Soulframe Preludes 13: Virtues — reworked Virtues, tighter combat, and a bolder road map

Why Soulframe Devstream 12 mattered: a combat-first pivot and a new Virtues system

This caught my attention because Digital Extremes isn’t making small tweaks – they’re restructuring the core of Soulframe. Preludes 13: Virtues promises to change how characters are built and how fights feel, which is the sort of foundational work that either unlocks an RPG’s potential or creates a tense transition period for players. From selectable Virtue Prisms to a throttle on unblockable enemy spam, this devstream felt like the studio trying to solve the game’s repeatedly-flagged pain points in one go.

Key Takeaways

• Virtues reworked into selectable Virtue Prisms that auto-allocate Courage, Spirit, and Grace as you level, encouraging clearer role identity without permanent stat micromanagement.
• Major combat and movement overhaul: improved melee feel, reduced sliding, refined lock-on/camera, scaled unblockable enemy attacks, and upgraded sound design to make encounters clearer.
• New content: three weapons (Seathorn staff, Basker’s Wrest casting sidearm, Clivers dual swords), new mission type Operation: The Organ, revamped mission boards, and a tease of mounts later this year.
• Customization update: fuller character appearance options based on tutorial choices, with more cosmetic features returning later.

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Publisher|Digital Extremes
Release Date|Preludes 13 – upcoming (Devstream 12 announcement)
Category|Action RPG / Fantasy RPG
Platform|TBA
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What changed and why it matters

The headline change is the Virtues rework. Instead of players pouring points into Courage, Spirit, and Grace by hand, you pick a Virtue Prism that sets the distribution and then scales those stats automatically as you progress. That’s a smart move for an ARPG still finding its meta: it reduces bookkeeping, clarifies role intent (tank, caster, trickster) and lets players swap builds by swapping Prisms rather than respeccing repeatedly.

Digital Extremes is clearly trying to avoid hyper-specialization making other gameplay dead weight – designers say Prisms can blend attributes, and Pacts (abilities) now scale with specific attributes, giving room for hybrid playstyles. That should widen viable builds beyond the current “pump Courage” status quo noted by the studio.

On combat, the team pushed a sustained sprint to tighten feel. Expect less “skating” on movement, a more reliable lock-on, camera fixes for multi-target fights, and better player physics. Perhaps most important for many players: enemy unblockable attacks will be throttled. That changes the defensive calculus — Courage/tanky builds should be more rewarding rather than forcing constant dodge-spam.

Sound and UX improvements that factor in opponent equipment are a quieter but crucial improvement — better audio cues can make telegraphed attacks readable and help the new combat balance land as intended.

New toys and systems to watch

We saw three new weapons that hint at playstyle expansion: Seathorn (caster staff), Basker’s Wrest (fiery casting sidearm), and Clivers (dual-wielded sidearm swords). Those confirm the team’s focus on giving Soulframe distinct fantasy archetypes rather than a single, dominant approach.

Operation: The Organ sounds like a large-scale, objective-driven mission with environmental stakes — a Dendrit tower polluting the land. Paired with new mission boards that clarify tasks, this signals a push toward more deliberate, readable RPG systems and away from ambiguous open-world busywork.

My read: why this is the right direction — with caveats

I’ve followed Digital Extremes since Warframe, and their strength is iterative mechanical tuning and responsive updates. Reworking Virtues into Prisms and tightening combat are the kinds of “infrastructure” changes that can elevate the whole game when done well. However, any structural change risks short-term disruption: players with existing builds may feel forced to relearn, and balance will need close hands-on testing.

The studio’s openness about hybrid Prisms and scaling Pacts is reassuring. The success of this pivot depends on whether the Prism system genuinely preserves build variety and whether combat changes actually make encounters more readable rather than merely slower or more restrictive.

What this means for players

If you play Soulframe now, expect to re-evaluate your favorite builds and enjoy clearer, more satisfying melee encounters — assuming the promised tuning lands. If you’re waiting to dive in, Preludes 13 looks like a cleaner, more focused starting point and the start of a bolder development rhythm from Digital Extremes.

TL;DR

Preludes 13 overhauls Virtues into selectable Prisms, tightens combat and camera, throttles unblockable enemy attacks, adds new weapons and a mission type, and improves customization. It’s a substantial structural update aimed at making Soulframe feel like a more intentional, flexible fantasy counterpart to Warframe — promising, but balance and polish will determine how well it lands.