Kozuki

The prices were actually twice expensive before. Though I agree that it is still startling expensive. Sure, TT SS has become much more easier to access, but SS box is a bunch of RNG. You may spend over 500g for a SS box 5-8 without a single desired stat, which you will have to replace, thus wasting 500g for nothing but a piece of SS that only servers as a placeholder at best. I think they should added gold+GC wings instead. Base prices should be 50g for SS 1-4, and 100g for SS5-8, and require GC wings that is only about one-third of premium dragon express.

I confirmed that MSP drops both types of expired and non-expired chests. For expired chests, it is during double-loot weekend MSP, when MSP daily quest is part of daily challenge. For non-expired chests, you get it during weekday MSP.

Currently, BT drops nothing, VT drops blackstones and TT drops silver scales. No doubt this trendwill continue onward. VT is the gear level that it starts to use silver scales, and TT is when it eats blue scales for breakfast. Especially if you go non-raid path which consume an even larger amount of respective materials. By the time people run VT, they don't actually need more blackstones, but silver scales. There are now five dungeons that drop blackstones from NS to HH. Same with TT, where players need a lot of onyx scales instead of silver scales, and silver scales are now abundant with guaranteed drops from four dungeon from DD to Shadowmoor. Yeah, I know that for first few weapon stages, you still need materials from previous tier (blackstone for VT 1-6, silver scales for GC 1-6...), but by the time you hit the bottleneck (a brief while with VT6-9, and TT 6-9), you should have enough resources of blackstone/silver scales already. If anything, the change would benefit new players. Assuming a new players join this game and start to working his way starting BT, then extra blackstones from BT will help them save a few dozens of dungeon runs/week. Same with VT and silver scales. Most importantly is for TT-gear players, cuz there are now too many things that eat blue scales. While blue scales will inevitably becomes abundant, just like what happens to blackstone and silver scales, I think dropping scales/stones according to what players need on that gear level will make those materials from raid more meaningful to players' gear progression.

It's not bad, but not good either. Some talent choices are extreme limited. For example, I cannot have cat focus-regen and 24s root on Summoner. I can only choose either goes with cat focus-regen and 45s root, or go with cat-taunt and 24s. Some other are "you can choose whatever, cuz it is not really matter". Like Gunner has slow, knockback or daze for their 2nd row. All of them are only useful for pvp, or have very limited pve application. The worst offense is that some talents are must-have and you will perform much weaker otherwise. A Shadow Warlock for PvE cannot get TD or no-thrall SB, cuz they have to select the talent for one Helix/spectral orb. I rather they keep the old systems, but add new skills/revamp existing skills instead. It gives players more freedom that way.

1) VT raid is easy now. Not completely faceroll regardless of DPS like BT, but still faceroll with good enough DPS. People only get VT necklace at stage 1 as placeholder until they get Prophecy, which is best-in-slot even with ET necklace. 2) VT necklace is outperformed by Prophecy Necklace. Granted the latter require a bit of grind, but its costs are much cheaper for better performance. And it can be grinded solo (cuz it can only be soloed), not need a group like VT necklace. VT necklace cost: 6 PTS, 60 HQ wings, 1560 soul, 360 moon, 680 sacred, 240 ely, 1 pristine oil Prophey necklace cost (no crux): x2 PTS, 21 onyx scales, 975 soul, 285 moon, 690 sacred, 180 ely, 1 pristine oil A Skybreak accessory: 3 PTS, 60 BT feather, 780 soul, 180 moon, 340 sacred, 120 ely, 1 pristine oil. Using this event: -A SKybreak accessory: 3 dragon tokens. -A VT necklace: 6 dragon tokens! So why an item that is easy to get, perform worse and no one wants costs much more expensive than an item that everyone want? It is like you try to deter people from bother upgrading it, and give yourself an excuse to laugh at who made the mistake. 3) No one actually wants to upgrade VT neck, including me. However, there are still people with stage 4+ neck in old days that want upgrade the neck for the sake of a blue crux for TT accessories (ET neck is a fraud, don't bother). But the cost is too high that it is better to just non-crux breakthrough TT accessories instead, thus make the investment in VT necklace a completely waste. And cruxes are made for exactly the opposite.

It is intended. Basically, the cost to transmute a Dragon token is exactly the same cost of a Skybreak ring/earring breakthrough before the event. So if you don't want to use event currency and just want to upgrade it normally, transmute dragon tokens. It will save you the efforts to grind for lucent/oblivion accessories if you don't have any.

Um, you can just nerf the EXP rewards from dynamic quest, and add it to the daily quest?

I actually like the idea of Polished Scales and Dragon Tokens. The reason is that by using those, you will completely skip the grind of Oblivion accessories, which is a chore to do cuz of outdated contents and RNG drops. For some other returning players, they may be even more unluckly, cuz they have done the quest giving Lucent accessories, which make their grind even worse, especially for annoying grind like Lucent Earring in Necro dungeon. These dungeons are no longer in daily challenge lists. While soloing them are easy, it becomes tiring after you run the same thing for dozen times and nothing you want drop. So by using Polished Scales/Dragon Tokens, you can effectively skip those tedious grinds. Instead, they use Hollow accessories, which are much more accessible compared to lucent/oblivion stuffs. I think that in future, NCWest should be either: -Keep the scales/tokens, and offer them as reccuring event rewards for new players to catch up their gear without going through extra meaningless grind. The option to transmute them should be kept too, for people who just want quick upgrade without costing event tokens. -Phase them out, but make accessories used for breakthrough to be Hollow accessories instead.

Stopping on my own is never hard. The hard part is the delay where the server recognizes your character standing still, especially when you don't have optimal ping (let face this, even native NA players have all kind of pings). You may used to hear about people complaining in Twin Asura when mech was still matter, that the orb just went through them, even if they was already in the blocking animation. The reason was the server-side recognition being delayed, and raid always gives you extra ms to make it even worse. So to you, you already did your part of blocking, but to the server, "Hey, you are 0.11111s late for blocking cuz I didn't see that you stood still in time, thus I will let the orb going through for lulz." Or, a more recent example is high-floor ToI bots who seems to be able to block on move, while players cannot. Actually, they have the same restriction as players. Instead, since they are 100% server-side (absolutely zero-ping), they can do stand still and block AT THE SAME TIME.

You know a good number of skills in this game require blocking/entering block stance first, before they can be available for use? Warlock's 1-F, 1-Z, 1-V, for example. There are also some skills that require you stand very still to use, like Warlock's 3. Let say you are moving, and then you need to block/use skills that require standing stills, you will have to stop moving first, and press the skill. Sound simple, right? The thing is that there is a small delay before the server recognizes that your character has stood still, so that the server can accept the following stand-still-to-use skills. It can prove clunky sometimes. I think, so why don't we have a combat option that allows players to do the opposite? By checking that option, when you are moving and use a skill that requires you stand still, your character will stop by themselves and use the skills, instead of you doing that manually. When this happen, they stop moving completely even if you hold WASD. The only way for them to resume moving is let go of WASD key that you are holding, and press again.

Just another reason why this event sucks. Same geared, but classes with buffs like WL/WD/Sin/KFM can clear, cuz they have buff that boosts their DPS, while other non-buff classes may not so be lucky. Anyway, this event is gonna end soon. Just hope they don't mess up something in next events.

Upgrade BT accs to 10 -> blue cruxes for TT accs, they mean. The event would be much better for end-game players if Dragonflame Jewels can be used on TT accs.

The thing is: -Some players are lazy to disable it. -New players don't know about disabling skills. -Some classes cannot even disable their air combo, like Summoner. And they can misclick the skills due to "SMART" button assignment by NCSoft. And what is the purpose of air combo in PvE anyway? -For mech: like I said, only two bosses in this game ever needs air combo, and they are too old of contents that you don't even need to execute air combo for mech anymore. -For... nothing else. So, instead of relying on players being smart or not forgetful, better to just disable the whole air-combo thing in PvE. Why keeping an annoying function for no purpose?

I finished grinding this on my main, and haven't touched it since then, except for when I want to get seasonal rewards which I will run the dungeon once. Here is my thought: 1) The reason why Prophecy Necklace takes a lot more efforts than Tiger/Dragon and Divinity/Starbreaker is that they want to change how solo dungeons work: instead of just a "side-dish" where you grind 5 tokens for an accessory offering then forget about solo dungeons even exist, 25 tokens will require you a more runs. 2) To make players grind dungeon even longer, they make sure that no boss can drop a whole token (gloves are not counted as a token until you get two of them), and the Imperial Gloves require two Dens gloves, which are super RNG drop. Ma'o doesn't even have a chance drop two token fragments, like how Yeoharan and Master Hong's drops work. So you won't dream about having Imperial stuffs until you go through at least 100 runs. 3) By having a whole Imperial accessory tied to this solo dungeon, they can excuse themselves from making another 6-man dungeon that drop Imperial Necklace. 4) Also, solo dungeon is the best way to goad players to upgrade gear for grind efficiency. For 6-man dungeons, you can get carried despite of low gear. For solo dungeon, you are on your own, with your skills and your gear that help you go through the dungeon. Of course, there will be chance that impatient players will swipe for this, thus good for the business.

Ops, sorry, I mistook between Daily Challenge rewards and dungeons that are part of daily challenges. Editting my post now.

In term of oil-gain, the event is okay. For 5 weeks, you earn 315 tokens for Daily Challenges + Tower of Memory runs. Or 105 tokens from ToM runs only. Each oil costs 60 tokens, so it is 5 oils and 1 oil for 5 weeks, respectively. Assuming you are a premium players and they give you 3 extra tokens/day via Login Stamps, you can earn one extra oils on ToM-only alts by giving them 15 tokens. With 35 days, you have 105 bound-to-account tokens to throw around, which is enough for 7 ToM-only alts. Note that the ToM can be done at lv16+. Consider how strong players have become compared to the previous dungeon, this dungeon will be cleared very fast, except for the last boss. +++ In term of gear upgrade, it is kinda okay, though not impressive. The event works best for players to upgrade their BT accessories, either for better performance, or for blue cruxes to use on TT accessories. Or players who have like stage 4 non-raid accessories that they want to turn into red cruxes/pvp accessories. For five weeks, you will earn like 70 jewels. Assuming they share the same EXP value of normal Legendary Jewels, then it will save you 70 jewels to upgrade BT/VT and some eligible non-raid accessories. The option to upgrade with polished scales/dragon tokens are extremely helpful to skip the grind of oblivion accessories for BT accessories and dragon/tiger bracelet, which is a hassle as the dungeons drop them (DT and EC) are too far outdated already, giving little gain and no longer run by most of F8 players due to not being part of daily challenges. In some cases of returning players, they have to grind even Lucent accessories, and you know the pain when it comes to playing RNG with Necropolis for Lucent Earring. They also give you an option to transmute polished/dragon scales. The cost of transmutation is the same as a normal breakthrough, but it helps you to skip the grind of Oblivion, or Lucent stuffs. I'm not sure how much Polished Scales/Dragon tokens will reduce if you grind it in normal way, but I hope it will be "significant" enough, like NCWest have claimed on the website. It would be the best if Polished Scales/Dragon Tokens just reduce the cost to zero, cuz the cost of transmuting these would be the same as normal breakthrough costs.

I play this game at 250-300ms with TT end-gear, and play an Earth Sum, which is mid-tier in term of ping-friendly. Pre-awk.skill patch, I dealt like 250-300k DPS while trying to survive, and it took me 5m to clear her. Post.awk patch, same gear, I clear her in 2m. I also play a Warden with less geared, and clear her as long as I don't get careless. So yeah, it is completely possible for high ping players to clear her. However, you will want to challenge her with better gear than just Raven weapon and BT Soul shields.

Seriously, the number of people doing air combo by accident (and even extend it) is hair-pulling. Many classes lose considerably amount of DPS when an air combo happens. Even some ranged classes suffer, like a Fire Gunner deal zero DPS if he enters Tombstone and someone decides to air combo the boss, or Earth Summoner can only deal pitiful DPS cuz their main skill does not hit air-target. To make it worse, Summoner cannot even disable their air-launch skill cuz NCSoft wants that. They CAN pre-awk patch, but now they cannot without abusing xml edit. When a Summoner attempts to Knockdown, but someone makes a Daze or Stun, they misclick it into air combo, cuz NCSoft thinks it brilliant to have air-launch the same button with knockdown. There are only two bosses of which mech needs air combo: Rocnar in Naryu Foundry, and the Generals Moyun and Shunan in Skybreak Spire. Rocnar is a joke already, assuming someone still run Naryu Foundry, and his mech doesn't even wipe. The two Generals can be DPS to death and ignore all mech. So I dare to say even with making all boss immune to air combo, nothing will get affected. Also, there is another case where air combo makes thing even worse than just losing DPS. Hive Queen whose get knockdown, but air-launch by some classes that can air-launch knockdowned target, will not do her mech dash, thus may wipe if the lazer is too close. Nowadays, people can just all stun her to death, but if some parties still need to knockdown her, then air-launch may cause some unnecessary wipes.

Wind with upcoming fusion on Liberty-season badge and ET gear will have an edge over Earth. The reason is that the new badge buffs Wind by a lot, while kinda crappy for Earth. Also, Wind can pvp better than Earth for being able to air combo.

Also, need to have Marketplace, Daily Dash and Login Stamp being usable in cross-server too. I don't see why Trove can be accessible in F8 while those cannot.

For some class builds like Earth Summoner, Riftwalk is preferred over Raven, and stays to non-raid path even after they get TT gear until NCSoft can provide a better raid weapon for the build. This is recommended since Riftwalk/Storm Dragon/Shadow is easier/cheaper to acquire for new players than group-effort raids, while still provide relevant DPS even to raid contents. Ask around what weapon should your class use first before investment. Also, for good DPS, try to understand how your skills work instead of over-relying on Simple Mode. Some classes have very awful Simple Mode, like Summoner, be it ineffective rotation or skill delay, which will effectively gimp your performance if you mindlessly hold RMB. If your hand really hurts cuz of smashing buttons, consider a macro program instead, which basically Simple Mode with customization. And no, no one ever get banned cuz of a mouse-macro program, except for ones in people's imagination. It is not 'Use-it-at-your-own-risk' anymore. It is "must-have-for-your-hand". Also, having a BT Mystic badge is still better than having nothing in term of DPS, especially when you're new player who will likely have to grind for a while for a VT Badge (around 400-500g in F5 for NA). Many times I see people running with nothing in their mystic badge slot, especially Warlock/Warden cuz they prefer either BW or naked. The BT mystic badge should be given for free through quests now, so I don't see any excuse why not.

Or you know what? Just make Koldrak a dungeon for 6 man with reduced HP and QTE bar, adding it to F8. You can do it in whatever hour you feel comfortable with. However, instead of daily lock it, just lock it for 6 hours, so you can still run it 4 times/day. That way, you can give players to be more proactive with their gaming schedule.

Unless you seriously cannot access a TT raid, then you can go Myth Ring. However, note that it will just become another red crux which cannot be used on raid accs, or just turn into pvp ring in a long-run, while you can have the resources saved by waiting for TT ring instead. Also, BT Ring has more than just Mystic. It has skill modifier, and while its own buff is meh, ring modifier is often your main DPS skill. In addition, Warden is one of classes that benefits from having higher Mystic, since Bladeward boosts Mystic scaling with your total Mystic.

Because they keep using two-week rotation, and it takes them a very long time for their outfits to even return. Usually, it takes 6 months to a year for a non-themed outfit to return. For seasonal or themed outfits (like swimsuits, Valentine...), they always return after a year.. The reason is simple: they want to create the feeling "if I don't buy this now, I won't see it again for a very long time", thus goading players to spend real money on Ncoin, or grind gold to sell to Ncoin buyers to get Hmcoin to buy said outfits. Also, they want to space out the outfit rotations so that they won't run out of outfit selections in a long run, in order to make the selection look fresh new. Ironically, they now have run out of ideas: there are barely new outfits that are released through F10 and only returned and discounted ones, cuz they want to stuff them into RNG Boxes/Troves/One-year membership where players will spend bigger on, and still have to add some to events to motivate players to play their game. The outfits that are available year-round are also rarely changed. I remember NCWest opted out year-round rotations for like... two times? Then it seems they completely lose interest to even manage that section. So yeah, the F10 cosmetic section is now very boring, cuz NCWest keeps trying to monetize things in every possible way, without caring about consequences.

After awakening skill update, all of player's upgraded skills learns from Hongmoon books (and food) have been converted to Hongmoon skill enhancement points. Currently, we have 15 points (10 from books and 5 from reaching lv60), and there is no doubt that there will be more, either from achievements or cash shop (KR has begun to sell this too). At the present, the system is kinda okay, but utterly bland: -It only does one thing: increase damage of select skills, varied from 10 to 25%. Simple to the point of too simple, when you compare how rock many skills become in term of functions when it got HM version before, like Warlock's HM Sanctum lasts 10s from 6s. -If a skill has many versions (normal, advanced and Soulburn), they will be all listed. Earth Summoner has Sunflower, Super Sunflower and Awakened Sunflower, which are all the same skills, just a bit different in function and availability. Gunner has two variants of non-SB and SB for Quickshot and Bullestorm. Granted that you will want to put points according to whether a party has SB or not, but isn't it a bit cumbersome? Why don't just make consolidated them into a single version and give spare points for other potential skills? -You cannot enhance the skill you want. There are many available skills that you will never bother to spend enhancement points on. For example, Summoner's Briar Patch. +++ I think BnS should take some samples from Lineage 2, which is also from NCSoft and has similar system: -Instead of just simply increase damage of a skill, skill points should be able to have different ways to enhance a skill. For example, Summoner's Flying Nettle can enhanced to either deal stronger additional damage on Ivy Poisoned target, or last longer on the field with more tick (duration), or have reduced cooldown. -Instead of a lot of variants of a skill with SB and non-SB, just consolidated them. Also, skills that are basically the same like Briar Patch and Flying Nettle should be one too. -Outside of damaging skills, non-damage skills should also be enhance-able. For example, Summoner's Huzzah! can be have more healing ticks for party, or give additional defensive buff, or give a status resist iframe for party during the skill animation. Warlock's Circle of Hostility can give critical chance buff, or even more AP buff, or recover focus. Obviously, these enhancements won't make it to PvP side.