Blade & Soul - Fair Weather (Gon Outfit) Mod

In my passionate pursuit to complete the Jin Courtesan mod, which we saw last week, I had skipped over a Gon mod. As such, I will make up for it by working on the Gon Fair Weather outfit mod this week round. For players from the NA server, you will probably know that this outfit is also one of the fifteen that can be obtained randomly from the Legendary outfit chest. But the event will probably have ended at the time of this post.

"Fair Weather" is an old outfit and it has two sisters by the name of "Merry Weather" and "Best Friend". I am quite perplex at the strange names for these outfits, since normally the naming of outfits is often related to some in-game matters, such as something in the storyline or dungeons or monster names. Although outfit names like "Soul Mate", "Summer Waves" and the likes can be directly derived from the look of the outfits themselves, but "Fair Weather"?

If we look at the outfit itself, we can hardly tell anything relating it to the weather... Even the name of "Fair" for a dark blue outfit is quite hard to swallow, since a fair weather should normally mean a light blue sky.

Thus, I belief that the "Weather" part does not really points to the meteorology kind but something else. Indeed. If we are to take a closer look at the outfit, we can ascertain that it resembles something that a champion of rings/arena would wear. After all, the champion belt at the waist is a dead giveaway isn't it?

Coincidentally, there is a famous MMA fighter by the name of Floyd Mayweather. I am not exactly a big fan of MMA but his name and the way he proclaims that he fights because of the money made quite an impression on me. His critics saying that he only fight in matches that he knows he can win add to that impression. But impression is just that, impression. Be it positive or negative.

So could the outfit names be hinting towards this famous MMA fighter? "Fair Weather"? "Merry Weather"? And how about "Best Friend"? Anyone got any suggestion? 😅

[Updated] A patron gives another better explanation, for the naming of the outfits, in the comment section below. They explained that Best Friend is the first of the sisters to be available, Fair Weather and Merry Weather are the other two types of friends, as opposed to Best Friend. 😅

But I will leave it at that. Non-player can take a look at the original outfit below and contemplate for yourself.

Front View - Original Outfit

Does the full front view makes you think of a robe worn by arena fighters?

Front Close-up View - Original Outfit

Ah! the Champion belt at the waist is a dead giveaway?

Rear View - Original Outfit

The piece of cloth that is normally used to close up the front of the rope, by tying it into a knot at the abdomen, can be seen dangling at the back.

Rear Close-up View - Original Outfit

The back of the coat is embroiled with golden threads and a symbol.

Side View - Original Outfit

Side Close-up View - Original Outfit

Does the top of the coat being pulled back gives a sense of arrogance, confident and style?

Overall, the robe has a more elaborate look than that of a fighter and the pull back of the coat clearly shows off a personal style.

In the mod, I have removed the pair of stockings and trimmed the skirt as usual. Next, I also trimmed the coat and a little of the collar. Finally, I modified the bra from a dark blue color to translucent layer.

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

Front View - Modified Outfit

The pair of leggings has been removed as shown above.

Front Close-up View - Modified Outfit

And from the second image, we can verify that the skirt has been trimmed vertically (i.e. shorter), while the collar that connects downwards has been trimmed horizontally, revealing more of the side.

Initially, I had wanted to remove the bra but there is a huge hole below so I scrapped the idea and modified it to a translucent layer instead. 😥

Rear View - Modified Outfit

Hmm... Maybe I should have removed those two pieces of cloth that drapes down from the sleeves because they block out everything... 😕

Rear Close-up View - Modified Outfit

Side View - Modified Outfit

Not forgetting the trimmed coat.

Side Close-up View - Modified Outfit

So what do you guys think of the mod?

Actually, I have also trimmed the panties down to a G-string but of course we can't see it in the images above. And I can't verify what it looks like either because I don't have the outfit. 😥

After spending the limited number of Hongmoon coins that I have, I still did not get the outfit on my Gon. So I can only show the mod using the in-game Tailor shop in the video. 😥

Download Link

Blade & Soul - Courtesan (Jin Outfit) Mod

After clearing out the list of requests, I finally got time to work on an outfit that I have been thinking about for a long time. The Courtesan outfit is considered one of the oldest outfit in game, making its first appearance on Namsoyoo when she was lured by Jinsoyun to the capital of the Talus Dominion. Being promised to be made the Empress, she was nothing but a vase ready to be shattered as a sacrificial lamb for the Heavens Mandate. As such, the outfit is not given a glorious Empress-related name but Courtesan, which I think is quite befitting.

The outfit was first made available to players during a sale or event (I am not 100% sure) in year 2018; and it is, as of the time of this post, available through the Legendary Outfit Chest sold in Hongmoon store. These outfit chests, as described in an earlier post, gives a random outfit out of a list of fifteen; and Courtesan is one of them. However, this outfit is special because it is bind-on-equip, and such it can be sold on the in-game marketplace or traded between players. Since I got my hands on it, I figure that I should mod it right away. 😆

Although what I mentioned above seem to imply that the outfit is not befitting of an Empress, the Courtesan is in fact a beautiful and classy outfit. We can verify this in the images of the original outfit below.

Front View - Original Outfit

The main part of the outfit is a bronze colored metallic frame that covers the chest area and wraps around to the crotch and back.

A piece of silky orange cloth seems to make up a half-side dress that covers the right side of the torso and the right leg.

It also sports a pair of translucent stockings and a laced shirt that only covers the shoulder and both arms.

Front Close-up View - Original Outfit

The outfit is further adorned by a red rose on the right side of the waist, a pair of metallic bracer that wraps around the wrists on both hands and other trinkets.

Rear View - Original Outfit

A strip of orange translucent cloth drapes from the trinket at the top-center of the back and flows down to the ankles.

Rear Close-up View - Original Outfit

The extension of metallic frame from the chest also forms the panty. A metallic panty... 😲

Right Side View - Original Outfit

Right Side Close-up View - Original Outfit

Left Side View - Original Outfit

Left Side Close-up View - Original Outfit

Do you agree that the outfit is beautiful and classy? 😅

For the mod, I wanted to simplify the outfit, so I removed the pair of translucent stockings and laced shirt. However, the orange half-dress does not look that nice without the pair of stockings so I tried to remove it as well. Unfortunately, there is a hole at the abdomen area so I can only trim the half dress, instead of total removal.

Upon removal of the stockings, the metallic panty on the left thigh looks a bit strange with its horizontal protrusion. So, I trimmed the horizontal extension of the panty and also kept part of the stockings to act as continuation.

Now, let us look at what the outfit has become.

Front View - Modified Outfit

As seen, the pair of stockings and the laced shirt has been removed.

Front Close-up View - Modified Outfit

The half-dress was also trimmed. The front was seen to have been trimmed too much because the area below that actually slides inward towards the crotch area, instead of flowing straight down. So I had to cut it to that length. 😓

Rear View - Modified Outfit

Rear Close-up View - Modified Outfit

We can see part of the retained stockings that I use to smooth out the horizontal protrusion from the metallic panty.

Left Side View - Modified Outfit

The left side view looks empty without the orange cloth.

Left Side Close-up View - Modified Outfit

Right Side Close-up View - Modified Outfit

Overall, I am not fully satisfied with the mod because in exchange for a sexy feel, the classiness is lost. Well... can't have the cake and eat it... 😰 

With this, I will wrap up the Jin Courtesan mod here. Check out the video for closer views.

Download Link

Blade & Soul - Dazzle (Yun Outfit) Mod

The first time I worked on the Dazzle outfit  was somewhere in November 2017 and it was only for the Jin race. Then, around September 2018, a patron asked for the Gon's version and four months later, another patron finally asked for the Yun's version; which brings us to the Yun Dazzle for this week's mod. Coincidentally, this outfit is currently available through an outfit chest event, where players can buy the outfit chests from the online Hongmoon store. However, the chest will only give a random outfit from a list of fifteen outfits, and which one the player gets depends on their luck. 😮

The list of outfits ranges from new outfit such as the Ninja Tortoise (inspired by Ninja Turtles?) to older ones like Dazzle. So, I am guessing that many players' pockets are bleeding in order to get their desired outfits. Hopefully you guys can get what you want without blowing your pockets. 😅

In the Gon Dazzle post, I have mentioned that the outfit is exactly same for all three races, except for the cleavage portion. The cleavage portion for the Jin's version has an actual inward curvature so I can paint almost the entire region to skin. Unfortunately, this cannot be applied to the Gon's version where the inward curve is not deep enough. As such, I retained the mid portion as cloth while modifying the sides to a translucent layer.

Looking at the Yun's version, the cleavage portion seems similar to the case of the Gon's. As such, I will apply the Gon's design on the Yun's, instead of using the Jin's mod design. Luckily, this is also what the patron has requested.

Before we get into the mod, let us take a look at the original Yun Dazzle below.

Front View - Original Outfit

Front Close-up View - Original Outfit

The same thin chain layer can be seen over the white tight-fitting layer.

Rear View - Original Outfit

The same shield that blocks my view. 😅

Rear Close-up View - Original Outfit

Side View - Original Outfit

And the two similar dragon face at each side of the thighs.

Side Close-up View - Original Outfit

As mentioned before, I applied the same design of the Gon mod on the Yun. So, let us see how the same mod looks on the Yun's outfit.

Front View - Modified Outfit

As seen above, the chain layer has been removed and the white colored layer has been repainted to skin.

Front Close-up View - Modified Outfit

The sides on the front torso has been modified to a translucent layer, though it might not be very obvious here.

Rear View - Modified Outfit

A hole was made in the shield. 😅

Rear Close-up View - Modified Outfit

Side View - Modified Outfit

Side Close-up View - Modified Outfit

Overall, the mod looks very similar to the Gon's version but most of the things are actually redrawn because the mesh layout between the two races are somewhat misaligned.

With this, I can finally wrapped up the Dazzle. 

Since, I do not have this outfit on my Yun and I don't really want to send them over from my Jin or Gon, using outfit tickets, I can only show the mod through the in-game Tailorshop. Hope it is enough for your comparison.

Download Link 

Blade & Soul - Cutting Edge (Jin Outfit) Mod

The past three days marks a very hectic beginning of a week, and not only that, but it is also marks the entrance into a new year for all Chinese, because it is the Lunar New Year. For the past two and a half days, the streets seem so much quieter compared to the normal bustling view of the city. That is probably because it is that once in a year holiday for people, of Chinese descendent, to get together as a family; much like what the Christmas holidays, at the end of each year, meant for people from Western culture.

I remember writing some stuff, in the Yun Balrok Raiment post, about the five elements and twelve pillars, and how ancient Chinese civilization uses them to characterize each year. The past year of the Lunar calendar is characterized as the Earth Dog, which is related to earth related disaster. Just before entering the new year, two major quakes rocked Britain and Mexico in the beginning of 2018. And throughout 2018, the Earth had actually experience 14,500+ earthquakes (which is not exactly alarming); with a sinking volcano, in Indonesia, that triggers a tsunami wave which swept away countless lives in the silence of the night without warning. 😢

Hopefully, those who lost their love ones, in 2018, can overcome their sadness and carry on strongly, and may the deceased rest in peace. 😢

But on the other hand, it makes me wonder: should a disaster, like that of the sinking volcano, be counted as an earth disaster or water disaster? That is too much for my tiny brain so I guess I will just leave that out and get back to our discussion on the outfit today, which is the Jin Cutting Edge.

The reason why I mentioned the disasters above is probably because I cannot shake the feeling that there is a link between the Cutting Edge and a post apocalypse world - a world that Battle Angel Alita lives in. If you have seen the Cutting Edge outfit and knows about the upcoming movie, you can probably understand the connection.

The Cutting Edge outfit is a full metallic armored outfit, in which only the head is human flesh.That is very much like Alita's and some other cyborg's body, in the movie. But what intrigues me more is why the outfit is called "Cutting Edge" when there is nothing that is razor sharp on the outfit? Maybe because it looks like an armor made with cutting edge technology? The reason I find more satisfying is that it relates to the primary weapon (a blade) that Alita wields. Not mentioning the timing for the release of the outfit which coincides with the release date of the movie? I find that there is too much of a coincidence. 😅

You can check the side notes at the end of this post for more information about the manga if you are interested.

All NA players will probably know what the outfit looks like since it is an anniversary event outfit given free per account or can be exchanged with NPC Poharan at Jadestone village, using anniversary event tokens. But if you have not seen it before, check below for the original version.

Front View - Original Outfit

A full metallic armor at first glance.

Front Close-up View - Original Outfit

A more flexible and tight-fitting layer can be found on the arms, thighs and lower legs.

Rear View - Original Outfit

Rear Close-up View - Original Outfit

Side View - Original Outfit

Side Close-up View - Original Outfit

By the way, if you do not know what Alita looks like, take a look at the poster from Foxmovies.com below.

Battle Angel Alita Movie Poster from Foxmovies.com

In the poster above, Alita can be seen wearing an outer latex layer over her full cybernetic body. She also has another more awesome looking body known as "Berserker". If you are wondering is there any similarity between the cybernetic bodies in the movie and the Cutting Edge, well... we can probably get to see her full naked body in the movie... Err... that sounds wrong but I guess you guys know what I mean. 😅

As the images containing the original outfit has shown, there are some parts that are tightly wrapped around skin layer on the full metallic body. As such, I wanted to see if I can modify those areas to skin layer. 

Front Close-up View - Modified Outfit

In the overall front view, we can see almost the entire mod, which are the skin layers.

Front Close-up View - Modified Outfit

I also modified the tummy area to skin layer because it is actually a flat and smooth area without protrusion or uneven surface.

Rear View - Modified Outfit

Part of the butt area, joining the thighs, has also been modified to skin layer.

Rear Close-up View - Modified Outfit

Unfortunately, I can't mess around with the 'panty' part of the outfit because it is a separate layer which is considerably protruding above the skin layer at the butt cheek.

Side View - Modified Outfit

Side Close-up View - Modified Outfit

Not much changes can be seen from the side view because the outfit is heavily armored on the sides. 😅

Overall, this mod is quite a difficult one for me because the edges are mostly aligned differently from other outfits. As such, I need to paint the skin layers from scratch and I guess you can see that the coloring is not that nice at certain areas.

Another issue is that the texture of this Jin outfit is shared to all the other races, including Lyn. So you can imagine my surprise when I log in and find the Gon, Yun and Lyn's Cutting Edge all messed up. 😖  Thus, if you choose to use this mod, you would have to endure the messed up outfits of Gon, Yun and Lyn. 😰

This is the first time I have seen the same textures being used for all four races and I am not sure whether the same mod can be made for Yun and Gon, seeing how the color does not correct itself for the different races. 😟 

Anyway, you can check the video below to take a better look at the mod outfit.

Side Notes:

Battle Angel Alita is an adaption of the Japanese manga "Gunnm" created by Yukito Kishiro in 1990. The story surrounds the protagonist Alita (originally named "Gally") in a post apocalyptic world almost destroyed by science gone wrong. The world is eventually split into a floating Utopia - Tiphares and earth dwellings.

The story begins with an exile scientist from Tiphares, named Ido, who accidentally stumbled on the remains (head and shoulder portion) of Alita. With his extensive knowledge and experience from the technologically advanced Tiphares, Ido rebuilt Alita and named her after his deceased cat, since she has lost all her memories.

In time, Alita recalls her formidable fighting ability - the long lost martial arts of Panzer Kunst (or Lost Martial Arts of Mars), which allows cyborgs to execute martial arts-like skill. She eventually joins Ido as a hunter to put down cybernetic criminals and starts her memory recovery through the execution of her skills.

Through her adventures, she came in contact with the remnants (the Berserker body) of a great war which she might have taken part in. The "Berserker" is something like a living metal organism much like the Transformers, but without a brain. It can alter and adapt itself through the will of the person who commands/wears it. But it is also a dangerous artefact that has been sealed for the sake of mankind.

Much like Ghost In The Shell, the manga explores the meaning of being human and the soul, in a world where every parts of the physical body can be cybernetically modified. Taking philosophical ideas even further as shown later in the manga, Alita met a crazily ambitious nanotechnological doctor who wishes to use his knowledge to explore the possibility of conquering "karma" - a Hindu/Buddihism concept. Simply put, karma has the loose meaning of "We will reap what we sow" or "Whatever we do will come back to haunt us".  

Download Link (without netting)
Download Link (with netting)