Pioneering Granado Espada

This skin was last updated to v2.02. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be optimized for v8.5 clients, as there are 2 missing images - button to maximize a skill, and character data background for weapon costumes - resulting in blue blank squares. I have made quick modifications on 2 files - button.bmp and gauge.bmp - to add in the missing images and changed the EXP bars. Links to the patch are also included in the instructions below.

Setup Instructions (v8.5)

1. Go to Pirate's Chest v2.02 web site.
2. Click on the link on the top-right corner of the post.
3. Click on the link that says "PC" to download pirates_chest_2.02.exe file.
4. Run pirates_chest_2.02.exe file after download has been completed.
5. Select the skin sub-folder (e.g. C:\Program Files\Granado Espada\release\user\skin).
6. Press "E" button to extract the skin files.
7. Download piratechest85patch.zip from - Box.com, File Dropper, or Media Fire.
8. Unzip piratechest85patch.zip into the same folder as (5) above. Confirm to replace files, when prompted.
9. Restart the game client.

Thanks to Lusse of Orpesia for the reference.

The following data list the fixed drops from v8.5 game client (SG) for various monsters in Lucifer Castle, Basement Warehouse. See [v8.5 Feature] Lucifer Castle Raid for more information. Fixed drops are basically what you can find in Wordwood: Granado Espada Maps. Other types of drops are not included. 

Monster	Fixed Drops
Warehouse Mini-Boss	50 Enchantment Chip Veteran (1/1), 10 Symbol of Naraka (1/1), 2 Archangel's Heart (1/2), 2 Seed of Rafflesia (1/2), 2 Siren's Scale (1/2)
Twin Nephthys	2 Dragon Heart (1/1), 5 Rhodolite of Nephthys (1/2), 5 Holy Water of Nephthys (1/2), 5 Otite of Nephthys (1/2), 5 Corazon of Nephthys (1/2), 10 Symbol of Naraka (1/1)
Stone Cortes	5 Cortes' Desire (1/2), 5 Cortes' Ambition (1/2), 5 Cortes' Murderous Intent (1/2), 5 Cortes' Delight (1/2), 5 Cortes' Sorrow (1/2), 10 Symbol of Naraka (1/1)

Unless otherwise stated, all quests must be done in sequence. See also クエスト/NPC/グランディス (Jap). See here for Recruit Vincent quest instead.

[130] Red Hair Swordwoman
Prerequisites: Completed Judgment Day scenario ("Round Table Conference" non-combat mission).
Synopsis: After the defeat of Montoro, Raven brought Grandies out of the castle, and left her at the nearby cabin. But she just stayed there speechless, as if she is a marionette with her strings cut.

1. Talk to Raven in Red Sunset Forest (I6).

[130] Speechless Girl
Prerequsities: Completed Demonic Jurgen: Call of Leonele quest, Red Hair Swordwoman quest (see above).
Synopsis: Grandies, who was cloned by Montoro to be his replacement body, is having visions of what seems to be the memories of the real Grandice. That was what prompted her to fight against Montoro's will.

1. Talk to Grandies in Lucifer Castle Entrance (H3).
2. Talk to Grandies in Lucifer Castle Entrance (H3) again.

[130] The Memory of Grandice
Synopsis: Grandice does not care about her clone, considering her to be something like a doppelganger. She refuses to help, telling you to seek out the older residents.

1. Talk to Grandice in Ustiur Base Camp (E5).

[130] Memory Piece
Reward: Expert G EXP Card x3.
Synopsis: You need to collect 6 memory pieces to help Grandies remember her past.

1. Collect Memory Piece - Grandice (quest item) x6 by completing the 6 Pioneer Grandice quests below. You may complete them in any order.
2. Talk to Grandies in Lucifer Castle Entrance (H3).

[130] Pioneer Grandice: Delicious Dish
Prerequisites: Completed The Memory of Grandice quest (see above).
Synopsis: Once her party ran out of food, she had to kill wolves for their meat.

1. Kill White Wolf in Cathari Falls to obtain White Fur Wolf Meat (quest item) x10.
2. Talk to Grandies in Lucifer Castle Entrance about delicious food to obtain Memory Piece - Grandice (quest item) x1.

[130] Pioneer Grandice: A Gift Sword
Prerequisites: Completed The Memory of Grandice quest (see above).
Synopsis: Claude reveals that Grandice, now one of the Ten Nobles, was simply a stubborn young woman. He claimed to have lost on purpose to her out of deference to her gender. Grandies however remembered her beating arrogant young Claude who surrendered his sword as a gift.

1. Talk to Claude in Cite de Reboldoeux (D6).
2. Talk to Grandies in Lucifer Castle Entrance about a sword gift to obtain Memory Piece - Grandice (quest item) x1.

[130] Pioneer Grandice: Soldier Grandice
Prerequisites: Completed The Memory of Grandice quest (see above).
Synopsis: Grandice lost her parents when she was young, but a 14-year-old girl had difficulty working as a soldier. A migrated noble in Reboldoeux jokingly offered a huge bounty for a monster leader, and Grandice brought it back.

1. Talk to Eusebio in Cite de Reboldoeux (F8).
2. Kill Diseased Capybara Leader in Abertal.
3. Talk to Grandies in Lucifer Castle Entrance about Soldier Grandice to obtain Memory Piece - Grandice (quest item) x1.

Diseased Capybara Leader • Lv.102 Wildlife • Soft Armor • None • Medium
HP 168,702 • ATK Rating 53 • ATK 7,220 • DEF Rating 53 • DEF 103
Penetration 0 • Magic Penetration - Fire 0, Ice 0, Lightning 0, Mental 0
Immunity 0 • RES - Fire 30, Ice 30, Lightning 30, Mental 30

[130] Pioneer Grandice: Grandice Arcade
Prerequisites: Completed The Memory of Grandice quest (see above).
Synopsis: In the past, Grandice once defended the City of Auch from a monster invasion while most fighting men were away.

1. Talk to City Guide in City of Auch (E8) to start a combat mission.
2. Defeat Jabberwock Captain within 10 minutes to obtain Memory Piece - Grandice (quest item) x1.

Jabberwock Captain • Lv.130 Undead • Hard Armor • None • Medium
HP 1,030,528 • ATK Rating 70 • ATK 7,670 • DEF Rating 67 • DEF 150
Penetration 0 • Magic Penetration - Fire 0, Ice 0, Lightning 0, Mental 0
Immunity 0 • RES - Fire 30, Ice 30, Lightning 30, Mental 30

[130] Pioneer Grandice: 4.3 Accident
Prerequisites: Completed The Memory of Grandice quest (see above).
Synopsis: Grandice led Jack and others to safety when the Tetra Ruins collapsed on April 3rd, 1502. Jack eventually blew up the blocked entrance and escaped.Talk to Jack in Reboldoeux Stone Pit (D4) to start a mission.

1. Run through the mission (Tetra Ruins Catacomb) map to B9 within 5 minutes.
2. Defend yourself and Grandice against various Tetra Ruins monsters (Lv.130 • AR 68 • DR 65) for 10 minutes. Once the time runs out, you will obtain Memory Piece - Grandice (quest item) x1.

[130] Pioneer Grandice: First Time Grabbing A Sword
Prerequisites: Completed The Memory of Grandice quest (see above).
Synopsis: Grandice came with her parents to the new continent in 1497. While travelling from Coimbra to Reboldoeux, her parents were killed by monsters in Reboldoeux Stone Pit. She avenged her parents with her father's sword.

1. Talk to Reen in Reboldeaux Stone Pits (H8).
2. Select "1497" when prompted for the year to learn about Grandies' first use of sword and obtain Memory Piece - Grandice (quest item) x1.

[130] The Lover of Grandice
Prerequisites: Completed Memory Piece quest (see above).
Synopsis: Grandies remembered returning to Vespanola and becoming a noble. During the queen's birthday party, she met her blue-haired soul mate...

1. Talk to Grandies in Lucifer Castle Entrance (H3).

[130] Lover of Grandice - A Young Noble With Blue Hair
Prerequisites: Completed Travel Sickness Medicine quest (Recruit Ion Quest 4), The Lover of Grandice quest (see above).
Synopsis: Ion meets up with Grandies, who hugs him until he faints. (Bloody useless guy...)

1. Talk to Ion in Viron (F10).
2. Talk to Grandies in Lucifer Castle Entrance (H3).

[130] Lover of Grandice - Duke Felipe
Synopsis: You asks Ion to pretend to be Duke Felipe. He meets Grandies again, and she thinks his abnormal behavior is his attempt to show her his true self.

1. Talk to Ion in Viron (F10).
2. Talk to Grandies in Lucifer Castle Entrance (H3).

[130] Lover of Grandice - Event
Synopsis: Ion decides that his family owes Grandies, and wants to help her. You prepares a gift for her, but she is content with the duke's warm heart and asks to see a sunset at a port. While watching the sunset, Ion tells Grandies that she is beautiful, not knowing Catherine Torsche is passing by. Later, Grandies remembers why she returns to the New World alone despite being in love with Duke Felipe.

1. Talk to Ion in Viron (F10).
2. Acquire a +7 Schvarlier Armor (DR 27+3).
3. Talk to Grandies in Lucifer Castle Entrance (H3) to show her the armor. She will not take the item away.
4. Talk to Grandies in Lucifer Castle Entrance (H3) again.
5. Trigger a non-combat mission at Port of Coimbra (F7).
6. Talk to Grandies in Lucifer Castle Entrance (H3).

[130] The Secret of Grandice - Claude Baudez
Synopsis: Grandies wants to see her daughter, but Claude won't give in without a fight.

1. Talk to Claude in Cite de Reboldoeux (D6) for a combat mission.
2. Defeat Claude Baudez within 15 minutes. Grandies will help you.
3. Talk to Claude in Cite de Reboldoeux (D6).

Claude Baudez • Lv.125 Human • Hard Armor • None • Small
HP 2,187,000 • ATK Rating 65 • ATK 9,038 • DEF Rating 65 • DEF 290
Penetration 0 • Magic Penetration - Fire 0, Ice 0, Lightning 0, Mental 0
Immunity 0 • RES - Fire 20, Ice 20, Lightning 20, Mental 20

[130] The Secret of Grandice - The Daughter of Grandice
Reward: [Grandies] Character Card, Expert G EXP Card x3.
Synopsis: Grandies watches Claire from afar, while the latter broke Taikbin's +7 Strata Devil Dagger. Claire then chases him away with her cannon. Grandies recalls coming back to the new continent in order to deliver her daughter secretly to avoid the duke as they became incompatible. Grandice then asked Claude to bring up her daughter Claire.

1. Talk to Claire in City of Auch (E5) to start a non-combat mission.
2. Talk to Grandies in Lucifer Castle Entrance (H3).

[130] Grandice: Two Grandice
Reward: [Soul Guard] Stance Book, Expert G EXP Card x3.
Synopsis: Grandies wants to be accepted by her original. The fight reveals that Grandies has a different battle style - she is more protective of her own body than Grandice. The latter accepted her based on that difference.

1. Talk to Grandice in Ustiur Base Camp (E5) with Grandies alone (MCC1) to start a combat mission.
2. Defeat Grandice within 15 minutes. Each time after she speaks in the midst of combat, her stats will improved.
3. Talk to Grandice in Ustiur Base Camp (E5) with Grandies alone for reward.

Grandice • Lv.125 Human • Light Armor • None • Small
HP 1,093,500 • ATK Rating 65/66/67 • ATK 11,450/14,092/16,735 • DEF Rating 65/66/67 • DEF 181
Penetration 0 • Magic Penetration - Fire 0, Ice 0, Lightning 0, Mental 0
Immunity 0 • RES - Fire 20, Ice 20, Lightning 20, Mental 50

This week saw a lot of changes in the New World. There were 3 main additions - v8.5 Update, Christmas Event, and EXP Event. Personally, we would prefer the 3 additions not to come together at the same time. It would be better to spread them apart, so you can just do one thing at a time (e.g. leveling) without bothering with the other two.

In any case, v8.5 Update opened up a series of new quests. We would prefer to do them slow over the next few months, but the problem was that the quests were all required to open up new maps, raids, or repeatable quests. So in the end, we still rushed through them like most other families. We will submit a more detailed report of each storyline later.

Lourdes (Grace) had been waiting for the reduction of Great Stones required for expert stances, so she finally received [Superior Blaster] as a gift. She collected more Ancient Runes and reached Master Lv.7, while Brisingamen (Karjalain) reached Veteran Lv.8. The update revised family level calculations, so our family jumped up to Lv.50+0. We are still undecided about the secret societies, but no matter. There are still plenty to do for the next week in any case.

Santa Arsene III decided to drop another Elite Schvarlier Armor Recipe on Christmas Day. We also got Symbol of Sagittarius, Symbol of Capricorn, and Symbol of Libra from various missions this week.

According to v8.1.1, the roulette rewards for Castilla and Bounty Hunt missions were supposedly improved. But our first post-update Basilisk kill in Castilla Mine dropped a roulette which gave us a L80 Leather Boots... That was something unheard of before the update. Isn't that a loot downgrade? "Improvement" indeed. Occulta Bounty Hunts gave Tokens and Honor Cards as usual.

Previously, we were trying to buy Gold from a few other families so as to get the free Santa Costumes for Calyce and Emilia, but those sellers kept delaying the sales. We finally bought some Gold from another family this week, but too bad, it was too late to qualify for the free costumes. For now, we were also doing the Christmas Event missions to save up some Christmas Coins for buying Expert Promotion Recipes and maybe a few Winter Season Boxes.

Wishing All Blog Readers Happy Holidays!

The Devourers have also introduced 2 new boxes in the Bazaar (250 Gold each) - Quinzel's Penderie & Raiden's Angel VII. Featured items include Belle De Jour Hair (Catherine Torsche), Le Sagittaire Optimiste Costume (Grace), Ixia Costume (Grace), Blae Rastere Costume (m/mus), Angel Uriel's Bracelet (AR33 LOE Bracelet), and Dragon's Fury Sword (AR32 Great Sword).

There were 2 emergency maintenance this week - see forum topics for 1st emergency maintenance and 2nd emergency maintenance. Despite this, we should say that G1 is getting more efficient, compared to last year. Previously, we were under the impression that G1 simply couldn't manage to do both Christmas event and version patch at the same time.

Magic Circle 24 (Korea) is now available until Jan 04, 2012. Other items include Grandies Character Card, Vincent Character Card, Indigo 9 Weapon Costumes (rifle and pistol), and Indigo 9 Costume Set (Lionel). This was previously mentioned in Update Preview 10.0: End of Montoro.

Imperial Wheel V (Japan) has been updated for Christmas, available from Dec 22, 2011 to Jan 04, 2012. See the official notice - インペリアルホイールV Special Edition開催！. The various weapon costumes are all costume versions of existing weapons. Click on image below for full-size view (950x1295).

Rubber Arm Lavaleaf
Weapon Costume • Great Sword

Avaricia Roar
Weapon Costume • Elemental Bracelet

Theaters of Chimera
Weapon Costume • Sabre

Novia Tragic Love
Weapon Costume • Sword

Mockery of the Treasure Golem
Weapon Costume • Pistol

Hatred of Necroshaman
Weapon Costume • Crossbow

Santa Costume Set
Body Costume + Hair • Asoka, Mifuyu

Santa Costume Set
Body Costume + Hair • Valeria

Elite Le Noir Recipe
Assorted recipes for DEF Rating 32 armor.

Character Recruitment Sets
There are also sets for various characters - Cruz, Ludin, Lionel, Lisa + Catherine Torsche, Ralph, Helena, and Beronif. Each set includes the character card(s), unique stance book (such as [Furious], [Punisher], etc.), Blue Serpent Armor (DR31), Magic Accessory (belt or earring), and 1-2 special edition (AR33) weapons (such as Assembly Logic Bangle).

Stance Book Set
A set of stance books (1 each) for [Punisher], [Innocentio], and [Blitz Assault].

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Semi-Promotional Characters?
I have this before, but I will say it again. Some characters seem to be designed to be semi-promotional characters. Unlike fully promotional characters (e.g. Emilia the Sage, Asoka), the only way to get them is to pay cash for them.

These "semi-promotional" characters are like shareware programs. They are freely available, but only in a crippled version (i.e. no expert stance). To be fully functional, you have to pay for them. Well, that makes sense, from a marketing perspective.

If the character is free, players tend to train and promote them to Master. But once you have the character as Master, you would probably feel more compelled to get the stance book, so as to not let the character be wasted. Whereas fully promotional characters can just be ignored or forgotten, a "crippled" Master character would probably be an eye-sore to players. With abysmal drop rate for the stance book, frustrated players would be more inclined to gamble for them in web games or random boxes from cash shop. The end result is... Kaching!

For Christmas 2011, Sword 2 is having another imported event from Korea. See Christmas Event Patch Notes for official notice. For the same event of other editions, see the following:

• [Korea] 그라나도 에스파다와 함께 인생도 점핑 
• [Japan] 聖夜の救出大作戦２ and GM ピノッキと「聖夜の救出大作戦2」!!
• [Singapore] Granado Espada Christmas Event

There are 4 event NPC located in Thueringen Lakeside, offering a total of 4 missions and 1 quest. Each mission can be attempted 1/day, and lasts up to 30 minutes. The 2 missions from Santa Soldier (Male) are basically modified, recycled missions from Christmas 2010, but much easier for new players to manage.


1. Villain With Gun
Max. Participants: 5 families
Talk to Santa Soldier (Female) to start this mission. You will be moved to a small map, similar to Mission: Spotlight. Fight Santa Bernelli (L70 Human), who can inflict debuff status such as [Freeze]. After a while, Lightning Turrets (L60 Other) will spawn, and they probably can inflict [Shock] status. Defeat Santa Bernelli, and talk to Santa Soldier to receive 2 Christmas Stockings and 2 Christmas Coins.


2. Villain With Staff
Max. Participants: 5 families
Talk to Santa Soldier (Female) to start this mission. You will be moved to a small map, similar to Mission: Spotlight. Fight Santa Emilia (L70 Human). After a while, 2 Ogre Followers (L60 Daemon) will appear and buff Santa Emilia with [Accelerate] and [Magic Armor] to improve her ATK, ATK Speed, DEF, and Magic RES.


After a while, Santa Emilia will become completely immune to damage. Kill the 2 ogres to remove her immunity. Defeat Santa Emilia, and talk to Santa Soldier to receive 2 Christmas Stockings and 2 Christmas Coins.


3. Villain With Sword
Max. Participants: 5 families
To unlock this mission, you must complete the first 2 missions. Talk to Santa Soldier (Female) to start this mission. You will be moved to a small map, similar to Mission: Spotlight. Fight Santa Adelina (L70 Human).

After a while, 3 waves of enemies will appear, causing Santa Adelina to be immune to damage. Kill all the additional enemies to remove her immunity. The first 2 waves consist of Skeleton Followers (L60 Undead). The 3rd wave consists of Santa Emilia (L60 Human) and Santa Bernelli (L60 Human). Defeat Santa Adelina, and talk to Santa Soldier to receive 2 Christmas Stockings and 3 Christmas Coins.


4. Rudolph Rescue 1 : Cabeza de Gigante
Max. Participants: 3 families
Talk to Santa Soldier (Male) to start this mission. You will be moved to a map similar to Cabeza de Gigante. There will be many large eggs scattered throughout the map. Kill Glacial Valkyries (L60 Daemon) to collect Rudolph Medicine. Drag and drop the medicines (5) on each egg. If a Rudolph appear, talk to it. Sometimes, a Snowman (L100 Golem) may appear instead. Snowman and Jack Frost may also drop Christmas Coins. 

Keep doing this until you have talked to all 5 Rudolphs. Then, you will be moved back to the middle of the map. Talk to Rudolph Blue to receive 2 Christmas Stockings and 5 Christmas Coins. (The medicines are removed when you leave the mission, so don't bother trying to stock them up for the next day.)


5. Rudolph Rescue 2: Glacial Tower
Max. Participants: 3 families 
Talk to Santa Soldier (Male) to start this mission. You will be moved to a map similar to Glacial Fortress 3F. The outer corridor is patrolled by Christmas Novia (L60 Human) and Christmas Elmorc (L60 Human).

First, destroy the 4 Crystals (L100 Other) located at the balconies (C10, J10, J3, C3). Then, click on the Christmas Tree (J5) to move into the spiral path (I5). Kill Snowman (L60 Golem) and a new Crystal will appear randomly at one of the balconies.Go back out to find and destroy the last Crystal.


After the last Crystal is destroyed, run down to the middle area (F7). Spank Tiburon (L70 Human) and Ramiro (L70 Human), then talk to Santa Soldier to receive 2 Christmas Stockings and 5 Christmas Coins.


6. Help Santa Nunez
Talk to Santa Nunez to start this quest (repeatable 1/day). Talk to 3 "children" (any one in each town) to receive 1 Christmas Card each. The possible NPC include:

1. Auch - Gabriel (F8), Merv (E8), Mary (F7/F8), Boy in the Tunnel (G7)
2. Coimbra - Karina (J7), David (K7/K8), Joey (K9), Jackson (C9)
3. Reboldeaux - Paul (H6), Aida (G7/G8), Chucky (G8), Souky (F8)

Each NPC will ask you to take a present from one of the 5 colored boxes before giving you the Christmas Card. Each NPC will have 3 types of responses to the presents - love, indifferent, and hate. It seems that their responses will affect how many coins you will get later. Once you have all 3 cards, talk to Santa Nunez again to receive 2 Christmas Stockings and 2-5 Christmas Coins.


7. Christmas Shop & Casino
Finally, talk to the Christmas Rapper to access the shop to buy stuffs with your Christmas Coins. You may also choose to gamble your coins (1/day) by playing Rock, Paper, Scissors game with the NPC. To gamble, drag and drop up to 1,000 Christmas Coins onto the Christmas Rapper. If you win, he doubles the amount of coins used. If you lose or draw, he steals them.


You probably don't want the Soul Crystals (Event), but the Promotion Recipes - Veteran/Expert/Master will be useful.

According to Japan's event notice at 聖夜の救出大作戦２, Winter Season Box can drop the following items. Click on side image for full-size view.

• 1 Santa Costume for Calyce, Grace, Adelina, or Emilia
• 1 Santa Hat for Calyce, Grace, Adelina, or Emilia
• 1 Santa Costume for Fighter, Scout, Elementalist, Wizard, or Musketeer
  
• 1 Santa Hat (usable by all basic characters)
• 1 Rudolph Hat (usable by all basic characters)
• 1-3 Christmas Tree
• 1-3 Snowman
  

Singapore edition is also having the same drop table for the boxes, so it probably applies to U.S. servers as well. The shop for Japan's event is different though. Instead of Promotion Recipes, they have EXP Cards, Principal Ampul, Shiny Crystal Box, Ancient Runes - Ti/Te/Ar/An, and some (buff) dishes.


8. New Christmas Costumes
The cash shop has also been updated to include Santa Poppet Box (250 Gold), as well as the latest Christmas costumes from Korea. See Holiday Special Sale for screenshots. They are Valleria Santa Hair (250 Gold), Asoka Santa Hair (250 Gold), Valleria Santa Costume (2,000 Gold), Asoka Santa Costume (2,000 Gold), Christmas Rocket Back Costume (350 Gold), Crystal Rudolph Face Mask for Female Elementalist (350 Gold), Christmas Fantasy Weapon (Rod) Costume (550 Gold). For comparison, 20 Mysterious Powder is worth 300 Gold.

Last week, they have also released Santa Costumes for Emilia and Calyce (Dec 14-16) and Santa Costumes for Adelina and Bernelli (Dec 17-19).



Other editions released Santa Costume Sets for Asoka and Valeria via their web games - Imperial Wheel V: Christmas 2011 (Japan), Magic Circle 24 (Korea), and HCOF Christmas Event (Singapore).


9. Other Christmas Events & Promotions
There will be a rate boost event granting EXP +50%, Stance EXP +50%, and Drop Rate +30% from Dec 20, 2011 to Jan 04, 2012. [Source]

There are also GM-hosted events involving alphabets collection through PvP, racing, hunt-and-seek, and scavenger hunt. See In-Game Christmas Event for details.

There is a forum event involving Christmas songs. See Sword Christmas Songs for details.

There is also a 10% Discount On Gold Packages from G1 until Jan 02, 2012.

The following data list the fixed drops from v8.5 game client (SG) for various monsters in Lucifer Castle, Basement Laboratory. See [v8.5 Feature] Lucifer Castle Raid for more information. Fixed drops are basically the sort of drops you can find in Wordwood: Granado Espada Maps, which sadly is no longer updated. Other types of drops are not included.

Monster	Fixed Drops
King Fordoi/Vordoi	1 Constellation Box (1/20,000), 1 Symbol of Naraka (1/50), 1 Dragon Heart (1/90,000), 1 Red Jewel Fragment (1/20), 1 Unicorn Horn (1/20)
Lab Mini-Boss	5 Constellation Box (1/2), 5 Symbol of Naraka (1/2), 1 Dragon Heart (1/100), 20 Red Jewel Fragment (1/2), 20 Unicorn Horn (1/2)
Death Wraith	5 Dragon Heart (1/1), 5 Death Wraith's Leg (1/2), 5 Death Wraith's Nail (1/2), 5 Death Wraith's Teeth (1/2), 5 Death Wraith's Crystal Piece (1/2), 10 Symbol of Naraka (1/1)

Lab Mini-Bosses include Mutated Frogfish, King Dragon Head, King Betelgeuse, Corrupt Takion, Corrupt Elminor, Wrath Devil, King Pollux, King Castor, Dark Garim, and Lust Witch.

Note that Great Gluttony, Culverts Frogfish, and King Vampire Bat Lord have no fixed drops.

All Death Wraiths (Red, Blue, Black) have the same fixed drops.

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More About [Soul Bringer] Stance
As a side note, Play Forum has a new article with embedded videos on [Soul Bringer] - 최초 공개! 그랑디스의 숨겨진 비기(秘奇). See Update Preview 10.0: End of Montoro for more article links related to Grandies.

In v8.5, Alliance War (aka Legion War) comes with its own shops located in both Royalist and Republican Embassies, accessible from Reboldeaux and Auch respectively. Besides the listed price, the shop also consumes Shop Purchase Points, which should be accumulated during the war itself. Empire's Weapons are designed for crafting Strata Devil Weapons, and (in a later patch) Evil Weapons. The other stuffs (e.g. Poison, Flag) are used for war.

Lourdes (Grace) continued to collect Ancient Runes in Errac and reached Master Lv.6. Brisingamen (Karjalain) and Mirajane (Lisa) reached Veteran Lv.7 and Lv.5 respectively. The various missions dropped Symbol of Sagittarius, Symbol of Capricorn, Symbol of Libra, Symbol of Gemini, Symbol of Aquarius, Symbol of Aries, and Symbol of Virgo. We opened 4 Reward Boxes of Supply acquired from Product Distribution during Colony Wars, and received 2 Training B Cards, 5 L90H EXP Cards, 3 Veteran B EXP Cards, and 2 Veteran G EXP Cards.

We wanted to trade a +7 blunt, but ended up buying a cheap Dragon's Fang Hammer instead. Its base attack is the same as Toy Hammer, but it looked really nice at least. (Steel Fortress looked like crap.) We considered waiting for Angel Moroni's Mace, another good-looking blunt, but it probably won't be as cheap.

With limited Enchant Sedatives, we decided to leave the blunt for now, and enchant ATK Rating 33 weapons first. We used 48 Enchant Sedatives and Veteran Enchantment Chips to enchant Angel Raziel's Revolver (pistol) with [ATK • Daemon]... The racial value is fine, but ATK value is rather low though. Hm. So we tried again on The Intuition of Al Rischa (pistol), and used 30 more to enchant [ATK • ATK Rating].

So v8.5.2 Update will be coming next week. Personally, this update just doesn't seem all that interesting. All the secret societies and PvP stuffs just look dead boring. I wonder how many players will start similar forum topics to complain about PK like this topic here? After the patch, war will no longer be specifically clan vs. clan, instead war will be on by default for secret society vs. secret society (including server notices on kill counts) on many maps. There are benefits and opportunity costs/risks for secret society members, so know what you are getting into before you jump onto the bandwagon. Once you joined either Royalist or Republican secret society, you can still switch side with a quest, but cannot quit the entire secret society politics.

In any case, Clock Tower is MCC1, so it would probably require you to be active during a time when others are also active enough to raid. And after so many raids on Prison de Joaquin, Ishtar (Valeria) still doesn't have [Innocentio]. What are the odds of getting [Punisher]? Lionel just won't be complete without it.

This week,  there were 2 gold-buying promotions for Santa Costume for Emilia and Calyce and Santa Costumes for Adelina and Bernelli during Dec 14-16 and Dec 17-19, 2011. See also In-Game Christmas Events hosted by GM, involving alphabet collection via races, PvP, GM hide-and-seek, and scavenger hunts. Rewards include AM Boxes, AM's Touch Boxes, Explorer Packs (HPS), and Rose Wings.

Sword 2 (US) will be updating to v8.5.2 on Dec 19, 2011 at 5 pm (PDT). [Source] The last update (v6.7.1) was in July 2011, so it was a span of 5 months just like the previous wait.

Key features include:

• New Character: Lionel
• Devil Weapons
• Lucifer Castle Basement Raid
• Clock Tower Mission
  
• Sekhmet Party Mission
• Legion War: Dronarati (Royalist) vs. Sahasrha (Republican)

See Version 8.5 Release Notes for more information. See also GE-SG v8.5 Update and Book of Fire: Patch Notes for more articles on v8.5 features.

Some Stuffs On Legion War
The war is held on Sunday, 4-5.30 pm (PST). See A Short Guide To Alliance War for more player's perspectives. For a list of hostile maps, see Book of Fire: v8.3 Patch Notes, plus Lago Celeste (v8.5). For Secret Society quests, see Secret Society: Souveran (aka Sahasrha; Republican), Secret Society: Esmero (aka Dronarati; Royalist), or Pegadilla Mercenaries (Neutralist).

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Game Updates for Other Regional Editions
It seems that IMC is updating multiple editions within this period. At least, two other editions will be getting new content in December, 2011.  

Thailand edition will be receiving v6.7.1 Update on Dec 19, 2011.

Indonesia edition will be receiving Relic of Castilla update (v5.x) on Dec 26, 2011.

Meanwhile, China edition is already having some previews for 2012, including the new start town, [Blitz Assault], [Wanted Shot], Beronif, Ludin, [Enhanced Tactics] for Emilia the Sage, etc. See 2012新版资料片测试图片曝光 and 贤者艾米莉! 飞天御姐雄起!.

Singapore edition is also preparing for v9.5. There is currently v9.5 Loading Screen Design Event until Jan 05, 2012.

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Blog Header v8.5
Blog header has been updated for v8.5. Render of Lionel is taken from here, posted by Huo. The background is taken from Oath of Allegiance mini-site. The previous header for v6.7.1 is as below:

Cooking recipes can be obtained from Journal Analyst in Abertal (D8) by exchanging 25 Old Journals #1, 2, or 3. The journals are dropped by monsters in Via Fluvial, Abertal, Deprimida Valley, and Capybara Plantation.

Ingredients are dropped by various monsters in different maps. Panfilo's [Battle Cook] skill can cause some monsters to drop ingredients they do not normally drop as well. The only exception is Cook Stone, which can be acquired via alchemy in Viron, such as using Grade 1 alchemical materials. Bring both recipe and ingredients to Panfilo in Reboldeaux for crafting.

Dish	Journal	Ingredients	Effect
Spider Steak	1	50 Spider Meat, 20 Honey, 10 Clear Rum, 10 Beet, 1 Cook Stone	ATK +10% vs. Monsters
Boar Steak	1	50 Brawn, 20 Honey, 10 Clear Rum, 10 Beet, 1 Cook Stone	Max HP +3000
Wolf Steak	1	50 Wolf Meat, 20 Honey, 10 Clear Rum, 10 Beet, 1 Cook Stone	Movement Speed +10%, ATK Speed +10%
Comodo Steak	1	50 Comodo Meat, 20 Honey, 10 Clear Rum, 1 Cook Stone	DEF +10
Meat Stew	2	50 Clear Rum, 10 Brawn, 10 Wolf Meat, 10 Comodo Meat, 1 Cook Stone	HP Recovery +500
Stir Fried Octo	2	100 Octopus Arm, 5 Yellow/Red/Green Rafflesia Leaf, 1 Cook Stone	Elemental ATK +15
Fish Sausage	2	50 Fish Meat, 5 Spider Meat, 5 Brawn, 5 Wolf Meat, 5 Comodo Meat	Immunity +8
Stir Fried Corn	2	100 Golden Corn, 20 Wheat Flour, 20 Honey, 10 Clear Rum	SP Recovery +20
Golden Apple Pie	3	10 Golden Apple, 20 Wheat Flour, 20 Honey, 10 Beet, 10 Cockatrice Egg	DEF Rating +1
Egg Stew	3	50 Cockatrice Egg, 5 Yellow/Red/Green Rafflesia Leaf, 20 Clear Rum	Magic RES +10
Capy Fish	3	100 Capybara Food, 50 Wheat Flour, 50 Fish Meat, 20 Beet, 1 Cook Stone	Penetration +5
Capy Rum	3	100 Cabosse, 20 Honey, 20 Clear Rum, 20 Beet	ATK Rating +1

Using a dish will create a pot. Up to 6 squad members can use the pot to get the buff effect, which lasts for 30 minutes.

New Korean update preview is now available - 업데이트 미리보기 - 10.0 몬토로의 최후. See also Play Forum article GE, 10.0 업데이트 - 몬토로 자작의 최후 .


1. Judgment Day: End of Montoro
Added last Lucifer Castle scenario quest - Judgment Day. You will receive quest mail in Viron, if you have cleared the previous Lucifer Castle quests. There will a confrontation with Farrel, and then a key needs to be crafted involving material from a monster. Raven will get screwed over by his curse again. Various NPC will show up in the last scenario, including Fritz.

From Lucifer Castle 2F, you can create a raid mission 1/day with up to 30 participants, possibly after defeating Forte. Viscount Montoro has the highest probability of getting Strata Devil Armor Recipes. Strata Devil Accessory Recipes are also available.


2. New Character: Grandies
You must complete Judgment Day scenario (see above) to start on her recruitment quest. You need to talk to Raven as part of the quest. She is supposed to be some sort of clone of Grandma. She can wear metal and leather (fig, sco) armors. She gains team buff with Claude, Jose, Grandma, Claire, and/or Alejandro. Her personal skill is a wide-area attack [Ground Wave].


Grandies has 2 expert stances. [Soul Guard] uses great sword, and can ignore defenses of enemy. The stance book can be acquired with a simple quest mission. The other stance is [Soul Bringer] using sword + main-gauche.

See Play Forum articles - 신구 개척왕의 대결! 승자는 누구? for Grandies vs. Grandma, 그랑디스 등장! 내가 진정한 개척왕이다! for [Soul Guard], and 최초 공개! 그랑디스의 숨겨진 비기(秘奇) for [Soul Bringer].


3. New Character: Vincent
Vincent is a member of Memento Mori, an organization founded by Dios Latem. He is looking for and/or investigating Dios Latem and Al Quet Moreza. The quest will begin when you arrive at Viron. You need to use Andre to talk to him, and must have Refined Holy Water (quest item involved in Holy Water Chamber and Catherine Torsche quests) to complete the quest.


His expert stance is [Abyss] which uses tome. The stance book can acquired through a quest involving the Land of the Dead. One featured skill is [Mass Destruction], which can removed up to 36 dead characters. He can also use Rosario to access [Enhanced Tactics]. His personal skill [Frenzy] can buff squad members with ATK, ATK Speed, and Movement Speed. He gets team buff with Asoka and Cruz.

After that, you can start on another quest to acquire Abyss' Magic Book, a tome with ATK Rating 34. The quest is repeatable with an NPC in Land of the Dead.

See Play Forum article 빈센트 - 본격적인 공격형 힐러 등장! for more on Vincent, [Abyss] skills, and videos.


4. New Costumes
Added Santa Costume Sets for Asoka and Valeria. Added Indigo 9 Costume Set for Lionel, and Indigo 9 Weapon Costumes for rifle and pistol. These will be available via Magic Circle web-game this month.



5. Next Update
Catherine dolls will receive expert stance. Elisa, nurse officer in Castilla Garrison 1, can be recruited.

Grandies received her 2nd expert stance [Soul Bringer]. See Play Forum article 신구 개척왕의 대결! 승자는 누구? for [Soul Bringer] stance and a comparison of Grandies vs. Grandma. See Grandies + Vincent for the earlier post about Grandies, Vincent, and [Soul Guard] stance. Click on images below for full-size views.

Here is Grandies' 2nd expert stance [Soul Bringer], using sword + main-gauche.


... and Vincent's [Abyss] stance, using tome.


There are also 3 new costume sets - Santa Costume for Asoka, Santa Costume for Valeria, and Indigo 9 Costume for Lionel.

Selene (Asoka) and Pazuzu (STF) reached Master Lv.9 and Lv.6 inside Castilla Relic mission. Lourdes (Grace) continued to collect Ancient Runes in Errac and reached Master Lv.5. Brisingamen (Karjalain) and Selvaria (Selva) reached Veteran Lv.5 and Lv.6 respectively. Mirajane (Lisa) was promoted as well, and reached Veteran Lv.3.

Louis Arsene III finally dropped Elite Schvarlier Armor Recipe for us... Too bad it isn't worth that much now. Occulta Bounty Hunt was nice this week as well, dropping The Tempest of Aquarius Recipe along with the usual Expert Tokens. Team Arena missions yielded 2 Symbols of Taurus, Symbol of Cancer, Symbol of Sagittarius, and Symbol of Aries. But Griffon mission dropped only Symbol of Taurus... eh, is this even worthwhile? 

We traded 2 sets of Constellation Symbols and some Ancient Runes for Angel Raziel's Revolver and +7 Serpent Revolver. So Thelandira (f/mus) and Lara (Brunie) got some new toys this week. Both pistols still need to be enchanted though. We are still looking for Angel Camael's Crossbow as well.

Anyway, right after maintenance, someone from our previous clan tried to kill-steal one of the bosses we were already engaging before the person arrived. That's the problem sometimes with sharing information. Once in a while, it ended up with the wrong types of people. No matter.

The Devourers have introduced 2 new boxes in the Bazaar (250 Gold each) - Quinzel's Penderie & Raiden's Angel VI. The new items are Pigeonne Costume (Valeria), Wave Pony Tail (f/fig), Lavender Costume (Selva), Golden Tail Magius Costume (m/ele), Dragon's Magica Staff (AR32 staff, Max SP +20%), and Angel Ramiel's Rapier (AR33 rapier, Block +5).

Red Hair Fighter, Grandies, becomes recruitable in v9.18.0. Her personal skill is [Ground Wave]. She has 2 Expert stances - [Soul Guard] using great sword (see image below). The other stance [Soul Bringer] uses sword + main gauche. Click on the images for full-size view.

Vincent (the other one) is also available. Both characters start at Lv.60. See image below for their stats.


See Play Forum article 그랑디스 등장! 내가 진정한 개척왕이다! for more on Grandies and [Soul Guard] skill details and videos.

Mufasa will also be updated again in v9.17.7. See 오쿨타, 수장의 방 미션 - 새로운 득템의 장!.



Related Links
그랑디스입니다.많은분이 기다리신다해서
그라갤에서 가져온

Imperial Wheel V (Japan) has been updated for Dec 07-14, 2011. The following are the new items that have not been released elsewhere before. There will probably be another update around Christmas... Click on image below for full-size view.

Jaspardfs Rifling Revolver*
Pistol • ATK Rating 33 • ATK 277
ATK +10% vs. Life/Daemon/Golem/Human/Undead • Penetration +8 • Fear 7%
Note (*): That is the default "Engrish" name from the data table. I will update again if they correct the name at a later date.

Assembly Logic Bangle
Special (Elemental) Bracelet • ATK Rating 33 • ATK 261
ATK +10% vs. Life/Daemon/Golem/Human/Undead • Magic Penetration +10 • Max SP +10% • ATK Speed +10%

Evil's Suffering
Weapon Costume • Ice Bracelet

Cruz Recruitment Set
Cruz Character Card • [Furious] Stance Book • [Fast Move] Ring

The Minotaur (Ancient Greek Μῑνώταυρος, Minotauros) was a half-man, half-bull creature in Greek mythology, frequently (but not always) depicted with the head of a bull on the body of a man. Its name is derived from its heritage as the "Bull of Minos".

In the legends, King Minos of Crete failed to sacrifice the promised white bull to Poseidon, and his wife Phasiphaë was cursed to fall in love with the bull. To aid the horny queen to seduce the bull, Daedalus crafted a hollow wooden cow for Pasiphaë to hide inside, so she could copulate with the white bull. She became pregnant, and gave birth to the monstrous minotaur. The monster devoured man after man for sustenance. Based on an advice from the oracle at Delphi, King Mino ordered Daedalus to construct a labyrinth at Knossos to hold the Minotaur.

As a result of the murder of Androgeus, Athens was compelled to keep sending people to be devoured by the Minotaur. In Crete, both Minos' daughters, Ariadne and Phaedra, fell in love with Theseus. The elder princess, Ariadne, then aided the hero in navigating the maze, usually with a ball of thread. After killing the Minotaur, Theseus fled Crete with the two princesses and his fellow Athenians. He abandoned Ariadne on the island of Naxos, where she would become a consort of Dionysus. As Theseus approached Athens, he neglected to put up a white sail, which was supposed to be a symbol of his success over the monster. When his father, King Aegeus, saw the black sail, he presumed his son was dead and committed suicide in grief.

In Granado Espada, Minotauros is a raid boss who has a chance of appearing in Castilla Temple (D9) at 9pm everyday. It does not usually appear more than once a week per channel, and always appear concurrently with the Sphinx. It has the ability to inflict [Stun] and [Armor Crash] statuses.

Nothing much happened this week, just the usual passive training. Cacofonix (Rio) and Eskarina (f/wiz) finally reached Lv.100, bringing all existing characters to at least Lv.100. Cacofonix (Rio) became a Veteran to learn [Serenade] stance for use while looking for Griffon Egg Shells in Vegas Javier, so that Orpheus (Rio) can just slack off in the quarters.

Brisingamen (Karjalain) was also promoted to Veteran level, so she could join the others in Errac. Hopefully, her [Boost Magic] skill will be of some use in the next patch. After collecting more Ancient Runes, Brisingamen (Karjalain) and Selvaria (Selva) reached Veteran Lv.2 and Lv.5 respectively, while Lourdes (Grace) reached Master Lv.4. Elsewhere, Maimonides (m/mus) also reached Veteran Lv.10.

Selene (Asoka) and Pazuzu (STF) brought Brisingamen (Karjalain) along to Castilla Mine for some Enchantment Chips and Iron Ores. Interestingly, slaying both Steel Ararat of Chaos (L100 Golem) and Phobitan General of Chaos (L103 Daemon), along with some of their minions, was enough to provide 7-10% EXP for a Veteran.

This week's Griffon and Team Arena missions yielded 2 Symbols of Sagittarius, Symbol of Aquarius, Symbol of Libra, Symbol of Aries, Symbol of Virgo, Symbol of Taurus, and Symbol of Pisces. Accursed Necro Shaman just dropped Tokens, Tokens, and more Tokens, with the occasional Honor Cards.

Incidentally, several weeks ago in October, we came across the above banner... Catherine Torsche took a part-time job at Dungeons & Dragons?! Or maybe, it was an evil twin from alternate parallel universe. Gosh, we find rip-offs everywhere these days, just like Beatrice looks like a clone of X-Men's Storm as portrayed by Halle Berry.

New glasses for Adriana and Beronif, and old monocle for Ralph. See 아드리아나의 안경과 그외.