To get us more acquainted with the changes that have occurred in Lineage II's Chronicle 5: Oath of Blood, we recently caught up with Adam Davidson, the North American Producer along with a full company of troops from E&G Studios who took us through the Frozen Labyrinth. Of course, this is the world of Lineage II, where danger stood around every corner, so there would be no tour buses. We would have to fight our way through this one! To help us through, we were lent some top gear and characters high enough to survive the journey. We took a few minutes to get acquainted with our abilities and then we set forth. Our raiding party had about 30 minutes to tear through any obstacles that stood in our way, knowing that there would be a greater threat to deal with at the end.

It wasn't long before we hit our first encounter. A stampeding herd of white buffalo-like creatures came running straight for us and swarmed the fighters, illustrating the creature pack mentality that we would quickly become very familiar with. Our lead took the brunt of the damage while the rest of us assisted. It took a good while, but eventually the herd went down. While traversing the icy maze, we would encounter creatures that ranged from flying demons to a pack of giant polar bears, all of which were amazingly tough! Eventually, we found ourselves facing our first raid boss, a giant demonic creature which took all our combined strength to finish off.

As we got closer to our destination, the snowy winds started to pick up. We eventually found ourselves at a frozen lake where we found the Ice Queen surrounded by two of her royal guards and beholders. The beholders would act as healers, so it was clear that we had to work to destroy them first. After quickly dispatching with them, we focused our attention on the queen while some worked to eliminate the guards. It was a long, hard battle, but we were eventually able to overcome the queen's power and shattered her.

After our hard fought victory, we were teleported to a number of different locations unique to Chronicle 5, including the orc Crypts of Disgrace where spirits roamed miles of forgotten ruins. We also had a chance to check out the Archaic Laboratory where we fought off giant mechanical automatons and golems on the way to the glowing core of the gigantic structure. After that, we made a quick stop at the Den of Evil, an area that lives up to its name with demons and succubae flying around. We finished our adventure at the Rainbow Springs Chateau, one of the three new contestable clan halls. What makes this area unique is that it can be won without combat. Instead, a leader enters his clan into a series of mini-games. If the clan wins, they control the clan hall for two weeks, free to decorate it as they see fit. While on the subject of clans, we spoke briefly about some of the other new features, including the training Academy that helps new players ease into the game while simultaneously increasing clan levels.

We experienced a taste of what Chronicle 5 had to offer, with content for just about every level of play, including a raised level cap. Our journey was finished, but it was clear that the adventure for Lineage II players were just beginning!

Special thanks to those who helped set up the tour:
Adam Davidson, North American Producer
Tim Tan, North American Associate Producer
Kelly Knox, Community Coordinator
Aaron Jayjack, Quality Assurance
Janna Bureson, NCsoft PR Manager