Developer Notes #8

Greetings, Star Guardians.

This is PD Koo of .

First, we would like to sincerely thank all Star Guardians who have been sharing their feedback through the ‘Grand Launch Survey’.

Based on the feedback you have shared through the ‘Grand Launch Survey,’ we are reviewing responses from Star Guardians across all regions as we refine our future improvement plans.

As we carefully review all submitted feedback, we kindly ask for your understanding that this may take some time.

We are currently reviewing not only feedback from the survey, but also insights from the community and gameplay data, as we continue to identify areas where Star Guardians may be experiencing inconvenience.

We are carefully reviewing all the feedback you provide and preparing improvements to deliver a better gameplay experience. We will continue to address these issues through future updates.

Before we begin this Developer Notes, we would like to once again express both our gratitude and our apologies to Star Guardians around the world who have been with since early access on March 16 (Mon). As a token of our appreciation, we have prepared a special reward.

- Regular SSR Hero Selection Ticket x1* The reward will be distributed via your in-game mailbox during the April 8 (Wed) maintenance. Please refer to a future notice for more details.

* Regular SSR Hero Selection Ticket: Choose 1 from Elaine, King, Guila, Jericho, Mannie, Drake, or Diane

Our development team sincerely apologizes for not providing a stable and comfortable gameplay environment since the release of .

Despite this, we would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to all Star Guardians who continue to support us with such great interest and care. We will do our utmost to deliver a more polished and complete experience.

In this Developer Notes, we would like to share the key improvements and fixes that are planned for the upcoming April 8 (Wed) update.

◼ Key Improvements in the April 8 (Wed) Update

✦ \[Path of Exploration] Difficulty Adjustments

We have identified that many Star Guardians are experiencing difficulty progressing through certain missions in \[Path of Exploration], particularly in sections that require repeated attempts, such as fishing and capturing.

In these cases, the challenge does not stem from the difficulty of the missions themselves, but rather from the number of repetitions required. In particular, for capturing, we have found that the need to craft potions as part of the process has contributed to increased overall fatigue.

As \[Path of Exploration] is designed to allow Star Guardians to naturally experience various content across Britannia through mission progression, we are preparing adjustments to reduce the overall number of required repetitions so that gameplay flow is not interrupted by fatigue in certain sections.

Following the April 8 (Wed) update, the number of repetitions required for missions related to crafting, cooking, capturing, and fishing within \[Path of Exploration] will be adjusted. We hope that Star Guardians who have not yet completed \[Path of Exploration] will be able to take on the challenge again under these improved conditions.

✦ Addition of Star Fragments Reward upon Obtaining New Skins

With this update, a new feature will be added that grants ‘Star Fragments’ upon obtaining new Skins.

Currently, most Skins are obtained through engraved equipment crafting, and as crafting engraved equipment for the first time requires significant effort and progression, we are introducing additional rewards to provide greater purpose and motivation.

After the update, you will receive ‘500 Star Fragments’ for each Skin obtained. This will also apply to Skins acquired prior to the update, so please be sure to claim your rewards.

Through this improvement, we hope that obtaining Skins will go beyond simple collection and contribute more meaningfully to character growth through engraved equipment crafting.

✦ Addition of Option to Display Other Players’ Combat Effects

As mentioned in the previous Developer Notes, we will be adding a feature that allows players to disable other players’ combat effects during party play.

In party environments with multiple players, where numerous skill effects occur simultaneously, we have received feedback that it can be difficult to clearly track combat situations, such as enemy positions or hero status.

To improve combat visibility and provide a more comfortable gameplay experience, we are adding an option that allows players to disable other players’ skill effects.

However, important combat elements, such as Combined Attack animations and beneficial field effects, will remain visible regardless of this setting to ensure that overall combat awareness is not affected.

✦ Addition of \[Abyss] Difficulty to Boss Challenge & Dungeons, and Adjustments to Certain \[Hell] Boss Patterns

As mentioned in a previous Developer Notes, the new endgame content is currently under development and being prepared for a future update.

However, as many Star Guardians have already begun successfully clearing \[Hell] difficulty content, we believe it is important to provide new progression goals more quickly.

In response, we will be introducing \[Abyss] difficulty to existing ‘Boss Challenge’ and ‘Dungeon’ content, offering a higher level of challenge and new motivation for hero progression.

The \[Abyss] difficulty is designed around combat that utilizes boss weaknesses, with a focus on building and leveraging diverse hero combinations through elemental Burst effects.

Initially, \[Abyss] difficulty will be added to ‘The Capital of the Dead’ and the 「Corrupted」 Warden Orgot. As with existing encounters, these encounters will feature Earth as a primary weakness, along with additional weaknesses that include both Earth and Darkness.

As rewards appropriate for the higher level of difficulty, players will be able to obtain ‘SSR Fragments’, which can be used to progress SSR weapon limit breaks upon clearing \[Abyss] difficulty.

\[Abyss] difficulty will continue to be expanded over time, and we plan to further develop it into content that encourages strategic gameplay through various elemental combinations.

In addition, adjustments will be made to certain boss patterns in the \[Hell] difficulty of ‘The Capital of the Dead’ and ‘Deep Spider Nest’ dungeons.

Currently, players attempting \[Hell] difficulty for the first time may find it difficult to react to the rapid pattern transitions of Guila and Shakeera. To address this, we will be adding more opportunities to attack between their pattern transitions, allowing for a more consistent and manageable combat experience.

✦ Improvements to HP Recovery When Entering Dungeon Content

We have received feedback from many Star Guardians that entering dungeon content without HP being restored has caused inconvenience.

When entering major combat content without fully restored HP, players had to consume potions or dishes unnecessarily, or move to a Goddess Statue to recover before re-entering, which caused inconvenience.

With the upcoming update, HP will be fully restored upon entering key combat content such as Dungeons, Boss Challenges, Hero Trial Dungeons, and Combat Trials. This will allow players to enter combat in a more stable state and reduce unnecessary preparation.

✦ Improvements to Gathering Material Availability

We are planning to increase the daily acquisition limits and spawn rates of certain gathering materials available in the field.

To support smoother crafting and consumable usage in the early stages of gameplay, we will be increasing the amount of materials available in locations where resources such as Gold Ore, Flower Petals, and Tree Sap can be gathered.

We will continue to monitor the availability of gathering materials and make further adjustments as needed.

✦ Increased Availability of Early-Game Growth Materials and Reward Adjustments

As briefly mentioned in the previous Developer Notes, we have identified that many Star Guardians are experiencing difficulty obtaining Gold and lower-tier growth materials. With this update, we aim to expand how players can acquire the resources needed for early hero progression.

First, we will be adding rewards to existing content to increase the availability of Enhancement Stones and Refinement Stones.

Enhancement Stones and Refinement Stones will be added to the rewards for Dungeons and Boss Challenge content, and we are also preparing updates that will allow players to obtain additional quantities of both Enhancement Stones and Refinement Stones from ‘Mastery Dungeons’.

In addition, for the ‘Gold Dungeon,’ the number of Cube Keys required for entry will be reduced from 10 to 5, improving its overall efficiency compared to before.

We have also received feedback from many Star Guardians that Uncommon Fragments are consumed in large quantities during hero mastery progression, leading to shortages. In particular, we have identified cases where certain fragment types become significantly lacking depending on the hero being developed, even beyond the overall shortage.

To address this, at ‘World Level 4,’ the drop rate of Uncommon Fragments from elite monsters will be increased to 100%, while the drop rate for Premium Fragments will remain the same.

In addition, we will be introducing a feature that allows higher-tier fragments to be dismantled into lower-tier fragments, enabling players to supplement specific fragment types as needed.

Along with increasing the availability of early-game growth materials such as Enhancement Stones, Refinement Stones, and fragments, we are also making adjustments to chance-based fragment acquisition sources.

Through these changes, clearer guidance will be provided on where fragments can be obtained with certainty, and some rewards from normal monsters will also be adjusted accordingly.

In addition, we have received feedback that, during progression through the early Ferzen region and its dungeons, the lack of Lightning-type heroes can limit access to certain mechanics. This includes being unable to experience movement using Charging Stones during the main quest, as well as reduced usability of Lightning-based puzzles and dungeon shortcuts.

To address this issue and support smoother main quest progression, we will be adding an additional reward to the ongoing \[Challenge Mission II — To a Destiny Beyond!] event, allowing players to obtain ‘\[SR] Gilthunder’ as a reward. Star Guardians who have already completed the mission will also receive the hero.

✦ Improvements to Cube Key Usability

We have received feedback from many Star Guardians that there are limited ways to obtain Cube Keys, as well as concerns that their daily use feels restrictive.

In response, our development team aims to expand opportunities to obtain Cube Keys and improve their usability so that they can be used more flexibly based on each player’s playstyle.

First, we will be introducing a new exchange item, the ‘Small Cube Key Bundle’. This item can be purchased using Cube Keys and allows players to convert their daily Cube Key charges into bundles that can be stored and used at a later time.

In addition, items that were previously limited to “once per day” will be changed to a weekly limit, reducing the need for daily logins and allowing players to obtain and use them more freely at their preferred times.

Finally, with this update, the number of times Cube Keys can be exchanged using Star Fragments will be increased from 5 to 10 per week, allowing players to obtain and use more Cube Keys through gameplay.

We will continue to introduce various events to make Cube Keys easier to obtain, just as we increased rewards in the Cube Key Giveaway Event on April 1 (Wed). We kindly ask for your continued interest and support.

✦ Ongoing Improvements in Progress

Our development team is continuing to prepare additional improvements beyond those shared in previous Developer Notes.

As outlined in our notices and Developer Notes, we are prioritizing the following items for upcoming updates:

- An issue where players are unable to properly join parties due to network instability

- Addition of a preview feature for engraved equipment stats

- Improvements to gathering features and related systems

- Fixes for crashes and freezing issues during gameplay

* For crashes and freezing issues, we are addressing them progressively depending on their causes and will continue improvements alongside ongoing monitoring.

We will continue reviewing the feedback you share through the survey and various channels and do our best to provide a better gameplay environment. We kindly ask for your continued interest and feedback

Before concluding this Developer Notes, we would like to share one additional point we have been considering. With the introduction of new higher-difficulty content in this update, it may serve as a new challenge for Star Guardians who have already cleared \[Hell] difficulty. However, we are also mindful that it may feel burdensome for those who are still progressing through the main story at their own pace or for those who have recently joined Britannia.

Along with the special rewards we are providing and the various events currently in preparation, we will continue to support all Star Guardians so that everyone can fully enjoy the game’s content.

In addition, our development team is making extensive preparations to deliver a more polished and complete experience with this update.

Alongside bug fixes and core gameplay improvements, we are also preparing to introduce expanded regions, new story content, and a variety of additional content through future updates.

In the next Developer Notes, we will share more detailed information about the upcoming updates and new content currently in development.

We kindly ask for your continued interest and support for .

Thank you.

Sincerely, 

PD Koo