The upcoming Conan Exiles: Age of Sorcery update will add new magic to the game, as well as new building features and a Battle Pass system.
A large upcoming update will add sorcery to the world of Conan Exiles alongside a Battle Pass system, new building options, and more. Although Funcom, the developer behind Conan Exiles, also has an upcoming survival MMO Dune: Awakening in the works, a great deal of focus from the studio remains on building a future for Exiles. The new Age of Sorcery update draws heavily from the lore crafted by Conan the Barbarian writer Robert E. Howard, and brings a slew of new possibilities for players in-game.
In the world of Conan Exiles, sorcery is much more centered around ritualistic practices than it is quickly casting spells during combat. Players will not be casting things like fireballs at their opponents as they fight – rather, they will be accruing spells from different domains of magic that focus on utility over directly damaging an enemy. Many of the spells that can be learned do things like create huge ice bridges for traversing across long gaps, or summon a bright wisp light that will temporarily surround the player in lieu of carrying a torch.
Although Conan Exiles' magic system certainly breaks the mold in terms of its utility focus, there are still some rituals and spells that can help players in combat. For example, players can cast a ritual that will summon a demon to fight alongside them for a limited amount of time, or cast a spell that creates a decoy of themselves that enemies will attack instead of the player themselves. Players can even reanimate a dead Thrall – in-game servants that can be captured by the player – to assist them in battle for a few days as their body slowly decays over time.
True to the lore of Conan the Barbarian, sorcery in the Conan Exiles universe is an inherently dark practice that corrupts its users, which comes through in various ways in-game. The game's system of upgradeable attributes has always had some options to corrupt it, but until now there was no good reason to do so, as the effects were almost universally negative. Now, however, players that choose to corrupt their attributes after dabbling in sorcery will have access to new and rebalanced perks, which developers hope will give players a better sense of autonomy and control over the progression of their characters. Corruption will physically manifest in player characters as well, reducing health and stamina and giving them a gray, gaunt appearance – although this look of corruption can be hidden with a thaumaturgy spell.
To begin their sorcery journey, players will need to stumble upon and defeat a group of sorcerers naturally in-game, who will carry on them mysterious marked maps. Unlike the Conan Exiles: Isle of Siptah expansion, the Age of Sorcery update does not add an entire new area to the world map. Instead, it adds new elements to existing areas – the places marked on sorcerer maps will help lead players to the incredibly important Tome of Kurak as well as spell pages that can be found across the land. When players find spell pages, they can then cast rituals at a Thaumaturgy Table to infuse the new spell into the Tome of Kurak and gain the ability to cast them.
In order to perform these rituals in Conan Exiles, players will need gruesome resources like blood and souls. These can be obtained through the act of ritual sacrifice, which players can expect to perform a lot if they wish to grow stronger. Players can also assign a Thrall to work at the Thaumaturgy Table, which allows for research of new spells. A unique new feature of the Thaumaturgy Table allows players to combine the stats of one item with the aesthetics of another to create unique new items.
In Conan Exiles, building customizable bases to call home has always been an important part of gameplay, but it hasn't always been the most convenient system. Previously, players used to have to scroll through a long list of craftable items in their inventory, craft the piece within the inventory, transfer the item into their action bar, and then place it in the world, making for an incredibly tedious process, particularly when attempting to build large structures. A new and improved building system coming in the update aims to fix this tedium, letting players wield a building hammer that allows for immediate crafting and placement all in one simple hub.
The Conan Exiles: Age of Sorcery update will also introduce Creative Mode, which is aimed at players who wish to focus extensively on building, perhaps even prioritizing it above the survival aspects of Conan Exiles. Creative Mode allows for infinite crafting, ignoring the need for resources so players can design to their heart's content. While in this mode, players can double jump to activate flight, making it easier to view all sides of a structure, and a new feature lets players immediately queue to craft objects they are directly looking at instead of needing to find them in the menu. The new mode isn't available for general PvP players, but those in a private servers and solo players will be able to access the feature.
The new Conan Exiles update will add a new Battle Pass feature to the game, which much like many video game Battle Passes will allow players to obtain unique cosmetic items and emotes through a leveling system that's based around completing Challenges. Each Battle Pass will last for 3 months and cost $10, and if players finish the entire Battle Pass they will have accrued enough Crom Coins to purchase the next one with in-game currency. Crom Coins can also be used in the new Bazaar to purchase individual items and small bundles. Developers emphasized that none of the Battle Pass items will give players an advantage in any way – it only provides cosmetic features, and weapons and armor players can learn to craft all have equivalent stats to existing items.
A new events mechanic will also make its way into the game with the Conan Exiles: Age of Sorcery update. Players can now come upon situations like in-progress sacrifices and caravans of Snake Cultists they can choose to interact with. Currently, these events are mostly combat focused, but there are future plans for a wider array of possible encounters throughout the world.
Although the initial release of Conan Exiles was marred by technical issues, the survival game has come a long way since then. Age of Sorcery will provide massive new opportunities for players in terms of what the world has to offer, and new building features are sure to encourage creativity. The free Conan Exiles: Age of Sorcery update will undoubtedly let players get much more out of the Conan the Barbarian universe when it releases next month.
The Conan Exiles: Age of Sorcery update will be available for PC, Playstation consoles, Xbox consoles, and on Xbox Game Pass on September 1. The game will be free to try on Steam from September 1-8 and on Xbox from September 8-11. Screen Rant attended a special 1:1 preview event for the purpose of this article.
Deven McClure is a Senior Gaming Writer covering news, reviews, features, and interviews for Screen Rant, specializing in the simulation genre. A lifelong lover of video games, she began writing for Screen Rant in 2021. When she’s not working, you can undoubtedly find her playing her latest video game obsession – most likely something with farming and crafting. She’s been playing games since early childhood, first becoming obsessed with Animal Crossing for the Gamecube at 8 years old, and has loved learning about them ever since. Originally from California where she studied arts and child development, Deven moved to New York in 2017. After her move, she attended Gotham Writing School with a focus on article and television writing. She now lives in Brooklyn with her boyfriend and cats, Timmy and Tommy – named after the two adorable Animal Crossing characters, of course.