While at GamesCom last week we took some time to meet with Gala Networks in an attempt to squeeze some information out of the Dragonica Online European Producer, Max Stolberg about the upcoming "M1" update.

While at GamesCom last week we took some time to meet with Gala Networks in an attempt to squeeze some information out of the Dragonica Online European Producer, Max Stolberg about the upcoming "M1" update. Fortunately for our European readers, we received some great information and confirmation that the update is set to go live on European servers around the end of September.

ZAM: The Dragonica M1 update is conceptually planned for the end of September to early October. What all does that entail?

Max Stolberg: The M1 update entails the majority of the new Van Cliff dungeon. The new Van Cliff dungeon is a high end dungeon for groups of four level 60 players and it will be really, really tough. The other slight modifications are the interface and the mission map system and other small things as well.

ZAM: There's going to be four bosses; the Gargoyle, Rahnoff, Dracula and a Bone Dragon. Can you tell us a little bit about those individually?

Max: The Gargoyle pretty much looks like a Gargoyle and he hits really hard and there's really not much more to tell about it. I don't want to go into details with the strategy because that's something players have to find out for themselves. Rahnoff obviously, has a big massive gun that shoots, and people have to avoid it or else their head gets smacked off. Dracula - well, we won't call it Dracula, we might call it Draculla with two L's - he can suck out your blood and regenerate. The Bone Dragon is a massively big beast that can kill you with his paw, basically.

ZAM: What is the storyline that brings all of these characters into a big dungeon? What’s the lore behind all of this?

Max: The story about Dragonica is that there was initially a war between different factions of the Dragons. The Good Dragon Lord and the Bad Dragon Lord - it's like Good and Bad basically - they fight. It's all about the five elements that previously gave the Good Dragon Lord eternal health. Now we see the first Dragon appearing in the game, which is the Bone Dragon, and this is just one of the stops that goes a long way up to the final fight against the evil Dragon Elga.

ZAM: Let's move on to some of the newer features that are coming with this update. You’ve mention that there will be new weapons; can you tell us a little bit about some of the things that players can expect?

Max: It's basically new armour sets. It’s new weapons and new armour sets that all have the style of the Van Cliff dungeon. The dungeon is more like an evil, Vampire kind of dungeon which looks like a standard kind of dungeon. Actually, it's not quite a dungeon, it's more like a tower, because you have several different levels which you have to run through and finish. Not to mention there are all the bosses you have to beat before you can finally get the Bone Dragon killed. So, yeah, it's just the weapons that drop there, and they will be the best weapons of the game.

ZAM: And what about the new enhancements to combat? What can players expect from that?

Max: The combat system, as such, is pretty much the same, but the new overhead and the new counter are just additional features that are something like criticals, but just in a different way. I don't want to tell too much about it, because I want players to find out for themselves.

ZAM: So there are some surprises for players who pay attention to combat?

Max: I'm sure there are, yeah.

ZAM: Also, with the M1 update, there are enhancements to the UI and an improved mission system. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

Max: The mission map system will be different in a way that it will be better and easier to do combos that lead to a more balanced score at the end. Currently with the mission map system it depends on just how fast you finish the mission maps, but they will be tailored more so that it measures various different aspects, like combos, hits, power and speed, all balanced in a better way. It might be tougher for some players, but certainly to get the highest grade, players will have to change their strategy a little bit.

ZAM: The last thing I wanted to touch on is that you mentioned that there will be a bunch of new quests and a new hero quest that players will particularly like. Can you tell us about some of the newer kind of quests that players can expect, and how they pertain to quests that players have already experienced? And give us some background on the new hero quests going in.

Max: The new hero quests are pretty similar to what we've seen in the past. Let's look at it like... With Dr. Farrell you have to do a hero quest; if you go for Lavalon, you have to do a hero quest; if you go for Mutisha, you have to do a hero quest. Mutisha is the newest dungeon that was added. It's necessary to those hero quests to unlock those dungeons. It's a story that moves on to finally fight against, potentially, Paris, first, at some stage, and then at a later stage to fight against Elga himself. Those are things that only God knows yet, and maybe the secret Dragon Lord.

ZAM: We'll be looking forward to checking that out when it comes to U.S. servers. Thanks!

Max: Thank you very much.

Andrew "Tamat" Beegle
Editor-in-Chief
ZAM.com