There have been a few updates posted to the Crowfall website over the last week or so. Producer J. Todd Coleman wrote a short Founder’s Update post in which he discussed the work still being done to create the assets for player forts. He also let on that ArtCraft Entertainment have been doing still yet more fundraising (which is evidently going well), and that the company has hired a few new artists to work on particle effects.

As well, the first bit of website localization has begun:

3. GERMAN version of the website is now online and a German community liaison, Siamantha, has joined us. (The German site can be viewed by selecting the DE flag at the top right corner of our home page.) We would love to ask our German fans to please take a look — and of course, let us know of any issues that might have come up in translation! We need your help to make this site awesome!

Coleman also wrote another update about how ArtCraft are preparing to open up Crowfall to playtesters:

There are really two parts to testing our core combat features:

1. Functional testing – Build a small test environment that exists for the sole purpose of allowing you to test particular items and features.

We started with #1 internally. We’ve done a ton of this, and I’m sure we’ll continue doing it… TBH, forever. Functional testing never ends. This part of the test process isn’t particularly interesting to watch (or, frankly, to do). It consists of loading the game and running through a checklist of items and features and logging what breaks, then waiting for a new version, and doing it again. And over and over and over again, forever.
This is not the part that you guys want to be involved in.

2. Playtesting – Take those elements and ‘wrap them’ with some kind of a system to make the test itself more fun and engaging and to test emergent behaviors where the various features and systems intersect.

This is where it gets more interesting. This stage is often broken, and bumpy, and lacking in functionality — but it’s also where, every now and then, you get a brief glimpse at the game as it will eventually be. If you have the right attitude, those moments are worth it. (If you don’t then you really shouldn’t be participating in the test!)
This is where we will start external testing.

The rest of the post contains a bit of a tutorial on how playtester logins and character creation will work.

Up next, ArtCraft also gave us a look at their work on the powers for the Confessor archetype. The Confessor — some of her powers in action are pictured above — is evidently a fairly straightforward “glass cannon” type: capable of delivering powerful damage-dealing effects at range, but vulnerable to foes that can get into close-range.

Mechanically, the Confessor uses mana to fuel any power in the 1-0 position. Her left click primary attacklaunches fireball projectiles which explode when they hit something (or their lifetime ends) and creates damage within a radial area of that end point. The radius of the explosion is pretty small, so in almost all cases it will only hit 1-2 characters. Each character who gets hit by a Confessor’s primary attack fireball also gets a stacking (timed) debuff called Sin. Sin stacks don’t do anything by themselves, but they are pre-requisites that can trigger effects in other powers.

(By the way, stacking buffs/debuffs was additional new tech we had to build for the Confessor powers. Not only were stacking effects required to make Sin work, but it was also necessary to enable damage-over-time [DoT] effects from multiple opponents in parallel.)

The third power in the primary chain shoots three fireballs instead of one, in a V-shaped formation. We’re still playing with this until we get a formation we like. Another option that we are considering is having the three fireballs firing in the same trajectory, each slightly delayed out of the Confessor’s hands, basically a quick burst rapid fire. This could give her more control and utility, as she could re-target the trajectory with her reticle during the burst.

Her right click power, Zealot Rush, is the mobility portion of the Confessor kit. This power very quickly slides her 10 meters in whatever input is direction provided, WASD-based. This power is fueled by stamina and she can perform it back-to-back in a jam if at full stamina.

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TL;DR Summary

The current slate of Confessor’s basic power kit is heavily focused on ranged-magical attacks. She has a few physics-based powers, lots of projectiles, varied methods of dealing damage, methods to avoid damage, and some fun combos. Our goal is for the Confessor to be the canonical glass cannon, dealing heavy damage when left alone…but better have a Knight (or other similar companion) around to peel enemies off her or to block for her because she only has a couple chances to use her get-away mechanics.

The most recent update (as of this writing) on the Crowfall website is actually, for the most part, a shout-out to author David Sirlin, and some praise for his book Playing to Win: Becoming The Champion.