Information May 2025 Balance Changes [Explained]

Reminder: This only contains the balance related changes.



Welcome to our balance changes thread for the May 2025 Patch, our 10th Anniversary!
This balance update is focused on various class changes, with the objective of making the gameplay more fair and interactive. There are many adjustments made to bring variety and gameplay value to classes, and while some may seem unfavourable at first sight, we encourage players to read and explore them with an open mind. Without further ado, let's check them out!



「 Player skill debuffs 」

• The following skill debuff icons have been reworked:
  • from Threaten
    
  • from Slow and Hamstring
  • from Blind
    
  • from Homing Beacon
    
  • from Bullseye

These skills will now appear alongside the other mob status buff icons that persists visually, instead of flickering back and forth.
This way, other mob statuses like Weapon Cancel and Damage Reflect will be more easily readable.

「 Avoidability formula 」

Code:

Beginners/Magicians/Archers/Thieves = DEX * 0.25 + LUK * 0.3
Pirates (first job) = DEX * 0.25 + LUK * 0.3
Gunslingers = DEX * 0.125 + LUK * 0.3
Brawlers = STR * 0.2 + DEX * 0.25 

• Warriors no longer gain avoidability from base stats.
• Every LUK point now gives 0.3 avoidability (down from 0.5) for Beginners, Magicians, Archers, Thieves, 1st job Pirates and Gunslingers.
• Every STR point now gives 0.2 avoidability (down from 0.225) for Buccaneers.

Avoidability has been a growing issue, in terms of game balance and player engagement. When characters, especially Thieves and LUK-centered class builds, gain too much avoid from base stats, it enables a passive gameplay, where players can take minimal damage while putting in little effort. This not only reduces the need for skillful play, but also encourages the creation of avoid-optimized mule characters purely for buffs/debuffs.

By adjusting how avoid is calculated and reducing its LUK scaling, we're aiming to make gameplay more fair, curb exploitative builds, and ensure that avoid remains a meaningful but balanced defensive mechanic.

We understand this may feel like a big nerf to some, but it’s a necessary step toward a healthier, more fair game environment.



「 General 」

• Potions can now be used while charging the following skills:
  • Big Bang
    
  • Hurricane
  • Piercing Arrow
    
  • Corkscrew Blow
    
  • Grenade
    
  • Rapid Fire

Charging skills have felt clunky due to not being able to use potions while channeling.

「 Hero 」

• Enrage
  • Now gives a maximum of +6 weapon attack that is stackable with other weapon attack sources (i.e. works simultaneously with rage/pots).
  • Duration at low skill levels has been rescaled, starts at 120 seconds for level 1-10, then 180 seconds for level 11-20, then 5 seconds increment per level until a maximum of 240 seconds for level 21-30

Enrage has often felt underwhelming because its weapon attack bonus didn’t stack with buffs or potions, making it awkward or useless in some situations. With this update, Enrage will be a meaningful self-buff.

We've also rescaled the skill so that it's more usable at lower levels.

「 Paladin 」

• Fire/Ice/Lightning/Holy Charge for Sword/BW
  • Damage increase against elemental weak monster is now 20% (from 50%)
  • Damage decrease against elemental strong monster is now 20% (from 50%)
    
  • Damage is rescaled and now streamlined to have a maximum damage of 175% across all element types
  • Rescaled lower level damage and durations, starts at 117% damage for 55 seconds for non-holy charge, and 118% damage for 65 seconds for holy charge
• Blast
  • Increased 100% damage to all skill levels, with the maximum at 700%.
• Heaven's Hammer
  • Increased the cooldown for skill level 1-29 by 5 seconds, so that level 29 and level 30 don't have the same cooldown anymore.

It's odd how Paladins with active element have an equal damage bonus against elemental-weak monsters as Mages, who specialize in elemental attacks.
These changes aim to rebalance Paladin strength in this field, by reducing the damage bonus against weak elemental monsters and the penalty against strong monsters, thus introducing a distinguishing factor between Paladins and Mages in elemental situations, also with an eye to future implementations.

Moreover, Paladin cleaving potential appears better than cleave-focused classes like Hero and Dark Knight in certain situations, like when facing elemental weak monsters. These changes will effectively reduce Paladin's cleave damage. In return, we are increasing Blast damage, to maintain Paladin's identity as a strong single-target elemental class.

More importantly, the damage and duration for all elements are now more consistent, which will help Paladins to be equally effective in all kinds of elemental situations (instead of having, for example, scenarios in which holy neutral damage is better than ice weak).

「 Bowmaster 」

• Concentrate
  • Now gives a maximum of +6 weapon attack that is stackable with other weapon attack source (i.e. works simultaneously with rage/pots)
  • Duration at level 21-30 has been rescaled to 5 seconds increment per level starting from 180 seconds up to 240 seconds

While Concentrate has already been a valuable skill due to its mana reduction, its lack of weapon attack stacking with other buffs made it underwhelming or useless. Similar to the changes made to Enrage, Concentrate will now be meaningful regardless of the buffs and potions.

「 Thief 」

• Shadow Shifter - Skill has been reworked!
  • No longer has a passive effect
    
  • Now has an active effect that:
    • Gives 100% avoidability
    • Last for 15 seconds at all levels
    • Has a cooldown of 120 seconds at max level, 265 seconds at level 1
    • Instant cast time similar to Shadow Star
    • MP cost 40 at max level, but starts at 98 at level 1.
    • Note: Active effect does not avoid unavoidable attacks e.g. Pink Bean musical note, Zakum pillars, etc

The passive avoid from Shadow Shifter, in addition to the character’s avoid from stats and items, often created a gameplay experience that felt overly not engaging as well as making said classes nearly indestructible in many situations. This rework shifts the focus to more active gameplay, allowing players to strategically use the skill to completely avoid threats in crucial moments.
We encourage players to try it out and explore its potential: you may find that the added control opens up new ways to outplay difficult situations.

「 Shadower 」

• Savage Blow - Rescaled the lower skill level damage so that the skill total damage at level 1 is higher than double stab.
• Assaulter - Cast time has been reduced by 33%, now has base speed of 600ms (450ms at speed 2)
  
• Band of Thieves
  • No longer require the first hit to connect upon cast
  • Damage is increased by 1.5x, now gives a maximum of 315% (from 210%)
• Assassinate - Horizontal hit range is increased by 20%
  
• Smokescreen
  • Can now be cast in the air
  • Cooldown has been reduced to 120 seconds at level 30, 265 seconds at level 1
  • Duration has been reduced to 12 seconds across all levels

These changes aim to improve the overall feel of Shadower across all stages of gameplay. Assaulter is now faster and more responsive, while Band of Thieves has been reworked for consistency and significantly increased damage, improving its third job gameplay without relying too much on Meso Explosion.
Assassinate gains increased horizontal reach for easier execution, and Smokescreen becomes more versatile with aerial casting and a reduced cooldown.
The goal is to give more fluidity and activity in Shadowers' gameplay.

「 Buccaneer 」

• Energy Charge - Charging rate has been increased:
  • Starts at 155 charge per hit (up from 75), increase by 5 every skill level until a maximum of 350 charge per hit (up from 231)
  • At max level, every hit on a normal monster charges 3.5% (29 hits to fully charge), and every hit on a boss charges for 5.25% (20 hits to fully charge)
• Energy Blast - Damage increased by 50% on all skill level to a maximum damage of 470% (up from 420%)
  
• Energy Drain - Damage increased by 60% on all skill level to a maximum damage of 420% (up from 360%)
  
• Super Transformation - Cooldown is increased to 6 minutes (up from 3 minutes)
  
• Dragon Strike
  • Maximum damage is increased to 900% (up from 810%)
  • Lower skill level has been highly rescaled, now starts from 330% damage and 4 targets
• Energy Orb
  • Cast time is reduced by 7.5%, now has base speed of 1110ms (840ms at speed 2)
  • Maximum damage is increased to 1300% (up from 900%)
  • Lower skill level has been highly rescaled, now starts from 730% damage and 4 targets
• Demolition
  • Cast time is reduced by 11%, now has base speed of 2370ms (1800ms at speed 2)
  • Skill "inner cooldown" has been increased to 2400ms (previously none, 0ms)
  • Maximum damage is increased to 580% (up from 460%)
  • Lower skill level has been highly rescaled, now starts from 395% damage
• Snatch
  • Skill "inner cooldown" has been increased to 1320ms (previously none, 0ms)
  • Maximum damage is increased to 850% (up from 600%)
  • Lower skill level has been highly rescaled, now starts from 610% damage and 4 targets
• Barrage
  • Cast time is reduced by 6%, now has base speed of 2280ms (1710ms at speed 2)
  • Note: Skill "inner cooldown" remains unchanged at 2630ms
  • Maximum damage is increased to 290% (up from 280%)
  • Lower skill level has been highly rescaled, now starts from 185% damage

TLDR - Objective

1. Make the Buccaneer feel more dynamic and skill-based.
2. Give players a more varied gameplay.
3. Reward players who learn and master different combos, even as a low level bucc.

TLDR - Damage Impact

1. For single target, if you make no changes in your gameplay, drop of ~5% damage.
2. For single target, if you adapt to the best combos, you'll gain ~7.5% damage against previous best.
3. For cleave, if you make no changes in your gameplay, you'll gain ~11% damage.
4. For cleave, if you master the new combos, you'll gain ~25% damage for 3 and 4 targets against previous best.
5. Theoretical maximum damage is generally harder to reach, as "iframe" duration is overall lesser, from combos and state changes.

Spoiler: Full explanation text

What's the Issue?
The Buccaneer class is designed around four different states:

• Base
• Base & Charged
• Transformed
• Transformed & Charged (the "advanced" state)

But here’s the problem:
The most advanced state (Transformed & Charged) doesn’t actually feel more powerful or exciting. In fact, during this state, players only really use one skill, and that makes most of the gameplay feel repetitive.
Meanwhile, the more combo-heavy and interactive parts of the class, where the buccaneer gets to use multiple skills, only happen during the Base/Base & Charged states. But those states only last about one-third of the time.

This made the class feel stale for a big chunk of the playtime, and not as fun as it could be.

What We Changed

State Duration Rework

• We flipped the timing. Now the Base state lasts two-thirds of the overall gameplay time.
• Transformed state only lasts for one-third of the time

Combos Matter More Now

• We’ve rebalanced skill damage across the different states.
• Now, combos can get stronger depending on your current state:
• 1. Transformed & Charged = Highest damage potential with best combos
  2. Transformed only
  3. Base & Charged
  4. Base only = Lowest damage, but still useful

This adds depth to gameplay and encourages you to think about what skills to use, and when.

More Engaging, Higher Skill Ceiling

• You’ll now need to use multiple skills together for best results, instead of spamming just one.
• That makes the class more engaging, but also more challenging—mastery will take practice, especially under pressure.

Less Reliance on Invincibility

• Before, you could spam a long-invincibility skill and ignore mechanics.
• Now, since combos matter more and require more interaction, you'll be relying less on "i-frame" spam and more on timing and execution.

Better Cleave, More Rewarding Combos

• Your basic cleave skill is now stronger.
• But if you chain it with other skills, it becomes even better

More Flexible Skill Progression

• Early-game Buccaneers will now see higher skill mastery from early skill levels.
• Damage increases from higher skill levels are smaller, which means you’re encouraged to level a variety of skills gradually instead of maxing just one at a time.

「 Outlaw 」

• Flamethrower - Damage has been rescaled and increased for all skill levels
  • Now starts at 104% damage and can hit 4 targets
  • Every skill level increases 4% damage
  • Maximum damage is now 220% (up from 160%)
• Ice Splitter - Damage has been rescaled and increased for all skill levels
  • Now starts at 93% damage and can hit 4 targets
  • Every skill level increases 3% damage
  • Maximum damage is now 180% (up from 130%)

These changes aim to improve the third job experience for Outlaws by enhancing their core mobbing skills. Flamethrower and Ice Splitter now deal significantly more damage across all levels and can hit 4 targets right from the start. With smoother scaling and higher max damage, these skills should feel more satisfying at the start of 3rd job.



「 Gatekeeper & Thanatos 」

• They are now strong to Poison

Gatekeeper and Thanatos were originally adjusted to improve third job grinding experience, but a specific strategy has turned them into a leeching spot for second job characters in unintended ways, even if the strategy requires very strong gears.

While we respect creative approaches to the game, this one created an imbalance in progression for those levels. We hope players can understand this adjustment as a small but important step toward maintaining fair and meaningful gameplay.


「 Blue Mushmom 」

• Respawn time reduce to 4 hours (from 23 hours), thanks for the suggestion from here, here, and here

We’ve lowered Blue Mushmom’s respawn timer following consistent player feedback—it was a tough bottleneck for questers, and this change should make the experience feel fairer.


「 Golden Temple Mobs 」

• Now drops 100nx and 250 nx cards like other monsters, thanks for the suggestion from here

Full monster list here:

Spoiler: Golden Temple Mobs

• Wild Monkey
• Mama Monkey
• White Baby Monkey
• White Mama Monkey
• Red Goblin
• Blue Goblin
• Strong Stone Goblin
• Ravana

​

Also, we wanted to inform you that the Dark Knight changes won't be a part of this patch. While we are hoping to address them sooner than later, the team needs more time to implement and test the adjustments. We truly appreciate your understanding and patience as we continue working on these improvements.

We understand that balance changes can be disruptive, especially when they touch on familiar routines or favored playstyles, but we believe these updates can help to create better potential for class diversity, gameplay depth, and long-term balance. We encourage everyone to try the changes firsthand, explore new playstyles before jumping to conclusion about the changes.

As always, your sincere feedback is greatly appreciated!

Thanks as usual to all our current staff members with the changes!