Considering Returning After 2 Years

[SMGraph]

So, I used to play Blade and Soul a lot. I loved the game, but the prevalence of bots and hackers (including well-known, prolific hackers consistently remaining at the top of the PVP boards) led me to uninstall. I wanted to play again, but not if the problems that plagued the game then are still going on now. What is the bot/hacker situation like? Is arena still match after match of lead-the-bot-around-the-ring-poking-it-to-death mess? Are high level PVE mobs and production mats farmable now without being totally overrun by bots?

 

And are the classes balanced now/the game up to date with international versions so that every class has access to all their important skills and skill trees rather than some being left in the dust by chance because their important skills are unreleased while others don't have to wait?

 

I really would like to play the game again because it was so fun.

[Kage Shadisha]

I don't play much in PvP, I actually try to avoid it if I can but I know there are still some bots in Tag Match. There have been forums about Battleground being unfairly matched between players who are high geared and low geared. I can't really tell you about hackers that are taking top tier of the game, only people using their alts to take up the top tier.

 

PvE Mats have changed (don't know how long you have been gone), there are no longer any Frozen Stingers and Honorary Ornaments are gone and replaced with Sacred Orb/Crystals and Elysian Orb/Crystals. Virdian, Cinderland, and Moonwater Transformation stones are gone and only Silverfrost Transformation Stones (now called only Transforamtion Stones) are still around to upgrade your gear and the quartz can be bought in Dragon Express for 2 Soulstones. There are things in dungeons called Lucent Treasure Chest and Treasure Pouch that gives you mats the mats you need but there are some people who will bid for it at a crazy price depending on how desperate they are. Also you will get another box which you will need to unlock with a Guild Crafting Key to get crafting mats for your specific guild.

 

There is much of any mats that bot can overrun out in the world anymore....well, none that I know of since I hardly pay attention.

[SMGraph]

Oh, that's great to hear. Yeah I stopped playing right when MW was the highest level map you could get to, really. Smurfs are a problem in any game, but as long as it's not just players with hacks turned on who take no damage in arena and have infinite CD, it'll be a far sight better than what it was.

[dualistique]

With the skill revamp, you can easily PvP with some classes without having to farm Hongmoon Levels to get skill points to use skills.  Now, all the skills are available at your disposable after level 50.  The only caveat is that some Hongmoon skills that certain classes need to PvP efficiently are still unlocked and so you can either PvE or PvP your away to achieve the skills.

 

As far as balance in PvP, there's still a hierarchy, but in the end, if you know the matchup, you can probably outplay the opponent.

 

As far as Bots go, there's still a few of them around in both PvP and in dungeon lobbies but most of the mats and stuff you need for crafting are gained from dungeons and quest rewards, so you aren't necessarily roadblocked by bots.

[Eiria]

A little amused at someone claiming to have left 2 years ago when the US and EU game release hasn't even reached it's second anniversary from CBT (10/29/15), let alone Release (1/29/16).

In a recent patch, they completely got rid of the world crafting mat nodes, and have completely revamped the way crafting works. The mat farming guilds are ALL gone, as is one of the crafting guilds, and in return each of the revamped crafting guilds has it's own built in, unique crafting mats that are ordered through that guild (for gold, the longer the window of time for the order{usually only hours at most for a minimum order, 4 days for max}, the more mats it returns). You now have 3 slots, which can be split up between any three crafting or material farming jobs. Outside of those mats, there is one uniquely crafting item that can normally only be randomly gotten from dungeon reward boxes that must be opened with a key unique to each crafting guild (though ANY of the crafting guild keys can open the box, the key determines what the level 1-3 crafting mats come out as, the unique level 4 mat, "Rare element" is universal to all the crafting guild recipes). Sadly, crafting isn't really lucrative at the moment.

 

Smurfing is a non issue in pvp because there's almost nothing equipment-wise you can mail to your own account alts, let alone other accounts. Hongmoon gems are the only real exception now, as they're cheap to mail, but not gamebreaking, as only zone or battlegrounds PvP cares about equips, and both are pretty much endgame.

 

Bots are mostly a non-issue, but they'll always pop up in 1v1 when you least want to experience it, though as significan;ty lower rates than in the first 6 months to a year of the game.. Sadly, the Tower of Infinity, which is essentially a Player vs official Bot tower, cheats out of its ass, and is needed for one of the two badge types ><.

 

Level cap is only at 50 Hongmoon 20, while KR at least is 55. and a ton of PvE skills are still mostly locked behind pvp because the PvE drop rates are just that bad.

 

Server populations have dropped so much that we're down to only 2 servers.