Tera Online News

This week has seen many lancer questions asked by press and fansites and now it's the community's turn! The Pegasus Express invites you to ask about TERA's shield-wielding, lance-brandishing class in this thread. The En Masse Entertainment team will collect them and answer a set of three.

Be sure to catch up on the latest lancer information here:
- In-Depth Look at TERA's Lancer Class on ZAM
- ZAM Interviews David Noonan about the Lancer Class
- Lancer Class Lore and Facts on Popori.ru
- Website Updates: Lancer and Amani Pages
- Race and Class Series: Amani, Lancer, and Achievements
- Lancer and Aman "Brothers" Lore Published on Massively

The answers will be posted to this thread next Thursday.
-- Scapes

Jahangir came out of his reverie, turned around, and looked down. A castanic slayer arched an eyebrow as she looked up and tapped her foot. Jahangir blanched, then clapped his fist over his chest to salute. "Well met! It's an honor to serve with the Vanguards. I'm grateful for the chance to prove myself. My name is-"


The castanic held up a closed hand, the signal for silence, as she shook her head. "Save it, Tiny. I don't care about your name. Not yet. You're not here to serve as a poet, herald, or bureaucrat, so save the fancy words. You're proud, I get it. You're amani. Comes with the territory." She looked Jahangir up and down. "Equipment check. Boots, sword, armor."


Jahangir nodded. The training leathers reeked of old sweat and showed deep cuts and bloodstains. The greatsword, on the other hand, looked new. No notches in the blade's edge, no pits from rust, and the grip was freshly wrapped.




The castanic consulted a scroll, then dropped it with a snort. "Let's keep this simple. You got your boots on, you can walk into battle. I'm Isaura. Do what I say, when I say, how I say. A pint of sweat saves a gallon of blood, so let's get going." Isaura turned and walked toward the practice field without another word. Jahangir hefted his greatsword and hurried after her.


"This is the Vanguards, Tiny. We're not infantry. We're reconnaissance and intelligence. The eyes and ears of the Valkyon Federation," Isaura explained over her shoulder. "It takes all kinds to make an army, but slayers make good scouts. We travel light, we hit hard, we're fast on our feet."


Jahangir couldn't argue with that. Isaura only came up to Jahangir's chest, but he practically had to double-time it to keep up with his mentor.


"Despite the greatsword, we're not mindless reapers who cut down foes without thinking. Any fool can swing a slab of metal. It takes skill to use your weapon to its greatest effect." As she spoke, Isaura casually unslung her own blade, then leaped into the air, coming down in a strike that would have knocked more than a few foes off their feet. "You have to choose your moment, when to follow up-" Isaura pivoted on one foot and swung the blade in a whirling strike, "-and when to focus your power!" The final strike would have eviscerated anything in its way.


Isaura's economical, focused movements led from one into the next. Jahangir tried to follow her lead, but his own attacks lacked Isaura's grace. He felt foolish and clumsy.


"In the Vanguards, we work with warriors. Lancers and berserkers have a hard time keeping up with us in the field, so you'll learn to follow warriors through their little dance, and do them one better. They grab something's attention, we tear it up from behind. Just like our twin-bladed cousins, we have to dodge out of trouble, rather than depend on a layer of metal between us and our enemies. The only thing leather armor does is keep our corpses in one piece for the recovery detail. I mean, think about it. It's not like it kept the original owner alive."


Jahangir chuckled. He liked this feisty veteran.


"So why are you here?" Isaura stared up at him.


"I am here to serve the needs of the-"


"I'm not some scribe from the Velika Guardian or the Castanica Chronicle. Speak plainly. I'm a soldier, just like you. I'm a slayer, just like you. Do you know how many old slayers there are?"


Jahangir's eyes darted around as he looked for a clue.


"Don't bother. It's damned few." Isaura spun the amani around. "Look over there, Tiny." Warriors and archers jogged around the compound, mystics, priests, and sorcerers miserably stumbling behind. "This is a recon outfit. The Vanguards are the first to fight, the tip of the spear. Slayers, however, are more than scouts-we're heavy hitters. When things go bad, we stand to. When it's time to retreat, we're the last to go. We fight, and die, that others may live." Isaura's voice dropped. "If you're here for the wrong reasons, you'll get someone else killed. Nobody cares if you die-you're still a keener with a spanking new blade. But if the mystic or priest buys the farm because you're playing hero, we're just pieces of meat waiting to fall. Now, why are you here?"


Jahangir stood quietly , eyes closed tightly as he gathered his thoughts. Isaura waited, which surprised him. "I'm here because the sky isn't meant to be black-green. I'm here because children shouldn't grow up in fear. I'm here because I've seen the wastelands along the argon front. The lives and dreams of so many are simply gone." Jahangir's eyes opened and narrowed as he bared his fangs. "Not again, not if I can help it," he snarled.


Isaura stared at him for a moment, then barked out a laugh. "Not bad, Tiny. You'll do." She grinned, then snarled, "Attack! Attack!"


Jahangir leaped forward, copying Isaura's movements, marveling at her speed. Her attacks seemed to chain together, fast and graceful and deadly. His own blade felt unbalanced, his swings too wide, his dodges too slow. Still, he ran through the forms again and again, while Isaura snarled out critiques. His blade was too high, his stance too narrow, his blade was too low-the list of faults seemed endless.


"That'll do. Drink this." Jahangir caught the flying waterskin and drained it.


"You're not bad, Tiny. Better than most keeners we see. You learn quickly. I like that. Remember, mind and body are one. If your will is powerful, your body can do amazing things. If your body is weak, your mind will be weak. You'll weary sooner. You'll lose that burning spark all slayers must nurture. You want to protect people? Great. That's your spark. Never let it go out, and let it fuel you when the odds are against you. Harness that power, Tiny. Savor it." Isaura quickly drained her own waterskin, then cast it aside. "All right, that's enough dawdling. Let's go again, and I want to hear that blade whistling through the air!"


"Wait, please!" Jahangir cocked his head, studied Isaura carefully. "Why are you a slayer?"


Isaura stared at her weapon for a long moment, her face a stony mask. She idly ran her finger along the greatsword's edge. "Because I used to have a daughter."

This week, the screenshots presented are somewhat special, since it’s a selection from TERA’s loading screens. As you can see from this series of images, co-operation is a must between the different races: some will find mutual understanding in learning, others by sharing a meal, or working together on the same mission.

Annually there is a Festival of the Popori Goddess Selen . The Popori surround the lake which reflects the moon as they dance and sing.

En Masse Entertainment, the company behind the pioneering action MMORPG TERA, has treated fans to a series of early unveils of game demos and information these past months. Now, in preparation for the game’s highly anticipated 2011 launch, En Masse provides more insight on TERA's rich and complex story and unveils the first installment in a new series of race and class features, each of which will spotlight one of the game’s six mythical races and eight unique classes.



Over a millennia ago, two titans of unimaginable power, Arun and Shara, met in a formless void and created the world of TERA. For reasons we can only guess, they fell asleep. And as they slept, the world took shape around them.

One need only look at a present-day map of the world to see Arun and Shara—their sleeping bodies became the two continents that bear their names. Centuries passed, and deserts, mountains, rivers, and forests grew upon the sleeping forms of Arun and Shara. Yet still they slept.

Even for an omnipotent titan, every sleep is a chance to dream. As Arun and Shara slept, their dreams came to life—life in the literal sense. Arun’s and Shara’s dreams coalesced into the first living beings to call the world of TERA home. These first creatures, twelve in all, had godlike power. Yet it wasn’t long before schemes and rivalries emerged and the gods were at each other’s throats.

And still, Arun and Shara continued to dream. Their new dreams took shapes familiar to the gods. These new creatures—the mortals—were far more numerous, but far less powerful.

Arun dreamed of ambitious elves, clever humans, honor-bound amani, powerful giants, scheming devas, and mischievous poporis. Shara dreamed of sly sikandari, dark gulas and vampirs, fierce wendigos, strange faeries, and serpentine nagas.

In time, the twelve gods would go to war—first against each other directly, and then drawing the mortal races into their battles. These divine wars left most of the gods dead, imprisoned, or otherwise diminished.

The mortal races didn’t escape unscathed, either. Some—like the sikandari, and most of the giants—were wiped out. Others—like the barakas and the castanics—emerged from the conflict itself. And as TERA begins, the humans, high elves, amani, castanics, barakas, and poporis have banded together . . .

. . . and together they’ll fight a menace from menace from deep beneath the world's surface: the argons, a terrifying race of machine-like creatures bent on destruction. Unless stopped, the terraforming argons will destroy Arun and Shara, and then the dream will end for everyone.

Thirty years after its formation, the unity of the Valkyon Federation remains strong. But new events are unfolding, and the heroes of the federation are engaged in the long-running war with the argons, leaving no established forces to protect the people of the land from new dangers. To top it off, a mysterious new island has appeared between the two continents of Arun and Shara. What does it portend? It’s the player’s mission to investigate and find out!



Small in stature with reddish skin, sharp (although largely ornamental) horns, and long ears, castanics (cuh-STAN-iks) possess an indomitable will that belies their devilish appearance. They have more hair color variety than any other race, although their most common hair color is white. Independent and self-sufficient, castanics tend to rely upon their innate individual strengths. They are cunning, strong, and agile, and make great scouts and spies.

Since the fall of their god during the Divine War, castanics have suffered prejudice and oppression. Like the elves, they have a dark history, and the castanic inclination toward fierce independence and dark humor makes many uneasy around them. Still, castanics are an integral part of the federation, valued, if uneasy, allies.





Slayers use mighty greatswords to sweep their enemies from the field. They prefer the mobility of light leather armor, but their weapons are implements of overwhelming brute force rather than speed or precision. The weight of the greatsword slows their attacks, but when they connect, they deal great amounts of damage. Slayers’ ability to strike from behind make them useful for helping allies who are surrounded by enemies.



The slayer's strong Whirlwind attack has several times the power of the class's basic attack and cuts down enemies on all sides. In order for Whirlwind to do its full damage, the slayer must spend 1.5 seconds “casting” the attack uninterrupted. The cast time might seem like a downside, but the high damage more than makes up for it!

A useful attack to use on foes directly in front of the slayer, Trip Attack does high damage with an 8-second cooldown. Trip Attack has a “cast” time of 1.6 seconds, similar to Whirlwind, but if executed it has a great chance of knocking down the slayer's target.


Scheduled for release in 2011, TERA is under development by Bluehole Studios, and will be released by En Masse Entertainment in North America. More information about the mysterious world of TERA will be released leading up to the game’s launch, so stay tuned!

The results of the first Velika's Voice about in-game events were very decisive with 43% of votes going to game lore festivals while 26% preferred real-world holidays and 15.5% liked in-game contests best.