Squad up, Aces, – Towerborne comes to Game Preview next week, inviting Xbox Series X|S console, Windows PC, Xbox Cloud and Game Pass into The Belfry alongside Steam players.
Towerborne is getting a substantial update, furthering its vision of an innovative, replayable Looter Brawler experience. This official cross-platform expansion deepens and extends gameplay, unlocking richer loot, additional skills, and enhanced customization. As an Xbox Play Anywhere title, your progress, gear, and friends sync seamlessly between Xbox and PC. While this isn’t the game’s official 1.0 launch – the debut of Towerborne on Xbox will introduce couch co-op on console only.
This update introduces skill trees to each of the four playable ‘classes’ in Towerborne. Previously, the game’s class types revolved around the four weapon types, which players could level up as they progress. Now, each class has an assigned skill tree, making for more rewarding progression, deeper gameplay, and the ability to finetune your playstyle effectively and efficiently.
To get a deeper look at this new system, we spoke with Isaac Torres, Lead Combat Designer, and Chris Mandell, Feature Lead Game Designer, who shared insight into how the class mastery addition came together, and how early access support has helped Stoic shape Towerborne for the better, just in time for its launch into Xbox Game Preview.
New Skill Trees for Every Class
Towerborne’s combat breaks up into four distinct classes, still primarily defined by their weapon type. Sentinel is a classic sword and shield loadout offering a mix of offensive and defensive play. Pyroclast packs a punch with a mighty Warclub that also deals fire damage. Rockbreaker comes with a set of giant gauntlets that can dish out devastating melee blows, and Shadowstriker is a swift and agile class wielding two sharp daggers.
The new skill trees are now here to enhance those core archetypes in every conceivable way. Going from level 1 all the way up to level 50, the tree prompts progress and rewards at every stage of the game, unlocking new moves, extra combat skills, ways to unleash clever combos, and even perks that allow you to lean into a support role within a team.
Within each tree, you’ll be able to unlock and equip different light focus skills, heavy focus skills, and specific weapon mechanics that dramatically alter what your attacks can do. It’s a monumental change, and one that feels incredibly natural according to Mandell.
“The decision to add class mastery as progression happened a long time ago,” Mandell tells us.
The Perfect Build
The addition of skill trees unlocks much more versatility in how you can shape a specific class, which in turn means more variation between multiple players all using the same weapon. Taking a look at the Sentinel Class, for example, one person could focus heavily on offensive skills that deal damage over time, while another could lean more into shield skills and support. It makes for much more interesting team-based play, and it means everyone can truly choose the class they want most, rather than trying to ensure one of each for a balanced team.
Looking one step further, many of the skills in each class tree are built to synergize with one another to create ‘builds’. One example Torres and Mandell show is the Sentinel ‘bleed build’, made by combining skills that allow for bleed damage over time with perks that amplify that damage in different ways.
Maximum Freedom, Minimal Friction
Towerborne is built to accommodate experimentation and encourage mixing playstyles – when not in combat, you can swap gear, skills, and classes easily through an always-accessible UI. Unlike a lot of ARPGs where a “respec” is a big commitment that often costs time and/or currency, Towerborne has made experimentation as frictionless as possible. Once you’ve reached a certain level and unlocked a skill, you can equip and unequip it instantly (when not in combat), to mix and match skills or try something different without having to rebuild your whole character.
“We don’t want build-crafting to be cumbersome to the player,” Mandell says. “We want you to just be able to mix and match, modify and adapt your build as you go.”
It means that you can put together a build in your preferred class and try it out in a mission without a huge time commitment, and if it’s not quite right, fine tune it as you like. There are a lot of different combinations and builds to try, some hidden deeper than others, and the ease of construction encourages you to explore as many as you want.
Feedback-Fueled Development
When Stoic launched into early access on Steam in September inviting players to get involved from day one with a Founder’s Pack, the goal was to build up a modest, self-selecting, and engaged player base eager to help shape the best possible experience. A lot of these changes, including class mastery, have been on the team’s minds for a long time, but it’s really the support from founding Aces that reinforces how Stoic prioritises what to do.
“I was already working on class mastery related things at that time, and I ended up injecting an item from class mastery into Sentinel to see how the community reacted to it,” Torres shares. “Their feedback empowered me to make that choice even sooner.”
And from day one, the team has felt that the community has been on the pulse of what Towerborne aims to be. The Stoic team goes out of their way to listening intently to player feedback, including influences clearly discernible in the big upcoming update. With that support, they’re closer to the game the team envisioned, and this is just the beginning.
“Even reading our Discord, or, Reddit, or watching YouTube videos helps empower the team in a lot of ways because we may already be thinking about adding something, and it gives us an opportunity to escalate things if we know the community likes the idea too,” said Torres.
Towerborne launches into Game Preview on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, Xbox Cloud and Xbox Game Pass on April 29. Pre-install now.
Join us on April 29 at 10AM PT for the Xbox Game Preview Launch Day Stream on Twitch.tv/Xbox as KingGothalion explores Towerborne’s upcoming console release with Stoic’s Trisha Stouffer and John Watson.
Towerborne (Game Preview)
Xbox Game Studios
Explore Together – With an evolving world map and ongoing updates, your adventure continues with new enemies, regions, rewards, and story. Venture solo or with up to three other Aces** and recruit Umbra allies with unique abilities to join your fight. Return to the Belfry to reforge gear and continue your journey.
Fight Your Way – Jump into satisfying, pick-up-and-play brawler combat that’s easy to learn but challenging to master. Towerborne delivers fast-paced, thrilling battles with deep, evolving strategy. Every fight is a chance to sharpen your skills and face tougher challenges.
Endless Customization* – Customize your Ace’s appearance, gear, and weapons. Set your preferred danger level in the Wilds, wield powerful weapons with special moves, and mix gear and Umbra companions to create a playstyle that’s uniquely yours.
This game is a work in progress. Some content and features may change over time before full release of the game. Please purchase only if you are comfortable with the game in its current state.
Full details on the latest status of the game, and how you can give feedback and report issues can be found at https://www.Towerborne.com/.
* This game includes optional in-game purchases of virtual currency that can be used to acquire virtual in-game items.
**Online console multiplayer requires Xbox Game Pass Ultimate or Game Pass Core (subscriptions sold separately).
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