Pearl Abyss’s Shadow Arena Re-focuses around “Trio Mode” with strategic & team-oriented 3v3 Combat

The Hero Action brawler’s development team restructures to give its players what they want

SEOUL, South Korea — January 14, 2021 — Pearl Abyss announced today that Shadow Arena has shifted its primary game mode from 1v40 battle royale to a team-based “Trio Mode.” The change comes after an extensive review of player feedback during early access, which has given the developers the opportunity to give its players exactly what they’re asking for: more strategic and cooperative gameplay. The biggest change is a dramatic shift in scope, with the new “Trio Mode” narrowing combat into 3v3 battles, where each teammate has a clearly defined role.

Additionally, Pearl Abyss has outlined distinct Hero roles on the team: each hero in Shadow Arena now falls into three distinct categories, with more specific team roles that facilitate teamwork, strategy and a co-operative focus. 

• Brawler: Has high life/defense skills and uses strong crowd control and rush skills to lead battles, but is limited in attack range. Brawler Heroes include: Schultz, Goyen, Jordine Ducas
• Dealer: A fast and mobile class with high damage skills but has low HP and defense stats. Dealer Heroes include: Yeonhwa, Haru, Orowen, Ahon
• Support: Focused on buffs and healing party members, but is not a strong 1v1 combatant. Support Hero includes: Herawen

In addition to the new game mode and team roles, the Shadow Arena development team also added several new features to re-balance and streamline gameplay to go along with its more strategic and cooperative gameplay. New features include: 

• New Black Spirit Skills: Matchlock, a firearm, and Hand of Healing, a healing ability, are available as new Black Spirit Skills.
• A new in-game shop, where players trade in tokens dropped by monsters in battle for items to increase team stats like attack points, HP, defense point, moving speed, and attack speed.
• Other balance and gameplay changes include the removal of the Laytenn and Putrum, as they were overpowered and threw off the combat balance.
• A new function added to the post-match results screen allows players to see a breakdown of party members and enemies’ gear, stats and damage dealt in battle. 
• The development team also addressed issues where attack and combo special effects obstructed the player’s view. These visuals have been toned down, and the team has also widened the viewing angle at a macro level to increase player visibility.

The original Shadow Arena game modes, like battle royale, are still available for casual play in private lobbies. For more information on Shadow Arena’s latest changes, read the full patch notes here.

Assets can be found here.

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About Shadow Arena

Shadow Arena is Pearl Abyss’ action-packed PvP game that is currently available in Early Access on Steam. Based on the world of Black Desert, Shadow Arena features fierce battles in which 4 teams of 3 players each compete to become the ultimate victor on the battlefield. Players can choose from a variety of Heroes, each with their own unique fighting style. To climb to the top of the pack, players must slay monsters to gain buffs and collect tokens, which they can use to buy their gear. Impeccable skill execution and well-timed evasive maneuvers are also critical in securing victory. 

For more information on Shadow Arena, please visit Discord, the official website, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.

About Pearl Abyss   

Established in 2010, Pearl Abyss is a leading developer in the game industry with its renowned MMORPG franchise Black Desert. Pearl Abyss services the Black Desert IP across all platforms and its action-packed PvP Shadow Arena on Early Access on Steam. All of Pearl Abyss’ games are built on the company’s proprietary engine and are renowned for cutting-edge graphics. Pearl Abyss is currently developing Crimson Desert, DokeV, and PLAN 8 using its next-generation game engine and poised to grow its overseas market. More information about Pearl Abyss is available at: www.pearlabyss.com.

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