MMORPG is a genre of multiplayer online games; the main feature of MMOs is the interaction of a large number of players within the game world. And as befits any RPG, the player takes on the role of a (usually) created character with a variety of abilities.
Blade&Soul was developed by NCsoft (Team Bloodlust), better known as the creators of the great Lineage and AION.
BnS is a truly Asian MMO with an emphasis on martial arts and a plot that is not inferior to a good Korean series.
The world of BnS is a colorful oriental fantasy RPG with tall pagodas, golden palaces decorated with dragons and towering statues of deities. The bright and “anime” style of the game may turn off people who haven’t been through JoJo’s baptism of fire, but the complex and at the same time varied combat system will appeal to fans of fighting games and action games.
Each hero’s adventure begins with choosing a race and class, fortunately there are plenty to choose from. There are 4 races to choose from: Shen – an analogue of ordinary people, Wang – larger people and wearers of the most provocative clothes, Lin – a race of small children with ears and tails, and Feng – a race without men (there are really no male characters there).
If the choice of race turned out to be meager, then in choosing a character class there are 11 classes to suit every taste and style of play, since the game does not have the classic concepts of heal, tank and damage control, each of the proposed classes is a character for dealing damage, some of them have a buff that increases the boss’s aggression, which allows you to call him a tank, but in reality anyone can tank (hold the boss’s aggression) on themselves.
The character classes in the game are called masters So you can choose from 6 short rangers, 4 long rangers and one hybrid.
Melee:
Shadow Master – a typical assassin with invisibility, poisons, traps and bombs, the choice of people who prefer to strike from the shadows, fast and elusive.
Blade Master – also known as BM (blade master), a fast and agile sword-wielding class, a balanced and popular class.
Blademaster Lin – also a swordsman, but the class is intended exclusively for the Lin race and differs from the past in some abilities.
Kung Fu Master – a difficult to master but very impressive fist fighter who looks like he came off the cover of a Chinese action movie; in the game they were nicknamed LSM (lyn sword master).
Ax Master – called in the game as Destro, short for Destroyer, the class can only be chosen from the Van race, a stance and a destructive class wielding a Huge Axe, at first glance it may seem that the class is very slow, but this is just a screen for a real master, there are no speed limits.
Master of Wrath – every Asian game should have a character with a sword larger than his own size, so the Master of Wrath or in common parlance Var is one of the simplest and, in total, the most durable melee character in the game.
Ranged:
Elemental Master – this is a magician, but not in its classical sense, he is a very mobile character with high damage and abilities that will be needed in any group. Force master or Force for short
Summoning Master — Cat breeder, another class exclusively for the Lin race, from the nickname it should already be clear that the character plays together with his cat in tandem, forming one of the most dangerous combinations in the game, a good cat breeder knows how to control a cat, a master of summoning, can win with a cat.
Spirit Master – a popular class in the game, nicknamed Warlock, summons a huge spirit to its side, which helps in battle by giving a buff, attacking the enemy and other more subtle capabilities of the class, such as throwing up or resetting the cooldowns of abilities.
Marksman – or Gunner, one of the most mobile classes in the game, shooting from two pistols, the class can quickly move around the battlefield not only on the ground but allows you to hover in the air, shooting back at enemies and taking a better position.
And lastly, the hybrid class"Master Qi" – not a particularly popular class, a mixture of a kung fu master and an elemental master. So unpopular that I don’t even know what to say about it, only that it’s not the easiest class to learn.
A new 12th character class, archer, is also expected to be localized. In Korea, the archer was released at the beginning of summer, but in other localizations you can expect it in late autumn or even winter.
If someone has harmed you, do not take revenge. Sit on the river bank and soon you will see the corpse of your enemy floating past you.
Lao Tzu.
Having created a character, the game begins with a chain of training quests in which you will have to learn how to run on the third space plane, soar in the air, make simple attacks, and also obey the every whim of scripted NPCs.
But as I wrote earlier, the game focuses on the plot part and you will have to level up exclusively according to the main storyline.
Our adventure begins with awakening at https://cashpot-casino.uk/ the Peak of Dawn (not that peak), we are a student of the Way of Hon, an ancient school of martial arts masters, like several other students in the school, we study with the only teacher of the school, Hong Seokkyn. As the youngest of the students, after waking up we are immediately harnessed to gather everyone in front of the teacher’s house to begin training. After an inspiring speech about honesty, nobility and how all this is related to the teachings of the teacher, Hong Seokkyn opens for us a book with fighting techniques of the Hong’s path, mentioning that he himself would like to teach us, but his health is no longer the same, and sends us to the training ground to the mentor Yong Muk, who is also the senior student.
As it turned out, the teacher does not give the book to just anyone and we are chosen, and we will even be able to touch the most secret techniques of the school of the path of the khon (patifon). Yong Muk immediately warns that the training will not be easy and urges you to take a weapon in order to start training. Once the training is finished, Yong Mook talks about the final exam in the Cave of Trials, before entering the cave he will have to enter alone. There are mannequins waiting for us in the cave, which are not difficult to deal with, but this is just the beginning. I won’t tell you further what will happen in the cave “SPOILERS”. At the end of the test, we need to get out and here events begin that turn all peaceful life on Peak of Dawn upside down. A crowd of demons led by people in black clothes came for a certain ancient sword, a twilight blade, having defeated the teacher by deceit, they throw us off a cliff into the sea. From the depths of which we are rescued and transported to the Bamboo Village, but even there not everything is calm, the bamboo village was attacked by pirates and it is from here that we begin to see other players and move freely through already open locations. And all this to the accompaniment of good music, which fits perfectly into the surroundings of the local beauties.
And such plot twists in every chapter and location. As the story progresses, we will see a lot of cutscenes, which is not typical for games of this genre. The plot is reminiscent of a very good Korean series with a lot of betrayals and secrets. But there is one BUT, in this whole plot, this is a rag main character who does absolutely everything that he is told. And this is not even bad, but the plot part of the game removes any flaws in the same plot part of the game. The story is what will accompany the player until he reaches the main content of the game, and in BnS the story is a success.
From a visual point of view, BnS is outdated, the unreal engine 3 can no longer cope with the greed of the modern player, and the visual style reminiscent of Anime will alienate some people. But in general, the picture is very juicy and the visual effects perfectly emphasize the overall style of the game, bright and attractive action.
However, this may soon change, because the developer has provided a video of the upcoming visual update of the game, or rather, the transition to the Unreal engine 4.
As mentioned above, leveling up in Blade&Soul occurs through the main story quest and nothing else, this is both good and bad. The good thing is that they will take you by the hand and lead you through a really interesting story, but the bad thing is that leveling up minor characters becomes a chore and there is no way to overcome a 25-hour storyline, even if it’s a cool one.
Fortunately, in BnS having several characters is not a mandatory part for a comfortable game (hello BDO), the mandatory part is to choose the right class and create a character that will delight you with its appearance every time you enter the game. And of course, the most important thing in an MMO game is the gameplay.
Beating adversaries in BnS is a whole art, the ability panel is fixed and changes if you or the enemy are in a certain state, for example, stunning the enemy will open the ability to throw the enemy into the air and make a series of strong attacks there, although previously in place of this ability there was a dash to the enemy. Likewise, when you are knocked over, the ability to defend, somersault back, or the ability to quickly get up while being immune to any type of damage opens up. For an example, let’s go to the class I play, when using the ability true faith on the TAB keys, other abilities open on the skill panel.
This combat system is very similar to many fighting games where you choose attacks depending on your own fighting style and what the enemy is doing. Also, abilities are combined into bundles, and bundles are combined, which opens up huge scope in PVP modes, and the requirements for the player increase.
Probably everyone who has heard at least a little about BnS, not only that it is an anime game, has also heard that Blade&Soul has one of the fairest arenas in mmorpg. This is achieved through frequent adjustments to the balance of classes and the complete absence of influence of equipment on PVP modes, however, in 6v6, equipment still matters, which is why this mode is not particularly widespread. Like basically all PVP in the game. There is also open factional confrontation in the game. To start such a battle, it is enough to put on the uniform of two opposing factions in the open world and you can find out whose kung fu is better. The PVP mode in the game is not deservedly empty, because it is very interesting and difficult, and each victory is achieved through a lot of trial and error. In BnS you can win a battle in a second, a war in a minute.
I’ll tell you a little about the intricacies of the Arena and, in principle, PVP. The arena is a round platform, which is entered after the timer for preparing for the battle has expired. As soon as the preparation time for the fight expires, the fight begins. Straight arms, studying the enemy and knowledge of class timings will bring victory, but mindlessly clicking buttons will only bring pain and humiliation. Combat in BnS is a delicate execution of mechanics, quick reaction and precision of actions.
The opponent will do everything possible to win the fight, a skillfully created build will help in the battle, and experience will give the necessary advantage to predict the enemy’s actions. The battle of really strong players is a confrontation that is really pleasant to watch, but it is difficult to notice with the naked eye and only a commentator who knows his stuff will help you understand the chaos that is going on.
In 3 on 3, 6 players take part, and this mode has a couple of subtleties, the “change” and “help” abilities are added to the usual abilities. After the battle waiting timer has passed, 1 player from each team is released into the arena. They have the “change” ability, which allows them to change to the next player who has expressed a desire to fight next, the remaining 2 teammates have the “help” ability, which allows them to enter the arena for a couple of seconds to help kill the enemy or protect an ally, thereby turning the tide of the battle.
In 6v6, everything is noticeably different from the game in the arena, here victory is achieved by completing tasks on each individual map, so on the Island of Jasper Whale you need to move a fish figurine from the central fountain to one of its 3 points, the longer the figurine is on your point, the more points you earn, victory is awarded to the team that quickly scores the maximum points or to the team with more points after time has elapsed. On the other two maps the tasks are different but the general principle is the same, earn more points. There is also always the opportunity to turn the tide of the game by deceiving the enemy by starting an unnecessary fight while your teammate steals the figurine and carries it to his point. 6v6 is currently the only PVP mode in which the participation of the Guild is desirable (more on them later).
PVP in Blade&Soul is so important that the developer organizes an annual 3v3 world tournament with a real prize pool. In 2018, the Russian localization team, Blackout, won the finals and earned worldwide recognition by becoming the champion of Blade&Soul and taking home 50 million won (approximately 43 thousand dollars).
Also, in recent updates, Battle Royale was added to the game; in its classic form, tournaments are also held for it in all localizations.
Now we come to an equally important part of the PVE gameplay – player vs environment. PVE in BnS mainly consists of farming Dungeons (dungeons) and raiding with 12 people against especially strong bosses in order to get loot and get gold. Quests are the main way to earn money because the resources you sell can be sold at a high price, but you may also need these resources yourself.
Dungeons, as in most MMO games, are a gut, the task of the players is to get from point A to point B, simultaneously destroying the entire population of the dungeon and ultimately overwhelm the main bully. In words, everything is simple, but in reality, this is a whole test for an unprepared player. Each Bos in the dungeon has a pattern of behavior when it reaches a certain percentage of life, the so-called Phase. Bosses have different phases and each dungeon has its own specific boss. Bosses also have a timer above their health bar that indicates after what time the boss will become enraged and simply wipe (destroy) the entire group of players. In order to kill the boss and not get wiped, the whole group must work together, the tank tanks, the rest deal damage as best they can. The phases of the bosses are different, but one thing is always known, as soon as opportunities for control open up, you need to give a knockdown or stun, depending on the boss, at some moments you need to jump away from the boss and at others to press as tightly as possible. Bosses are also mechanics learned over time, but you shouldn’t be ashamed of the guides, sometimes because of the mistake of one player the whole group dies and you have to beat the boss from the beginning.
Raids are a mode for 12 people, and it is from raids that you can get the best equipment in the game. In BnS raids are complex high-level content for well-played groups, because bosses are fatter and there is a higher possibility of wipe, since the boss has mechanics in which he can kill everyone, even at the very beginning of the battle.
Also in the game there is a solo dungeon in the form of a tower or a pirate island, where you often fight 1 on 1 with a boss who knows no mercy and every mistake can be your last. A true test of your abilities.
PVE in BnS is difficult and at the same time interesting, the more difficult the boss, the higher the joy of victory and the bitterness of defeat.
In BnS, with equipment everything is quite simple, equipment affects damage to monsters, the higher the equipment, the more damage. It is only worth mentioning that the equipment differs from other MMORPGs in its appearance, for example, instead of the usual helmet or bib in the game, they are replaced by an item called bagua, pizza or pie.
Each piece of equipment can be improved, and the best equipment does not even need to be replaced, because leveling up legendary and raid jewelry can take a very long time. Likewise, weapons change their appearance and characteristics depending on what object you sharpen them with. If you want a raid weapon, please go on a raid and get the necessary item for sharpening a weapon, if you want an alternative option, you will have to fork out because it will cost you more.
And a few words about the characters’ clothing, which does not affect absolutely anything and in the game serves only as a way of self-expression and a means of earning money for the developer.
To know the chosen ones is good, and to live with them is true happiness; happy is he who does not have to deal with fools.
Buddha Gautama.
Now probably one of the most important parts of any MMO is the Community, the players are the engine of the game. The first steps towards communication and the opportunity to join a battle school, as guilds are called in BnS, begins with choosing the Honchon or Murim faction, you can choose any of them at the moment this only affects the faction chat and the battle school. Only by belonging to the same faction will players be able to join the same battle school. The combat school at this stage is mainly needed for joint raids and Guild 6v6. I can’t say much about guilds since I’m not a member of any, which is why BnS is so charming. It is not necessary to cooperate with other players; the game even has a “hide other players” button for a more complete immersion in solitude.
BnS is an excellent game with a bunch of interesting mechanics, a generous donation as much as a free2play game allows, great PVPvE, and an excellent storyline. But as with everything else, the game has many shortcomings. In PVP, for example, at the moment the strongest class is the master of wrath due to his wild vitality, which can cause the battle to drag on for a long time due to the inability to kill him. Optimization also suffers in the game, which is why even on the highest hardware you can feel drawdowns and noticeable lags. Lags are the problem with BnS, high ping dependence requires a good Internet connection, which makes players sitting a meter from the server gods. The worst thing about BnS is crashes, very frequent crashes, disconnections and the famous BnS crash report, which has been causing the entire community to burn out since the game was released.
Ultimately, BnS is an excellent game that is worth playing, if not for killing time, then for the wonderful plot and magical musical accompaniment, fortunately the localizer did their best and the game is completely translated into Russian, which makes following the plot much more enjoyable. But a very big disadvantage of the game lies in the optimization, the developers don’t care so much that every month we get a bunch of new donated costumes and we have to put up with crashes and bugs for many years now.
