Welcome to the Poltercryst

It's a dark day in the Monastery. An ancient threat we had all believed to be well and truly dead has reared its ugly face once again. Back in 2021, Keepers first found their way through a mysterious portal in the Asylum to a place known only as "The Poltercryst". A distress signal from a lost Keeper echoed out across Nirvana, calling for all available Keepers to converge on The Poltercryst. This opened the doors to a wild new Vault known as "The Polterclysm". Keepers ventured in, solved puzzles, battled a spectral army, and defeated Maxwell Shine, ending his suffering forever... or so we thought. Months later, Keepers were called back to the Poltercryst with the promise of a new Exotic weapon. Brave adventurers made their way into a new corner of the Poltercryst known as "The Crooked Phalanx". It was here that they finally fought and killed Maxwell Shine's tormentor, Mr. Longfingers, thus seemingly putting an end to Maxwell's suffering once and for all... or so we thought.

You see, the Poltercryst, is caught in a time loop. Every time Maxwell dies or Mr. Longfingers dies, the Polterclysm resets itself. Maxwell's torment continues, and Mr. Longfingers continues the hunt. For years, we thought that this vicious cycle was contained just within the flashpoint that is the Polterclysm. As long as the cycle was contained within the Polterclysm, it was thought to be harmless... gut-wrenchingly cruel, but harmless to the outside world nonetheless.

Mr. Longfingers has appeared outside of the Polterclysm, and Maxwell with him. Madame Marceau's Seances have pulled remnants of his existence through to our world, and now the Artificers have determined that the only way to secure our world, is to venture into the Poltercryst and find a way to put an end to Mr. Longfingers once and for all. The portal is about to open, and the Keepers themselves are once again on the threshold of their extinction. In our most desperate hour, we are forced to send Keepers once more unto a world unknown. If Mr. Longfingers has escaped the Polterclysm, he'll soon escape from the Poltercryst as well. He must be stamped out like a cancer before his power can grow and infect all of Nirvana as we know it.

Venture now unto the breach, arm yourselves with the the forbidden weapons of the Taken Arsenal, hunt down the Primeval Incarnate, and defeat him... in this timeline and every timeline that is to be...

The Poltercryst Revealed

Welcome to the Land of Liminal Undeath. The Poltercryst has been revealed and for the first time this June, it'll be explorable in full! Aside from the sneak peek that players received while adventuring through Vaults like The Polterclysm, Illuminatra, The Dread Skein, and The Polterclysm: Lectern of Incantation, players will be able to explore The Poltercryst in all of its open-world glory for the first time ever!

The Poltercryst is divided up into a number of different Zones. This year we're debuting more Zones than we've ever rolled out for a standard flagship Game World. From the dark mysterium of the Miasma to the bleeding chaos of the Red Ward, there's plenty to discover and uncover! The Fleet of The Lost is a vast Zone made up of an armada of ghostly pirate ships while the Ringed Wretch is a massive cavern encompassing a terrible castle in the center. Autopsy Acres aims to invoke fears of dark hospitals and abandoned asylums, while the new River of Souls Apex Zone will make you fear for your life with every step!

The Poltercryst is a dark and complex place. The dark nature of this seemingly-endless void was designed as such to prevent players from getting too acquainted with any particular piece of it. This game world is also thought to be un-mappable due to the fact that many activities are layered on top of each other, with many of them weaving in and out of each other. You're sure to discover more than a few secrets and hidden surprises as you're traversing our largest game world ever, but will you discover them all? Odds are, no player will be able to uncover every secret we've scattered throughout the Poltercryst, and that's okay! This means even more so than usual, every player will get a completely unique experience while playing The Poltercryst, and no two adventures into this terror-infested fray will ever play out the same!

A Quest For Absolution

Join together with Maxwell Shine in the ultimate quest to save all of Keeper-kind from absolute extinction! Mr. Longfingers poses the greatest threat to NirvanaOnline that we've seen since the likes of Orphan and the Tyranny of Heaven. Now that the Vexation War has been quelled thanks to the actions of the players within Babylon, a sort of peacetime has settled over Nirvana the last 2 years. Now, it's time for a new evil threat to take the reigns and unleash chaos on Nirvana once again.

Maxwell Shine found himself trapped in an endless time loop in which he found himself either killed by Keepers, or tormented by Mr. Longfingers until another Keeper came by to end his suffering. This would continue for 3 years, until one day both Mr. Longfingers and Maxwell Shine found themselves freed from the loop. If Mr. Longfingers escaped from the time loop of the Polterclysm, he's likely not far off from breaking out into our world entirely!

Join forces with Maxwell Shine and other familiar faces as you work to fight back against Primeval Incarnate in our darkest hour. Save the Keepers from absolute extinction, and save Nirvana once more...

Invade the Vaults

The Poltercryst features a wide variety of epic new 12-player Vaults. From the silken depths of Gossamer to the dreadful archives of Sins of the Past, players will have a variety of threats to overcome and loot to obtain from the many shadows around the spectral dimension. Players will have to resolve the quagmire of Zane Wyndham's final wishes in the Vault of Last Will, and brave-hearted Keepers will need all of their wits about them if they are to drill deep into the cavity of the Root Canal. Each Vault releasing as part of the Season of the Spectral comes jam-packed with all kinds of new experiences, puzzles, challenges, enemies, and boss battles. We don't want to spoil too many details for you, because most of the Vaults this year will speak for themselves.

Additionally, while you can expect all of the usual features with each Vault, we're doubling down on those rare Exotic drops for each Vault. Each Exotic this year feels truly special and truly unique. Lastly, while we've talked about 5 Vaults in this blog post, that might not be all we have to offer this year. New Vaults might be hidden within the shadows of the Poltercryst, and some of them might need some complex thinking and enhanced levels of bravery to even unlock. Keep on your toes and be on the lookout for anything that looks especially suspicious. You might just stumble on a grand reward, unlike anything you've seen in Nirvana thus far.

Also, keep on the lookout for the upcoming reveal of Nirvana's next Grandmaster Vault. This 12-player monstrosity is sure to be the most difficult and challenging Vault we've ever produced. Even it's name will send a shiver down your spine...

Conquer The Raids

The Keepers wouldn't be able to take down Primeval Incarnate once and for all without a little help from some new weapons. Players will be able to jump into all-new Raids like Nekropolis, Testament, Aria Incognita, and the Red Sematary throughout the Season of the Spectral. Nekropolis has players exploring an ancient crimson necropolis built into the side of a slanted canyon near the heart of the Poltercryst. Testament acts as a sequel to the events of the Last Will 12-player Vault, and resolves the rest of the conflict regarding Zane Wyndham's Last Will and Testament. Aria Incognita echoes back to the immortal words that players first experienced when they entered into the Asylum for the first time: "What is that melody? Where is that SYMPHONY?". Aria Incognita aims to answer the questions posed by the Madhouse Melody, bringing full circle an ancient song that never stops being sung...

Each new 4-player Raid comes with all of the usual bells and whistles. Each Raid has a unique loot pool, a grand reward for completing each, an achievement associated with each, and an army of mobs and monsters ready to stand in your way. Team up with your friends and take down each of the Raids to help grow your arsenal so you're ready to take down Longfingers once and for all!

Cleanse The Hives

The opening of the Poltercryst has unleashed another ancient terror upon Nirvana. The Hives have appeared around Nirvana and threaten to plague everything in their vicinity. Players must venture into the Hives, work their way into their deepest recesses, slay the hordes within, and claim the treasures they conceal. The first Hive arrives at launch with the Poltercryst on June 3rd. The Reaper's Hourglass is a lovely new Hive that will challenge players to defend against the swarm of zombies within a fairly-confined space. This first Hive acts as a sort of proof-of-concept for us, and new Hives will continue to innovate on this formula when they continue to release throughout the summer and throughout the rest of the year.

Hives are a new staple activity coming to NirvanaOnline, and will roll out one-by-one with some of the same fanfare as 4-player Raids receive! These activities will be able to be accessed from the spawn hubs of the game worlds they are in, though in the case of the Poltercryst, you'll have to locate the Waypoint first.

Eviscerate The Crown

For those groups of Keepers that are brave enough to take on the ultimate challenge, a new 24-player Incursion awaits on the fringes of the Court of Ruxalka. Players will be beckoned into the hallowed depths of a long-lost fortress in search of a The Relinquished Crown, one of the primary sources of Longfingers' power. We can assure you that it won't be hard to find, but it will be exceedingly difficult to destroy.

Face down unforgiving, ruthless, and insufferable mechanics in this spectacular new 24-player adventure. Break the Crown and destroy all of the pieces... no matter what it takes...

Venture Unto Arkham

Within the far reaches of the Poltercryst lies a gothic village on the edge of the Darkness Beyond. It's within this village that players will first come to interact with the Church of Longfingers. This deranged cult worships the very being you've come here to destroy, though they might not be as useless as you might think. In exchange for offering your own fingers to the church, the Disciple of Fingers will imbue you with special rewards for completing Strikes, Raids, Vaults, and Incursions around The Poltercryst. Players can offer as many fingers as they'd like to the church, and they can have their fingers back whenever they speak with the Disciple's Assistant. The fewer fingers you have when you beat one of the previously-listed activities, the better the rewards. You can even relinquish up to 9 of your fingers for the best rewards, but for each finger missing, you'll be missing a bit of Health as well.

Challenge yourself to defeat each activity around the Poltercryst with as few fingers as possible to obtain increasingly better rewards. Be aware, when you die you'll respawn with all of your fingers, so you'll have to warp back to the church if you'd like to get rid of them again. New challenges may also appear down the road that are exclusive to those Keepers with fewer than a set number of fingers...

Claim The Taken Arsenal

You'll need a plethora of extremely powerful game-breaking weapons if you're going to take down Mr. Longfingers. That's where the Taken Forge comes in. You've spent years acquiring powerful-beyond-belief weapons like the Proclivity, the Dreadforge, and the Nightmare's Knell. These would naturally be among your weapons of choice to take down Longfingers, Eviscerate his Crown, and stop the Keeper extinction altogether. Now, what if we could make those weapons even stronger?

The Taken Forge is a new Public Event that allows players to offer up a single weapon per player to the forge with the objective of enhancing its stats in almost every way. They'll give better buffs, they'll deal more damage, and their enchantments will be increased. Some of them may even have some special secret qualities to them as well. Once a weapon has been upgraded at the Taken Forge, it'll be returned to you as the Perfekted variant of that same weapon. However, there's one catch to this delicate process. If the group is unable to complete the event in time, the weapon you've offered to the forge will be broken in the process! You may want to complete a practice run or two before you offer up your best weaponry to the Taken Forge. It'll take problem solving and pure combat prowess if you are to upgrade your weapons to the highest echelon in Nirvana!

Vanquish Longfingers

Once you're resolved the central conflict alongside Maxwell Shine, it'll be time to take the fight directly to Mr. Longfingers. Keep in mind, this will not be an easy battle to win. Mr. Longfingers is holed up in his dark fortress within the confines of the Oneirophobia Vault. You'll need everything you have to take him down. The process certainly won't be easy, but you'll save Nirvana if you succeed. Oneirophobia is a particularly lengthy Vault with a special mechanic players will never have interacted with before. We call it "Apotheosis", and you should be very afraid of what it entails.

Become Fear

The Poltercryst launches on June 3rd, with weekly content updates beginning June 17th. Expect new Vaults, Strikes, Raids, and the Relinquished Crown 24-player Incursion to launch throughout the summer. Additionally, expect to see more than the usual number of non-combat activities available at launch for those Keepers who prefer to relax and take it easy... in the Ghost Dimension... for some reason...