Community Q&A — exploration, PvP, boss rewards, leaderboards, roles, and balance (dev responses)

The team shared developer responses to several of the most-voted topics from a recent community Q&A. Below is a Chronicle-friendly summary of those answers—confirm timing and feature details on official channels as the playtest approaches.

Making exploration rewarding—not empty map filler

Question (paraphrased): Many MMORPGs build huge maps filled with monsters that don’t give you a reason to be there. Games like Ragnarok stand out because mobs have distinct drops, which pulls you into specific places. How will Scars of Honor encourage players to actually explore instead of treating the world as random noise?

Dev response (summary): Progression is built around crafting and hunting items to improve your gear. The aim is for every NPC to stay relevant to that journey, regardless of level.

The team is avoiding generic global drop tables in favor of unique loot pools per creature, so each mob has a clear role and supports different crafting paths. Together with a segmented gathering system, exploration is meant to feel purposeful rather than filler.

Playtest note: Many of these drop-specific features will not be fully active for the upcoming playtest in April—the loop is the long-term vision even if the April build doesn’t show all of it yet.

Racial traits—impact, balance, and “meta” risk

Question (paraphrased): How impactful will racial traits be, how will they be balanced, and can you share examples?

Dev response (summary): Racial traits are still under internal design debate. The main worry is that over-tuning traits pushes players into meta picks—choosing a race for stats instead of identity.

If traits ship, they are unlikely to be game-breaking or highly impactful. Race should reflect what you want to play, not a spreadsheet for the “best build.” No final decision has been locked; the team is weighing player freedom and long-term balance.

PvP for massive guilds without steamrolling PvE players

Question (paraphrased): What PvP are you planning for large clans and guilds so big fights are possible without ruining the experience for PvE-focused players?

Dev response (summary): PvP follows the same discipline as PvE: nail core modes first. After the initial modes feel solid, the plan is to grow into guild-vs-guild content.

Large-scale PvP is a major commitment. The team wants it—possibly around Update 4—but first needs feedback on how many players actually want that layer. They’re aware players coming from titles like Ashes of Creation want massive fights, but Scars of Honor still has to find its own balance, with the community helping decide how far to push huge guild features.

Exclusive, great-looking gear from bosses—not only the shop

Question (paraphrased): Will there be awesome, exclusive rewards from grinding or hard bosses—not just from the cash shop?

Dev response (summary): Yes—that’s the intent. Bosses should deliver visual payoff, not only power. The plan is for distinct gear and looks to drop from boss content. Exact drop rates and locations aren’t confirmed yet.

Because this touches monetization, the team will need to be careful—but the goal is boss-linked exclusive skins that feel like earned rewards for players who take on those challenges, accessible through gameplay rather than shop-only.

Alliances, leaderboards, and competitive rewards

Question (paraphrased): What are the plans for guild-related activities and the leaderboard system in general—what should competitive players expect?

Dev response (summary): Competition is central to the experience, and the team wants the right incentives to match. Plans include weekly Alliance leaderboards to reward top performers, plus Server, Global, and time-limited leaderboards tied to specific gameplay events.

The tools can track and compare a wide range of metrics, so the design space is broad. Implementing these leaderboards is not the immediate top priority, but the team definitely wants them in the game to keep the competitive side alive and rewarding.

Healer diversity and the Tank–Healer–DPS dynamic

Question (paraphrased): How will the team address healer (and support) diversity so the game does not repeat the common MMO pattern—many DPS options but too few appealing tanks and healers, which warps group comp and playstyle variety?

Dev response (summary): The game already has several classes per role, and the team believes role distribution is more accessible than in many other titles on the market. There are no plans to make every class able to tank or heal—that would blur distinct roles, which the team wants to keep meaningful.

The design leans on a “rock-paper-scissors”-style Tank–Healer–DPS relationship. For variety, multiple classes can cover two or even three of those roles depending on build. For now, the ratio of options is considered in a good place, so each role stays meaningful in a group.

Skills, talent trees, and long-term balance

Question (paraphrased): How will the team balance the large number of skills and talent tree nodes per class? Will there be metrics to monitor balance? Is there a dedicated balancing team?

Dev response (summary): Balance is an ongoing process the team expects to iterate continuously. A very skilled balancing team with deep RPG and PvP experience will track how different builds and talents affect the game.

The team enjoys when players find strong or “OP” builds and wants to encourage those discoveries. The goal is not to flatten the meta into something stale or to “kill” interesting builds, but to keep the landscape shifting so no single class dominates for months at a time.

Intervention focuses on what is totally broken due to bugs: fix the underlying issues to keep the field fair, while leaving other viable paths open for players to enjoy.

This article summarizes community-facing Q&A answers as circulated by the Scars of Honor team. It is published on Scars of Honor Chronicle, a fan-run site. For dates, playtest scope, and official wording, use scarsofhonor.com, Steam, and official Discord announcements.