Greetings, Rune Hunters.

I'm Dusup Shin, PD of UNDECEMBER.

The official title of the new Season, launching Thursday, September 10, is [The Farside].

In our previous Director’s Letter, we shared the key direction of changes coming with the new Season, and in this Director’s Letter, we'd like to go into more detail on the new Season content and the Channeling Skill overhaul that we introduced only briefly at the time.

We'll also be introducing new Skills, Essences, and quality-of-life improvements that we haven't had the chance to share yet.

Some items are still undergoing final adjustments, so specific figures will be shared through the official Update Letter once they're finalized.

In this Director’s Letter, we'll focus on what we can share right now regarding the new Season's gameplay and key changes.

◆ New Season Content, "Agony Wave"

The official name for the new Season content previously introduced under the tentative name "Eroded Boundary" in our last Director’s Letter is "Agony Wave."

Agony Wave can be entered from Saluto, and you can obtain the dedicated entry item by defeating a Boss in a Chaos Dungeon.

In Agony Wave, normal monsters continuously appear, and defeating them fills a gauge that allows you to summon the Wave's Boss.

Once you defeat the required number of Bosses summoned this way, you can proceed to the next Wave.

The higher the Wave stage, the greater the number of Bosses required to defeat.

Even when a Boss appears during a Wave, the spawning of normal monsters does not stop, and if the gauge is filled again in this situation, you may face multiple Bosses at once.

Whether to quickly summon the next Boss in an effort to save time, or to steadily handle the Boss currently present, is a choice left up to you, our Rune Hunters.

After breaking through each Wave, you'll be given three options made up of a Blessing and a Curse.

Blessings include various effects such as increasing rewards or providing combat assistance, while Curses include effects such as increasing the difficulty of battle or decreasing rewards.

Since every option comes paired with both a Blessing and a Curse, you'll need to carefully choose which risks to take on and which advantages to gain in the battles ahead.

A [Reroll] feature, which can be used when none of the options offered are desirable, and a [Ban] feature, which prevents a critical option from reappearing, are also provided on a limited basis, so it's important to make good use of them depending on the situation.

Normal monsters that appear in Agony Wave do not drop separate rewards by default, and only defeating a Boss Monster grants Agony Shards, which are needed to select your final reward.

Once you clear all Waves, or reach a point where you can no longer continue the battle, you'll be moved to a space where you can claim your final reward.

In this space, several chests appear, each containing different rewards, and selecting one using the Shards you've collected during the Waves grants you all the rewards contained in that chest.

Chests containing higher-value rewards are designed to require more Shards, so the choice you make at every single Wave carries real weight.

Agony Wave isn't simply content where you break through a set sequence of Waves in order.

Rather, it's designed to give you, our Rune Hunters, direct control over the risk and reward of battle, and to deliver an experience where those choices carry through to your final reward.

◆ New Skills, "Divine Punishment" and "Charged Shot"

Two new Skills will be added in the new Season.

First, let's go over the new Channeling Skill, "Divine Punishment."

▲ New Skill [Divine Punishment]

Divine Punishment is a Lightning-attribute Spell Skill that continuously strikes enemies within range with lightning bolts while Channeling is maintained.

It has the distinctive feature of triggering an additional strike when a Critical Hit lands on an enemy.

It's being developed so that powerful builds can be formed through combinations of new Channeling-exclusive Link Runes and Zodiac Specializations.

The other new Skill is "Charged Shot."

▲ New Skill [Charged Shot]

Charged Shot is a Bowgun-exclusive Skill that charges for a set amount of time before firing a round that deals powerful damage.

You cannot move while charging, but the longer the charge time, the more powerful the shot becomes.

It's being developed as a Skill that can be used flexibly depending on the situation, whether taking on risk to go for a powerful attack, or triggering the attack at the right timing to maximize efficiency.

We hope this new Skill will give you a chance to reconsider how you use Gear and Runes you've long been familiar with.

◆ Major Overhaul of Channeling Skills

As mentioned in our previous Director’s Letter, we are also carrying out an overall overhaul of the existing Channeling Skills.

▲ Renewed Skill [Flamethrower]

▲ Renewed Skill [Sacred Light]

First, Flamethrower and Sacred Light will be improved so that you can move while maintaining Channeling, and so that they automatically target and attack enemies near the caster.

Previously, you had to remain stationary and manually adjust your attack direction to match the enemy's position, but after the overhaul, these will become Channeling Skills that let you unleash powerful performance with more convenient controls.

Domain of Strength will also be improved to allow movement while building up charge, and its damage output will be substantially increased.

Through this overhaul, we aim to address both the restriction of not being able to move and the difficulty of managing stacks, transforming it into a Skill that can deliver powerful performance with more convenient controls.

▲ Renewed Skill [Sacred Devotion]

Sacred Devotion and Mana-Infused Sentry will also be changed to allow movement while maintaining Channeling.

Both Skills previously placed a heavy burden on Summoner builds—which tend to have relatively low survivability for the caster—by requiring them to be used while stationary, but after the overhaul, they'll be changed to let you strengthen your summons while dodging enemy attacks.

Along with the Channeling Skill overhaul, new Channeling-exclusive Link Runes are also being added.

We're preparing a variety of Link Runes, including the Channeling-exclusive Link Rune "Haste," which converts Movement Speed into damage, and the "Overconsumption" Link Rune, which lets you expect progressively higher damage the longer you maintain Channeling.

In addition, the Link Rune that triggers a Spell while maintaining Channeling will be upgraded to have a 100% chance to trigger its Spell every cycle, making it a powerful, Channeling-exclusive Trigger Rune.

Lastly, we'll be adding new Zodiac Specializations that further expand how Channeling Skills can be used.

This includes the Void Specialization node, which periodically creates Shadows while Channeling is maintained, and the Bloom Specialization node, which grants various additional effects the longer you sustain Channeling.

More detailed information on the Specialization Zodiacs will be shared in a future Update Letter.

◆ New Essences Added

New Essences that can be used for Rune growth and Gear crafting are being added.

First, let's go over the "Spica Essence," which can extend a Rune's growth cap.

Spica Essence can only be used on Runes Lv. 31 or above,and it makes it possible to grow a Rune's level up to Lv. 45 or higher.

In exchange for being able to exceed the existing growth cap, the Rune's level may also drop by one stage depending on the outcome of use.

The outcome is divided into three results—Growth, Retention, and Failure—with Growth and Failure having equal probability.

Next, let's go over "Casthor Essence" and "Casthor Revitalization Essence."

Casthor Essence can be used on Gear of Rare grade or above, and it's a powerful Essence that greatly alters a piece of Gear's Quality or Options.

▲ [Casthor Essence] Usage Example

[Key Features]

- Applies a Multiplier to Gear Quality: changes to double or half

- Changes an Option's value to its maximum value

- Applies a Multiplier to an Option's value: changes to double or half

- For Crafted Gear: low chance to replace with a random Option

- For Unique Gear: low chance to remove an Option

Replaced Options are always granted at the highest Tier, and can be granted regardless of whether they overlap with existing Options.

Since Multipliers can stack, if you're lucky, you may obtain irreplaceable, powerful Gear.

As powerful as these effects are, there are also a few restrictions in place.

Gear on which Casthor Essence has been used becomes untradeable, and changes to a state where other types of Essence can no longer be used.

In addition, each piece of Gear has a set number of Casthor Essence uses, and to restore these uses, you must use Casthor Revitalization Essence.

We hope this Essence gives you a way to craft your own powerful Gear that's hard to come by through existing crafting methods.

Lastly, to allow the crafting Options introduced during "The Forge" Season to remain available in a limited way in future Seasons, we're adding [The Forge] Birth Essence and [The Forge] Imbue Essence.

[The Forge] Birth Essence is an Essence that reconfigures a piece of Gear's Options, ensuring that at least one [The Forge] Option is always included.

[The Forge] Imbue Essence is an Essence that guarantees granting a [The Forge] Option to a piece of Gear.

Since it can guarantee a powerful Option, there is a limit to how many times it can be used on a single piece of Gear.

Through these two Essences, we hope the Gear crafting experience from "The Forge" Season can continue into the new Season as well.

Among the Essences being added this time, Spica Essence and Casthor Essence can be obtained from Agony Wave, and the acquisition methods for the other Essences will be announced at a later date.

◆ Overhaul of the Constellation of Time and Zodiac Stones

The process of obtaining and growing Zodiac Stones, which previously took place through the Constellation of Time, will now be folded into the Chaos Dungeon.

While progressing through Chaos Dungeons, the Traces of Time event will occur at random, and you can obtain Zodiac Stones through this event.

For those who want to farm Zodiac Stones intensively, we'll also be providing a way to guarantee the event's occurrence using Chaos Points.

Defeating monsters that appear in the event grants Zodiac Stones and Emotions, which can then be used to perform Emotion Engraving on Zodiac Stones in the same way as before.

The core of this overhaul is to ensure that obtaining and growing Zodiac Stones flows naturally from playing Chaos Dungeons, without needing to repeatedly enter a separate piece of content.

Researcher Duey, who previously researched the Constellation of Time, will continue to handle duties related to Zodiac Stones at Saluto.

◆ New Rune Cast Preset Feature

For Rune Hunters who play by frequently switching between different setups, a new Rune Cast Preset feature is being added.

A Rune Cast Preset records the position of each Rune and the unique information for each Rune at the time it's saved.

When you later load a preset, the game automatically searches for the Runes you own across your Compendium, Storage, and Inventory, and equips them to the Rune Cast according to the configuration saved at that time.

However, if a Rune becomes unavailable on your current character after saving—for example, if it was sold or is currently equipped on another character—it cannot be loaded automatically, and that slot will remain empty.

Since a Preset is not a feature for separately storing Runes, but rather a feature for quickly finding and reconfiguring Runes you currently own, please be sure to check your equipped setup once after loading a preset.

◆ Season New/Returning Rune Hunter Event

To celebrate the new Season, we're also preparing an event for Rune Hunters who are starting UNDECEMBER for the first time or returning after some time away.

We plan to offer various forms of support so you can more smoothly experience the changed content of the new Season and join in on the flow of growth.

The event is available to new and returning accounts that log in between Thursday, August 6, 2026 and before the end of "The Farside" Season.

A new account is one created and logged into for the first time during the above period, and a returning account is one with no login history for the past 30 days that logs in during that period.

We're preparing a variety of growth rewards through a dedicated attendance calendar, along with a Zodiac Sprinter, powerful Unique Gear, and more.

Further details will be announced through a separate event notice.

◆ Upcoming Schedule

The new Season, "The Farside," will arrive on Thursday, September 10, 2026.

The official Update Letter will be released in early September, and maintenance times will be announced through a separate notice.

◆ In Conclusion…

Across two Director’s Letters, we've given you a brief look at the key changes we're preparing for the new Season.

What we've shared in these Director’s Letters is meant to first convey the key changes and direction of the new Season, and the detailed specifics of each piece of content and system that will actually be implemented will be announced in full through the official Update Letter to follow.

In addition to this, we're also preparing new Gear items, an Abyss Stone favorites feature, 100 Consecutive Unique Summons, and various other quality-of-life improvements to provide you, our Rune Hunters, with a better play experience.

We're also carrying out balance adjustments to ease the performance gap between Skills and Unique Gear.

The specific targets and scope of these adjustments will be shared in detail through the official Update Letter.

Alongside the release of this Director’s Letter, we're also running a survey to hear your feedback, our Rune Hunters.

You can participate in the survey by clicking the banner below.

Your feedback will serve as valuable reference material as we prepare future updates, so we hope many of you will take part.

In the time remaining before the new Season arrives, we'll continue to do our very best to prepare until the end.

We hope that in the upcoming new Season, you, our Rune Hunters, can continue finding new goals and enjoying the process of building your own unique builds.

Thank you for your continued support.

Sincerely,

Dusup Shin

PD, UNDECEMBER