Introduction

SERAPH is a blockchain-based dark fantasy game developed by Actoz, the team behind the classic game “Legend”. The graphics and gameplay of SERAPH are similar to traditional dark fantasy loot ARPG games.

After playing, the game has the following characteristics:

Beautiful graphics and high-quality production. The monster farming and in-game interactions are smooth, and the overall completion of the game is high.
The game is easy for players to get started with, with almost no learning curve.
The game supports free gameplay for players, and there is also a chance to earn a small amount of economic benefits, further reducing the entry barrier to the game.
Some equipment in the game is in the form of NFTs, which can be traded on the blockchain, meeting the GameFi demand for players to farm and earn.

Results of the testing phase

The game is currently not officially launched and is only available on PC.
The game has undergone two rounds of testing, with alpha testing starting on April 11th and ending on April 17th.
The most recent beta testing started on July 4th and ended on July 17th. This beta test attracted a total of 15,378 enthusiastic players to sign up. The participation enthusiasm of Asian players was the highest, with over 2000 participants.
The two rounds of testing have covered almost all game content. According to player feedback, the response has been good.

01. Game Background: Produced by a Korean Game Giant

Actoz Soft is a Korean first-generation online gaming company founded in 1996. It has developed well-known online games such as “Legend”, “MapleStory”, and “Millennium”, and has also operated classic works such as “Dragon Nest”. The company has over 600 million registered users worldwide.

In SERAPH, the producer Joseph LIM has 20 years of game development and operation experience and has participated in well-known game projects such as “Legend”, “Hot Blooded Jianghu”, and “Dragon Nest”. The technical director Victor KWON has over 20 years of experience in game development. Alan CHU, the technical director responsible for the blockchain module, has previously worked at Amazon and Google, responsible for encryption technology and security business. In addition, senior token economy expert Ken CHOUNG is responsible for overseeing the game’s economic system design.

02. Game Content and Strategy

The overall style, UI, and gameplay habits of the game are very similar to Diablo 2. For example, the player’s selectable classes include Barbarians, Mages, Druids, etc., and the UI layout after entering the game is almost identical to the remastered version of Diablo 2. Players familiar with the Diablo series will not be unfamiliar with this. The key to such games is leveling up. Reaching the maximum level early means challenging various dungeons and activating the leaderboard to receive beta test rewards. Therefore, skill selection can be inclined towards fast leveling and clearing monsters. In addition, due to the leveling requirements, don’t worry too much about equipment in the early stages. Quickly complete mainline quests on Nightmare difficulty, unlock dungeon challenges or leaderboard rankings, and then consider possible builds.

Preparation

When players first log in to the game, they need to download and register the ActLianGuaiss wallet from the app store. After that, they can use the wallet to scan the QR code for game login. The ActLianGuaiss wallet is also required for NFT transactions generated during gameplay.

Gameplay

The game itself supports Free to Play. Therefore, players can choose to enter the game directly at zero cost and experience SERAPH in the form of a pure Web2 online game. They can play the early story plot and some later underground dungeons for free, and even earn a small amount of in-game currency from the dungeons.

If players prefer gold farming, it is recommended to quickly complete the main quests in the early stages to unlock all challenges, and then purchase Chaos Equipment NFT to start grinding. The early leveling stage is a good opportunity to familiarize oneself with character skills and in-game interactions.

Game Route

In the early stages of the game, players can follow the main story quests for leveling up. They can choose to play solo or team up with friends for exploration. As the character level increases, players will gain attribute and skill points. Each class has three skill trees, so players can build a unique Build based on equipment and playstyle.

In addition to the main and side quests, the game also provides three types of underground dungeons for players to challenge.

Underground Dungeon Challenges

Mystery of Depths

This dungeon is unlocked after completing the main story. Mystery of Depths can be explored in teams and consists of multiple levels. The difficulty varies with the number of players. Only boss-level monsters in the dungeon drop items, while regular monsters provide only experience rewards. At the end, rewards are distributed based on the number of levels cleared and the time taken.

Mystery of Chaos

This is the only place in the game where Chaos Equipment is obtained. Chaos Equipment is in the form of NFT and can be freely traded on the blockchain. To challenge this dungeon, players need to complete the main story on Nightmare difficulty and have a wealth value of 20 or more, while also consuming a certain amount of Soul SLianGuairs. Soul SLianGuairs is the main in-game currency, but it is not an on-chain token. It can be used in the in-game trading market and is also one of the materials for obtaining the on-chain token $SRF.

Void Realms

This is the main source of the in-game currency Soul SLianGuairs. This dungeon also drops various rare equipment. To unlock Void Realms, players need to complete the main story on Nightmare difficulty and then go to the Heaven’s Gate Camp in the fifth chapter of Nightmare difficulty and find the Archangel Statue NPC to open it. Entering this dungeon requires consuming stamina and tickets. Void Realms has multiple difficulty levels (T1-T16) and contains special boss maps. T1 tickets can be obtained from wilderness battles at level 55 or above, and can also be obtained through ticket merchants or player trading in the marketplace. Different levels of tickets determine the level and quality of the dungeon, which in turn affects the number of monsters and map modifiers. Map modifiers determine monster attributes and item drop rates.

Therefore, the overall process of the game is to quickly clear the main storyline in the early stage, and then upgrade and farm materials, gems, etc. in “Mystery of Depths”. Once it is slightly developed, players can start farming materials and Chaos equipment in “Void Realms” and “Mystery of Chaos” while also making money.

03. Interpretation of Game Item System

Game equipment is the item that players need to use to participate in the game, and it also has value for monetization as a game asset. In SERAPH, game equipment is divided into two types: normal equipment and Chaos equipment. Chaos equipment has exclusive Chaos attributes and can be forged into NFTs for on-chain transactions.

3.1 Equipment System

NFT Equipment Forging

Players choose the game menu and enter “Chaos”. They select the Chaos equipment in their backpack, move it into the Chaos warehouse, and click on the web warehouse to scan the QR code. After verification by the ActLianGuaiss wallet, they can see the Chaos equipment in the Chaos backpack. Click on “Forging” and after consuming gas, the forging operation is completed. After forging is completed, click on “Move to Wallet” in order to proceed to the next step of listing for sale.

In the ActLianGuaiss wallet, select the equipment and click on “Sell”. Fill in the price to complete the process. Note: Currently, it is all on the testnet.

Equipment Quality

Equipment can be divided into four qualities based on rarity, from low to high: white (Ordinary), blue (Magic), yellow (Rare), and orange (Unique). Different quality equipment has different attributes, and even special attributes. In addition, equipment also has item level, wear level, and durability. Dropped equipment is all in an unidentified state and needs to be identified with identifying scrolls to determine its quality. Chaos equipment cannot use identifying scrolls and requires the consumption of $SRF tokens.

Equipment Classification

In the game, characters have a total of 10 equipment slots, including weapons, helmets, armor, gloves, rings, necklaces, and shoes.

In addition to the above equipment types, there are also talisman equipment in the game. These items do not need to be equipped and only need to be placed in the talisman backpack to take effect.

Equipment Crafting, Synthesis, and Disassembly

The blacksmith NPCs in various camps can craft equipment, such as upgrading white equipment, resetting affixes, and adding affixes.

Equipment of the same type can be combined into a new piece of equipment through the synthesis function. The synthesis result will randomly select one of the two pieces of equipment as the base material, and the equipment affixes will enter the corresponding library. Based on independent probabilities, a certain number of affixes will be selected from different libraries to form the new equipment.

The same equipment can be decomposed to obtain various materials and props with a probability. Prefixes and item levels affect the decomposition returns. The materials obtained from decomposing low-level equipment will be bound and cannot be traded.

3.2 Slot System

In the game, equipment can be fitted with gems, jewels, and runes to provide various abilities.

Gems: Provide attribute bonuses. Currently, there are seven types of gems in the game: amethyst, topaz, sapphire, emerald, ruby, diamond, and skull. Each gem has five quality levels: cracked, flawed, normal, flawless, and perfect. Higher quality gems have stronger effects. Lower quality gems can be synthesized into higher quality gems through gem fusion.

Jewels: Provide additional magic attributes. Like equipment, jewels drop in unidentified state and need to be identified with the corresponding scroll before they can be used.

Runes: Also provide magic attributes. Different runes can be combined to produce more powerful effects.

3.3 Trading System

The trading function within the game is available in this test. After players unlock the stall, they can list tradeable items from their backpacks in the market stall. Equipment, props, and materials can be traded in the market. The circulating currency in the market is Soul SLianGuairs.

04. Economic Model

SERAPH uses the NFT + $SRF single currency model. The whitepaper shows that future updates will include governance, land, and other modules to enrich the game content, attempting to solve the inflation and death spiral problems in late-stage blockchain games.

NFT

As mentioned earlier, chaotic equipment in the game can be forged into NFTs and put on the chain. Therefore, NFTs of equipment are the main way of obtaining them in the game, known as Unique NFTs. There are currently two ways to obtain them:

Pre-forged Genesis NFTs

Before the official release of the game, the official has pre-forged a batch of Unique NFTs. Some of them will be available for batch pre-sale, while the rest will be kept as limited editions for future IP collaborations and player rewards, etc. The Unique NFTs pre-forged by the official will be the “genesis” NFTs of the game, and the holders of these genesis NFTs will enjoy special privileges in future events. In addition, all Unique NFTs will drop in the game.

Player Identification

After an unidentified Unique NFT drops, it can be identified by consuming a corresponding amount of $SRF.

Unique NFT not only has its own attributes, but also comes with a treasure value, similar to luck. The higher the treasure value, the higher the chance for players to obtain rare items.

In addition, the official has issued SERAPH Priority LianGuaiss NFT in the early stage of promotion. This NFT started free mint on the mainnet on June 29th, with a total of 999 pieces (99 pieces reserved by the team), and the current floor price is 0.144ETH.

SPP NFT is equivalent to the early pass of this project. In addition to obtaining a unique identity, it also enjoys a series of points benefits in the follow-up, and is also the pass for this beta test.

$SRF

$SRF (Seraph’s Feather) is the only on-chain token in the game. It is used for airdrop incentives, in-game ranking rewards, identification of Unique NFTs, equipment production, and participation in governance, etc.

As mentioned earlier, the main circulating currency in the game is Soul SLianGuairs, used for player trading, Mystery of Chaos dungeon challenges, etc. $SRF and Soul SLianGuairs can be exchanged for each other through certain materials.

To obtain $SRF: Players forge Soul SLianGuairs to obtain Soul Boxes. 1000 Soul SLianGuairs can forge 1 Soul Box, and 5 Soul Boxes plus one Chaos Heart dropped from Mystery of Chaos can forge one $SRF. The daily forging limit is 100 pieces.

Similarly, $SRF can be exchanged for 5 Soul Boxes, and each Soul Box can receive 1000 Soul SLianGuairs after opening.

Governance

Regarding the governance function of $SRF tokens, it has not been reflected in the game yet, and the white paper does not provide substantial introduction. We look forward to subsequent updates on related content.

Summary

SERAPH has undergone two rounds of testing so far. Players are attracted by the graphics and gameplay, and the combination of Loot and blockchain games feels good. From the existing game content, it can be seen that mature game teams have a good grasp of gameplay and recognize the possible death spiral problem of previous blockchain games. The introduction of tokens and NFTs is only to serve the expectations of players to make profits, but this cannot change the fate of the death spiral of blockchain games. The ingenuity of game balance and the interesting design of game mechanics can minimize inflation and allow players to focus on the game itself.

Although the game appears to be a single-token model, it can also be regarded as a dual-token model of $SRF and Soul SLianGuairs. However, it seems that the utility of SERAPH’s token is not much, and the team can control the output of $SRF indirectly by adjusting the drop rate of Soul SLianGuairs and Chaos Hearts, thereby controlling inflation. Therefore, for players, the income from Chaos Equipment NFTs should be the main source, and players who spend money can buy top-tier equipment to enter the game and experience the fun of the game. As long as the game maintains balance and gameplay, it can attract players. For players who spend money, the road to recoup the investment can be achieved through the rich gameplay, so the equipment retains value and can be sold when quitting the game, or they can slowly recover by selling newly dropped equipment.

During the current bear market, suddenly everyone has turned to gaming as the hope of the whole village. Of course, from the perspective of the game itself, it is indeed a product that can bring both Web2 users and allow Web3 to thrive. Games are a comprehensive art form, including plot, characters, music, art, interaction, and many other aspects. Emphasizing gameplay means that more effort needs to be put into these areas. When gameplay improves, it transforms into a fun game, perhaps finding the balance between Game and Fi.

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