Soul Knight Prequel S3: Submertide Optimization Overview
Release time: 2024-07-16
Hello everyone, Soul Knight Prequel S2 ended on July 15, 2024, at 4:00 AM (UTC+8). The S3: Submertide will start on July 18, 2024, at 10:00 AM (UTC+8). Let's take a look at the optimizations coming in S3!
Game Content Expansion
1. New Difficulty: Ultra Extreme
Starting in S3, a new game difficulty Ultra Extreme will be added. Players must first complete Chains of Urgannon on Heroic difficulty to unlock this difficulty. Heroic difficulty can be unlocked by completing Kernel Subspace on Challenging difficulty.
2. Apex Level Expansion
In S3, the Apex level cap will be raised to 125. There will be no seasonal Apex level for S3; characters created in S2 and earlier will not be affected.
3. Gacha Skins & Battle Pass Rewards
Summer is here with sunshine, beaches, and marine creatures! Join us for an underwater adventure this season!
- Skin: Freediver Nessie
- Skin: Surfrider Jayden
- Back accessory: Twinkle Octopus
- Back accessory: Summer Surfing
These items can be obtained through the Gachapon Dispenser.
- Skin: Ultramarine Songstress
- Skin: Master of the Seas
These skins can be obtained by unlocking the Gold Medallion and reaching the required rank.
Gameplay Mechanics Adjustments
1. Dungeon Difficulty Adjustments
We will be making the following adjustments to dungeon difficulties:
- In Normal difficulty, dungeon levels will be fixed and will not scale with the character's level.
- In Heroic and higher difficulties, monsters within the dungeons will have increased attack speeds based on the corresponding difficulty.
2. Stat Adjustments
To optimize game performance and player experience, the following stat adjustments will be made in S3:
Intelligence
Intelligence will no longer provide additional boosts to Elemental Resistances and Physical Resistance. Instead, it will now provide additional boosts to Elemental Resistances (Fire, Cold, and Shock Resistance). The boost per point of Intelligence will be adjusted from 0.05% to 0.06%.
Bonus Damage
In the new season, increasing the Bonus Elemental Damage will simultaneously boost Fire, Cold, and Shock Damage bonuses. Similarly, increasing the Bonus Natural Damage will simultaneously boost Poison, Light, and Dark Damage bonuses.
Attack Speed
To prevent damage loss caused by excessively high Attack Speed, the new season will introduce an Attack Speed cap, with a maximum increase of 300%.
Resistance
You can enhance Elemental Resistances to simultaneously increase Fire, Cold, and Shock Resistance bonuses. Similarly, you can enhance Natural Resistances to simultaneously increase Poison, Light, and Dark Resistance bonuses.
Additionally, the Damage Reduction effect will no longer diminish as resistance stats are increased. Each point of resistance will now count as 1% resistance, reducing the corresponding type of damage by 1%. The cap for each type of resistance is 70%.
Damage Reduction
The Damage Reduction stat will no longer diminish as it is increased, and the maximum Damage Reduction will be capped at 70%.
Class Balance Adjustments
Based on the performance of various classes in S2 and player feedback, we will be making the following adjustments for the new season:
Initial Classes
Archer
Increased the damage boost of Piercing Arrows after piercing enemies to 20%/30%/40%/50%.
Animancer
Enhanced the Soul Sync, allowing minions to inherit your Resistances Penetration.
Aegis
Kinetic Barrier will now also apply to nearby allies.
Thief
Adjusted the trigger condition for the skill Tactful Swoop from "If next attack is a normal attack, Tactful Swoop only incurs half its usual CD" to "Next attack, Tactful Swoop incurs half its usual CD".
Herbalist
The passive skill Master of Potions can now be triggered by the Recuperation chip skill.
Replenish can replenish the CD of all learned skills (except Replenish itself).
Prestige Classes
Assassin
The skill Stealth now changes from "You're guaranteed to crit for massive damage on your next attack" to "You're guaranteed to crit for massive damage on your next attack and for a short time after."
Stormwarden
Adjusted mana's locked percentage for Lancing Lightning from 30% to 10%/20%/30%/40%.
Adjusted mana's locked percentage for Avalanche Ram from 30% to 10%/20%/30%/40%.
Pyroknight
Adjusted the extra Fire Damage bonus for Blazing Soul after reaching the designated effect from "+3%/4%/5%/6% Extra Fire Damage for each stack of the designated effect you have," to "+1%/2%/3%/4% Extra Fire Damage for each stack of the designated effect you have".
Adjusted the skill effect of Igneous Transmutation from "Convert 30%/45%/60%/75% of the total Intelligence to Attack Power" to "Convert 20%/30%/40%/50% of the total Intelligence to Attack Power."
Soulkeeper
The skill Summon Armaros will no longer consume weapons, the skill CD is adjusted from 6 seconds to 30 seconds, and the skill description is optimized.
Heretic
Thermal Incubation: Enhanced the Defensive of Flaming Hydra.
Emberborn: Increased the proportion of extra Fire Damage converted from Fire Resistance from "20%/30%/40%/50% of total Fire Resistance" to "30%/45%/60%/75% of total Fire Resistance."
Bastion
The skill Saturated Firepower is adjusted from "Chance to launch more projectiles for a short time after defeating enemies." to "Number of projectiles gradually increases as you attack, immediately reaching max if an enemy is defeated."
Druid
The skill Avatar of Ursok no longer provides extra Defense, and the total Defense stat is reduced by 50%/60%/70%/80%.
Shinobi
Adjusted the inherited stats of Clone. The Clone can now inherit your Physical Resistance and various types of Resistance Penetration.
Equipment Adjustments
Content Expansion
New Equipment Tier
With the introduction of the Ultra Extreme difficulty, we are adding a new equipment tier: U-Tier, and increasing the equipment enhancement level cap to 11.
New Insane-Quality Equipment
In the new season, new Insane-quality weapons are coming! After the release of S3, the following Insane-quality weapons will be available in the game:
Hulnenfjall (Sword & Shield)
Obtained by defeating Great River Snail on any difficulty.
Exclusive Fatebound effect: Your normal melee attacks have a chance to trigger Thornguard, and Thornguard deals more damage.
Ephemerality 137 (Focus)
Obtained by defeating Void Varkolyn on any difficulty.
Exclusive Fatebound effect: Reality Throw deals increased damage and has a higher chance to roll sixes.
Senbon Fractalis (Ring)
Obtained by defeating Colossal Sandworm on any difficulty.
Exclusive Fatebound effect: When unarmed or equipped with fist weapons, your normal attacks throw senbon needles that deal higher damage to a single target the more times they hit.
Solastellum (Staff)
Obtained by defeating Zulan the Colossus on any difficulty.
Exclusive Fatebound effect: Solar Beam’s damage is increased, and gains stacks at twice its original rate after being channeled for 2s.
2. Content Optimization
Computability System Adjustments
To optimize the chip acquisition process and reduce the cost of chip development, we will be making the following adjustments to the Computability gameplay in S3:
Chips & EsoCircuits
In S3, the amount of EsoCircuits obtained from Projection Chests will be increased. Additionally, you will immediately receive various commonly used Level 1 chips upon unlocking the Computability gameplay.
We have also optimized chip upgrades. In addition to synthesizing 3 chips of the same type and level to upgrade, you can now directly use EsoCircuits to upgrade chips. The number of EsoCircuits required for upgrades will increase with the chip level.
Cybermodding
After the new season starts, the Cybermodding will unlock upon reaching Challenging difficulty. Cybermod equipment will no longer consume EsoCircuits, but dismantling cybermodded equipment will no longer yield chips.
HoloKeys
You can use gems to generate HoloKeys up to 6 times daily, but the storage limit remains at 12. Additionally, the first clear rewards for HoloKeys will reset in Season 3, regardless of the Convolution factor.
Projection Dungeon
We will remove the elite projection dungeon starting in S3. The maximum Convolution factor for projection dungeons will be set at 72, and can be acceseed in the Ultra Extreme difficulty.
Esotech Chests & Helxar Chests
In S3, the number of keys required to open Esotech Chests and Helxar Chests will be adjusted to 1. The EsoCircuits obtained from Esotech Chests will be significantly increased, but Lydites, Weathered Hephaestites, and Volcanic Hephaestites will no longer be obtainable from these chests.
Guidance Optimization
We will include guidance for the Computability gameplay in the novice tutorial quests.
Fatebound Effect Adjustments
In S3, we will make the following adjustments to Fatebound Effects:
Gravitic Nova
The 2-piece set effect is adjusted from "Damage + 25%, Knockback effect - 150%" to "Damage + 25%, Draw enemies together."
The 3-piece set effect is adjusted from "Damage + 50%, Knockback effect - 200%" to "Damage + 50%, Draw enemies together."
Spirit of the Crystal Snapclaw
The 2-piece set effect is adjusted from "10% chance to trigger, 1-second CD" to "10% chance to trigger, no CD."
The 3-piece set effect is adjusted from "20% chance to trigger, 1-second CD" to "20% chance to trigger, no CD."
Spirit of the Mage
The 2-piece set effect is adjusted from "Normal attacks periodically cause the last skill used to be recast, 12-second CD" to "Normal attacks periodically cause the last attack skill used to be recast, 12-second CD".
The 3-piece set effect is adjusted from "Normal attacks periodically cause the last skill used to be recast, 6-second CD" to "Normal attacks periodically cause the last attack skill used to be recast, 6-second CD".
Valkyrie's Proving Grounds Adjustments
Mechanics Adjustments
In the new season, we have optimized the unlocking process for the Proving Grounds. You will now trigger a plot to directly unlock Valkyrie's Proving Grounds after reaching level 30 on Challenging difficulty, without needing to clear Southern Steppes again.
In S3, the Proving Grounds dungeons will adopt randomly generated dungeons as in S0 and S1. The life of the monsters in the Proving Grounds has been adjusted, with lower floors being slightly easier and higher floors more challenging. Additionally, after reaching the 100th floor, monsters will receive additional enhancements every few floors, making the Proving Grounds even more challenging.
Reward Adjustments
Based on the new gameplay in S3 and feedback from past seasons, we have adjusted the floor and rank rewards for the Proving Grounds. Seasonal characters (including pure seasonal characters) will now be able to obtain more items related to the new gameplay from the Proving Grounds.
Character Experience Adjustments
After the new season begins, the floor progress of permanent characters in the Proving Grounds will be reset. You can use permanent characters to participate in the Proving Grounds and receive floor rewards. The rewards for permanent characters and seasonal characters (including pure seasonal characters) will be independent of each other.
Avatar of the Valkyrie Adjustments
We will adjust the maximum stat points that can be obtained from clearing the Proving Grounds. Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence can each be increased to a maximum of 300 points.
Boon of the Valkyrie Adjustments
The Blightbringer will no longer be affected by the bonus to the minion number when applying minion skills.
Gameplay Flow Optimization
To enhance the gaming experience, we have adjusted the gameplay flow in S3 based on the game's difficulty.
Normal Difficulty
Fatebound effects Combination
In normal difficulty, we will reduce the number of Fatebound effects appearing in early levels, allowing you to quickly gather your desired Fatebound effects.
Dungeon Adjustments
The number of stages within a dungeon will be reduced to 3, shortening the time needed to clear dungeons. Additionally, guidance will be added within dungeons to help you quickly find the entrance to the next stage.
The strength of bosses in normal difficulty will be significantly reduced, balancing the starting conditions across different initial classes.
Gameplay Features
You will be able to experience the Eidolon gameplay and Affixed mode gameplay in normal difficulty.
Challenging Difficulty
Guidance Optimization
Weathered Hephaestites will be included in the novice quests.
Gameplay Features
Computability System
NPC VarE will appear in Chillstead Village only after you reach Challenging difficulty, and the related Cybermodding gameplay will also be unlocked at this difficulty. The storyline related to VarE will be simplified and adjusted for quicker access to the Cybermodding gameplay.
Projection Playground
The Projection Playground will be available in Challenging difficulty and above.
Heroic Difficulty
Guidance Optimization
Volcanic Hephaestites will be included in the novice quests.
Gameplay Features
Helxar Gameplay
The Eastern Continent of Xandu and related storyline and Helxar-Infusion will be unlocked at this difficulty. The Helxar-touched dungeons will also appear only in Xandu at Heroic difficulty and above. Additionally, 1 fixed dungeon area in Xandu will always be a Helxar-touched dungeon.
Daily Invitation
Daily Invitations will drop in Heroic difficulty and above.
Other In-Game Optimizations
In S3, we have adjusted the location of the portal that appears after clearing a dungeon and added Furnace and 996 Shopkeep to dismantle or trade equipment.
Note: During the main storyline, the Furnace and 996 Shopkeep will not appear after clearing dungeons.