Brown Dust 2 1st Saturday Snack Chat

Session Content

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1. On Honor Rewards in Competitive Content

1-1 Opinions from Fans

It’s good that the material rewards in competitive content aren’t overly emphasized, but on the flip side, it feels like there’s a lack of motivation when it comes to honor-based rewards. Even if you obtain a difficult title like “One Who Will Become a Legend,” there’s not much desire to go after a higher title like “Advent of God.” It would be great if the design aspects of titles were enhanced to create a stronger desire to obtain them.

There were similar opinions that only 1st place or rankings within the top 10 or top 100 feel meaningful, and anything below that doesn’t bring much sense of achievement. It would be nice if the sense of achievement and rewards on the honor side could be diversified a bit more. Ideas like a Hall of Fame-style board, decorative items, or currency as honor rewards have also been considered.

Back in Brown Dust 1, achieving Challenger rank in all three PvP contents felt amazing. The sparkling portrait borders really fueled motivation. While you can gather material rewards through grinding or purchases, honor borders can't be obtained through spending, so rewards like that would be great.

In Guild Raid, you can earn a glowing emblem based on your ranking, but it only appears in the Mirror War matching screen, and it’s too small to be noticeable. It would be better if it was something more visually striking like the portrait borders.

Additionally, as Brown Dust 2 continues to grow and more players join, in cases like Fiend Hunt where there’s a hard cutoff, if you feel like you can’t make the rank, you just push a little and then give up. Introducing structures like top N percent brackets even for those below the top 1,000 could help maintain motivation.

1.1 Developer Response

We agree with the opinion that honor rewards need to be strengthened. If you continue to share feedback, we’ll actively take it into account. We also understand the importance of providing honor rewards for both the top tier and the next tier of players.

We’re also thinking positively about percentage-based rewards for Fiend Hunt. In the case of Guild Raid, players can earn emblems up to the top 5%, which encourages effort, but for Fiend Hunt, rewards are limited to just the top 1,000, making it much harder to earn honor rewards compared to Guild Raid. So we’re considering adding percentage-based rewards, but we’ll carefully review it in light of Fiend Hunt’s reward structure.

Most fans tend to play Fiend Hunt lightly, just enough to receive the level 10 rewards. So we’re slightly concerned about whether it would be okay if the current lightness of play becomes heavier by adding honor rewards for the top 5% or 10% of players.

Additionally, we believe the essence of honor rewards is that someone else should be able to see them. We’re aware that current features like trophies and titles in My Room aren’t being well exposed. First, we’re planning to improve the visibility of these base features, and then add honor rewards on top of that. For example, we’re considering expanding My Room and adding more decorative elements to encourage more visits to each other’s rooms, or improving the “My Info” UI to allow attaching stickers. The portrait frame idea suggested in feedback is also being planned together.

2. On Adding More Guild Raid Floors and Differentiation

2-1 Opinions from Fans

In Guild Raid, since scores and rankings are determined by how many turns it takes to clear, it’s known that the top-ranking guilds all end up with the same score. I’m curious how you plan to introduce differentiation.

2-1 Developer Response

We’ve thought a lot about how to add differentiation and concluded that a system like Tower of Pride wouldn’t be suitable.

We considered various methods like checking the remaining HP of characters, or awarding additional points based on the most damage dealt in a single turn, but we judged that such approaches might actually reduce strategic variety. So after much deliberation, what we’re currently planning to apply is a system where players receive bonus points if they clear the stage without borrowing a guild support character—using only their own characters.

2-2 Opinions from Fans

Even among top guilds, many players have raised their own characters to a high level, so I worry whether this method would really introduce meaningful differentiation.

It feels like the meta of the content is changing. Right now in Guild Raid, as long as your support characters are set up, you can borrow a strong main character and enjoy the battle. Korean players tend to borrow characters a lot, whereas North American guilds often have a full roster of 30 top-tier players, so from the guilds’ perspective, it feels like the meta of Guild Raid is shifting. Also, I believe there will be a few guilds where no one borrows any support characters at all, so I’m curious how differentiation will be created in that case.

2-2 Developer Response

Among the 30 members in top-tier guilds, we believe most can achieve the same number of turns without borrowing support characters. However, as part of our effort to introduce differentiation, the last idea we discussed was a structure where clearing in fewer turns earns higher scores.

In the end, we believe the growth level of characters and equipment is what really matters. For example, let’s say clearing in 17 turns is only possible with a character equipped with a Legendary SSS version of “Venomous Touch,” but with a BBS version, it takes 19 turns. Until now, players could just borrow a character equipped with Legendary Venomous Touch SSS and clear it in 17 turns. But if borrowing is restricted and players are forced to use only their own characters, then that could naturally create differentiation.

The combat and QA teams are currently having discussions and running internal tests, and we’re focusing very closely on the number of turns when balancing. We think the chances of all 30 members in a guild having the exact same clear turn count, and multiple guilds doing the same, are extremely low. But if that kind of overlap keeps happening even after the patch, we’ll need to consider a different way to create differentiation.

What’s important is that we need to create differentiation, but there shouldn’t be too many rules. The more rules there are, the more complicated things become. So among the additional differentiation methods mentioned earlier, we want to keep it as minimal as possible, so there’s less of a learning curve with the new rules. We’re trying to come up with and apply methods that align with this standard.

3. Differentiation in Guild Raid and Mercenary

Lending Achievements

3-1 Opinions from Fans

If players gain extra points in Guild Raid by not using support characters, what happens to the mercenary lending achievement? I’ve seen players who are actively doing lending achievements.

3-1 Developer Response

Since there’s no limit to the number of battles in Guild Raid, players could use support characters with non-optimal setups for the sake of achievements, and then do another run for competition using their best characters. But since we’ve been focused on how to implement differentiation, we haven’t yet thought deeply about the mercenary lending achievement part.

3-2 Opinions from Fans

In that case, the lending limit should probably be removed.

3-2 Developer Response

We’re considering that too. The lending limit itself has been a topic of debate ever since the guild support function was added to Guild Raid, so we’ll think it over carefully. If it turns out to be okay, removing the limit might be a good idea.

3-3 Opinions from Fans

In top guilds, many members borrow the strongest dealer from their guild based on the boss’s element. If there’s just one copy of a Legendary SSS “Venomous Touch,” it can be equipped to two different support characters and registered that way. Then the entire guild ends up borrowing the same member’s dealer with just one 24-point Legendary Venomous Touch. So maybe when setting support characters, it should be restricted so that the same equipment can’t be used to register multiple characters. What do you think about preventing everyone from sharing the same support character?

3-3 Developer Response

To be honest, that was actually intentional. When we designed the support character system, we intended for a single equipment set to allow you to show off two of your own characters. The advantage is that with one set of equipment, you can make two characters perform at the highest level. The downside is that it reduces differentiation. We’re curious to hear what others think about possibly improving this part.

3-4 Opinions from Fans

But if you make it so that a single piece of equipment can’t be registered to multiple characters, then guild members will have to keep their best equipment attached to a specific character until everyone in the guild finishes their clear. If the Guild Raid takes place over three days, that equipment would be tied up for three whole days. I think that’s a bigger downside.

3-4 Developer Response

You're right. A clear example of that downside is in Mirror War defense decks—characters in those decks always have to stay equipped. Because of that experience in Mirror War, we made it so that even if equipment is removed after registering a Guild Raid support character, it still retains the equipment from the time of registration. For this reason, we're considering applying a system in the future where, for both Mirror War defense decks and Last Night deployment, equipment is saved at the time of registration, so that even if you unequip items afterward, the setup remains intact.

4. Can we eat pizza…?

4-1 Opinions from Fans

Is it okay to eat pizza? The discussion has been so intense from the beginning that I feel too self-conscious to start eating.

4-1 Developer Response

Of course! It probably won’t feel right until we open the boxes first. We’ll start eating too.

5. On Further Segmenting Guild Raid Rewards

5-1 Developer Inquiry

Right now, Guild Raid reward tiers go up to the top 5%, but we wonder if it might be better to break that down further. For example, currently it’s divided simply into Gold, Silver, and Bronze, but if we broke it down more—like Gold 1, Gold 2, Gold 3, Silver 1, Silver 2, Silver 3—it might help with motivation. Currently, once you reach 5%, the next goal is 1%, which feels a bit too difficult. If we added more incremental steps, maybe players would feel more encouraged to keep challenging. Do you think now is the right time for that? We’d love to hear what fans think.

5-1 Opinions from Fans

It sounds good. If honor rewards are added to the more detailed ranking tiers, that would be even better. Right now, I believe there are about 20 guilds within the top 0.1% tier, which feels like too many. So I think it would be nice to further divide even within that 0.1%—maybe split it in half.

5-2 Developer Comments

One of the things we’re currently preparing is to provide a leaderboard for guilds.

While honor rewards are important, as we mentioned earlier, visibility is also key—so accessibility is important. We’re considering ways to make it easy to see, such as placing the leaderboard in the ranking tab.

As of Guild Raid Season 7, there are 21 guilds in the top 0.1%. We plan to display all of these 0.1% guilds proudly on the leaderboard.

6. Regarding Removing Inactive Members During

Guild Raid

6-1 Opinions from Fans

We’d like to kick out inactive members during the Guild Raid, but it’s inconvenient that we can’t expel them mid-season. In the first phase, like during the Invasion Defense Battle, even if 1–2 members are missing, it’s still possible to reach Level 5 on Lancelot. But after that, before the Boss Defense phase begins, if we could expel non-participants and recruit new members, we could proceed without inactive players.

6-1 Developer Response

We've consistently received feedback from guild leaders wanting to kick out inactive members mid-raid. However, if players are putting in effort and then get expelled, or if someone joins mid-season and receives rewards without contributing, that could lead to abuse and other negative situations. So currently, we’ve taken a conservative and restrictive approach.

When we first designed the system, we looked at policies from similar situations in other games. At the time, we were told that the common standard was not allowing expulsions or new joiners during the raid season, so we followed that model. However, it’s clear that there’s dissatisfaction among guild leaders about not being able to kick out members. Do you have any ideas on what might be a good approach?

6-2 Opinions from Fans

Sometimes it’s unavoidable—someone may go on a trip or be busy with family matters and miss their chance to play. You can’t exactly tell someone to leave the guild and come back later. One idea is to distribute the average score of the 29 other members to cover the missing one. Another idea, seen in other games, is a voting system where if the guild leader is inactive, members can vote to change leadership. Maybe implement a system where a certain number of member approvals is required to remove someone—something like that could work.

6-2 Developer Response

Distributing the average score to cover for an absent player seems like it could be misused. Regarding expulsion, it's actually something we've discussed recently. But we’re also worried that if a cartel-like group forms within a guild, there’s potential for abuse. I’m not trying to be negative, but I’m just pointing out that misuse can happen with any system, so we’re openly sharing all the possibilities we’ve thought of. Thank you for the ideas.

7. Are there any plans to add new content?

7-1 Opinions from Fans

This is feedback from the North American side. What we hear most often from top-ranking players is, “So what do we do now?” I’m curious whether there are any plans to add new endgame content for individuals like Fiend Hunt, or even new content within the guild system.

7-1 Developer Response

We’ve heard some say we’re focusing too much on developing minigames recently, but we’re not totally obsessed with them. According to our game surveys, the top reason people play is the illustrations, and the second is combat and field gameplay. We definitely believe that combat content is something we must continue to improve.

From the start of our service to early last year, we often heard that there wasn’t enough content. So we reinforced that with Fiend Hunt and Guild Raid.

After that, we made a conscious decision to avoid making things too hardcore and leaned toward lighter updates that can be enjoyed without too much burden. That meant we hadn’t been pushing forward much with deeper combat enhancements for a while.

But now, we’re starting to feel like it’s time to seriously revisit that. As of now, I can say there won’t be any new hardcore combat content before the second anniversary. We’re just beginning to brainstorm ideas for adding something in the second half of the year. We haven’t finalized what kind of content it will be, and we’re in the idea development stage, so we’d love to hear honest feedback from everyone.

7-2 Developer Inquiry

In contrast to our current system where all allies act, then all enemies act, the previous Brown Dust 1 combat system was more turn-based, with alternating turns between you and the enemy. That system was very fun for those who liked it, but we also felt it could be a barrier to entry for new players. However, during this project, we’ve heard a lot of positive feedback about the combat system from the previous game, so we’re thinking—what if we created a mode where characters’ specs remain the same, but the battle rules are based on the older system?

Additionally, we’re exploring tweaks to the current rules like increasing the number of tiles, raising the number of deployable characters, or giving the enemy the first move, etc. These would keep the core rules but shift some of the specific mechanics.

Since PvP often brings out the most creative situations, we’re also considering new PvP content—as long as it doesn’t rely solely on forced rewards to make it appealing. We’d love to hear what kind of battle content you think would be fun to have.

7-2 Opinions from Fans

There are a lot of ideas. A friendly match system would be great—something we can play with friends. There’s no friend system right now, so that would also get activated. And it would let us play casually without worrying about wins and losses.

It might help reduce the complaints about lacking content if we added new modes where guild members can cooperate outside of Guild Raid, or added a way for guild members to have friendly matches against each other.

Currently in Brown Dust 2, there’s not much use for tanks. Back in Brown Dust 1, there was a world boss that focused entirely on tanking. If Fiend Hunt or Last Night is all about offense, maybe adding a mode that focuses on defense would make things more interesting.

Also, since PvE is the main content, most new costumes and characters are designed with PvE in mind. As a result, the PvP meta has become pretty stagnant. So instead of increasing Mirror War’s starting SP, maybe reduce the starting SP, or introduce something like a global ban system for certain costumes or characters to shake things up.

7-3 Developer Comments

Thank you for the great suggestions. I also believe that introducing variety through different rules is really important so that players can find new enjoyment in a fresh environment. But one of the things I consider most carefully when improving content is whether players who already enjoy the current system can accept the changes as truly positive improvements. Changing the rules of Mirror War, for example, has both pros and cons. Some players might find the regular rule changes fun, but for others, frequent rule changes could feel like a hassle. So I’d also like to ask—do you think it’s better to actively make changes, or would it be better to operate more steadily and consistently?

7-3 Opinions from Fans

If it’s going to be something entirely new, maybe it’s not necessary. But if new rules are introduced, it would be good to apply them seasonally—like a pre-season where players have time to prepare, and then continue with that system for the next full season, and repeat that pattern.

8. Regarding Fiend Hunt Strategy Decks, Damage

Info, and Deck Copy Features

8-1 Opinions from Fans

I’d like to ask if it’s possible to reveal the top-ranking strategy decks or builds after the Fiend Hunt season ends. Even just seeing the starting lineup would give us a good idea of how they approached it. I also think that revealing that kind of information could serve as an honor reward for the top players. Additionally, there’s not enough data available for players to analyze. I’d like to ask if it would be possible to share more numerical data after Fiend Hunt ends.

8-1 Developer Response

We think it would be necessary to include an information disclosure on/off toggle. However, there is a concern that users who turn it off might face criticism. That said, some people might actually see keeping their information private as cool, so it could depend on the individual.

8-2 Opinions from Fans

This also ties into the PvP ban system mentioned earlier. If a PvP ban system is introduced, it would mean changes to my deck every week, and for players who don’t particularly enjoy PvP, that could become a hassle. Because they may not know the strategies or meta, it could turn into a league only for the select few who are really into it. That’s why it would be helpful to add a deck copy feature, so even those who don’t heavily engage in PvP can still enjoy it more easily through copying decks. Besides, just copying a deck doesn’t make it easy to reach high ranks anyway.

8-2 Developer Response

The deck copy feature has been a requested feature since about six months ago, and we are currently reviewing it. We’re aiming to provide this feature as a tool for players who find more enjoyment in growth than in strategy, so they can stay engaged in the game.

9. On Content That Helps New Players Adapt to the

Game

9-1 Opinions from Fans

As someone who’s been playing for just over two months, I’m curious how I ended up getting selected for this. So far, the conversation has focused mostly on how top-ranked players engage with the game and what direction the game should take going forward. But if there are players in the top 1% or 5%, then it’s just as important to design the game so that the 99% or 95%—the rest of the players—can enjoy it too. For me, after finishing the story and other content, Fiend Hunt is the only thing left I can really do. But I think there are still some barriers in accessibility for players who aren’t high-rankers. The first issue might be the available character pool, and I also feel like new players lack opportunities to practice tactics—even just to clear level 10 of Fiend Hunt. In that sense, Guild Raid is more fun because you can borrow or lend characters.

Even if it’s simpler than Fiend Hunt, I think it would be more enjoyable if there were some content where new players could practice forming strategies by fighting simplified bosses. Right now, due to limitations in character pool and tactical depth, I often end up tweaking pre-made patterns from others—but that doesn’t always feel motivating. So I’m curious if there are any plans for content like a “mini Fiend Hunt,” something aimed at players outside the top ranks.

9-1 Developer Response

We honestly haven’t given this enough thought yet. We’ve received a lot of feedback about improving convenience features and easing early-game access, but most of our focus has been on developing new boss mechanics for Fiend Hunt and Guild Raid, and trying to offer fresh experiences within existing systems. We hadn’t really thought about major system changes. Your point about creating a bridge-type content that naturally connects new players from the story content into Fiend Hunt is a really good one, and we’ll give it serious consideration.

10. On Field Utilization

10-1 Opinions from Fans

I’m not interested in Fiend Hunt, and I have no interest in Guild Raid either. I look at the Brown Dust IP from a completely different perspective, and I’m always amazed whenever I visit Lugo Village. The composition and layout are perfect—it must’ve taken a long time to design, and it was done so well.

The BGM is really soothing too, which makes it even more disappointing that this kind of content ends up going unused. I wish there were more subquests or enjoyable things to do on the field—it feels like a missed opportunity.

If there were subquests that let you find out, for example, why the poor child ended up like that, why Stolas chose Lugo Village, or why Lathel's younger sibling, specifically, is involved, I think many more players would really enjoy the field. It’s such a shame that the field content is used once and then discarded.

10-2 Developer Response

Thank you so much for your kind words about the field. We feel the same disappointment about it. If the game had gotten off to a better start with a strong reception, I think we could’ve taken it more in the direction you’re hoping for. We probably would have developed it further as a game with a stronger JRPG sensibility. During the three years we spent creating it, we really had a lot of fun.

But once the game launched, we realized that on mobile, UI-based games tend to be a better fit for convenience. That’s something we learned during the first six months post-launch.

If we had released this game on Steam or as a console title like Octopath Traveler, we would’ve taken the quality and emotional tone even further. The difference between console and mobile games is that mobile games are meant to be enjoyable for five or ten years, while console games aim to deliver a rich, satisfying experience compressed into 40 or 50 hours. We approached this game like a console experience meant to give players a single, memorable moment, but released it on mobile.

We built this game dreaming of something like a JRPG or Octopath Traveler, and at first, players would try things once or twice. But asking them to do the same tasks 10, 20, 100 times—like constantly stealing or running around through all the packs—just isn’t something you can sustain over a year. I should’ve known better with my experience, and I honestly regret not realizing it sooner.

In the six months after launch, we worked on a lot of quality-of-life updates and mobile-friendly improvements, and we’ve just now reached a more stable state. But so far, we haven’t had the capacity to do more. From what I’ve learned, what most players want isn’t something they repeat in the field, but quick, streamlined tasks with easy rewards and dopamine-triggering skill cutscenes.

Once we have more breathing room, we’ll definitely focus more on the emotional and story-driven aspects too. We’ve heard a lot of feedback about how SD characters feel underutilized on the map, and we agree—it feels like a loss. It took us a year to create Lugo Village. After that, we were able to speed things up thanks to the foundation we built, but creating that initial quality took a long time, and we’re very attached to it.

11. About Pickup Rates

11-1 Opinions from Fans

During the Blade pickup, there were a lot of off-rate pulls. Looking at the community, it seemed like many other players experienced the same. On the other hand, for the recent Liberta pickup, I was able to reach 5 breakthroughs without many off-rate pulls. I’d like to ask if the rates are actually the same.

11-1 Developer Response

We were monitoring the situation during the Blade pickup too, and we checked the server data. We received confirmation that the rates were indeed the same, and no values were changed. Because of this, we’ve been considering whether to disclose world-level gacha statistics—overall draw rates across the entire player base—just like we disclose the individual gacha rates. There were no issues on the server side.

12. About the Pickup Schedule

12-1 Opinions from Fans

I quit another game because of its brutal pickup schedule. While Brown Dust 2 isn’t that extreme, there have still been times when the schedule felt intense. I want to know if new costumes are going to keep being released every week. It’s commonly assumed that weeks featuring rerun costumes are supposed to be "break" weeks, but in reality, I think most players don’t feel that way.

12-1 Developer Response

Internally, last year we released three new costumes every four weeks. This year, we’ve scaled that back to two new costumes every four weeks,

and we’re filling the gaps with reruns of past pickup costumes. But if rerun costumes still feel like something you need to roll for, then it might understandably feel overwhelming.

13. On Limited Costumes Being Excluded from

Golden Thread Upgrades

13-1 Opinions from Fans

Some users might not be able to fully break through a costume during its pickup period. Why are limited costumes excluded from the Golden Thread Costume Selection Upgrade pool?

13-1 Developer Response

It’s true that we initially set policies around limited costumes and didn’t think too deeply about it afterward—we treated it as a fixed rule. The exclusion of limited and collaboration costumes from Golden Thread upgrades was based on multiple factors:

The value of limited costumes, domestic and global trends, operational cases from other games, and performance-based considerations.

We’re well aware that new players may feel left out or frustrated if they miss out on limited costumes or can’t fully break through them. That’s why we aim to maintain their limited value while also giving newer players periodic chances to acquire them through reruns.

As for collaboration costumes, the contracts involved make it legally complicated to offer routes to obtain them after the pickup period ends. So our current policy is to ensure these collab units don’t become too essential performance-wise. Even without them, we want players to feel they can still enjoy the game.

14. About Custom Gacha Plans

14-1 Opinions from Fans

Is there any plan for a custom gacha system? If a custom gacha were introduced, it could help address the lack of character pool mentioned earlier. If a cooldown of about two weeks were added between custom gacha selections, I think it could be a good compromise.

14-1 Developer Response

We’re preparing a more attractive version of the Select Gacha as a limited-time event for the second anniversary. However, if we were to offer an unlimited custom gacha that lets you pick just one costume, it might give the impression that the game is nearing its end of service. So we’re working on a way to offer generous benefits without sending that kind of message.

15. Regarding Collaboration Frequency

15-1 Opinions from Fans

Will you continue with two collaborations per year? As someone who started playing after the limited season, I felt that even spending money didn’t allow me to catch up due to high hurdles. Meanwhile, others could use reroll accounts or alternate methods to get those costumes at a lower cost. For players starting from scratch, this can feel really unfair and lead to a sense of loss. If limited or rerun costumes have excessively strong performance, that could be a serious issue.

15-1 Developer Response

First of all, we never officially committed to doing exactly two collaborations a year. However, we saw that the top game in this genre does about two per year, so when previously asked about collaboration frequency, that’s the answer we gave. At the time of our first collab, we didn’t feel there was much negativity toward the idea—at least not to the extent we’re seeing now, not just for us but in general. That said, we’ve always been clear that our main goal with collaborations isn’t to drive sales but to attract new players. Since our service launched in June, both June and December are major seasons tied to our anniversary, so we naturally began thinking of running big events in March and September as well, on a quarterly basis—leading to about two collaborations per year. We believe people will judge the value of this latest collaboration, especially since we’ve stated that we don’t want to make collab costumes or characters feel mandatory. We’re aiming for them to feel like fun, optional events. If that perception improves, we might continue with two per year, but it’s not something we’ve locked in.

15-2 Developer Response

Our main reason for doing collaborations is to bring in more fans, which we’ve seen succeed in Taiwan and the U.S.

During the Mushoku Tensei collaboration, we saw significant new user growth from Taiwan and North America.

Fanbase size increased, and even in off-seasons, more users remained compared to before.

We want to repeat that kind of effective user acquisition—not by creating overpowering, must-have collab costumes, but by keeping them from being a burden. We’ll continue being mindful of that.

16. On Supporting Fairness for Non-Reroll (Fresh

Start) Players

16-1 Opinions from Fans

The most urgent issue is helping fresh-start players begin on a more even footing with reroll accounts.

Players who start from scratch often show the most genuine affection for the game.

Even when I recommend Brown Dust 2 to friends, buffers are the most critical units, so I’d like to ask if the pool for the infinite reroll at the start could be expanded.

For example, swimsuit Teresse is an important buffer, but she’s limited, which makes her feel out of reach.

16-1 Developer Response

So far, we’ve only been providing limited support for new users, such as rotating pickup reruns for the three major buffer units. But for the second anniversary, we’re seriously considering how to give players access to essential characters and costumes early on. The efficiency gap between fresh-start players and reroll accounts is huge, and just offering cheap starter packs isn’t enough to solve that. Still, we’re exploring various ways to better reward the time and money that players invest. We’re also thinking about how to make the 6-Select Gacha work in a way that gives fresh-start players a launch experience that doesn’t feel lacking compared to reroll accounts.

17. On the Frequency of Goddess’s Tear Packages

and Including Them in Passes

17-1 Opinions from Fans

About the Goddess’s Tear packages—you once said they’d be released only at key moments, but now they’re being sold every two weeks. As someone who buys them, it’s fine, but players want to know if this change in release frequency is intentional. Also, regarding the pass products—since they tend to be high-value and even low-spenders often buy them, would it be possible to add Goddess’s Tears to those? Top players tend to use a lot of Tears during specific element Fiend Hunts, which sometimes leaves them unable to enhance new costumes properly when they’re released. I think releasing up to three per month would be reasonable.

17-1 Developer Response

First of all, I want to clarify that we are not designing costumes in a way that requires Goddess’s Tears for them to perform properly. There’s been consistent demand for more opportunities to purchase Tears, but since we’ve previously stated we wouldn’t sell them too actively, and since there’s a specific design intent behind them, we’ve been cautious. Still, offering one every two weeks—about two per month—seems like a reasonable compromise, taking into account the amount players can earn in-game and the number of new costume releases. As for adding them to passes—technically it’s possible. But since passes like the season pass are recurring products, some players may feel pressured if we add them there, so we’ll need to think more carefully about that.

18. Suggestions for Long-Term Service, and Being

Cautious About OP Characters Like Lucius

18-1 Opinions from Fans

What hurt the most about Brown Dust 1 is how it fizzled out in the end. I believe the release of overpowered, ecosystem-breaking characters like Lucius was a big part of that. For Brown Dust 2 to survive long-term, I strongly recommend avoiding characters like that and being very cautious.

18-1 Developer Response

As I’ve said before, we don’t plan to release absurdly overpowered characters. Why did we do it in Brown Dust 1? At the time, it felt acceptable, because that was what most other games were doing. We thought, “Other games are doing it, so we can too.” But we no longer believe that’s the right approach. That was an era when mobile games were still young—an era of aggressive monetization and pushy power creep. We used to think that an OP character could become the face of the game. Back then, many games used tactics like daily roulette systems that forced players to log in multiple times a day to participate, and we referenced those models. Looking back now, I regret it. But at the time, those were the prevailing ideas. Nowadays, there aren’t many game companies still doing that, because we’ve all seen that it leads to failure. We’ve learned our lesson and won’t go down that path again.

19. On How Much of Brown Dust 2's Total Revenue

Is Reinvested

19-1 Opinions from Fans

I’m curious what percentage of Brown Dust 2’s total revenue is being reinvested. While the scale is vastly different, games like HoYoverse's Genshin Impact reinvest a massive amount of their profits into animation, offline events, talent development, recruitment, and so on. Even though their gacha system is expensive and hard to win in, players love those games because of the sheer level of reinvestment. Brown Dust 2 also feels much bigger than it did at launch, so I believe it could continue to grow even more if the developers invest heavily into it. That’s why I asked about the reinvestment rate.

19-1 Developer Response

These days, it’s not just about passion—it’s about fan spirit. Whether developers are genuinely committed and investing their energy isn’t something that can be measured in money. But we do think it’s pretty much standard to reinvest everything except what’s needed to pay salaries. What matters next is whether the team can show this kind of passionate commitment,

so players can feel the developers aren’t treating this just like a product, but something made with sincere care.

I’m naturally a shy person, which is why I didn’t do live broadcasts in the beginning. But after the "finger pinch incident," people suggested doing one. At first I wanted to just write a post instead, but we ended up doing a livestream, and now that we’ve kept doing them, I’ve gotten more comfortable and I think fans are recognizing our sincerity more. So rather than talk about monetary investments, I want to emphasize the importance of our attitude and genuine care toward this game.

19-2 Opinions from Fans

Back during Brown Dust 1 broadcasts, the devs looked tense reading off a script. Now, seeing them crack jokes, ad-lib, and speak from the player’s perspective feels very friendly and enjoyable. You’re doing a great job from a player-friendly perspective.

19-2 Developer Response

Rather than talking about monetary investment, it might be easier to explain in terms of manpower. At launch, the dev team had around 60 members, and now it's grown to about 80. On the business, operations, and marketing side, we started with 30 people at the beginning of 2024, and by the end of the year, that number had grown to 51. That’s a 70% increase in manpower.

Every time we put something out, fans reacted. And because of those reactions, we were able to put in more. That back-and-forth led to over 70% reinvestment in just one year, so yes, the company is actively reinvesting.

For example, during the 1.5-year anniversary stream, the CEO personally came to the studio and stayed from start to finish. After seeing us put on makeup and perform with full passion, and seeing how much the fans loved it, we built mutual trust. Now when we propose ideas for the fans, things move more smoothly. Honestly, I’m really enjoying my work these days, and I feel like I’m getting to do what I want.

20. On Expanding the Brown Dust IP

20-1 Opinions from Fans

Do you have any plans to expand the Brown Dust IP into other areas, like an anime or a different genre of game, such as a title like First Berserker Kazan? From my perspective, the Brown Dust IP is the best. I still have Brown Dust Story and Brown Dust Puzzle installed on my iPad. If it were adapted into an anime or something similar, I’d be thrilled.

20-1 Developer Response

Of course we’d love to. If we reached the scale of Blue Archive, maybe we could talk about an anime. If we were on the level of Dungeon & Fighter, maybe we could approach a team like Lies of P and ask them to make a Soulslike game for us. We’re very self-aware about our current scale, and we know we still have a long way to go. We want to get there someday, and that’s exactly why we’re working hard now.

20-2 Opinions from Fans

Looks like I need to start paying server rent. Haha.

20-2 Developer Response

Thank you, haha. I do feel like we need to go even crazier to make that kind of leap. I’m always hoping, and if luck’s on our side, maybe one day we can take a big jump.

21. On Glutalk Interactions from a Newbie’s

Perspective

21-1 Opinions from Fans

A lot of new players are drawn in by Glutalk, but if they don’t even have the namecard of the related character, they can’t use it. The Newbie Pass currently gives the “Claw of Nature” Rou costume, but I think it’d be better if new players could at least get a costume that has special interactions. Some fans who already fully broke through those characters might complain, but for new players, I think it’s totally fair to at least give one costume with special interaction content.

21-1 Developer Response

If we tie it to a character pass event, I don’t think existing players would be too upset about it being in the Newbie Pass. It’s a reasonable suggestion, and we’ll consider it positively.

There’s actually some behind-the-scenes info about the Glutalk interaction guests. We wanted to make it even more dopamine-triggering than games like Nikke or Blue Archive, so we looked into other visual novel games—like Miracle Snack Shop—and measured everything down to the character count in dialogue. We were relieved that the reaction was positive.

Originally, we planned to include Emma as the very first interaction guest among 3or 4-star characters, but during an internal meeting, someone said, “Emma belongs to Jayden, so we can’t.” There was a lot of debate over that—some said it would feel like NTR and people might hate it—so in the end, we didn’t include her. Still, we’re now considering putting a regular costume with special interactions into the Newbie Pass, and we’ll think positively about that.

22. On Adding More Stages and Rewards to Last

Night, Glupy Diner, and the Evil Castle

22-1 Opinions from Fans

There’s been a lot of power creep in Last Night recently, and some players are nearing level 30 max in Glupy Diner, but the rewards feel very lacking. I’ve also cleared all floors of the Evil Castle and would like to know if there are plans to add more stages.

22-1 Developer Response

We recently reviewed the idea of adding more stages to Last Night. However, we don’t plan to increase the actual reward cap beyond 1.1 billion. Instead, we’re considering adding challenge-level stages that offer slightly more gold or other rewards, and give them honorary meaning—like awarding titles at 1 billion, 2 billion, and 3 billion points. Even if we add new challenge stages, the direction would be to focus more on honor rewards rather than increasing in-game material rewards.

As for Glupy Diner rewards—we’ll take it into consideration.

Regarding the Evil Castle, it’s not technically difficult to expand the floors. But our decisions are based on player progression data, and at the time we last checked a few months ago, not many players had reached the top floors. We’ll recheck the clear rates soon and review floor expansion again.

23. On Excess Golden Threads and Powder of Hope

23-1 Opinions from Fans

As a paying player, I often pull gacha to complete my costume collection, but it only feels rewarding when I actually pull a featured item. If I get off-rate items, I just end up accumulating Golden Threads and Powder of Hope, and I’m curious if there are any plans for how to use those. I understand that the Golden Thread Shop is designed for new or F2P players who might not be able to afford everything in it, so I’m not asking for more top-tier items to be added.

But when enhancing gear, we use a massive amount of rice and gold, and although those are already sold, the exchange rate using Powder of Hope or Golden Threads feels off compared to their actual value. If you added more realistic exchange options for those currencies, I think that would make players more willing to invest.

23-1 Developer Response

The collection system wasn’t originally intended that way, but we heard comparisons to Lineage early on.

Even though the buffs it provides aren’t very strong, we admit we might’ve made some mistakes in its design. We didn’t put much thought into what happens when the completion rate drops from 100%, and that may have been too careless. We’ll take another look at it, as we haven’t seriously considered changes until now.

As for how to use Golden Threads—if we add more options, players’ interpretations will vary depending on their situation. For someone who already has a lot of Threads, even a small addition could be welcomed. But for someone without Threads, it could feel like they’re being pressured to pull off-rate just to generate Threads.

We’re open to adding new shop items, but we’re always cautious about how past purchasers will perceive those changes. If we’re confident players will accept it, we’d like to make improvements. But we’ve had experiences where such changes created divides in the community, so we’re approaching it carefully. The key is finding a balanced exchange rate that a wide range of players can accept. We’ll thoroughly consider how to improve the value and usability of these currencies.

24. On Adding a Ceiling System to Equipment

Refinement

24-1 Opinions from Fans

This question came from the North American community. Is there any plan to add a ceiling (pity system) to equipment refinement?

24-2 Developer Response

As of now, we have not been reviewing the idea of adding a ceiling to equipment refinement.

25. On Adding Guide Content for New Players

25-1 Opinions from Fans

I really love Brown Dust 2’s combat system and want to help new players understand it better—but that’s tough to do in reality.

We can’t explain everything through community posts, so I’d love to see a dungeon-style tutorial or content system for new players. A step-by-step tutorial where they learn about chains, how to use buffers, and the difference between received and dealt damage bonuses would be really helpful.

25-2 Developer Response

We agree—it would be good to add a mission-based tutorial system that introduces key mechanics step-by-step.

We had a tutorial system in the past and originally planned to expand it. Since the character pool hasn’t changed much, we could explain our intended mechanics more accurately from the start. We initially wanted to make one tutorial for every key battle concept, but ended up only releasing five. Looking back, we wish we had added 20 stages to guide players through advanced mechanics while offering rewards.

26. On Increased Field Content Fatigue Due to More

Story Packs

26-1 Opinions from Fans

I used to skip the story, but now I find it really fun. However, I like to collect all the materials as I go through each pack, and with 18 or 19 packs now, that might get exhausting. The absorb system helped, and it’s more convenient now, but with so many packs, I wonder if it’s possible to simplify things. Would you consider adding more skip options for earlier content?

26-1 Developer Response

I think the main fatigue comes from loading screens and having to move characters around. We’re considering how far we should go in making things convenient—like being able to handle everything from the world map. We believe the biggest fatigue point in our game is pack loading.

We’re thinking about how much we can let players interact with packs without triggering that loading fatigue. If everything can be done from the world map, would that kill the game's emotional charm? That’s something we’re debating internally.

27. On Pack Loading

27-1 Opinions from Fans

Personally, I don’t think pack loading is that stressful. They removed the animation for slotting in packs because it disrupted story immersion, but I think there should be an option to turn that on or off.

27-1 Developer Response

The actual loading time hasn’t changed. It’s more a matter of how we present it. Some players liked that animation, while others felt it disrupted the flow. Since opinions are mixed, we’ll consider adding an option to let players choose for themselves.

28. On the Fire Chip Easter Egg

28-1 Opinions from Fans

In the Fire Chip pack, there’s an Easter egg hidden in one of the interactable objects that says “We originally wanted to make Red Just instead of Brown Dust.” I was curious about the meaning behind that.

28-1 Developer Response

Really? I didn’t write that one. There are more Easter eggs like that—our 1.5-year anniversary guest, Jayden, is someone who loves to work and enjoys secretly adding fun things. He usually makes those and asks us to include them later. I just let them go wild. Once, he even asked if he could kill me off in the story, and I said go for it. I actually haven’t seen the “Red Just” line myself.

29. On Adding a Dummy Target for Damage Testing

29-1 Opinions from Fans

Is there a plan to add a dummy or damage test feature like a scarecrow? It would be nice if we could freely configure stats or attributes on the dummy and test how different setups perform. At the top ranks, even a 0.1% difference matters, and many players use Excel to calculate and test results. Having a scarecrow-style test system would be more convenient than that.

29-1 Developer Response

When we made Last Night, we envisioned it as something like both a scarecrow and a reward machine. But since it ended up developing its own strategies, the nature of the content changed. We understand what you're asking for—something where you can test different setups—and we’ll seriously consider it.

30. On an Ideal Number of Costumes per Character

30-1 Opinions from Fans

Eclipse will have four costumes once the wedding one comes out. Is there a target number of costumes per character? For example, Zenith already feels like a completed unit—zero cost and infinite cooldown. I'm curious about your thoughts on that.

30-1 Developer Response

There are two aspects: battle balance and emotional appeal. With Zenith, the push for new costumes feels more emotionally driven—players who love Zenith are asking for more. We’re positively considering it. In general, we aim to balance around three costumes per character. Eclipse has more because she won first place in the popularity poll. That was expected—it felt like it was only a matter of time.

When new characters appear in the story, we try to give them 2–3 costumes fairly quickly so they can stand alongside existing characters.

That said, we also want to put more focus on Brown Dust 2 original characters. But when a character from Brown Dust 1 returns in BD2, our attachment makes us want to give them special attention. From a battle design perspective, besides Zenith (whose new costume is coming soon), are there any other characters you'd like to see get one?

30-2 Opinions from Fans

If I had to pick—maybe Dalvi.

30-2 Developer Response

From a combat design perspective, creating new costumes is always a dilemma. Whether it's the first costume for a new character, or a second or third one—it’s always tough. Take Justia for example. She already has six costumes. If someone says we need a new one for her, that’s going to be extremely difficult to design.

31. On Schera and Gray’s Decreased Presence in

the Story Compared to Justia and Lathel

31-1 Opinions from Fans

Justia awakened and became really strong. Lathel still has his place as a buffer, but it feels like Schera and Gray have completely faded. In the beginning, all four of them fought together, but now Justia handles everything solo. Will Schera and Gray also have awakenings in the story?

31-1 Developer Response

There are story spoilers involved, so we can only say a bit. Justia’s awakening created a noticeable power imbalance. When you reach Story Pack 19 or 20, you’ll probably realize how we addressed the power balance issue in the story.

32. On Adding a Feature to Preview Skill Cutscenes

32-1 Opinions from Fans

It would be nice to have a way for new players to preview skill cutscenes, even without owning the costume. Maybe show them only in banners or previews, while keeping full lobby settings locked behind ownership.

32-1 Developer Response

In some other games, you need to fully break through a costume to set it on the home screen. But in our case, skill cutscenes are a big highlight of the game, so we’re positively considering ways to show them. If everyone can see the cutscenes without pulling, it might reduce the satisfaction of acquiring them. But if we apply a light visual filter—like a dimmed gray tone—then it could still evoke the feeling of “I want this.” That’s our current thinking.

33. On Making Damage Fonts and Effects More

Unique

33-1 Opinions from Fans

I approach Brown Dust 2 differently from most players. Would you consider making damage fonts more unique—for example, giving Rou cat-ear-shaped fonts or something like that?

33-1 Developer Response

That’s a great idea. We’ll consider it.

34. On Implementing Brown Dust 1’s Combat

System (Clarification)

34-1 Opinions from Fans

Bringing back BD1’s combat system feels like it would be a huge barrier to entry. BD1 had some complex mechanics, and just switching to that system could make it hard for new players.

34-1 Developer Response

To clarify, we’re not planning to replace all combat with BD1’s system. What we mentioned was applying it only to a separate new game mode.

35. On Meta Shifts in Fiend Hunt and Guild Raid

35-1 Opinions from Fans

In the past, seasonal buffs made things revolve around elements. These days, it seems like everything is based on gimmicks, and the balance feels off. Will this continue? Or will you bring back elemental buffs and lean more into that?

35-1 Developer Response

It depends on timing, but every Fiend Hunt or Guild Raid boss is designed with a unique concept. We also try to design characters that fit well against those specific bosses. Rather than using the same characters every time, we want to create fresh experiences in ways players can understand and accept.

In Blade’s case, the character is a Fallen Angel, so her strength made sense from a story perspective. But if it’s just a third costume for a regular character, we adjust the balance to avoid power creep.

36. On Balance Testing for New Fiend Hunt or Guild

Raid Bosses

36-1 Opinions from Fans

Every time a new Fiend Hunt or Guild Raid boss is added, the damage scale seems to shift. Do you research builds and simulate damage output internally before deciding on HP and balance?

36-1 Developer Response

Yes, the combat team and other balance staff collaborate to simulate each new boss and determine an appropriate HP level. For example, we might estimate that players will aim to clear up to level 15. We definitely run internal tests to calculate expected damage output and determine HP and scaling. Of course, things don’t always go as expected—players often deal more damage than we predicted, or come up with creative builds we didn’t foresee. But we do test everything internally when setting those values.

37. On Post-Awakening Visual Effects

37-1 Opinions from Fans

Awakening is the final enhancement tier, and it feels like it should be a major transformation—but currently all it does is make the level icon glow. Honestly, it feels a bit underwhelming. Other games often change character appearances, or add something like a glowing border or change star colors from yellow to purple. Even adding an emblem would be cool.

37-1 Developer Response

You're right—it does look unimpressive. We’ll review this.

38. On the Role of Potential in Costume

Performance

38-1 Opinions from Fans

Potential lets even F2P players boost performance, which is good. But from a paying player’s view, it’s frustrating to fully break through a costume and still not be able to use it properly because the right Potential didn’t unlock. Sometimes the character becomes unusable or loses half its power. Please avoid making Potentials too overpowering.

38-1 Developer Response

There are some costumes without overly strong Potentials, but usually out of the three skill Potentials on a costume, one is designed to be impactful. It’s intentional—since Goddess’s Tears are high-value items, F2P players can still gain a meaningful upgrade just by unlocking one potential. That alone can offer performance close to a 1–2 breakthrough level.

That said, we agree with your feedback. Whether it’s Potentials or enhancements, we don’t want to force them—ideally, players should feel their character is viable just with the base copy. Then, further investment can provide growth for those who want to go further. That seems to be the trend we’re aligning with.

39. On Entering the Chinese Market

39-1 Opinions from Fans

We were discussing how to increase Brown Dust 2’s global scale, and it seems like China’s market could be a major opportunity. Is BD2 having difficulty entering the Chinese market due to censorship or visual content issues? Would it be possible to provide separate skill cutscenes with lower exposure, or handle things differently for the Chinese version?

39-1 Developer Response

At the moment, we believe entering the Chinese market would be very difficult.

We considered partnering with major Chinese publishers, but it would likely require full retouching or redrawing of every cutscene due to content restrictions. The workload would be enormous, and there’s a chance the end result wouldn’t even be well received by Chinese players. That said, we haven’t given up and are still exploring alternative approaches.

40. On Adding More Language Support

40-1 Opinions from Fans

In regions like Southeast Asia, Europe, and South America, there’s no localized language support. Even at the Thai offline event, the presentation was in Thai—but the in-game language is still English. This creates a disconnect. Adding proper language support per region could help the game reach more players. Korean gamers also struggle with global games that only support English—language can be a major barrier. You don’t even need full voice acting—just translated text would be enough. Western players also accept limited voice support. AI could be used for drafting translations, and a final human review could adapt it for cultural relevance.

40-1 Developer Response

Expanding our scale can happen through new markets, new stores (like One Store or Galaxy Store), and language support—and we are currently reviewing language expansion. Languages like Thai, Spanish, and German all have different populations, engagement rates, and immersion levels, so we need to assess the efficiency of each carefully. Translation costs money, and every update would require additional resources, so we’re approaching it cautiously. If we add a language and the results fall short, the opportunity cost would be significant. Once we commit, it’s hard to undo, so we’re taking our time with this decision.

41. On the Exchange Rate for Awakening Elixirs

41-1 Opinions from Fans

Please improve the exchange rate between Powder of Hope and Awakening Elixirs. Right now it’s 2 Hope Powder for 1 Elixir, and that feels too expensive. Elixirs are in short supply, and it's frustrating to waste valuable resources on such a low return.

41-2 Developer Response

We’re considering a long-term adjustment, but we also need to be fair to those who already bought at the current rate. One idea is to keep the current exchange option in place, but occasionally offer limited-time event deals—like during anniversaries or monthly/bi-monthly windows—where Elixirs are available at a better exchange rate. If those are well-received, we could consider making the improved rate permanent in the future.

42. On Converting Refinement Stones to Refinement

Crystals

42-1 Opinions from Fans

It would be great if we could convert Refinement Stones into Refinement Crystals at a fixed rate. I’d like to hear your thoughts on this.

42-2 Developer Response

We’ll review this suggestion as well.

--

43. On Why Fans Were Invited to the Saturday

Snack Talk

43-1 Developer Inquiry

To be very honest, the reason we invited you today is because we’re facing a challenge. During the 1.5-year anniversary, far more players joined the game than we expected. We were thrilled by the turnout. However, many former players—including some who spent a significant amount—did not return. Even with bunny girl costumes and all kinds of special events, many fans still didn’t come back, and it’s hard to interpret the reason through data alone.

That’s why we invited players who’ve continued playing and those who’ve returned after leaving. We thought you might be running guilds or know people who’ve left. What reasons do people give for quitting? Is it due to real-life obligations or dissatisfaction with the game? Of course, we can’t do anything about real-life issues, but if we can better understand what’s difficult or disappointing specifically about our game, we can improve.

43-1 Opinions from Fans

From a paying user’s perspective, I think BD2 has systems that make it extremely hard for new whales to enter. There are many reasons, but…

First, limited collaboration costumes are a big issue. Once a limited character or item is gone, you can’t get it again. For example, even if I started the game now and spent 10 million or even 100 million won on Fiend Hunt, I still couldn’t break into the top 100. I really liked the recent package that came with Ancient Crystals. If you buy every package, you get about 700 of them, but without Legend-tier gear, there’s no way to compete in Fiend Hunt for the first 3 months. Even if I spend 7 million won a month, I still can’t compete with the top ranks. I just end up wandering around the map, watching other players, which makes me feel very limited.

Second is a lack of endgame content. Events and ranking modes can mostly be cleared with just 4-star units. When you ask, “What’s the true endgame?” the only answers are Fiend Hunt and Guild Raid, which becomes a vicious cycle. As a new whale, I’m left wondering, “What am I supposed to do in this game?” If there’s nothing I can meaningfully engage with, I lose interest.

43-2 Additional Fan Opinions

I think BD2 needs a two-track approach. New players—whale or not—start with the story. They’ll go: “The art’s amazing,” “This is wild,” “The story’s fun.” But once the story is over, they move on to Fiend Hunt and Guild Raid—and that’s where they get stuck. If there were more content between story and endgame, they could stay longer, admire the art, and naturally build their specs to eventually tackle endgame. It’s essential to fix the environment that makes it hard for new whales to join.

As someone who competes in rankings, I admit: if a new whale joined and ended up competing with me, that’s threatening. But on the flip side, if that whale joins our guild, it’s a huge benefit. Right now, hitting the top 0.1% in Guild Raid is insanely difficult unless you're a true veteran. If new whales could power-level quickly, we could recruit them and have a better shot at the top rankings. I hope that becomes possible.

43-3 More Fan Feedback

From a fresh start player’s perspective, once you enter the story, there isn’t much strategy—it’s mostly one-shot meta. So the RPG strategic identity of BD2 doesn’t come across in the story. Then suddenly, after finishing the story, you hit Fiend Hunt and Guild Raid—where everything becomes highly complex. Chain systems, multiplication-based buffs, positioning—all of it becomes crucial. As someone mentioned earlier during the break, there needs to be a tutorial or a clear bridge-type content, between early and late game, to help players understand this sudden jump.

43-4 Developer Inquiry

We now realize that there’s no tutorial or bridging content to teach players about the chain system or current meta trends. We had hoped Evil Castle would fill that role, but it’s clearly not doing the job.

43-5 Fan Feedback on Evil Castle

Evil Castle is organized by element, so new players struggle due to lacking elemental damage dealers or buffers.

Veteran players can clear all the floors, but new players often can’t even get past the middle stages. So they hit a wall and can’t learn key systems like knockback, bonus damage, and damage multipliers. New players rely on burst units like Bunny Loen to one-shot everything. But once they hit content like Evil Castle, those one-shots stop working. They don’t understand concepts like knockback strategies, stacking bonus damage, or elemental scaling—so they’re stuck doing tens of thousands of damage instead of millions or billions.

43-6 More Fan Feedback

There’s also a matter of taste. Some people are drawn to BD2 specifically because of its edginess or risqué aesthetic. So there’s a difference between what the current audience wants and what would appeal to a more general mainstream player base.

44. On the Efficiency of Base Copies (“Namecard

Efficiency”)

44-1 Opinions from Fans

I also play NIKKE, but I’m more emotionally invested in BD2. I moved to NIKKE simply because there wasn’t enough to do in BD2. I still recommend BD2 to others, but most people quit quickly—whereas those I recommend NIKKE to tend to stick with it.

The main reason is that in NIKKE, if you get two or three strong characters from rerolling, you can clear most of the game. In BD2, that’s just not possible. Even with two strong costumes, you can't meaningfully progress through all the content. For things like Last Night or Fiend Hunt, you need multiple characters, and many of them are limited units you can’t obtain anymore. That creates a structural wall.

44-1 Developer Response

We agree it’s important to understand how to make “namecard efficiency” more meaningful. In NIKKE, just getting a few base characters is enough to move through the story.

In BD2, we do take that into account, but the structure of the game isn’t built so that two costumes alone can carry you through all content. That’s a key difference.

45. On Returning to Brown Dust 2

45-1 Developer Inquiry

Many players who spent a lot of money and clearly had deep affection for Brown Dust 2 have since left, and they aren’t returning. Why do you think those who quit after spending so much aren’t coming back?

45-1 Fan Response

I think the biggest reason they’re not coming back is because they’re already committed to other games. For example, I left Brown Dust for NIKKE and I’m still consistently playing NIKKE. So even when BD2 has big events like Bunny Lorain or anniversary updates, I stay focused on NIKKE because that’s where my emotional attachment is now. I’ve had similar experiences with other games too. No matter how big an event is or how good the vibes are in a different game, if you’re focused on your current game, it’s hard to even notice the others. Eventually, once you get bored with that current game, you naturally return to your original one—often without any special trigger.

45-2 Developer Inquiry

For those of you who’ve left the game and then returned, what brought you back?

45-2 Fan Response

The art. Seriously, it’s the art that brings me back. I’ve played both BD1 and BD2 on and off multiple times. People quit games when they get bored, no matter how good the game is. But eventually, I come back because there’s no other game that satisfies me like Brown Dust 2. Whether BD2 is doing well or not, having big events or not—it doesn’t really matter to me. When I get tired of the new game I tried, I find myself naturally drawn back. It’s a cycle.

If the game is fun, people will come back. That’s how you get returning players and new players too.

45-3 Developer Inquiry

What if, due to limited character availability, we bring back all previously limited characters during the 2nd anniversary? Would players welcome a full re-run or something like a “Rebroadcast” event?

45-3 Fan Response

I don’t think that’s a good idea. It’s not about liking or disliking it—it’s that it removes player choice. It feels like a quick-fix solution. Honestly, I think the bigger issue is that people who spent a lot of money before aren’t coming back. And as someone who has spent a lot, this kind of thing really rubs me the wrong way. If I spent hundreds, but someone who joined later and spent less is outperforming me, that feels unfair. That’s the part that stings the most.

45-4 Developer Inquiry

From the perspective of veteran players, I imagine you want new players to join. But I also assume you don’t want them to catch up too quickly or surpass you with ease. What are your thoughts?

45-4 Fan Responses

(Opinion 1) Honestly, I just want more people playing. (Opinion 2) But let’s be real—we’re all veterans. And it’s unrealistic to expect new players to immediately be on our level. We’ve put in time and effort. In any context—work, gaming, anything—it wouldn’t feel good to see someone just parachute in and get placed beside you. I worked hard to get where I am. If someone just skips the line and lands right next to me, who would be okay with that?

45-5 Developer Response

If the concern is that the game might die, I think it’s fair to say that everyone wants it to thrive.

When a game is doing poorly, people rally together because if it dies, rankings and competition disappear altogether. But once you have 100,000 to 200,000 people playing steadily, then of course some players will want to preserve what they’ve earned. I also understand concerns that we might be focusing too much on older spenders, using them as a shield to justify everything. But of course, we must continue making efforts to bring in new players. That’s part of what collaborations are for. What really stuck with me today wasn’t the part about top-ranked users needing more honor rewards—that was always planned anyway. What hit me was hearing “I’ve done everything… what do I do now?” These players have finished the endgame, cleared all content, and are now left wondering what’s next. Some are only sticking around for the cutscenes, the gacha, or out of loyalty. The real issue seems to be: there’s nothing left to do. Yes, some players can keep pushing for growth—but once the one-off content is done, it leaves a big gap.

46. Suggestions for Achievements and Talent Skills

46-1 Fan Opinions (Achievements)

There should be better rewards for achievements—like special titles. Some of them are massive, like “Talk to NPCs 1 million times,” but they only give minor rewards. Players who take achievements seriously—like those focused on cooking—don’t feel like they’re getting enough out of it.

46-2 Fan Opinions (Talent Skills)

There are more and more character packs, but absorption and talent skills haven’t kept up. Older characters had unique talents like Sprint, which had very short cooldowns. Now we have skills like Rubia, but not enough modern talents being added. Why not make more utility-focused skills that last 20–30 seconds? Or give characters like Nebris or Blade talents that feel like “Will-based” finishing blows, maybe with suppression effects?

46-3 Fan Opinions (More Character-Based Talent Skills)

Rubia’s Sprint talent is underwhelming. It’d be nice if each character had talent skills that reflect their personality or battle role.

Developer Response Understood—we’ll take it into consideration.

47. On Co-op Content

47-1 Fan Opinions (General Co-op)

If we had more co-op content, it could give players something meaningful to do, especially for those on the verge of quitting. Guild Raid is the only real cooperative content right now. Adding something like 3-player co-op via the friends list could be great. Players could help cover each other’s weaknesses and enjoy team-based gameplay. This would also help keep ex-players engaged—“I quit before, but this looks fun and lets me play with others, maybe I’ll come back.”

47-2 Fan Opinions (Co-op Raids)

Please create co-op raids. That kind of content is really rewarding for long-time players. Like… when someone shouts “Good Morning! The Helper Bus is leaving now!” and everyone joins in. Then they say “Thanks!”—that kind of vibe is awesome.

Developer Response We’ll review it internally.

48. Purpose of the Saturday Snack Talk

48-1 Developer’s Closing Thoughts

The reason we held this gathering today is because we really wanted to bring joy to our fans during the 1.5-year anniversary. I believe we succeeded to some extent, based on the metrics. The number of new users was the highest it’s been since launch—actually, the highest since our initial release. Unlike typical mobile games, which spike and then drop, our numbers dipped after launch but started climbing steadily again from November. Both the 1-year and 1.5-year marks brought healthy growth, which is very promising. However, as mentioned earlier, it’s disappointing that so many former users haven’t returned.

The increased traffic and overall growth is real—we’re definitely higher now than pre-1.5-year—but it’s still bittersweet. Some people might worry the game is declining, but I want to reassure you: things are still in a good place. We’ve been watching metrics from Sensor Tower, YouTube analysis, and global sales rankings—all signs show we’re being fairly evaluated. We know some of you spent a lot, love the game, and yet haven’t returned. We really wanted to understand why.

48-1 Fan Response

If you ask us directly, we can only give fragmented answers. When heavy spenders in our guild quit, the reason is usually “real-life issues,” so it’s hard to give a clear explanation. For this kind of question, we recommend conducting a survey.

48-2 Fan Response

I think it could also be due to a difference in game "weight." I used to run just one account, but now I run three. During the half-anniversary, I was playing Epic Seven and recommended Brown Dust 2 to Epic Seven players. A few of them still play, but most quit. I think the reason is because Epic Seven is a relatively hardcore game. When those players tried a more casual game like BD2, it didn’t suit their tastes.

When BD2 first launched, you had to run it constantly—hunt in Area 8 all the time, run Mirror War every 2 hours—there were lots of hardcore, military-style elements. People who liked that kind of intense gameplay might find that the current BD2 feels too light and doesn’t match their preferences anymore.

49-1 Fan Opinion

When doing tactics mode with 3 buffers and their animations, it honestly eats up hours really fast. The animations are long—would it be possible to add 3x speed specifically for Fiend Hunt?

49-1 Developer Response

Yes, requests for increased battle speed have been consistent.

This likely reflects the experience of hardcore players who repeat the same scenes over and over— Even beautiful animations become exhausting when you have to watch them 100 or 1000 times for 6 hours straight. So we understand how strong this demand is.

Often we hear, "Just give us 2x speed," then later "How about 3x?" But we’re realizing this isn’t just about speed—it’s about repetition fatigue. Not all players want this, but those who do long sessions suffer the most. We’ll seriously consider shortening or simplifying animations—or giving options like skips or faster playback.

50-1 Fan Opinion

When I don’t have much to do, I play the Tower of Salvation with themed runs—like clearing by element, or only using defense teams because I like Seir. In BD2, Fiend Hunt is super deep if you get into it, and Guild Raid has limited availability. The Tower is pretty much all that’s left. If we had more light, friendly PvP or co-op content, I think it would help players stay longer. Right now PvP feels pretty deep and intimidating.

50-1 Developer Response

PvP is definitely deep. Once you enter ranked content, it naturally becomes hardcore. So we’re approaching PvP carefully and still thinking it through. In subculture games, PvP is sometimes even considered taboo. Some say we shouldn’t include it at all. But from a fun perspective, we think there’s room to explore creative content where players can interact without direct competition. It’s impossible to keep up with everyone else’s pace in a competitive game, but… We’re thinking of PvP and RvR content that doesn’t feel heavy.

Would that still be unappealing? Please tell us honestly. If we can make content that’s fun but doesn’t require spending major in-game currency—just something casual—we’d love to hear your thoughts.

50-1 Fan Response

I think it’s great. I’m a PvP player—I’ve lived in Mirror War, Challenge Arena, and Sacred Arena since Brown Dust 1. Even if the rewards are small, like 300 diamonds, I’d love it.

Honestly, even just having the content is fun. And since Legendary Gear is tuned for PvP anyway, adding PvP content makes it more meaningful.

50-2 Fan Response

PvP is fine, but meta characters like Justia are mostly +3 with cost reduction. Now we also see Seir and Reckless as tanks with +3 bonuses too. This means high-end characters dominate PvP, and it’s hard for new players to keep up. In Mirror War, newbies usually use B.Helena, Zenith, DJ Venaka, Bunny Eclipse, etc. Even if we want more variety, it’s not easy due to limited character pools or high cost. If those barriers were addressed, PvP could be more accessible.

50-3 Fan Response

Make a TFT-style auto battler.

50-4 Fan Response

Random Tower Defense (Rentadi) is a proven fun genre. Luck-based chaotic games are trending at the top, but they’re actually really addictive and fun. BD2’s SD characters are adorable and would be a great fit. That genre is already proven, and I think it would really work here.

50-5 Fan Response

It’d be great to allow replay of past Fiend Hunts as practice.

50-6 Fan Response

Remember Mystic Island from BD1? Couldn’t we bring something like that back in BD2? Make it drop hard-to-get items like potions—maybe just 15 or so per successful run, or a bit of powder. That kind of content didn’t feel rewarding before, but if added to BD2, it could be meaningful.

Developer Response We’ll definitely consider these ideas.

51-1 Developer Response

We asked why players leave or don’t return, and it seems to boil down to two main reasons: First, real-life responsibilities prevent them from investing time. Second, after finishing the story and base content, there’s a lack of transitional learning or onboarding for deeper content. In BD2, more costumes are required compared to other games, and there are limited ways to obtain them— That makes returning difficult. To fix this, we’ll need to find solutions that fans would accept. For example, maybe everyone could start with at least one costume per major unit.

Also, many modern games are moving away from limited units altogether. If we had done the same—replacing all limiteds and collabs with just skins—the regret for newer players would be lower. Right now, though, with limiteds during every anniversary and between that, the sheer number has become problematic. So for new players trying to catch up, it’s getting harder. We’ll have to rethink how we approach limited content from now on.

52-1 Fan Response

I’ve been playing mobile games for nearly 10 years. I often quit and come back. Usually, I return because I remember the fun I had in the past. Many who played BD2 early on were drawn in by the SRPG charm and cute aesthetics. Recently, we’ve gotten great-looking new characters like the Bunny Girls, But we haven’t seen the original main party much, which is disappointing.

When characters like Sacred Justia came out, it got a huge reaction. That’s because people were emotionally attached to those characters. But now that we’re getting only new characters, older players don’t feel emotionally connected anymore. For example, if Scheherazade, who I loved in the past, got a new costume, I’d definitely return. But if only new characters come out, I won’t have the same attachment—and might not come back. Many players remember their favorites, and they want to see those early protagonists again. That lack of nostalgia is one of the reasons returning is hard. The 1.5-year anniversary brought a whole new direction, and that might’ve made it harder for old players to come back.

52-1 Developer Response

Regarding the main characters you mentioned, our initial vision was to continue highlighting them— Even when new characters were introduced, they wouldn’t overshadow the originals. That’s why we created the costume system—to keep them active in the spotlight. If you add too many new characters, it’s hard to spread affection equally. Eventually, you forget who’s who, which we already experienced in the previous game. But as a company, we also need to ensure revenue, which means releasing new units that people want to pull. This creates a dilemma. That’s why we made the costume system: So even if the base character is old, new costumes could revive them. But even that system has limits—you can’t just add infinite costumes. We learned that through operation—it was something we missed at first. Take Justia, for example. I love her and want to give her more costumes. But if we go beyond 5, it messes with power balance. So 5 is our soft limit now. Instead, we try to include beloved characters in the main story, so they’re not excluded. But as you pointed out, when seasonal packs come out and your favorite character isn’t there, it does feel disappointing. Especially early on, players “choose their waifu,” and those characters get lots of attention. But as time goes on, they’re pushed aside by newcomers, and the magic fades. Take Scheherazade—she was a launch character, had Code Name S and Magic Professor versions. But lately she hasn’t had any spotlight. That’s a shame.

53. Mid-Difficulty Content in Tower of Salvation

53-1 Developer Response

We had many questions about content, but after listening to a lot of feedback from players, we’ve started to find a clear direction. When new users first encounter the story packs, the map looks great, it’s visually interesting, and it seems very immersive. However, the transition to content like Fiend Hunt or Guild Raid isn’t very smooth. The difficulty suddenly spikes, and the tactics required become much more complex, creating a disconnect from the emotional tone players were enjoying previously. In particular, the sudden rise in strategic complexity is very noticeable. Plus, players often only have characters like Carlson or Vint, and if their collection doesn’t match what's needed, they hit a wall. This frustration can lead to users dropping out at that stage.

To address this, we believe Tower of Salvation is a good reference point. While it’s a bit unfriendly at times, it helps users naturally learn the game’s basic mechanics and guides them to play strategically using artifacts. By leveraging elements like these, we think it’s possible to create content that allows users to learn while having fun. We don’t believe the game lacks content, but rather that it lacks bridges to help players grow naturally through gameplay. So, even without overly generous rewards, it’s important to have content that is fun and also teaches the strategies needed for gameplay. We’d like to work on content that is both fun and educational for users.

53-1 Fan Response

A concern is whether the Tower of Salvation is really suitable as mid-difficulty content. New users entering the Tower for the first time struggle to understand terms like increased outgoing damage, increased received damage, and elemental damage. Also, artifact effects include conditions like "more than/less than 5 chains," but veteran players already know which costumes have which chain counts—like Swimsuit Therese. New players, however, have trouble even identifying the skill info of those characters.

Since the Tower assigns characters randomly instead of letting you choose, sometimes you're forced to attempt without key buffs. This randomness could be a major barrier for new users, so it’s worth thinking carefully about whether this content can really serve as a proper mid-step. When users first enter the Tower, they choose four characters without any explanation—likely just picking the prettiest ones.

53-1 Developer Response

The biggest strength of Tower of Salvation is that even players with a limited character pool can try out various characters. That can be a positive element for new players, and it's something to keep in mind when designing new content. However, we agree that a more intuitive and friendly guide is needed. It’s not enough just to let players use new characters—there needs to be structure and support that helps them learn game strategy naturally.

54. About the Knockback System

54-1 Fan Response

Many new players have no idea what the knockback system is. It’s hard to even check directions clearly—so it would help if knockback could be made more visually intuitive.

54-1 Developer Response

Yes, it’s late, but we are planning to improve it.

55. Costume Info in Character Swap Window

55-1 Internal Team Suggestion

It would be nice to display information for costumes other than the one currently selected.

55-1 Developer Response

We’re working on a version where the UI shown next to "Prepare for Battle" will also appear in the costume selection screen—we’ve even prepared mock-ups!

55-1 Internal Team Comment

Oh, I just heard that for the first time. Okay. Cease friendly fire.

56. Helper Characters

56-1 Fan Response

In games like Nikke, when clearing story or boss zones, they provide limited-use helper characters like Rita or Alice. In BD2, new players trying Fiend Hunt for the first time can’t even begin due to lack of units. Providing helper characters usable only in Fiend Hunt could help. Supplying essential buffs or support units just for that mode would help new players adjust more easily.

56-1 Developer Response

You mean something like temporary allies in story—really strong ones… Noted, we’ll look into it.

57. Popular Costume Information

57-1 Fan Response

Right now, popular costumes are only shown in Mirror War. It would be great to show them in the Tower of Salvation too. Especially for new players, showing popular costumes or recommended characters via indicators would make choices easier. By doing so, newcomers could more easily identify strong heroes and use them effectively.

57-1 Developer Response

We already track data on how often artifacts and costumes are picked. If we make this data visible, new users will naturally think, "This must be good since many people use it,"—that seems like a good idea.

58. Frequency of Justia and Lathel Picks in Tower of

Salvation

58-1 Fan Response

Right now, when Justia or Lathel is picked in the Tower, their costumes appear endlessly. Can this be improved?

58-1 Developer Response

We understand the situation—more characters and costumes mean the odds of getting your preferred pick goes down. This problem will only get worse over time, so it’s something we need to fix. We’re considering solutions like a ban system or allowing users to pick at least one or two starting characters.

We’re aware of the issue and are working to improve it as soon as possible.

59. Dispatch Feature

59-1 Fan Response

There are too many unused characters. Please add a feature to dispatch them for set time periods to collect certain materials.

59-1 Developer Response

We will review this internally.

60. About New Weapons

60-1 Fan Feedback

Legendary and UR weapons have become too standardized. Introducing new types of weapons in different directions could be a good idea. All the current gear options are fixed, and most players already have all the collections and over 100–110 UR Legendary items. So if you added something like "Attack + Elemental Damage" or "Elemental Damage +30," that could be used specifically on elemental dealers and offer fresh, interesting gameplay—especially since there's not much left to do.

60-1 Developer Response

Saying “because there’s nothing left to do” is a bit sad… We’ll review it.

61. Phone Heating Issues

61-1 Fan Feedback

There are overheating issues on mobile—can this be resolved?

61-1 Developer Response

Neowiz’s tech team and the developer studio GampisN are actively optimizing to address overheating. There are still occasional cases of heat, crashes, and frame drops, but compared to before, it has improved a lot and will continue to improve.

62. Equipment Filter Improvements

62-1 Fan Feedback

Currently, only one sub-option can be selected in the gear filter, even though there are three sub-options per item. It would be great if we could filter by up to three sub-options.

62-1 Developer Response

We’ll review this internally.

63. PC Client

63-1 Fan Feedback (Resolution)

Previously, I could stretch the window to fit my monitor in windowed mode, but now the aspect ratio is locked and parts of the screen get cut off. Can this be improved?

63-1 Developer Response

We modeled it after Nikke, and the UI team initially thought free-scaling was not ideal, so it was set to a fixed ratio. We’ll discuss internally whether we can roll it back to the previous behavior.

63-2 Fan Feedback (Key Mapping)

Right now the PC client has fixed key settings—it would be nice to allow custom key mappings.

63-2 Developer Response

It was at the bottom of our priority list, but we’ll take a look.

64. On Holding Another “Bruday” Event

64-1 Fan Feedback

Do you have any plans to hold another Bruday (Brown Dust Day) event?

64-1 Developer Response

Yes, we’re considering it. We’ve realized from recent events that the more we prepare, the more people join in and it truly becomes a festival. We’re thinking of planning offline events before the anniversary and doing something like Bruday internally after the anniversary to maintain the momentum. It may not be perfect the first time, but we’ll aim for a polished event.

65. Infographics

65-1 Fan Feedback

The most fun part of the half-anniversary event was the costume usage stats and awards. There weren’t any during the 1st or 1.5th anniversary—it was a bit disappointing. Will you bring those back?

65-1 Developer Response

We’re currently preparing a 2nd anniversary infographic. It will include update history and streaming highlights. We’re trying to present it in a fun and engaging way—not just a list of data—so users will enjoy it. We're also thinking about what kind of information players actually want to see.

66. Limited Costume Pickup Timing

66-1 Fan Feedback

When limited costumes overlap with collaboration pickups, the schedule feels very intense. We’d like to hear the dev team’s view on this.

66-1 Developer Response

The overall schedule probably won’t change much. Limited costumes are planned similarly to last year’s schedule. For example, Sacred Justia was initially planned as a limited costume, but due to high player fatigue, it was replaced with Swimsuit Therese in August. It’s not finalized yet, but we will try to adjust the schedule considering player fatigue.