Blade & Soul is a martial arts MMO which draws on the Chinese cinematic world of wuxia, most famously exported in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. You might also have recognized the genre’s signature high-wire antics in Kill Bill – or be familiar with its tradition of the young male protagonist who suffers a personal tragedy and studies combat technique under a wise master (hello, Luke Skywalker). Thankfully the game has an expansive character creation tool, so you needn’t play as that young male. But the rest of the outline holds true: in the very tutorial a clandestine group of baddies kills your master (sage, diminutive, blade & soul gold softly-spoken – you know the type), takes his sword and, in the words of NCSOFT West community director Omeed Dariani, “fucks off”.
The entire game is spent working out why this sort of thing is happening – and adjusting to the twists and turns lobbed at you along the way. Looks like Blade & Soul is getting a steady flow of updates next as NCsoft announced the 2nd content update called Unchained will go live on March 2nd, less than a month after the 1st Rising Water patch. The biggest highlight of the Unchained update will be the new Warlock class undoubtedly, which is exclusive to the Jin and Lyn. Besides, the final floor (Floor 8) of the first section of Mushin’s Tower will open and the Naryu Labyrinth will also be unlocked. Using mid-range abilities, the Warlock snares their enemies, executes fast and furious combos, and can then summon a massive, demonic Thrall to finish them off.
The mixture of dark shadowy magic and explosively vibrant techniques, the Warlock has substance, in addition to being able to dish out serious damage.” The Force Master class uses their inner Chi to deliver a variety of devastating blows to their enemies. Using the Ki-Gong-Pe, a Chi bracelet they wear around their wrist, they can shoot off many different forms of abilites, ranging from fire explosions to chi leeching techniques that deliver unavoidable attacks and grabs.
Force Masters are the masters of control, they can apply movement impairing effects to multiple enemies, allowing them to take on more than one foe at a time. Force Masters are closest to the wizards and magi of traditional RPGs. They can utilize powerful fire and ice elemental attacks from a distance, but have low HP. Elsewhere, NCSOFT will charge for convenience and quality of life items – XP potions, extra character slots, bigger inventories and the like. They’re keen not to gate progress by charging for dungeons or expansions: “We want everyone playing together.”
A paid-for premium membership offers to bundle those benefits together. NCSOFT will work out the details of that after a closed beta in the autumn, but know the deal will include priority login, wind-walking particle effects, plus XP and gold boosts for “people who don’t have tons and tons of time”. Force Masters play quite differently from the other classes in Blade & Soul. Force Masters’ systematic combos don’t chain very high like the other classes in Blade & Soul. Their patterns of utilizing skills are fairly simple compared to the other classes, this places them in the “easy to control” group of classes.
However, keep in mind that their lack of defense and low health make up for their ease of control. Force Masters have to be aware at all times or they will find themselves dead within a matter of seconds. Blade and Soul is finally coming to North America! The western version of the game is currently in Alpha testing with the Beta scheduled for October 2015 and launch in early 2016. Founder Packs are available now! Blade and Soul is published by NCSoft and is currently popular in Korea. blade and soul gold This wikia is a collaborative resource for the game, supported and updated by the community and fans.