ArcheAge NA is just about 100% caught up with its KR forebear, as today patch 2.5 launches on the Trion Worlds servers, bringing with it tons of new content. Not the least of which, the game’s hardest 5-man dungeon to date comes in the form of a deadly opera house with more than a few secrets and tough bosses to be conquered.
Producers Merv Lee Kwai and Amanda Fry took some time out of their busy day last week to tour me around the sights and sounds of ArcheAge 2.5, or Bloodsong, as it’s being called. The crown jewel of which is the new Mistsong Summut dungeon. Merv and Amanda were quick to say that it’s easily the toughest dungeon in the game so far. If you’re aiming to do it, you should not wander in as a fresh 55 and expect to take it down easily. That said, there is an "Easy Mode" that scales for players from level 5 to 55, but only the normal level capped version, with a Hard Mode version to come, will reward the top tier gear.
The dungeon, like many of AA’s, is not about fighting tons of trash to get to the bosses and the loot. There are multiple paths, and 3 main bosses to fight in Mistsong. While the more direct patch to each boss will be difficult, the longer winding ones will be easier to surmount but still fraught with danger. Merv and Amanda showed me two of the bosses, Sojung – a beautiful (on the surface) snake lady with protective wards who requires a sound and balanced strategy to wear down. Secondly, they treated me to a view of Aria herself, the devilish purveyor of the concerts on Mistsong.
The Bloodsong launch trailer
You see, Mistsong is a creepy twilight zone place. People from all over the world are clamoring to see the songstress and view the concerts of the renowned Aria, but what they don’t realize is that her music literally drains your soul and takes your life when you see her perform. The dungeon, ergo, is rather beautiful on the outside (like its matron), but what lurks beneath is far more decrepit and hideous. Your job, as the heroes, is to stop Aria’s reign over the Mistsong Summit and prevent more people from being devoured by her devious orchestral designs.
What’s cool about this update is that, rather than use the original Korean music with English subtitles, Trion had a local band and fans of ArcheAge come into the studio to record their own version of the song and an original track to go with the update. Invocation Array, the band in question, already has the song up and YouTube and you can get a sneak-listen below.
Aside from the new dungeon with all of its new top-tier rewards, there are quite a few other updates hitting ArcheAge as well. For instance, there are now gear-balanced arenas to take part in where you select a class template and then duke it out on a normalized level with your opponent. If you want to PVP on a fair shake, these new arenas will finally give you the chance to do so. There are also new treehouses being added to the housing mix, and what’s great about them is that you’ll actually be able to farm the branches off your house, with a chance for thunderstruck logs to be among the mix. The cash-store bought treehouse will not be harvestable, so only the treehouses actually earned through playing the game can get those.
Invocation Array's new song for Bloodsong
And what would an AA update be without fantastic new mounts, new outfits, and welcome back bundles galore? There are new Dread Steeds to be earned or purchased, and like the recent welcome back campaign, if you log in and claim your rewards with the new Bloodsong welcome bundles every day for two weeks you’ll earn permanent outfits and mount rewards. Oh, and one additional little detail that’ll make many of you ArcheAge fans happy? Patch 2.5 finally makes it so you can have your mount and your battle pet summoned at the same time – no more struggling to level one up over the other!
Straight from Trion Worlds, here are the main bullets of what's being added in 2.5:
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New Mistsong Summit inspired quests - In addition to the three new bosses in the 5-player Mistsong Summit dungeon, 14 all-new quests related to the Mistsong Summit storyline have been added to the game. Weapons obtained from the dungeon may also be evolved through a crafting system similar to Serpentis and Greater Dungeons, and new armor, Lunafrosts and other items can be obtained by conquering dungeon objectives.
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New Arenas and PvP modes - Two new types of Balanced Arena modes have been added with the Bloodsong update, accessible to any player over level 30: a 1 vs. 1 Sparring Arena and a 3 vs. 3 Skirmish Arena. All participants may choose from one of eight gladiator skill sets and are automatically scaled to level 55 with all buffs and consumables disabled. A winner is declared when two of three 7 to 21 minute matches are won.
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New Rewards and Achievements - Players are now showered with all-new rewards for achieving level 55 through in-game mail. “Blood, Sweat and Training” daily quests are also now available along with the new arenas, with increased rewards for victories in multiple arena types.
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Other New Additions - 50 all new furniture pieces along with all-new player housing options have been added, along with the ability to use a mount and battle pet simultaneously and a new Moby Drake Fishing Boat.
Overall, there seem to be a great many things being added to ArcheAge with the Bloodsong update. Merv and Amanda were keen to say that the XL team has been really responsive to the NA and EU feedback presented by Trion – so much so that the future updates are being largely shaped by the community hear as opposed to the other regions. Apparently many of the changes requested and enacted by Trion have been so positively received across the board that XLGAMES is seeing a lot of desire to have similar changes made in other regions, including the home base of Korea.
Bloodsong launches today for ArcheAge, will you be diving in to give it a look?
