☕Tomo's Teatime(◡‿◡) #24 — Getting Started with Awakening Expansion - Unleashed

Title: ☕Tomo's Teatime(◡‿◡) #24 — Getting Started with Awakening Expansion - Unleashed

Hello everyone, it's good to see you. It's Tomo. I'm back again, following up on last week.

There's now less than a week left until the October 14 update, bringing the 16:9 resolution and Awakening Expansion - Unleashed.

Today, I'll first walk you through how to get started with and how to grow it, and then continue with the Amy and Ai skills I didn't get to show you last time. I've also included news about the Awakening dungeon and the events we've prepared for update day.

Grab a cup of tea and enjoy a light read.

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【 Awakening Expansion - Unleashed System 】

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◼︎ Growth That Builds on Your Current Awakening

is an extension of the current Awakening system. There's no new currency to collect — you'll keep using the Awakening Stone of Liberation and Awakening Stone of Transformation you already use. However, this is not a higher-tier Awakening like a "2nd Awakening" that raises the Awakening itself by one level. It's an expansion that builds on your current Awakening and widens the techniques you can use and how far you can grow.

◼︎ How to Get Started

Characters that are Lv. 90 or higher and have completed their Awakening can register the . Mission Scrolls can be purchased at any time from Cash Shop > Training Center.

▸ Awakening Expansion - Unleashed Mission (18,000 GP) Complete 8 chained missions in order, from the Abyssal Path to Boundary of the Awakened. ▸ Awakening Expansion - Unleashed Mission (8,000 VP) Completed instantly upon registration.

Once you finish the mission, (Awakening Expansion - Unleashed) will appear after your job name on the Character Select screen, and the Awakening icon in the dungeon lobby will change to a new symbol.

◼︎ 9 New Cores

Once you complete , 9 new cores will open on your existing Awakening Core page. Unlocking the first core, , grants you the Unleashed Enhancement.

Let me briefly recap the Unleashed Enhancement I introduced in the last Teatime. Press V to use the Unleashed Enhancement: your 4th Bar Special's cooldown is reduced immediately, and you enter the Unleashed state for a set duration. In the Unleashed state, your equipped 4th Bar Special is enhanced, letting you use the Unleashed 4th Bar Special once.

▸ 4th Bar Special cooldown reduction ▸ Unleashed 4th Bar Special usable once ▸ Increased Attack ▸ Hyper Armor

The cores that follow let you use the Unleashed Enhancement longer, more often, and more powerfully.

▸ Core of Bonds : Attack 100, grants the Unleashed Enhancement ▸ Core of Resolve : Unleashed state duration +2 sec ▸ Core of Abundance : Attack 150, Unleashed Enhancement uses +1 ▸ Core of Eternity : Unleashed state duration +3 sec ▸ Core of Resonance : Attack 200, Attack buff +2.5% when using the Unleashed Enhancement ▸ 4 Creation/Destruction Sub Cores : Grant 1 property stat. They perform the same as the existing Creation/Destruction Sub Cores.

◼︎ How to Use the Unleashed Enhancement

The Unleashed Enhancement can only be used in dungeons, and the number of uses per dungeon is limited. There's no separate cooldown, but you can't use it again while the Unleashed state is active. You can check your remaining uses right on the in-game screen.

When you first obtain the Unleashed Enhancement, it's assigned to the V key, so some existing hotkeys shift over.

▸ Taunt : V → B ▸ Zoom In/Out : B → N

You can change these to any key you like in the control settings.

◼︎ New Sub Core Value Change

We've heard a lot of feedback that changing a Sub Core rerolls both the property and its value, making it hard to keep a property you like. So we've added , which keeps the property and rerolls only its value. The value never goes down — it either stays the same or increases. Each attempt costs 5 Awakening Stones of Liberation and 10 Awakening Stones of Transformation.

◼︎ New Hero Collection Effects

We've added effects to the Hero Collection so that you receive stat bonuses as more characters on your account complete .

◼︎ Removal of the Item Slot

With the addition of the Unleashed Enhancement interface, we had to free up the space used by the in-game item slot. As a result, two pieces of content that used the item slot will change.

▸ Hungry Pets' Revolt : Items will now be used immediately upon pickup, or will activate objects instead. ▸ PvP : Item Mode will be removed.

This may be disappointing news for those of you who enjoyed Item Mode. However, looking at the actual data, Item Mode was rarely being played, so we chose to make room for the new combat system. With a full overhaul of the in-game UI also planned, we will keep refining the core combat systems to fit the current state of the game.

Detailed core stats and rates will be organized into tables in the October 14 update announcement.

◼︎ About Our Promise on Character Balance

In a Teatime a while back, I told you we would narrow the balance gap between characters and make improvements so you could play more of the characters you love. I wasn't able to keep that promise quickly.

The truth is, we had planned to schedule balance work after the Ereb update. But as we reviewed the work, we found a lot of overlap with the Awakening Expansion coming soon after, and the two would have had to be worked on almost at the same time. If we split them up, each would only be planned within what was possible on its own, making both smaller in scale and making updates take even longer. I was also worried that, if things went wrong, we could end up with a long gap in content updates like last year. Unfortunately, we decided to expand the scale of the update and do it properly in a single update. That's also why, in this Part 1 expansion, we refined the command damage balance and existing special skills of the four characters together. We'll share the balance adjustments to existing special skills and commands, other than the new skills, in a separate announcement early next week.

This isn't something you have to understand. Since I didn't keep my promise, I think it's only natural to hear some harsh words. But I believe there's a difference between a promise being delayed without explanation and explaining why it happened, so I'm telling you the reason honestly. I'm sorry that the character balance update we promised has been delayed. Going forward, we will improve our update planning and development structure so that we can deliver the updates we promise on time.

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【 Amy & Ai Skill Preview 】

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◼︎ New Skills for Amy and Ai

Since showing you Elesis's and Rin's skills last time, we've heard a lot of you asking how the other two characters will change. In this Part 1 expansion, each character gets 3 TYPE2 special skills and Unleashed 4th Bar Specials. MP characters get one per job for a total of 4, while AP and HB characters get 1.

These are still works in progress, so things may look a little different in the actual update. Thank you for understanding, and please enjoy the preview.

Amy Starlet (4th Job) - Pink Desperado TYPE2

A special skill where Amy transforms into a pink monster and unleashes a breath attack. It has been reborn as a powerful skill that stretches far along the X-axis. Press Z during the skill to spend 1 MP bar and breathe up to 3 more times. Feel the power of the Pink Desperado breath!

Amy Dancer (1st Job)

A rhythm-game style special skill where you press the arrow keys in time with the falling notes, matching the arrow pad that appears above your head. You can keep up continuous attacks as long as you keep entering the commands, and during that time, allies in range (including yourself) gain increased Attack and MP Recovery Speed and continuously recover HP.

Ai - Divine Tempest TYPE2

A special skill that gathers and accumulates the surrounding power, then releases it all at once to strike nearby enemies with a powerful light. It has a wide area-of-effect hitbox.

Ai

Fires a Laser Emitter to attack, then enhances your Standby attacks. While the buff is active, using 'Standby: Install Cutter', 'Standby: Setup', or Standby unlock attacks will also spawn Laser Emitters that fire lasers.

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【 Awakening Dungeon 'Boundary of the Awakened' 】

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◼︎ A Dungeon That Tells the Story of Awakening

We didn't want the Awakening Expansion to end with just one more skill. So we prepared an Awakening dungeon where you can play through and follow the story of why the characters awaken once more.

Summoned to an unknown space, the Grand Chase party takes on the 'Trial of Awakening.' After a trial where they face themselves and a battle against a mysterious priest who received a revelation, a portal leading to the next region opens. It's connected to the story of the next new region, so please look forward to what the next story will be.

◼︎ Entry Requirements

▸ Available after clearing the dungeon in the Solene region. ▸ No daily or weekly play limits. ▸ We recommend entering after reaching 400K Combat Power.

◼︎ The Dungeon's Role and Rewards

'Boundary of the Awakened' is a space for clearing the missions and for telling the story of Awakening. Clearing this dungeon is also the final step of the GP mission. It doesn't require repeated play, and you can obtain several types of cards for your Card Collection. We're also building it with a Master difficulty in mind for the future.

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【 October 14 Events 】

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◼︎ Update Celebration Special Login Reward

Since the 16:9 resolution and Awakening Expansion arrive on the same day, we've prepared a login reward so you can comfortably look around the new Grand Chase. Whether you're returning after a while or playing with us every day, just log in to receive all the rewards.

▸ Event Period : October 14, 2026 (Wed) After Maintenance - November 4, 2026 (Wed) Before Maintenance (UTC+0) ▸ How to Participate : Log in during the event period to receive the rewards via mail. ▸ Special Login Reward ① : Increase Jumping Count Ticket x1 ▸ Special Login Reward ② : Seal Breaker Scroll x50

You can find the rewards in your 'Mailbox' after logging in following the October 14 maintenance. Reward mail expires in 21 days, so make sure to claim it before it expires.

◼︎ Unleashed! Elesis, Amy, Rin, Ai Event

We're also opening an event so you can jump into the new Awakening Expansion without any pressure.

▸ Event Period : October 14, 2026 (Wed) After Maintenance - November 4, 2026 (Wed) Before Maintenance (UTC+0) ▸ How to Participate : Click the [Unleashed! Awakening Expansion Event] button on the World Map to go to the event screen. ▸ Unleashed Missions : There are character-exclusive missions for the event characters (Elesis, Amy, Rin, Ai) and common missions available to all characters. As you follow missions like completing , unlocking new cores, and using Unleashed 4th Bar Skills, you'll naturally gather Awakening Stones and growth materials. ▸ Accumulated Score Rewards : Collect mission points to receive rewards such as the Awakening Expansion Mission Select Box and the Unleashed! Coordi Support Select Box.

When the November 4 maintenance begins, the event and any unclaimed rewards will end, so be sure to claim them in advance.

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【 Closing 】

──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── We're finally able to show you the update we've been preparing for a long time. Please play it yourself on October 14 and feel free to tell us what you think. On November 4, we'll be back with the Awakening Expansion for Lire, Decanee, Jin, and Rufus.

◼︎ Coupon

As a small thank-you for reading all the way to the end, here's a little gift.

Coupon Code : OHMYAMY1014 Valid Until : Until October 14, 2026 Before Maintenance (UTC+0) Reward : Rune Sub Property Reset Scroll x1

Thank you.

Tomo