By Rickee Charbs (Jammart), OnRPG Journalist
Lunia has gone through some pretty hefty content additions since its release under Ijji, a wonderful company that really keeps their games up to date. They usually release new characters to the game soon after KLunia (Korean Lunia Online) does, which is a great feat as every character needs to be heavily translated. Anyway, the previous article on Lunia characters regards some new-esque characters, but this one will present the characters fresh from KLunia. The real “new” characters, if you will.
These very recent character additions to the game are extremely popular, and continue to grow in popularity due to their unique abilities and overall appeal. These two characters are Ryan, the bounty hunter, and Kali the demon dark bard from another dimension. As much as Ryan and Kali have been hyped, hype for a very new character is taking the lead. That’s right, this article will also feature Asuka, the dual claymore wielding school girl! Now, you may be very impatient to try this character out, but she is currently only available in KLunia. Your eagerness will have to be put on hold, but she will be ready soon for English players if ijji keeps up its steady speed. Plans of a tamer and a blacksmith character have been revealed to Lunia fans everywhere, but they are too far under developed for me to give you any information of, let alone an introduction. Now, let us start character rundown number two!
Ryan Hunt [Bounty Hunter]
It is pretty obvious that this character was developed to please gunner-class fans. Ryan has no use in the game’s storyline, as he fails to make an appearance anywhere in the game (much like most of the new character added in the game). His background states that he only became a bounty hunter so that he could take advantage of his earnings to fine-tune his guns.
He is physically described as one of the tallest characters of the game, wearing a fairly large trench coat, stylish white hair, and two huge pieces of weaponry. Wielding a mini gun in his right hand and a shotgun on the left, Ryan seems to be quite the intimidating character. What amazes me is that he can wield and use both of those guns together with little effort. Apparently he’s too brutal for physics. Some people think he clashes with the theme of the game, but I think the gunner profession fits in just fine with a fantasy setting.
Ryan’s attacks are almost purely ranged, even less than his ranged counterpart Arien. However, his attacks pack a serious punch. He deals the highest amount of AoE damage, so that makes him ideal to take out large clusters of enemies. I also noticed that Ryan’s extremely flashy skills have a downfall: the animations are so long that they delay your skill a little, which can be a little annoying at times. Not to mention of his skills consume a great amount of MP, so levelling his MP related skills are a must. He can be an amazing damage dealer with skills at disposal, but without MP he loses a ton of his strength. People who use Ryan have to learn to be very conservative with their MP. I found him really fun to play, but my hype for the gunner class died down very fast. He is definitely an interesting character in the game but maybe not as unique as he seems. I also found it silly that Ryan has a very ironic last name considering his profession.
Kali Eschenbach [Dark Bard]
Kali is one of the [if not the] most interesting characters I have played in Lunia. Do not let her adorably cute name fool you; she’s actually a demon. That’s right, Kali takes the appearance of an innocent 16 year old girl, but she actually comes from another dimension as a fierce demon. Not much is known of her true daemon form, though, as she tries to hide her origins and her true care-free personality. Kali uses her magical lute to help others, or to defeat enemies using the melody of Pandemonium (remnants of her demon self).
What sets Kali apart from the other characters of the game is her ability to heal her and other player’s MP through song. With this ability she has a near limitless mana pool, which really comes in handy when using her MP heavy darkness skills. She has a few really powerful skills (maybe slightly overpowered) that send damaging musical notes to her enemies. She can stun monsters or make them fall asleep, as well. That being said, Kali is extremely versatile as an offensive and supportive character alike. There is one more thing though: Kali can transform into her demon self! This demon looks really cool and is very deadly on the battlefield, with its own set of melee attacks. She also carries some other fun skills such as the ability to transform other players into skeletons that run fast and heal quickly. The few downsides to Kali are her low defence, HP, and her highly MP consuming skills.
Seeing how Kali is so unusual, it is extremely rare to not see a ton of them lingering around in-game. Do not let this discourage you though. The dark bard is a really fun class and I urge you to try it out if you have the means to! She is obtainable via the item mall or a tedious quest offered by Lynette in town, like all other character card quests.
Asuka [Dual Wield]
Asuka has just recently been released in KLunia. She wields two claymores and takes on the appearance of a school girl mixed with a feudal samurai. Asuka is an all-round speedy character. Her melee attacks are extremely fast, and so are her skills. She is mainly focused at 1-1 combat like Sieg. Some of her skills look great too! Cherry blossom petals float around her during most of her skills, and she even has an area effect skill in which those petals fall from the sky. I will admit she does not look like anything we haven’t seen, but is much rather a blend of Tia and Sieg together. Nevertheless, she seems like an interesting addition to the Lunia character roster, and I look forward to playing as her. Hope you do too! Happy gaming!
