in. The flight sort of came in from some narrative and existing models that we had that we ended up using as his form. It gave him a lot of scouting power, mobility relocation, which was definitely something we were worried about because compared to the other classes, the other humans are grounded and aren't as fast, quick and mobile compared to the vampires. Luckily we had a shotgun class we've been looking to put in for a while, which is the other big part of his kit. He is a far closer ranged fighter than the other human characters, he's definitely going to be in the same melee range that the vampires are going to be, so it helps balance out. He can fly around and have this mobility to get on roofs and scout out vampires but unless he's up close he can't really capitalise on that, other than pointing out for his team. Those are the two big balancing pieces where we have this very mobile character that's going to be in close range and dealing with vampires in the same sort of turf that they are; how do we find out a good balance between making him not so frustrating to fight for vampires who can only use melee attacks, and how can we make sure the Beastmaster can survive in melee with all these other vampires.

GR: What's the reactions been like from the current player base to this update ahead of time, are there any concerns, is there just excitement, what's the word on the street?

JM: From what we've seen a lot of people have been excited about having a shotgun class, a lot of people wanted that and the whole flying mode and transformation. Some people were hoping to get a lot of that and some people were just like, totally out of left field, and they completely weren't expecting this. But a lot of the feedback has been exciting, definitely, the same point I talked about before where some people were worried about were like 'this human class can fly,' how is this going to change everything and how can vampires fight this if he can fly off into the rooftops and can potentially hide. It's the same thing with the close range class, some people were discussing whether he will be effective in close range, how they are going to have to change up their battle plans to fight vampires in close range. They won't have that advantage of being able to kite and get as extreme range as a scout or a hunter. They seem to be excited so we'll definitely see once they get their hands on it how things turn out.

GR: Let's take it to the other side of the coin, the vampires.

JM: The next vampire class is coming from the Rahabim clan and the Legacy of Kain series. They are this artistic and scholarly people who eventually turn into water-dwelling, snake like vampires. They are very secretive, they do a lot of spy work, so coming into Nosgoth, the class is going to take the form of a sort of Special Forces unit. She's going to have a lot of abilities that can potentially be used in a lot of different situations, but won't always be effective in all situations. A lot of her gameplay is going to be around tailoring her loadout to fight certain objectives and counter enemy compositions and the abilities they are using. She falls between the Reaver and Summoner, where she's a quick melee fighter who's looking to pick out her targets and strike when it's most opportune. But she also has some abilities that allow her to control the battlefield and set up situations that are most favourable for her to later come in and exploit, turning the fight in the advantage of her and her team.

GR: It sounds like a class for advanced players to try their hands at. Is that the design here, that it's something a skilled player can have a big effect on the game? How do you see it?

JM: She is definitely going to be probably the most complex class that's come to Nosgoth yet. We are looking to have a very high skill cap that very highly skilled players can fall into and be very effective with. That said it is a team game so we are looking that a lot of her abilities are most effective when reinforced and supported by allies. Considering her character, she is very squishy, so if she tries to lone wolf and even if she sets up the perfect situation, if she tries to go in 4v1 she will probably get destroyed. So it's still very important to work with the team, and understand her kit and choose abilities that will deal with the opposition, and it'll very heavily shift the balance of power in her favour if the executes correctly.

GR: It takes us back to the whole balance issue, as that is the sort of character that is really dangerous to add to the mix because it can potentially create a lot of different scenarios that you'll have to consider when it comes to balancing.

JM: Definitely, and a big part of why we are speaking generally about her now is that she's still in a very iterative process. Just last week we had a complete rework of one of her abilities that really drastically changed part of her play-style when she's using that ability. It's still a ways out and it'll still be a lot of iteration, testing, tweaking, and potentially reworking entire concepts for some abilities.

GR: Is that ability something you can go into detail and describe what it was, because we got a little curious there...

JM: I don't think we are going to go into specifics, but basically the idea was it gave a positive effect to both her and her target. There's this mind game balance of power between the two of them trying to figure out how best to use this new power they've got or whether or not they want to kill the other targets, change the fight from 4v4 to a 3v4 right out. It's partially shelved right now, were sort of trying to flesh out the concept more and make it more clear in its functionality. But it's a very iterative process

GR: Do you have a timeline for when this class might be ready? Or is it still in that process when you don't really know when it'll be finished?

JM: It's still quite a ways out. It probably won't be until sometime after Beastmaster has been released and then sometime after that we'll get the first previews and the release after that. But we'd definitely like to make sure we are in as stable a position as we can be with the class before it goes out and starts to wreak havoc in the game.

Nosgoth is currently in early access, but as we were told by a PR representative during this interview, it should be releasing fully soon. Stay tuned for more details on that front, and to check out the game you can hit this link.