Back in March, we promised to introduce a trio of brand new mercenaries to the Atlantica world: the Hwarang, the Minstrel, and the Punisher. Many bumps and tumbles later, we're pleased to further delve into the first of three mercenaries: the Hwarang--scheduled to arrive in the next patch (and already out in Korea).

Many of our inspirations behind Atlantica and its mercenaries are heavily influenced by history and cultures of the world, and the Hwarang is no exception. Like the Viking of Scandinavia and the Oracle of Egypt, the Hwarang is based on the warriors of ancient Korea. He'll be introduced as a bow-wielding mercenary to counter the Musician class. As we mentioned in a previous journal, we're always working to balance Atlantica, and it'll always be a work in progress as we continue to introduce new content. So in the near future, the aforementioned Punisher will be the counter to the Hwarang while the Minstrel will be the counter to the Punisher, and to round it out, the Hwarang will be the counter to the Minstrel as well.

The Hwarang has been in development for about three months. After agreeing on the initial design and concept of the Hwarang, we quickly moved to outfitting the model in a more modernized fashion while maintaining the authenticity of the look and appeal. Meantime, the planning team set up the mercenary's skills and magic spells. In addition to his counter moves, the Hwarang is unique in that he has the ability to sacrifice himself to increase the attack power of allies. And although an offensive firepower, he lacks in defense, so his ability to sacrifice himself for the team will be very beneficial to the squad. In addition, the Hwarang will also be able to increase the combo rate of the squad. The last phase of the development cycle was adding up the finishing touches to the graphical effects and also incorporating the recruitment quest into the Atlantica lore. Furthermore, the Hwarang will be introduced in the story through the tale of one of the most famous Hwarang in Korean history, Kim Yoo Shin.

Players will be able to recruit the Hwarang through a quest near Bulguksa once they reach level 112. And although it is a C-class mercenary, it was only fitting considering that the storyline and Bulguksa is based in Korea. That being said, the rest of the requirements will be much easier. In addition, this does not mean that a player under 112 will not be able to use the Hwarang; lower level players lucky enough may even find the summoning stone in the market. We wanted the Hwarang to be as accessible as possible, so we decided on it being C-class for this very reason. There are still level requirements, of course, so not everyone will be able to hire the services of the Hwarang immediately.

Players who recruit the Hwarang to their squad will find an immensely effective damage dealer and a great addition to players with an offensive-oriented playing style. However, the Hwarang has poor defense and a low hp, so it's really how the player utilizes the Hwarang's ability to sacrifice himself that will deepen the strategy in battle. As we continue to develop more mercenaries for Atlantica Online, we hope to provide an even deeper, strategic turn-based battle system.