Dear Maplers,

Now that we've explored the Meso Market, it's time we dive into the other changes we're looking to make with the Economy Improvements Update (tentative date: March 28th).

Today's blog will cover:

• Epic Pets
• Meso Sink Reduction

To rehash what we currently have planned, here's the remaining changes currently scheduled with Project New Leaf.

Progression Improvement Update: Tentatively April 25th

• Enchanting
• Gemstone Upgrades
• Accessory Socket Opening
• Gemstone Resource Gathering
• ...and more.

Without further ado, let's jump right in.


For a lot of players in MapleStory 2, owning an Epic Pet has been an elusive dream. Epic Pets are extremely rare, and rightfully so given the benefits they can have. Epic Pets were originally reserved for those players who were lucky enough to find one, so they could hold their heads high after completing an impressive feat in the game. We don't want to change this dynamic, but we understand how sour one can feel when you've captured countless pets without finding an Epic Pet.

As such, we will be increasing the capture rate of Epic Pets by six-fold with our next update. This means it will be 6 times more likely that you will catch an Epic Pet when you put down any grade of Snares.

We feel that this increase will still reserve the rarity of Epic Pets, but also make finding one considerably less onerous for determined players.

For those wondering about other ways to improve the odds of capturing an Epic Pet, we definitely recommend using Dryad G3 Snare on red-metered pets at minimum, because this will offer you the highest chance of capturing one. The capture rate for an Epic Pet increases by about 250% per grade (G1 / G2 / G3) and about 200% per pet meter (green / yellow / red). This means you have about a 2500% better chance at finding an Epic Pet with G3 Snare on red-metered pets compared to G1 Snares on green-metered pets.


Based on our survey and the feedback we gathered, the cost of mesos within certain systems has been a common pain point, as this became a wall preventing some players from progressing further. With all the changes we are planning to make through Project New Leaf, we decided to re-examine the economic effects of these systems and look for ways we can ease the burden caused by meso cost.

To do this right, we've decided to bring these adjustments in two phases, with the first part coming in the Economy Improvements Update, and the second part reserved for the Progression Improvement Update. At this time, we are focusing our changes to systems with repeated mesos costs that have been daunting for many players, so that these systems can become more accessible.

For the first iteration of the Meso Sink Reduction, we will be permanently adjusting the meso costs for the following systems:

• Change Attributes for Legendary Gear meso cost reduced by up to 80%
• Accessory Fragment Fusion meso cost reduced by 90%

Currently, Legendary Gear (Headgear / Top / Bottom / Gloves / Shoes) requires 2,000 Crystal Fragments on the first attempt at changing its attributes. This cost will be reduced to 400 Crystal Fragments. Further attempts will also cost less, with each attempt increasing by a flat 400 Crystal Fragments per attempt (800, then 1,200, then 1,600 and so on), instead of increasing exponentially (by ~25%) with each attempt. As an example, the 5th attempt going forward will cost you 2,000 Crystal Fragments, down from 4,880 Crystal Fragments.


All Accessory Fragment Fusion costs will be reduced by 90%. As an example, Epic Accessory Fragments Fusion cost will be set to 50,000 mesos, down from 500,000 mesos. Legendary Accessory Fragment Fusion costs will be reduced to 100,000 mesos, down from 1,000,000 mesos.

Please note that these are permanent changes that not only affect current equipment, but future gear will also be set with the same mindset as above.

This is the first phase of Meso Sink Reduction. We will have the second phase of Meso Sink Reduction combined with the Progression Improvement Update and are already discussing internally. We think this will be the right method, given the level of changes we are planning to make.

Join the Forum Discussion: http://forums.maplestory2.nexon.net/discussion/45202

Join the Reddit Discussion: https://www.reddit.com/r/MapleStory2/comments/b19cfu/project_new_leaf_epic_pets_and_meso_sink_reduction/

We kindly ask that the discussions in the threads above be focused on the information shared in today's blog. We'd love to hear your honest opinion so that we can improve MapleStory 2 together. As always, thank you for being patient with us and for being a part of Project New Leaf!

See you in game,
LAMBCOOK

Added Combat Difficulty settings -
- Relaxed : Player characters only suffer 20% damage, and make significantly less continuous misses. Enemies have a -4 penalty on their attack rolls and defences, and doesn't multiply damage on critical hits.
- Easy : Player characters only suffer 40% damage, and make less continuous misses. Enemies have a -2 penalty on their attack rolls and defences, and doesn't multiply damage on critical hits.
- Moderate : Player characters only suffer 80% damage, and make less continuous misses.
- Core : There are no adjustments to all values and mechanisms.
- Hard : Player characters suffer 120% damage. Enemies have a +2 bonus on their attack rolls and defences.
- Nightmare : Player characters suffer 200% damage. Enemies have a +4 bonus on their attack rolls and defences, and always use the best tactics.



Combat difficulty can be chose or adjusted on:
- New Adventure game dialog
- New Arena game
- Adventure mode scenes lower right menu
- Arena mode lower right menu
- Battle scene lower right menu

Old Adventure and Arena saves use the "Core" combat difficulty by default (i.e. no adjustments)
New Adventure and Arena games use the "Moderate" combat difficulty by default
Combat difficulty can be adjusted during the game at any time, even in battle.

Adjusted system menu of most scenes
Adjusted bottom UI of battle scene
Adjusted height of most large windows, such as Quests, Formations, and Goods, etc.


Note: When you encountered a bug, please zip and send your saves (the game folder\saves) to support@lowmagicage.com. It's extremely useful for debugging.

Our latest release, Reflections ~Dreams and Reality~, is now available on Steam with a 20% off discount! With a wide variety of love interests, there's bound to someone who suits your tastes!



SYNOPSIS:
There's another side to each person, one that we cannot see without help. There are those who seek out said help, each earnestly wishing to find their true selves. It is then that they seek out the one known as the "Magic Mirror," a revered sorceress of recent legend.

Watch as the darkness lifts in the hearts of those who seek out the Magic Mirror. Follow Reina and experience nine short and sweet tales of romance, friendship, and unrequited love.

FEATURES:

• Four GxB routes
  
• Four GxG routes
  
• One secret, unlock-able route
  
• 150,000+ words
  
• 19 endings
  
• Original theme song by harmonicblend
  
• 40+ unique CGs
  
• Two interchangeable sprite sets
  
• Partial voice acting with talents from “The Ancient Magus' Bride”, “Yandere Simulator”, and more

Our latest release, Reflections ~Dreams and Reality~, is now available on Steam with a 20% off discount! With a wide variety of love interests, there's bound to someone who suits your tastes!



SYNOPSIS:
There's another side to each person, one that we cannot see without help. There are those who seek out said help, each earnestly wishing to find their true selves. It is then that they seek out the one known as the "Magic Mirror," a revered sorceress of recent legend.

Watch as the darkness lifts in the hearts of those who seek out the Magic Mirror. Follow Reina and experience nine short and sweet tales of romance, friendship, and unrequited love.

FEATURES:

• Four GxB routes
  
• Four GxG routes
  
• One secret, unlock-able route
  
• 150,000+ words
  
• 19 endings
  
• Original theme song by harmonicblend
  
• 40+ unique CGs
  
• Two interchangeable sprite sets
  
• Partial voice acting with talents from “The Ancient Magus' Bride”, “Yandere Simulator”, and more

Our latest release, Reflections ~Dreams and Reality~, is now available on Steam with a 20% off discount! With a wide variety of love interests, there's bound to someone who suits your tastes!



SYNOPSIS:
There's another side to each person, one that we cannot see without help. There are those who seek out said help, each earnestly wishing to find their true selves. It is then that they seek out the one known as the "Magic Mirror," a revered sorceress of recent legend.

Watch as the darkness lifts in the hearts of those who seek out the Magic Mirror. Follow Reina and experience nine short and sweet tales of romance, friendship, and unrequited love.

FEATURES:

• Four GxB routes
  
• Four GxG routes
  
• One secret, unlock-able route
  
• 150,000+ words
  
• 19 endings
  
• Original theme song by harmonicblend
  
• 40+ unique CGs
  
• Two interchangeable sprite sets
  
• Partial voice acting with talents from “The Ancient Magus' Bride”, “Yandere Simulator”, and more

Our latest release, Reflections ~Dreams and Reality~, is now available on Steam with a 20% off discount! With a wide variety of love interests, there's bound to someone who suits your tastes!



SYNOPSIS:
There's another side to each person, one that we cannot see without help. There are those who seek out said help, each earnestly wishing to find their true selves. It is then that they seek out the one known as the "Magic Mirror," a revered sorceress of recent legend.

Watch as the darkness lifts in the hearts of those who seek out the Magic Mirror. Follow Reina and experience nine short and sweet tales of romance, friendship, and unrequited love.

FEATURES:

• Four GxB routes
  
• Four GxG routes
  
• One secret, unlock-able route
  
• 150,000+ words
  
• 19 endings
  
• Original theme song by harmonicblend
  
• 40+ unique CGs
  
• Two interchangeable sprite sets
  
• Partial voice acting with talents from “The Ancient Magus' Bride”, “Yandere Simulator”, and more

Our latest release, Reflections ~Dreams and Reality~, is now available on Steam with a 20% off discount! With a wide variety of love interests, there's bound to someone who suits your tastes!



SYNOPSIS:
There's another side to each person, one that we cannot see without help. There are those who seek out said help, each earnestly wishing to find their true selves. It is then that they seek out the one known as the "Magic Mirror," a revered sorceress of recent legend.

Watch as the darkness lifts in the hearts of those who seek out the Magic Mirror. Follow Reina and experience nine short and sweet tales of romance, friendship, and unrequited love.

FEATURES:

• Four GxB routes
  
• Four GxG routes
  
• One secret, unlock-able route
  
• 150,000+ words
  
• 19 endings
  
• Original theme song by harmonicblend
  
• 40+ unique CGs
  
• Two interchangeable sprite sets
  
• Partial voice acting with talents from “The Ancient Magus' Bride”, “Yandere Simulator”, and more

Our latest release, Reflections ~Dreams and Reality~, is now available on Steam with a 20% off discount! With a wide variety of love interests, there's bound to someone who suits your tastes!



SYNOPSIS:
There's another side to each person, one that we cannot see without help. There are those who seek out said help, each earnestly wishing to find their true selves. It is then that they seek out the one known as the "Magic Mirror," a revered sorceress of recent legend.

Watch as the darkness lifts in the hearts of those who seek out the Magic Mirror. Follow Reina and experience nine short and sweet tales of romance, friendship, and unrequited love.

FEATURES:

• Four GxB routes
  
• Four GxG routes
  
• One secret, unlock-able route
  
• 150,000+ words
  
• 19 endings
  
• Original theme song by harmonicblend
  
• 40+ unique CGs
  
• Two interchangeable sprite sets
  
• Partial voice acting with talents from “The Ancient Magus' Bride”, “Yandere Simulator”, and more

This patch includes some long-awaited balance changes, as well as a number of small improvements and fixes, some of which lay the groundwork for future patches!

• The taskbar icon will now flash if something important happens while the game is in the background
  
  • Eg. when a matchmaking game is found, when it’s your turn to pick a perk, when your character has been spawned
• You can now delete profiles while using keyboard/mouse
  
• Button prompts no longer show gamepad icons while using keyboard/mouse
  
  • We still hope to improve the overall mouse experience further in the future
    
• Added some fallback latency tests in case the standard tests fail
  
• Added some more specific messages for certain errors

Katana:

• Increased slash cooldown from 0.3s to 0.4s per slash
  
• Slightly increased charge time from 0.7s to 0.85s
  
• Charged attacks now cost 2 ammo

Perks:

• Reduced Mind Crush confusion duration from 3s to 1.5s
  
• Increased Blood Runner move speed boost from 25% to 30%
  
• Blood Perks now trigger at 40% health instead of 33.3%
  
• Adjusted Survivor stack curve (now 30, 20, 15, 12 instead of 30, 25, 21, 18)
  
• Adjusted Titan stack curve (now 50, 90, 120, 150 instead of 40, 80, 120, 160)
  
• Pyrogenesis now does 30 damage over 3 seconds instead of 20 damage over 2 seconds
  
• Cyber Heart now heals 1.5 HP per second instead of 2 HP per second

Developer comments: We’ve seen new and intermediate players consistently struggle against Katana, often feeling helpless and unable to react or escape from an aggressor. In addition to fixing a bug that affected its cooldown, we’ve added slightly more time between slashes to give players a better chance to parry them, and increased the charge time a little to make it more deliberate. We also increased the ammo cost of the charged attack, given it requires a read to parry and is relatively easy to execute.

Mind Crush has been a divisive perk, and while certain players have enjoyed the challenge, others find it frustrating and hard to deal with. For now we’ve cut the confusion duration in half, which should preserve the initial disruption but reduce the feeling of being confused forever, and we’ll continue listening to player feedback.

The blood perks are particularly strong when paired with perks like Survivor and Bulletproof, but weren’t quite as effective without these synergies. These buffs mean you don’t have to be as low to get their benefits, and the increased move speed should make Blood Runner feel more impactful at lower stack counts.

We’ve also buffed a few other perks which we felt weren’t enticing or effective enough, and reduced the healing provided by Cyber Heart given how consistent its benefit is.

• Fixed a bug causing Katana’s cooldown to be ignored for consecutive charged attacks
  
• Fixed being unable to heal while in Survivor’s short invulnerability period
  
• Fixed some cases where the sudden death ring wouldn’t appear due to packet loss
  
• Fixed long names touching the screen edge while mini score bars were full
  
• Fixed stat cards with 3 rows of perks overlapping the XP display

Hello, we have recently been applying the new works which include card notation rework and new combat system to the game.
We are testing the new contents from Korean version fixing bugs and to make sure that the new system and cards work fine.





We'll update the current build as soon as the test is done. See you soon!