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However, this time I opted for a Gon this time, shrinking him down in the expansive character to creator, to not be an absolute mammoth of a man as I slung around projectiles made of ice and fire, alternating to keep up status effects as a Forcemaster. However, I did end up remaking the character I played BnS NEO Divine Gems in the original Blade and Soul, a Jin Kung-Fu Master. She excelled in hand-to-hand combat, and I loved making use of perfect blocks to deal damage back to enemies, and even counter attacks at later levels. The dynamic action of that class continued to call to me, and in the end I abandoned my Forcemaster (which is Blade and Soul’s caster) for the raw damage my fists provided.
Other classes are available too. The Gon Destroyer slots into what I would consider Blade and Soul Neo’s closest equivalent to a tank, and the Lyn Summoner, which is kind of a healer. But I wouldn’t say that any of these classes are defined in any real way, it really just impacts the range and damage you do. Since there are no true healers or tanks, the game relies on a “downed system” which allows for players to revive themselves if they can stay out of combat for a specific period of time. Aggro swapping is a popular technique, with players juggling the attention of the boss to give party members room to breathe and heal.
There is also some cross pollination with the classes the Blade Master can be selected by the Jin and Yun, the Forcemaster can be played by Jin, Yun, and Gon, the Kung-Fu Master by the Jin, Gon, and Yun, and the Summoner and Destroyer unique to the Lyn and Gon respectively. Blade and Soul Neo will roll out other classes, like the Warlock, through a planned update this spring. So if you’re looking to try out that class, you’re better off waiting. Because leveling Blade and Soul is a chore by comparison to modern MMORPGs.
As to be expected, the grind is relatively slow. You get experience from side-quests, main scenario quests, and class specific quests, which are designated with color coordinated markers. The main scenario quests don’t provide enough experience to get you through the story unbothered, so you’ll want to pick up some side-quests along the way, which do help flesh out the world, even if objectives are as menial as picking a specific amount of flowers for an NPC or burning the bodies of jiangshi.
You can also just do the main scenario and class quests if you want, it’ll just be a touch harder. But that’s where the fun comes in. Since Blade and Soul Neo is so skill based, you can tackle bosses and challenges at significantly lower levels and sometimes walk away victorious. It can take awhile to whittle these bosses down (which feel like they have inflated health pools in Neo), but it is possible. Better weapons do help, which can be obtained through quests or in-game gacha wheels that are littered throughout the handful of regions currently available in the game, along with Soul Shields. Soul Shields are where your stats come from, and you can customize what you want to prioritize, like attack and critical hits, and so forth. Sometimes Soul Shields from the earlier eras of the buy Blade and Soul NEO Classic Divine Gems game might suit your playstyle more, and you can mix and match to varying effect.