Gameplay
Gameplay
Playing the End of the Line
Playing the End of the Line: New Age
The End of the Line: New Age is still in development, but we're looking forward to showing you all our unique gameplay elements that truly makes our game special. In this section, you can see the major aspects of gameplay in The End of the Line: New Age: the Narrative, the Exploration, the Combat, and the Progression.
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Please note that The End of the Line: New Age is currently in development, and as such, any content on this page may be different in the released game.
In The End of the Line, the story revolves around you, the Conductor. Throughout the game, you will have to make decisions, decisions that bear both short and long-term consequences. As the Conductor, not only are you leading your Railors towards the End of the Line, but you are guiding their stories, being the one who can break the molds of fate.
We have worked hard on The End of the Line to create immersive, rich, and well-developed stories and lore within our world. And your experience with The End of the Line may vary from others' experiences depending on the decisions you've made throughout the story. And as the story itself is a major focus of this game, there is a lot to see from the narrative side of the game alone.
The Queen's Forest is a dangerous place, but sometimes you must tread through it, leaving the safety of your train.
Our game's exploration features open-world maps which you may explore with your crew of Railors. During exploration, you must navigate through long areas to find your goal. Sometimes you will just have to find a specific place, you might have to search for specific objects, or perhaps you will hunt down a target.
Whatever your goal for exploration is, it is also worthwhile to explore off the path. The Queen's Forest may be dangerous, but there are plenty of resources you can scavenge - finding valuables in forgotten ruins, or picking plants for Melka to make use of. Mastering an exploration, or fully exploring it, is worthwhile for the many resources you can get from it.
Be careful during an expedition, as your Railors do not heal between battles. Choose your moves in combat carefully, and be smart in the paths you take. Time is constantly ticking during exploration. Some especially dangerous creatures wake up as the night falls...
Traveling out towards the End of the Line, every Railor must be prepared for combat. In such a dangerous world, strategy in combat is often more important than brute strength. Before you get involved in combat, you must first organize your squad.
A squad consists of 6 members, excluding the Conductor, and you organize squads by talking to Kora on the train. In combat, only four of the squad members are active at a time. The other two squad members are referred to as the "reserve" members they run in to replace a fallen Railor should one of your main squad fall. Reserve Railors can also be swapped with your active Railors in combat by spending a Railor’s turn swapping.
You may have up to five squads in total, but you send out only one per combat mission. It is important to create a squad of diverse Railors to ensure your success. To achieve this diversity, you should have a variety of Railors with different roles.
Roles in Combat
When it comes to Railors, they can be sectioned off into six roles: Melee, Rangers, Tanks, Primers, Medics, and Support. Each role defines how a Railor acts in combat.
MELEE
Melee Railors focus on the use of melee weapons. In combat, they can only attack enemies in the front row. They typically deal high damage, and some even have attacks that allow them to hit every single enemy in the front row.
Kora, a 5★ melee, is a Railor who will join you from the start. She has two moves which can target all enemies in the front row—one of her actions and her ultimate.
RANGER
Ranger Railors make use of ranged weapons in combat. Unlike melee Railors, a ranger can attack any enemy regardless of their position on the field. A ranger's damage may not be as high as a melee Railor's, but their ability to target anyone is quite useful. A ranger can be useful for dealing with enemy primers as well, especially when the enemy primers are in the back row.
Lone Wolf is a 6★ ranger. In addition to being able to target anyone with her attacks, she has a unique stealth ability, allowing her to perform very unique moves.
TANK
Tanks are railors who are incredibly tough and hard to take down. Placing a tank in your front row is ideal, as they will take the hits from melee enemies to protect the Railors in your back row. Having at least one tank can be essential to a team composition for greater survivability.
Belko is a 5★ tank. He is great at taking hits. Though his damage may not be the highest, he is great at protecting himself and the team. His ultimate move, Iron Core, grants himself invincibility against the next attack that hits him, and all of his allies get a great defense boost. Belko will also be joining you from the beginning just like Kora.
PRIMER
Primers are a very unique type of Railor who specialize in readying actions, an effect that takes multiple turns. However, their effects are quite powerful should they succeed. You must be careful using a primer, as a primer's actions can be interrupted by various effects, causing them to fail.
Aura is a 4★ primer who specializes in fire. Her primed attacks can both inflict burn to her enemies and cause her enemies to be weak to fire. Her ultimate, Fire Festival, causes 8 flames to spark and shoot random enemies, all of which inflict burn as well.
MEDIC
Medics are Railors which specialize in healing and support. They tend not to be the greatest attackers, but their healing is great for surviving long expeditions. When going on an exploration mission, bringing at least one medic is ideal.
Iris is a 4★ medic. She is unable to harm her opponents in any way, but she has exceptional support skills. Her main focus is healing, but she may also use her Preparation action to allow her allies to have greater defense. Her passive ability Encouragement also allows her to add momentum to allies she heals and supports.
SUPPORT
Support Railors are Railors who can use their special support moves to aid the party in combat. They may not be the greatest fighters, but they can help the team in other ways such as by buffing allies, or debuffing enemies.
Lucca is a 4★ support. Her moves in combat mostly revolve around her good luck charm, be it for good luck, or inflicting bad luck.
Now that your squads are ready and you understand the roles of combat, it's time to delve into combat itself. In combat, you bring your squad of 4 Railors and 2 backup Railors in. Beyond that, there is a little more you must consider going into combat.
When combat actually begins, turn order is determined by a Railor's momentum. A Railor gains more momentum the higher their speed is, and whenever a Railor's momentum reaches 1000, they get a turn. Using one of your actions uses momentum, and each action uses a different amount of momentum, generally meaning that using a stronger move results in your Railor not getting another turn for a while.
Otherwise, in combat you may have your Railors not take an action and instead choose to swap positions with another Railor or enter a defensive stance.
Even when you're not out exploring or fighting in combat, there's still things to do while you're on the train. Most cars in the train have some sort of functionality. These cars include Kora's training car, Kelkie's laboratory, the barracks, Melka's greenhouse, the storage car, and Belko's forge.
Kora's Training Car
Kora handles the training of your Railors. Come to her car and you can whip your Railors into shape through her training, granting them EXP. Kora also handles the creation of squads, so talk to her to organize your squads.
On top of that, Kora also handles expeditions outside of the train. Having as much experience outside the walls of Hope's End as she does, she knows how to organize these expeditions.
Kelkie's Laboratory
In the laboratory, Kelkie handles artifacts. Utilizing artifacts you find as you explore, you can upgrade them at the laboratory and equip them on your Railors, making them better suited for combat.
The Barracks
The barracks are the resting area for your Railors. It is also where Suzzah stays, the one who handles mail and messages between the Railors and you.
In the barracks, you may talk to Suzzah to initiate a hangout with one of your Railors. This is a chance to get to know one of your Railors a bit better with some one-on-one time. There's a lot to learn about Railors from these hangouts should you wish to take the time to do it.
Melka's Greenhouse
After much debate, Melka finally relented and allowed you to use some of her plants for Railor use. In Melka's greenhouse, you can brew potions which can aid you in and out of combat. Of course, each brew comes with a price.
Belko's Forge
Belko runs the forge on the train, where he can create and upgrade equipment for Railors. Everything comes at a price since Belko needs materials to work with, but his work is of a great quality—something one needs to survive in this world.
