The Free2Play MMORPG Blade & Soul focuses on fast-paced action gameplay, intricate skill combos, and stylish anime graphics based on the Unreal Engine 3. There are regularly new contents with a continuation of the story, new item tiers, and additional dungeons and raids. Moreover, Blade & Soul features a sophisticated PvP mode that plays like a beat ’em up game.
Blade & Soul by NCSoft is a successful AAA online role-playing game from South Korea for PC. Blade & Soul has been available since 2012 in its home country, and the game was so popular that it even has its own musical about the archvillain Jinsoyun and an anime series! In Europe and the USA, Blade & Soul was released in January 2016. But is this game worth it for you?
A Game Like a Wuxia Film!
In Blade & Soul, everything revolves around mystical martial arts! The entire game is clearly aimed at fans of Asian martial arts stories (Wuxia) and anime/manga. Your heroes are therefore aspiring students of a mythical martial arts school in the mountains, which is wiped out by a rival at the very beginning of the game.
Only your hero survives and vows revenge! But in true Kung Fu film style, you must first learn the mysterious martial arts of the Hongmoon Clan. In plain terms: You grind and quest through hours of content to become ever more powerful. The typical MMORPG structure thus fits the theme of the setting!
Action Gameplay for Anime Fans
The gameplay of Blade & Soul revolves mainly around fast-paced, action-rich battles. Thanks to the dynamic combat system, you actively evade or block attacks. Those who skillfully and timed defend against attacks receive powerful options for counterattacks and can trigger additional effects. Your skills are all easily accessible via hotkeys and can be developed individually.
Combos and tactically smart application of skills in Blade & Soul are crucial to gameplay. Some of the well-balanced classes are complex and require well-coordinated combinations of skills for maximum effect. However, there are also classes that are easier to play and place less demand on the player.
The Classes and Races in Blade & Soul
The selection of your race is more of a cosmetic choice, as the four races do not provide bonuses. Depending on which race you choose, your selection of classes is limited. Only the cute little Lyn can become Summoners, while the path of the Berserker is only available to the massive Gon.
All four races are humanoid but differ in physique. Jin are typical humans, Yun are a race of elfin beings who are always female, Gon are powerful giants, and the Lyn are cute little creatures with animal ears and tails.
As for classes, there is a colorful selection of fitting martial arts heroes:
- Kung Fu Master: A difficult class to play that focuses on combos and blocks.
- Blade Master: A strong damage dealer who masters many combos and blocks.
- Berserker: An initially easy-to-play brawler class with a big axe.
- Elementalist: A typical mage who attacks from a distance with elemental effects.
- Summoner: An easy-to-play support class that has a cute cat as a pet.
- Pactbreaker: A dark ranged fighter who controls opponents and summons a demon.
- Nightblade: The typical ninja rogue DPS class.
- Blade Dancer: A special melee class that can only be played by the cute Lyn.
- Elemental Fighter: A mix between a Kung Fu Master and an Elementalist.
- Marksman: The newest class in the game, who operates at a distance with pistols and rifles and is very mobile.
An Endless Story
Throughout the game, you experience exciting gameplay along with an engaging story. The plot exploits all the registers of the Wuxia genre and shows in elaborate and spectacular cutscenes how various friends and foes spectacularly battle each other.
Regular free updates and expansions continue the story. In addition to more action, you can expect surprising twists where friends become foes and foes become friends.
The Free2Play Model
Blade & Soul is completely free to play. All new content also comes free via updates. However, you can subscribe to a paid membership that grants you bonuses:
- You can store and withdraw an unlimited number of costumes, saving inventory space (this feature may be offered for free in an upcoming update)
- You earn more in-game currency and experience points
- Your fast travel feature has a shorter cooldown
- You are prioritized in queues
- You can have more than 10 concurrent auctions running
- Marketplace fees are reduced
- Leveling up weapons goes faster
Additionally, there are microtransactions for costumes, services like new character slots or inventory spaces, and upgrade materials for equipment. The upgrade items are particularly sought after, as they require a lot of grind in the game. Those willing to spend real money can experience much faster progress in gameplay and participate with top-tier players in the endgame.
What Makes the MMORPG Blade & Soul Different?
Blade & Soul is in many ways a typical online role-playing game. There are levels, raids, dungeons, equipment, and loot. However, in some features, NCSoft’s colorful MMORPG takes different approaches:
- Your outfit is just fluff. The damage caused primarily depends on the weapon used, which can be further developed over various levels. Other stats, such as health points, defense values, accuracy, and critical hit chance, come from the “Bagua Fragments” used. These are small images divided into 8 parts, each providing bonuses per piece. If you use several Bagua from a set, you get bonuses! However, the Bagua can only be seen in the equipment menu. Therefore, you can wear whatever you like!
- There are tons of costumes with which you can dress up your heroes. Like in many Asian MMOs, the outfits can be very extravagant and sexy at times. However, there are also modest outfits. So whether you want to appear as a mysterious martial monk with a straw hat, a sword master in a samurai look, or a sexy sharpshooter, Blade & Soul fulfills your wish.
- The playable classes play extremely differently. From the agile Blade Dancer to the brutal Berserker, to Elementalists and Marksmen, there are many different play styles. Some classes, like the Kung Fu Master, can only reach their full potential with masterful players as they build on very complex combinations and require quick reactions. Other classes, like the Elementalist or Summoner, are more accessible for newcomers and casual players, although true mastery often presents further challenges. In group play and group PvP, the classes have their own strengths, which do not much align with the classic MMORPG role distribution of “Tank-DD-Healer”.
- There are no pure healers; every character can deal damage. Tanking mainly works through blocking or dodging. However, good awareness is especially needed to avoid deadly area attacks. This creates a dynamic combat scenario.
- The PvP mode in Blade & Soul takes place partly in the open world and partly in special arenas. Whoever wears the uniform of one of the two opposing factions is fair game for the enemy. If you don’t want to engage, just wear something else and you have peace. In the arena, PvP plays more like a beat ’em up than an MMORPG. Here, your skills in dodging, blocking, and countering become even more important. Additionally, in team PvP, as in wrestling, you have the option to tag in or out as needed. The PvP is so popular that it even has its own eSport league.
You Will Love Blade and Soul If …
- you are ready to invest a lot of time in your favorite game
- you don’t mind experiencing content over and over again
- action-packed and well-balanced arena PvP is totally your thing!
- you enjoy fast and action-rich battles that bring real challenges
- you appreciate a steadily evolving story that regularly provides you with new gameplay content and challenges!
Blade & Soul is Less Suitable for You If …
- you prefer more leisurely gameplay! Blade & Soul has a decent pace and requires good reflexes and movement!
- you cannot stand Eastern settings or martial arts backgrounds
- you can’t stand anime aesthetics and wacky costumes!
- you want to experience the end game but have very little time available
Beginner Tips to Ease Your Start
With the following tips and tricks, you can start much more effectively and gain significant advantages right at the start and in your first hours:
- When you reach “Jade Stone”, complete all (!) resource gathering quests there. They give a large amount of experience points!
- Achievements are important! Later, a certain number of them will be needed, and some achievements improve game stats!
- Each class plays very individually. Therefore, it helps to watch some gameplay videos. Otherwise, it can easily happen that you reach the maximum level but struggle with the challenges of the class or it simply doesn’t suit you. Especially if you want to reach high levels and are interested in the endgame, you should know exactly what awaits you later!
- If you play “block classes” like a Kung Fu Master or Blade Master, you can block “yellow” attacks. Attacks with a red indicator cannot be blocked. Here you have to dodge!
- PvP in the open world is voluntary! As long as you don’t wear the uniform of any faction, you cannot be attacked by other players.
- In the PvP arena, weapon damage is normalized. The quality of the weapon has no effect there.
- The game engine often does not register all left and right mouse clicks when spamming quickly (important for classes like the Elementalist). Instead, it helps to use the “R” key more often.
Tips for Money and Item Upgrades
Money is essential in Blade & Soul for item upgrades and thus for game progression. These tips will help you become rich and powerful!
- Money rules the world! Weapon upgrades are incredibly expensive but necessary to master later challenges. Therefore, one should always think about how to earn in-game currency. A little skill in trading in the market and knowledge of good farm spots are very valuable here. Also, make sure to regularly complete dungeons and daily challenges. If you don’t consider early what you need for the next upgrade, you might quickly lose enjoyment in the game as you’ll reach your limits sooner or later, and progress will cease.
- It’s especially important to sell surplus items on the market. So always check back (with F5 in the default settings, you can access the market) and see what individual items are worth. The market is available from level 15.
- Chest keys are very valuable! They should be used wisely. Many materials for weapon upgrades can be easily found in the game, while others are very difficult to obtain. Therefore, think about whether you really need the chest’s contents.
- Crafting professions are always linked with two other professions. Choose your jobs carefully and align them with each other.
- You can receive quest rewards instantly without returning to the quest giver. However, this costs money! Especially at the beginning of the game, you should not waste unnecessary money.
- Do not sell everything that comes into your hands! Many items are needed for weapon upgrades or can be sold for greater profit in the market.
- Repair tools are truly valuable and should not be squandered.
- Disassemble surplus Baguas that you find. This provides valuable transformation materials, especially later in the game.
- You can log out comfortably after issuing crafting orders; the orders will still be completed.
Conclusion – Blade & Soul Offers Plenty of Content & Fun for Fans of Martial Arts and Anime!
If you enjoy colorful anime graphics, Kung Fu action, fast-paced gameplay with a high skill factor, and brilliant Wuxia stories, you can’t go wrong with Blade & Soul. The game offers plenty of content completely free, and you only really need to spend money if you are totally into fancy outfits from the cash shop or want to quickly and easily participate in the endgame with top gear without any grind. However, if you bring a lot of time or just want a really well-thought-out combat system and top PvP, you can confidently download the client!
