Hello GH,
A few knights have found that the OCH dlc is free to install on steam or costing 1 ce in game. Is this intentional? Would appreciate some clarification before we get punished for doing this as there was nothing said about it.
OCH IS FREE?!?!?!?!??!!
Thu, 07/02/2026 - 11:07
Thu, 07/02/2026 - 11:29
#2
OCH being free.
Yeah like you said If It was just in-game I'd see it as a bug but changing it on Steam makes me wonder.
Also I doubt they'd make shadow lairs free as they are already pretty cheap enough.
If they did though I'd imagine that would change the Meta up a bit as people would be rushing arcade for darkfire runs and the material prices would drop even further on AH.
Thu, 07/02/2026 - 12:14
#3
1800 CE (sometimes ~1400, sometimes from lootboxes) for a run split across the party isn't cheap, especially when the raw payout's not really competitive with existing stages even if you remove the cost entirely.
The material costs are a factor, and they would indeed crash in value if SLs were free to access, but unlike how Mist Energy and crafted-only UVs initially gave a lot of value to normal materials in underplayed stages as they're used for desirable equipment, there's little worth in the SL mats not tied to the keys used to acquire them... Only two of the five sets are worth making for statistical reasons, three if you squint at Heavenly Iron, and zero if you've already made Chaos/Kat. I suppose the lack of a recipe helps balance things out a bit vs. the key costs, but that doesn't leave much reason to play them continuously once you've already made what you want... except for fun, and it'd be nice for Arcade runs to have some relevancy again.
Thu, 07/02/2026 - 12:39
#4
For arcade to be good again
For arcade to be good again it needs more loot/rewards.
Vana is still faster for Radiant grinding than doing arcade deph 27/28 and gives so much more crowns.
Want crowns? Vana is faster than selling recipes.
Which recipes in themselves are a gamble because half the time your hoping that the game has new players online who actually want to purchase your recipes.
With how low the playercount has been the past few weeks that's a lot harder to do.
(295 Steam users online at the time I'm writing this)
Thu, 07/02/2026 - 12:55
#5
Yes, making SLs free to access wouldn't be enough to decentralize FSC, as with OCH after you've made all of its equipment, though being able to make and sell Perfect Seerus Masks does help a bit...
Thu, 07/02/2026 - 12:59
#6
I like this change
I think making the DLC free is a great decision. It gives players in the community access to content they may not have experienced otherwise which is a positive change.
To me it also feels like a gesture of goodwill from the developers and a sign that they're committed to improving the game moving forward. If this is an indication of the direction they're taking, I'm optimistic about what's to come.
Thu, 07/02/2026 - 13:01
#7
I'm certainly happy it means more people will be trying out the most fun sword in the game...
Thu, 07/02/2026 - 13:26
#8
Stop.
It's hammer time!
Stop.
It's hammer time!
Thu, 07/02/2026 - 15:55
#9
there's an announcement now, so yes it's intentional and the 1 energy is a bug.
Thu, 07/02/2026 - 15:56
#10
It's free!
As you noticed, we just made the OCH free today!
We were holding off on announcing it because we ran into an issue in game where it was not allowing us to make it 0 energy. So we made it 1 and are waiting on a fix for it. However, you can buy the DLC for free on Steam right now, or just spend the 1 energy if you don't want to wait for the fix.
Thu, 07/02/2026 - 16:29
#11
@Draycos
Making SLs free would be a good move. SLs are a decent difficulty counter to endgame gear, and would give FSC farmers something new to chew on in terms of crown optimization vs time across all SL bosses.
Thu, 07/02/2026 - 17:16
#12
@Cronus
We have no idea what prompted this but thank you, that's a very nice change and I think everyone will love it!
(And I am saying this as someone who already bought it in the past)
Thu, 07/02/2026 - 18:03
#13
@Thats-Rough-Buddy
Yep, fully agree. I think the SL changes that got pushed a few years back weren't great for gameplay reasons, and in terms of reward discussion, enemy health is way too bloated for time-to-payout ratio to keep up with the likes of Free Skeleton Crowns. Not like they can't crank the drop depth scaling way high to compensate, of course! Just saying they gotta do that too, not just open them up.
I'm glad OCH is open to everybody now, considering the sword and bomb are among the game's best-designed weapons (though I do wish Hammer's charge attack got looked at). The level design's aesthetically solid and encourages some unusual weapon choices to combat the Stalkers. Whatever they do to even out underpaying levels, hoping that extends to OCH too.
Thu, 07/02/2026 - 18:26
#14
Yo, this is cool as heck! Thank you so much, guys!
Scrolling through everyone else's dialogue here and agreeing with most of what I'm seeing too.
This was a really nice gesture!
Thu, 07/02/2026 - 20:32
#15
Yayy!
This is awesome! Newer players and any F2P veterans who just hadn't gotten around to it can now save their energy. From a bomber's perspective, the DR is one of the best bombs in the game, along with DBB and Electron Vortex, with no effective replacement. Allowing players to access it just by completing the tier 3 OCH mission at no extra cost will make bombing more accessible to the playerbase at large.
Great change. Thank you GH!
Fri, 07/03/2026 - 05:22
#16
wow
Nice. Kind of strange, but nice.
Fri, 07/03/2026 - 13:15
#17
Such an unexpected change
Honestly I had no idea OCH would ever become free.
I think it's a really nice touch.
Sat, 07/04/2026 - 18:17
#18
I think, in times where E price dips below 3kcr this was bad
It feels like the wrong moment, because one thing that E could be used for is gone now.
Soon, buying E for $100 will just get you an ecto drop. What will happen then? idk, but ppl who spend a little E every month to buy stuff for their collection will cease doing so. Maybe they will give up collecting things alltogether, if they can't afford them with neither farming (there's also massive item inflation in crowns) nor spending $$$.
But I think in general it's a good thing. Just unfortunate timing.
Sun, 07/05/2026 - 05:11
#19
I think it's a mixed bag
I am pleased OCH is open to everyone, these are some of the most wonderfully designed levels without a doubt and really sell the worldbuilding and the crimson order.
That said, as far as I am aware, nothing was given to players who had bought the mission. No refund of energy (although then energy may dip even lower), no nice little cosmetic, nothing.
The fact that everyone has some stunning free 5* weapons takes a huge load off of hall of heroes' price tag though, and that is something I am very glad to see.
I'm also hoping that we get a new expansion someday, after all there are nine crimson order members and we've only seen two.
if it was only the CE cost I'd be suspicious it was another Prismatic Bolted Vee episode, but fact that it's free on Steam means it's almost certainly intentional. Another good move. Fingers crossed Shadow Lairs and Danger Missions are up for adjustment next