Bless Japan To Include Revamped Skill System, Auto-Pathing

You may remember that Bless Japan's first Closed Beta took place at the end of last month. None of us here at MMOs.com were lucky enough to get invited, but fortunately, YouTuber Nocht has documented some details from the test. Surprisingly, unlike Bless Russia, the Japanese version of the highly-anticipated MMORPG has seen some major changes.

Perhaps the most surprising change is that of a completely revamped skill system. Gone are the skill books that were used in Bless Korea and Russia; they've been replaced by a more traditional skill system in which players put points into skills—up to five points in each skill.

I know that many dislike the skill book system, but I took a certain comfort in Bless' skill books, specifically, in that they were simple. I bought the skill book, I used it, and I simply had that skill. There were no upgrades; my choice in skills was directly related to what skills I kept on my hotbar.

The Japanese Closed Beta also introduced several UI updates. The Escape menu now looks much like Black Desert Online's Escape menu. An additional hotbar has been introduced to allow players to slot more items, mounts, or pets.

Interestingly, the Japanese Closed Beta also includes auto-pathing. If you've played the Korean or Russian versions of the game, or you've seen any of our Grindfest Friday streams in which we played the game, you may remember that there is quite a lot of walking. The world is huge and the use of flying mounts is limited. As such, it makes sense that auto-pathing would be introduced at some point, but it is certainly a divisive inclusion that has already served as a signal to some that the game might be headed in a direction that they don't like. If you're one of these people, I'd urge you to not be so hasty; again, the world is rather large and there is quite a lot of walking. That being said, it does exist and you can see the system in action in the video in question.

Those reading this should keep in mind that, while the Aeria Games called for a number of changes before it would release the game in NA/EU, none of the specific changes made to the Japanese version of the game have been confirmed for the NA/EU version. This could be the beginnings of what's in store for us here in the West, but it could also be a different set of changes that is being developed in parallel with the NA/EU version of the game. At this point, we simply don't know.

You can find the full video embedded below. Be sure to let us know what you think of the highlighted changes in the comments.