Solasta II Interview

Developer Tactical Adventures is looking to build upon its 2021 cRPG Solasta: Crown of the Magister with follow-up Solasta II. Continuing to make use of the Dungeons & Dragons ruleset, upgrading to the SRD 5.2 version, the game promises a brand-new adventure in its original world. Ahead of the game’s planned Steam Early Access release in early 2026, RPGamer was able to put some questions about the game to Marketing Director Pierre Worgague and Community Lead Emile Zhang.

RPGamer: Can you give an overview of what adventure our characters will be taking on in the sequel? Are there any connections to the first game?

Pierre Worgague (Marketing Director) and Emile Zhang (Community Lead): Solasta II takes place around 70 years after Crown of the Magister, on a different continent. While there are references to the events of the first game, there won’t be any direct connections, meaning new players can jump straight into Solasta II without needing prior experience.

You’ll play as a party of four adventurers thrust into a mysterious land they know nothing about, following a quest left to them by their adoptive mother. With their family pulled apart by the strings of the divine, will they be able to succeed in what their predecessors couldn’t?

RPGamer: How much effort has it been moving to the SRD 5.2 ruleset? What are the main advantages of the switch?

Pierre & Emile: It hasn’t been as simple as we’d hoped, haha — but it’s absolutely been worth the effort! We know D&D 2024 is still new to a lot of people, but there’s a lot of very interesting content in there; for example ,balance improvements for some of the weaker classes and subclasses, and new options for martial classes with Weapon Masteries.

And that’s just scratching the surface. We’ve personally been playtesting a lot at the studio after hours, and we’re confident players will appreciate the added depth it brings.

RPGamer: How big of a role do sidequests play in the game?

Pierre & Emile: During the Early Access, the number of sidequests will be fairly limited, as we want to focus on making sure the main campaign is well polished and complete before moving on to adding more content. That said, we ideally want to lean into our faction system, with sidequests providing more context to the political conflicts of Neokos, helping you to decide which faction you wish to support – which in turn can give you access to different perks, goods, and services.

RPGamer: Will later quests relate to or be impacted by quests or choices from earlier in the game?

Pierre & Emile: Yes, some absolutely will! There will be multiple endings in Solasta II, with story branches and consequences that reflect the player’s decisions throughout the game.

RPGamer: How do you go about choosing which classes to include in the game?

Pierre & Emile: We’ve already said we’ll try our absolute hardest to include all twelve official classes for the 1.0 release of Solasta II. The idea is, we launch into Early Access with six classes — the classic crew of Fighter, Rogue, Wizard, Cleric, with the addition of Sorcerer and Paladin for one half-caster and a Charisma spellcaster. Then, as we progress through Early Access, our plan is to release updates with additional classes.

RPGamer: Will Solasta II include any form of multi-classing for the power gamers?

Pierre & Emile: Yes! While D&D 2024 has rebalanced some of the more powerful multiclass combinations, Solasta II does support multiclassing right from Early Access. You can even try it now in our Steam demo, which includes a Fighter/Cleric build and is still available to play right now.

RPGamer: What are the main aspects from the first game that you’ve looked to improve or build upon in Solasta II?

Pierre & Emile: We’ve been wanting to have another shot at telling a story — but with more means behind it. Better looking characters, more time spent on cutscenes and voice acting… Build upon what Solasta I did best with great combat and customization, by adding new features like Weapon Masteries and multiclassing, while also really improving on the narrative and visual side too!

RPGamer: How does the continent of Neokos differ from/expand the setting of the first game?

Pierre & Emile: Neokos is a lot more exotic and mysterious! While the Badlands are post-apocalyptic wastelands filled with monsters where treasure-divers look for their next payday, Neokos is an ancient, isolated continent where mana flows freely, populated with both familiar faces and more esoteric natives. Be ready to face new threats and new foes, unlike anything you encountered in the first game!

RPGamer: Do you have a favourite new mechanic or feature?

Pierre & Emile: The new world map is definitely a highlight of Solasta II. In Solasta I, you would only be able to travel from known locations to known locations on the map, with the only interaction being random combat encounters triggering while you traveled. In Solasta II, however, you now have full control over your movement on the world map! You can explore every tile if you wish, and random events are no longer limited to combat — skill challenges, wandering merchants, and hidden locations are all out there for you to find.

RPGamer: Are you planning to include the Custom Campaign feature from the previous game, and if so, how expansive is it?

Pierre & Emile: We really, really, want to bring the Campaign Maker back in the future, but we can’t make any promises yet. It’s an incredibly complex tool to build, and our first priority is finishing Solasta II itself, but it’s definitely something we’d love to revisit when possible!

RPGamer: How helpful was the Early Access process for the first game? Are there any lessons from it that you’re looking to apply for Solasta II‘s Early Access?

Pierre & Emile: The major reason behind Early Access is to get feedback from the community directly. Game development is not an exact science, and there are moments where we need input from our players directly to ensure our game can be as good as it can be when we release it in 1.0! Now, while it is great to work hand in hand with our community, Early Access does increase the amount of overall work as we constantly need to iterate, tweak, and stabilize existing stuff while also working on the remaining non-released content — but we believe it to be worth it for the quality of the final game!

RPGamer would like to extend our deepest thanks to Pierre Worgague and Emile Zhang for taking the time to answer our questions, as well as to Colby Tortorici and Tinsley PR for facilitating the interview. Those interested in seeing more of Solasta II can wishlist it now on Steam, as well as check out its demo version ahead of its Early Access launch early next year.