GraveRaiders - AI & Attribute Systems

Welcome back, Raiders. It’s been a minute since our transition from Godot to Unreal — and as promised in our last post, things are finally coming to life. This week I want to walk you through some of the new AI features we’ve added, how our attributes & skill point system is shaping up, and where we’re headed next.

What’s New? Smarter AI, Built on GAS

One of the biggest recent milestones: implementing AI Pathfinding, AI Behavior, and AI Attacks, all leveraging Unreal’s Gameplay Ability System (GAS). It’s a huge step forward for our NPCs and enemies, making the world feel more reactive and alive.

AI Pathfinding

• We’ve integrated Unreal’s navigation mesh system to let AI actually move intelligently in our dungeons. Enemies can find paths around obstacles, navigate corners, and pursue players rather than getting stuck or looking unnatural.
• The pathfinding is tied into GAS abilities, which means movement “Abilities” can trigger special behaviors (e.g., a charge, a dodge) depending on both terrain and target.

AI Behavior

• Behavior trees: We now have behavior trees that decide what the AI should do based on context (distance to player, health, aggro state, etc.).
• GAS-driven decisions: Instead of hardcoding everything, we wrap decision logic inside GAS effects and abilities. For example, when an enemy decides to switch from idle patrol to aggressive pursuit, it activates a “pursuit ability” that changes its behavior.
• Modular & extensible: Because GAS is driving behavior, we can more easily add new AI states (like “flee,” “guard,” or “ambush”) later by defining new abilities + decision logic, rather than rewriting monolithic AI code.

AI Attacks

• Attacking now also lives in GAS: Each enemy attack is a GAS Ability, meaning damage, cooldowns, hit logic, and effects are all handled through the system.
• Custom effects: We’ve implemented bare-bone but working gameplay with effects — e.g., simple damage-over-time, knockback, or burst attacks. These are prototyped through GAS Gameplay Effects.
• Context-aware attacks: Because of the behavior trees + GAS tie-in, AI can pick which ability to use depending on the situation. Low health? Maybe use a defensive burst. Player in range? Use melee or ranged. We’re not just dealing raw damage — we’re giving AI meaningful choices.

Attributes & Skill Points: The Backbone of Your Characters

While AI has been the big flashy thing, on the player side we’ve been quietly building out our attribute and skill point system, which will be central to character progression.

• Primary Attributes: We currently track Vitality, Power, Agility, and Fortitude. These are the foundational stats, similar to what we described in earlier posts (think Diablo-style + Path of Exile inspirations).
• Secondary Attributes: Things like Critical Chance, Resistance, Attack Damage, and more are derived, but we’re still refining. Right now they’re minimal — just enough to show the system works.
• Skill Points: Players earn skill points when leveling up. These will allow you to unlock or upgrade nodes in our future skill tree (very PoE-inspired).
• Custom effects tie in: Because we’re using GAS, many of the stat-modifying effects and abilities will hook into attribute values dynamically. For instance, you might have an ability whose damage scales with your “Power” attribute, or a defensive buff whose duration depends on your “Fortitude.”

Right now, it's early but functional. You can see the skeleton of what will become a deep, flexible system. Later, we’ll expand with more attribute synergies, bigger trees, and more impactful choices.

What’s Next (Roadmap)

1. Animation integration: Getting first-pass animations working (combat, movement, idle, death).
2. Refining GAS trees: More AI abilities, more player abilities, more effects.
3. Skill tree & UI: Designing the UI for the skill point system + building out the tree structure.
4. VFX / SFX: Polishing attack effects, hit reactions, and ability visuals + sounds.
5. Balancing & Testing: Iterative playtesting to make sure AI feels fair but challenging, and player builds are meaningful.

Final Thoughts

Switching to Unreal and building on GAS is already paying off — our AI feels smarter, our systems more robust, and our foundation is finally ready for the next wave of polish. It’s an exciting time for GraveRaiders.

Thank you for following along on this journey. Your feedback (yes, yours) helps shape what comes next, so always feel free to reach out, share thoughts, or ask questions.

Until then,
— The DarkLoom Studio Team