There are two new team instances coming up, both aimed at level 80 players, these instances will be found in the Imperial capital of Paikang in Khitai.

The two new instances, complete with daily quests, take the form of two separate outdoor districts of Paikang – The Ai District and the T’ian’an District. While both are areas of the same, once proud, Imperial capital, they have been effected by the corruption and evil that has spread throughout Khitai in very different ways, and likewise the pace and style of the gameplay is also different between the two areas.

The Story of Paikang

During their adventures in Paikang to date, players may have already met the Insurrection, a faction whose sole purpose is to overthrow the God-Emperor and restore Khitai to its former glory. Their main adversaries are the Dark Legion, elite guards of the Emperor, twisted men who has been given enormous strength and magical abilities in return for their souls being swallowed by the Entity.

The insurrection is a ragged group consisting mostly of ordinary people; who depend on loyal members and complete secrecy to stay away from the ever-watching eyes of the Emperor. Lacking in both men and arms, their leader Qizhen turns to the heroes for help to pave the way for the Insurrection. Before the Emperor meets his end the people of Paikang needs to regain hope, and to do that, the players need to try and help rid the streets of the corrupted cancer that has taken hold of it.

T’ian’an district was once a jewel in Paikang city, with large gardens, temples and buildings of great architecture. Now everything lies in ruin. Citizens, mad with corruption, is tearing down their homes and freeing caged wildlife onto the streets. Armsmaster Uxus, who is charged with keeping the peace, has succumbed to madness and decided to cleanse the city with fire. But in the middle of chaos and evil there is also a force of good and pure; a priestess of T’ian abides in the district, and will aid the heroes if needed.

The Ai district has always been a home to the poor and the homeless. The streets are a maze of buildings, piled against each other in a haphazard fashion. It’s also where the Dark Legion garrison holds, with its elite soldiers and a commander who refuses to yield his position in the city; and Sxi Ai, a former noblewoman and whose very form and mind has become contorted by chaos. The heroes must fight their way through the district, fending off the hordes of Corrupted that they disturb and destroy the Dark Legion barricades to take back the district.

Gameplay

The Ai district plays more like an outdoor adventure zone for you and your friends to fight through, with two set-piece boss encounters for players to discover, as well as the odd secret to be revealed from careful investigation.

The T’ian’an District is all about the boss encounters, and is effectively also a speed challenge to see how many of the half dozen encounters you can complete before your time runs out. The developers claim that you will have to choose which order to take the bosses, and that it will take a good and co-ordinated team to even have a chance of clearing the zone in one attempt…sounds like a challenge to all of you out there to me!

These areas don’t have obvious hard modes in the same way as the other Khitai instances, but there are added rewards for finding the correct approach and being able to complete all the challenges.

The reset times on these dungeons are the same as for the other Khitai dungeons, but the additional quests are on daily lockout timers in keeping with the new factional quest timers.

Questlines

Quest wise, the instances will come with both story and repeatable quests that are linked to the Insurrection faction in Paikang. Those who have already completed the solo quest chain for this faction will be able to further explore the storyline behind the Insurrection and their struggle against the emperor. The quests are not compulsory though, and you will still be able to head into either district simply for the rewards and boss loot should you wish!

The Rewards

Speaking of rewards, the rewards will be aimed around the same quality and level as, or maybe just a little higher than, the Kara Korum dungeons, so you will be suitably rewarded for completing the Districts.

Cleanse the streets!

So there you have it. The streets of Paikang await those souls brave enough to bear arms against both the emperor and the corruption. Be careful out there, and bring your friends, you will need all of your strength, guile and skill to navigate the dangers that inhabit the districts of Paikang!