Dev Blog июнь 2026 — над чем мы работаем + AMA Broken Ranks In Cold Blood

It's time for the June Dev Blog! This time we'd like to give you a brief overview of what we're currently working on, both for the PC version of the game and Broken Ranks on Android. We'll be talking about each of these topics in more detail in the future. And of course, we've also prepared answers to the questions you asked during our Discord AMA. Enjoy!

What Are We Currently Focusing On?

We're currently working on several major areas at once. Development of the Guild system continues, and it's important enough that we'll definitely come back to it in a future DevBlog. At the same time, we're working on a brand-new low-level boss instance, as well as a new region with a boss instance aimed at level 100+ characters - though it's still too early to reveal any details. :) We're also preparing the balance changes outlined in our April DevBlog, along with updates and improvements to the upcoming Andayans and Night of Monster Slayers events. To make things a bit clearer, here's a concise overview of what we're working on.

General:

• Rest system rework
• Potion system rework (we're currently discussing and designing several possible approaches)
• Development of a new low-level boss instance
• Development of a new region with a boss instance (for characters level 100+)
• Updates and quality-of-life improvements for the Andayans and Night of Monster Slayers events
• Balance changes discussed in the April DevBlog
• Countdown timers for active Premium Store promotions
• Further development of the reporting system
• Various bugfixes

Broken Ranks on Android:

• Multilingual chat channels (supporting all available languages)
• Avatar Store
• Weekly faction reward claiming system
• Interaction improvements
• Additional pop-ups and UI improvements

Of course, that's not everything—just a selection of the topics we're currently hoping to wrap up as soon as possible. As always, we can't do everything at once, but we'll keep tackling them one by one, making sure each is done properly.

Broken Ranks: In Cold Blood AMA - Answers to Your Questions

Recently, we gave you the opportunity to ask questions about the “In Cold Blood” expansion. Your response exceeded our expectations. We would like to sincerely thank you for the sheer number of interesting and, at times, highly insightful questions. They show just how deeply you are invested in the world of Broken Ranks and your homeland - Taern.

Our Dev Team carefully reviewed your messages and prepared answers.

Enjoy the read!

❖ Questions

1. We were told in the announcement that the instance was intended for players with at least 20k+ Might. How does that look in practice? Because it turns out that players below 22k Might have little chance in Volkhard’s Monastery. What kinds of characters (as specifically as you can disclose) managed to clear the instance during testing?

2. You said this was a 20k Might instance (which is IMPOSSIBLE). The reality is that it is barely possible to reach the elites because of the difficulty. Infusions do not work there, so entering the instance feels like praying for favorable RNG in every fight and every round. How do you expect to retain your player base when we waited over two years for such an update and it was only released “half-finished”? How are things like this even planned? Honestly, it is frustrating and exhausting. Every time, Whitemoon promises the world and delivers practically nothing.

3. Why is there such an enormous gap between the new boss and Sidraga, where the first vampire group is harder than the entire Sidraga instance? It's great that there is something new, but let a broader audience enjoy it instead of just twenty people.

4. Is the plan now for every new endgame instance to be released without any additional character progression systems that would allow players to complete it effectively?

➜ Answer

We understand that the statement about the 20k Might threshold may have been interpreted as a declaration that a character with that amount of Might should be able to handle Volkhard’s Monastery right away. That was not our intention.

20k Might is the recommended minimum threshold for attempting the instance, not the point at which it becomes comfortably farmable. Might is only an approximate measure of character strength because it reflects overall potential, but it does not fully indicate whether a particular build is suited to the requirements of a specific activity. For example, a more defensively built character may perform better against an opponent that demands high survivability, even if that character has lower Might than a strictly offensive build with higher Might. Party composition, instance mechanics, and the specific challenges of a given encounter are also important factors.

The instance was tested using various characters, party compositions, and builds. Defeating the boss with characters around 20k Might is not impossible - we have data from groups containing players with around 19k Might who managed to reach the elite stage. However, at that level it may require many attempts, optimization, a solid understanding of the encounters, and favorable combat outcomes.

We definitely do not want to provide a ready-made build checklist, because part of the challenge is observing enemies, drawing conclusions, and adapting your character to the instance. Such a list could also become outdated very quickly, as players naturally experiment with different setups, strategies, and optimization methods once they start tackling the content. The meta often evolves faster than can be predicted during internal testing.

Regarding Infusion, it functions at its basic level, while additional levels earned through progression within the instance are intended to help during future attempts. If a party progresses far enough - for example, by defeating the elites - they receive Infusion points even without killing the boss. This is one element of progression, but not the only one. Encounter knowledge, build optimization, and party experience are equally important.

Volkhard’s Monastery was designed as a challenging endgame instance, not as content intended for immediate farming from day one. This has often been the pattern in our game: first, a small group of the most prepared players clears the path, and over time, as better tactics emerge and mechanics become better understood, the number of successful clears increases.

The gap between Volkhard and Sidraga is not accidental. Sidraga was added around three years ago, and since then many new character progression systems have been introduced. The strongest players are now far ahead of where they were back then. If Volkhard were simply Sidraga scaled up by a few dozen percent, it would not present a meaningful challenge to some of today’s characters from the very beginning.

That is why Volkhard’s Monastery was not designed as a small step beyond Sidraga, but as the current endgame instance for the game's present state. It is meant to be difficult, require experimentation and discovery, and provide a goal that lasts longer than just the first few days after release.

At the same time, we are monitoring real attempts and results based on in-game data: where players get stuck, how far they progress, and how successful attempts are compared to our expectations. However, we do not plan a quick, knee-jerk nerf simply because the instance is difficult during the initial period after release. The meta often takes time to develop.

If the data and long-term observation show that certain elements are overtuned, too random, or failing to achieve their intended goals, we will be able to react. For now, we view Volkhard’s Monastery as a difficult endgame challenge that should require attempts, learning encounters, assembling a strong party, and optimization - not as another instance to be farmed immediately after reaching a specific Might threshold.

❖ Questions

5. If you needed more time and the update was postponed from Q4 to Q2, why did it end up being so small?

6. Why did it take you so long to introduce this instance when it is so small and empty? There are no champions, no events, and the mobs all feel the same-canine creatures of which we already have several variants in the game, with only different appearances. The same goes for the bats. It looks like something that was hastily thrown together just to stop people from complaining. This is not what I expected, and I believe many more people are disappointed as well.

➜ Answer

Delays are unfortunately a common challenge in the game development industry and stem from the complexity of the systems we work on. We are making every effort to improve this aspect of our communication and avoid disappointing player expectations, but we would rather prioritize quality than make far-reaching compromises. The goal of this particular update was to provide a challenge for the most advanced group of our players. This, in turn, required us to create new and complex mechanics, which demanded a significant amount of time throughout the development process, including testing. We consciously focused our efforts on creating puzzles, properly balancing difficulty and rewards, and, most importantly, designing a unique boss encounter. We hope that we have done a good job in this regard. After the update, as always, we will continue listening to community feedback and do our best to draw conclusions for the future.

❖ Questions

7. Why was class balance not addressed at all either before the CA or before the vampire update? How are classes supposed to compete equally in challenges when the disparities between them are clearly visible?

8. Why was the boss released before the defensive skills?

➜ Answer

Creating new regions involves virtually our entire team. Designers are needed from the very first day, throughout the entire development process, all the way to the end - and the more complex the instance, the more effort it requires. Volkhard was among the most difficult ones. Any major balance changes, including the ones mentioned, would have significantly involved the Game Design team again, potentially blocking the work of other teams on the instance, as they would have been waiting for feedback or decisions from our designers. Balance topics always require members of other teams as well, at least programmers and testers. Here, the situation was very similar: programmers were also heavily involved in creating the instance, which required new mechanics. Over the last year, we also worked on several other major topics involving our programming team, such as the Trials of the Lodge or our Android port of Broken Ranks (remember that porting the game to Android could not simply end with copying everything 1:1 and checking whether it works). Such a port also requires separate work on optimization, separate handling of controls, as well as new interfaces adapted to small screens, which also received quite a few additional QoL improvements, often brought over to the PC version right away. What was the testers’ workload like? Very similar - after all, they test all these changes on both platforms, trying to come up with the wildest scenarios that could break the game :)

Of course, we try to plan tasks in such a way that no department is blocked for too long from pushing its work forward. During the development of an instance, there are stages when specific departments are slightly less loaded with work and can take on other topics, but the number of such topics we can handle “in the meantime” is limited. For example, last year, while work on In Cold Blood was underway, one such topic was the already mentioned Trials of the Lodge, which was a relatively large feature and did not leave us much time for anything else.

We also do not want to give in to the mindset of “we have to do X, Y, and Z before releasing A,” as that could trap us in an endless loop of working on balance without introducing any new content to the game. We try to determine which changes are essential beforehand and which ones we unfortunately have to postpone until after a given major update is released, often painfully so.

We know that balance topics are painful for you - they are for us as well. We are trying to find more time for them, redirect even more resources toward them, and make smaller changes in parallel with the larger additions we are preparing. We hope the results of our efforts will be visible in the near future.

❖ Question

9. The new region feels empty. Could you focus on QoL improvements and rework Daily Quests and contracts for level 110+? Fixed rewards obviously don't make much sense anymore, but rewards that scale, such as scrolls or buffs, certainly do (for example, a 5-hour resistance buff could be added to a Daily Quest).

➜ Answer

Tasks and some Daily Quests require rebalancing to better fit the current meta and player progression. We are aware of this, which is also why we were very conservative when adding this type of content to the new region. If content that already exists in the game at the Beirn stage can sometimes be considered unrewarding, there was little reason to spend resources creating more of the same in another region. Once we begin addressing this topic, we will consider expanding the Monastery Grounds with additional activities.

❖ Questions

10. Are you considering moving one of the forgotten bosses (wink wink, Morana) to Kosani Infusion? Will Nixa be part of Kosani?

11. Will Nixa be a boss tied to Kosani Infusion? If so, is it intentional that for a long period after Volkhard's release we will not be able to meaningfully progress our characters in this area?

12. How do I level up Kosani's Infusion outside of the new dungeon? Will there be champions or elites to level it up?

13. I'd like to ask how we are supposed to feel the impact of the Infusion system if we cannot build it up before entering the instance, while the instance itself is limited and hardcore. By the time we reach any meaningful Infusion level, it may take years, at which point the instance will already be farmed out and the rare items obtained.

➜ Answer

At this moment, Kosani Infusion is tied to progression within Volkhard’s Monastery, and this is an intentional decision. We did not want to create a situation where players farm Infusion on easier content and then enter Volkhard with a significant advantage. This instance is meant to be figured out through repeated attempts, optimization, and gradual progression, not bypassed through prior preparation on another boss.

Infusion can also be earned without killing the boss, but it requires reaching and defeating the elites. This is still a challenge, although a smaller one than defeating the boss itself. The points gained this way do not result in a massive increase after a single attempt, but with regular runs they will accumulate and gradually improve the effectiveness of future attempts. The instance limit is 7 entries per week, so we are assuming progression spread over time rather than a system that can be quickly maxed out in a matter of days.

We currently do not plan to move Morana to Kosani solely to make her an additional source of Infusion. Such a change could quickly turn into mandatory farming outside of Volkhard, which was not the intended purpose of this system.

As for Nixa, the decision on whether she will be tied to Kosani Infusion has not yet been made. Nixa is planned for a later date, and by the time she is closer to release we will have much more data on how quickly players are progressing through Volkhard. At that point, we will decide whether the pace of gaining Infusion needs to be accelerated or whether the current sources are sufficient.

We understand the concern that, with a difficult and limited instance, the effects of Infusion may only become noticeable after a longer period of time. However, that was the intention: it is meant to be one element of long-term progression, not an immediate power boost. At the same time, we are monitoring data from player entries and progression. If it turns out that progression is too slow or the system is not fulfilling its intended role, we can revisit the topic of additional Infusion sources in the future.

❖ Questions

14. Did the testers kill the boss without Infusion?

15. Did the testers manage to complete the entire vampire instance at least once, from the beginning of the instance to spawning the boss, using characters without Infusion and with equipment available on live servers? If so, how many successful runs were there compared to the number of instance entries? Can you provide a percentage?

16. I would also like to ask whether the testers fought Volkhard with different levels of the Bloody Arcana. If so, how much did killability differ between having none/low levels of this achievement and having higher ones, assuming it has any real impact on the instance at all?

17. Did any party during testing clear the instance without a VD in the party?

18. Did the testers stall rounds, for example if one of the players fled?

19. How long did it take the test team to kill the boss? Did the test team already have the answers to the riddles? What were the test team's stats (sharpening, stars)? Did the test teams complete the dungeon without legendary items? (Assuming new players don't have them.) If not, what's the point of adding this dungeon to the boss pool for legendary item crafting? Make it impossible? Why is the dungeon a one-time attempt if there are only seven attempts per week? This doesn't increase the difficulty, it only slows down progress and frustrates players. Why are the stats of new items hidden? Why is the entry cost so high, forcing players to buy blood from others?

➜ Answer

Testing of Volkhard’s Monastery lasted several weeks, with varying intensity. We tested different character configurations, different builds, and different party compositions. There were tests both with and without Infusion, with leveled up Arcana and without them. There were also successful boss kills without Infusion. As for the impact of Arcana on the instance’s killability, we cannot reveal too much, because the mechanic itself has not yet been fully discovered on live servers.

We also never publish clear rates, the number of successful attempts, or exact test statistics. With a small number of attempts (and tests are always a small sample compared to player attempts), the results have very high variance and it would be easy to draw incorrect conclusions from them. Tests are an important verification stage for us, but they always remain only a small preview of what will happen on the server. After release, players have many times more “manpower,” more attempts, more ideas, and often find optimizations faster than testers could have predicted.

The boss requires five different classes, but we try to ensure that no boss and no instance is designed in such a way that any class becomes a “must-have.” The only exception to this at the moment is the druid, whose skillset practically guarantees them a place in every party (at least as long as the content being run is still any kind of challenge). During Volkhard testing, various party compositions were tested, including ones without a VD or without a knight. Who is in the party is the players’ decision, and every class has something unique to offer.

We definitely do not want to reveal exact test runs, specific tactics, party compositions, or ready-made solutions. Part of this instance is for players to figure out the fights, enemies, and optimization of their characters. What we can say, however, is that the test characters were modeled after the best characters in the game and modified for the needs of specific tests and builds. They did not have above-standard stats, skills, or advantages unavailable to players.

Regarding “stalling rounds”: we are aware that this tactic is practiced, but we strongly advise against it. It is against the rules and may result in penalties. The intended difficulty of the boss assumes playing according to the rules, where the player’s reaction time is limited to the break between rounds.

As for the riddles, we tested both groups that knew their solutions and groups that did not. The riddles were not designed as the main difficulty barrier of the boss. They are a way to add variety to the instance, not an element meant to stop players for a very long time.

Volkhard was not added to the pool of bosses required for crafting Legends. This is a boss designed for the stage where the player already has a very well-developed character, including legendary equipment. We do not treat him as a step required for new players to enter the Legend system.

The instance model in which death means the end of an attempt and you cannot simply return to the boss within the same entry is intentional. The Monastery is meant to be an activity where a single attempt matters. The limit of 7 entries per week helps control the pace of progression, the pace of gaining Infusion, and the pace at which rewards appear, while also reducing the pressure for very intensive farming. At this time, we do not plan to change this model.

The stats of the new items are hidden until they are obtained. This is an additional element of discovery and motivation to complete the instance. Once obtained, the items will of course be visible to everyone on the instance entry screen.

The entry cost is also part of the instance’s design assumptions. It is meant to limit entry spam, increase the importance of a single attempt, serve as an economic sink, and stimulate trade between players. P2P resource trading is part of the game’s economy, so the fact that in the future some players will buy blood from others is an intended element of this system.

❖ Questions

20. Are you planning to add something interesting that would help defeat the Vampire, like the orbs did in Sidraga’s case?

21. Great, it’s nice that there is finally a challenge, but where is the farming instance? How many more poor Taruls have to die in the name of this sick fantasy of limiting everything?

22. In the 4 years of Broken Ranks’ existence (plus another 4 since Tarul was introduced), we have not received a single late/endgame boss that we could farm. The current “farming” options for the last 2 bosses (new ones, I’m not counting that bird because it was already in the game) amount to 28 bosses PER WEEK. This is an MMORPG, and in my opinion it should not look like this. Since Sidraga was introduced 3 years ago, we can still only go to Sidra 3 times a day. So the question is: after so many years of working on bosses, are 28 entries/week for stronger players satisfying to you?

23. Is there any boss planned between Sidraga and the vampire for endgame, or is the new content going to be the so-called T5 zone?

➜ Answer

At this moment, we are not planning to add a separate mechanic to help defeat Volkhard similar to the orbs in Sidraga’s case. Progress in Volkhard’s Monastery is meant to come primarily from learning the fights, optimizing builds, gaining Infusion, and becoming increasingly familiar with the mechanics. With very demanding content, it is normal that some players quickly expect an additional way to make it easier, but we do not want to react hastily just because the instance is difficult at the start.

At the same time, we are monitoring game data. If, over time, it turns out that progress has stalled, specific elements are too difficult, or the Infusion system (after being advanced by killing elites) is not fulfilling its role, we may return to the topic of additional solutions. However, this is not an announcement of a quick nerf to the boss itself or to individual elements of the instance.

We are also not currently planning a separate instance for farming Kosani Infusion. Volkhard’s Monastery was not designed as endless farming content, but as a demanding, limited endgame instance. One full run, depending on how well the fights are mastered and how prepared the party is, may take around 1 to 2 hours, so 7 entries per week already means a significant number of hours spent on the newest content alone. Of course, there will be cases where someone dies on the very first group, causing the run to end after just a few minutes, but we believe such situations will become less frequent over time :)

As for limiting content, limits are not there to “take the game away from players,” but to allow us to set rewards more sensibly or maintain the value of certain rewards at an appropriate level. Unlimited activities need to have rewards designed differently than limited activities. Thanks to limits, we can make rewards from such content more attractive without dysregulating the economy and character progression.

We also disagree with the assumption that endgame comes down only to 28 weekly entries for the latest bosses. These are entries to selected instances, not the entire set of activities available to strong characters. Apart from Volkhard, there is also Sidraga, Trials of the Lodge in both solo and party versions, Greater Hawk (which, yes, existed before, but as a champion - and now it is a boss on which you can spend some time), daily and weekly challenges, Selenes, and unlimited bosses such as Tarul, Admiral, or Morana. For a player who wants to do varied content, this provides several dozen hours of activity per week.

We understand that for people who play a lot and min-max every activity, the natural choice will be the one that gives the best return on time invested. In that case, alternatives can seem “unprofitable,” even if the difference is only a few percent. This is a real problem in MMO games, but it is not solved by adding endless farming to every new instance. Possible balance adjustments between activities make more sense, so that the choice of content is less obvious and less reduced to a single most efficient path.

Tarul is one of the late-game bosses, and we understand that some players farm him because the system allows it - there is no entry limit there. We are also aware that for players focused on maximum profit, farming a single boss for a long time can simply become boring. On the other hand, the data does not show us that the entire endgame comes down exclusively to Tarul. Other instances are also being played, which does not mean that we will not make any balance changes between activities in the future.

When creating the new zone, we will keep in mind the gap that has appeared between Sidraga and Volkhard. We will probably need to slightly rebalance the current high-end content and remodel the progression system so that the difference between Sidraga and the new zone is not as gigantic as it is in the current system.

Nixa is planned separately and is not a boss between Sidraga and Volkhard - it is content for a different level range and a different group of players.

❖ Questions

24. Is there any plan to lower the arena level from which Sidraga rares can drop? Even before Volkhard was introduced, few parties were able to reach such a high arena level, where you need G2/G3 equipment. In addition, Sidraga itself can be killed without gold items and without epic v2, while reaching arena 13 is not possible. Since Sidraga has been moved down to T4 and is no longer treated as the final boss, there is no longer a reason to keep its rares so high.

25. With the expansion, Sidraga was moved from tier 5 to tier 4. Sidraga is no longer the highest boss in the game. Are any changes planned for it, such as adding a hard version, changing instance entry items (ownership/purchase limits), or possibly changing rewards (regular item rewards, amount of gold, psychoexperience, drop rate of the most valuable items)?

26. Are you considering removing the daily entry limit and changing certain drops from Sidraga? The price of Gifts will probably drop because it is now T4, which means the instance may become completely unprofitable.

27. Since Sidraga has dropped to T4, is there a chance to add 3 kills to weekly challenges for 10 keys?

➜ Answer

In the past, we said that a hard version of Sidraga’s instance was possible to make. After reanalyzing the topic (calmly, and not on stage at TaernCon ;) ), however, we came to the conclusion that this is currently not the best place to invest production time.

For such a version to make sense, it would need to have its own attractive reason to be farmed. The mere fact that the boss could drop items with a higher number of stars does not seem like enough incentive to design and balance a separate variant of this instance right now. That is why, at this moment, we prefer to allocate those resources to other planned things.

Moving Sidraga from Tier S to Tier 4 results from the fact that Tier S is reserved for the currently strongest bosses in the game, and Volkhard has taken over that role. However, this does not mean that Sidraga automatically becomes an old, insignificant boss whose rewards and limits can be loosened drastically. In its current form, it remains an important late/endgame instance, similar to Tarul or other farmed bosses, and it still drops items that are very valuable to players.

We are not currently planning changes to the Sidraga instance itself: its entry limits, entry items, gold, psychoexperience, or any other form of rewards. We analyzed the number of dropped Gifts of the Winged Lady, and at this point it looks very similar to what it was before the change. It is also worth remembering that players often overestimate the number of drops coming from the guaranteed drop system and, based on that, draw conclusions about item supply that go too far. Demand for Sidraga rings remains very high, and their drop rate is relatively low, so we do not assume that their value will suddenly disappear just because Sidraga moved to T4. Of course, as the boss and server age, the price of such items will naturally decrease, but we do not want to artificially accelerate that process.

For the same reason, we are not currently planning to lower the Arena threshold from which Sidraga rares can drop. If we lowered that threshold, we would increase the supply of these items, including rings, which would directly accelerate the decline in their price. That would be the exact opposite of the concern raised in questions about Sidraga’s profitability.

The high room level in the Trials of the Lodge from which Sidraga rares can drop is set intentionally. On the one hand, it limits the supply of the strongest items from this boss (mainly rings), and on the other, it gives additional value to the achievements of parties that reach the furthest Arenas. The Trials and the boss instance itself do not need to have identical difficulty thresholds or identical reward availability.

Adding Sidraga to weekly challenges is something we can definitely consider, although in our opinion the system should first be modified so that such a challenge appears for players only after they exceed the appropriate Might threshold and when the player is able to enter the instance at the moment the task is rolled (keeping in mind that Sidraga has a daily cooldown for collecting entry items).

❖ Question

28. I noticed that debuffs, such as Short Circuit, barely work on the new monsters. Is this intended?

➜ Answer

The new enemies in the instance have certain psycho-additions that cause all debuffs that reduce the enemy’s defense to work slightly differently than in other parts of the game. This does not apply only to the Archer.

❖ Question

29. New elements have appeared in the game (crimson, cobalt, malachite). The crimson one is used to create a Scroll of Bloody Insight. In the conversation with Vulgarf, we are told that once we obtain a rare item, we should bring it to him. Will the cobalt and malachite elements be used to grant an additional property to equipment from Volkhard?

➜ Answer

We cannot reveal anything more at this time beyond what is stated in the item descriptions and the conversation with the NPC. What we can confirm is that the new items will be needed in the process of strengthening equipment from Volkhard. The rest of the information will be revealed by the NPC to everyone who comes to him with the new treasures :)

❖ Question

30. Is there a reward planned for the first Volkhard kill?

➜ Answer

We have to admit that we enjoyed preparing goodies for you, and if possible, we would like to continue this new tradition :) However, we definitely do not want to allow a situation where the rewards are more valuable than the fame, glory (and drops) in the game ;)

❖ Question

31. Will we get any statistics regarding player activity in the new instance? How many entered, how many parties killed the elites, etc.?

➜ Answer

We will try to share statistics in one of our DevBlogs, but first you need to put in some work so that we have some interesting numbers to present :)

❖ Question

32. Why did you not decide to “balance” the instance using modifier reduction effects known from the challenge arena? Did you test such a solution? In theory, if every player had reduced modifiers, the mobs would not have to be so strong and fights would not depend on RNG, such as whether Farid, Holm, or a dodge while wounded gets rolled.

➜ Answer

We decided not to balance Volkhard’s Monastery through the modifier reduction known from Trials of the Lodge. That solution was designed as a unique property of arenas, and for now it stays there.

Volkhard is meant to test characters within the current game system, not within a separate arena-based ruleset. If we cut part of players’ modifiers in every more difficult instance, we would weaken the purpose of developing characters, obtaining better equipment, and refining builds.

The mobs are demanding because the Monastery was designed as an activity for characters backed by a very large amount of progression, optimization, and preparation. It is a challenge for players who have spent a long time developing their characters and are ready to take up the gauntlet at the highest difficulty level. At the same time, the game is designed to include a certain degree of randomness at every stage. Preparing for this type of content is not only about maximizing damage, but also about building your character and party in a way that reduces risk and protects against the worst possible course of combat.

❖ Questions

33. Don’t you think the instance is being discovered too quickly?

34. When do you predict the first Volkhardt will be killed? How far have players already progressed?

➜ Answer

We do not think that Volkhard’s instance is being discovered too quickly. The pace of progression is currently close to what we expected: some parties have already reached the boss, a few more parties have reached the elites, and the vast majority of players are still dealing with the enemies on the way there.

For us, a pace that is too fast would rather mean a situation where the boss falls almost immediately and most elements of the instance do not pose a real obstacle. That has not happened. Players are stopping more or less where we expected them to stop at this stage of figuring out the content.

As for the first Volkhard kill, we do not want to give a specific date or even narrow it down to a specific period. With this type of challenge, a lot depends on the pace of learning mechanics, optimizing builds and party compositions, and how quickly the best parties draw conclusions from subsequent attempts. We assume that the first kill will happen within a reasonable timeframe, but we do not want to turn that into a public deadline declaration. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that it happens quickly, and that the success of the pioneers motivates others to drive the evil out of the Monastery :)

❖ Question

35. Is this instance designed for raising the character level cap to 150?

➜ Answer

No, the instance is designed for the best characters in the game, but still at level 140.

❖ Questions

36. Volkhard appears to be designed to challenge the strongest Polish teams. While I can appreciate wanting to add content for these very dedicated players, at what point will you stop adding harder content and accept that these players have beaten the game? Is there a target for how many hours it should take for a new player to progress to the hardest content, or will every new release continue to add thousands of hours to that number?

37. Hello, what about the global servers where 80% of the population has left, there is no platinum on the server, and worst of all, there is no one to even run Tarul with to farm that gold... The new boss will be impossible for us in about 2 months because there will be no glyphs or gold left. Arenas cost 20kk, the new boss 35kk, and I couldn’t find 2 people for Tarul for 2 days to earn enough for it. Please tell me whether there is any solution, or whether this content is simply not intended for your players on global servers. Regards.

➜ Answer

Volkhard was announced from the beginning as the greatest challenge in the game, and in practice it had to be designed around the strongest characters and parties that exist on the servers. Due to the population structure in Broken Ranks, this naturally means primarily Polish parties, as they currently dominate both in numbers and progression. However, this does not mean that we want to close this content off to global players - we would very much like them to be able to take up the gauntlet as well.

We do not have a single assumed number of hours after which a new player should reach the hardest content in the game. In practice, we are talking about thousands of hours of progression, depending on playstyle, server, experience, and how efficiently the player develops their character. We also know that some of the strongest players are at a level where it could be said that they have “beaten the game” in its current endgame state. However, this update was precisely a checker for such characters and parties. If Volkhard were not a challenge for them, he would not fulfill his role.

At the same time, we are aware that the situation on less populated servers is more difficult. A smaller population means fewer parties, less trade, harder party formation, and greater issues with resource availability. This has a particularly strong impact on content such as Volkhard, which is not a casual instance and certainly will not be one at the start.

However, we do not want to design a separate economy for each server, because that would very quickly lead to difficult-to-maintain and inconsistent balance. We are looking at the situation across all servers, including global ones, but the solution to low-population problems should not be manually setting different economic rules for each of them.

One of the solutions we have used in the past, and which realistically addresses most problems of less populated servers, is server merges. If the situation requires it and the community is willing, this is a direction we will consider.

At the same time, we are also working on content intended to help develop characters and reduce the distance to endgame. A good example is Nixa - while she is not a boss between Sidraga and Volkhard, but content for a different level range, she should better fill the game for less developed servers, where there are more mid-level characters. Activities of this type are meant to accelerate progression for a larger number of players, and the more people get closer to the endgame, the easier it becomes later to form parties for the hardest challenges.

As for the entry costs in gold, glyphs, and blood: we will be watching how the situation develops on less populated servers as well. Volkhard himself should be available there, but it must be said honestly that with the current difficulty level, this will be content for a very narrow group of players, at least at the beginning. Our goal is not to create content exclusively for one server or one community, but we also cannot balance the hardest instance in the game as if it were an activity for everyone.

❖ Question

38. How do I level up Blood Arcana in achievements?

➜ Answer

Everything is described in the Bloody Arcana achievement tab. Subsequent levels will be revealed as you progress.

❖ Question

39. What determines the composition of the 5-man packs after the circle in Volkhardt's dungeon? Why is there a Night Hag in one pack and a Novitra in another?

➜ Answer

Night Hag and Novitra are counterparts in the day and night versions of the instance. The same applies to the pairs Slasher - Serviler and Ripper - Tearshred. When designing the groups, we tried to make sure they included both physical and magical mobs.

❖ Question

40. How much health do I need to comfortably complete the dungeon?

➜ Answer

Definitely enough to survive all attacks and kill the enemies :) The exact amount is up to the player and how they adapt their build to their capabilities. What we can say with 100% certainty is that this instance requires the highest amount of health in the entire game.

❖ Questions

41. The new dungeon should encourage players to complete it. And what did we get?

42. Why is the entrance cost so high? Gold no problem, blood is annoying but handleable. This is a new trade item - I am fine with that. But Glyph cost are far too high and the income of glyphs are far too less. Because of that i dont start with the instance at all.

➜ Answer

The high entry cost for Volkhard’s instance is an intentional decision. From the beginning, this instance was meant to consume a significant amount of server resources. This makes entering it a real economic decision rather than an activity that can be spammed at little cost. There is another side to this as well: if participating in the instance is expensive, the rewards from it can maintain a higher value.

We do not want to refer to specific prices of blood or glyphs, because prices vary greatly between servers and change over time. We can already see that on some servers, the prices of certain components have started to align themselves.

Blood was designed as a trade resource tied to the activity of a broader group of players. If more parties run Volkhard, demand for blood will increase, and choosing it as a reward will become more profitable even for players who do not run the instance themselves. This should be regulated by supply and demand, not by immediately lowering the requirements.

The situation with glyphs is similar. The data showed that their supply was greater than demand and that the number of glyphs on servers was increasing. Requiring them for entry to Volkhard’s Monastery is intended, among other things, to counteract this oversupply. At this moment, we do not plan to increase their drop rate or add crafting simply because the entry cost is strongly felt at the start of the instance.

We understand that the cost hurts the most for parties that are still learning the instance and may get stopped by the very first enemies. This is part of the nature of difficult content: the first attempts are the most expensive relative to their results, and as fights are mastered, preparation improves, and Infusion is gained (and eventually rares as well), the effectiveness of future entries should increase.

At this moment, we do not plan to reduce the blood requirements or add an additional way to purchase it. The market should have time to stabilize. However, if on less populated servers or over a longer period it turns out that any resource genuinely starts to run out, we will be able to react so that access to the instance is not blocked solely by the unavailability of components.

These are all the answers we have prepared for you. Thank you for the questions you sent in and for taking the time to read this - without you, an AMA like this would not make sense. We will definitely return to this form of communication. Adventure awaits!