In any other dev video, the the fact that an MMO is getting a new weapon – orbs – would be the headline news, but Throne and Liberty actually have an even bigger surprise in store. Two of them!

Community-facing devs Godspeed and Tico have revealed that as part of the major update, players are getting the orb weapon. “It is a magic-based weapon, and it’s going to be a support weapon,” Tico says. It’ll join wand and longbow in that category, but as more of a “shield-based […] pre-emptive type of healing or more like a pre-emptive damage mitigation.” Players will also have to “manage” their orbs in addition to mana, but there’s nothing more concrete on offer here.

The devs also reveal two new lifestyle tracks. One is gathering, which technically already exists, but now players will be able to progress and level it up and gather new items. The second is handicrafting – basically, crafting furniture using those new gatherables in a system they are referring to “field to floor.”

It’s all a cute way of introducing the news that Throne & Liberty is getting housing.

“We’re adding housing to the game, and that’s coming in our next major update, and it’s going to be this new robust, really personal, really customizable space for you in your housing. And you’ll get to it through a narrative arc, so there will be a narrative arc that you’ll enjoy, full-fledged, that will introduce you to housing. Any new player, any existing player, this narrative arc will introduce you to housing, and then you can get your new house.”

Did we say house? Actually, it’s houses; you can have more than one in different locations. And yes, you can fully decorate it with wallpaper and flooring to showcase your video game status.

Don’t care about housing? Well, the devs are satisfying PvP demands for battlegrounds too. At the start, it’ll be a 24×24 mode with solo or 6-person queueing, though Amazon and NCsoft apparently have plans to expand from there.

The rest of the video talks up the upcoming hyperboost catch-up server, the new achievement system, a revamp for dimensional trials (with weekly leaderboards instead of seasons, better rewards, and reworked affixes), new guardians, enhanced progression systems, and UI QOL.

Expect the deluge in September. In the short term, players are getting a new artifact UI, and of course, the summer event is launching Thursday.