Greetings, Star Guardians.
This is PD Koo of .
First, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to everyone who has walked alongside Origin throughout the Half-Anniversary.
As mentioned in our previous Developer Notes, from the last update through this Version 2.0 update, we are preparing updates that improve various areas to help even more new Star Guardians settle into Britannia.
Currently, we have organized early-game progression so that you can skip the initial tutorial section after Tristan enters the cave, and related systems have been improved to make following Mastery Growth more intuitive.
Additionally, we are preparing improvements that reinforce learning elements to help with your understanding of Mastery and Burst.
As such, along with making preparations to welcome new players, our development team is moving forward with update preparations for those who have been with us so far.
Through these Developer Notes, we would like to introduce the details we are currently preparing, one by one.
■ Major Direction for Version 2.0 Update
First, the Half-Anniversary update, held in celebration of this milestone, will continue from Version 2.0 through Version 2.1, and we are preparing to introduce various events and content sequentially across these two versions.
In this Version 2.0 update, we are preparing to help players currently in the growth phase experience and enter Raids more quickly, while also introducing new higher growth stages and content to support them.
1. New Addition of Lower Difficulty Levels for Raids and Changes to Reward Tiers
The Raid, first introduced starting with 'Taranis's Sanctuary', has been high-difficulty content that many of you have continued to challenge since its first [Abyss] difficulty.
Since the Raid [Abyss] difficulty was designed as the highest difficulty, many of you continue to make progress on the Raid through repeated challenges.
However, in the process, our development team confirmed that some of you who are still in the growth stage find the Raid difficult to approach due to the pressure it imposes, even after clearing Boss Challenge difficulty up to [Abyss].
Since the previous update, we tried to partially ease this issue, along with the 'Star Fragment' supply issue at that time, through [Hell] difficulty. However, because Raid equipment cannot be obtained at all in [Hell] difficulty, we confirmed that many of you are still unable to get past the wall of Raid [Abyss] difficulty.
In this Version 2.0 update, we plan to introduce an additional lower difficulty to ease this issue.
✦ Raid [Hard] Difficulty Newly Added
[Hard] difficulty will be added to the Raid, and the standard for periodic Star Fragment supply through the Raid will be eased to [Hard] difficulty.
In Raid [Hard] difficulty, 'Mystic Token' and Raid equipment cannot be obtained. However, as with the existing [Hell] difficulty, clearing it will grant the same Star Fragment as [Abyss] difficulty. Since it requires lower recommended combat power than [Hell] difficulty, we plan to provide it as an entry-level stage for those of you entering the Raid for the first time.
✦ [Hell] Difficulty Reward Improvements
With this Version 2.0 update, Quality 120 Raid equipment will be added to [Hell] difficulty rewards, so that basic Raid equipment can also be obtained at this difficulty.
2. Engraved Equipment Growth Expansion: 'Transcendence Refinement' System Added
With the Version 2.0 update, we would like to introduce a system that allows all of you, not only those still in the growth stage but also those who have already completed a certain level of equipment growth, to make each hero one step stronger.
We have confirmed that many of you who are currently clearing Boss Challenge and Raid [Abyss] difficulty without much difficulty are growing your Engraved Equipment refinement all the way to +5 without much trouble.
Rather, because the hero's growth tier is limited, there were areas where, despite having enough Cube Keys and gold, existing content could not be cleared more easily. With this background, we determined that an additional expansion of the growth tier was necessary for Version 2.0.
✦ The ‘Transcendence Refinement’ System
Through this update, the 'Transcendence Refinement' system will be added, allowing each hero's Engraved Equipment to be strengthened to a higher stage.
'Transcendence Refinement' is a system that allows Engraved Equipment that has already completed refinement to grow further, letting you unlock refinement stages and open up new options through newly added growth materials.
Currently, Transcendence Refinement goes through a total of 3 unlock processes for each stage. Each time an unlock succeeds, an additional option is opened on the existing Engraved Equipment, and a higher stage of refinement than the existing +5 refinement will become possible.
Finally, once you complete every unlock process for Transcendence Refinement, you will be able to obtain 2 additional options and 1 Engraved Equipment passive.
✦ How ‘Transcendence Refinement’ Unlocking Works
Since succeeding at Transcendence Refinement adds a sub-option and passive to the Engraved Equipment and unlocks a higher refinement stage, the 'Transcendence Refinement' process will proceed with a chance of success or failure.
If an unlock attempt fails, the growth material used will be consumed, but we plan to let you repeatedly attempt to unlock without any additional penalty. We considered this to minimize the burden of failure during the growth process, so that all of you can keep steadily working toward the growth goals you want.
This Transcendence Refinement will make use of newly added growth materials, and we are preparing for these to be obtainable through the new content introduced below as well as the higher Boss Challenge difficulties. We hope you'll look forward to it.
3. New Content: 'Maze' Added
While the regular content introduced in previous updates carried the character of top-tier difficulty challenges, the new content 'Maze', to be introduced through this Version 2.0 update, is content prepared so that you can enjoy it more lightly and casually.
You will progress through the content by making use of the various heroes you own, and you can advance through Maze by making simple choices and hero placements according to various randomly appearing conditions.
You can move deeper into Maze by considering the choices tied to the hero attributes and roles Maze requires, along with each hero's number of appearances, and we are preparing it as content where you can obtain more rewards the deeper you reach into Maze.
We are preparing Maze as weekly content that can be progressed through without complex and difficult battles. The heroes used in Maze each have their own entry counts, and through Stage 4 Potential growth achievable with Mastery Growth, you can fully utilize each hero's maximum entry counts.
As this is a system where those of you who own a wider variety of heroes can explore deeper into Maze, we think this may feel somewhat difficult for those of you who have only recently begun playing Origin.
For those of you in this situation, we are also preparing supplementary elements that can help with minimal progress, so we ask for your continued interest and anticipation.
In Maze, introduced through this Version 2.0 update, you will be able to obtain a variety of growth materials at a separate exchange shop. We will offer not only the growth materials used for the previously mentioned 'Transcendence Refinement', but also some of the Potential Points for heroes that are otherwise provided through the regular draw.
4. Boss Challenge [Transcendence] Difficulty Added
Next is an introduction to the higher Boss Challenge difficulty.
We have confirmed that, in line with your growth, the failure rate and clear time for Boss Challenge [Abyss] difficulty have been steadily decreasing. In particular, as Boss Challenge [Abyss] difficulty was the target content for the Time Attack rankings, we believe that many of you took an interest and participated in the ranking board.
In particular, our development team feels sorry and regretful that, due to the limitations of the previous ranking board as farming content, meaningful ranking competition was difficult because of short combat times and various glitches during the boss's movement.
✦ New [Transcendence] Difficulty Added
The [Transcendence] difficulty, introduced in this Version 2.0 update, is content prepared not mainly for farming Upgrade Materials at higher efficiency, but so that those of you who have completed a certain degree of hero growth can take on the Time Attack.
[Transcendence] difficulty will be introduced as the standard difficulty for Time Attack ranking content going forward after Version 2.0. Its rewards are identical to those of the existing [Abyss] difficulty, and we would like to provide it so that even top-ranking players challenging the Time Attack using a Cube Key can receive the same level of rewards as [Abyss] difficulty.
The growth materials needed for Transcendence Refinement, mentioned earlier, can also be obtained through [Transcendence] difficulty. However, this reward will also be added to the existing [Abyss] difficulty, so that materials for Transcendence Refinement can be obtained in [Abyss] difficulty in the same way as in [Transcendence] difficulty.
We have prepared this so that your growth and the process of battling the boss can become an even more meaningful experience than before, and [Transcendence] difficulty will be operated in a manner that opens at set intervals in line with the ranking board seasons.
5. Survey Vote Held
Our development team has prepared a somewhat special event for this Version 2.0 update, together with all of you who have been with us for the past half year.
We previously mentioned hero Rerun through past Developer Notes and AMAs, and you may remember us saying that the first Rerun was being prepared to be introduced in a somewhat special format.
In line with that promise, the first hero Rerun event will be held in this Version 2.0 update. We would like to let you directly choose the first hero to receive an official rerun from among the featured heroes so far.
✦ Survey Vote Information
A survey vote for a total of 6 heroes will be held through the official website, and the heroes that place highest in the vote will appear as the first rerun heroes.
In particular, special voting rules matching the concept of this Version 2.0 update will also be provided, so we ask for your interest.
As we plan to introduce the first Rerun pickup through the update following Version 2.0, we ask for your interest and participation in the vote.
6. 100% Guaranteed Acquisition of 'Meliodas' for the Half-Anniversary
To celebrate the Half-Anniversary, we plan to provide all of you with the opportunity to obtain 'Meliodas'.
As Meliodas is a popular protagonist of the series and a versatile hero who is active in content such as Boss Challenge, we have received many inquiries about a Rerun, especially from those of you who missed the launch pickup or were unable to draw Meliodas due to a new pickup and let time pass.
As mentioned at the start of these Developer Notes, with the hope that even more new players will come to Origin and settle in, starting from Version 2.0, we plan to provide '[SSR] Meliodas' as a confirmed reward in the very first draw tutorial.
Of course, we will naturally provide Meliodas to all of you who have been playing with us so far as well, and for those of you who reach all the way to Potential level 10 for Meliodas, we are preparing to deliver '180 Star Trace Crystalloids’.
The reward will be substituted and provided as Star Trace Crystalloids only in cases where Meliodas's Potential has been fully activated up to level 10, so if you still have any Potential that has not yet been activated, please be sure to activate all of it in advance.
We will inform you once again of the timing of Meliodas's distribution through the update notice.
7. Upcoming Version 2.1: The Latter Half of the Half-Anniversary Update
In Version 2.1, which will be the latter half of the Half-Anniversary update, a variety of updates will continue, including the Rerun of heroes based on the survey vote results mentioned earlier, the appearance of the 'Ferzen Mines' Raid, and the addition of higher difficulties for existing Boss Challenges.
We are preparing to introduce the first Rerun along with even more diverse content, so we ask for your continued anticipation and interest through the latter half of the Half-Anniversary update.
■ Closing the Developer Notes
We would once again like to express our gratitude to all of you who have been with throughout this Half-Anniversary.
In particular, to celebrate this Half-Anniversary update, we are preparing an event to give you a little more than our usual updates.
✦ A Small Gift from
We are preparing an event where, once a day, you can receive a gift celebrating the Half-Anniversary by meeting a different hero. We are preparing this so that you can talk with a different The Seven Deadly Sins hero every day and obtain the prepared Draw Tickets.
✦ Lucky Snatch Event Sharing 500 Million Star Fragments
For the Half-Anniversary, we have also prepared a special event to return, even a little, the love you have shown us all this time.
In this event, with a total of 500 million Star Fragments prepared, Star Guardians from all regions will take part together.
Each day, you can earn a draw chance by completing a simple mission, and we are preparing a Lucky Snatch Event that lets you obtain up to 30,000 Star Fragments in a single draw.
Beyond this, we are also preparing various growth rewards and Star Fragments for you to obtain in celebration of the Half-Anniversary, so please look forward to the events prepared for this Version 2.0 update.
Looking back, it seems we have gone through more trial and error than expected over this Half-Anniversary. Even throughout that process, we believe that the opinions and affection you have continuously sent us have been the greatest force in building the Origin of today.
Our development team believes that Origin is not a game that belongs to the development team alone, but a game that we build together with all of you. We will not forget this going forward, and we will do our best to come back to you in an even better form. We look forward to your continued support.
✦ Half-Anniversary Appreciation Reward
- Radiant Potion of Charm x3
- Ingot Selection Chest x5
- Remnants of the Rift x5
- Lichdragon's Roar Weapon Selection Chest x1
* The rewards can be claimed from your in-game mailbox until September 1 (Tue) 14:59 (UTC).
Thank you.
Sincerely,
PD Koo