On August 21, 2024, NCSOFT installed the second major summer update on the MMORPG Throne and Liberty servers. The main innovation was the Talandre region, thanks to which the world map doubled in size. Players were waiting for this region with great interest, and developers placed big bets on it. Let’s briefly look at the main innovations and changes in this material.
Storyline and new Milestones
The storyline has been replenished with new chapters, and to activate the first task in the 11th chapter, your character must be level 51. After you talk to Rutaine in Purelight Tower, you will be sent to the new Talandre region. The main feature of which is its size and mountainous terrain, which promotes vertical gameplay and active use of the grappling hook to overcome obstacles.
The Milestone system contains 14 new stages related to Talandre. Therefore, we can assume that all content in the region will become available in two weeks, if there are no hiccups and waits in a couple of days between stages, as was the case in previous stages. Gradually the game will appear:
- Archboss of Deluzhnoa.
- 4 world bosses: Daigon, Leviathan, Pakilo Naru, Manticus Brothers.
- Six events: Blizzard Seal, The Passage Ceremony of the Great Three, Hands that heals Divine Beast, Obsidian Acquisition Operation, Peipor Harvest Festival, Best Way to Prevent the Worst.
- Three open dungeons: Temple of Truth, Bercant Mansion, Crimson Mansion.
As for cooperative dungeons, the developers decided to introduce a new difficulty level and called it Tier3. Every two weeks a new dungeon will be unlocked, and players can already get acquainted with the first one, called Forest of Grudge. To access them you will need character level 55 and more than 3500 equipment level points. I note that to receive the reward you will need a new type of points – Dimensional Contract Token II, which are accumulated daily by level 55 characters.
New equipment and changes in character development
According to the developers, players now have more options for final character customization. Increasing the maximum level to 55 allowed us to expand the bonuses from stat points and add new bonuses for 70 points.
But most of all, new equipment will affect the character build. For the first time in the game, Tier-2 jewelry has appeared, and you can get it from world bosses and by completing cooperative dungeons. In the future, it will be possible to obtain some copies in open dungeons.
One of the main features in obtaining Tier-2 equipment was adding it to the drop from ordinary and elite monsters in new locations. Unfortunately, the exact percentage of getting the necessary things in the game is not indicated, but I will assume that it is very small.
A total of 154 pieces of equipment have been added to the game, including eight new sets. Four of which are available in cooperative dungeons, and four can be crafted using special items that are given as rewards for completing quests in new open dungeons. In addition, there is a chance to try your luck and get them from bags that come across as a reward for quests in open dungeons, as well as as a reward for weekly quests.
Separately, I would like to note that there is an emerging trend towards dividing character characteristics into PvP and PvE. The most obvious is the inclusion of “PvP Damage Reduction”. This stat gradually increases from level 31 to 50 and eventually reaches a value of 10%. The second bell is the addition of PvE damage to some weapon skills. This is especially noticeable in several “Great Sword” skills, where damage to bosses was increased by 80-100%.
Other changes
In addition to new products, the developers have made changes to existing mechanics. Briefly about the main thing:
- PvE world bosses now have up to 5 portals so that players can distribute themselves between them and increase their chance of receiving a reward.
- PvP events called Dominion are now held less frequently. In the Talandre region, once all content is available, there will only be 1 Dominion event at a time.
- Fishing has received new types of fishing rods, new types of fish, and the maximum level has been increased to 25.
- There are 10 new dishes in the cooking menu, and the cooking menu has received several fixes.
- The Amitoi expedition received six new territories, and from the “expedition bags” you can get new fishing rods, transformations or Amitoi with a low chance.
- After two preseasons, the first full season in the cross-server arena began. It will run until December 4, 2024, and season rewards will be presented on September 4.
- Added 11 new transformations, 10 amitos and five combat transformations (“guards”).
- New collections in lithography with new items and awards.
- Items for creating weapons from archbosses are unified in Queen Bellandir’s Carapace Fragment and Tevent’s Soul Fragment, and you can get them, including by dismantling ready-made weapons.
- The quests and rewards in the Adventure Codex have once again been reworked to make character progression smoother.
- Added the ability to change the “resonance” of an item for 80 Trait Resonance Stone.
- Changes have been made to the way Substance Transformation works, designed to randomly exchange unnecessary equipment for something useful.
- The number of characters in the guild introductory message has been increased to 500 characters. In addition, you can set up to ten guild tags to better represent your team to new players.
- Many small improvements to the game interface and gamepad controls.
General impressions
Overall the new region looks good and is filled with little things, and the level of detail is, in my opinion, head and shoulders above most previous regions. Side quests have become somewhat more varied and more interwoven into the world of the game. The size of the new locations seems too large for some players, and it can be assumed that they were previously created with free PvP in mind and the ability for many players to farm. The developers announced that character transfer will open in September, and as practice shows, this event is usually followed by a merger of servers. For the size of the world, more players on the server will only be beneficial.
The main disadvantage of the update remains the constant problem of the game – the balance of weapons in PvP and PvE. However, this problem is constantly being addressed, and I hope that one day the players will be satisfied with the result of the developers’ work.
