Following the October 7 update, players turned their attention to the newly added Blessing Quests. Quests were added every 5 levels starting from Level 55, with new skills offered as rewards at Level 60 and Level 70. As players needed to defeat a large number of monsters depending on the stage, many were seen carrying out quests directly in the gorges and related hunting grounds.
Through these quests, players can receive not only Blessings but also Trait Stones and fragments required to craft Heroic Equipment Selection Chests. On the other hand, as a segment requiring 50 Nine Cores during quest progression became known, market prices temporarily rose on some servers. This week's Weekly SOL Issues gathers community reactions following the addition of new skills, QoL improvements, and field Nine adjustments.
Defeat Up to 1,500 Monsters! What Are the Blessing Quest Rewards?
Blessing Quests, which can be undertaken every 5 levels starting at Level 55, have been added. They do not end with simply talking to NPCs; they involve traveling through gorges and hunting grounds to defeat monsters, with some stages featuring missions to hunt 1,500 monsters in the Hidden Cave.
Throughout the process, players can obtain EXP, Trait Stones, and fragments needed to craft Heroic Equipment Selection Chests. In particular, players welcomed the ability to directly obtain Trait Stones, while those who had been gathering fragments to craft Heroic equipment noted that the quest rewards make crafting feel significantly more achievable.
Given the high monster kill requirements, discussions on progression strategies have also emerged. Players are sharing tips to complete quests faster, such as using auto-accept party requests to hunt alongside players in the same area or following other players to fulfill quest objectives.
New Skills at Level 60 and Level 70: How Are Players Reacting After Trying Them Out?
Blessing Quests also unlock new skills. Completing the Level 60 and Level 70 quests awards Heroic-grade and Legendary-grade new skills, respectively, prompting players to jump into the relevant questlines following the update.
However, detailed impressions of the new skills remain sparse. The quest progression requires passing through specific hunting grounds, but on some servers, these areas are locked down by controlling guilds, making quest completion difficult. Consequently, reviews sharing performance feedback after learning the new skills remain limited.
So far, positive feedback has been noted mainly from players who personally tested the new Knight skills. As user reviews accumulate for other classes, the differences they bring to hunting and PvP are expected to become clearer.
50 Nine Cores Required for Blessing Quest! Market Prices Temporarily Shift
There was also an unexpected material requirement for players doing the Blessing Quests. As news spread that 50 Nine Cores are needed for certain stages, the number of players searching for Nine Cores on the exchange increased right after the update.
Although supply had increased and prices had dropped last week due to the Unstable Nine Core event, a sudden surge in demand from questing players caused market prices on some servers to temporarily rise.
However, the price hike was short-lived. On several servers, prices returned to previous levels after early quest completionists finished buying. Since it is not a recurring consumption mechanism, the price change appears to be a temporary spike immediately following the quest update.
Schedule Feature Improvements Praised, Location Sharing Leaves Room for Improvement
Among the QoL improvements in this update, the Schedule feature received the most praise. Players reported increased stability during extended auto-hunting, as instances of characters moving to the next hunting ground with low health and instantly dying decreased. Players who frequently use the Schedule feature noted that the improvement felt immediately noticeable.
On the other hand, opinions on the World Map Location Sharing feature were mixed, as it fell short of expectations. Clicking a shared location teleports the character to the starting point of the map rather than the player's exact position. Players who expected to teleport directly to party or guild members expressed disappointment with its actual implementation.
Additionally, changes aimed at reducing existing inconveniences were applied, such as safe zone boundary notifications and monster spawn position adjustments. While some QoL enhancements, like the Schedule feature, brought immediate benefits, others like Location Sharing showed discrepancies between expectations and real-world usage, leading to mixed overall feedback.
Higher-Tier Hunting Grounds Became Harder? How Hunting Impressions Changed Post-Patch
Following adjustments to monster spawn areas, players are reporting that hunting in higher-tier grounds has become more difficult than before. Prior to the patch, players could auto-hunt offline all the way up to Grana Sanctuary after completing collections, but some shared that they had to move back down to the North Gate after the update. Additionally, with more instances of being attacked by multiple monsters simultaneously in high-tier areas, players noted the need to stack more DEF.
Actual hunting playstyles have also shifted. To avoid getting swarmed by monsters, players noted turning off AoE skills or narrowing their auto-hunting radius. Others shared feedback that securing Physical DEF to make enemy attacks miss has become more critical than boosting other stats.
Some players also noted that monster placement feels uneven. When other players take up spots nearby, monsters stop spawning at existing spots and suddenly swarm elsewhere. Similar reports emerged from the Nine Mine, where monsters and players would crowd into a specific zone before drifting back to the opposite side.
While lower-tier hunting grounds do not appear to have become equally difficult, feedback on higher-tier hunting grounds clearly indicates increased difficulty. Rather than staying in the same hunting zones post-patch, players are now reviewing their defensive stats and auto-hunting radius.
Unprovoked PK Continues Across Servers, Raising Frustration Over Interrupted Farming
Apart from the update, complaints about indiscriminate PK—commonly known as "makpi" (random PK)—continue to surface across servers. Players reported being targeted without reason while roaming specific hunting grounds or having their characters repeatedly griefed.
Instances were reported where characters died during unattended auto-hunting or were attacked again immediately upon returning to the field. For players relying on long auto-hunting sessions, the disruption caused by progress halting while away from the screen is a major source of frustration. Across servers, complaints surrounding specific players or guilds engaging in unprovoked PK continue to recur.
While PK is an intentional in-game system, repeated attacks on farming players are causing considerable discontent. As world and server-wide rivalries heat up, complaints about PK disruptions in standard hunting grounds are growing, making it a situation worth monitoring.
