Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen has successfully launched in Early Access on Steam, largely due to its old-school MMORPG experience and pure PvE focus. However, this latter focus is set to receive an additional alternative soon.
What have the developers announced? In the developers’ new update post (via Steam), the team from Visionary Realms announces that they intend to launch the PvP servers, initially held back for the Early Access launch, on April 2, 2025.
Here’s what you need to know about the PvP servers in Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen:
- PvP is only available on PvP servers and will not be activated on existing PvE servers.
- There is no class balancing for PvP. Some classes will feel more powerful in PvP than others. You decide how and what you want to play.
- This is a lawless land. There will be no GM support for contested content. It is up to you to shape this world. Order or chaos? The PvP communities hold the power.
- You can only fight against player characters that are within your character level, plus or minus 5 levels.
- PvP combat is possible starting at level 5.
- The general inventory can be looted by other players; equipped gear will remain with your corpse.
- The combat state between players ends after 10 seconds if they do not take any PvP damage.
- Damage and healing in PvP combat are scaled differently than in PvE content.
- There is no friendly fire between players of the same group or guild.
- Players who are not in your group or guild will be treated as attack targets by default. You can press CTRL + left click to target them defensively.
- If players die in PvP combat, they receive a buff that makes them immune to PvP fights for 90 seconds.
- Shards of servers are disabled on PvP servers.
Here is the Early Access trailer for Pantheon:
More options can’t hurt, right?
What does the PvP update mean for the PvE focus? At first glance, it means nothing, as there will continue to be no PvP on the existing PvE servers. Anyone wanting to experience the PvP hardcore experience of Pantheon will have to switch to the new PvP worlds. So it is an additional option that does not directly affect PvE fans.
However, upon closer inspection, one could argue that the new PvP content could have indirect effects on the PvE servers. These bind developer resources that could have been used to tackle the numerous existing issues with the largest possible team.
How does the community view the announcement? This line of thinking is also reflected in the discussions among players.
- Puzzleheaded-Plenty1 writes in his post on Reddit saying: “They need to stop expanding and focus on improving what they already have. Instead of chasing grand visions, they should polish, optimize, and balance the current game. They should introduce the bard, finish the implementation of the already planned classes, and ensure that the game runs smoothly.”
- kajidourden also sees a lot of room for improvement (via Reddit): “At this point in the development cycle, too much is still incomplete. I have enjoyed the time I spent, but to be honest, I don’t see it ever being finished and released.”
- BentheBruiser laments on Reddit: “This focus on PvP is so damn stupid. The game lives or dies on its PvE content and its ability to attract PvE fans. Currently, it is failing on that front. The Steam player charts have dropped 25% last month. This month, they have already declined by almost 10%. PvP won’t bring them back.”
How is Pantheon doing currently? The Early Access launch of the PvE MMORPG went very well, with “very positive” reviews and revenues of almost 4 million euros. However, the numbers are declining. The reviews from the past 30 days have been only “Mixed”, lowering the overall average rating to “Mostly Positive” (79 percent positive reviews).
As for player numbers on Steam, the peak from the Early Access launch (6,908 concurrent players) has not been reached again. The 24-hour peak stands at 3,415 concurrent players.
What else do I need to know about Pantheon? When MeinMMO first reported on Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen in May 2016 it was already clear that the new online role-playing game from industry veteran Brad McQuaid (EverQuest, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes) should target fans of classic MMO experiences for PC, with a focus on PvE group challenges.
The team from Visionary Realms has remained true to this guideline over all these years, even when the leading industry veteran passed away in November 2019 at just 50 years old. And this old-school approach was initially well-received by many players of the Early Access version. Pantheon plays like a modern EverQuest: A new, real PvE MMORPG has launched on Steam, has 80% positive reviews, and the player count is rising.
