Korea's 8/21 patch: hero buff, guild ship, prototype runes
✍️ Alice・愛麗沙
The rule first: stop spending catalysts or fusion material on a second copy of any ★6 legendary weapon rune — Rupture, Blind Rage, Countless Tempering, Thorn Vine, Sweeping Wind, Wonder+, Forgotten Era, Magic Seeker, Twisted Blade. Korea’s 2025-08-21 patch added prototype versions: identical unique effect to the ★6 legendary, only higher base attack and stats, and they drop only from dungeons, abyss and raids — no shop, no fusion. Your extra fused copy gets replaced by a drop. The same patch: a hero buff for 4+-player abyss/raid (two types, once per battle, ~10 s), cross-server Chance Encounter matching, guild ship cooperative build with guild level 5→8 (38 members), +34 promotion recipes, 6 uniques, and an 800,000-gold werewolf board game. Taiwan does not have it (except the guild ship’s accidental 8/5 opening). Between Flash of the Wilds (06-19) and the Paladin (09-25) this was Korea’s only content patch, so it is the likeliest thing to land in Taiwan between 9/9 and November.
Where it sits on Korea’s timeline
After 2025-06-19 (= Taiwan 9/9), Korea’s weekly updates were Hell 3/4/5 (07-07/14/21), Hell 6 on 08-04 (28,000 CP, 2 revives), Hell 7 on 08-11 (0 revives) — floors, not content. 08-21 was the one update that added systems, then straight to the 09-25 Paladin season. Taiwan has four or five fortnightly maintenances between 9/9 and November; this patch most likely lands in one — unless Taiwan folds it into the Paladin (how to tell, below).
Prototype runes: not a new grade, a ★6 legendary with better base
Korean 원형 룬 — Taiwan’s official term is prototype, not the geometric word. It is not a grade between legendary and mythic; it is a ★6 legendary with the same name and unique effect and a higher base attack/stat line (Korean community, pistaim). Three hard rules (Korea official):
- Drops only from dungeon / abyss / raid.
- Not sold, not fusable.
- 9 weapon, 17 armour — one for each existing ★6 legendary.
How much higher? Neither pistaim nor the official note publishes a number. Korean consensus: “one promotion step’s worth of base”. So no invented percentage here; the method instead: on Taiwan’s launch day, open both cards, divide the base-attack difference by the ★6 legendary’s base. If that is below one promotion’s increment, “prototype first” does not hold.
For your spending now: a ★6 legendary weapon rune you already own — do not fuse a second. But fuse the first: drop rates are unpublished, and waiting for a prototype for your first copy means no rune at all.
Hero buff: 4+ players, once per battle
Triggers only in 4+-player abyss/raid, two types, once per battle, ~10 s. It changes nothing solo. The one action: get your fixed party to 4 — a trio is structurally denied a burst window.
Cross-server Chance Encounter
Matching goes cross-server; queues shrink on small servers. Nothing to prepare.
Guild ship and guild level 5→8
Cooperative build plus max guild level 8, 38 members. Taiwan’s first contact was 8/5 (opened by mistake), 8/6 (closed), 8/12 (refund) — details in how long the guild ship takes. The rule here: plan headcount — the gap between today’s cap and 38 decides whether to merge before the ship reopens; the ship’s five new processed goods need 5,200 facility-hours, and headcount is the number of processing lines.
+34 recipes, 6 uniques, werewolf board game
- +34 promotion recipes: widens what can be promoted; same line as the Paladin fusion table (what to hoard before the Paladin).
- 6 unique items: dungeon drops; Taiwan names unknown, not predicted.
- Werewolf board game, 800,000 gold: entertainment; if you want it, start keeping the gold.
What to do now
- One copy of each ★6 legendary weapon rune; the second waits for a prototype drop.
- Fixed party of 4.
- Guild: work out what 38 means for you; merge before the ship reopens if at all.
- 800k gold if the board game appeals; otherwise ignore.
- Do not dismantle existing ★6 legendaries because of the word “prototype” — it has the same effect.
What invalidates this
- Taiwan bundles it into the Paladin: the “content patch before November” expectation fails, the rules still hold, just later. Check each Wednesday notice’s new-content section for “prototype”, “hero buff” or “guild ship”.
- Prototype base gap is tiny: if measured below one promotion increment, withdraw “don’t fuse a second”.
- Taiwan’s guild cap is not 8: redo headcount with the announced number.
Our conclusion
No new class, no new map, so Taiwan will not shout about it — but it is the only update between 9/9 and the Paladin that changes how you spend. Four words: no second copy.