Hello,
The content mode Nightmare Arena will be receiving a rework.
Nightmare Arena was originally designed as a challenging mode where players lead a team of randomly selected athletes, repeatedly choosing new players and abilities while progressing through a series of consecutive matches. However, during development prior to release, we decided to prioritize the value of players owned by users and adjusted the system to provide greater freedom in team building. As a result, players were able to fill their roster with only their preferred athletes, but we felt this created some distance from the gameplay experience Nightmare Arena was originally designed to deliver.
This rework aims to preserve the value of players owned by users while better bringing out the randomness and enjoyment of making choices that Nightmare Arena was originally designed around. As team-building restrictions become more important, we have made various changes across multiple systems to reduce the burden of the early stages and provide a clearer sense of progression throughout each run.
We hope these changes will help Nightmare Arena stand out as a more unique and engaging game mode.
This update is scheduled to be applied on June 24 (KST). Please note that any Nightmare Arena run currently in progress will be reset when the update is implemented.
■ Dream Shard
• Most effects that previously activated based on chance will now activate whenever their conditions are met.
• Activation conditions and effects have been simplified, and overall effectiveness has been increased.
• A limited-time shop has been added to the Arena Point Exchange, allowing players to unlock Dream Shards.
• Players will now be able to build a deck by selecting 30 or more Dream Shards from those they own and choose which deck to use when starting a Nightmare Arena run.
• During a Nightmare Arena run, only Dream Shards included in the currently selected deck will appear in random selection options.
• All players will be granted 30 basic Dream Shards.
■ Reserve Players & Guest Players
• The reserve roster must now be filled with 5 players for each position before a Nightmare Arena run can be started.
• 4 Guest Players have been added for each position. Guest Players can be used in Nightmare Arena regardless of whether you own those players.
• Guest Players will be updated every two weeks. When the Guest Player lineup is updated, all Nightmare Arena progress will be reset.
■ Permanent Upgrade Changes and Additions
• The "Dream Shard Activation Chance +10%" upgrade item previously sold in the Arena Point Exchange has been removed.
• Players who previously purchased the "Dream Shard Activation Chance +10%" upgrade will receive a refund of the Arena Points spent via in-game mail.
• A new "Dream Shard Reroll Count +1" upgrade item has been added to the Arena Point Exchange Shop.
• The "Dream Shard Reroll Count +1" upgrade item grants one additional free Dream Shard reroll for each copy owned. Any unused free rerolls are reset at the start of each round.
• The rotation period for Guest Players and the Dream Shard Exchange Shop will now update every 2 weeks.
Note: For the very first cycle immediately following this revamp, the rotation will occur after 1 week.
■Gameplay Adjustments
• The duration of naturally occurring conditions in Nightmare Arena has been reduced.
• At the start of each rally in Nightmare Arena, the Stamina recovery granted to the team that scored will be further reduced.
• The maximum Stamina loss your team can suffer at one time has been adjusted according to the selected difficulty level.
• On DRIFT and DOZE difficulties, opposing players will attempt fewer spikes targeting the end line or areas near the net.
• The stats and abilities of certain opposing players have been adjusted.
• New opponent teams have been added.
• Stages 1 and 2 of each round have been changed to first-to-3-point matches, and rank score requirements have been adjusted accordingly.
• Replacing a player when selecting a Dream Shard will now grant an additional Dream Shard.
■ Bug Fixes
• Fixed an issue in the Counter Receive rule where receiving while in a blocking state would always result in a Perfect Receive.
• Fixed an issue where the shadows of certain players were not displayed correctly when using Experimental Graphics settings.
• Fixed an issue where the Arena Point icon was not displayed in the mailbox.
• Fixed an issue where a character's signature motion would still trigger when wearing a different uniform with the default skin applied.
We will continue striving to provide an even better gameplay experience through future improvements and updates. Thank you for your continued support.