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AFK Journey is a free-to-play fantasy RPG that released in March for PC and mobile, and it quickly became one of the top-rated games on iOS and Android. It gives you command of a party of heroes with a diverse array of classes and abilities, and with nearly 50 heroes currently available, your options are always growing and evolving.Your party consists of five members, but AFK Journey has several systems that allow you to easily and conveniently build your team how you want. For example, let’s say you’ve built your party to level 20 but get a new character you want to try out. When you swap them into your party, they immediately jump to level 20. Basically, it’s as if the level belongs to the slot in your party rather than a specific character. So no more feeling like you wasted time and resources leveling up a character only to stop using them.Then there’s class upgrades, which allow you to change the equipment of all characters in a given class simultaneously. There are six classes in AFK Journey: Warrior, Tank, Mage, Marksman, Rogue and Support. When you upgrade your Tank equipment, every Tank gets upgraded at the same time. That means you don’t have to micromanage every piece of equipment on all of your characters or equip and unequip as you move characters in and out of your party. It’s all accomplished in a couple taps or clicks on your screen.AFK Journey is developed by Farlight Games and Lilith Games, studios responsible for several popular PC and mobile titles — including Call of Dragons, Rise of Kingdoms, Dislyte, and AFK Arena, the predecessor of AFK Journey. AFK Journey uses a beautiful canvas art style that makes for vibrant environments and a diverse cast of colorful characters.A new content update, called Song of Strife, is out now and brings a load of additions with it. Here’s a rundown of the five biggest things the new update added:1. A Brand-New Map AreaThe world of AFK Journey is made up of multiple fully traversable maps, and the update added a new one: a vast desert area called the Ashen Wastes. As with the other areas of the game, a trail of golden light can guide you where you need to go to complete your current quests. But also like the other areas, players will be rewarded for exploring off the beaten path. There are all kinds of puzzles, treasures, and secrets waiting to be found. In order to access the Ashen Wastes, you’ll need to reach a Resonance Level of 240 and your server must have been active for at least 42 days from launch.2. Focus on the Mauler FactionThe harsh Ashen Wastes are home to the Maulers, the most courageous of the six Factions in the AFK Journey world. Living in such an unforgiving environment has made them uniquely hardened, and “survival of the fittest” is deeply ingrained in their culture as a result. Since the environment has very little vegetation, they rely on hunting for survival. Hunters have to be strong and active, making it difficult for those who are weak, old, or sickly to contribute. And with limited resources, the Maulers prioritize the tribespeople who give them a fighting chance at survival. It all feeds into them valuing strength and bravery above all else.3. Additions to the Main StoryIn AFK Journey, you play the role of Magister Merlin, the most famous mage in the world. However, your past is shrouded in mystery. Something has happened to you — most of your powers are gone and your memories are fractured. You give yourself a new form (allowing you to customize your gender and appearance) and set out to gather allies, solve the mystery of what happened to you, and figure out how it’s connected to the growing spread of evil in the world. So far, the tale has mainly focused on the Lightbearer Empire, but with the addition of the new Ashen Wastes area, the story is about to expand. You enter this new area in search of someone pretending to be Merlin. What have they been up to? Why are they using your name to do it? No spoilers here — you’ll need to play the Song of Strife update to find out.4. New Characters and EventThe update also added two new characters: Alsa and Soren. They’re both trying to become the champion of the Warsong Festival, the most important event in the Maulers’ history, and their story is woven together with the main quest that drew you to the area. And this certainly won’t be the last time AFK Journey gets updated with new characters and events. The developers are committed to supporting the game long-term, with seasonal content planned to release every four months or so and consistent updates to continually give players new things to do and see.5. Magic CharmsThe new Magic Charms system will also tie into seasonal updates and content. Charms enhance heroes’ power progression and are only effective during the current season. Each hero is able to equip three Charms, which provide stat bonuses and come in five qualities: Rare, Elite, Epic, Legendary, and Mythic. Charms with higher quality provide bigger stat bonuses, with Mythic Charms providing multiple exclusive bonuses. If a hero is equipped with a collection of charms of equal or higher quality, that activates their Seasonal Prowess. The higher the quality of the Charms, the stronger the hero’s Seasonal Prowess.AFK Journey is available for download now on PC, iOS, and Android. It has cross-save, so you can play at home, then take that same playthrough on the go. It’s free-to-play and offers hundreds of hours of content, whether or not you choose to purchase anything from the Trolley, the shop where you can get cosmetics, in-game currency, or special offers that consistently update over time. Give it a go and enjoy the Song of Strife update, which is out now.

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