Hello, players. This is The Spike Cross team.
A new challenge begins with Season 3: Elite Stage. Meet three new players, face a different opponent each day, and shape your team’s playstyle with Specialization Nodes.
All dates and times below are in Korea Standard Time (KST).
Pickup recruitment: September 16, 2026 (Wed) – October 17, 2026 (Sat), 9:00 AM
Elite Stage matches: September 16, 2026 (Wed) – October 14, 2026 (Wed), 9:00 AM
Three new players are joining the roster. Each player will have a dedicated recruitment banner during the pickup period.
Gitae: S+ / Middle Blocker (MB)
Yuna: S / Wing Spiker (WS)
Sejin: S / Setter (Se)
※ Gitae and Yuna are limited-time players, while Sejin will be added to the standard player recruitment pool after the Chapter 15 update.
Rank
Player
Rate
S+
Gitae
0.375%
S
Yuna
0.100%
S
Sejin
0.100%
S~S-
Existing players
2.500%
A+
4.000%
A~A-
12.000%
B+~B-
45.425%
C+~C-
28.000%
D+~D-
7.500%
Rank
Player
Rate
S
Yuna
0.500%
S
Sejin
0.150%
S+
Gitae
0.080%
S~S-
Existing players
2.500%
A+
4.000%
A~A-
12.000%
B+~B-
45.270%
C+~C-
28.000%
D+~D-
7.500%
Rank
Player
Rate
S
Sejin
0.500%
S
Yuna
0.150%
S+
Gitae
0.080%
S~S-
Existing players
2.500%
A+
4.000%
A~A-
12.000%
B+~B-
45.270%
C+~C-
28.000%
D+~D-
7.500%
A Recruitment Gauge system is being added to pickup recruitment. Recruit players to build up your gauge, then spend it to obtain a guaranteed player.
The gauge required for your next guaranteed recruitment decreases in stages as you make guaranteed recruitments. The reduced requirement remains in effect for the duration of that pickup period.
Guaranteed Recruitment
S+ Banner Gauge Required
S Banner Gauge Required
1st
125
100
2nd
115
100
3rd
105
95
4th
95
85
5th
85
80
6th onward
80
75
Standard, Position, and Colosseum recruitment continue to use Scout Points as before.
Existing Pickup Scout Points can be converted into Recruitment Gauge.
For details, see the recruitment changes announcement.
Challenge a different opponent each day and earn daily and weekly rewards based on your match records.
Easy: Available at Gold Tier and above.
Hard and Extreme: Available at Diamond Tier and above.
You can attempt matches multiple times. Replaying on the same day lets you improve your best Star record.
Your best daily Star records are added together over each seven-day period to determine weekly rewards. Weekly Star records reset every seven days.
Meet the following conditions during a match to earn one Star for each condition.
Condition
Stars
Win a match
★
Win on Hard difficulty or higher
★
Win on Extreme difficulty
★
Win by at least 5 points
★
Mon / Wed / Fri: Score 3 points with quick attacks / Tue / Thu / Sat / Sun: Score 3 points with back attacks
★
Winning on Extreme also fulfills the “Hard difficulty or higher” condition.
Your first clear each day awards 25 event currency and additional rewards. Use an Extra Reward Ticket to earn rewards again.
Earn the following event currency based on the Stars accumulated over seven days. Weekly rewards can be claimed after DAY 7 ends.
Total Stars
Event Currency
★ 1 or more
250
★ 7 or more
280
★ 15 or more
285
★ 20 or more
290
★ 25 or more
296
★ 28 or more
298
★ 30 or more
300
Complete Elite Stage missions during the event to earn various cosmetic items.
Elite Rules introduces timing-based defense and individual Stamina and Mentality management.
Time your Receive or Slide input to match the opponent’s attack.
Receive: Returns the ball in a more predictable direction.
Slide: Reduces incoming damage compared with Receive, but the ball may bounce in a wider range of directions.
Both defensive actions are graded by timing: MISS / BAD / GOOD / GREAT / PERFECT. The closer your result is to PERFECT, the less damage you take.
A successful PERFECT Receive negates damage, creates a chance ball, and restores Stamina and Mentality by 40% of their respective maximum values. This recovery does not apply while Exhausted.
Unlike the existing Counter Receive, a PERFECT result does not trigger the Immersion state.
Each player has an individual Stamina gauge instead of shared team Stamina. The remaining Stamina affects whether the player successfully defends an attack.
Fixed Damage from Jump Floater Serves
When defending a Jump Floater Serve, you take fixed damage based on your defensive timing result, regardless of the serve’s power or the server’s Attack stat.
GREAT: 35% of maximum Mentality and maximum individual Stamina GOOD: 40% of maximum Mentality and maximum individual Stamina BAD: 50% of maximum Mentality and maximum individual Stamina
Each player also has a separate Mentality gauge. Defending with Receive or Slide reduces Mentality based on both the power of the attack and the attacking player’s Attack stat. The lower the defender’s current Mentality, the more individual Stamina damage they take when defending.
When Mentality reaches zero, the player becomes Exhausted. Mentality cannot recover during Exhaustion. Failing to defend while Exhausted reduces the remaining Exhaustion time. When Exhaustion ends, Mentality is fully restored and the Exhausted state is removed.
Before the match, you can assign each player a defensive position regardless of their playing position. These assignments remain the same when the rotation changes.
Service order follows the usual rotation, and the serving team changes formation when serving. After the serve, your players move to their assigned defensive positions when the opposing team attacks.
Unlock each player’s Specialization Nodes and invest AP to improve their abilities. Build on existing strengths or try a new playstyle.
Offense: Abilities related to serves, net play, and spikes.
Defense: Abilities related to slides, basic receives, and blocks.
Identity: Abilities affecting match situations, such as Condition, second-touch set height, and speed retention.
Weakening: Reduces certain enhancements in exchange for AP.
Nodes are divided into five tiers based on their effects: Growth / Enhancement / Tactics / Core / Unique.
Spend Specialization Unlock Points to unlock nodes. Some nodes require a prerequisite node to be unlocked first.
Invest AP (Ability Points) in unlocked nodes to increase their levels.
Effects grow stronger with higher levels. Nodes at Level 0 have no effect.
There are nine types of Specialization Unlock Points, based on position (WS / MB / Se) and category (Offense / Defense / Identity).
With this update, Specialization Unlock Points can be earned through event matches and first-clear rewards in Season 3 Story Mode. Additional sources are planned through new content in the future.
Players start with 41 base AP and gain additional AP based on their maximum stats and Breakthrough level. Maximum stats means the sum of the player’s stats when fully upgraded using EXP. For every 5 points above a total of 550, the player gains 1 additional AP. Each Breakthrough level grants another 2 AP.
Total AP = 41 + (maximum stat total - 550) ÷ 5 + (Breakthrough level × 2) (Stat-based AP is 0 for totals of 550 or less. Round the division result down. AP from Weakening Nodes is added separately.)
For example, a fully upgraded S-rank player with a maximum stat total of 585 and Breakthrough level 3 can use 41 + 7 + 6 = 54 AP.
Unlocked nodes are shared across all presets. Save and switch between AP allocations to use different builds for different situations.
Beginner Player Recruitment is being added to help new and returning players build their teams.
Earn Beginner Recruitment Tickets from Story Mode chapter clear rewards. Clearing through Chapter 3 awards a total of 40 tickets.
Spend the gauge earned through Beginner Recruitment to obtain a player of your choice from the featured pool. A guaranteed recruitment requires 40 gauge.
Setter (Se): Ayeon, Zero, Lisia
Middle Blocker (MB): Sanghyeon, Hanra, Atis
Wing Spiker (WS): Minjun, Isabel, Yongsup
Recruitment rate for the listed players: 3.5%
The pool includes players with a range of strengths and playstyles, allowing you to choose the player your team needs.
Players who have already cleared Chapter 3 will receive Beginner Recruitment Tickets via in-game mail when they log in.
A Season 3 Event Login Pass is being added. Log in and claim a variety of items through the pass.
Early Check-In Day
Cost (Blue Flame)
Day 1
30
Day 2
60
Day 3
60
Day 4
90
Day 5
120
Permanent V Point products will provide more V Points, and new products will be added. Your first purchase of each product grants double the V Points as a first-purchase bonus.
Previous V Points
New V Points
100
200
300
420
1,200
1,280
V Points
Including First-Purchase Bonus
40
80
200
400
420
840
1,280
2,560
2,160
4,320
4,000
8,000
Thank you for your continued support of The Spike Cross.