Blade & Soul Dojo: Blade & Soul Dojo - News, Wiki, Forums, Community Fansite

The Year of the Dragon has arrived! Team Bloodlust left the 2011 year with a warm message for its loyal community, thanking us for such a great year.

We at the Dojo would also like to thank you, Team Bloodlust, for creating such a masterpiece and giving us the chance to finally try it out with two fantastic closed beta test events in 2011! We look forward to CBT3 in 2012's first quarter and official Korean launch this year!


Source: Blade & Soul's Official Site. Translated by futilepath.

Hyung-Tae Kim, Art Director of Blade & Soul Chinese Interview
The past several weeks have not been the most lucrative times for those seeking out information in regards to Blade & Soul, but they haven't been the worst either. All good things come in time, and hopefully within the foreseeable future we'll have plenty to show and many new shiny objects to drool over. In the meantime we'd like to present you with a quick recap of a few significant tidbits of information that came into light via various interviews and Q&As straight out of Shanghai.

First we'd like to present to you the Chinese Interview with Hyung-Tae Kim, the Art Director of Blade & Soul. During this interview he talks about their artistic goals of how they wanted each race to have a specific feel, the inspirations that influenced his artistic style, and what the future holds for Blade & Soul. We've been able to translate all of Hyung-Tae Kim's statements, but have currently been unable to get a clear translation of the Chinese questions and commentary. However, it takes almost nothing away from the over all experience as we still get an in depth look into the mind behind the art of Blade & Soul. Enjoy!


"We’ve tried very hard to show the perks of each race from its physical appearance. Jins were designed to show idealistic beauty of the Human Race. As for the Gons they were made with more mature taste, strong male and sexy female. Unlike the Gon and the Jin we’ve had a lot of problems designing the Kun and the Lyn. For the Kuns we wanted to express the beauty that was beyond the human race, a beauty unlike this world and more of a unique beauty. Lyns we wanted to show the ultimate cuteness with this race, but nothing of niche cuteness but more likeable whether you are male or female."

"One of the ways to express the sexiness with the female models is my instincts as a male; they are basically what I find attractive. I think if I was a female art director the males would have received more sex appeal. What I try to do when I design female characters are try to really bring out the attractive parts but make the other ways bland to make the other areas pop more and ultimately I think that’s what got most people’s attention and the reason why people like my design."

"My inspiration for my art comes from all the objects around me. I don’t get inspiration from just staring at normal things, rather I try to look at things from a different perspective or reinterpret them and apply it differently. That way you will still get this familiar feel yet a fresh feel because it could be located differently and what not. Let’s take a shoe lace for an example, I could put that on the shoes like it usually is but I could take it to the hair and give a familiar yet refreshing vibe to it. Of course I also take in to player feedbacks and apply that to my design, such as a really good place for a background or a natural monument."

"I think the attractiveness of the Eastern Fantasy games are not just visuals but also the gameplay and the feel you get while playing it. For that reason I try to add more of Eastern Fantasy vibe with the Story and the combat, however since Eastern Fantasy has been done a lot there was a risk of our visuals being stale. That is why I tried the method from before, look at it from a different perspective and reinterpret it to give it a design that knows no borders or time and tried to build a whole new Eastern Fantasy. That is why our game could look a bit different than the past Eastern Fantasy games but when you actually get in there and play it you will get the strong Eastern Fantasy vibe stronger than other games currently out there."

"When I illustrate, I take a piece of paper and a pencil then sketch after that I take that to Photoshop to tidy up the lines then I paint and color. Now a day, unlike before they use 3D Data to decorate the background and in-game effects. We also sometimes bring the whole game screenshot to illustration. When we made the game, we tried very hard for the in-game graphics to simulate the illustration feel close as possible."

"Blade & Soul showed some of its content with the 1st and 2nd CBT but we still have many things we haven’t revealed yet. A vast open world and brand new cities, and lots of unique NPCs to accompany on your journey, I urge you all to wait for Blade & Soul with love and enthusiasm and explore the world of Blade & Soul when it is available. "


The Future Classes of Blade & Soul
The developers of Blade & Soul recently confirmed a few things in regards to the future classes that will have some jumping for joy, and some crying in a corner. First off, there will never be a pure healer class in Blade & Soul as of right now. This will probably ultimately prove to be a good decision by the developers as many of the game mechanics revolve around the players ability to avoid damage and ultimate control and out play their enemy. By avoiding a healer class this ensures that these game mechanics will continue to be a fundamental part of Blade & Soul.

With that said and done, Team Bloodlust did confirm two new classes that have a guaranteed spot within the game. The first is one I'm sure everyone has heard of already; The Summoner. The second has been highly anticipated and almost expected; The Gunner. The summoner will be playable during the next phase of testing. As for when the Gunner will see its debut on the battlefield, that is yet to be determined. There was also talk during a Q&A session in Shanghai of a Chinese influenced class, something along the lines of a Taoist-like class that would use curses to debilitate and cripple their enemies. Whether or not this intriguing class idea ever sees the light of day, well, we'll just have to wait and see!



Closed Beta Test; Phase 3
That's right! CBT3 finally has an estimated time that is actually practical! Team Bloodlust mentioned in Shanghai that Blade & Soul will commence its third phase of closed beta testing in Q1 2012. This new phase of testing will feature content up to level 40 and a new playable class; The Summoner. Now, obviously this is a bit of an upset for some that had hoped to see it sooner, but at least we now have a more realistic time frame of when to expect CBT3 to actually start. The delay will probably also mean a more complete Summoner class and much more content well into level 40. We might even be able to expect new cities, towns, and possibly even a new dungeon! But regardless of what new content there is to see during this new beta phase, the Summoner will surely steal the show.


Shanghai Online Question & Answer
During the Tencent Games Carnival in Shanghai, the developers for Blade & Soul held an online Q&A. Now obviously not all of the questions were answered, but a few very interesting ones were addressed that fueled some of the information for this article. Here are some of the more interesting questions and their answers.

Will Blade & Soul be adding a class influenced by Chinese culture?
We will think about adding a Taoist-like class who uses curse spells and also a more Chinese influenced class. But we will be designing a gun-wielding class for future content.

What can players do after reaching max level? The PvP seems boring and without characteristics.
Combat is the game's core system, and players can engage in PvP combat after reaching level 20 and wearing a faction;s costume. We will be adding special PvP maps which will require more players' participation, more strategies and teamwork. We will also consider adding a DOTA-like PvP map into the game.

Why is there a need to add in the FPS-like crosshair on the screen?
Majority of the skills in Blade & Soul will not require players to highlight the target, but it is needed for skills which are aimed at only a single target. The crosshair is actually there as a guide, player need not use it like in a FPS.

Can players fish or cook in the game?
We have a number of life skills in mind for the game currently, but we will be adding them step by step. I personally like activities like fishing and cooking, as combat can get tiring. During this time, I would rather find a quiet place and relax.

Will the current 4 races have some uniqueness other than looks and the classes available?
Earlier in development, we thought about having different racial abilities and life skills for each race, but after internal discussions we felt that it was too bland. We are shelving this differentiating process for now, but it will happen in the future.

Are the classes in the game balanced now?
In Closed Beta 1, we got much positive feedback for the Kung-Fu Master. In Closed Beta 2, we buffed the stats up a little for the other classes. From then on we can see each class having both positives and negatives against at least 1 other class.

Closed Beta 3 for the Korean server was delayed until Q1 next year. What new content can we expect to see?
The delay happened as we are editing some game content according to feedback from the first 2 beta phases. In order to optimize the game, the delay had to happen.
The 6th class will be playable in Closed Beta 3. More content between level 30 and 40 will added as well, especially open world battles. After Closed Beta 3, we will be adding SNS (social) features to the game.

In both PvE and PvP, is equipment the main factor in a players potency or is it how players control their characters?
While both aspects contribute to gameplay, the controlling of characters stands out. The type of loots players are rewarded in the game depends on how well they executed their moves to defeat the targets.

From what we have been shown, Qinggong only involves speed running and some high jumps for now. Can they be utilized during combat?
We are currently looking at how the skills can be integrated into actual combat and will be added in the near future. For example, players will be able to enter combat once Qinggong is used.

Will there be any healer classes added in the future?
No, there will never be a pure healer class in Blade & Soul.

Are there any limitations to costumes characters can wear?
No, there is not. Other than the default undergarment, characters are not restricted access to any other costumes.

A special thanks to Yuan for translating the Hyung-Tae Kim interview and MMOCulture for the Q&A.

A games environment is one of the most important aspects of a video game. What would a game be without an environment to immerse yourselves in, without terrain for your avatar to tread on, or uplifting music that sets the mood? Team Bloodlust seems to know this quite well and has, in my opinion, taken it to the next level, setting the bar extremely high for MMORPG graphics and sound tracks. Utilizing Unreal Engine 3's full potential and comprising an originally composed, fully orchestrated sound track, Team Bloodlust nearly achieved perfection with Blade & Soul's oriental fantasy atmosphere.

Enough with the chatter! Let's get right down to the media, shall we? Below you'll find some footage and over 800 down-loadable screenshots of Blade & Soul's first two zones, the Dragon's Forest (Levels 1-20) and the Great Desert (levels 20-37). Both videos contain over 30 minutes of first person zone footage paired up with over 15 original Blade & Soul tracks that can be found in each zone.

Thisisgame.com held an interesting interview with Blade & Soul's Art DIrector, Hyung-tae Kim, during the games second closed beta test event last week. This article was translated by futilepath just the other day and posted in another section, so this may be old news to some, but to those that just follow our homepage and RSS feeds here's a nice treat for you!




The discussion was about character designs and graphics, something Blade & Soul's Art Director, Hyung-tae Kim, was comfortable answering.

The attire is the center of attention in Blade & Soul. What will the attires we get from siding with one of the factions be like (the factions that appear at levels 22-25)?
It seems like a lot of the users chose the Hong Chun Cult attire (image). But I am revealing this now; the attire for the Moo-Lim Allegiance (image) will be way better looking. These attires can be upgraded as you level through their ranks. We will be adding more attire for each faction in the future content. Keep your hopes up.

The users are amazed at the amount of attires currently found in the game. What is the one attire that you put the most effort on?
All attires were made with great effort, but if I were to choose, I would say it’s the Hong Moon Clan attire (the one you get from the tutorial at level 1).


Blade and Soul's first dobok; Hong Moon School Dobok.

Users tend to choose attires that can be found on NPCs. Will users be able to wear those as well?
It will come down to whether the users can acquire it or not. All attires in the game can be worn by the players, but just not attainable yet. There will be a lot more attires that become attainable in the future, so do not worry.

What would be the best attire one can acquire in CBT2?
I can’t tell you the method in obtaining one, but the one shown in the artwork behind me (image below) can be acquired in CBT2. I don’t know when a user with that one will appear in-game though. (The attire can be obtained through the level 38 instanced dungeon.)


This outfit can be obtained in CBT2, from the level 38 instance.

The attires are designed with no difference in upper and lower parts. Moreover, there are no graphical changes when equipping accessories (rings, necklace and earrings). Any plans to change this?
There are no plans to change that. The attires can be obtained from NPCs as well as monster drops. There is a named boss called the Golden Destroyer in the Giant Desert area that drops a set. The set includes the basic attire along with a hat and a wing-like addon.


This dobok drops from the Golden Destroyer world boss and is called the Golden Dobok, aka the "winged" dobok.

We can mix these with other attires, but the one dropped by that boss is the best match. Don’t you usually try to match your shoes with your pants in real life?

We made it so that obtaining the full set will make the user feel the coolest. We initially tried to implement the graphical effects of accessories, but the minute details weren’t catching the eyes, so we decided not to implement them.


Clothing is made up of one outfit, one hat and one other head accessory, all of which carry no stats. One of each can make up an entire matching set.

I felt that a lot of online games have attires that can be worn in real life. In short, they looked too plain and simple. Isn’t a game supposed to be a place where a person escapes boring reality to feel special and look much cooler and fancier? I tried to emphasize that into Blade & Soul, and hence the results.

We steered away from separated attire (like top attire, bottom attire, foot attire, etc) to make playing Blade & Soul feel like going to a party and having fun. You always want to look your best at a party right?

We will introduce monster attires and other unique designs in the future. They will cater to the users’ tastes.


These are the outfits that the GMs flaunt around in. Expect a wider variety of outfits in the future.

The preset designs changed in CBT1 and CBT2 due to user feedback. Will they change in the future tests as well?
We take all forms of feedback into consideration. There was one user that posted a bunch of Korean art relics in an organized fashion that we took into serious consideration. We got a lot of new ideas and concepts from these relics. There was one where a tree looked like a dragon soaring through the sky, expect to see something like this in-game in the future.

We are constantly receiving feedback; NPCs and characters’ legs are too thick, the ankle is too thin, etc. So we look at helpful comments like those instead of comments like “Great game!” or “Love this game!!” to make the game better.

Speaking of feedback, it looks like love towards male characters will be lower than female characters.
That is true. I am saying this now but I hope the users will give more feedback on the male characters. The developer Team thinks they are designing cool looking male characters, but since the feedback is significantly lower than females, they are considering making the males sexier.


Guys make female characters because they are guys, and girls make female characters because they are girls.

Isn’t it because the female characters are too beautiful?
Something we are regretting. A male user should pick a male character, we are trying hard to fix this problem! =)

How do you plan to change the male characters?
Nothing special. Just changing the hair style, facial shape, and animations. We think the main problem with the male characters is that they are too plain and simple. In short, we think they lack charisma and appeal. It is hard to add different characteristics visually to male characters in online game, such as a thuggish look, reckless/brash look, bad boy look, etc.

This is easy in console games, however. Hence we altered some things, but it looks like we need to change more. Therefore we need more feedback.



What if the user feedback asks for thigh size reduction for female characters?
If we are changing body parts, we need to do it in relation to the other body parts. We don't want the users to have a “I like this character but I don’t like this body part, so I won’t play it” mentality.

Isn’t that Blade & Soul's Art Director, Hyung-tae Kim’s, trademark?
That is why there may be a limit on how much we can change. I think we will add more options for users to utilize instead of changing existing ones.

We know that a lot of manpower was used to make the stunning graphics. Was the majority of that manpower used towards the games fashion and character design?
There are actually more people for the animation and environment department. Character design is limited to only a minor group of people due to the unique artistic style. They still do their job well. I believe animation decides a game’s gameplay quality. Blade & Soul animation, in my opinion, is the peak of online games. I am confident to say it is three times better than other well-made games out there.

The important aspect is how the target I am hitting is hit rather than how I am getting hit. Blade & Soul's hit animations are different depending on how the target is hit. You can be lifted into the air, be choked, or stumble and roll over. This applies to not only humanoid mobs but all the other mobs as well. To this extent, we consider the target’s hit animation more important.



We place more importance on stylistic combat and animation with another person rather than the same animation being used in zerg vs zerg battles. We want to provide users with unique experiences by expanding on this.

Server stress seems to be enormous. In real tests, server downs may occur within an hour.
That is why the server team is struggling right now. The amount of pressure on the server during regular open-field gameplay is about the same as another game’s RvR. If you look at it the other way, I guess you can say we are making good use of our servers.

Given how good the graphics are, it looks like a lot of resources go into each character.
We did not use more polygons or special effects to increase the graphic quality. We used a technique used in movie production called Mi Jang Shen (??). It models the character around the location, environmental color effects, contrast, light/shadow, and angle of the camera.

The graphics is considered great because we adjusted this technique to be neither too detailed nor sloppy. Since you played the game, you would have found out that Blade & Soul is not that demanding of a game. The graphic engine team’s effort is a factor, but aren’t you able to play the game with semi-high settings even if you only meet the minimum requirements?



Are there extra options available for those users with high-end specs?
We are working on adding those options. Right now there is a noticeable different between high settings and max settings. We are trying to make the game look better even on the medium settings. Obviously, we are thinking of adding more options for max settings to satisfy those players.

The monsters all have unique designs and it’s hard to find the same mob in different regions. Is there a reason you are not recycling models?
We are not focusing on new designs for monsters, but rather, to make fighting new monsters in new regions to be always different.

We are not making monsters that look different, but have same attack patterns (aka easy to farm). We are focusing on the AI and the animations/behavior of each monster type. The animation team is working hard to make the skill motion look and feel unique.

Since humanoid monsters use the same skills as the player while also looking similar, there is a PvP feel to it.
We place importance on the concept of PvP. Monsters appear in martial-arts settings but person to person relationships are more important. Expect more humanoid enemies and other monsters sporting different action styles in the future.