Full Rappelz Epic Timeline  ›  Epic 9.1 — Masquerade

Opening Epic 9 — Three Parts Announced

Gala Lab announced Epic 9 on 11 March 2014 — revealing three planned parts: 9.1, 9.2 and 9.3. It was positioned as a return to form after a turbulent period in the game’s community relations, with Gala explicitly framing it as an effort to rebuild trust with its player base. Epic 9.1 launched on the KTS on 25 April 2014 before reaching French servers on 3 September 2014.

The tone of Masquerade was distinct from previous Epics — leaning into dark carnival aesthetics with the Circus dungeon, Harlequin monsters and a general sense of theatrical menace that gave the update a memorable visual identity.

The Circus Dungeon

The Circus was Epic 9.1’s new dungeon — and it was deliberately designed to be claustrophobic. Small and narrow by Rappelz standards, it created a genuinely tense experience that contrasted with the more open dungeons of previous Epics. Camera management inside the Circus became its own skill, adding an unusual physical challenge on top of the combat difficulty.

The dungeon was populated with Harlequins and clowns — new monster types that also appeared in the expanded world outside it, most of which were tameable, giving pet hunters new creatures to pursue alongside the dungeon content.

Dark Forest — A Second Forest Through the Portal

Epic 9.1 expanded the Dark Forest zone with a new portal — cross it and you entered a second forest with an entirely different feel, populated by tigers and Lydians. This portal-based zone design was a clean way to add significant new content to an existing area without requiring players to navigate to an entirely new location.

The presence of Lydians in this new zone gave players who had been farming for them since Epic 7.4 a new dedicated hunting ground.

New Weapons — A New Improvement System

The most mechanically significant addition in Epic 9.1 was the arrival of new weapons with a new improvement system. Rather than simply adding higher-tier gear using the existing enhancement framework, these weapons introduced a distinct upgrade pathway — giving endgame players a fresh system to learn, invest in and optimise.

The awakening changes in Epic 9.1 were also notable: all awakenings became positive, removing the risk of negative effects that had previously made the awakening system feel punishing. This was a significant quality-of-life improvement that made gear development feel more rewarding.

All Changes in Epic 9.1

Epic 9.1 Videos

Footage from Rappelz Epic 9.1 — Masquerade:

Rappelz Epic 9.1 Masquerade footage. Source: historyofrappelz.com

Why Epic 9.1 Still Matters

The all-positive awakening change alone would have been enough to earn Epic 9.1 goodwill from the community. Combined with a new weapon system, a memorable dungeon and a genuinely expanded world zone, it delivered a solid opening to what would become Rappelz’s final major update series.

The Circus dungeon’s claustrophobic design remains one of the most distinctive dungeon experiences in Rappelz history — and the Harlequins and clowns that filled its halls gave Epic 9 a visual identity unlike any Epic before it.