Perfect World International Announces Eclipse Expansion

On the heels of some bad news financially, Perfect World Entertainment (PWE) has announced some good news for its Perfect World international (PWI) players. The game will have an expansion, named Eclipse, launch on December 16th.

The main attraction in Eclipse is the addition of a new race and two new classes. The Nightshade race is a group of Reapers recently freed by the Divine Child's dying breath. Duskblade and Stormbringer are the two new classes with Duskblades specializing in fast melee saber damage and Stormbringers wielding elemental magic alongside their scythes.

Interestingly, these two new classes are a direct result of an upgrade made to PWI's Angelica engine. Duskblades and Stormbringers may tend to feel a bit more "action based" than their long standing counterparts since this upgrade allows them to perform actions a bit differently than other classes.

Stay tuned, because we'll be chatting with the PWI Dev team soon about these new classes to see exactly how different they will be.

A new starting zone has also been added and 2 new instances (that feature random designs upon each entrance) aim to mix up the endgame play a bit more than normal.

The beginner guide, inventory management, and other user interface changes will be introduced to help streamline some of the gameplay. Expect daily quests and leveling quests to change a bit as part of this streamlining as well.

PWE will be releasing more changes and additions as the 16th draws near so we'll be sure to update you as they release. Check out the latest dev blog for the full breakdown.