Optimized overall performance and environmental interactions:
1. Forward jump (holding forward + jump): Trigger interactions with objects around you, such as through wall running, tree climbing, jumping atop eaves and beams, vaulting through windows, etc. (These were triggered by pressing the jump key in previous versions. We've changed this in order to prevent accidental interactions.)
2. Jump (without pressing any directional key): Perform a 'back roll' to exit from certain interactions (such as climbing walls or trees, hanging atop eaves, etc. You could drop down from these with the 'C' key in previous versions, and has been changed to simplify controls.)
3. Climb up: Hold a directional key to climb up while hanging from eaves. Releasing the key before you've completed the action cancels it. (The jump key was used to climb up in previous versions, and has been changed to make less key-presses necessary in gameplay.)
4. Check: Hold a directional key while crouching atop a tree or the edge of a building to 'check' the area and then drop down. Releasing the key before you've completed the action cancels it. (The jump key was used to do this in previous versions. We've changed this in order to prevent players from starting the action accidentally.)
5. Extended interactions: Point the camera in a set direction and initiate a forward jump during various interactions (such as climbing walls or trees, hanging atop eaves, etc.) in order to extend your interaction range in that direction. For example, looking up while climbing a tree allows you to grab onto eaves that would be out of reach otherwise.
6. You now automatically climb up onto beams or ropes when grabbing them, and can no longer hang underneath them. Press C to drop down. (Changed to improve ease-of-use.)
7. Slightly reduced slide speed and increased the capacity for turning whilst sliding. Added a new animation for consecutive slides.
Default Grapple Settings:
Having got out your Grappling Hook, both left- and right-click are set to 'Auto Aim'. You can adjust Auto Aim settings for the left or right mouse button, and toggle Auto Aim to your liking by pressing the escape key then heading to Settings. (Right-clicking would enter Auto Aim in the previous version. We've changed this to make the controls easier for new players.)
Optimized network and functionality:
1. Optimized how memory/video memory is managed to smoothen frame rates.
2. Optimized loading of resources from the hard drive, making loading smoother.
3. Optimized hardware support for mice with high polling rates, smoothening camera movement at high frame rates (over 60 FPS).
4. Optimized controller support.
5. Updated NVIDIA DLSS, improving rendering efficiency while also making even better graphics possible.
6. Other assorted efficiency and graphics optimizations.
7. Optimized rendering efficiency of the Team Stats page, reducing stuttering and frame drops encountered while viewing it.
8. Tuned network settings to fix several issues that would occur at high latency and during network disturbance. Icons are now displayed by characters' heads during high latency to indicate a poor connection.
Combat adjustments:
1. Bag adjustments: a) Valuable equipment can be picked up and swapped out for low-quality equipment of the same kind in your Bag (Souljades, Vitalia, Armor Powder, weapons etc.). b) Added the ability to swap your equipped weapon. Press '3' to swap it with a nearby weapon you haven't picked up. c) Once you've maxed out your Bag's capacity, you'll no longer be able to pick up Bag Upgrades. d) You can now interact with Troves and Rift Dealers while your Bag is open.
2. Optimized the animations, effects and SFX for attacks with melee weapons.
3. Optimized the view shown for various charged moves.
4. Added damage text. You can toggle damage and healing text in Settings - Combat.
5. Added a bar to indicate the remaining duration of important debuffs.
6. Added a bar to indicate the progress of weapon repairs/healing.
7. Optimized colorblind mode for items (in and out of games): Item quality is now displayed directly in drops & item descriptions, making it no longer necessary to see an item's text to assess its rarity.
8. Counter sword energy: You can trigger a Counter when your weapon clashes with an enemy's, but Counters now also reflect sword energy too.
New weapon: Spear
General description: Following prolonged discussions and consideration we have decided to introduce a new melee weapon as part of the Final Beta: the [Spear]. Along with the Spear, we'll be introducing combos to go with it and more Souljade content, too. Known as the 'King of All Weapons' in ancient China, it has a reasonably large range compared to other melee weapons.
New attack method, 'On Target': When charging up a blow with the Spear, releasing at just the right moment initiates an even-stronger golden Focus strike.
Souljade [Scale Rush - Spear]: Launching a Scale Rush with a Spear initiates a new move upon hitting the ground.
Weapon balance adjustments:
1. Redesigned the Pistol. It now fires five shots, while charged shots fire a number of explosive rounds (depending on how many you've loaded into the chamber). These rounds deal explosive damage within a small area.
2. Slightly increased the speed of the Flamebringer's fire.
3. Slightly increased the speed of Repeating Crossbow shots.
4. Reduced the Bow's basic damage by 5%.
5. Increased the Cannon's basic damage by 7%, and optimized projectile trajectories.
6. Headshot damage from Repeating Crossbows, Muskets and Bows reduced to 1.5x damage (down from 2x). Other ranged weapons' headshot damage remains unchanged.
7. The Grappling Hook no longer deals a small amount of damage to enemies hit.
Tarka Ji 1) We have re-worked Tarka Ji's skill Talents 1 and 2, and they are now used for blocks and counters. Talent 3 remains unchanged. 2) To his ultimate Talent 1, we've added quicker energy regeneration plus that it can now be used while hit. 3) Ultimate Talent 3 is made on the basis of Talent 1. While it increases rage consumption, it also increases attack, while also making it so that you recover rage equal to a portion of your damage dealt. 4) Ultimate Talents 1, 2, and 3, all enable Tarka Ji to withstand non-explosive ranged projectiles while sprinting.
Tianhai: 1) Improved upon the visual effects of his various Talents. 2) Adjusted the Vajra's weak points, weight, and duration. 3) With ultimate Talent 3, the skill used with F does not recover if Tianhai fails to grab hold of an enemy. 4) With ultimate Talent 3, using F while grabbing an enemy now comes with a whole new effect.
Kurumi: 1) Skill Talent 2: Ward: Resurrection's link range has been reduced to 20m (down from 30m). 2) Re-worked skill Talent 3: Ward: Dual Heal. Current effect: Increases healing, and also restores armor while linked to a teammate. While linked, using left-click to blink does not sever the connection, however, right-click no longer heals. 3) Ultimate Talent 1: Sacred Circle now only heals allies and has its radius increased. 4) Ultimate Talent 2: Sacred Circle: Armor Enhance now only restores the armor of allies and has its radius increased.
Viper Ning: 1) Adjusted skill Talents 1 and 3: Talent 1 now breaks Focus, whereas Talent 3 now blocks healing. 2) Re-designed ultimate Talent 2: Twilight Crimson: Seal. Enemies marked may no longer use skills, including their ultimate, and are stunned for 2 sec once the mark ends. 3) Re-designed ultimate Talent 3: Twilight Crimson: Unchained. Enemies marked may no longer use skills, including their ultimate. Viper Ning may move freely during the duration, but the mark no longer stuns. Temulch: 1) Altered the cast animation of Zephyr Wisp: After disappearing briefly, Temulch leaps backward up into the air and summons forth Zephyr Wisps. 2) Skill Talent 3: Zephyr Wisp: Assault's effect has been changed so that wisps now rebound against obstacles, and once again shoot toward enemies. 3) Ultimate, Zephyr Prison, cast animation change: When using the ultimate while on solid ground, Temulch leaps forward and summons Zephyr Prison. 4) Zephyr Prison's negative effects no longer affect allies. 5) Re-worked ultimate Talent 2: Zephyr Prison: Enchanted. Now, Temulch recovers energy at a greatly increased rate while within Zephyr Prison. Matari: 1) Optimized the display of stealth effects from Matari's ultimate.
Environment Changes:
Fruits: 1) Buff changes: Salak: Recovers armor at set intervals for a duration of time. Prickly Pear: Recovers health at set intervals for a duration of time. 2) Pick Up Changes: No longer restricted by health and armor.
Ballistas: 1) There are now tracks upon some towers where players may push ballistae around, greatly increasing mobility and the area they can cover. 2) Greatly reduced the time it takes to mount/dismount the weapon. Increased the explosion radius, and being hit comes with more apparent visual cues.
New Map Features: Flaming Cages: As they fall onto the ground they create a circle of flames, and any player hit by the cage will be stunned for a few seconds.
Other Changes
1. Adjusted the effects and potency of some Talents. 2. Soulshards are no longer required for Talents and glyphs, they instead cost Tae. 3. Score earned for the Survival and Kills Leaderboards and Hall of Fame will be gained at a slower rate as you near the division score for that mode. 4. Added item tips, making it easier to see item descriptions and effects. 5. Improved upon the switching between chat channels, as well as the chat interface itself. We've also added a level restriction and message cooldown to public chat. 6. Added an avatar frame that changes as you level up. 7. Added damage source to the Killer window, enabling you to see the damage you took during the past 20 seconds. 8. Added more hero voice lines. 9. Improved a range of features for referees: improved upon controls for the Ref Spectate camera, added a feature enabling referees to draw upon the map; Ref Spectate hotkeys can now be remapped; added real-time statistics; referees may now see health bars, ultimate CDs, and party markers; referees may now see through obstacles; referees may now see markers where engagements occur; added identification numbers, and they can now be jumped to; added more map features; and Ref Spectate is now supported for The Bloodbath. 10. Battling in different areas will now trigger different BGM. 11. The game may now be displayed properly on ultrawide monitors. 12. Improved upon the matchmaking algorithm: making it match players of a more similar level together. 13. Improved upon the hero Expertise menu, adding the first story arc for each hero. Their remaining stories will be made available with the full launch. 14. Added a find Party menu to Home, in which you may find suitable party members. 15. Added a wheel function for gestures and chat bubbles, which you can use in-game for greater convenience. 16. Added gestures for the various heroes' display movements. 17. Added a palette when customizing your character's face and hair color.
Anti-Cheat Improvements
NARAKA: BLADEPOINT is a one-off purchase competitive PvP game with a focus on fairness, and so both the dev team and operation teams have zero-tolerance toward hacks or unfair gameplay, and we vow to crack down on those that use or develop hacks. From the beta in April until now we've worked hard on establishing an anti-hack foundation, in which we utilize AI technology to discern and detect hacks. However, so as to not compromise our protective measures we will refrain from going into detail here. We implore all of you to keep your eyes open for hackers, and to report any you find, and work with us to create a hack-free game!
Incompatible Character Customization Data
We are terribly sorry to inform you: many players have created their own character customizations during the previous rounds of beta. However, as we continuously work on improving and optimizing our customization features, data from previous betas will not be available for use during this round of beta testing. We are also unable to guarantee that customization data from this round of beta can be used in later iterations of the game.
Once the game is fully launched our customization feature will be more stable, and there will be no further incompatibility issues.
The Final Beta demo is now available for download! You can now visit the Steam Store page of NARAKA BLADEPOINT and click "Download NARAKA: BLADEPOINT Demo" to download the game! Here we’ve prepared a Beta FAQ for you.
Q: When will the servers be up? A: The NA/EU/AS/LATAM/SEA servers will be open on 6/16, 10:00 AM PDT. Here’s the detailed schedule:
3. Beta Access & Download
Q: How can I get access to the Beta? Will the data remain after this Beta?
A: Anyone who downloads the NARAKA: BLADEPOINT Demo on Steam will get into the beta. However, players who have successfully pre-ordered the game will receive a Final Beta Gift Code, which includes 30000 Gold and 50000 Taes. All in-game progress will be wiped out when the Final Beta ends.
Q: I have already pre-ordered the game; where’s my gift code, and how do I redeem them for in-game rewards? A: 1. If you have pre-ordered on our official website, please log in to your account and click your name to check out your Final Beta Gift Codes. You may redeem them in-game by entering the codes once the Beta starts. For the Trio Bundle, all three Gift Codes are under the account that purchased the bundle. Make sure to share both the Beta Gift Code and Product Code with your friends!
2. For players who have pre-ordered on STEAM, the reward of Final Beta Gift code can be directly claimed in-game during the Final Beta period. If you can’t find the pop-up for the reward in-game, please quit the game and re-login.
Please note that the Gift Code is NOT a Product Code and cannot be used to activate the base game. The rewards redeemed with a Gift Code are only valid during the Final Beta Period. All in-game progress will be wiped once the Beta is over.
4. Launching the Game
Q: Cannot launch the beta A: For those who can’t open the game client, please follow these instructions:
1. Restart your computer and launch Steam
From a game's library page, select Manage > Properties.
Select the Local files tab and click the “Verify integrity of game files” button.
Steam will verify the game's files - this process may take several minutes.
2. Ensure all NARAKA: BLADEPOINT files are given exceptions from any antivirus software on your PC.
3. You could also @BUG at the #submit-here, contact our community managers on our Discord server, or send an email to service@narakathegame.com
5. Other Issues
Q: Is there any difference between this beta and the official launch version? Can I claim my pre-order rewards in this beta? A: We’ve completed most of the game development, but some new features are still being developed and optimized. If you find any bugs or have any suggestions for NARAKA: BLADEPOINT, please let us know in the official NARAKA: BLADEPOINT Discord server — we’d love to hear from you! You can also join our Reddit to connect with other players.
Pre-order rewards other than the Final Beta gift codes will not go live in this beta. After the game is officially launched, you will receive your pre-order bonus items in-game.
You can now pre-order the game on our official website, Steam and Epic Games Store. Don’t miss out on the special offer with up to $11.98 off at: https://www.narakathegame.com/
Follow our Twitter to keep updated on NARAKA: BLADEPOINT news!
Q: What will be the business model for NARAKA: BLADEPOINT? A: NARAKA: BLADEPOINT is a Buy To Play game featuring Unchained Multiplayer Combat. Players will need to purchase the game in order to have access to the provided content. Additionally, the game will also include purchasable cosmetic items like skins, battle passes, name-change cards, and other upcoming DLC. However, the in-game purchases will NOT affect the power of in-game characters. (i.e. there is no Pay-to-Win)
Q:How to activate my purchased game? A:After purchase the game will be automatically added to your STEAM Library. You don’t need to activate the game.
Q: How do I redeem the Final Beta Gift Code I received through Pre-order? A: For players who have pre-ordered on STEAM, the reward of Final Beta Gift code can be directly claimed in-game during the Final Beta period. If you can’t find the pop-up for the reward in-game, please quit the game and re-login. Please note that the Gift Code is NOT a Product Code and cannot be used to activate the base game. The rewards redeemed with a Gift Code are only valid during the Final Beta Period. All in-game progress will be wiped once the Beta is over.
Q:Can I purchase more than one edition of the game? A:Currently, you can only purchase and activate ONE game edition. Please be careful.
Q:Why can’ t I download my pre-ordered game? A:The game is still at the final stage of optimization; hence it is currently unavailable for download. For a detailed schedule, please keep an eye on the official statement. You may visit the Steam store page during June 16 10:00 - June 22 10:00 PDT to join the Final Beta for free.
Q:How do I get the pre-order special bonus? A:After the game is officially launched, you will receive your pre-order bonus items in-game. For players who have purchased the Ultimate Edition, the digital art booklets and soundtracks will also be available for download at STEAM along with the game at launch.
Q: Will I be able to log in to my account on other platforms (e.g. narakathegame.com) if I purchased through Steam? A: Your STEAM account cannot be used to log in to the game on narakathegame.com or on other platforms. However, you can still match and team up with your friends who have pre-ordered on narakathegame.com or other platforms as long as they are on the same server as you.
If you have purchased both the STEAM version and the version on other platforms, your account information will not be shared, they are independent of each other.
Greetings FORERUNNERS. May is coming to an end, and next Beta is not far away. It’s time for a Dev Blog to talk about something NEW which will be going live in the Beta of June. So, keep your eyes peeled and let's roll!
Heroes
Temulch
Temulch's ability "Zephyr Wisp" has just been iterated. Now Temulch can lift himself and maintain aerial while summoning three wisps wards around his body.
Here attached a preview video. Check it out!
P.S. We’re also thinking about adjusting the Talents for Temulch. If you have any suggestion, feel free to shoot us with your idea!
Tarka Ji
Adjustments of Tarka Ji focus on further enhancing his combat capability. His iterated skills will grant him unique moves, and slightly increase his agility in the battlefield.
Weapons
Pistol
There will be some changes in the attack method of Pistol. We’re considering adding a shotgun mode that each shot will deal greater damage while costing all 5 bullets loaded.
New Weapons
As we’ve teased before at our Twitter, the fourth melee weapon will be unveiled in the Beta of June.
For the fifth melee weapon, there are 3 options on our list: Three-section Staff, Shield & Axe, Dagger. Comment to let us know which one is your favorite!
SoulJades
There will be two new legendary SoulJades for GreatSword: one is related to the Stone Form, another one is related to the Infernal Slash.
Apart from GreatSwords, we’ve also iterated other Souljades, such as Pyroshot and Scattershot. Don’t forget to test them in the Beta!
Other Optimizations
We have finished some very detailed adjustments, including our assassination moves: players can now assassinate in a further distance, with more combo hits onto their target. We’ve also added more realistic features. For example, players can dodge the enemies' energy attacks by crouching.
Besides, 2 brand-new maps are currently being developed. And we have ensured that NARAKA: Bladepoint will fit in most Ultra-Width Screen. Let’s stay tuned for exploring a more Soul-taking Morus Island!
We've prepared a series of events during Beta. Here is the summary:
Content Creator Contest
To further help the NARAKA: BLADEPOINT community grow and reward the hard work of passionate content creators, we are introducing the Content Creator Contest. Post your video in the #video-contest-only channel in our Discord (https://discord.gg/narakabladepoint). 24 Entertainment will be the judge, review all the videos, and single out the Top 20.
Rewards: 1st place: $250 Amazon Gift Card (or equivalent Steam Gift Card) 2nd place: $100 Amazon Gift Card (or equivalent Steam Gift Card) 3rd place: $50 Amazon Gift Card (or equivalent Steam Gift Card) 4th – 20th place: $20 Amazon Gift Card (or equivalent Steam Gift Card) More details: https://www.narakathegame.com/news/official/20210416/32172_942516.html
Character Creation Contest
Step 1: Follow @NARAKATHEGAME on Twitter Step 2: Tweet a close-up shot of your NARAKA: BLADEPOINT character’s face with hashtag #FACEOFNARAKA and #NARAKABLADEPOINT
Rewards: 10 winners in total: Reward of Female Face: 3 Reward of Male Face: 3 Reward of Celebrity Face: 3 Reward of WTF Face: 1 Each winner could receive a $50 Amazon Gift Card (or equivalent Steam Gift Card). The creations will be acknowledged by the development team as the future social media promotion assets, with the winners’ names listed in the credits. More details: https://www.narakathegame.com/news/official/20210414/32172_942272.html
72 Hours Leaderboards Challenge
Players need to join the Forerunner Beta. After the Beta ends, the top 3 players on each of the following leaderboards will be rewarded: - Asura Leaderboard Solo/Trio Top 3 - Kills Board Solo/Trio Top 3
Rewards: 1st place in each Leaderboard: $ 80 Amazon Gift Card (or equivalent Steam Gift Card) 2nd place in each Leaderboard: $ 50 Amazon Gift Card (or equivalent Steam Gift Card) 3rd place in each Leaderboard: $ 20 Amazon Gift Card (or equivalent Steam Gift Card) More details: https://www.narakathegame.com/news/official/20210414/32172_942242.html
KOI Cup Discord Mini Tournament
Schedule: NA Server – 4/25 8 PM PDT LATAM Server - 4/25 8 PM UTC-3 EU Server - 4/25 8 PM UTC
Prizes: 1st place: $100 Amazon Gift Card (or equivalent Steam Gift Card) 2nd place: $50 Amazon Gift Card (or equivalent Steam Gift Card) 3rd place: $30 Amazon Gift Card (or equivalent Steam Gift Card) More details: https://www.narakathegame.com/news/official/20210414/32172_942244.html
Get ready to slash, smash and blast your opponents to claim victory in the NARAKA: BLADEPOINT open beta, starting April 23 and running through to April 25. After a very popular North American beta at the end of last year and a successful Asian beta, players from around the world finally have the chance to take up arms on Morus Island.
NARAKA: BLADEPOINT is an exciting new take on the action royale genre: with player experience built around three core pillars of gameplay; speed, agility and close-quarters combat. To facilitate this, players use grappling hooks to traverse trees, buildings and all manner of temples and structures littered across Morus’ stunning environment. Coupled with some crazy parkour skills, players can quickly scale anything in sight, offering huge variations in strategy — not to mention tactical verticality — to each pulsating battle.
Ranged weapons are scarce in NARAKA: BLADEPOINT, with limited ammunition and quickly moving targets, fighters will almost always stand face-to-face to determine the victor. Playable characters all have special skills, like shooting fire balls, heals and knockdowns and an ultimate ability that can turn the tide of battle, if used skillfully.
The easy to learn, hard to master combat system will make it easy for new players to jump in their first game and cut down the competition. Veterans of the genre will be able to appreciate the amount of depth the system offers to players. Parrying, dodging and counter-attacking are all tools that players can use to come out on top in every battle.
To sign up for the beta, head over to the NARAKA: BLADEPOINT Steam Page and click “Apply Now”. You’ll be automatically enrolled on the beta test. A few days before the beta kicks off, you’ll receive an email with pre-load instructions.
NARAKA: BLADEPOINT will be available for purchase in Summer.
Add NARAKA: BLADEPOINT to your wishlist to receive the latest updates on the release date.
Dear players, Thanks for all your interest in NARAKA: BLADEPOINT. We’re now preparing to release our first closed beta on Steam! You first saw NARAKA over at The Game Awards 2019. Since that day, we’ve continued working tirelessly despite the pressures of COVID-19 to come up with all kinds of wonderful ideas and concepts—some of which you’ll get to experience for yourself in the beta. As for the rest, there’s a great deal that we’re still developing and perfecting; and of course, some of which we’ve already cast aside. In any case, there’s one thing that we’re certain of: it’s about time you got hands-on with NARAKA!
The main goal of this beta is to collect player feedback. In this closed-beta edition of the game players will get to experience a wealth of exciting content, an armory of different ranged and melee weapons, and numerous characters each with their own unique skills—not to mention the grappling hooks that everyone’s been talking about. There’s a whole world of other content just waiting to be discovered, too. We hope that each player will find something that piques their interest, and that you’ll provide us with detailed feedback and suggestions.
Feedback channels: • The in-game survey. Please fill out our survey with your honest opinion; we’ll be reading each and everyone to see what you think! • Discord. Everyone is welcome to join the feedback conversation in our Discord, where you can share your experience and suggestions with other players.
• Twitter. You can always just shoot us a DM over on Twitter, too.
We’ll be keeping in close contact with our online community as release approaches. Come chat with us over on Discord!
Head over to the official site to sign up for beta access. Keys are given out daily on our Discord, too.
Dear players! 1. From our development team: We’ve been talking to everyone across our growing community on Twitter for a while and we’re happy that we’re finally able to announce that players can join us and try out NARAKA: BLADEPOINT in the closed beta next month!
2. Closed Beta schedule: North America — the beta starts on the 3rd of November and the servers will stay open until November 9th.
3. How to get a closed beta key Apply for a beta key on our website and keep an eye on our Discord for key giveaways!
*Please be aware, if you’re outside of North America, we’re happy for you to take keys but your gameplay experience may differ from those in that region (i.e. You may suffer with some lag and high latency issues during the game).