Dragonkin The Banished

Dragonkin: The Banished is a PC isometric action RPG from Eko Software and Nacon, built around fast hack-and-slash combat, randomized missions, loot-driven progression, and deep build customization. The current Steam listing still uses the name Dragonkin: The Banished, with no verified storefront rebrand or replacement edition. Its main distinction is the Ancestral Grid, a hex-based system that turns skills and modifiers into a build-planning puzzle.

The game supports solo play as well as online co-op for up to four players. Steam also lists shared and split-screen co-op, Remote Play Together, Steam Cloud, achievements, and full controller support. That combination makes Dragonkin suitable for players who want a traditional loot hunt but also value couch play and coordinated party builds.

Isometric combat across a changing world

Dragonkin uses an isometric camera with real-time combat. Players move through jungles, ancient islands, toxic swamps, plains, and other regions while fighting creatures corrupted by dragon blood. Encounters combine standard monster groups with enemies that use elemental traits such as fire, ice, poison, and electricity.

The combat loop is direct: enter a mission, defeat monsters, collect equipment and fragments, complete objectives, and return to Montescail to improve the character and city. Areas can change between missions, including shifts in weather such as rain, fog, and storms, so revisiting a familiar region does not always produce the same encounter pattern.

Four hero classes define the basic combat roles. The Knight focuses on close-range fire-lance attacks, the Barbarian combines physical strength with ice powers and rage, the Oracle uses electric draconic abilities, and the Archer provides a ranged combat option. Each class has its own abilities, fighting style, and Ancestral Grid.

Dragonkin is not built around a fixed campaign-only power curve. Equipment, skills, Wyrmlings, attributes, city upgrades, and grid fragments all contribute to progression. That makes the game more appealing to players who enjoy testing interactions between several systems instead of simply replacing one weapon with a stronger version.

The Ancestral Grid is the central build system

The Ancestral Grid replaces a conventional linear skill tree with a board of connected fragments. Skills are acquired as combat loot, then placed into the grid alongside modifiers. Position matters because nearby fragments can alter damage, resource use, area coverage, cooldown behavior, survivability, and other properties.

Each hero has a distinct grid, so the same fragment collection does not create the same build on every class. The system rewards players who plan around a few important abilities and then arrange supporting fragments to strengthen those abilities. It is less about unlocking every node in order and more about solving a spatial build problem.

Wyrmling abilities add another layer to this process. Your dragon companion develops alongside the hero, and its skills can influence how the rest of the grid is arranged. Strong combinations may require matching the hero's active skills, Wyrmling effects, elemental bonuses, and modifier fragments rather than focusing on one isolated statistic.

This is the part of Dragonkin most likely to divide players. Build-focused ARPG fans will appreciate the experimentation, while players who prefer a simple level-and-equip structure may find the grid demanding at first. Players who enjoy the deeper planning of dark-fantasy loot RPGs such as Grim Dawn will find a familiar emphasis on long-term character decisions, although Dragonkin expresses those decisions through fragment placement rather than dual-class mastery combinations.

Montescail adds progression beyond combat

Montescail is the last major refuge of humanity and functions as more than a visual hub. The city can be expanded through upgrades, new residents, equipment services, and other facilities. Progress is tied to decisions about which parts of the settlement to improve, giving the campaign a light management layer alongside its dungeon-crawling loop.

City development affects the wider progression system. New services can improve crafting, equipment access, character development, and other preparation tasks. The city also provides a shared foundation for characters created within the same online or offline city structure.

That design gives Dragonkin a useful rhythm between missions. Combat produces resources and fragments, while the city converts those gains into broader options. The result is a more structured loop than an endless sequence of disconnected maps, without turning the game into a full city-builder.

Campaign, missions, and endgame structure

The story follows the hunt for the Dragon Lords responsible for the world's corruption. The campaign is divided into acts and uses region-based missions rather than one continuous open world. Story progression can be played in co-op, while repeatable activities provide reasons to return after the main objectives are complete.

The world is designed to be re-explored. Missions can alter environmental conditions, enemy combinations, and available objectives, which supports repeated runs without requiring every area to be procedurally generated in exactly the same way. The emphasis is on a changing mission framework rather than a fixed dungeon layout.

Endgame activities extend the core loop through additional hunts and higher-difficulty challenges. Players can continue refining equipment, fragment connections, Wyrmling setups, attributes, and city progression while testing builds against tougher encounters.

There is no need to treat Dragonkin as a campaign that ends when the final Dragon Lord falls. Its real long-term structure is the mastery loop: improve the build, optimize the grid, upgrade the city, repeat missions, and push into more demanding content.

Content model and available editions

Dragonkin: The Banished is sold as a paid base game on PC. The Steam catalog also lists a Blood Scales Edition, which combines the game with cosmetic Founder Packs and the Lord Pack. The edition is aimed at players who want the bundled cosmetic content rather than a separate gameplay campaign.

The listed add-on catalog includes Founder Packs 1 through 4, the Lord Pack, and the War Ancestors Pack. The Founder Packs are primarily cosmetic, covering visual customization for armor, Montescail, characters, and Wyrmlings. The storefront does not present Dragonkin as a free-to-play game.

Players comparing the standard purchase with the Blood Scales Edition should focus on the difference between gameplay access and cosmetic extras. The base game contains the core campaign, classes, city systems, co-op structure, and Ancestral Grid; the premium edition adds bundled cosmetic material.

Who should play Dragonkin on PC?

Dragonkin is a good fit for players who want isometric action combat, four distinct heroes, extensive build experimentation, and cooperative progression. It suits groups that want to play the full adventure together rather than using co-op only for a separate mode.

The game is especially attractive if you enjoy arranging modifiers, comparing loot, building around elemental interactions, and revisiting missions to improve a character. The Ancestral Grid gives theorycrafters something more substantial to consider than a standard passive tree.

It may be a weaker match for players who want a tightly authored action game with minimal inventory management. The grid, loot sorting, city upgrades, and companion progression are not side features. They are part of the main experience.

For a faster, more weapon-driven alternative, players can also compare Dragonkin's cooperative hack-and-slash structure with isometric action RPGs like Victor Vran. Victor Vran emphasizes weapon swapping and active movement, while Dragonkin places more weight on class identity, companion synergy, and fragment-based build construction.

PC features, input, and localization

The PC version supports keyboard and mouse or controller input. Steam identifies full controller support and Xbox controller compatibility, while the official control documentation also describes separate mouse-movement and keyboard-movement options.

Dragonkin includes online co-op, shared or split-screen co-op, Remote Play Together, Steam Cloud, and Steam achievements. Couch co-op supports up to two players, while online sessions support up to four. The game's official support information describes invitation-based online play rather than a conventional public matchmaking browser.

English includes interface, subtitles, and full audio. The supported interface and subtitle languages also include French, Italian, German, Spanish from Spain, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, and Simplified Chinese. Full audio is more limited than text localization.

The Steam version is the verified PC storefront edition. No separate PC anti-cheat system or alternate launcher feature is advertised in the current verified storefront information, so players should not assume support for features that are not listed.

Dragonkin: The Banished FAQ

Has Dragonkin: The Banished been renamed?

No verified rebrand was found. The current Steam and Nacon listings use Dragonkin: The Banished. Blood Scales Edition is a bundled edition, not a replacement title.

How many players can play Dragonkin together?

Online co-op supports up to four players. Shared or split-screen co-op supports up to two players. The complete adventure, including the campaign and endgame activities, is designed to be playable cooperatively.

Does Dragonkin have a traditional skill tree?

Its main build system is the Ancestral Grid. Players collect skill and modifier fragments as loot and place them on a class-specific grid. The resulting connections determine how abilities are enhanced.

What is the Wyrmling used for?

The Wyrmling is a dragon companion with its own abilities and progression. Its skills can interact with the hero's grid and help define the overall build.

Is Dragonkin: The Banished free to play?

No. The PC version is sold as a paid base game. Additional listed content is mainly cosmetic, with the Blood Scales Edition bundling Founder Packs and the Lord Pack.

What is the real endgame loop?

The long-term loop centers on repeatable hunts, tougher missions, equipment upgrades, Ancestral Grid optimization, Wyrmling development, attribute choices, and Montescail expansion. It is built around build refinement rather than a short campaign followed by a separate unrelated mode.