GB Feature: Mage Knight: Apocalypse Interview

We've conducted an interview with Namco's Chris Wren, in which the senior producer answers several questions about Mage Knight: Apocalypse. In it, Chris reveals details about the action RPG's five main characters, skill trees, advancement system, and more. A snip:
GB: How will the game's skill system work and how many different character skills will we have access to? Can you briefly detail some of the more powerful ones and how players will be able to obtain them?

Chris: Skills are unlocked naturally through use. You begin the game with a variety of low level skills which are all well balanced and using one over another is more a decision of preference rather than power. The skills that get used more will begin unlocking abilities in the same discipline faster and will begin providing the player with more powerful abilities of a certain type.

Obviously the most powerful abilities are locked up towards the top of a skill tree and will not be available the player early in the game. Our Draconum character earns powerful dragonforms higher in his skill trees allowing him to run around as a dragon for a while dealing our flame breath or causing minor earthquakes with his stomps. Our Dwarf character will learn to fire his gun like a flamethrower and hurl napalm at the enemy if you advance up his explosive tree. The Nightblade learns to raise corpses as minions if you advance up her Necromancy tree and a Bat form if she advances up her vampire tree. Essentially, it varies a lot based on what character you have and how you use them, we feel this will provide a really diverse set of multiplayer groups for continued adventuring online.