Blade & Soul - Ghost In The Shell (Gon Outfit) Mod

Following two very new outfits in the last two posts, we have a rather old but rare outfit - Ghost In The Shell, in this week's mod. This outfit drops off the final boss (TE-1138 Heavenpiercer, piloted by Be Ido) in the level 50 Sundered Nexus dungeon, which is considered old content. But if you are wondering why I consider an outfit from an old dungeon rare, that is because in addition to the low drop rate, the dungeon cannot be easily soloed by even level 55 player with good gears. Any solo challenger (because no one will want to go in that dungeon 😦 ) will need to have 'whale' gears before they can try to farm the boss for the outfit.

This is a very tedious dungeon which basically test players on every skills, including air dash skill in electrified chambers requiring tight maneuvers (you can see this in the video 😅 ). Not to mention one of the mini bosses - Drill Sergeant, who can shield himself from any damage (for a very long time, while his razor blades cut you down), if the players cannot stop him from the power-up mechanism. In order to stop the power-up, the players need to double stuns, double knockdowns and double dazes the boss. For Blade & Soul players, I guess you can know why this is impassable for a solo and fairly well geared player 😨. Unless the solo player can take all his 4 million health points before the power-up completes, you are not getting past him.

For the sake of non-players, well, no character class in the game can have all six skills (not at the same time, at least) required to prevent the power-up. Destroyers do have all those skills but they require out-of-combat status to swap them. 

But if you find the outfit's name familiar, that is because it is also the title of a Japanese manga cum anime cum Hollywood movie. Is there any relation between the outfit and the anime/manga? The connections that I can make is the ghost NPC who gives the player the dungeon quest and the fact that some of the enemies in the dungeon are cybernetically enhanced. Also, the final boss Be Ido actually pilots a massive robot - TE-1138 Heaven Piercer. So, he might be the ghost, or rather clown (because he dresses and acts like one 😅 ) in the shell.

In the dungeon, the player will also acquire a quest by the name of "Ghost of The Machine", which is very close to a book ("Ghost in The Machine" written by Arthur Koestler) that inspires Masamune Shirow (actual name - Masanori Ota) in his work on the manga/anime.

Other than the physical resemblance of cybernetic soldiers and machines, there is no philosophical connection to the manga/anime, which explores the question "What does it means to be human" and "What is the soul or ghost" when the entire body, including the brain, can be replaced cybernetically.

Be Ido and TE-1138 Heavenpiercer

Well, since we cannot directly link the dungeon to the anime/manga, let us take a look at the original outfit to see if it fits the name.

Front View - Original Outfit

The outfit is colored full black with ghostly blue glow.

The base is a tight fitting suit which can be clearly seen on the torso portion. The armored layer is then worn over the suit.

Front Close-up View - Original Outfit

Rear View - Original Outfit

Four 'fins' form the tail cloth or armor on each side.

Rear Close-up View - Original Outfit

The armor on the arms are especially thick, as seen above.

Right Side View - Original Outfit

A ghostly face décor hangs on the right side of the waist. Is it good enough to relate to the outfit's name?

Left Side Close-up View - Original Outfit

Some glowing blue strings can be seen hanging on the left side of the torso.

Given the tight layer on the torso, it makes a good area to be recolored to skin and I have seen topless mod involving this outfit. The arms, however, are too thick to be recolored to skin layer, unless you want a pair of 'hulk' arms. 😆

The legs look eligible for skin layer but a crumbled area at the back of the knee spoils the smoothness. So unless, I can make a convincing set of knee cap protectors or such, I will not consider recoloring the legs to skin. 😥

Let's see what is the final result of the mod below.

Front View - Modified Outfit

Instead of turning the entire tight fitting layer on the torso to skin layer, I made it something similar to the Night Fortuna mod that I made.

Front Close-up View - Modified Outfit

I also recolored the inner thighs to skin layer.

Rear View - Modified Outfit

I kept the tail fins because without them, the outfit will look kind of top-heavy-bottom-light.

Rear Close-up View - Modified Outfit

The skin layer on the inner thighs extends to the rear and butt area.

Right Side View - Modified Outfit

The ghost face décor is left to 'smile' on the right side. 😅

Left Side Close-up View - Modified Outfit

One problem that I had on this mod is that the mesh structure for the butt area is kind of strange because it has a really deep (and I mean REALLY) and super narrow groove. It is not visible in-game because of the narrowness but it can cause problem by swallowing up the texture around it like a Black Hole (i.e. the textures drawn on this area get hidden in that deep groove and not visible in game). That is why there is some skin-cloth overlap at the butt area. 😧

Anyway, that is all for this mod. Watch the video for closer views and take a peek at the now obsolete dungeon.

Download Link:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1BHbpAXh0LctWubJEOPn1fz3RK4Qq_SvU

Blade & Soul - Dayglow (Yun Outfit) Mod

In today's post, we have yet another new outfit known as Dayglow. This outfit was made available during NA server's launching of  Warden's Fury. It is obtained by upgrading an event chest, called the Juggernaut's Jackpot to stage 10. The chest can only be purchased once per account from the online store, so you will have to pray that NCSoft put it back on the Hongmoon store if you want the outfit for all your characters. 😧

For eagle-eyed players, you may know that this outfit is a remodel of another outfit known as Ascension. Although the texture files of the two outfits sit in the same package, they actually use two different models. If we are to compare both outfits, it is clear that Ascension has a more classy look and Dayglow being the less complex one.

Take a look at the image below to compare the two sister outfits. Since the outfits look exactly same for all three races, I will only show the Yun's version here.

Dayglow                                                Ascension

In comparison to its more classy sister, Dayglow looks more like an outfit worn by presenters or promoters at game events, with a futuristic design decorated with neon stripes and lines. 😅

Well, see for yourself below.

Front View - Original Outfit

The outfit consists of mainly black color with pink colored stripes and lines.

The base design looks like sort of an apron worn over a bikini top and bottom, coupled with an arm band on the left upper arm and a pair of matching leg guards.

Front Close-up View - Original Outfit

It has an unique netting layer on the torso portion of the 'apron' that reveals a little of the skin layer below.

Rear View - Original Outfit

The 'apron' extends into a simple tail cloth at the back.

Rear Close-up View - Original Outfit

Side View - Original Outfit

We can see the straps of the unique bikini bottom, which is interconnected by a ring, on the sides.

Side Close-up View - Original Outfit

The outfit in itself is already beautiful and kind of sexy so what can be done for the mod?

Well, the first modification I did was to remove the netting layer on the torso to reveal the skin layer below. This is followed by removing the leg guards.

Next, I trimmed the front and rear tail cloth, and the area where the collar connects to the bra.

The end result looks like some lingerie similar to the Yun Wonderland mod that I have done before. 😅

Front View - Modified Outfit

The leg guards are now gone, revealing those leggy legs. 😍

Front Close-up View - Modified Outfit

With the netting layer and connection to the collar removed, the bra now links only to the lower part of the 'apron' via a strap.

The front cloth has also been trimmed into a heart shape.

Rear View - Modified Outfit

Rear Close-up View - Modified Outfit

I also trimmed a little of the sides and the tail cloth, which now has a heart shape.

Side View - Modified Outfit

Side Close-up View - Modified Outfit

I have also added netting layers on part of the front and tail cloth, so we can actually partially see the bikini bottom through the layer when the camera is close enough. It is not very clear in the images but this can be verified in the close-up shots in the video. 😅

That's all for this post. Stay tune for a Gon mod next.

Download Link:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1VIR3GcMlVsk7Dj8rw_dlTUQjTseL_EZs

Blade & Soul - Night Fortuna (Jin Outfit) Mod

In this week's post, we have a super new outfit right out of the oven, or rather out of the freshly concluded Halloween event - the Night Fortuna. This outfit may be new but the same model already existed as the Night Luna, which is a winner of a costume design contest. The Night Fortuna uses the same model but with different textures.

The Night Fortuna probably got its name from the gold colored lining and design on the outfit. But the reason that players can more easily identify with, is possibly the 'farming' style of this particular event, which requires players to 'farm' plenty of monsters for the required tokens. And this outfit alone costs a whopping 75 tokens, which is quite a challenge for those casual or lowly geared players, since the monsters that drop this token are quite powerful and hard to kill.

So as you can see, only those that farms all day and night can benefit most from this kind of event. Thus, would you not agree that the name Night Fortuna fits in nicely with this farming Halloween event? 😆

Due the amount of work required and that the tokens could be exchanged for much better rewards, I am not sure how many players actually pick up this outfit. Hopefully, I wouldn't be hated for making the outfit more "attractive" and causing regrets for not picking it up.  😅

Well, time to meet the original Night Fortuna.

Front View - Original Outfit

As seen in the image above, the Night Fortuna is mainly black-gold colored. Fitting for the name too (black for night and gold for fortune). 😃

Front Close-up View - Original Outfit

The design has a tight fitting full body suit as its base. A short coat is worn over the body suit and the bottom of the coat is extended by several pieces of tail cloth.

The outfit is further enhanced by two pieces of shoulder plate and a pair of matching boots.

Rear View - Original Outfit

We can see the tail cloth in the image above, but they gives the bottom part of the outfit a rather 'bulky' feel. 

Rear Close-up View - Original Outfit

The two pieces of tail cloth at the sides are held together by two crossed straps around the thigh level.

Side View - Original Outfit

Both arms are also fully covered in a latex layer with gold linings and designs.

Side Close-up View - Original Outfit

The outfit looks unique but the duo color scheme and "skinless" (i.e. no skin layer except at the neck) design might cause some players to loose interest in it. But as a modder, I see beyond the texture and always imagine what the outfit can become. So, I bought it. 😅 

Since the outfit has so many tight fitting areas, they are good candidates for recoloring into skin layer. And that is exactly what I did. 😆

Other than recoloring some tight fitting layers to skin, I also removed the piece of tail cloth at the middle and trimmed the original 'U' shape panties into a 'C shape.

Check below to see what the outfit looks like after the mod.

Front View - Modified Outfit

Most of the mod can be seen in the front view. Both legs are now in skin color and a hole has been 'opened' up at the chest portion.

Front Close-up View - Modified Outfit

Hmm... did I open the hole too wide? 😰 

But I can't help it because in order to keep the abdomen area as a skin layer, the cloth covering the breasts need to disappear to the sides. 😰

Rear View - Modified Outfit

The piece of tail cloth at the middle has been removed but I kept the two crossed straps, that held the two pieces of side cloth.

Rear Close-up View - Modified Outfit

We can't see the panties before the cloth is removed but I can guarantee that it has been trimmed. 😆

Side View - Modified Outfit

Ah... now we can see the left arm more clearly.

Side Close-up View - Modified Outfit

I have recolored the upper arm and hand to skin layer, leaving the center portion as it is, so it looks like a kind of bracer. The reason is also because there is a rugged edge somewhere around the elbow and it might look weird if it is recolored to skin.

With this, I will wrap up this post. Don't forget to watch the video for better and closer views.

Download Link:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1FpRniz0OLe5mJ5-tkLpmp_674DGv2qzI

Blade & Soul - Jiangshi Raiment (Gon Outfit) Mod

Closing up the Jiangshi Raiment request from almost two months ago 😰, I will proceed with the Gon version in this week's post. This long delay is due to the rotation among races and avoiding to do similar mods in consecutive posts. But we are finally here, so let us get into the mod right away.

As seen in the Jin and Yun Jiangshi Raiment post, the difference in the versions is mainly on the chest portion. But for the Gon's version, another eminent difference is on the right leg. While both Jin's and Yun's versions have both legs covered under a latex layer, the Gon's version leaves the right leg naked, with a high heel shoe. You can compare the three versions below.

Yun                                    Jin                                   Gon

Let us take a closer look at the Gon's original outfit below.

Front View - Original Outfit

In the image above, the difference in the two legs can be clearly seen.

Front Close-up View - Original Outfit

Although the right leg is seen to be skin layer, it is evidently slightly darkened.

Rear View - Original Outfit

The same scaly arm and tail cloth texture is seen above.

Rear Close-up View - Original Outfit

The same furry collar and red spine are also present.

Right Side View - Original Outfit

We can see the scaly tail cloth on the right side.

Left Side View - Original Outfit

While the left side shows a piece of torn cloth in red color.

I mainly applied the same idea used in the Jin and Yun mods, in this one. The main idea is to modify the latex or scaly regions on the torso, arms and leg to skin layer.

Although the idea is the same, the application is not; partly due to the differences in mesh structures and how they are connected to form the model. That is especially true for this Jiangshi Raiment outfit, where the areas of the model, below the chest level, are non-symmetrical. 😰

Let's take a look at the mod version below.

Front View - Modified Outfit

In the first part of the mod, the arms, left leg and torso areas, that are originally latex, are now skin layers.

Front Close-up View - Modified Outfit

The black strap on the right waist is used to hide a discontinuity between two layers.

Rear View - Modified Outfit

The second part of the mod involves trimming the tail cloth and modifying it to mainly red cloth.

Rear Close-up View - Modified Outfit

Not forgetting to remove the furry collar.

Side View - Modified Outfit

Eagle-eyes viewer will notice that the shoes seems different from those in the Jin and Yun mods. That is because the Gon version already has this shoe on the right leg, so I might as well duplicate it on the left leg. 😅

Side Close-up View - Modified Outfit

It is difficult to reveal the panties or butt area for the Jiangshi Raiment because of the non-symmetrical issue that makes color balancing and skin-cloth relation extremely tricky. That is why all three mods have their butt area  tightly covered. 😥

This wraps up the Jiangshi Raiment for all three races. Catch the video below for a better view.

Download Link