Soulstone Survivors is a new indie-created RPG with roguelike elements created by Game Smithing Limited. The game has a hack 'n slash style of combat similar to that of Diablo or Vampire Survivor and gameplay that drops players into large maps in a siege-mode type of battle to kill waves of enemies and bosses in order to progress to more difficult areas. Soulstone Survivor was recently released on Steam in early access and has received a large number of positive reviews for its solid overall functionality, being incredibly fun to play, and its ability to give players an overpowering sense of existence without losing challenging aspects within the game.
Players can drastically customize their individual character, play with an enormous amount of available skills, and have several different classes and weapon types to choose from. Players will go from fresh spawn nobody to army-destroying overlord in no time and quickly become entranced with the gameplay. Fans of games like Hades or Spellbook Demonslayers will want to dive right into this masterful creation of mayhem in the RPG genre.
7 Experimentation Is A Straight Path To Fun
The main attraction of Soulstone Survivors is how much freedom a player is permitted when deciding what style of play they want to follow with their character. Nearly every aspect of how a character can fight, move and affect the battlefield is entirely in the player's hand, with the option of tweaking weapon abilities, skills, and upgrades.
Therefore, players should deep dive into the gameplay systems, become well versed in the smorgasbord of possibilities available, and not limit themselves to singular ideas based on previous games in the genre.
6 Try Every Class
There are fourteen classes available to players in Soulstone Survivors, incorporating various styles of tactics; players can choose anywhere from long-range mages, mid-range assassins, and close-combat barbarians with a fair amount of customization features. Each class is uniquely crafted with specific traits and negative aspects that players can use to their advantage.
Players should be encouraged to try each class thoroughly and get a good understanding of the progression they are capable of. The base form of each class can be completely different from the endgame form the payer reaches after some proper grinding.
5 Upgrading Is Paramount
Upgrading gear and weapons is an essential part of any RPG and should not be neglected in Soulstone Survivors. When facing off against endless droves of enemies such as spider and bomb types, which are particularly dangerous, players will need their chosen load outs to be the best possible for clearing the map as quickly as they can. In addition to higher damage numbers, upgraded gear can provide substantial buffs to abilities, weapons, and overall survivability to avoid getting one-shot by bosses or overrun by packs of ads.
4 Materials Matter
Materials are the lifeblood by which players will unlock more powerful gear, upgrade their characters, and unlock additional classes to play. There is an abundance of different types of resources in the game, and at first, players may be overwhelmed or confused about what to do with them.
The various material types are basically used for the same three reasons, improving gear, unlocking classes, and crafting weapons; however, classes, equipment, and skills take specific types of material, which is where the variety comes into play. Therefore, players should take note of the type of materials that gear or weapons they want will require and keep an eye out for them when on the battlefield.
3 Skills Are A Must
There are dozens upon dozens of skills in Soulstone Survivors that allow for endless combinations to enable players to not only feel unique, but powerful in the game's world. Skills are separated into two types, Passive and Active skills; players can unblock and upgrade these skills by obtaining the material dropped by slain enemies, and truly craft custom-builds where no character plays the same.
Additionally, skills can directly alter how character actions and abilities work, adding chain lighting to attacks or extending an attack's range to the entire map, which can lead to truly overpowered ability builds. Surviving in Soulstone Survivors will take players utilizing the Skill system as much as possible.
2 Don't Get Surrounded
The most threatening force in Soulstone Survivors are the enemies; players who are not used to wave or siege styles of combat should be extra cautious when stepping into the game, so they do not get quickly overwhelmed.
The sheer amount of chaos that can appear on the screen at one time will lead unsuspecting players to feel trapped; it is essential that while engaged in combat that players prioritize the correct targets and remain in motion so as not to be caught in the traps of unique enemies with volatile AOE effects. With every success, the game will grow immensely more difficult, with new enemy types and hazards aimed to end the player's playthrough in true roguelike fashion.
1 Bosses Take Priority
Bosses are the wall that players must overcome in order to progress further in the game; after every defeat, players will gain access to another map or an area of the map with a more challenging difficulty. To keep players on their toes, numerous bosses will appear at random and must be dealt with as soon as possible. As time goes on, the longer the boss stays on the map, the harder the game will become.
Bosses have large health bars and take a lot of damage to defeat; players must focus on them while utilizing their skills to stay in the game.
Soutstone Survivor is available on PC via Steam through early access.