Diablo rival Dragonkin The Banished has a build system you solve like a puzzle

Between Diablo 4, Last Epoch, and Path of Exile 2, we’re spoilt for choice when it comes to excellent action RPGs. Each game has something unique to offer, forcing any new contenders to introduce their own, genre-bending ideas to shake up the traditional hack and slash format. The imminent launch of Dragonkin: The Banished is doing just that, as developer Eko Software is changing how we experiment with builds. So if you enjoy meticulously tinkering away at the ideal character setup, Dragonkin is giving you an inventive way to do just that.

Reaching the endgame of an action RPG and crafting a character who can stomp enemies with ease is what many of us play the genre for, and Necon’s upcoming Dragonkin: The Banished isn’t shying away from that. Eko Software is turning build crafting into puzzle solving with a truly unique skill system.

Dragonkin’s skills are dependent on the Ancestral Grid, which evolves with your character. To get the most out of the Grid, you need to find Fragments out in the world. All Fragments are made up of several hexagons, so you need to carefully place them in your Ancestral Grid – kind of like playing a puzzle game with your skills.

Some Fragments come with modifiers, and this is where Dragonkin’s upgrade system gets interesting. Depending on where you place a Fragment’s modifier, you can utilize it in conjunction with other skills if it’s touching them. You can then increasingly upgrade your build’s skills simply by placing Fragments in advantageous positions on the Ancestral Grid, turning lackluster abilities into complete game-changers. The main town even has a training arena, so you can play around with Fragment and modifier combinations to get the most out of a build.

During your Dragonkin adventure, you’ll also be accompanied by a Wyrmling: a small, dragon-like creature that’s tied to a specific element. You can have a Wyrmling with the power of fire, ice, electricity, or toxicity, with each complementing you in different ways. It doesn’t end there though, as Wyrmlings have their own skills and Fragments that you can place on the Ancestral Grid. If you place these Wyrmling skills next to your own – much like the modifiers before – both you and your tiny dragon pal can combine abilities.

As you can imagine, this means you can combine your own modifiers and Wyrmling skills to create incredibly overpowered abilities in Dragonkin. If you enhance your own skills enough, they’ll then enter a state called Symbiosis. This combines your Wyrmling’s element with your own, leading to flamethrowers that also shoot ice and lighting, with some poison damage on the side – there are loads of possibilities.

For me, it’s the experimentation on offer and how that’s presented that sets Dragonkin apart from its many rivals. We’ve seen quite the boom of isometric action RPGs in the last few years, so shaking up the formula with some fresh new ideas is only ever a good thing.

We don’t have long to wait to play the game, either, as the Dragonkin: The Banished early access launch date is only a couple of months away.

While you wait for Dragonkin to launch, we’ve got all the best games like Diablo to keep you busy until then. We also have some of the best open-world games you can play

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