This article was sponsored by Rend.
Rend stands out from other survival games thanks to its MMO-inspired systems and central focus on PvP, and its win condition is just as unique. Put simply, you collect spirits and offer them to Yggdrasil through the Divinity Stone at your faction's base. As you offer spirits, your faction's sigil climbs up Yggdrasil's trunk. When it reaches the top, you win.
You know those Test Your Strength games you see at carnivals, where you hit a button with a big hammer and try to ring the bell at the top of the panel? It's kind of like that: your spirits are the big hammer, your Divinity Stone is the button, Yggdrasil is the panel, and the bell at the top is the, er, top. But instead of a funnel cake or a giant teddy bear, if you do manage to reach the top, you get entrance to Valhalla.
Of course, it's a lot more complicated than swinging a big hammer. Rend is not just a test of strength, nor is it a clear-cut race. Before you can offer spirits, you need to collect them. You can earn a few spirits by gathering resources or looting treasure chests, but to earn the hundreds of thousands you'll need to offer to Yggdrasil (spirit caps vary by server and can be set by players) you're going to need a better source. And to get at two of the best sources of spirits, enemy Divinity Stones and the control points scattered around the proving grounds, you're going to have to fight.
By invading an enemy faction during the Reckoning and attacking their Divinity Stone, you can steal their spirits for yourself. This a high-risk, high-reward strategy which can lead to come-from-behind victories as well as spectacular defeats. You stand to advance your own sigil while simultaneously weakening an enemy's, but by attacking during the Reckoning, you also leave your Divinity Stone vulnerable to assault.
Likewise, capturing a Control Point is never easy. Owning a Control Point gets you a constant supply of spirits which are automatically offered to Yggdrasil, so these points are always in demand. Skirmishes break out all the time, so once you take a Control Point, you'll have to defend it. And if do you lose a point, you won't be able to retake it for at least a few hours, which gives your enemy time to build up their defenses.
Owning Control Points also grants you other benefits, chief among a chance at obtaining artifacts. Artifacts are powerful pieces of uncraftable gear bestowed by the gods. The faction with the most artifacts will have an edge in combat, and this goes double for legendary artifacts like the Hammer of Thor and the Steed of Odin, which can turn the tide of battle on their own.
It's one thing to collect 100,000 spirits, but it's quite another to have them all at the same time. The sigils on Yggdrasil are constantly fluctuating as factions fight for rank, and it only takes a small lead to reach the top first. It all comes down to spirits in the end, but there are multiple paths to victory in Rend.
Rend is now available on Steam Early Access. You can find more information about Rend on its official site.
