Dungeon Fighter Online

Dungeon Fighter Online
Developer(s)	NeoPle
Publisher(s)	Nexon
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows
Release date(s)	KR August, 2005[1] JP November, 2006[1] CN November, 2007[1] TW July 16, 2009 [2] NA June 9, 2010 [3] [4]
Genre(s)	Fighting
Mode(s)	Multiplayer online
Rating(s)	ESRB: RP GRB: 12+[5]
Media/distribution	download
System requirements Minimum Windows 2000 Intel Pentium 3 800 MHz 128 MB or more of RAM Nvidia GeForce 2 MX 440 video card or better 5 GB free HDD space Broadband Internet connection

Dungeon Fighter Online is a multiplayer PC beat 'em up video game developed by Neople, originally published by Hangame and currently published by Nexon. The game was originally released in Korea as Dungeon & Fighter (던전앤파이터) and in Japan as Arad Senki (アラド戦記, Arado Senki^?, lit. War Records of Arad). Closed Beta for an English version of the game ran from July 28, 2009 to August 3, 2009. Early access has begun on September 15, 2009. Open beta started September 22, 2009. It was featured in WCG 2009, and is still a popular televised program in South Korea, where a league is active. Dungeon Fighter had a 300 million registered users celebration on May 25, 2011.

Gameplay

Dungeon Fighter Online is similar to classic 2D side-scrolling arcade hack and slash games, such as Golden Axe or Double Dragon.^[6] Players will traverse 2D screens while fighting hordes of monsters. Characters have two meters, the HP meter and the MP meter; the HP meter decreases when the player gets struck by enemies and the MP meter decreases upon using a skill, while items can restore either or both at once. The player can move in eight possible directions, with joypad or arrow keys, and attacks/jumps/uses skills by pressing the assigned key/button. Skills can be designated upon an upper row of hotkeys, that can be further expanded by the decision of the player. However, a player can choose to manually input the command to perform a certain skill; for example, a Blade Master can choose to press the assigned hotkey for the skill Draw Sword, but can also choose to perform its direct input. Directly inputting the skill (done by pressing the arrow keys in a certain sequence and then pressing the basic skill key) makes the skill cost less MP and lowers the cooldown of the skill (the time needed to wait to use the skill again) by a small amount. Skills are usually performed separately from normal combos; however, by buying "cancel" skills for certain skills, those skills can be used in the middle of a normal attack.

Skill Points

Like Nexon's other flagship title, Maplestory, Dungeon Fighter Online uses a skill point system. As a character gains experience, he or she gains skill points; the amount a character currently has is indicated by a counter at the bottom-righthand corner of the screen. Skills cost skill points to both learn and upgrade; this restricts the skills that can be learned by a character, and restricts the number of times a skill can be upgraded.

Character classes

There are 7 base character classes in Dungeon Fighter Online', and each class can specialize in a one of several subclasses upon reaching level 18. Each subclass can further advance at level 48 by accomplishing an awakening quest, gaining a new title and two new powerful skills. Awakened subclasses are an upgraded form of the original subclass. For example, a Gunner can become a Ranger at level 18, and is able to awaken as a Desperado, an upgraded Ranger, at level 48.

Slayer

The Slayer is a swordsman who uses melee weapons such as swords or blunt weapons. They are the all-around melee class, with good offense, defense, and speed. In the game, the Slayer is constantly battling against the demonic presence in his arm. A female variant of the Slayer class has been announced, but has not yet been released.^[7]

Promoted slayers can take several forms.

Blade Master

Through a quest to seal the demonic presence in his arm, the Slayer can become a Blade Master. Blade Masters utilize sheer damage per second output to become glass cannons, or they can choose to utilize super armored-techniques in an Exorcist-style strategy, or even become air-based warriors, depending on their weapon equipped. They do not gain many extra skills as the other classes, but gain the ability to quickly chain their starting skills together as well as the ability to use upgraded versions of them with certain kinds of weapons equipped, provided they invested skill points into upgrading the masteries of that kind. This makes them very easy to use and are popular amongst beginner players. They wear Light Armor for the passive hit recovery bonus, though Heavy Armor can be used for more unconventional purposes. Most Blademasters choose to use their specialty weapon called the Lightsabre, of which access is granted when the Slayer becomes a Blade Master. However, all Blade Masters can choose any kind of weapon (Or two, or three) to wield; some choose zanbatos (great swords), some choose bludgeons, and some even choose to use the magic-oriented weapon kinds like katanas and short swords. Blade Masters can be visually identified by their white arm (In place of their red one) which is caused by a regulating device that helps to suppress the demonic influence residing in the arm.

Berserker

Through a quest to give in to the demonic influence, the Slayer can become a Berserker. Berserkers combine mobility, survivability, and damage over time to outlast opponents. As their health decreases, their evasion and attack power increases, making them very difficult to kill. With the ability to heal themselves through a health regeneration skill when near death (though only in small amounts), they have earned the nickname of "cockroach" by the Korean Dungeon and Fighter community and have become notorious for being unable to die quickly. Berserkers can buff themselves to the point of having not only the biggest attack speed buff in the game but they also have large hit recovery, hit rate, and damage bonuses of any class. By using one of their attack speed increasing skills combined with the skill Frenzy, they are capable of more than doubling their power. However, this comes at the cost of massive continuous HP loss and having their armor rating reduced by 70 percent. While risky, this is a great way to come back from the depths of defeat. Berserkers use zanbatos (great swords) for power and range and katanas for blindingly fast speed. They wear Heavy Armor which increases their max HP. They can be visually identified by their red eyes, though player avatars may obscure it.

Soul Bender

Through a quest to control the demonic influence, he can become a Soul Bender. A Soul Bender patiently uses an effective defensive playstyle to safely attack his foes, though he mostly has melee-range skills beyond summoning ghosts to the field. By buffing himself with demonic spirits, he gains many benefits such as temporary invincibility, large amounts of damage mitigation, and ranged attacks. The Soul Bender can use summoned spirits to effectively control areas of the map where the opponent periodically takes damage or is afflicted with status ailments. By being able to control his opponent's movements easily and being able to carefully strike at will using the temporary invincibility, the Soul Bender is a powerful opponent in PvP. He uses either a short sword for optimum magic damage or a katana for a hybrid mix of magic and melee. Soul Benders wear Cloth Armor for the mana bonuses and mana regeneration, so they must take special care not to get hit when they do not have the appropriate buffs active. Soul Benders can be visually identified by the demonic aura emitting from their bodies and the loosened chain on their demonic arm.

Asura

Through a quest to sacrifice his sight to the demon Kazan for power, the Slayer can become an Asura. The Asura is the tank of the Slayer class. He specializes in projectiles and area of effect abilities in the form of auras for crowd control. He also possesses the ability to attract his enemies into attacking him, where he then proceeds to deal extraordinary damage to his attackers (depending on the number of opponents in range). The Asura uses short swords for the raw magical damage or katanas for a hybrid of melee and magic attack and wears Plate Armor, the heaviest armor in the game. While they do possess very respectable damage, they often experience trouble with landing hits on faster moving characters - meaning while they have trouble landing a combo, they make up for it by easily taking 1/2-3/4 of an opponent's HP in 1 combo. PvP Asuras enjoy moderate success though experienced players and certain matchups will make winning very troublesome. Asuras can be visually identified by their blindfold, which resembles one that the non-playable character GSD has, though player avatars may obscure it.

Upon reaching level 48, the classes can further advance to Grand Master, Hell Bringer, Soul Reaper, and Dark Knight respectively.

Fighter

The Fighter is a close-range brawler class. They possess powerful offense, good defense, and the fastest movement speed in the game at the expense of attack range. Fighters use gauntlets, knuckles, claws (similar to serrated patas), tonfas, and boxing gloves. A male version of the Fighter class is currently available in Korea, Japan, and most recently, China.^[8]

Promoted fighters can take several forms.

Nen Master

Through an advancement quest to master the art of Nen, the Fighter can become a Nen Master. Nen Masters support their teammates with buffing skills and primarily use ranged attacks in the form of projectiles. They have a mix of good defensive abilities to protect themselves as well as offensive abilities to put pressure on their opponents. With an assortment of melee and ranged skills, Nen Masters do not have trouble fighting at any distance though their damage output isn't as impressive as other classes; victory depends on the ability to trap an opponent so that one can perform massive damaging strikes. Like the Soul Bender, the Nen Master plays a defensive style to attack opponents from safety while possessing several melee techniques if needed. They use knuckles or tonfas (although knuckles are preferred because of the higher physical/magical damage output) and wear Cloth Armor for magical defense. Nen Masters can be visually identified by the yellow aura emitting from their bodies.

Strikers

Strikers are martial artists who have powered up melee attacks. Strikers are an offensive class designed to inflict the highest amount of damage in the shortest amount of time through melee attacks. While effective at trading hits, they aim to land a single combo instead due to the huge damage output from their skills. They also have survivability in the form of a buff that allows them to temporarily ignore enemy blows (which means that they ignore enemy attacks and interrupt enemies with their own). Their high damage output at higher levels is often enough to finish the match within one to two combos; no other class can match the single target damage of a Striker. Strikers wear Light Armor, like Blade Masters, and they can use boxing gloves, their own special class weapon, usually preferred over other weapon kinds because of the stunning side effect (in some cases there are other side effects, but all boxing gloves do have side effects when an enemy is struck). Strikers can be visually identified by their glowing hands.

Brawlers

Brawlers inflict status effects and specialize in handicapping the other player. They can blind the other player (which reduces his/her visible range), poison, confuse, etc. all with different techniques. Brawlers can also mount fallen opponents to deal guaranteed damage and always outputs extra damage to opponents who are under a status ailment. With the ability to throw mid-range projectiles and to reel opponents in from long distance, Brawlers are generally able to fight from a favorable position throughout the entire match; they perform well in PvP. Brawlers can be visually identified by the band-aids on their faces and more importantly, the scars on their body.

Grapplers

Grapplers trade attack range for raw damage in the form of throws. They have the strongest wake up game (attacking a downed opponent) because of their many different types of throws; if the opponent isn't experienced with the use of Quick Rebound, an opportunistic Grappler will swiftly finish the match. Grapplers are held in high esteem by the Korean Dungeon and Fighter community due to their ability to chain together throw techniques . Throws, which a Grappler specialize in, possess high priority and speed while completely bypassing Super Armor, giving Grapplers a major advantage at melee range. Unfortunately, Grapplers rely on the quality of the user's connecion the most since catching an opponent with lag present is very difficult (However, utilizing the technique of warp, the use of canceling a normal attack into a skill when striking an opponent, may be able to bypass this). With this exception, Grapplers are regarded as a reliable PvP class with few faults. They can be visually identified by the long headband they wear.

Upon reaching level 48, the classes can further advance to Blazing Flower, Champion, Hellcat, and Dervish respectively.

Gunner

The Gunner is a tall, gun-wielding character class. They have the second fastest movement speed as well as a higher jump, and a unique sliding attack that also ducks under certain attacks. With these tools, they are known for their ability to escape danger easily as well as being extremely popular in PvP; this is a good thing, because while they are hard to catch, they are rather frail. They come from another country (the "Sky Realm", or otherwise named Empyrean) reminiscent of the Wild West where magic does not exist (in the anime the magic has been sealed by a demon) and have therefore developed technology to compensate for it. Gunner is currently the only class available in both genders outside of Korea. Male gunners are Mercenaries from the "Lawless District" of Empyrean. He dived off a cliff into the Middle Ocean after being persuited by Kartels after he bombed their base. Female gunners are members of the "Imperial Princess Garden", elite females trained to protect the imperial princess, thus giving her improved versions of some Male Gunner skills . She, too, dived into the Middle Ocean and thus came to Arad. She did that to look for help to save the princess after she was kidnapped by Kartels. ^[9] Promoted gunners can take several forms.

Rangers

Through a quest to master sharpshooting, a Gunner can become a Ranger. Rangers are a stylish sort of gunner who specialize in using Revolvers. Their revolver specialization skills such as Pan Revolver and Death by Revolver increase their attack speed and critical hit damage when wielding a revolver class weapon; the damage from the Headshot skill becomes particularly demoralizing to the receiving player. Rangers excel at mid-range and melee combat by comboing their melee abilities into ranged attacks to setup big combos. With this combination of ranged and melee skills, they are very popular to use in PvP because they are very easy to play, although their damage output is low without skilled juggling. They wear Leather Armor for passive attack speed bonuses, and are not able to mitigate incoming damage very well. Rangers can be visually identified by the cigarette in their mouths. Female Rangers obtain Dog tags around their necks.

The level 40 skill of a Female Ranger is "Gun Dance". It is a different version of "Wild Shot". The difference being she draws in enemies and causes bleeding at a set rate while "Wild shot" does not cause bleeding.

Launchers

Through a quest to specialize in heavy weapons, a Gunner can become a Launcher. With an assortment of abilities that use weapons such as the Gatling Gun, Flamethrower, and Laser Rifle, they are able to fight very effectively at long range (even off screen by using the player names on the side of the screen) with the benefit of lowered mana costs. While they do not have many tools for melee combat, they have fearsome combos because of the firepower contained in a single attack, which generally keeps players at a distance so they may predict when a launcher will fire his or her weapon.Staying on the X-Axis of an opposing launcher is extremely dangerous as almost all of their skills fires a long distance on the X-Axis. Launchers specialize in hand cannons for the raw physical attack power. They can be visually identified by the large guns slung behind their backs.

The Female Launcher's level 35 skill is the "FM-92 MK2 Lancer" instead of the Male Launcher's "FM-92 Stinger". The lancer fires splits into 9 bombs instead of the 5 in a Stinger, however the Lancer does not launch enemies as high as the Stinger.

Mechanics

Through a quest to learn robotics, a Gunner can become a Mechanic. Mechanics are considered to be the PvP summoner, since they can build robots that single-mindedly march towards the opponent only to detonate, as well as flood the screen with projectiles from stationary turrets and air support. They wear Cloth Armor for the increase in casting speed, and rely on halting enemy advance by controlling zones with their robots. Due to the amazing amounts of projectiles and marching robots on the screen in PvP, other players are often intimidated very easily even though Mechanics lack overall survivability. Mechanics tend to use either an Autogun for the highest magical damage, or a Bowgun for a hybrid mix of magical and physical damage. They can be visually identified by the small mechanical assistant robot floating behind them.

The level 35 skill of a Female Mechanic is the "Gale Force" instead of the "Air Combat Mech Tempest" of the Male Mechanic. The "Gale Force" has a higher machine-gun firepower and lower missile firepower than the "Air Combat Mech Tempest", but it uses missiles more while the "Air Combat Mech Tempest" is the exact opposite with higher missile firepower and more machine-gun usage. The Female Mechanic also specializes in the G-series while the Male Mechanic specializes in robots.

Spitfires

Through a quest to create a special magazine cartridge, a gunner can become a Spitfire. Spitfires specialize in infusing various elements into bullets and grenades to deal damage over large areas and inflict status effects. Their playstyle involves trapping the opponent with mines, grenades, and other AoE abilities in a kind of zoning-based playstyle, complete with their ability to call in sniper support, which they direct. They aim to create knockdowns so that they can follow it up with a barrage of magic infused bullets to a downed opponent. This "cheese" strategy coupled with their amazing damage output has created negative sentiment towards Spitfires. A Spitfire's weapon of choice is either a Bowgun to increase the burst damage from the barrage or a Musket to increase efficiency of imbued bullet shots. They can be visually identified by the special cross-shaped magazine cartridges behind their hips.

The level 40 skill of the Female Spitfire is the "Photon Bomb" instead of "Napalm Bomb" of Male Spitfires. The "Photon Bomb" deals light damage instead of fire damage and does not slow down enemies standing on the explosion area. It also has a chance of electrocuting enemies. Female Spitfires also arms more grenades at the cost of power, the have the ability to throw grenades while midair with shortened cooldowns.

Upon reaching level 48, the male classes can further advance to Desperado, Wrecking Ball, Machinist, and Viper respectively, while the female classes advance to Corsair, Demolitionist, Metalheart, and Valkyrie respectively.

Mage

The Mages are the smallest in terms of physical stature, but wield considerable powers by using magic. They have the third fastest movement speed in the game. Their defensive power is the weakest, but is partly offset by the use of a Mana Shield, which mitigates incoming damage by draining some mana points instead of health points, and the ability to teleport out of combos that might otherwise be lethal. Their offensive power is powerful, but difficult to land. They come from the magical world of Pandemonium.^[10]

Promoted magicians can take several forms.

Elementalist

Elementalist control the four elements Fire (火), Water (水), Light (明), and Darkness (暗).^[11] They are the ranged spellcasters of this game and are able to effectively fill the screen with projectiles. They can create walls of ice around them for temporary defense. Their magic spells comes in many forms and each travels in a different pattern. By casting a specific pattern of spells, they are able to create a confusing web of dangerous magic to halt any enemy advance. With their ability to hit targets from long distances and their fast movement speed, Elementalists are a powerful opponent in PvP. They can be visually identified by their aura that represents the four elements.

Summoners

Summoners are mages who specialize in summoning minions to help them in battle. The summoned creatures have a timed duration and the artificial intelligence is lacking, which makes them very difficult to use in PvP situations. Most importantly, PvP further restricts the duration of skills and their effectiveness; in PvP, the summons function for only a fraction of their PvE duration. In PvE, Summoners are received with mixed feelings; though the summoned minions are extremely helpful and last long in PvE, they tend to obscure other players' sight since they cover up the screen. They can be visually identified by the summoning book they carry with them.

Battle Mages

Battle Mages specialize in melee attacks and gain significant mobility upon class change to perform well in melee combat. They are the most popular class in South Korea because of the offensive power they have and the tools they are given to land it with accuracy. With the fast skill chaining of a Blade Master and the mobility of a Monk, they are able to deal heavy damage with the additional use of chasers. Chasers are magical orbs created by the Battle Mage upon performing certain techniques; they follow behind the player automatically and can be used to extend normal combos through manual input of the player to launch them and implode them onto opponents. By using the chasers effectively, the player can create devastating improvised combos that would not normally chain together with only the player's attacks. Each chaser has its own elemental property as well and grants an appropriate buff to the player after successfully hitting the opponent. While Battle Mages have enormous offensive power, they are still Mages so they lack overall survivability, though upon class change their mana shield is further upgraded. Battle Mages can be visually identified by a dark glove adorned with a blue jewel.

Witches

Witches use a powerful variety of random chance magical spells and gains extreme mobility with the ability to fly on their class weapon, the broomstick, making them the most agile of the class, with battle mages a close second. Their ability of flight also enables Witches to perform air combos effectively. Additionally, Witches gain massive area of effect spells along with high damage single target abilities. Unfortunately, they all rely on chance to be casted successfully (though higher-leveled skills have higher success chances and lower failure chances). When successful, Witches are able to greatly restrict their opponents' movement as well as deal powerful damage to them. Witches can be visually identified by the alchemy ingredients they carry on their belt.

Upon reaching level 48, the classes can further advance to Archmage, Gaia, Bellatrix, and Trickster respectively.

Priest

The Priest is a heavy melee class, preferring to combine the power of raw offense with raw defense at the expense of speed, and they also possess exceptional attack range, especially in the case of the Exorcist. They also can choose from a basic healing spell and a couple of other ability increasing spells.^[12]

Promoted priests can take several forms.

Crusader

Crusaders are the support class in the game. They have a large variety of buff spells and healing spells to support their teammates. However, they can also fight effectively by using their own buffs to increase their combat abilities at the expense of being able to support the team, and have their own offensive skills along side their support skills; however, the skill point system of the game restricts too much dabbling into both. Crusaders specialize in wearing Plate Armor, the heaviest in the game, but because of their armor mastery they receive attack speed and casting speed and other stat boosts by wearing it, . A Crusader that specializes in offensive skills is known as a Battle Crusader, who deals strong magic damage with powerful ranged skills that keeps his opponent in place with a mixture of area skills and absurd damage. They also have access to the Light Of Divinity skill, which protects the Crusader (or his allies) from all physical damage for a long duration up to a point, giving physical melee classes such as Blade Masters a run for their money. Against magic-based damage, Crusaders have access to the Revenge Of Light skill which instantly counterattacks any magic damage the take with lightning bolts from the heavens, on top of allowing Crusaders to attack with lighting as they land attacks as well. Crusaders can be visually identified by their glowing yellow aura that takes the shape of a cross.

Monk

Monks specialize in high speed melee combat with an emphasis on combo strings. They gain high mobility upon planting their weapon into the ground with the Will Driver skill, which also augments their stats with its large aura so long the Monk fights inside it. The totem is the most popular weapon to form the aura with because it grants an attack speed buff when driven into the ground, with the second most popular weapon being the scythe due to its naturally fast attack speed, along with the Will Driver aura for it providing a movement speed buff. With their weapon in place, Monks gain access to special boxing techniques along with high speed dashing and swaying to quickly maneuver themselves around the area and approach their opponents quickly. Monks wear Light Armor which greatly increases their strength and vitality. The Monk is overall a high mobility class that deals damage through continuous hits and long combos, and also are capable of performing extremely long standing combos, even to the point of creating an infinite combo, along with possessing many launching skills to juggle their opponents. They are a popular PvP classes due to their mobility and rush-down oriented gameplay style. In dungeons, monks are valued for their ability to gather enemies together with their attacks, setting up enemies for either the attacks of other party members or the monk's own attacks. Monks are recognized from the glowing blue aura issuing from their hands.

Exorcist

Exorcists are a diverse class that have changed basic attacks upon promotion from normal priests, which involves using only their weapons, as opposed to only using their weapons on the final blow of their normal combo. There are two main varieties of Exorcist, Magical and Physical, each with markedly different playstyles, though both utilize some degree of super armor, more or less. A Magic Exorcist utilizes magic-based damage, area control in the form of amulets that can be summoned to the field to restrict the mobility of foes and damage them periodically, and summons spirits to aid him in battle while also able to launch enemies that come too close to his location into the air to set up a lethal trap. A Physical Exorcist, on the other hand, uses physical-based damage to defeat his enemies; he is a melee class through and through, and is generally dreaded by many DFO players over his ability to use super armor to endure the attacks of opponents and at the same time dish out his own damaging attacks. As opposed to Magic Exorcists, who wear the physically ineffective Cloth Armor for the casting speed bonuses, Physical Exorcists wear either Heavy or Plate Armor (most favor the latter for superior defensive stats) that is well suited to taking hits. However, such heavy armor in either case slows down Physical Exorcists, to where they can almost never win against classes like Elementalists. Some Exorcists utilize both magic-based and physical-based skills, becoming Hybrid Exorcists, in order to mitigate the weaknesses of both main varieties of Exorcist. Exorcists are identified by the fiery familiar that float behind them.

Avenger

Avengers transform their bodies into demons, making them physically stronger at the cost of reducing speed. Currently, they are only available in the Korean's version of Dungeon Fighter Online.

With the exception of Monks, priests are generally advised to invest in equipment that grants movement speed bonuses to compensate for their slow movement speed. Once properly geared, catching faster players becomes much easier, though certain matchups will always be difficult such as Elementalist vs Exorcist.

Upon reaching level 48, the classes can further advance to Paladin, Templar, and Hyperion respectively.

Thief

The Thief is a new class that is currently available in all versions, having previously been exclusively in Asian versions. They are agile, dagger-wielding dark elves that specialize in high-speed attacks and aerial combat.

Thieves are able to advance to one of four forms (currently 2). Rogues, Necromancers, Kunoichi (not yet released), and Shadow Dancers (not yet released).

Rogue

A Rogue is a thief that values mobility above all. Utilizing dual blades or daggers, Rogues utilize an amazing rate of landing hits to rapidly finish off opponents, despite the fact that these individual hits are often weak. They have the ability to double jump in mid-air, and to chain many skills together, in a Monk-like fashion. They are not durable, however, as they wear leather armor. They can be visually identified by their glowing white eyes.

Necromancer

A Necromancer is a thief that chooses to develop their dark elven talent of necromancy over all else. They wield wands for the pure magical power that they give, as all of their attacks are magic-based. A Necromancer can summon Nicholas, a vampire that can attack on his own as well as summon zombie minions, and Vallacre, a large, imposing figure that carries a large broadsword that augments the Necromancer's normal attack and can perform his own destructive techniques. They are more durable than Rogues and normal thieves; they wear light armor as opposed to leather armor. They can be visually identified by the dark energy spreading around them when they stand still.

Upon reaching level 48, the classes can further advance to Silver Moon, and Defiler classes respectively; Kunoichi and Shadow Dancers are not yet released. ^[13]

Style and Technique Points

Style and Technique points are gained for performing attacks on enemies in special circumstances.

To earn style points, on must perform combos (chaining hits together on enemies), aerials (striking an enemy while an enemy is in midair), and striking enemies at the same times with party members.

To gain technique points, a player can perform back attacks (striking an enemy when their back is turned to the player), perform counterattacks (hit an opponent while they are performing an attack), and perform overkill blows, in which the damage of the final hit exceeds 30% or more of the victim's total health.

It should be noted that these statistics are no longer applied in the current version of DFO, but they do reappear when performing certain advancement quests.

Areas

A player starts out in a town every time he/she logs onto a server. NPCs sell items, buy things from the player, give quests, fix equipment, etc.

In every town there is a "Seria's". It is marked with a two white stone statues on both sides of the doorway. In here, a girl named Seria gives some quests and sells items and avatar accessories that require money counted in Seras. Seras are converted from real money or obtained free of charge from some special events. They are not in the American Release yet. There is also a safe (stores up to eight different items, as long as their total weight is below 8 kg, however the safe can be upgraded holding more items, and also unlimited weight) and a Mailbox (used to send messages and items to other characters/players.)

In every town there is at least one area where when a character walks off the screen, the player will enter a dungeon selection mode. Once the dungeon is selected, the character is transported into the dungeon.

Battles: Dungeons

A town may have one or more dungeon areas. When the player's character walks off the screen, the player will be presented with a map select screen with dungeons available to the player. Hidden dungeons may be unlocked after completing certain "epic" quests.

Battles take place in a player selected "dungeon" where the player starts off in a starting room, destroying monsters and collecting dropped items spoils. Upon destroying all enemies in a room, all doorways leading out of the conquered room light up and become accessible. Through these the player enter new rooms where more enemies are. The player may revisit any room previously cleared. Cleared rooms remain enemy-less and any spoils dropped on the ground stay. Finally, the player may enter a specially lit doorway that flashes in a different color than normal doors. This is the gate to the dungeon boss, where normal monsters and the dungeon bosses lurk. The dungeon is cleared as soon as the boss dies. Any monsters left alive when the boss dies die along with it. If a player leaves the dungeon before killing the boss or dies in battle without using a continue coin, a countdown will start and the player will be returned to town.

Upon the Death of the Boss

When the Boss dies, the screen reverts to a blue "stage final scores" screen where the player is shown the Combo Ranking achieved in the course of the dungeon. The ranking is classified much like a school assignment would be, ranging from (lowest to highest) F, E, D, C, B, A, S, SS, and SSS. Every ranking from B upward gives an experience bonus; many other factors give out bonuses, like wearing an avatar item, having a pet out, special events, etc.

Then the player gets to choose a reward card from the spoils pile. There will always be eight cards, four on top and four on the bottom. The ones on the bottom cost gold to purchase. Each person may only choose one card from each side. Other players may see what other people receive. Rewards consist of which card a player will automatically receive- the top pile- while the bottom pile is optional to select.

When the score and reward screen is gone a campfire is automatically generated in the boss room. From the NPC next to the campfire players may sell items and fix broken equipment. The boss room gates remain closed, but players are free to pick up items and whatever they want to do before either leaving the dungeon safely to town, choosing a different dungeon from the same area, or redoing the same dungeon (items and experience are not reset).

Mini-Map

A minimap to the top right corner of the screen shows the room layout of the dungeon. Unvisited rooms are not marked, and accessible but not yet visited places are marked with a flashing question mark once a room is cleared. In the minimap, the boss room is marked with a red head, the special "Hell Mode" boss room is marked with a purple head, and normal rooms display directions of open gates.

Fatigue Points

You start with 156 fatigue points, and upon entering a room in a dungeon you lose one of them. If you go back to a previous room you have been in, you will not lose any fatigue points. After all 156 fatigue points are used you can't enter any dungeons until 6:00 AM PST the next day (server time), they cannot be healed like frustration points. However, if you run out of fatigue points while in a dungeon, you will still be able to complete the dungeon. This, however, was removed and was replaced by blitz points.

Starting with the "Rebirth" update, the "Fatigue Points" have been replaced by "Blitz Points". "Blitz Points" allow players to play for an unlimited period of time and experience at the price of increased weapon break rate. There are 5 stages. The first stage with 200 "Blitz Points" is normal experience and weapon break rate. Second to fifth each has 50 "Blitz Points" for every new stage you reach, you will earn more experience, but weapons will break faster in dungeons. After you burn out stage five, you are given unlimited "Blitz Points".

Champions

Champions are monsters, but are marked with a special aura emanating around them and a specially colored name above them and their special status or special abilities. (example: Frozen Tau Guard, Attack and Bleed) Champions are not that much harder to take on than normal monsters, but they do have extra hp and their levels may be higher than normal ones. Upon death, a picture of a good luck sack/charm appears next to the minimap in the upper right hand corner of the screen, and a number next to it showing how many mutated monsters killed. More champion monsters killed will result in better rewards (in general) when the dungeon is cleared.

Difficulty levels

When a player clears a dungeon and scores the appropriate rank, they gain access to the next difficulty level for that dungeon. Dungeons of higher difficulty can be selected by clicking on the arrows underneath a dungeon icon. The second level of difficulty is labeled as "Expert's Road" (pass Normal), the 3rd level "Master's Road" (receive a B on Expert), and the 4th level "King's Road" (receive an S on Master). Higher difficulty results in monsters with more hp, higher attack, higher aggression, and more chances for a player to miss their attacks. Higher difficulty results in more experience and better quality of items. There is also "Hero's Road"(only in dungeons higher than 60 and can be received by epic quests) this is currently implemented in North America.

In order to unlock Hero's Road, you must complete a 2 part epic quest chain given by Iris. The first quest requires you to run that dungeon on King's Road (or Hero's Road in a party) a certain amount of times (mostly 5 or 10). The second part require Nihillistic Demon Stones(repeatable quest from Sharan, 10 Nihillistic Demon Stone fragments are required to make one Nihillistic Demon Stone) and Kartel Officer's Medal which drops from level 60+ dungeon bosses. Upon unlocking Hero's Road, you will be given new Hero's Road Epic Quests for that dungeon.

Act X: Rebirth

This update is relatively the largest update to Dungeon Fighter Online in America, and will feature various new locations and dungeons, as well as the revised leveling curve and features previously only available in other versions of Dungeon and Fighter.

• The Thief class (listed above) will be added, as well as their Awakening classes.
• The leveling curve will be lowered to assist new players, and the level cap has been increased to 70.
• Fatigue Points will be removed and replaced with Blitz Points, which do not run out, and will provide bonus XP after 200 Blitz points are used at the cost of increased durability loss and increased repair fees. The bonus XP and increased durability loss and repair fees increase every 50 Blitz points.
• The new town Bahn Hafen and it's dungeon zone Oceanic Express will be added.
• The Hero's Road difficulty and Heroic Items found on Hero's Road, previously exclusive to versions of Dungeon and Fighter in Asia, will be added.
• The following 7 new dungeons will be added:
  • Midnight Assault
  • Kartel Supply Camp
  • Final Pursuit
  • Blood Sands
  • Abandoned Mine
  • Iron Scale
  • Runaway West-Bound
• A new TP system will be added, which will allow you to gain TP every time you level, starting from Level 50, and then use TP to boost base stats, passive skills, and active skills.
• The Sub-Equipment Slots will be added upon reaching Level 60. Items placed here will boost base stats, as well as a brand new base stat.
• The random Avatar system will be removed and players will now be able to select the avatars they wish to purchase before buying them.

Development

Dungeon Fighter Online was developed by a South Korean company called Neople who previously only published a number of casual online games through their own game portal site.^[14] It was originally planned as a small game as the entire game was developed in five months based on the forecasted life expectancy. However, the response was better than they expected so the budget was increased and the game was expanded.^[15]

Extensive testing took place before the premiere launch in Korea. Three closed beta periods were held between December 17–31, 2004, February 1–13, 2005, and June 28-July 11, 2005. Neople accepted only 999 players per test and allowed only one hundred minutes of gameplay per day.^[16][17][18] Content was fine-tuned and updated daily throughout the test period based on testers feedback.^[15] After a short hiatus, open beta commenced on August 10, 2005 at 3 pm. By 11 pm, there were over 15 thousand concurrent users^[19]

Even though many games being released at the time were 3D, Neople decided to create Dungeon Fighter Online in 2D because they didn't believe it affected gameplay, they didn't feel a 3D game could capture the look and feel of the original illustrations of the characters, the ease of casual players getting into the game, and they had more experience with 2D games. Hi-res is not a likely path the game will take because director Yun Jong Kim's main focus is "efficiency".^[15][20]

North American release

Five years after the original release in Korea, Nexon America revealed plans for an English version of Dungeon Fighter Online at the 2009 Game Developers Conference in late March.^[21] The title was renamed from Dungeon & Fighter to Dungeon Fighter Online because of the awkwardness to say "Dungeon and Fighter".^[22]

Thousands of applicants were accepted into closed beta, which held for seven days between July 28-August 3, 2009.^[23] Open beta plans were announced at Penny Arcade Expo 2009. Early access to open beta, available for players who received a beta key, proceeded on September 15, 2009. Open beta began a week later on September 22, 2009.^[24] Dungeon Fighter Online officially launched on June 9, 2010.^[25]

Future Updates

Dungeon Fighter developers recently announced in Korea that DFO will be going through major updates including: lower experience requirements and latency issues.^{[citation needed]}

Adaptations

Anime

An anime adaption of the game was announced by Gonzo at the Hangame 2008 Summer Festival event on August 24, 2008. Titled as Slap-up Party: Arad Senki (スラップアップパーティ −アラド戦記−, Surappuappu Pāti -Arado Senki-^?, lit and titled in original Korean as Dungeon and Fighter: Slap-up Party (던전 앤 파이터 슬랩업 파티). Slap-up Party: Record of the Arad War), it is produced by Gonzo and GK Entertainment and directed by Takahiro Ikezoe.^[26] The anime premiered on TV Tokyo on April 3, 2009 and is slated for a run of twenty-six episodes.^[27] It is loosely based on material from the official webcomic, The Vagrants in Arad (Korean: 아라드의 방랑파티, Japanese: アラドの放浪パーティー, lit. The Wandering Party of Arad), and features several of the same characters.^[28][29]

Manga

A manga based on the game titled Arad Senki: Slap-up Party (アラド戦記 −スラップアップパーティ−^?), written and illustrated by Kiku Ueda was announced on April 30, 2009. It premiered on May 30, 2009 in the June issue of Gentosha's Monthly Comic Birz magazine.^[30]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Neople History". Neople. http://www.neople.co.kr/neople/neople_history.php?page=1. Retrieved 2009-08-06. 
2. ^ "[Dungeon Fighter Set the launch date for Taiwan"]. ThisIsGame Global. 2009-07-16. http://www.thisisgame.com/go/?p=216. Retrieved 2009-09-15. 
3. ^ "Dungeon Fighter Online officially launches June 9". ThisIsGame Global. http://www.neoseeker.com/news/13943-dungeon-fighter-online-officially-launches-june-9. Retrieved 2010-06-09. 
4. ^ http://news.mmosite.com/content/2010-06-09/nexon_today_launched_dungeon_fighter_online,1.shtml
5. ^ "게임물등급위원회 - 던전앤파이터". Game Rating Board. 2008-09-26. http://grb.or.kr/Statistics/Popup/Pop_StatisticsDetails.aspx?app=6659&type=00. Retrieved 2009-08-06. 
6. ^ http://www.gamespot.com/news/6207013.html
7. ^ "Dungeon & Fighter Slayer Class Info Page". http://dungeonfighter.nexon.net/Guide/Characters.aspx. 
8. ^ "Dungeon & Fighter Fighter Class Info Page". http://www.dungeonfighter.nexon.net/Characters/Fighter.aspx. 
9. ^ "Dungeon & Fighter Gunner Class Info Page". http://www.dungeonfighter.nexon.net/Characters/Gunner.aspx. 
10. ^ "Dungeon & Fighter Mage Class Info Page". http://www.dungeonfighter.nexon.net/Characters/Mage.aspx. 
11. ^ http://df.nexon.com/?GO=guide%7Ccharacter&TO=mage1
12. ^ "Dungeon & Fighter Priest Class Info Page". http://www.dungeonfighter.nexon.net/Characters/Priest.aspx. 
13. ^ http://dnf.gametime.co.kr/community/movie_view.asp?num=857037&ctcode=movie&page=1&search_method=&search_word=&kind=0
14. ^ "Tencent Obtains Exclusive License to Operate Dungeon & Fighter in China" (PDF). Tencent Holdings Ltd. http://www.tencent.com/en-us/content/ir/news/2007/attachments/20071213.pdf. Retrieved September 7, 2009. 
15. ^ ^{a b c} "Interview: Dungeon Fighter Online Creator On Korean Hit MMO's Western Transition". Gamasutra. http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=22671. Retrieved September 7, 2009. 
16. ^ "던전앤파이터, 17일 클베 시작 [Dungeon & Fighter Close Beta Starts On The 17th]" (in Korean). GG Game. http://www.ggemguide.com/news_view.htm?uid=2974. Retrieved September 7, 2009. 
17. ^ "던전앤파이터, 2차 클로즈베타 테스터 모집 [Dungeon & Fighter Recruits 2nd Closed Beta Testers]" (in Korean). GG Game. http://www.ggemguide.com/news_view.htm?uid=3291. Retrieved September 7, 2009. 
18. ^ "던전 앤 파이터 [Dungeon & Fighter]" (in Korean). Game Spot. http://www.gamespot.co.kr/ArticleView.asp?artice_id=00000039216152. Retrieved September 8, 2009. 
19. ^ "던전앤파이터, 오픈베타 첫날 동시접속자 1만명 돌파" (in Korean). GG Game. http://www.ggemguide.com/news_view.htm?uid=5155. Retrieved September 8, 2009. 
20. ^ "Interview: Herb Yang, Managing Producer for Dungeon Fighter Online". 2D-X. http://www.2d-x.com/beat-em-ups/interview-herb-yang-managing-producer-for-dungeon-fighter-online/. Retrieved September 7, 2009. 
21. ^ "GDC 2009: Dungeon Fighter Online, A First Look". Gamespot. http://www.gamespot.com/news/blogs/online-blog/909186734/26826990/gdc-2009-dungeon-fighter-online-a-first-look.html. Retrieved September 13, 2009. 
22. ^ "Exclusive Interview with Nexon's Min Kim". Ten Ton Hammer. http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/66185. Retrieved September 13, 2009. 
23. ^ "Dungeon Fighter Online Heads to Closed Beta". Warcry Network. http://www.warcry.com/news/view/93509-Dungeon-Fighter-Online-Heads-to-Closed-Beta. Retrieved September 14, 2009. 
24. ^ "Nexon America Establishes Early Access Beta for Dungeon Fighter Online.". GamersHell.com. http://www.gamershell.com/companies/nexon/649424.html. Retrieved September 14, 2009. 
25. ^ "[UPDATE Dungeon Fighter Online Official Launch Countdown - Clean Slate Event"]. Nexon. http://dungeonfighter.nexon.net/News/Content.aspx?boardNo=102&contentNo=007rA. Retrieved June 8, 2010. 
26. ^ "Gonzo to Animate Korean MMORPG Dungeon & Fighter". Anime News Network. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-08-24/gonzo-to-animate-korean-mmorpg-dungeon-and-fighter. Retrieved August 11, 2009. 
27. ^ "Episode List" (in Japanese). http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/contents/arad/episodes/episodes1/. Retrieved August 11, 2009. 
28. ^ The Vagrants in Arad (Korean)
29. ^ The Vagrants in Arad (Japanese)
30. ^ "Arad Senki Fantasy Game/Anime Gets Manga Version". http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-05-14/arad-senki-fantasy-game/anime-gets-manga-version. Retrieved August 21, 2009. 

External links

• Official Dungeon Fighter Online homepage
• (Korean) Official Korean Dungeon & Fighter homepage
• (Japanese) Official Arad Senki homepage
• (Korean) Neople Company Homepage
• (Japanese) Official Slap-up Party Arad Senki homepage
• (English) Dungeon Fighter Online guide at StrategyWiki
• (English) DFOSource - Dungeon Fighter Online fansite
• (Chinese) Official Chinese Dungeon & Fighter homepage
• Dungeon Fighter Online (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia