[Notice] Damage Increase/Reduction Stat Mechanics and Upcoming Improvements

Dear, Masters.

Following today’s update, we’d like to clarify how the newly changed/added Damage Increase and Damage Reduction stats are applied in combat. We have also identified cases where damage can be reduced more than intended, and we’d like to explain the cause, our improvement direction, and the exact calculation rules currently used in-game.

Below is the current behavior and the planned adjustments.

1. Issue Summary and Cause

At present, Damage Increase and Damage Reduction are applied using an additive (+/–) approach against each other.

As a result, we have confirmed a balance issue that can occur when the attacker’s Damage Increase is low while the defender’s Damage Reduction is extremely high.

Confirmed Issues

  • PvE (Boss Battles):
    Most monsters (including bosses) have little to no Damage Increase. If a Master’s team is built with very high Damage Reduction, the lack of a minimum-damage safeguard can allow boss damage to be reduced by up to 99% in certain cases.
  • PvP:
    When characters with insufficient Critical Damage or Damage Increase builds (e.g., defensive, support/healer, some speed-focused builds) attack opponents with very high Damage Reduction, damage can drop excessively compared to before, preventing normal combat flow.

※ However, for DPS builds (Attack/Magic) with sufficient Damage Increase and Critical Damage, opponents’ Damage Reduction generally does not cause abnormal outcomes, and damage is dealt as expected.

2. Improvement Direction: Cap on Maximum Reduction

To prevent defensive reductions from becoming overly dominant—reducing combat tension or invalidating characters still in progression—we plan to introduce an upper limit on how much damage can be reduced via Damage Reduction effects.

Planned Changes

  1. Even if Damage Reduction and Critical Damage Reduction are stacked to extreme levels, the maximum reducible damage will be limited to approximately 60%–70%.
    (Final values may change based on further simulation and testing.)
  2. To avoid unintended difficulty drops, certain higher-level bosses will receive a small amount of Damage Increase.

Timing

These changes require updates to the combat formula and will require a market update. We will apply the improvements as soon as they are ready, and we will share a separate notice once the schedule is confirmed.

3. Detailed Explanation of the Stat Formula

We’d like to provide additional clarification on the additive formula that many Masters have found confusing.

Structure of Damage Increase/Reduction

When calculating damage, increase-type and reduction-type effects are not multiplied together. Instead, they are added/subtracted.

① Damage Increase group (additive):

  • Critical Damage Increase (when a crit occurs)
  • Damage Increase
  • Damage Increase from quirks/skills/equipment effects

② Damage Reduction group (additive):

  • Critical Damage Reduction (when a crit occurs)
  • Damage Reduction
  • Damage Reduction from quirks/skills/equipment effects

Final Application

(Total of ① Damage Increase group) – (Total of ② Damage Reduction group) = Final Damage Increase/Reduction value

Important Notes

Overall damage is calculated by applying Attack/skill multiplier and the damage increase/reduction groups first, and then applying additional calculations such as Defense and Final Damage modifiers afterward.

(Therefore, Defense and Final Damage Reduction will continue to apply normally and are not affected by the upcoming cap.)

We apologize for the confusion regarding a combat-balance-related change. We will continue working to provide clearer information and a more consistent combat environment.

Thank you.