Gathering and crafting systems

Scars of Honor presents gathering and crafting as active profession systems rather than passive progress bars. The featured implementation is an in-development build, but the intended direction is clear: gathering feeds equipment, food, and potions, while crafting quality depends on player performance in profession minigames.

The system is designed so that players who enjoy professions can engage with them directly, while players who do not want to spend much time gathering can obtain materials or finished items through other means such as vendors, loot, or trade. Crafting is therefore treated as an important path to progression, but not as the only path.

Core design goals

The profession design aims to avoid repetitive one-click harvesting. Gathering nodes use distinct minigames so that woodcutting, mining, and fishing feel mechanically different from one another. The stated goal is to make profession gameplay more interactive, more resistant to botting, and more varied over long play sessions.

The minigames are intentionally simple in input complexity, but they are meant to test different skills. Some emphasize timing, some precision, and some reactive control. The systems are also tied to progression through profession expertise and tool quality.

Gathering types shown

Three gathering activities are shown directly:

• woodcutting
• mining
• fishing

All are presented as resource sources for later crafting. Gathered materials are used for equipment production and for consumables such as food and potions.

Crafting and blacksmithing

Blacksmithing is shown as a crafting profession with recipe requirements, profession level requirements, and a timing-based minigame. Recipes display the needed resources, and better items require higher blacksmithing expertise.

Crafting quality is not binary. Success and item quality depend on how well the player performs in the minigame. Better execution can produce better-quality results, including rare outcomes. The stream demonstrates this with crafted tools that can roll into higher rarity when the minigame is played well.

Crafting professions are described as having their own expertise levels. Higher expertise provides practical benefits, including easier minigames and access to stronger crafted gear. Better preparation also matters, especially through improved tools.

Profession expertise and difficulty

Each profession has progression through expertise. As expertise rises, easier-tier resources and recipes become more manageable, while higher-tier resources remain more demanding until the player improves both skill and equipment.

The minigames are said to support many difficulty levels. Fishing is explicitly described as having 20 difficulty levels, and the same general scaling principle applies across the profession system. Difficulty depends on the resource tier, the player’s expertise, and the quality of the tool being used.

The intended result is that low-tier gathering becomes quick and reliable for experienced characters, while high-tier gathering remains challenging and time-consuming.

Tools, durability, and item quality

Gathering and crafting tools have durability. Failed attempts do not necessarily block progress, but repeated failure consumes tool durability and reduces efficiency over time.

Better tools are intended to improve profession performance through higher efficiency and durability rather than through combat-style stat bonuses. The design direction explicitly separates gathering equipment from combat equipment. A better fishing rod or axe is meant to help with gathering itself, not to grant unrelated bonuses such as movement speed or combat attributes.

Failure states and penalties

Failure works differently depending on the activity.

For crafting, failing a minigame can consume part of the resources used. For gathering, failure generally means the player can try again, but at the cost of tool durability. This creates a soft penalty structure rather than a hard lockout.

The system also allows players to attempt content above their current comfort level. A player with weak tools or low expertise can try higher-tier nodes, but the minigame becomes harder and success less reliable.

Resource flow and progression alternatives

The profession system is intended to connect to the wider game economy and progression loop. Players who do not want to gather and craft extensively are expected to have alternatives, including buying items, looting gear, or earning gold through combat and then purchasing what they need.

The best gear is described as likely coming from a combination of gathering, combat against difficult enemies, and crafting. At the same time, the game is not intended to make non-crafters unplayable. High-end crafting is meant to be rewarding without becoming an absolute requirement for all players.

Profession scope and future expansion

At the time of the recording, six professions are said to be integrated, with more planned as development continues. The current direction does not impose a hard limit on how many professions a player can eventually learn, although mastering all of them is expected to take substantial time.

The system is still under iteration, and several details are presented as subject to change. The overall direction, however, is consistent: professions are meant to be active, skill-influenced, progression-linked systems that support both personal advancement and the player economy.

Source

• Recording: Scars OF Honor - All about Gathering and Crafting with Lead Game Designer!
• YouTube: Watch on YouTube
• Published: Sunday, March 29, 2026 at 7:45 PM UTC