As Spellcasters Chronicles' Early Access continued to take shape, the Quanticians were already hard at work on the next Spellcasters planned to join the roster. Two of them embodied radically different design philosophies: the Feral Druid, built around aggressive melee combat, and the Glass Invoker, a master of battlefield control. Senior game designer Fabien Arnaudo looks back at the vision behind these two unreleased characters.

“The Feral Druid was our most radical Duelist: a wild Spellcaster who fights in melee, already an anomaly in a game where most combat happens at range and in the air,” explains Fabien. Affiliated with the Wild School of Magic, this predator was designed to chain together attacks with spectral claws while using a grappling hook to close the gap and relentlessly pressure opponents. By contrast, “The Glass Invoker was a Conqueror: she controlled the battlefield through barriers and slows, entirely while flying.” It was a much more methodical approach, with every spell literally reshaping the arena to benefit her team.

Once the initial roster had been finalized, the Quanticians quickly began exploring more ambitious archetypes. “The launch roster was never intended to be the final destination,” Fabien emphasizes. “As soon as it was locked, we started exploring more radical directions for what would come next.” Both Spellcasters had progressed well beyond the concept stage. “We had pushed both of them to the beta stage. Their gameplay kits were complete and their gameplay loops were working. The Glass Invoker was ready to ship, while the Feral Druid had its full gameplay loop completed, although the visual side was still a Work In Progress.”

Beyond their unique identities, the two characters were designed to broaden the strategic options available to players. “Two opposite directions, deliberately. The Feral Druid embodied aggression: a duelist who heals by attacking, punishes every positioning mistake, and rewards pure mechanical mastery. The Glass Invoker, on the other hand, was all about control: dividing the battlefield with walls, protecting her army behind a one-way shield, trapping an opponent inside the Prismatic Prison while her team collapsed on them. One created chaos; the other controlled it.”

Had development continued, the Glass Invoker was expected to join the roster in the very next update, while the release order between the Feral Druid and another future Spellcaster would likely have been left to a community vote. Fabien has little doubt about how players would have reacted: “I think the Feral Druid would have been the more hyped of the two. A grappling-hook character is always iconic—it creates clips, highlight reels, unforgettable moments. And let's be honest: endless balance discussions too.” As for the Glass Invoker, he believes she would have sparked a different kind of reaction. “The Glass Invoker probably would have been more divisive, in the best possible way: loved by strategic players, cursed by anyone who found themselves trapped between three glass walls at the worst possible moment. These are the kinds of characters that generate discussion, and for a game we were building hand in hand with its community, that's exactly what we were looking for. We would have genuinely loved to put them into your hands.”

Know that this duo, which remained hidden in the shadows of Ashkenon, could soon have been joined by three other Spellcasters that were already in advanced development during Early Access: the Tide Channeler, the Wild Warden, and the Battle Mage. We'll leave you with these concept sketches to fuel your imagination.