Greetings, Adventurers! 

 

This is Jong Min Park, the Live Director of DFO.

 

 

 

 

Character Balance

Recently on May 30th, we had a character balance update on DFO. Notably, the Avenger's outdated Demonize sprite received a fresh redesign, and the Shadow Dancer's general monster hunting capabilities with back attacks were improved.

 

In KDNF, a balance patch was conducted in May for the Asura, Soul Bender, Inquisitor, and Kunoichi. During the D-Talks, it was mentioned that the Inquisitor needs additional structural improvements, and so such renewals were planned for later on within this year. Additionally, the next update in KDNF will include balance patches for a total of nine characters: Specialist, Hitman, Troubleshooter, Secret Agent, Skirmisher, Impaler, Dark Knight, Creator, and Vagabond. Numerical and structural adjustments are planned for these characters- specifically, structural adjustments will be applied to all advancements of Agent and Demonic Lancer.

 

To elaborate, the decision to rework certain characters was made due to their relatively low speed and long animation delays. The goal of these reworks is to increase the characters' basic attack speed and movement speed, ultimately providing a smoother gameplay experience. For the Agent subclasses, their utility related to survival, which is one of the key aspects in the Level 110 Season, is comparatively lacking compared to other characters. This is one of the focus points for the improvements that will be made.

 

One notable example is the Secret Agent, who possesses a skill called Shadow Step. This skill represents the Secret Agent's unique playstyle of evading enemy attacks and delivering powerful follow-up strikes. In the past, Adventurers tended to opt for an equipment build with extreme cooldown reduction to repeatedly use Shadow Step, which was far from our intention in terms of action. As a result, adjustments were made to the skill's invincibility frames. These adjustments had a huge impact on the character's concept, and many Secret Agent players felt disappointed with the changes.

 

However, in the current Level 110 Season, a cooldown reduction limit was applied. This resolved the possibility of the skill being spammed too much in a way that would undermine the action-packed gameplay we initially had in mind for the Secret Agent when giving it this skill.

 

There was also a mention of character nerfs, particularly related to the Battle Crusader. However, character nerfs will be approached with caution as they are closely related to various factors such as items, dungeons, and monsters. Therefore, before any finalizations are made thorough discussions with multiple departments will be made, and corresponding announcements will be made in the future.

 

Along with that, a character balance patch for KDNF in July has also been announced. A total of 12 characters will be the focus for the upcoming character balance patch. Let's take a look at the 12 characters below!

DFO Adventurers, is your character included in the balance patch?

 

 

 

Main Content

Following the character balance update, major contents were also mentioned.

 

Bakal Raid Hard Mode

We had previously announced in our past ExStream that Bakal Raid Hard Mode will be updated in September for DFO. In KDNF, Bakal Raid Hard Mode was updated on April 27th. Based on user feedback, the random level 60-65 Epic Pot that appears will be removed in KDNF.

 

Codename: Gaebolg

More comments were made regarding Codename: Gaebolg. As more content is added, newer content tends to become more complex and intense, which can be a challenging for new Adventurers.

 

As Codename: Gaebolg is positioned as a dungeon for upgrading Insignia, it was altered to be content that all Adventurers could enjoy. Thus, the dungeon was designed with clear and intuitive patterns rather than more intense ones, in order to make it easier more intuitive for beginner Adventurers as well.

 

Our hope was that Adventurers would figure out action elements such as neutralization as they progressed, but user feedback has shown that the dungeon lacked a level up excitement and rather ended up feeling more like a sandbag dungeon. Additionally, the frequency of gimmicks that required basic attacks has increased since Hall of Dimensions, which also added to increased clear time and added to player's dissatisfaction.

 

We have plans to address these issues by reducing the gap between characters and introducing a wider variety of gimmicks for players in dungeons. Regarding the question about Eldirh's cooperation with Adventurers in the story, we hope Adventurers understand that we have made attempts to explore alternative scenarios and "what if?" situations, aiming to showcase new possibilities.

 

 

 

Other Content

Monster Fighters

The "Monster Fighters" event updated in KDNF on June 1st is part of the R&D efforts for future content. Some of the system features from the event may be utilized in the future. We hope that Adventurers think of this as experimental content for future endeavors. Below is part of the footage that was introduced during D-Talks.

 

 

 

Guild Revamp

Guild Revamps were made on May 11 in KDNF. Overall, there were relatively more responses expressing disappointment with the guild missions and guild content. It appears that there was a relatively lower demand for guild content, and guild missions were difficult to participate in for the guilds that had a lower number of guild members or could not meet the standards for participation. There was also an issue with Guild Coins, where the coins would be sent to the user's mailbox if the maximum number of inventory possession was reached. This issue has been fixed on the June 22nd patch.

 

Future updates to the guild revamp will prioritize fixing the inconveniences Adventurers have faced, such as reconsidering the items available for purchase and also avoiding the imposition of content in order to establish a more user-friendly guild system.

 

 

 

QoL

In the upcoming DFO update on June 27th, exclusive QoL improvements for Adventurers will be updated. Additional QoL updates were teased through D-Talks, which received positive feedbacks from Adventurers. I would like to share some of the key details that were mentioned.

 

Fatigue Potion Use in Dungeons

First, Adventurers will be able to use Fatigue Potions while in dungeons. Having to return to town to recharge fatigue points was an inconvenience for many Adventurers. With the update,  players will be able to recover fatigue points immediately after clearing a dungeon, allowing our Adventurers to continue their gameplay without interruption.

 

 

Transitions within Dungeons

Currently, when transitioning between dungeon rooms, running actions need to be initiated again. This issue will be fixed to maintain the running state across dungeon rooms.

 

 

Legion Dungeon UI

In addition, improvements will be made to the Legion Dungeon UI. While preserving the positive aspects of the current state, the animation of the Legion dungeon UI will be accelerated to reduce wait times for Adventurers.

 

UI Animations for Ispins (left) and Hall of Dimensions (right) will be accelerated.

 

 

Equipment Display

Options to dsiplay equipment for both pre-fusion and post-fusion states will be added to character information. We hope this feature will help Adventurers to quickly identify both their own and other users' equipment.

 

 

We are also planning to introduce other convenience patches for users, such as the option to adjust the opacity of abnormal status effects and improvements to the option level transfer system. Please stay tuned for future DFO updates as we are committed to implementing these QoL improvements to DFO as soon as possible!

 

 

 

Material Farming Dungeon

Storm-Called Castle

On May 31st, KDNF updated a new material farming dungeon called "Storm-Called Castle" that only characters with the top 30% fame can enter. Upon examining the data, we found that farming was done primarily in Canyon Hill, while the Storm-Called Castle dungeon showed a significatly lower rate due to the fame requirement. As a result there are plans to reduce the gold dropped from normal dungeons, including Canyon Hill, by around 50%.

 

Of course, as these changes may increase hardships and fatigue of Adventurers with lower fame, the growth cost of equipment levels 60 and below will be reduced by around half as well.

 

Please rest assured that the period and implementation method of the changes to these dungeons will be thoroughly assessed based on DFO standards.

 

 

 

Summer Package

A new swimsuit package will be released this summer! I know many DFO Adventurers are curious about the next package, and we appreciate your anticipation for the upcoming announcements. I will make sure to present details personally on our DFO ExStream as soon as possible! 

 

 

 

Other

Dungeon & Fighter ON

"Dungeon & Fighter ON" showcase is being prepared for early August, and key information will be revealed then. Additionally, the Celesti update for KDNF will follow soon after the “Dungeon & Fighter ON” event. 

 

 

 

To Conclude...

That concludes the summary of the information shared through D-Talks earlier this week. The release dates for the content introduced in D-Talks are yet to be determined but I will be the first to let our Adventurers know when we can implement these updates to DFO.

 

It has already been a month since my appearance in The Archmage's Hall of Dimensions update Special Exstream on May 30th, and we have already reached the halfway point of 2023!

 

To gain a deeper understanding of our players' thoughts about DFO, we have prepared a survery for the First Half-Year of 2023. Adventurers who participate in the survey will receive a small token of appreciation. I would greatly appreciate it if you could freely express your thoughts and experiences you've had while playing DFO this year, and your feedback will serve as the foundation to provide a better DFO service!

 

 

• Survey Link : DFO First Half-Year of 2023 Survey
• Survey Period : JUN 23 - JUL 10
• Survey Gift: Master Contract (7 Days)
  * Rewards will be sent on the JUL 25 maintenance.
  * Survey answers that do not provide viable information will be excluded from receiving rewards.

 

 

Sincerely,

DFO Live Director Jong