Historical Korean balance update · About these guides
Korea’s July 22, 2026 balance update targeted high-end performance gaps through PvE damage, Ark Passive, Ark Grid, Stagger, and skill-protection changes. These historical Korean notes are distinct from the Western September update.
Classes Receiving Buffs
Selected effects improved for Berserker, Destroyer, Gunlancer, Slayer, Wardancer, Scrapper, Glaivier, Striker, and Breaker. Gains vary by build.
Gunlancer gained 5.7% skill damage excluding basic attacks. Striker received Esoteric-skill improvements. Slayer changes included Punisher and Seething Fury effects.
The source lists 3.5% skill-damage increases for Gunslinger, 4.5% for Sorceress, and 5.3% for Aeromancer. Aeromancer also gained Stagger on the attacks described as the strong-wind attack, the flying movement attack, and the summer-sunlight attack. These are descriptive skill labels; check the matching Western tooltip.
Soulfist and Dimensionalist Adjustments
Martial Arts PvE damage, including Hyper Awakening, fell 28.6%. Developer commentary addressed its unusually high contribution in Robust Spirit. This is not the complete Western change: September also included +29% to skills except Hyper Awakening. Improvements included Energy Bullet and the related core effects described by the source as the chained-energy effect and the stored-energy projectile effect. The latter two are descriptive core-effect labels.
Dimensionalist’s separated-timeline clock acceleration was restricted. Reduced damage effects included the source’s acceleration enhancement, spatial advantage, and timeline collapse. These labels describe Korean effects rather than confirmed Western names.
At the same time, the source lists improved execution protection or stability for the space-manipulation skill, the cross-thrust skill, the focused-piercing skill, and the boundary-break skill, alongside several core buffs. Baseline and developed setups therefore changed differently.
Arcanist, Machinist, and Souleater
Arcanist’s alternative-Emperor passive gained normal-skill damage while losing Emperor-card additional damage, shifting emphasis away from one card burst.
Machinist’s Astral Suit and Assault Titan core effects were reduced, while Quasar Cannon Suit improved. Compare core combinations separately.
Souleater’s Death Training improved, while the source reports reductions to the dead-step core effect and the soul-core effect. A passive buff need not outweigh every core nerf.
Deathblade and Reaper
Deathblade’s Specialization-to-Surge coefficient rose from 0.8 to 0.86, not a flat 0.06-point total-DPS gain. Improvements also affected the chaos-power passive, Blade Rush, Death Blitz, Void Strike, and Soul Absorber or related effects.
Reaper’s Finish Step received movement and final-hit adjustments. The source also highlights the weak-point-opening effect rewarding successful Back Attacks, and a higher attack-power effect for Hunger also improved. Check the selected passives and cores.
What to Check Before Rebuilding
The patch redistributed power across builds. For a North American character, read the complete Western notes and compare your active effects before rebuilding.