EA Major Update: Ch. 5, Syl & Imperial Dungeon

The Bell Echoes has released a new major Early Access update.

This update officially opens the Chapter 5 main story 【Darkest Dawn】, welcomes the new character 【Syl】 to the party, and unlocks the brand-new Corrupted Zone 【Imperial Capital Dungeon】.

This update also introduces new Memory Fragments, basic Tier 4 Gems, S-Rank Attribute Resonance, new Monastery facility levels, and new items. In addition, several major systems have been adjusted, including the damage formula, Underworld Brands, Scars, difficulty unlocking, and battle camera settings.

Chapter 5 Main Story 【Darkest Dawn】

The party infiltrates the Imperial Capital in an attempt to rescue Yah’s father, Cain.

However, what awaits them in the depths of the Empire is far more than a simple rescue mission.

What dangers are hidden within the Imperial Capital? What secrets does Cain carry? How will the party confront the increasingly chaotic conflict between the Empire and the Underworld?

The Chapter 5 main story 【Darkest Dawn】 is now available.

New Chapter 5 Memory Fragments

The following Memory Fragment stories have been added:

• 【Like Water】

• 【The Four Champions of the Empire】

Through these new Memory Fragments, players can learn more about the characters’ pasts, the history of the Empire, and the secrets hidden behind the main story.

New Character 【Syl】

The brand-new character 【Syl】 has joined the party.

Syl is a support character built around Elemental Reactions, status interactions, and battlefield control.

Her skills create new elemental combinations for the party. Depending on her build, she can strengthen allies, manipulate the battlefield, or amplify the team’s elemental benefits during combat.

Syl also brings new build possibilities to the existing character roster and elemental teams.

New Corrupted Zone 【Imperial Capital Dungeon】

The brand-new Corrupted Zone 【Imperial Capital Dungeon】 is now available.

Deep within the Empire, players will face new enemy units, combat mechanics, and stage challenges.

The Imperial Capital Dungeon continues the combat design of The Bell Echoes, built around movement, collision, Objects, terrain, and enemy passives, while introducing more dangerous and complex battlefield environments.

New Gem Crafting Blueprints

The following Gem Crafting Blueprints have been added:

• 【Diverging Path Prism】

• 【Inner Voice Prism】

After obtaining the corresponding Blueprints, new Composite Gems can be crafted at the Monastery facility 【Gem Workshop】.

New Basic Tier 4 Gems

Eight basic Tier 4 Gems have been added.

Tier 4 Gems provide greater bonuses to their corresponding attributes and offer new progression goals for high-difficulty Corrupted Zones and late-game character builds.

S-Rank Attribute Resonance Added

Character Attribute Resonance can now reach S Rank.

Upon reaching S-Rank Attribute Resonance:

Equipment and level-up bonuses to the corresponding attribute +100%

This system further increases the value of focused builds centered around a character’s core attributes.

New Monastery Facility Levels

The following Monastery facility levels have been added:

• 【Research Bench LV6】

• 【Guild Goods LV4】

• 【Blacksmith LV5】

These new facility levels introduce additional meta-progression, Corrupted Zone support, and equipment-related content.

【Gem Workshop】 Unlock Requirements Reduced

The unlock requirements for certain levels of the Monastery facility 【Gem Workshop】 have been reduced.

Players can now access Gem Crafting, Gem Synthesis, and related progression features earlier, creating a smoother Gem System experience during the early and middle stages of the game.

New Items

The following items have been added:

• 【Insight Potion】

• 【Annihilation Dust】

• 【Black Needle】

These items provide new options related to Skill Insight, combat resources, and special mechanics during Corrupted Zone exploration.

Damage Formula Adjustment

The damage calculation order for Strength-based and Magic-based skills has been adjusted.

Before:

(Attack Attribute − Defense Attribute) × Skill Power

After:

Attack Attribute × Skill Power − Defense Attribute

The new calculation order allows high-Power skills to break through enemy Defense or Will more effectively. This reduces cases where characters deal excessively low damage during the middle and later stages of a Corrupted Zone because their level, equipment, or progression has fallen behind.

Alongside the damage formula adjustment:

• Standard “Power +50%” Skill Insights have been adjusted to “Power +30%”

• Certain special skills have received targeted balance adjustments based on their actual performance

This adjustment is intended to reduce excessive damage gaps caused by differences in character progression, while preserving the breakthrough potential and build value of high-Power skills.

Difficulty Unlock Rule Adjustment

Clearing any map on a certain difficulty will now unlock that difficulty for every map.

For example:

After clearing Hard difficulty on any map, Hard difficulty will also be unlocked for all other maps.

Players no longer need to repeatedly unlock the same difficulty on every map and can more freely choose which Corrupted Zone to challenge.

New Battle Camera Modes

New battle camera settings have been added.

The following two modes are available:

【Follow】 Mode

After clicking a unit or tile, the camera automatically moves to and follows the selected position.

【Fixed】 Mode

The camera never follows automatically and remains at the viewpoint manually adjusted by the player.

Players can select the battle camera mode that best suits their preferred control style.

Character Dialogue Added to the Monastery

A new character interaction feature has been added to the Monastery.

When approaching another character, the following options will now appear:

• 【Talk】

• 【Exchange】

Players can speak with characters in the Monastery or use the Exchange feature to manage related content.

This feature also establishes a foundation for future character interactions and further Monastery content.

【Underworld Brand】 Acquisition Adjustment

The method of acquiring 【Underworld Brands】 has been adjusted.

Before:

After the first battle, every character received an 【Underworld Brand】.

After:

A character receives an 【Underworld Brand】 when they level up for the first time during a Corrupted Zone run.

The following random difficulty modifier has also been added to Expert difficulty:

【Underworld Seal】

Effect:

Whenever a character levels up, they have a chance to receive 1 【Underworld Brand】.

Each character can have up to 2 【Underworld Brands】.

This adjustment connects 【Underworld Brands】 more directly to in-run character progression, while adding new risks and build variations to higher-difficulty runs.

【Scar】 Acquisition Adjustment

The method of acquiring 【Scars】 has been adjusted.

Before:

A character received a 【Scar】 after reaching maximum Underworld Corruption and entering 【Despondent】 during battle.

After:

A character receives 1 【Scar】 after being defeated in battle.

【Scar】 effect:

Character Max HP -20%

Each character can have up to 3 【Scars】.

Entering 【Despondent】 will no longer directly grant a 【Scar】.

This adjustment more clearly establishes 【Scars】 as a lasting consequence of being defeated in battle, rather than tying them directly to reaching maximum Underworld Corruption.

Yah Ultimate Skill Adjustment

The gravitational effect of the 【Chaos Black Hole】 placed by Yah’s Ultimate Skill 【Chaos · Primordial Singularity】 has been adjusted.

Before:

Upon placement, pulls up to 4 enemies within the area to positions adjacent to the Black Hole, causing them to collide with it.

After:

Upon placement, applies a gravitational effect to all enemies within the area, forcibly moving them toward the Black Hole.

If an enemy collides with a unit or Object during this movement, a Special Attack is triggered.

The new gravity logic moves enemies according to their position relative to the Black Hole. This allows 【Chaos Black Hole】 to interact more naturally with terrain, units, Objects, and collision mechanics.

Yah’s existing skill set is already centered around Crystals, Black Holes, and collision, and this adjustment further strengthens that core playstyle.

Character Detail Artwork Updated

Due to current development costs and production limitations, all character artwork displayed on character detail pages has been replaced with AI-generated versions.

We will continue to optimize and adjust the related artwork based on the actual development situation.

Thank you for your continued support and feedback for The Bell Echoes.

The release of Chapter 5 marks a new stage for the main story, character roster, Corrupted Zone content, and meta-progression systems.

We will continue to adjust balance, fix issues, and improve future chapters and system content based on your gameplay experience.

Enter Chapter 5, head toward the Imperial Capital, and face the 【Darkest Dawn】.

— The Bell Echoes Development Team