Hello, this is Director Lee Jong-joo.

We have improved various inconveniences in existing content and systems overall.

For April, we focused on enhancing the game to provide a more enjoyable gameplay environment. Let's review the recent updates.

Artifact System Improvement

The Artifact system was updated last week. We recognized that the system was somewhat complicated for players to understand and adapt to. We apologize for not providing enough description or guidance for this complex system. We regret not being more careful in designing and implementing the system.

Additionally, even for players who understood the system, the excessive consumption of in-game currency and the system's inconveniences added more fatigue than fun when experiencing this new content. We have addressed these issues through this update to provide a more enjoyable play environment.

<Horizon Rift> Entry Currency Change

We calculated the stamina consumption difference and have compensated players with Walnut Bread Baskets via mailbox (values were rounded up).

While the gold and adventure EXP efficiency was previously set higher than standard adventure efficiency, we adjusted the stamina requirements accordingly.

The rewards have decreased proportionally, but the efficiency has increased when spending the same amount of stamina. The number of Echoing Clockwork remains unchanged.

<Horizon Rift> Sweep Feature

We intended to add this feature during last week's update but couldn't implement it due to an issue we discovered.

The Sweep Feature has now been added to <Horizon Rift> and does not require Sweep Tickets.

<Perfect Clockwork Box> Craft Improvement

Players can now obtain 'Clockwork Core' when dismantling clockworks. We changed the <Perfect Clockwork Box> in the Create Menu to <Perfect Clockwork Selection Box> and reduced the required materials from 500 to 400. This makes obtaining desired Perfect Clockworks much easier. We have compensated players who already crafted these items with 500 Clockwork Cores. A Perfect Clockwork Box was provided to players who hadn't crafted one yet.

The change of Artifact Level Effect Condition

Many players anticipated that this content would help utilize additional synergies in their teams. However, few players reached Level 2 in the first week, creating a growth gap between players. Some players couldn't reach Level 2 despite proceeding with amplification due to restoration failures caused by the system's complexity.

We deeply apologize for not designing the system with these conditions adequately in mind. We've changed the effects to allow easier synergy utilization. We provided "3 Perfect Clockwork Selection Boxes" to players who dismantled clockworks due to failure to achieve Level 2, and to players affected by the changes. We hope this offers some consolation.

We sincerely apologize to players who had already activated Level 2. This decision was made after careful consideration. While it was difficult for us to implement this change, we decided it was necessary to allow more users to quickly experience the benefits.

Gawaine Rebalance

Gawaine has served as a front-line tank absorbing enemy attacks, disrupting enemies through stun and attack reduction effects, while enhancing ally sustainability. 

There was a significant difference in his ability to withstand enemy attacks depending on whether the sub-skill [Protection] buff was active. To improve this, we made the following balance adjustments. We slightly reduced the physical/magical resistance increase from Gawaine's core tanking ability [Protection], but added a 'damage reduction' effect to his passive skill.

This improvement allows him to maintain consistent survivability even when his sub-skill isn't activated or when its effect is removed by enemy debuffs. Additionally, we adjusted [Protection] so that its duration increases and cooldown decreases based on growth stats, allowing more reliable buff maintenance.

Transcendence

We haven't implemented hero rebalances for some time, but starting with Gawaine, we plan to sequentially review and rebalance heroes whose usage frequency has declined compared to their intended roles.

Issue with Hero Skills Not Applying in Wave Battles

We discovered that heroes who apply debuff effects to enemies through passive skills were not having their effects properly applied during wave-style battles.

Due to this issue, users were most affected in the Tower of Challenge. We sincerely apologize to all users who experienced inconvenience because of this bug.

While this issue has been fixed in the patch, we determined that compensation was necessary for the impact it had on gameplay. Therefore, we distributed 300 Arcana Essence (the Tower of Challenge Key reward) during maintenance to all users who had played the Tower of Challenge at least once.

Tower of Challenge Improvements

Following the Prophecy of the Moonlight Witch season of the Tower of Challenge, we carefully analyzed various in-game metrics, player trends, and design issues. We've improved the experience for the upcoming A Tear of Vermillion season.

Overall Balance Adjustments

The Tower of Challenge was initially balanced somewhat excessively compared to currently achievable growth levels, in order to emphasize future growth systems and provide a challenging experience.

With these improvements, we lowered the overall difficulty of the first 100 floors to make them more accessible, with difficulty gradually increasing thereafter. Additionally, we slightly reduced the difficulty of floors up to 200 to improve overall balance and allow more users to reach higher floors.

Tool Usage Improvements

The Tower of Challenge was originally designed to encourage strategic use of Arcana tools to overcome difficult stages. However, with numerous combat variables and high risks associated with defeat, it was often difficult for players to take sufficient challenges. Additionally, due to limited seasonal resources, users were often overly cautious with Arcana tool usage, frequently saving tools even when they were needed.

To address this issue, we modified the system to allow the use of existing tools as well, enabling more attempts. We hope this will make Arcana tools a key resource for overcoming difficult floors, while allowing users to clear floors appropriate to their growth level using existing tools.

Arcana Crystal Improvements

There were situations where Arcana Crystals were too easily destroyed due to their position or the absence of certain heroes, leading to frustrating defeats. To improve this, we moved the Arcana Crystals closer to the allied side to increase stability.

Regarding Modifications to Guide Rutice and Pioneer Michel

We would like to provide a more detailed explanation about the recent skill stacking issue with Pioneer Michel and the 'Holy Sword Hyperion' related to Guide Rutice, and sincerely apologize for not communicating sufficiently about these matters.

First, let us briefly explain the skill stacking rules.

The game's skill system consists of three types: Main Skills, Sub Skills, and Passive Skills.

When Main Skills and Sub Skills with the same effect are activated simultaneously, they do not stack, and only the stronger effect is applied. However, when Main Skills and Passive Skills have the same effect, they are applied separately and do stack.

Recently, we discovered a bug where the Sub Skill of a specific hero (Pioneer Michel) was stacking with other heroes' Main Skills, contrary to the intended rules. This was clearly an error according to the game's existing rules, so we proceeded with the fix. We understand this was particularly disappointing as it involved a Legendary hero.

The reason we had to fix this issue relates to the original design intent behind the stacking rules. Given the nature of CCG games that utilize various heroes, allowing all effects to stack would risk serious future combat balance issues. During hero skill design, we set effect values higher, considering the stacking rules. In particular, if powerful effects like "damage reduction" were allowed to stack, it would drastically reduce the effectiveness of monsters and the necessity for diverse heroes. Ultimately, these stacking rules are essential measures for long-term, stable game balance, and we ask for your understanding.

However, we apologize sincerely for not providing sufficient explanation and for the change appearing as a sudden 'nerf' to users. We failed to carefully consider users' feelings during this process. We also recognized that combat rules were difficult to understand in-game, which led to misunderstandings. We've prepared ways for you to better understand these rules within the game itself.

Next, we would like to provide additional explanation about the recent issue with Guide Rutice and the 'Holy Sword Hyperion.' After our previous announcement about the 'Holy Sword Hyperion' issue, many users expressed disappointment, asking "why block a good effect?" We completely understand these feelings, and from the users' perspective, this might have felt like finding a good opportunity. However, the reason we had to quickly fix this issue was because it could seriously threaten the long-term balance and fairness of the game. Our policy is that if a situation benefits users and isn't excessive, we maintain it in an improved state, like the effects of Mana Recovery 7 synergy. In this case, if we allowed Main Skills (Guide Rutice's five dagger effect) to stack with specific Origin Weapon effects (Holy Sword Hyperion), it would result in performance far stronger than any other hero combination.

This would eventually lead to a specific hero having dominant performance across all content, creating a "performance inflation" that would drastically collapse the overall game balance.

Of course, we have no excuse for not detecting this issue earlier and thoroughly checking it during the release stage. We also sincerely apologize for not providing sufficient communication and explanation during the belated modification process. Moving forward, we will conduct more thorough pre-checks and testing to prevent the same mistakes from happening again. Furthermore, when future modifications occur, we will strive to provide sufficient explanations that users can understand and accept. We sincerely apologize once again for causing concern and inconvenience to many users, and we will continue to work harder to provide a better gaming environment.

Hero Hall Season Costume and Season Rules

The Hero Hall season costume for this season features Chris, one of the protagonist heroes. The rules for the new season, which was applied starting April 7th, are as follows:

[Battlefield Dominator]

Each time a hero defeats an enemy, the victorious hero recovers 50% of their HP and gains a 30% increase to Attack, Defense, and HP.

This rule is designed to encourage quicker battle resolutions rather than drawn-out fights, and will allow certain heroes to shine more depending on your team composition.

That concludes our announcement for today.

Thank you.

<Director's Note Surprise Coupon>

Coupon Code: YKGFM

Expiration Date:  May 1st, 2025, 14:59 PM (UTC+0)

Reward:x15 Walnut Bread Basket

​

​