We’re taking a look at Blade & Soul from NCSoft, the martial arts themed fantasy MMORPG where players can battle across a huge open world in story-driven quests, acquiring gear, battling huge monsters and fighting in PVP against other real world players. The game sits in a genre of other martial arts themed MMORPGs, but Blade & Soul has a lot to offer on its own as we’ll explore in our newest article.
Wuxia Gameplay
The Wuxia theme is extremely strong. For any fan of Wuxia then Blade & Soul emulates that style of martial arts combat perfectly (think Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) with both movement around the world and combat. The combat style is fast paced and acrobatic, leaping over enemies and launching some explosive maneuvers, combined with the ability to leap of cliffs and glide down to the bottom like a leaf on the wind, or sprint across the surface of rivers and lakes gracefully, it truly captures the magic of the setting.
Four Fantasy Races
Players aren’t bound to simple human characters. One of the things with traditional Wuxia MMORPGs is that they are typically constrained to more accurate history and Chinese mythology, in Blade & Soul the game captures that theme but adds its own fantasy twist. Players can play as four different races, ranging from physically intimidating Gon to the small and cuddly (yet no less deadly) Lyn with their rabbit like ears and other features, bringing mythology and fantasy into the game. The choice of race also determines the types of playable class you are able to choose adding some elements of customization to your race choice and not being bound to a single fighting style.
Nine Classes
There are a diverse set of classes to choose from. Depending on the chosen race players have nine completely different classes to choose from, all of which will determine both the character’s playstyle, how they fight in combat, the weapons they use and even the quests that they pick up. The developers have identified each class with a difficulty score, allowing players to get an idea of which are the easiest and hardest classes to pick up and perfect. Ranging from the more difficult Kung Fu Master who requires precision timing as most of their damage is from counter-attacks and the ability to catch an opponent’s attack, requiring a high level of skill to switch between the defensive and offensive abilities. In comparison the Summoner is a lot easier, able to summon a Familiar that will help a player in combat, taking a little more attention away from the player themselves and giving them a bit of breathing room to think and plan their attacks whilst transferring health from their enemy to themselves.
Warring Factions
There are two warring PVP factions. Players early on in the game can choose between The Cerulean Order and The Crimson League, divided by philosophy there isn’t necessarily a “good” and “bad” faction. Players sign up to a faction and, if wearing their faction uniform, are flagged for open world PVP where they can fight anywhere in the world against the opposing faction regardless of level; it is perfect for players that like the random challenge of unexpected PVP encounters. Outside of the main two factions, which determine which clans you can join, there are other NPC factions and orders that players can fight for, by wearing the faction’s uniform they flag their loyalty, and can kill enemy faction NPCs to earn points and gear for aiding their sworn faction.
Soul Shields
Collect pieces of Soul Shields to improve your character. All across the world players can collect Soul Shields, fragments of different sets (eight fragments to a full set) that can be used to boost various stats and abilities. Players can mix and match sets for the pieces’ individual boosts, but equipping fragments from the same set in groups of 3, 5 or all 8 then players get increased set bonuses, adding a lot of customization to your Soul Shield build.
These are some of the things that we love about Blade & Soul, but what do you think? What do you love about this game? Would you add anything else to the list? We await your opinions! Let us know!!!!!
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