Summer Update Roadmap

Hello adventurers, this is Lee Dong-shin, Director of Elsword.

In the first half of April, we implemented Raid Solo Mode, Heroes' Assemble buff, Title unlock/obtain condition and Armor Reforge improvements, as well as additions to Prof. Pho's growth guide. Through these reform updates, we aimed to help adventurers with character growth and bring changes to the overall gameplay flow.

Following the update direction, many difficulties in the character growth process have been significantly resolved, and we've confirmed that many adventurers are enjoying the changes. However, we believe there are still some areas in higher-level content that cause gameplay stress.

In this summer update, we aim to help with character growth through improvements to higher-level content and provision of new content, and furthermore, provide a better Elsword gameplay experience.
Also, on June 19th (Thursday), a new region 'Atmaram' will be released.
Before providing detailed information, we'd like to briefly introduce the new region.

Atmaram is a hot spring island of the occupying forces in the Red Demon territory. The El Search Party, tired from their previous adventures, visits for rest, and the story unfolds from there.
Please look forward to the adventure to meet the Occupying King, the owner of the hot spring island.

Now, let's go through detailed information about the updates currently being prepared.

Serpentium Raid and Doom Aporia Raid Difficulty Improvements

After the April update, many adventurers have reached the Serpentium region through growth, but we've confirmed that some are experiencing difficulties during gameplay, which is causing issues with smooth armor farming.

Also, for Doom Aporia Raid, we've consistently received feedback that the play time is excessively long, and due to the high fatigue from raids, there have been situations where switching certain Ice Burners and titles back to back under certain conditions is forced to save even a little time, making the gameplay difficulty even higher.
Therefore, in this summer update, we aim to improve elements that cause gameplay difficulties based on current adventurers' situations and feedback.

First, we plan to apply adjustments to gear switching methods.
Shaviana Truffles and Divinity of Seven Realms Ice Burner costumes and accessories will be changed so that their buffs are not applied when not equipped, and for the Versatility title, it will be adjusted so that its buffs are not maintained when the title is removed.

With these switching method adjustments, we're preparing updates including difficulty adjustments by reflecting these effects in the previously planned Serpentium Raid and Doom Aporia Raid improvement plans to ensure no difficulties in raid gameplay.
Specifically, Serpentium Raid difficulty options will be reduced from 4 to 3.

Based on the removed difficulties, D1 will have significantly reduced difficulty, the same for D2 & 3 along with modifications to excessive forced patterns.
Doom Aporia Raid will also be improved by significantly lowering Stage 1 difficulty, and overall difficulty adjustments will be made to reduce average play time to about 50% of current.

Heroes' Assemble Buff Expanded

During the April patch, Heroes' Assemble buffs were limitedly applied to general dungeons up to the Tirnog region when entering dungeons with current party.
However, many adventurers have been reporting difficulties in gameplay after Tirnog, and requested to apply this buff to these dungeons too.
Therefore, in this summer update, we plan to improve the Heroes' Assemble to be applied in all regional general dungeons when starting with current party.

Balance Patch and Some Item Effect Adjustments

As mentioned in January, we plan to proceed with balance patches in July as scheduled.
This time as well, we'll set up the official website 'Balance Discussion Board' to receive adventurers' opinions.
Please actively leave opinions from when this notice is posted until June 26th (Thursday).

We ask that you base your opinions on the characters you play as mains, and please understand that opinions will be reviewed for reflection only if we are able to verify them according to gameplay data.

In the July balance patch, we'll comprehensively review Doom Aporia Raid play data after the May balance patch to examine characters' overall DPS capabilities, and plan to proceed with structural improvements and skill modifications for characters showing insufficient power. Overall, we'll consider buffing characters more, but please understand that some skills may have nerfs in hit count and damage values depending on the data situation shown.

Along with the balance patch, some item effect adjustments will be made.
The items subject to adjustment are 'Maestro's Halo', 'Exascale Armor Circuit', and 'Exascale Restore Set' (Green), with effects changing as follows:

First, for Maestro's Halo, we plan to increase the Symphony effect duration and buff the Symphony effect values.

For Exascale Armor Circuit, we've deemed some of the effects inconvenient when job changing. Thus, some effects will be transformed after the update as follows:

All circuit effects will be changed to corresponding values.
Examples:

• Buff - Nearby Party's All Skill Damage Increase 0.5% → Active, Tenacity, Strength, Bravery Skill Damage Increase 0.7%

• Bravery Skill Damage Increase 1% → Active, Tenacity, Strength, Bravery Skill Damage Increase 1%

All circuits, whether equipped or in inventory, will be changed collectively.

Additionally, to make up for the circuit effect adjustment, Buff - Nearby Party's All Skill Damage Increase effect will return on the Restore Set, and grant a fixed 12% [0.8% * sum of Skill Tier Damage Circuit values] value of this effect.

During balance patch updates and item effect adjustments, events will provide Job Change Tickets as well as Armor Color and Character Change Tickets to allow free job changes.
We also plan to update the Exascale Armor Character Change System to further improve gameplay convenience.

Master Class Portrait Addition

Many adventurers have requested to use Master Class skill cuts as Character Portraits on the UI, but existing Master Class images couldn't be used for some characters, preventing updates.

We plan to add all Master Class portraits to the customization window through separate artworks made for the Character Portrait UI.
Here's a sneak-peek of the new pictures:

New Region Dungeons, Giant Boss, Magic Stones and Accessories

This summer, the new region Atmaram and new story will be released.
New region dungeons will Combat Power limited is the same as Serpentium dungeons to allow easy access.

The new region will feature three types of dungeon content:

• The first dungeon is for new EXP farming gameplay, planned as a new dungeon that exceeds the experience efficiency of existing Plegas's Portrait dungeon.

• The second dungeon is for farming new Magic Stones. This dungeon allows solo play, and you can obtain more Magic Stones by defeating more monsters with party members.

  New Magic Stones will feature various effects including Specific Skill Tier [Active, Tenacity, Strength, Bravery] Damage Increase and All Skill Damage Increase.

• The third dungeon is a Giant Boss dungeon where you can farm new common accessories.
  New accessories occupy Top Piece, Face Top, Face Bottom, Arm and Necklace. Each accessory has a different effect, and there is a set effect.
  For the Top Piece accessory, we're preparing something that will be able to replace Code of Honor/Engine Cooling System switching.
  The new Giant Boss has a separate entry limit system different from the existing dungeons.

Along with the Giant Boss update, existing Giant Boss dungeons [Plegas's Labyrinth and The Great Steel Wall] will be changed to all-time entry.

We also plan to adjust the difficulty of existing Giant Boss dungeons [Titan's Grotto, Plegas's Labyrinth, The Great Steel Wall] and change the suitable party size from 3~6 to 1~6 players for easier gameplay.

Summer Events

We're preparing new growth support events for the summer update.
An event to achieve level 99 as quickly as possible and grow to Master Class for free, and a more upgraded growth event to replace the existing Hyper Punch Master event.
Through these events, if El Resonance is below level 200, it is immediately raised to level 200, and provide equipment and important items to help smooth gameplay of updated content.

Upon event completion, even new adventurers are expected to quickly achieve 10M Combat Power.
Characters participating in growth events will be supported with additional Secret Dungeon attempts.

Also, through the Abyss Weapon distribution event, we'll provide Event-exclusive +11 Submergence of Abyss Weapon with completed Weapon Growth quest to help you fully play Elsword content during the event period.
However, the event-exclusive +11 Abyss Weapon is provided in a non-enhanceable state and is only usable during the event period, but can be changed to permanent after the event period through event completion.

We're preparing various other events as well, so please look forward to the 2025 summer update with great anticipation.

Finally, for adventurers waiting for the summer update, a simple event that can help with current gameplay will begin tomorrow. After tomorrow's maintenance, you can obtain the following items by staying logged in to Elsword for 10 minutes.

• [Luriel] [Mod] Force [E] Selection Cube x1

• [Luriel] Blessed Chlorite Seed (10%) x5

• [Luriel] 300 Apples Selection Cube x3

• [Luriel] Fighter Potion x500

Thank you for your engagement.