Translator Notes
Not all items were included. [Here] is the original post if you are interested in minor questions.
Questions & Answers
Can you explain in detail what you meant by adding new Ice Burner accessory slots?
We plan to add separate Ice Burner accessory slots for all parts. However, only one ring slot will be added.
[Update 05/25/2024]
After reviewing opinions of worried adventurers, we revised and discussed the topic with people in charge. Additional slots will be excluded from the summer update due to low supply of Ice Burners. We will reorganize and reorder Ice Burners first, only then can we implement this feature.
I'm curious how title counts from multiple characters will influence the shared title count after changing the title to account-wide.
Also, what about players who have a title on multiple characters? Will there be any item like title extraction?
The titles being made account-wide are Raid and Giant Boss titles this time. Title counts from multiple characters will be added up together.
In cases where such titles are obtained by multiple characters on the same account, a separate extraction is not considered.
We are currently considering opinions regarding this update, especially when it comes to titles that were released not so long ago, like Attack of the Steel Machines (The Great Steel Wall title).
[Update 05/25/2024]
Please note that the users of multiple characters that obtained Attack of the Steel Machines title will be issued a compensation.
Adventurers were also worried about Pruinaum raid title acquisition after the update is applied. We will consider decreasing the requirements for these titles.
Curious, why did you not pay much attention to PvP when balancing at this time?
Although PvP importance has been reduced, it's still a vital part of Elsword. Separate updates are in progress as main PvE patches are now complete.
Details about changes and added weapons will be announced through future patch notes.
Will a new weapon be released along with the new armor?
No weapons will be released in this summer update.
Regarding the new armor, the reforging system will be maintained, a new ability system will be added, the armor will be character-based, and item rarity will be [Unique]. You will also be able to bank share this gear.
Are there any plans to expand pets and mounts across the entire account?
There are no plans to do that.
Pet extraction will keep Growth stats and Fetch Aura information.
Further details will be revealed in a later notice.
Certain Korean region, item, character names etc. are being censored in the chat window and characters are not eligible for nicknames containing them. Are there any plans to improve the in-game censorship?
In Elsword, there is a system that censors harmful words and direct profanity when chatting.
It is normal that certain words are restricted due to this feature.
Therefore, we are planning to introduce an advanced censorship system to improve this area. However, it may take some time as we will only release it when it's matured enough. We need to make sure that adventurers don't experience any inconvenience from this.
Do the GMs even read posts on the Balance Forum?
We try to check everything, however, not everything can be reflected or be clearly responded to.
Some improvements may also take a longer time than others.
We are conducting a separate QnA to resolve at least some of the inconveniences our adventurers are feeling.
We will also consider to communicate with adventurers directly on the forum.
Can you make more advance notices regarding content?
If a phenomenon is confirmed to will have a significant impact on the game, an advance notice is published.
Please notice that it might be difficult for us to provide information in advance as it may be changed in real time to immediately correct problems.
Can you reduce the waiting time for party matching?
We will make some adjustments, but the current time window is there to make party matching less difficult to match another player(s).
Currently, in Elsword, everyone receives more or less the same rewards regardless of their contribution. Can you add a system that rewards players based on their contribution?
We think that even if we change rewards to be based on rank, it will not alleviate the issue. It's better to maintain the current status quo.
Newbies often need to play solo content. Are there plans for decreasing solo content difficulty?
We plan to continue adjusting them based on the current top content.
There are certain annoying gimmicks in new dungeons, e.g. the new Secret Dungeon.
Dungeon patterns are a necessary part of gameplay that exist to adjust play difficulty and diversity.
However, if some patterns are judged to be excessive, they are alleviated, but we will keep most gimmicks as they are necessary in some extent.
Dungeon entry conditions seem to be invalid based on Combat Power. Are there any plans to introduce gear entry conditions, like armor reforge level or weapon enhancement level?
Are you aware that Combat Power is inaccurate?
The Combat Power system doesn't accurately represent your power, so we are trying to find ways to improve the values.
We are aware that Combat Power required to enter a dungeon doesn't mean that you will be able to clear it smoothly.
This requirement exists as an indication that the content might be hard with minimum Combat Power, but clearable.
We think that additional restrictions regarding weapon and armor for existing dungeons are excessive.
Instead of changing Combat Power requirements, we will lower the difficulty of said dungeons first.
In the case of the upcoming dungeons updated this summer, we plan to add equipment entry requirements.
We will consider adding a certain amount of restrictions, but we don't plan to restrict dungeons with too many conditions.
I hope that you will revamp the Challenge Mode patterns further, such as the howling pattern.
We are considering revamping the Challenge Mode in various ways, including how buffs work in 8-man parties.
You said that the new raid will be 6-man, but what about the existing endgame raids like Challenge Mode and Abyss? The striker party system is inconvenient.
Regarding Challenge Mode, it is structurally difficult content that requires cooperation from both parties, so there are no plans to change its party structure.
However, we're considering changing Abyss into a 6-man raid.
It might be difficult for newbies to take advantage of older raid rewards. Are there any plans to improve them?
We're not planning it. We will supplement necessary parts such as potions through events, etc.
Certain skills are most effective when hitting monsters from behind. However, in the case of the King of Abyss, it's not possible to land a back attack. Can you change it so that you can receive back attack beneficial effects?
It's normal that some monsters are unable to be hit from the back. We will consider back attack when developing new monsters.
After the Secret Dungeon revamp, it's difficult to supply ED. Can you increase Secret Dungeon rewards?
Also, even if rewards are already redeemed, Secret Dungeons still consume stamina. Why?
We are planning to add another tier of Secret Dungeon.
In the case of stamina consumption, you can still obtain titles, so it's intended.
Are there any plans to allow for single-person entry to raid Story Mode?
It's difficult to adjust patterns to one person. We're not planning to change it right now.
The gimmick of having to summon monsters in Trosh's Nest is annoying. Can you improve it?
We've determined this to be an inconvenience and are planning to fix it.
Fields are being neglected. Will you improve or remove them?
Currently, there are no plans to renew fields. We are more likely to remove them, because they don't give you anything useful during growth anymore.
Please improve old models and Add voices.
Please improve Elesis skin color and add a customization for face expression.
It's difficult to make further adjustments in models right now.
We won't change Elesis's default skin color since it's considered to be unique, but we are considering adding a skin color customization. Please note that it's currently unknown if it can be added.
Will you improve the cooldown and performance of passive/active force skills?
Individual adjustments may be made during balance patches, but we are not changing them as a whole.
Party synergy scaling off Combat Power feels unfair because it only applies to certain characters. Can you remove it or improve the inequalities?
We will consider improving this area.
Some characters are preferred over others. How can you fix the gap between characters?
Are there any plans for renewing characters that aren't fan favourites?
We will try to do so through continuous balancing, but it's difficult to ensure that comparisons have the same play settings.
Regarding renewing characters, we plan to do it not only through balance patches, but also dungeon improvements.
I would like to see Hyper Active and Master Skill utility improvements.
We will consider improving them.
What direction did the balance patches take?
Since last November, after four balance patches, we have received various opinions and additional questions regarding balance through QnA.
Rather than providing individual responses on the QnA page, we aim to provide a comprehensive answer. This balance patch followed the direction we previously mentioned through advance notices, focusing on overall adjustments rather than individual fixes.
First, we redistributed party synergies for all characters. We added party synergies to DPS characters that lacked them and adjusted or removed excessive synergies from other characters. With the redistribution of party synergies, we also adjusted some attack abilities for the affected characters.
Next, we renewed the skills of characters deemed underperforming across the content. There were mixed opinions about the skill renewals—some were well-received, while others were considered lacking. We aimed to address as many areas as possible, but due to work schedules, play patterns, and utility considerations, we proceeded selectively. We will continue to address the less satisfactory aspects as opportunities arise.
We standardized Physical/Magical Attack stats and adjusted Critical and Maximize values to balance character Combat Power. These changes involved modifications to calculation methods and values based on each character’s criteria.
Additionally, we improved some systems based on feedback from two online QnAs, an offline event last year, the balance forum, and community opinions. We are continually monitoring and collecting feedback after the long-term balance patch completion and observing changes in play patterns.
Based on this feedback, we will continuously implement balance adjustment patches as deemed necessary.
What is the standard of balance patches?
One of the difficulties we encountered was making a decision about the standard of balance patches. Judgements vary from player to player and their growth stage.
We at least decided to separate PvE and PvP patches.
In the case of new players, we provide a handful of content to play during growth.
Balance standards were set in accordance to top content (latest regions) and content that is played the most (Abyss raid).
There were opinions that balance patches should be related to the Challenge Mode, but due to its difficulty and the fact that how it is played may be continuously changed, it was only reflected to a minimum because it's hard to utilize its play data appropriately.
Based on play data that meets the criteria, characters that showed sufficient performance were excluded from the balance patch. I think you weren't happy about this part in particular. In the future, we will try to make efforts to reflect opinions of adventurers as much as possible.
What does balancing refer to?
We log various elements that occur during gameplay by adventurers, and we process and utilize this data based on internal criteria. The development team is aware that some adventurers do not trust certain data, such as stats that are excessively mismatched, which can distort indicators. Therefore, during data processing, we consider such data as outliers and exclude it.
In addition to gameplay data, we comprehensively judge by including individual experiences, opinions, character direction, the current meta, and other aspects that cannot be quantitatively expressed.
Are there any plans to integrate physical/magical party buffs?
We are not considering integration at this time. We are continuing to balance the game in a way that maintains the separation when considering overall buff/debuff distribution, party members, diversity, etc.
Are there any plans regarding expansions of the EP Shop?
We aren't adding anything new to EP Shop right now. Since EP is obtained from epic quests, the shop only sells necessities for newbies.
New items will be added if deemed necessary for progression.
I'm curious if title unlock conditions will also be made account-wide, and what about Weapon Growth?
We do not anticipate any additional changes once titles become account-wide.
Furthermore, Weapon Growth stays character specific. Instead, we will lower the requirements depending on the update situation.
Are there plans for making the El House, Artifact equipment, Artifact identifications, dungeon accessories, force skills, customizations, pets and mounts account-wide?
Not right now, but we will adjust certain items according to the update situation.
Would you be interested in adding a Magic Wardrobe customization page?
We are considering this when adding the new UI, however, the update has not yet been confirmed.
Can you extend the duration of Guild Fountain? There is downtime because it resets at 10 AM every Thursday.
We considered changing it, but management problems may still arise, so we chose to maintain the current time.
Can you add a dyeing system to items different than hair?
Due to avatar item uniqueness, it might not be possible, but we will research this area.
Another Hair items usually come with a hat. Is it possible to make the hat a separate accessory?
We usually make Another Hair when the position of the hat accessory would clip through most hairstyles.
Can you release Burning Event (Double EXP) medals instead of activating it as a server buff on specific days? Some players can't play on weekdays.
In the case of weekdays like April Fools, instead of making medal items, we will consider applying Burning Events on a more appropriate day.
Are there any plans to improve El Rider and Pet PvP rewards?
Not at this time, however, we will think about it when making future reorganizations.
We didn't want to make the rewards too good to keep this content optional and not forced.
The Betty Shop prices are absurd. Are you planning to release them more regularly and for longer?
We are not planning it. The Betty Shop is a time-limited event. We are not making it a regular event.
Current event rewards seem less attractive than before. Are Punch Master rewards going to be increased?
Can we have more different events? They feel boring right now.
Elrios Season Pass reward quality has also deteriorated.
We will continue to increase event rewards in line with content updates.
We will work hard to make events more attractive and more unique.
Regarding Elrios Pass, rewards may change according to current update situation.
There are a lot of useless items in Ice Burners.
We are not revamping the content of Ice Burners at this time.
Do you have any plans to make Fishing Rods repair cost lower?
The repair costs are set in line with rewards. Modifications are not planned.
Do you have any plans to expand the maximum level (character, El Resonance) in Elsword?
We are examining it from various positions.
Do you plan to add a purchasable package that levels your character up to level 99 within an hour after creation?
We will provide it as an event. We will also consider making it a package though.
Is it possible to change the Elrios Pass mission (enter a Hot Spring/Rest Area) to apply to Magmelia?
Camp buff is applied in Magmelia for convenience. However, it is not considered a Hot Springs or a Rest Area, so no changes are planned.
Can you shorten the cycle of Elrios Pass?
Not right now, it is set according to the development schedule. But if there's a need in the future, we will make updates.
Are there any plans regarding Master Skill cut-in customizations?
Master Skill cut-ins are unique, and there will be no changes.
However, we are planning to add Master Class portraits to customization options.
Can you add an indication of a title effect's cooldown when it's in use?
We are not planning to add it as we believe that increased visual complexity may interfere with gameplay.
Can you improve the friend list so that I can see that a friend even while they are playing on a different character?
We have further plans.
Please change the blocking systems so that blocked players are excluded from chatting, party invitations, etc.
We will consider revamping the blocking system.
As I'm having difficulties getting the Shadow Option I want, can you add an item sold at all times that allows you to get the option of your choice?
Those items are given away within Elrios Pass. We don't want to add it as an Item Mall sale, but may change our minds in future.
There is a mix of old and new UIs in the game. Why is it taking so long to update all of them?
It's taking long because we are also updating them structurally, not just the UI image design.
Are there any plans to add a solo dungeon to level up El Resonance up to 400?
No plans, but we might add an El Resonance EXP potion that works up to level 400.
Some Magic Stone availability is poor, and their performance is not worth it. Can you update them?
Not right now, but we'll see what future updates bring.
Can you extend Denif's Blessing, Search Party's Resolve and Gate of Darkness buffs to 1 hour?
We are not doing it considering the current status of play cycle.
Are there any plans to add a setting that disables red screen and screen shake?
Regarding the red screen issue, we will make sure that there is no inconvenience in the new dungeons.
The screen shake feature is structurally difficult to tamper with, so we plan to maintain the current status quo.
I'm curious about DirectX11 introduction to the game.
Research in progress. No release date has yet been confirmed.
Can you add a copy-paste feature for user nicknames when using mail?
We will consider adding a feature that makes nickname copying easier.
Can you change raid progress reset tickets and El Resonance EXP potions to be stackable?
It's difficult to change existing items, but we are preparing improvements and will attempt to change it for new items.
Can you improve it so pet digestive medicine is consumed in batches?
Can you make inventory sorting group the same items into stacks?
We will consider improvements in the future.
Can you merge [Ariel], [Cobo] and [Luriel] items?
These items are structurally different and have different properties, so we're not merging them.
Can you change the drop acquisition sound for rare items that drop in dungeons?
We will review it.
I'm curious why there is a frame rate limit and if there are any plans to lift it.
There is an FPS limit to prevent synchronization issues when playing the game in parties.