Blade & Soul

Blade & Soul's Symphony of Destruction Update will be live soon, and I had a chance at a sneak peek, let's take a look at what's coming in!

The Archer is finally coming to Blade & Soul. NCSoft’s wuxia-styled MMORPG gets a brand new class update on the 18th of September and we got a sneak peek at it recently.

Do you like wielding giant swords? If yes, you should know Blade and Soul released a new class last week called the Warden. The Warden uses a giant sword to protect its allies as they take down enemies around them. Over the weekend I've enjoyed making a Warden and attempting to level it to the max. I did not make it to max level yet but I can tell you about my time and the fun I've been having. This is our first impression of the Warden in Blade and Soul.

Teased as far back as 2016 in Korea, where it was labeled the Maestro, the arrival of the Gunslinger has been anticipated by Blade and Soul fans for some time now. We got some hands on time with the Gunslinger during Gamescom 2017, where NCSoft introduced their latest update, the opening salvo in a barrage of updates planned for the rest of this year.

Blade and Soul has been out in the US for a little over a year now and players have been responding quite well to the Kung-Fu inspired action of the MMO. While at E3 I got a chance to see what it has in store for players in the second half of the year and beyond. It turns out there’s new characters, new missions and some brand new countries in their eSports finals.

Since launch, Blade and Soul has maintained a steady cadence of updates and classes to play, and next week NCsoft will be launching the soul fighter. Available to the Jin, Gon, and Yun races, this hybrid blends the martial styles of the force master and kung fu master to create a flexible class capable of dishing out pain at both range and in melee.

These past few months Blade & Soul has kept up a very fast paced schedule of content. Their goal is to bring North America up to speed with the other regions of the world and get players on an equal timeline globally. To do this there have been some big updates that have come just after launch. The Rising Waters expansion as well as the release of the Warlock class continued this drive. Now we are hot on the heels of the Silverfrost Mountains update with lots more to come.

March 2nd marked the arrival of Unchained update to the European and North American versions of Blade and Soul. Among other things it introduced a new playable class - the Warlock. NCSoft is working to catch up western players to the other localized versions in Asia. This leaves only one class that has yet to be introduced in the West, Soul Fighter, which will be implemented at a later date.

This past week we got a solid look at Blade & Soul from NC Soft. The game launches on January 19th, 2016 here is North America and many of you may have been playing in the betas. Blade & Soul has had great success in Korea, China, and Japan over the last few years and continues to draw fans with its heavy action combat style of play. The team also has a very aggressive post launch schedule for 2016 which we will go into below.

As I play in each of the closed beta weekends for NCSOFT’s upcoming Blade & Soul, trying hard not to go too far beyond level 20 or so as to not spoil the game when head start begins on January 15th, a few issues poke their noses into my consciousness. The first, which we’ll talk about here, is that the UI for Team Bloodsport’s game is so informative that it’s bearing on the verge of overkill.

As I play in the beta tests for NCSOFT’s Blade & Soul western release, I notice a few things. One, the game’s still gorgeous despite being three years old. Two, the PVE questing is pretty rote and unmemorable. Three, the combat is probably the best combat in any MMO since TERA. And four… its PVP flagging system seems to make for a game that PVP and PVE fans can get behind.

As part of my trip to South Korea, where I spent tons of time with Blade and Soul, learning about NCsoft, and a brief demo of a new NCsoft game that will be making the jump to the West, the big focus was undoubtedly on the healthy eSports scene that Blade and Soul has carved out for itself since it launched in the East four years prior. And now, after four years of building momentum, that scene is about to crack wide open as western audiences are allowed to compete.

Come this January, Blade & Soul will finally be available for North American and European audiences—a painfully long wait for those craving the masterful approach to combat in this far-eastern MMORPG. As part of a week-long event culminating in the Blade and Soul 2015 World Championships, NCsoft invited me to get an inside peek at the development of Blade and Soul, experiencing both how it intends to conquer eSports and provide an engaging online world to explore.

This weekend I spent some time gallivanting around the Blade & Soul technical alpha. It’s the first time outside of trade shows and the like that I’ve been able to spend some real time with NCSOFT’s official version. Frankly, I see why people adore this game in Korea. It’s still a traditional quest-driven theme park, but I’ll be damned if it’s not fun.

The Chinese Wuxia genre is one of the most celebrated martial traditions in modern films and video games, and Blade & Soul, a new free-to-play MMORPG from NCSOFT, looks to put that genre on center stage. Blade & Soul, which will launch with a fully realized, three-act story at launch, will feature high-level, competitive PvP, with hardcore features like a 1v1 arena in which gear will be equalized to promote player skill.