Smilegate RPG and Amazon Games' MMORPG Lost Ark has proven itself to be one of the hardest MMOs on the market, and that legacy continues with the addition of the Thaemine Legion Raid. Specifically designed to be Lost Ark's most difficult raid to date, the Thaemine Legion Raid could also potentially be one of the most challenging raids in MMO history.
Legion Raids are an endgame activity for Lost Ark, so only the bravest and finest dare challenge them. Apparently, that rings especially true for the Thaemine Legion Raid, as it is unlike any other raid in Lost Ark. GameZXC recently spoke with Amazon Games about the Thaemine Legion Raid, what inspired it, and how players will need more than a brave face to tackle Lost Ark's most deadly foe. The following transcript has been edited for clarity and brevity.
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The Story and Inspiration Behind Thaemine
Q: I know the Thaemine Prologue Dark Days Story questline dropped on the 3rd, but can you fill our readers in on the lore behind Thaemine and the Legion Raid they'll be tackling?
Smilegate: Of all the Legion Commanders, Thaemine is the most powerful. He rose to power by conquering half of Petrania alone, long ago. Petrania, also called the Chaos Star, is a world created from darkness and chaos. The fact that Thaemine was able to conquer half of that world is proof of his power and malice. After facing the archdemon Kazeros, who was the ruler of Petrania, Thaemine took on the role of the Legion Commander of Darkness, now commanding an army of loyal knights imbued with his dark blessings. Thaemine's armies now head to Arkesia, leading demons from other Legions.
Q: Everything comes from somewhere, so what were some of your biggest inspirations in designing the Thaemine Raid? I hope you take this as a compliment, but I'm getting some WoW: Wrath of the Lich King vibes here.
Smilegate: The devs at Smilegate RPG focused on depicting the original Lost Ark as best as possible. Thaemine the Lightqueller aims to suck all light out of Arkesia, to leave only the darkness and chaos in the world. Previous commanders such as Valtan and Vykas invaded Arkesia to induce fear and greed. Brelshaza gathered the accumulated fear and greed to feed the Red Moon – their beacon of chaos. Next, Akkan completes the Red Moon by feeding life from Arkesia. Lastly, it is up to Thaemine to fully suck the light out of Arkesia and leave the world under the Red Moon and darkness. This is conveyed in the raid as the adventurers venture into Baratron as the settings will get darker and more chaotic.
The Thaemine Legion Raid Is Much More Challneging Than the Rest
Q: How does the Thaemine Raid compare to Lost Ark's other Legion Raids in terms of overall design, layout, and structure?
Smilegate: The dev team strived to differentiate the Thaemine Legion Raid from the existing Lost Ark Legion Raids, as Thaemine is the last Legion Commander. That means they didn't reuse anything from previous raids when creating the Thaemine Legion Raid, and created new patterns just for Thaemine. Because there are many new patterns implemented for Thaemine Legion Raid, players' physical and mental abilities will be put to the test. However, the devs tried to refrain from making the raid feel too reliant on group responsibility with gimmicks that allow for no single mistake from every single party member.
Thaemine also has high damage, which makes evasion or defense with appropriate reaction sense quite critical in gameplay. So, Thaemine Raid's control difficulty is a step up from the existing Legion commanders. Moreover, to make the raid feel truly epic, the team combined assets such as cutscenes, backgrounds, sound effects, and music with the overall combat experience. All in all, Thaemine is definitely the upgraded version of the existing commanders.
The raid also takes place in Baratron, which is created by Thaemine in order to absorb order and light from Arkesia. Adventurers will need to go to the land where Baratron appeared and push forward by defeating worshippers of Darkness to reach the very core of Darkness. Adventurers will find their path to Thaemine darker and more chaotic as they move forward. Each gate's combat is different. In gate 1, players will have to procure damage dealing via timing by countering or staggering the boss. In gate 2, the patterns and gimmicks get triggered randomly, ensuring a different combat experience every run. And in gate 3, the player controls are more important than the gimmicks.
The devs tried to make combat with Thaemine as hands-on as possible by minimizing the "ultimate" gimmicks where the boss' pattern triggers regardless of combat situations. On top of all this, a new combat system called "Clash" has been added. Thaemine, especially being the last and the strongest Legion commander standing, will not fall from counters or staggers, and this system will allow players to procure dramatic damage deal timing with great action scenes.
Q: The claim is that the Thaemine Raid will be Lost Ark's most difficult raid to date and one of the toughest in the MMO genre. Can you elaborate on what differentiates this raid from others in terms of difficulty?
Smilegate: As the last Legion Commander standing, he has high damage, which makes evasion or defense with expert timing essential. Thus, Thaemine Raid's control difficulty is much greater than the existing Legion commanders. Not only that, plenty of new patterns and gimmicks are added which makes thinking, predicting, and analyzing important as well. This is all due to Thaemine being the final Legion Commander. However, this doesn't mean that the raids will be gone from the game. There will be more raids coming in the future!
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Valuable Rewards Await the Prepared and Committed
Q: Are you able to delve into the Transcendence progression system for us at all?
Smilegate: Gear Transcendence is a new system in which players will be able to tap into an ancient power that has been sealed within ruins in order to improve their gear's basic effects, granting them increased damage and defense, as well as some special abilities for both DPS and Support playstyles. The crafting materials used in Transcendence will be earned from clearing the new Thaemine Legion Raid. This system can be used over time to build up gear improvements, and will eventually allow players to gain solid jumps in power and defense.
Q: Is it possible for you to give us some last-minute tips on how players can prepare for the Thaemine Raid?
Smilegate: The best way to prepare is going to be by making sure you're ready to jump in and learn with your team! While there are always going to be things you can do like preparing by reading guides or gearing up your character as much as possible that could help out, with Thaemine, the best way to make progress is going to be by getting in-game and getting used to hit patterns and hits. While the raid is challenging, with enough practice, players will be able to learn and be successful, which is why our recommendation is to dive in and get to it!
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