[Dev Journal] Skill Haste & Other Structural Game Changes
[p]Hello Lumia Island Survivors![/p][p]We bring you the final Season 8’s Dev Journal. As previously announced, today we’ll be talking about the most difficult and heavy subject of all: the introduction of Skill Haste in Season 8, along with our future direction on fundamental structural changes to the game such as healing reduction, farming, and multi-weapon characters. We also want to hear your thoughts.[/p][p]Reflections on the Introduction of Skill Haste[/p][p]As we mentioned during our last season’s dev stream, we believed the Skill Haste system could raise the long-term ceiling of the game. And in fact, many players agreed on the necessity of its long-term introduction. But looking back now, aside from that single point of long-term need, everything else was a mistake.[/p][p]Issues with the Process and Communication[/p][p]First, we need to address the unpolished process that ultimately even turned away those who initially supported its long-term need. Out of fear of extreme gameplay scenarios that could arise with Skill Haste, we set the numbers far too conservatively in the beginning. This was poor judgment. We also deeply regret not making more proactive hotfixes during the preseason period. There were clear opportunities to roll out the system more smoothly, but because of bad calls, we missed them.[/p][p]Communication was also a problem. In the dev stream and announcements, we overstated the outcomes we expected from these changes. Repeatedly citing past examples in that context was also, in hindsight, highly inappropriate. We should have focused only on the patch itself and the road ahead, and for not doing so, we take full responsibility.[/p][p]Issues with the Decision Itself[/p][p]Even more fundamental than process or communication, however, was the decision to introduce Skill Haste in Season 8 at all. While we mentioned its long-term necessity, looking back, it was not urgent enough to force into this season.[/p][p]Even if our process and communication had been smoother, there was no guarantee that a risky change like Skill Haste wouldn’t cause problems. And indeed, while the gap in cooldown reduction did stabilize somewhat, the goal of increasing item build diversity still requires significant further adjustments.[/p][p]In the end, even for the sake of long-term goals, Season 8 was absolutely not the right time for its introduction.[/p][p]Improving the Team’s Foundations[/p][p]The decision to introduce Skill Haste, and the mistakes made throughout, seriously damaged the trust of players, which has always been the greatest driving force behind Eternal Return.[/p][p]To address this, we’ve determined that structural adjustments to the team itself are necessary. We are currently carrying out, or preparing, the following measures:[/p]
[p]To solve the process issues, we are reviewing our operating procedures to allow more agile, rapid responses, and we’ve created a new communication line so player voices can reach decision-makers faster.[/p]
[p]To solve communication issues, we’re preparing more active ways to listen to players, including these Dev Journals.[/p]
[p]And for the most important matter, decision-making, we are bringing in new members, adjusting responsibilities, and replacing certain leads. More details will be shared in next week’s Dev Stream.[/p]
[p]Of course, organizational and personnel issues cannot be fixed overnight. But at the very least, we are fully aware of the problems we face, and we’re working to create a structure that, while it may not immediately show that “things have changed,” will give you reason to expect that “things could change.”[/p][p] [/p][p]Direction of Change – Safe & Risky Changes[/p][p]The amount of change still matters. The worst-rated season in Eternal Return’s history was Season 2, when there was too little change. But as we’ve learned by analyzing recent poor results, especially Season 8, it’s not just the amount of change that matters, but the type of change as well.[/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/34875433/002ecab7fd7c8a7f0241e9c4f5e03881d5714c77.png"][/p][p][/p][p]Season 3 to 5 – Safe Changes[/p][p]Seasons 3, 4, and 5 each performed better than the one before. The changes during this period were, for the most part, safe changes to existing gameplay, features like Downed Skills, Shards, Weather, Plants, Lumi, Cube and the Mobile Kiosk.[/p][p]Of course, there were still features that were hard to adapt to, and some that fell short of expectations and left players disappointed. But even when issues arose, they never reached the point of breaking core gameplay. For unpopular features like Foggy Weather or Cubes, we were able to dial back their role or disable them entirely without major disruption.[/p][p]Season 6 to 8 – Risky Changes[/p][p]In contrast, Seasons 6, 7 and 8 performed worse than the seasons before them. Looking back, each of these seasons introduced at least one risky change.[/p][p]Season 6’s introduction of the VLS completely overturned the existing movement system of Hyperloops. While it has now found a stable place on Lumia Island, the time it took to get there was anything but short.[/p][p]Before the confusion from VLS had even settled, Season 7’s anti-elimination system reshaped early-game flow, increased the number of surviving teams in late-game ranked matches and intensified ABC issues. And in Season 8, Skill Haste shook up existing item builds and gameplay fundamentals, forcing players into a long adjustment period.[/p][p] [/p][p]Approach to Risky Changes[/p][p]Risky changes, in other words, are innovative changes. Most long-running live games that have continued to be loved over the years have tried bold, innovative shifts. The problem wasn’t that we attempted such changes, but rather that we forced them three seasons in a row without enough breathing room.[/p][p]Attempting heavy, disruptive changes one after another put a cognitive burden on players and a workload burden on the dev team. Scars from the previous season hadn’t healed before we introduced new systems without properly stabilizing or refining them. As a result, we delivered seasons that felt chaotic and unfair to play.[/p][p] [/p][p]Season Strategy – Big Seasons of Innovation, Smaller Seasons of Expansion[/p][p]From here on, Eternal Return will introduce innovative changes only when we’re fully prepared, concentrating them into specific seasons. During the periods between, we’ll focus on safer, more incremental expansions that give the game time to stabilize.[/p][p]When a season is centered on innovation, the gameplay environment and balance will inevitably shake more than usual. But this also brings a greater sense of discovery, and since everyone is adapting together in the chaos, the short-term frustration with balance can actually feel less severe. Of course, if left unpolished for too long it will still become unpleasant, but in those innovative seasons we’ll commit all our resources to quick responses and fast stabilization.[/p][p]Rather than spreading risky experiments across multiple seasons, we’ll group them together into a single “Big Season of Innovation.” Season 1 is a strong example of this strategy—it introduced huge shifts like the move to Squad, the resurrection system, Tactical Skills, removal of Accesories, and character skill changes. Despite the risks, it succeeded as an innovative season.[/p][p]With this strategy, Seasons 9 and 10 will focus on safe, expansion-based improvements aimed at stabilizing gameplay. At the same time, we’ll use them as preparation for the next Big Season of Innovation.[/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/34875433/647a452090761f22fad5d9261b07e917f20fee62.png"][TAG-130][/p][p][/p][p]Structural Improvements for Innovative Changes[/p][p]To prepare for a Big Season of Innovation, we’d like to discuss some of the current structural issues in Eternal Return and share ideas for how they could be improved. The points below are areas we plan to address once we’ve gathered enough community preparation and consensus.[/p][p] [/p][p]Healing Reduction[/p][p]Healing Reduction isn’t serving as a situational counter mechanic against certain comps or characters, it has become something every team feels forced to have. As a result, it essentially occupies one mandatory slot in item builds from early to late game.[/p][p]On top of that, because healing reduction effects don’t stack, there are added problems: if multiple teammates all pick up healing reduction items, it can actually put the team at a disadvantage instead.[/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/34875433/b6cfc771b1fdeb795341b1acad012672aefcaa51.png"][/p][p][/p][p]Q1. What are your thoughts on improvements to the Healing Reduction system?[/p][p]① Healing Reduction should be removed entirely. ② Healing Reduction should come from sources other than items, giving players more freedom in equipment choices. ③ Keep Healing Reduction tied to items, but reduce its overall impact compared to now. ④ Keeping the system as it is now is the best option. ⑤ Other (Short Answer)[/p][p] [/p][p]Farming and Crafting[/p][p]Farming and crafting have always been among Eternal Return’s core features. However, their importance has diminished compared to the past ascrafting time has been shortened, equipment slots reduced from six to five, and alternative item acquisition methods have been added.[/p][p]The issues are most evident in the process of gathering materials for Legendary equipment. After a teammate completes Epic crafting and rejoins the team, searching for Legendary materials often disrupts the entire team’s movement and flow.[/p][p]Players can try to pre-collect materials during early farming by memorizing recipes, but this leads to problems like inventory management headaches, and it’s difficult to add system-level convenience improvements to alleviate it. As a result, crafting Legendary items has become one of the biggest entry barriers for gameplay.[/p][p]Rare materials like Tree of Life stand out because acquiring them feels more rewarding and comes with clearer feedback. In contrast, searching for items like Scissors just to combine them with Tree of Life for Legendary crafting raises the learning barrier further, while offering little sense of fun.[/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/34875433/313eaf8617f976a2be18ea2b0a87ca6b53644e36.png"][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/34875433/dfac1c9ced194853d164d2dd65b3f26eb86d2309.png"][/p][p] Q2. What are your thoughts on lower-tier material collection to craft Legendary equipment?[/p][p]① Collecting lower-tier materials for crafting Legendary equipment should be completely removed. ② It would be better to reduce the number of lower-tier materials and simplify recipes as much as possible. ③ Keeping things as they are now is the best option. ④ Other opinions (short answer)[/p][p]Farming Epic Equipment early in the game also involves 1–2 minutes of repetitive collection each match. However, unlike Legendary material farming, this aspect is more deeply tied to the core identity of the game, so we plan to approach it with much greater caution and from a long-term perspective.[/p][p]Q3. What do you think of the current crafting process of Epic Equipment?[/p][p]① In the long term, the Epic crafting process also needs major changes. ② Since it’s part of the game’s identity, it would be better to make only small adjustments while preserving its essence. ③ Keeping things as they are now is the best option. ④ Others (short answer)[/p][p] [/p][p]Multi-Weapon characters[/p][p]In the early days, when the roster of characters was small, some characters were designed to use two or more weapon types to provide more gameplay variety. Even today, there are still clear differences between weapon types, not just in weapon skills but also in attack range, items, and mastery stats.[/p][p]However, those differences have been shrinking. Assuming highly skilled players are competing in squads, strong weapon-type distinctions almost always caused balance problems somewhere. As a result, adjustments have been made over time so that, aside from a few exceptions, the differences between weapon types are now mostly limited to weapon skills.[/p][p]As mentioned earlier, balancing multi-weapon characters is especially difficult. Items and weapon skills are interconnected with other characters, so balance has to be managed primarily through weapon mastery, and that is far from easy. The most extreme case of this issue was seen in Jackie’s rework this season.[/p][p]There’s also the production side to consider. For the same character, if they have multiple weapon types, creating skins requires animation work on the scale of almost a full new character. Despite the extra development cost, players don’t feel a noticeable difference compared to a single skin. In the long run, reducing weapon types could also help improve overall skin quality.[/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/34875433/687692e0213b395b265411a42422bb93d8533bf4.png"][TAG-220][/p][p]Q4. What do you think of multi-weapon characters? ① Start by reducing the number of weapons for characters with little difference in playstyle between weapon types. ② Keeping things as they are now is the best option. ③ Others (short answer)[/p][p] [/p][p] [/p][p]Before wrapping up, we’d like to share the results of the recent survey on abnormal play and smurfing.[/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/34875433/384555c1e289458a35a28116f63d0072dd5006c7.png"][TAG-240][/p][p] In this Dev Journal, we reflected on the introduction of Skill Haste, shared the direction of our season strategy moving forward and outlined long-term ideas for structural improvements to the game.[/p][p]As we mentioned back in our first Dev Journal, the dev team is taking this current crisis of trust more seriously than any we’ve faced before. Alongside the results of today’s survey, we’ll also be providing further explanation on areas that require more detail during the upcoming Dev Stream, so please join us on September 30 9 PM (ET) / October 1st 1 AM (UTC) for our English Dev Stream![/p][p]As always, thank you for sticking with us.[/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/34875433/3e46c3e7e6669116f7115984055d32e6ad5abe86.png"][/p][p] [/p]
8.6a Hotfix
We'll be rolling out the 8.6a Hotfix at 8:30 AM (UTC). Please restart the game to download the update.
*Some changes may not be applied to tooltips or Practice modes.
Matchmaking Adjustments
Asia 1 Server
The top-tier queue will have stricter matchmaking, with the highest tier restricted to players with Mythril 8500+.
Europe Server
The top-tier queue will have stricter matchmaking, with the highest tier restricted to players with Diamond 2+.
Character
Garnet
Suppressed Pain(W)
HP Recovery 20/40/60/80/100(+Skill Amplification 40%)(+Max HP 5%)(+Consumed Pain Stacks * 18/21/24/27/30) → 20/40/60/80/100(+Skill Amplification 40%)(+Max HP 8%)(+Consumed Pain Stacks * 18/21/24/27/30)
Damage 100/200/300(+Attack Power40%)(+Skill Amplification 70%)(+Enemy's Current HP 15%) → 100/200/300(+Attack Power40%)(+Skill Amplification 65%)(+Enemy's Current HP 15%)
Alonso
HP per Level 88 → 92
Bug Fixes
Dine n' Dash will now work properly.
Back to School! with Eternal Return! Part 2 & Special Bundle Sale!
[p]Hello Lumia Island survivors![/p][p]As previously announced, here's our Part 2 of our Back to School events! [/p][p]We’ll be running another Login Event and during this period you’ll also earn double XP and A-Coin![/p][p] 1. Back to School! with Eternal Return! Login Event Part 2[/p][p]Event Period: Mon, Sep 22nd 02:00 to Mon, Sep 29th 19:59 (UTC) Daily Rewards: 1,000 A-Coin + 1 Season Fragment Voucher *Log in records and rewards reset daily at 20:00 (UTC).[/p][p][/p][p]2. XP & A-Coin Bonus! [/p][p]Event Period: Mon, Sep 22nd 02:00 to Mon, Sep 29th 19:59 (UTC) Rewards:[/p][table equalcells="1" colwidth=","][tr][td colspan="3"][p]Period[/p][td colspan="2"][p]Bonus[/p][/tr][tr][td colspan="3"][p]Mon, Sep 22nd 02:00 to Mon, Sep 29th 19:59 (UTC)[/p][td colspan="2"][p]100% XP Increase[/p][/tr][tr][td colspan="3"][p]Fri, Sep 26th 15:00 to Sun, Sep 28th 19:59 (UTC)[/p][td colspan="2"][p]100% A-Coin Increase[/p][/tr][p]*The XP & A-Coin bonus is applied upon finishing a game in Ranked, Normals, Cobalt Protocol and Lone Wolf. The increase isn't applied in Custom Games or Practice Mode. *For players with active boosts, the bonus is applied on top of the corresponding XP or A-Coin Boost currently active.[/p][p][/p][p]3. Back to School Special Bundle Sale![/p][p]Grab the skin you want and 1,500 NP together at an epic price! Check out the offer before it's gone![/p][p]- Sale Period: Mon, Sep 22nd to Weds, Oct 1st (UTC) before maint. - Price: 18 USD (Available for purchase with Steam Wallet) - Limited to 1 purchase per account[/p][p][/p][table equalcells="1" colwidth="327,"][tr][td colwidth="327"][p]Item[/p][td colspan="2"][p]Quantity[/p][/tr][tr][td colwidth="327"][p]\[Skin] Wild Card (Rare)[/p][td colspan="2"][p]1[/p][/tr][tr][td colwidth="327"][p]Skin Data Box[/p][td colspan="2"][p]5[/p][/tr][tr][td colwidth="327"][p]Box Key[/p][TAG-104][td colspan="2"][p]5[/p][TAG-108][/tr][tr][td colwidth="327"][p]Lucky★ Ball[/p][td colspan="2"][p]2[/p][/tr][tr][td colwidth="327"][p]1,500 NP[/p][td colspan="2"][p]1[/p][/tr][tr][td colwidth="327"][p]15,000 A-Coin[/p][td colspan="2"][p]1[/p][/tr][tr][td colwidth="327"][p]ER Point Boost (3 Days)[/p][td colspan="2"][p]1[/p][/tr][tr][td colwidth="327"][p]A-Coin Boost (3 Days)[/p][td colspan="2"][p]1[/p][/tr][TAG-160][p]*You can check the items available in the Wild Card, Box and Lucky★ Balls in-game.[/p][p] Notes * You can purchase this bundle using your Steam Wallet. * You can use the Wild Cards included in this bundle in the Wild Card menu within the Forging section. * For a detailed item list, please refer to the box probability disclosure link. * Items that include boosts that are immediately applied upon purchase are non-refundable. * The NP included in this bundle is Free NP. *You can purchase this bundle until Weds, Oct 1st (UTC) before maint. *Items in this bundle may be repurposed for other uses in the future.[/p]
Season 8 Ranked Rewards
Hello Lumia Island survivors!
Check out the details of the Season 8 Ranked Rewards!
Season 8 Ranked Rewards Details
1. End of Season 8 Ranked Matches and Requirements - Weds, October 15th 23:59 (UTC)
* Only points from ranked matches started before Weds, October 15th 23:59 (UTC) will be included. * Once maintenance begins, you will not be able to connect to any ongoing games. Please refrain from starting games right before maintenance. * Accounts with a total ban record of 14 days or longer within the season are ineligible for ranked rewards. * Rewards that have already been sent out, will be retrieved back from said accounts.
2. Season 8 Cadet Felix - Players who achieve Gold or higher by the end of Season 8 will receive the Cadet Felix skin!
3. Immortal & Titan Rewards Criteria
- Immortal: Top 300 players that reached Mythril with 700+ points - Titan: Top 301-1,000 players that reached Mythril with 700+ points
*If you meet the criteria for Immortal or Titan, you will receive the respective tier rewards. *Players 1,001 and beyond will receive rewards based on their final tier. *Any abnormal gameplay detected for the purpose of gaining Ranked Rewards will result in an immediate 14+ Days account supension, and you will be excluded from receiving season rewards.
■ Season 8: Assigned Server Based on Lowest Tier
The server with your lowest-tier among those where you played at least 3 Ranked games will be designated as your Assigned Server. > Server with the lowest tier in this order: Asia 1 → NA → Europe → SA → Asia2 → Asia3
*The conditions for the applicable server with the lowest (least favorable) tier may change depending on the season.
4. Rewards per Tier
*Rewards will be distributed on Thursday, October 23rd during maintenance, and will be available to players who log into the game by Friday, January 23rd, 2026 14:59 (UTC).
■ All Tiers - Icons, backgrounds, and borders that correspond to your achieved rank! - Show off last season's accomplishments in Normal and Ranked!
■ Gold or higher - Cadet Felix
■ Platinum or higher - Animated Emote A
■ Diamond or higher - Animated Emote B - 300 NP
■ Meteorite or higher - 500 NP
■ Ranked Mythril or higher - 800 NP
■ Titan, Immortal - 1,200 NP
■ Ranked Immortal - Exclusive profile border, icon, background, and emote for Immortal players only! (Permanent) - Additional Immortal profile border and icon!
*Season 8 Ranked Reward icons, backgrounds, and borders expire upon the start of Season 10 unless otherwise stated.
As always, thank you for playing Eternal Return!
Good luck!
New Skin Event: Mk.VIII Destroyer M.A.G
Hello Lumia Island survivors!
We've prepared a special event to celebrate the release of Magnus' new skin: Mk.VIII Destroyer M.A.G!
■ Mk.VIII Destroyer M.A.G Collection Bundle
Get a special profile icon by collecting all the items in the Mk.VIII Destroyer M.A.G Collection Bundle!
Sale starts on: Thurs, Sep 18th after maint.
■ WD Raffle
Purchase the Mk.VIII Destroyer M.A.G Collection Bundle to participate in the WD raffle!
- Event Period: Thurs, Sep 18th after maint. to Weds, Oct 1st (UTC) before maint.
Check out more details below.
▶▶ New Skin Event: Mk.VIII Destroyer M.A.G [[url=https://event.playeternalreturn.com/S8/MkVIIIDestroyerMAG?hl=en-us ]See More]
Splash! Token Bundles!
Hello Lumia Island survivors, Splash! Token Bundles will be released and available for purchase during the sale period.
Unlock each level to get rewards, including our newest Season Tokens!
This is your chance to get Splash! Tokens!
- Sale Period: Thurs, Sept 18th after maint. to Weds, Oct 1st before maint. - Bundle Contents per Level
[table][tr][td] Level [/td][td] Price [/td][td] Purchase Limit [/td][td] Available Rewards [/td][/tr] [tr][td] Ⅰ [/td][td] 500 A-Coin [/td][td] 1 [/td][td] 1 Season Tokens Random Box XP Boost (1 Hour) [/td][/tr] [tr][td] Ⅱ [/td][td] 300 NP [/td][td] 3 [/td][td] 1 Skin Data Box 1 Research Center Data Box 3 Splash! Tokens A-Coin Boost (1 Day) [/td][/tr] [tr][td] Ⅲ [/td][td] 1,500 A-Coin [/td][td] 1 [/td][td] 5 Splash! Tokens XP Boost (1 Hour) [/td][/tr] [tr][td] Ⅳ [/td][td] 3,000 A-Coin [/td][td] 1 [/td][td] 3 Box Keys XP Boost (1 Hour) [/td][/tr] [tr][td] Ⅴ [/td][td] 1,250 NP [/td][td] 2 [/td][td] 5 Skin Data Boxes 5 Research Center Data Boxes 20 Splash! Tokens XP Boost (1 Day) [/td][/tr] [tr][td] Ⅵ [/td][td] 4,500 A-Coin [/td][td] 1 [/td][td] 20 Splash! Tokens XP Boost (1 Day) [/td][/tr] [tr][td] Ⅶ [/td][td] 6,000 A-Coin [/td][td] 1 [/td][td] 5 Box Keys XP Boost (1 Hour) [/td][/tr] [tr][td] Ⅷ [/td][td] 3,350 NP [/td][td] 1 [/td][td] 10 Research Center Data Boxes 10 Skin Data Boxes 90 Splash! Tokens A-Coin Boost (3 Days) [/td][/tr] [tr][td] Ⅸ [/td][td] 15,000 A-Coin [/td][td] 1 [/td][td] 10 Season Tokens Random Boxes 10 Box Keys 1 Epic Skin Design Box ER Point Boost (1 Day) A-Coin Boost (1 Day) XP Boost (1 Day) [/td][/tr]
*Products containing Boost items that are used immediately upon purchase are not eligible for refunds.
Star Box Bundle & Collection Disable Notice
[p]Hello Lumia Island survivors,[/p][p]The Star Box Bundles and collections announced during the maintenance notice on Thursday, Sept. 18th, have unfortunately been postponed due to an unexpected issue discovered during the testing process in maintenance.[/p][p]We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience. Following this notice, all related information regarding Star Box Bundles will be removed for now.[/p][p]Thank you for your understanding[/p]
Maintenance Notice
Servers will be temporarily offline for an estimated time of 4 hours on Thursday, September 18th from 2 AM to 6 AM (UTC) to update Patch 8.6.
* The game will be unavailable during the maintenance period. * Please restart your client after the update. * Use of the event page may be limited during maintenance.
Thank you for your patience!
PATCH NOTES 8.6 - SEPTEMBER 18TH, 2025
Servers will be temporarily offline for an estimated time of 4 hours on Thursday, September 18th from 2 AM to 6 AM (UTC) to update Patch 8.6.
