Elsword (엘소드, エルス) is a a free-to-play, 2.5D action MMORPG developed by the South Korean company KOG Studios. The game originally released in South Korea in December 27th, 2007, then in Taiwan & Hong Kong in 2009, Japan in 2010, North America & China in 2011, and Europe in 2013. The game was originally developed to be a spiritual successor to KOG Studios previous game, Grand Chase, before its was decided to be made into its own IP. This game would feature various expanded media such as manhwas, manga, anime, light novel, and more.
Players traverse the land of Elrios, defeating enemies and leveling-up to unlock new job classes and skills. As players explore the world, they travel to eighteen unique regions, most containing a "hub" town and around six dungeons. In towns, players can receive quests from NPCs, purchase items, and interact with other players. Dungeons are instanced, usually offering co-op play for up to four players in general dungeons, six players in raids, and eight players split into two parties of four in the new striker raids. Some dungeons feature branching paths, light puzzle-solving, and interactive elements such as collapsing buildings. The game also features a number of special dungeons.
Elsword is similar to other 2.5D beat 'em up action games while also containing elements of both RPG & MMORPG genres. Featuring skill-based action gameplay, role-playing elements, and community features such as guilds, chats, and item trading. In addition to these elements, there are also certain fighting game elements featured, such as having to properly execute combos within a specific range of their character.
As players play through the game and level up, different types of skills are automatically unlocked and can also choose skill traits for a skill (only Special Active, Active, and Buff), which grants additional buffs. These buffs include damage increase, mana usage decrease, and anti-mana break skill, with some cost, a sacrifice like cool down skill or mana usage increase.
Players can choose to be one of 14 available character classes, consisting of the main character Elsword, Aisha, Rena, Raven, Eve, Chung, Ara, Elesis, Add, Lu/Ciel, Rose, Ain, Lady, Noah, and Lithia. In addition to this, each of these classes have 4 subclasses each starting at level 15 called "Paths," which give each of the 14 classes different play styles, personalities, skills, and even different quest lines dedicated to each "Path". Complementing this, all classes, after being level 70, can advance to the "Transcendance mode" where they gain two new passives, one active, and three special actives and two additional skill slots.
Essential Links:
Fandom Wiki: https://elwiki.net/w/Main_Page
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/elsword/
Discord (NA/INT): https://discord.gg/Elsword
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