VALORBORN FAQ

Valorborn is a medieval fantasy sandbox RPG developed by the indie studio Laps Games, built on Unreal Engine 5. It launched in Early Access on April 15, 2026. The game features a living open world where factions, NPCs, and economies operate independently of the player, and there is no scripted main quest — your story emerges from your choices.

Yes, Valorborn draws heavy inspiration from Kenshi. Both feature open sandbox worlds, permadeath, skill-by-doing progression, and party management. The key difference is setting: Valorborn is medieval fantasy Europe versus Kenshi's post-apocalyptic world. Valorborn also adds magic lore, faction politics, and a more accessible entry point for new players.

Currently in Early Access, Valorborn supports English only — including interface, full audio, and subtitles. Additional language support may be added in future updates as the game progresses toward its 1.0 release.

No. Valorborn is a single-player experience. However, you can build and control a party of up to 50 characters, each with their own skills, roles, and equipment, giving the feel of managing a small faction.

There is no scripted main storyline. Instead, Valorborn is built around player-driven emergent stories. You set your own goals — whether that's building a blacksmith empire, becoming the most feared assassin in Thareon, or playing kingmaker between warring factions.

Laps Games has committed to at least one year in Early Access. During this time, major updates will be released approximately every 3–4 months, each adding new map areas, characters, environments, and systems. The price will increase at full release.

Valorborn is available on Steam (https://store.steampowered.com/app/3372530/Valorborn/) and will be available on Epic Games Store. Purchasing during Early Access gives you the best price, as the price increases at 1.0 launch.

Yes. You can either rent a townhouse in a city to use as your base, or establish a wilderness camp by placing a campfire to claim territory. From there, you can construct crafting stations, expand your settlement, and house your party members.

Mod support is a high priority for Laps Games. They plan to provide a full asset editor and Steam Workshop integration, though this is planned for a later stage of Early Access development.

There is no single best weapon — it depends on your enemy. Greatswords deal very high physical damage but have low penetration, making them ideal against lightly armored enemies. Spears deal lower base damage but have very high penetration, making them the top choice against heavy armor. Daggers are fast and great for stealth kills. Match your weapon to your target's armor type for optimal results.

Armor provides Physical Defense, which reduces incoming physical damage. However, weapons also deal Penetration Damage, which bypasses Physical Defense entirely and is only reduced by Penetration Reduction — a separate stat. This means even a heavily armored character can be killed efficiently by penetration-focused weapons like spears.

According to Laps Games' Dev Diary 03, the damage calculation works as follows: (1) The attacker deals Physical Damage, reduced by the target's Physical Defense. (2) The attacker separately deals Penetration Damage, reduced only by the target's Penetration Reduction. (3) Dodge Chance can nullify a hit entirely. (4) Blocking absorbs most physical and penetration damage, leaving only a fraction. (5) Skill level with a weapon type increases attack speed, base damage, and unlocks additional damage multipliers.

Full limb targeting and loss is planned but not yet implemented. However, Laps Games has stated that in a near-future update, certain strong hits with high penetration values may have a chance to cause dismemberment. This is separate from the full targeted limb damage system, which remains on the roadmap.

Open your inventory with 'I' and go to the Crafting tab. You can craft basic items directly from your inventory (Personal Crafting). For higher-quality items, you need to build crafting stations at your camp, starting with a Campfire to claim territory, then unlocking station blueprints.

Valorborn has five item quality tiers: Common, Uncommon, Fine, Superior, and Masterwork. Higher quality means better durability and stats. The quality of your crafted items depends on the crafting character's skill level — a master blacksmith will consistently produce Masterwork gear from the same materials as a novice who can only manage Common quality.

You can build multiple types of crafting stations at your camp, including a Smithy for weapons and armor, an Alchemy Table for potions and consumables, and various other workstations unlocked through blueprints. Each station enables higher-tier crafting recipes beyond what Personal Crafting can produce.

Crouch to enter stealth mode, which reduces your detection radius. NPCs have visible vision cones that are affected by time of day — guards are more alert during daylight and have reduced sight at night. Noise from heavy armor and movement also contributes to detection. Staying out of vision cones and minimizing noise is key to successful thievery and assassination.

Stolen goods are flagged and cannot be sold to regular merchants. You must find Fence NPCs — black market traders who accept stolen items at a reduced price. Each city region typically has at least one fence, often hidden in less-patrolled areas or accessible at night.