Continent of the Ninth Seal

Continent of the Ninth Seal Classes

• Fighters (M) are melee warriors who use weapons and shields to attack their enemies. They are the frontliners and can become Blademasters, Warriors, Guardians, or Berserkers. Fighters are male only.
• Hunters (M) attack from a distance with a bow, or up close with daggers. Hunters can become Assassins, Rangers, Scouts, Shadows, or Gunslingers. Hunters are male only.
• Shamans (F) use a staff and the power of the spirits to attack. They can become Illusionists, Elementalists, Taoists, Reaperesses, or Demonishers. Shamans are female only.
• Witchblades (F) use weapons and magic to devastate their enemies. They are the most physical magic class, and can become Bladedancers, Slayers, Wardens, or Nightstalkers.
• Mystics (F) are holy warriors, crushing foes with a hammer or cutting them with a chakram. They can become Battle Maidens, Valkyries, or Ertas.

Continent of the Ninth Seal Review

By Dimitri Jordan

Continent of the Ninth Seal, or C9, is a 3D fantasy MMORPG developed and published by Webzen that was released September 13, 2012. It is also available through Valve’s gaming service, Steam. It contains strong story elements, a wide variety of classes, and instance dungeons similar to Vindictus and Dragon Nest. Instead of large, open areas, players can solo these instance dungeons, tackle them in a group, or even invade other player’s instances through the game’s Intrusion system.

The gameplay differs from the standard MMORPG in that players have to aim every strike, instead of relying on auto-aim and auto-attacks. Those who have played Tera before should be familiar with this system. Player and enemy placement becomes important as players try to line up shots to hurt multiple enemies or dodge an incoming blow. It creates a lot more tension and action for every fight, and keeps the player on their toes. It's a much welcomed pace change from the typical point-and-click auto-attack MMORPG.

Starting Up

C9 offers a lot in terms of character customization. In addition to the standard features of choosing eye color and hair styles, players can adjust the sizes of legs, waist, arms, head, and more. Players can also choose a tattoo, including size and positioning (tatoo confined to the facial area). Hairstyles have one to three parts, and the length of each area can be changed independently.

The First Few Levels

C9 starts with a tutorial quest that walks players through the controls and basics of gameplay. Players use WASD for movement, 1-0 for skills and other hotbar items, left-click for their main attack, and right-click for their secondary attack. The quests are accompanied by in-game cutscenes, which help move along the story.

As players level, they earn skill points that are spent on learning and increasing skill levels by visiting their class trainer. As their level increases, players earn more points, and as their skills become stronger, more points are needed to level them. When players reach certain levels, more abilities are unlocked for them to learn, and even more are unlocked by getting promoted to a higher class.

Players start as whatever class they picked during character creation. At Level 10, they are able to become an elite version of that class. At Level 20, they can specialize into distinct subclasses. For example, a Mystic becomes an Elite Mystic at Level 10, and then either a Battle Maiden, Erta, or Valkyrie at Level 20. At Level 50, players advance again, with Battle Maidens becoming Lumen Empresses, and so on.

Crafting

Shops in C9 are rather sparse for equipment, and so most items are made by crafting. Players are able to create weapons and armor by finding or buying the right components and paying the crafting fee. The emphasis on player crafted gear in C9 keeps the game's economy vibrant and active. In addition to creating items, players can enhance them by using Enhance Stones, or applying Souls from events or the Cash Shop.

Legends and Auspices

Legends and Auspices grant players stat bonuses when equipped. Legends are gained by completing certain game objectives, and grant a title above the player’s name. Auspices are acquired by purchasing Event Soul Gear Sets from the Cash Shop or found in Gold and Silver Coffers and appear as icons next to the player’s name. Players can only have one Legend and Auspice equipped at a time.

PvP

There are several options for PvP in C9, starting at Level 20. First, there are ranked 1v1 matches. Players are automatically paired based on level and a leaderboard shows the top ranking players. There are also several team PvP modes. In Team Match, players fight in teams of up to 8v8, and the first team to defeat all of the opposing players wins. In Deathmatch, teams of up to 8v8 get points for every kill and the first to reach the target score wins. Another mode is the Relay Match, where teams of eight fight in 1v1 battles. After each match, the winner regains some health before fighting the next in line on the opposing team, and of course the first team to defeat every opposing team wins.

An interesting feature for C9 is the Intrusion system. Players are able to invade the instance dungeons of other players, and effectively become enemies for that player. They are able to kill monsters to hinder players from completing quests, and are even able to kill the player. Players get rewards for successfully disrupting another player’s dungeon, or for successfully killing the players that are invading. To stop unwanted intrusions, players have the option of disabling others from intruding on their dungeons (smart move by Webzen to prevent griefing).

Survival

Survival is a special mode in which teams of up to four players battle monsters and attempt to kill them within a time limit. Games of Survival can last up to 20 rounds, with rewards given at the end. Killed players revived every five rounds. There is also a Fortune Survival mode, which requires an entrance fee. In this mode, players gain Fortunes and are able to spend them at a special shop, which sells rare and precious items.

Cash Shop

The Cash Shop offers players a variety of items. They range from cosmetic items like armor, to more important ones like class-changing scrolls. With twenty advanced classes, players may want to try out new ones after a while. However, these are still locked to base classes. For example, an Elementalist can change to an Illusionist, but can’t switch to anything outside of the Shaman base class.

Final Verdict - Great

Ultimately, C9 is a very solid game. Amazing visuals and fast, action-packed gameplay help keep it entertaining, while the PvP options are enough to keep fans happy. It is constantly being updated, with new classes, dungeons, and more. While it lacks the scale of large, open-world MMORPGs, the instance dungeon system keeps players from having to make long treks, and places greater emphasis on forming groups and guilds to tackle the tougher missions.

Continent of the Ninth Seal Screenshots

◄ 1 2 3 ►

Continent of the Ninth Seal Videos

Continent of the Ninth Seal Links

Continent of the Ninth Official Site
Continent of the Ninth Steam Page
Continent of the Ninth Wikia (Database / Guides)

Continent of the Ninth Seal System Requirements

Minimum Requirements:

Operating System: Windows XP / Vista / 7 / 8
CPU: Intel Single Core 2.4 GHz / AMD Athlon XP 2400+
Video Card: Geforce 6600 Series / ATI Radeon 9800
RAM: 512 MB
Hard Disk Space: 4GB

Recommended Requirements:

Operating System: Windows XP / Vista / 7 / 8
CPU: Intel Dual Core 3 GHz / AMD Athlon 64 X2
Video Card: GeForce 8000 Series / ATI Radeon HD1900 or better
RAM: 1 GB
Hard Disk Space: 4GB

Continent of the Ninth Seal Music & Soundtrack

Continent of the Ninth Seal Additional Information

Developer: NHN Games (Acquired by Webzen)
Closed Beta Date: February, 2012
Open Beta Date: June 30, 2012

Foreign Release: South Korea, 2009. Originally published by Hangame, but Webzen picked up the service after it closed on Hangame.

Development History:

Continent of the Ninth, later renamed to Continent of the Ninth Seal, began development in South Korea in 2006 by NHN games. However, by the time the game launched, Webzen had acquired NHN. C9 originally launched in South Korea in early 2009 and only hit the Western market years later. C9 officially launched globally on July 1, 2012. Since C9 is both developed and published by the same company, it has no IP restrictions. Several of the same designers who behind C9 moved on to work on Black Desert Online. Since first launching in South Korea, Continent of the Ninth Seal was hosted by popular Korean gaming portal Hangame up until October 18, 2012. After Hangame shut the service down, Webzen picked up the service in their home country. With its heavy emphasis on PvP, C9 was selected as the official title for the Game and Game World Championship 2012 global tournament. Webzen has long pushed for Continent of the Ninth Seal to be taken seriously in the realm of E-Sports.