The Soul Fighter is a hybrid class
Blade and Soul’s roster is ever-growing even as the title’s western launch grows near. Steparu is reporting that the title is currently testing a new class called the Soul Fighter (although he suspects that this name will change for the NA release). The Soul Fighter is a hybrid class that draws several abilities from both the Kung Fu Master and the Force Master while adding in a few new skills as well. The class utilizes ice and melee attacks to build up a meter that can be unleashed for a flurry of devastating blows. Only Gon and Kun (Yun) races can roll a Soul Fighter, so plan accordingly.
The combat system in this game, while I find to be very engaging, falls a bit short on my expectations for the game. I figured that Blade and Soul was going to be similar to the skill-shotting and free-style combat that would be similar to TERA, but it turns out, to my surprise, that it’s a lot more similar to Skyforge than anything else. If you’ve been following along with our Blade & Soul coverage thus far, buy blade and soul gold you’ll know I think the free-to-play martial arts MMO looks pretty damn good for a game that’s been out in Asian countries for several years.
The game isn’t very grindy, at least in the traditional sense of the word. “Grinding” to me means having to wander about killing random things and raise your level without any objective beyond that. Original EverQuest—that was grindy. In Blade & Soul’s case, all experience points necessary can be gained through questing. It’s all very linear—grab a group of quests, finish them, move to next area, repeat—and doesn’t make me want to create an alt just to go through the same crap with different skills, but it’s entertaining enough.
You’ll also know I get a kick out of the game’s cinematic presentation, as well as its impressive movement system, though the awesome Dragon Pulse riding I showcased shortly after launch hasn’t reared its head much since I passed that area. Having created your character it’s time to take your first steps and begin this all-consuming adventure. The main story starts with you as a new student of the Hongmoon school, a trainee under the famous Master Hong. Suddenly one day a woman known as Jinsoyun, aided by her gang of cronies, destroy the school and slay all the students with their dark powers.
As the sole survivor you start a journey to find Jinsoyun and extract vengeance and justice. Although it isn’t the strongest of plots it does a decent job of keeping you interested enough to follow it if you’re not speeding through the game in a hurry. Occasionally, on key moments you will also be treated to a cutcscene and the main characters have full voice acting. In case you’d like to poke me in game, I’m generally playing Back, my currently level 28 assassin, blade and soul gold on the Master Hong server. So how do I feel about the game after a week of post-launch play? I made a list.
I’m really glad I have VIP (paid) access. The game makes sure I appreciate this by showing how many people are waiting in the non-VIP queue during busy hours as I breeze on by. It kind of makes me feel like a dick. This is because only certain skills, especially from enemy NPCs, can be avoided by quick reflexes. A lot of attacks, like enemy auto-attacks, have to be face-tanked rather than being truly avoidable. The targeting system is also a mix of the traditional tab-targeting (though no real pressing to tab to target) and some skills can only be properly used when locked onto a target. This was a real disappointment for me because I was truly expecting a free-style hack-and-slash type of combat.