Age of Conan: Rise of the Godslayer

The mounts - a wolf, which Funcom hasn't shown yet, and an impressively burly and warlike tiger - are one of Rise of the Godslayer's cleverest touches. Such beasts are always one of the most spectacular and sought-after items in an MMO, but usually handled like a utilitarian afterthought by the game systems. Funcom, however, is looking to forge an emotional attachment and an epic quest line out of each one. You'll need to capture them as cubs, train them first to fight alongside you, and finally to bear your weight. In the case of the tiger, you'll even need to join a religious cult, fight a tigress barehanded, teach the pet cub skills as it grows, and craft a saddle before you can ride it.

What we know least about Rise of the Godslayer is what will be important in the long run: its new progression path, the alternate advancement system. You will earn points to spend on new abilities and combos, many of which will naturally have an Asian martial arts theme. You will also be able to train your abilities to a more powerful level using an offline, time-based skill-training system not unlike EVE Online's. The aim is more depth to combat and a diversification of each class, allowing them to take on more roles, according to Morrisson.

"Now that we have deployed the revamped items and statistics update, we have a much greater number of options for us to play with, and we want to build on that," he says. "The focus will be on providing more situational and interesting abilities that mean players can take advantage of the strengths and weakness of their opponents."

The time-based training means you'll need to specialise at first, but ultimately you'll be able to train in everything, effectively creating a more flexible character with multiple specs. "Over time, the players can earn virtually all the available abilities if they keep working through it, meaning that they will end up with a great many options for the character and are not restricted to one single role," Morrisson says.

It's an intriguing direction to take players in, and a useful opportunity to rebuild Age of Conan's combat around its new RPG system, as Morrisson points out. How clear it will be in terms of being able to measure your power against other players or the PvE content - and whether it can offer the same satisfaction and sense of purpose as a level "ding" - we won't be able to tell until we know much more. "We are working very hard to make sure that the alternate advancement system will have some really interesting elements to it," is all Morrisson can say to reassure us at the moment.

However, instinct tells us it's the right move for a game that, while vastly improved over its launch, is still only just living up to its early promise. Age of Conan needs to be broadened, not lengthened, and that's just what Rise of the Godslayer's alternate advancement, faction gameplay and new low-level as well as high-level content do. The top-notch artwork and apparently ample, rewarding and multi-faceted solo questing show that Funcom knows Age of Conan's strengths and is wisely choosing to build on those.

Some would argue that it's too soon, that the game is still too unsteady on its feet. Perhaps, but standing still is the true death for any MMO, and if Funcom has proved anything in the last year, it's that it's committed to keeping this game alive. If Age of Conan's Difficult First Expansion is substantial enough and polished enough when it launches - some if - maybe the Godslayer really will rise again.