Blade & Soul (Korean: 블레이드 앤 소울; RR: Beulleideu aen soul) is a Korean fantasy martial-arts massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by NCSOFT (Team Bloodlust). On September 13, 2012, NCSOFT announced that Blade & Soul would release in Western territories, which eventually happened on January 19, 2016.^[1] A Japanese animated television adaptation aired on April 3, 2014 on TBS and other stations^[2] then finished on June 26, 2014.

The Raven Weapon line is currently the strongest weapon line in the game after Aransu, obtained by using upgrade materials from the 12 man raid Skybreak Spire. Due to the difficulty of the raid, NCsoft added the PvE weapon lines Riftwalker and Dawnforged Weapon lines, but the Raven Weapon line is still considered to be superior. Raven weapons can be upgraded to the Aransu line using the Hive. Swords are the weapons used by the Blade Master class, obtainable through quest rewards, monster drops, dungeon chests, and all areas throughout the game. The recommended uses of any weapon other than your character's Hongmoon weapon are to be used to level up the Hongmoon weapon, or alter it's appearance. 1 Ivorymoon Sword 1.1 Baleful/Seraph Sword 2 Discontinued Weapon Paths 2.1. In Blade & Soul, combat is very much a kill or be killed affair. Learn to be thrifty with coins No matter how cool the piece of loot you’re looking to sell is, most items in Blade & Soul can. Blade and Soul Gameplay The Most Epic Duel! Unsubscribe from MMOByte? Cancel Unsubscribe. Subscribe Subscribed Unsubscribe 234K.

Gameplay[edit]

Blade & Soul features a combination of martial arts-inspired combat and qinggong in an open-world environment. Players create playable characters that explore around the world by completing quests assigned by various NPCs. The game uses a real-time battle system in the third-person camera view and requires players to 'combo' a series of attacks, much like that of fighting games. According to NCSOFT, the game also features an innovative “Downed” mechanic, allowing players to recover from the brink of death. Players begin with “player-versus environment” combat (PvE) but may participate in “player-versus-player” (PvP) combat later in the game.^[3]

Character customization[edit]

According to the developers, Blade & Soul provides a highly customizable system and it has been stated that NPCs in the game were made with the character customization system.^[4] Customizations a player has access to include hairstyles, facial structures, facial markings and makeup, eye color, height, and body sliders.

Races[edit]

Characters may be one of four playable races based on the Four Chinese Symbols: The Gon (based on the Azure Dragon), the Jin (based on the Black Tortoise), the Yun (based on the Vermillion Bird, also known as the Fenghuang), or the Lyn (based on the White Tiger).

Development[edit]

Weeks before NCmedia day, NCSOFT announced a new Unreal Engine 3-based MMORPG only known by its codename Project [M]. For the next two weeks, a teaser website was updated revealing more information about the project.

During E3 2007, Sony revealed that they had entered into an exclusive deal with NCsoft to produce new titles exclusively for the PlayStation 3. This contract included titles from both existing intellectual properties owned by NCsoft.

In February 2010, it was announced that Blade & Soul, alongside Guild Wars 2, was being developed for release on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. However, since then, there have been no updates on the development of the titles for the consoles.

The first closed beta test was scheduled for April 27, 2011, while the open beta test and commercial release were to be determined within the year.

In July 2011, Tencent gained the publishing rights of Blade & Soul in China, and made its first appearance at ChinaJoy 2011.^[5]Blade & Soul launched in China on November 23, 2013 with an open beta which seamlessly moved into official launch.

The second closed beta test took place from August 29 to September 10, 2011. During this event, the Assassin class was playable for the first time.

After an open beta test on June 21, 2012, with a record number of 150,000 players, NCSOFT confirmed that the official Korean Blade & Soul launch would commence on June 30, 2012.^[6]

In 2013, HTK has stated that an English version of the game would indeed be released sometime in 2014 after the Chinese commercial launch of the new Blade & Soul anime in Japan alongside Taiwan and Russia.^[7]

On May 20, 2015, Blade & Soul was announced for the NA and EU region and released in January 2016. The closed beta officially began on October 29, 2015.

NA and EU beta testing occurred over the course of five weekends beginning on October 30, 2015, and concluding on December 21, 2015.

The official launches of NA and EU servers occurred on January 19, 2016.^[8]

On May 10, 2018, NCsoft has teased a new 'Blade & Soul Vision Update', the renovation project that aims to upgrade the engine to Unreal Engine 4,^[9] and released as the Blade & Soul Complete expansion in December 2019.

Media[edit]

Anime[edit]

An anime adaptation of the game was produced and aired from April to June 2014, in which Hiroshi Hamasaki and Takeuchi Hiroshi directed the anime at the studio Gonzo from scripts by Atsuhiro Tomioka. Eri Nagata adapts Hyung-Tae Kim's game character designs for animation and serves as chief animation director.^[10] The original storyline revolves around a swordswoman named Alka who travels to seek revenge for her murdered teacher.^[11] The opening theme of the anime is 'Sayonara Usotsuki' (サヨナラ嘘ツキ) by MimimemeMIMI, and the ending theme is 'RAINBOW' by LEGO BIG MORL. The series was streamed by Crunchyroll in the West.^[11]

Episode list[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^'Announcing Blade & Soul'. NCsoft. Archived from the original on September 17, 2012. Retrieved September 18, 2012.
2. ^'Blade & Soul Fantasy TV Anime's 1st Promo Streamed'. Anime News Network. February 14, 2014. Retrieved April 3, 2014.
3. ^'FAQ'. NCsoft. Archived from the original on September 16, 2012. Retrieved September 13, 2012.
4. ^'Massively'. massively.joystiq.com. Archived from the original on February 13, 2012. Retrieved March 2, 2012.
5. ^'MMOsite'. MMOsite.com. Archived from the original on November 1, 2016. Retrieved February 26, 2012.
6. ^'Blade & Soul Dojo'. bladeandsouldojo.com. Archived from the original on March 29, 2016. Retrieved February 26, 2012.
7. ^'김형태 Hyung-Tae Kim Interview at NCSOFT 'Blade & Soul' studio'. Cuteinkorea.com. Archived from the original on November 16, 2016. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
8. ^'Blade & Soul'. NCSoft. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
9. ^'NCsoft previews upgrade to Unreal Engine 4 for Asian fantasy MMORPG'. MMOCulture. Retrieved May 11, 2018.
10. ^'Blade & Soul Fantasy MMORPG Gets Anime by GONZO'. Anime News Network. February 7, 2014. Retrieved February 7, 2020.
11. ^ ^ab'Crunchyroll Adds Blade and Soul Anime for Spring 2014'. Anime News Network. April 3, 2014.

External links[edit]

• Blade & Soul (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia

The fun of Blade and Soul starts right from when you hop into the game. There is just so much to do and interact and leveling up in Blade and Soul is probably the best when we compare it to games from the similar genre. Considering how much the game has to offer to the players, imagine what wonders the end game content hides.

Blade And Soul Leveling Guide

However, as you dig deep into Blade and Soul, you release that the more your level, more you get the benefits. This is why, Kill Ping today, has gathered for you a brief guide to quickly take you through the leveling of Blade and Soul. So, here we go;

Starting Levels

This Blade and Soul Guide will take you right from when you start playing the game. The initial levels in Blade and Soul can be achieved easily by completing some basic tasks. As soon as you reach level 9 you will get to fight the zombie boss. A good way to kill him quick is by critical attacks that will let you take the man down in a relatively shorter time.

Next stop would be dungeons. Go into the scorpion dungeon where you can kill 50 bosses at a time. Killing them all will give you a 500 XP boost since each scorpion provides around 10 XP. This will let you pass the Level 17 mark.

Mid Levels

Once you reach level 20, the best thing you can do along with completing quests is to face the polluted cave. You can get almost 5000 XP from that. The polluted cave can be done every 10 minutes so be sure to spam it as much as you can. Doing this will get you till Level 27 and after two more levels you Kongou will open up for you.

Beating up Kongou along with the regular quests will give you the appropriate XP to reach level 36. However, at this time we would recommend you to avoid dungeons because they apparently won’t do you any good now. You can instead head over to the ease cave for some fast XP boost.

End Levels

Now the Blade and Soul Guide will take you to the ending levels. If you are doing your quests right it won’t be any issue for you to reach level 42. This is when you will be eligible to head over to the Heaven Temple. You can also ignore that part and instead goto the Misty Forest for the imperial base that can get you some fancy stuff for your character. You can also earn more rewards by playing the spider cave. However, keep in mind that spider cave would be difficult for you to complete if you don’t have the required skills to do that.

This would be enough for you to reach Level 45. The road for over there would further take you to higher levels. Since there are many things to cover at that point we recommend you to set your goal and reach Level 45 first. Meanwhile, we would be working on the next guide to help you reach the maximum level.

Additional Blade and Soul Tips

We have gathered some points from the Blade and Soul Guide that you should remember while leveling. Here they are;

• In the initial levels, it is important to complete all the basic quests as they will provide drop stones which can be used in Wheel of Fortune.
• Side quests will drop unique rewards that will provide more experience and strength in battles.
• Kill as many mobs as you can. This is because mobs will give you the extra experience that you cannot get through the usual quests. Furthermore, using Dragon Soup while grinding mobs will give an extra XP boost as well.
• While dealing with mobs, it is advised that you do this in a party
• Upgrade your weapon with the passage of time. Leveling up alone won’t be beneficial if you are playing with a wooden sword.

Earning Gold while Leveling Up

Leveling Up is also the perfect time for you to gather up enough assets that will help in getting you more gold. A good way to do this is by having the right professions. In the early leveling phase, pottery materials would be needed for the Windstride quest. Further on, players would then need refiners and bowls for evolution stones. Shield crafts are also popular because they can be used for fusing. This picture will give you a better idea.

A fair amount of gold can also be gathered via dungeons. A total of six high-level dungeons can be repeated for gold and materials that you can sell afterward. Talking about selling, Auction House is also a good venue to earn some gold. Just keep an eye on the supply and demand of items on the AH and sell the materials if you have them. You can also gather rare items and wait for the best time to sell it based over the demand. This, however, is a bit time consuming and you have to pay attention to changes and updates which can impact the demand and supply in the Blade and Soul economy.

Final Words

How To Duel In Blade And Soul

We have tried to give you a brief guide to level up faster in Blade and Soul. However, leveling does not end there and you would be going forward gathering more levels. If you think the guide was helpful and would like to know more on how you can be fast in leveling up further then tell us with your comments. We will surely add it in the future. Until then Happy Lag-Free Gaming with Kill Ping.