The town of Colhen has long been kept safe through the efforts of Tieve, the town’s oracle. Through her mystical ability to communicate with animals, Colhen dreams under the protection of her familiar, a giant spider. The day came when their trusted guardian seemed to go mad and started attacking the peaceful township of trusting people. The call goes out to a local group of mercenaries to help, a group that contains a young, untested recruit with a very special destiny.

Players find themselves thrust into this epic battle scenario upon launching Vindictus for the first time. The Prologue serves as an introduction to both the battle mechanics and the storyline of Vindictus. It’s an action-packed entrance into the game where players will get their first taste of brutal elegance.

Today’s “Pillar of Strength” content update adds the highly anticipated Karok character and a host of other new features and improvements to Vindictus.

At seven feet tall and weighing in at 400 pounds, Karok is a beast of a man who will bring an entirely new style of combat to Vindictus. After leaving his people far to the south to help the humans fight against the tide of invading Fomors, Karok now stands poised to add his strength, resolve and fighting prowess to the epic battles waged in Vindictus.

A whole new set of skills

Make no mistake – Karok’s fighting style is unlike anything you’ve experienced before. Instead of a simple sword, Karok wields a massive pillar that he uses to crush his enemies and drive them before him. He can conduct a “pillar charge” while sprinting to break through lines of normal monsters, and then go immediately into a “dropkick” to knock out anyone who dares to stand in his way.

Also among his many skills is his ability to “power grab” monsters that the other characters can’t, such as vampires and giant spiders.

Among the most impressive of Karok’s feats is his “clash” ability, wherein Karok can stop the blow of even the biggest boss monsters and engage in a battle of dominance. If successful, Karok will counter-attack with a mighty blow of his own.

At higher levels, Karok can even create an earthquake, dealing massive damage to nearby monsters and knocking them down in the process.

So that all players can enjoy Karok right away, Nexon is adding an additional character slot so that players can create a new character without having to replace any of their other characters.

Transformations get upgraded

Want to feel extremely powerful but think that Karok might not be your style? Don’t worry, because with today’s update the transformations that all characters can perform are also getting a major upgrade. First, Nexon has removed the biggest hurdle to using the skill, which was the need for 10 Ability Points and a full SP bar. The Stage One transformation is now a clickable skill available once per hour at any time to all players.

Transforming into an alternate form (either the Dark Knight or Paladin) grants a significant boost to payers’ Attack scores, Stamina and Hit Points. The Stage One transformation lasts for exactly two minutes and is on a one hour cool down, so be sure to use it when it counts most. Today’s update adds Stage Two transformations, adding even more power and functionality.

Tokens = gone

Players have been asking for the removal of tokens, and Nexon has responded. With today’s update, Nexon has permanently removed the token system from Vindictus. Now players are free to enjoy the game as often as and for as long as they want, with no penalty and no cost whatsoever.

The greater the challenge, the greater the reward

Rewards should be commensurate with the challenge, so from now on all “Hard” and “Hero” mode dungeons will grant bonus experience points and gold, offering even more incentive for players to hone their skills against the toughest challenges in Vindictus.

A leader board ranking system has also been added in today’s update, allowing players to compare their accomplishments against their friends and the wider Vindictus community. Players can now track a wide variety of player stats such as: number of battles cleared, amount of AP used, number of titles attained, number of stories completed and much more.