Dear CEOs,

This is Kim Hyun Soo, the Head PD of CounterSide.

Thanks to your unconditional support, the CounterSide Origin 1st Anniversary event and updates have been successfully carried out. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to all CEOs who have shown immense support and interest in the Origin 1st Anniversary event and updates.

In this developer's note, we would like to provide a brief overview of the upcoming updates scheduled for the end of February and the anticipated content for the March update.

Firstly, let's delve into the details of the February update.

[ CounterSide x hololive English -Promise-: IRyS Collaboration ]

We are excited to announce that one of the two collaborations announced during the Origin 1st Anniversary Broadcast, the hololive English collaboration, will be returned through an update on February 28, 2024!

In this upcoming hololive English collaboration, you can anticipate the addition of five collaboration skins for the existing Myth members - Mori Calliope, Takanashi Kiara, Ninomae Ina'nis, Gawr Gura, and Watson Amelia, along with furniture and trophies.

A collaboration skin, furniture, and trophy for IRyS from Promise will also be there!

The spotlight of the newly added IRyS collaboration skin shines on Serapel, showcasing a charming IRyS skin. The collaboration content will be replicated in the same manner as before, featuring new elements such as IRyS' skin, frames, two types of furniture, ten trophies, and an exciting new Punch-In event.

A special Skin Skill Cut-in Trophy for Myth members and IRyS will be there, hence if you have purchased the skins for Myth members, you will be able to get it! 

We hope the collaboration between hololive English and IRyS excites our CEOs. Thank you for your ongoing support!

[Origin – Stability]

In October 2023, the Origin system was introduced featuring the first Origin, Struggle, to get an upper hand in the PVE situations. While some CEOs initially navigated through a bit of uncertainty with the Origin system, we are sure that familiarity has settled among our CEOs.

Expanding the Origin system, we are announcing the addition of a new Origin, Stability, on February 28th, enhancing the versatility of employees for optimal use in PVE conditions.

The Stability operates in the same manner as the existing Struggle. When a monster in PVE is endowed with Stability, employees possessing Stability will incur less damage from that monster while dealing out more significant damage.

Adding an intriguing layer, if a monster has both Struggle and Stability, employees with either Origin will dynamically interact – inflicting more damage and receiving less. Essentially, this introduces a new aspect where the established weakness of Struggle now coexists with the fresh weakness of Stability.

The employees with the Stability are as follows.

Just like the Struggle, the Stability’s damage increase and damage reduction will depend on the rarity of the employee, ranging from 10 ~ 40%.

The stages with the Stability applied are as follows.

[Dimension Trimming]

As announced during the Origin 1st Anniversary broadcast, we are streamlining the entire progression of Dimension Trimming on February 28th.

Previously, Dimension Trimming consisted of three branches - Swift, Jungle, and Volcano - each comprised of 60/100 stages. While designed to provide a sense of achievement as you progressed through each stage, we recognized that the repetitiveness of similar battles could lead to monotony rather than a sense of accomplishment.

To address this, Swift, Jungle, and Volcano will be simplified from the existing 60/100 stages to 20 stages each. The difficulty will be scaled accordingly to align with the reduced number of stages.

The total rewards for the initial clearances will remain the same as before the simplification, ensuring an equivalent amount of rewards. Additionally, the quantity of rewards obtained as you progress through the stages will be adjusted to make the increase in difficulty more perceptible.

For CEOs who have not reached the current 60/100 floors, the clearance progress will be calculated and applied accordingly.

As indicated in the table above, the progress you have cleared will be adjusted proportionally to the reduced stages. During the calculation process, any decimal points that arise will be truncated.

For example, if the cleared stage in the Volcano, and is on stage 51, applying 1/5 reduction results in 10.2. In this case, the adjustment will be implemented with a cleared stage of 10. Your progress will be reflected in whole numbers to maintain fairness and clarity in the calculation process.

[ Effect Opacity Improvement ]

In the dynamic battles of CounterSide, every employee engages in real-time attacks and skill maneuvers, unleashing a plethora of effects and combat dynamics. However, as more employees with dazzling skills and effects join the company, the visibility of the battlefield has diminished due to the overwhelming spectacle of these skills and effects.

To address this, we are enhancing the current system that adjusts the transparency of all effects, introducing a feature to separately control the transparency of effects for ally and enemy units. This improvement will allow you to focus on displaying only the ally units, enhancing visibility amidst the flurry of effects.

Your previously saved effect transparency values will be retained for the ally unit effects, while the default transparency for enemy unit effects will be set to 70 after the update. We strongly recommend adjusting the transparency of battle effects post-update to optimize your gaming experience.

Next, on to the March update.

[ New Substream – Creed of the Yaksa]

In the land of Huatian, where the sun never sets, the two sects, Black East and White West, hold a deep-rooted tradition. This tradition dictates that the one who defeats the sect leader of Black East weds the defeated leader and becomes the next sect leader of White West. The formidable new leader of Black East, in search of a worthy companion, arrives at the Counter Academy, where a series of events unfolds, setting the stage for a captivating tale.

[ Additional Gauntlet Ban Enhancement ]

In the January patch, we strengthened the penalties for Gauntlet bans. Building upon this and considering the survey responses from CEOs who expressed that the ban count is low, the development team is contemplating additional adjustments related to Gauntlet bans. Here's what we're currently considering.

• Increasing the number of Gauntlet rotation bans.

• Increasing the number of casting bans and expanding the voting range.

This upcoming patch is scheduled for March, and we will provide detailed information on the new changes through the patch notes. 

We value your opinions, so please feel free to share your thoughts through 1:1 inquiries and other channels regarding the changes.

[ Alternium Reactor ]

The next group that will receive Alternium Reactors in March has been selected, Ministra, Noelle Wright, and Serapel.

Ministra’s Alternium Reactor will be upgraded to level 2. Unlike other Awakened employee Reactors, Ministra’s Alternium Reactor’s effectiveness is perceived as lower. As such, we aim to design her level 2 Reactor to synergize effectively with her level 1 effect.

As for Noelle Wright, she is an employee who throws vajras in the middle and back rows of enemies to restrain them. In the upcoming update, Noelle's Alternium Reactor will strengthen the synergy between her Ultimate and Special Skills. The goal is to reinforce Noelle's individuality while elevating her abilities.

For Serapel, using her Special Skill increases her defense and takes damage for surrounding allies. We are currently planning her Reactor that enhances the Special Skill in a way.

More detailed information on the Reactors will be posted on the patch notes.

[ Team Relay Event Improvement and Schedule ]

The Team Relay event is scheduled for March 2024.

The upcoming Team Relay event is set to address and improve upon the inconveniences from the previous version. Here are the key improvements:

First, even if the team you support loses the race, you'll receive an 80% refund of the event currency used for support. This adjustment aims to alleviate the frustration of depleting all event currency when your supported team loses, making it easier to purchase items from the event shop.

Second, during each settlement, if the winning team's reward multiplier falls below 1.5x, the minimum multiplier of 1.5x will be applied, ensuring that event currency is still granted. This enhancement addresses concerns about excessively low reward multipliers when support is heavily skewed towards one team, preventing a significant reduction in the received event currency.

We look forward to your high expectations for the improved Team Relay event!

This is all for now and will return with more exciting news on the next developer notes.

Thank you.

Kim Hyun Soo, the Head PD of CounterSide