MONGIL: STAR DIVE recently held a lengthy developer talk in Korea detailing the future of the game, including the upcoming Version 1.3 update arriving on August 19, 2026.
On the surface, Version 1.3 may not look like the biggest content update MONGIL has received. Episode 7 isn’t arriving yet, the large-scale character balance changes have been pushed back, and some of the new progression and combat content originally planned for the patch has also moved to Version 1.4.
But after going through what the developers actually discussed, Version 1.3 looks much more important than a simple filler patch.
We are getting Brishell, new five-star equipment, the first swimsuit costumes, a reworked beginner guide, a much better reroll system, Rift Quick Battle, improvements to Requests and Monsterling management, and several other quality-of-life changes.
More importantly, the developers also addressed some much larger problems with MONGIL: STAR DIVE, including the direction of its story and the current state of character balance.
And those discussions make Version 1.4 sound like it could be the real turning point for the game.
Cloud Is Officially the Protagonist
One of the biggest announcements from the developer talk wasn’t actually a new feature.
It was a decision about the story.
Going forward, Cloud is officially the main protagonist of MONGIL: STAR DIVE.
The developers explained that this had apparently been something of an internal debate.
Originally, they had considered leaving room for more of a player-persona or self-insert protagonist. Because they hadn’t completely decided which direction they wanted to take, they intentionally avoided making Cloud and Verna too important to the central narrative.
In hindsight, the developers admitted that this hurt the story.
Cloud was technically the protagonist, but the story wasn’t always willing to fully treat him like one.
Now they’ve made their decision.
The story going forward will be built around Cloud as its primary protagonist.
Personally, I think this is the right direction.
There isn’t anything inherently wrong with a self-insert protagonist, just like there isn’t anything wrong with having a fully established lead character. Both approaches can work.
The bigger problem is trying to do both at the same time.
If Cloud is going to be the protagonist, then let him actually be the protagonist and give him meaningful involvement in the events happening around him.
The developers also talked about finding ways to make players feel a stronger connection to Cloud and the other characters.
However, I would be careful about interpreting this as confirmation of a full affection or relationship system in Version 1.3. The developers discussed character interaction as something they want to prioritize, but that isn’t the same thing as announcing a completed affection system for this update.
MONGIL’s Story Release Schedule Is Changing
Version 1.3 will not include Episode 7 of the main story.
Instead, this update will spend more time on stories involving Brishell and Vivian.
Episode 7 is now planned for Version 1.4.
The more interesting announcement, however, is what the developers want to do once Episode 7 begins.
Rather than releasing a large chunk of story and then leaving players waiting for an extended period before anything happens again, MONGIL’s developers want the main story to progress approximately every three weeks.
In other words, future major updates should also move the narrative forward.
The developers also plan to continue providing full voice acting for that content.
I really like this idea.
One of the problems with a lot of live-service games is that the main story can effectively disappear for months at a time.
You’ll get events, banners, new characters and farming activities, but the central plot barely moves.
If MONGIL can genuinely provide meaningful story development every three weeks, it could make the game feel considerably more active.
The developers also want to continue prioritizing proper field-based story quests while still using event-style stories and other formats whenever they’re appropriate.
It sounds like the overall goal is to make MONGIL’s storytelling more consistent instead of having important character and plot development scattered too far apart.
Version 1.4 Is Starting to Sound Like the Real Big Update
This was probably the biggest recurring theme of the developer talk.
Quite a few things originally intended for Version 1.3 simply weren’t ready.
Rather than release new content alongside one set of balance changes and then potentially rebalance everything again shortly afterward, the developers decided to combine more of those changes into Version 1.4.
And Version 1.4 is starting to sound significantly larger.
The developers discussed:
- Episode 7
- A new Legendary Monster named Sorin
- New content
- New progression systems
- Major character balancing
- Potential changes to exclusive weapons
The character balancing in particular sounds substantial.
Rather than simply buffing one or two underperforming characters, the developers said they are reviewing the entire five-star roster.
That’s something MONGIL probably needs.
One of the problems the developers acknowledged is that players can pull and invest in a five-star character only to discover that a lower-rarity character may perform the same job just as well — or occasionally better.
That’s not a great feeling in a gacha game.
Five-star characters don’t necessarily have to invalidate the rest of the roster, but obtaining one should at least feel worthwhile.
Version 1.3 will include smaller adjustments to Ophelia and Jiwon, but the much larger balance pass is being prepared for Version 1.4.
Exclusive weapons are also being considered as part of that review.
So if you’ve got a five-star character gathering dust right now, it might be worth waiting to see what happens before completely writing them off.
Brishell Arrives on August 19
Of course, Version 1.3 also brings us a brand-new character.
Brishell arrives on August 19, and the developers spent a good amount of time showing her off during the livestream.
Personality-wise, Brishell is a little unusual.
She wants attention and wants to connect with people, but because of her appearance and the reactions she normally receives from others, she’s also extremely awkward when that attention actually comes her way.
That idea even carries over into her combat design with a state built around Attention Overload.
And then there’s Alfred.
Alfred is the enormous weapon Brishell carries around with her, although after watching some of her animations, there are moments where it looks more like Alfred is carrying Brishell.
The developers clearly had some fun incorporating the weapon into both her personality and animation design.
Gameplay-wise, Brishell is being designed to work both as an active character on the field and as someone who can continue contributing while you’re rotating through the rest of your team.
She has an enhanced switch skill that activates part of her kit, and after swapping to another character, Brishell can continue assisting through additional attacks and other effects.
That means she doesn’t appear to be the kind of character who simply comes onto the field, uses her abilities, and disappears until her next rotation.
Her gameplay is much more closely tied to switching between party members and continuing to contribute during those rotations.
We’ll need to see the final version of her kit once Version 1.3 launches to know exactly how everything fits together, but her combination of personality, Alfred, and switch-focused combat mechanics makes her one of the more interesting parts of the update.
Vivian Was Teased — But Not Fully Revealed
The developers also gave us a look at Vivian.
Unfortunately, they weren’t nearly as willing to talk about how she actually plays.
They showed the character and discussed her briefly, but intentionally avoided revealing important details such as her element and combat role.
Those details are currently being saved for the next Developer Lounge presentation on September 3.
So Vivian is definitely someone to keep an eye on.
We just don’t know exactly what her place in the roster will be yet.
The Beginner Guide Is Being Completely Reworked
Version 1.3 also brings some significant changes for new and returning players.
The existing beginner guide is being replaced with a new version.
More importantly, existing players won’t simply miss out on all of the new rewards.
According to the developers, unfinished rewards from the old guide will be handled when it is retired, while existing players will also be able to participate in the new guide and receive its rewards.
The developers want those rewards to be considerably better as well.
They discussed things such as character rewards, recruitment items, and functionality designed to help players work toward a standard character they actually want.
Some of those exact rewards were still being finalized during the developer talk, so we’ll need the official update notice for the final details.
But the overall idea is clear:
Starting MONGIL: STAR DIVE should become considerably more generous and straightforward.
Rerolling Is Getting Much Better
One of the best changes for completely new players involves rerolling.
During the game’s initial standard summons, players will be able to save a summon result and continue rolling.
Afterward, they can decide which saved result they actually want to keep.
Anyone who has rerolled in a gacha game knows how useful this is.
Normally, you might get a reasonably good pull and have to decide whether to settle for it or throw it away in hopes that the next attempt is better.
This system removes much of that frustration.
You can keep the good result in your back pocket while continuing to see if you can get something better.
For new players, that’s a substantial improvement.
Request Rewards Can Finally Be Claimed Immediately
This is a smaller change, but it’s one I think players will appreciate almost immediately.
Request rewards will now be claimable as soon as you complete the objective.
You won’t need to finish the Request and then travel all the way back to the Guild Hall or reception just to turn it in.
Complete the objective.
Claim the reward.
Move on.
It’s a tiny improvement when you look at it individually, but these are exactly the kinds of unnecessary little inconveniences that start to add up when you’re playing a game every day.
I’m happy to see them being removed.
Subscription Benefits Are Being Improved
The game’s subscription benefits are also receiving several improvements.
Among the changes discussed were a 50% reduction in Monsterling synthesis gold costs for subscribers.
The maximum Key capacity will also increase from 100 to 120 for everyone.
Subscribers will then be able to receive an additional 120 Keys each day through the subscription shop.
Monsterling storage is also being expanded from 3,000 to 6,000 as part of the subscription benefits.
Meanwhile, batch Monsterling synthesis is increasing from 100 to 300 at a time, and that particular improvement applies to everyone.
Individually, none of these changes completely transform the game.
Together, however, they should make the daily progression loop considerably less annoying.
Dimensional Rift Is Finally Getting Quick Battle
This may be my favorite quality-of-life improvement in Version 1.3.
Dimensional Rift is getting Quick Battle.
You’ll still need to manually clear a particular difficulty at least once during the season.
After proving you can beat it, however, you’ll be able to use Quick Battle rather than repeating the same fight manually over and over again.
You’ll also be able to use multiple tickets.
This is exactly how repeatable farming content should work.
There is nothing wrong with requiring players to demonstrate that their team can clear the content.
Once we’ve already demonstrated that, forcing us to manually repeat the same encounter dozens of additional times isn’t really adding difficulty.
It’s just adding time.
So this is a very welcome change.
Conquest Rankings Are Coming
Conquest will also receive a seasonal ranking system.
Before anyone starts worrying about whale-heavy leaderboard rewards, though, the developers specifically said there currently won’t be progression rewards tied to ranking position.
They don’t want Conquest to become so competitive that players feel forced to chase leaderboard placement for important resources.
In the future, they may consider prestige-focused rewards such as badges, profile items, or other cosmetic recognition.
For now, however, there aren’t plans to give players major progression resources simply for finishing higher on the leaderboard.
I like that approach.
Leaderboards can be fun for the players who want to compete.
They become considerably less fun when everyone else feels like they’re losing meaningful progression simply because they don’t want to compete with the biggest spenders.
Live Backgrounds Are Being Expanded
Version 1.3 is also getting a new Live Background feature.
Players will be able to configure their animated backgrounds and have them rotate automatically.
There will be options involving timing, order, and random rotation.
It’s obviously not the most important feature in the update, but if you’ve collected multiple animated character backgrounds, it gives you more opportunities to actually see them rather than choosing one and forgetting the rest exist.
Ophelia and Jiwon Get the First Swimsuit Costumes
And yes, the swimsuits are coming.
Ophelia and Jiwon will receive the first costumes in Version 1.3.
The developers said each costume will cost 29,000 Korean won.
Perhaps more importantly, these do not appear to be limited-time costumes.
Once the costumes enter the shop, they’re intended to remain available rather than disappearing after a short sales window.
The new wardrobe system will also allow players to select costumes and configure idle motions.
Narae’s dance animation, for example, is being added as an idle option.
The swimsuit costumes also include matching weapon appearances, so these aren’t simply basic character-model swaps.
The developers are clearly trying to make costumes feel like more complete cosmetic packages.
More information about future costume plans is expected during the September 3 presentation.
New Five-Star Equipment Is Coming
Version 1.3 will also introduce additional five-star equipment.
There has been some confusion surrounding exactly how this works, so this is worth clarifying.
The developer talk describes new five-star equipment being added and players being able to make use of materials they’ve accumulated through systems such as Dispatch to obtain or craft that equipment more easily.
The developers did not clearly announce a system where your existing four-star equipment simply gets upgraded directly into five-star equipment.
That distinction matters.
More varieties of five-star gear are coming, and existing accumulated materials should become useful in obtaining them.
The exact equipment stats shown during the developer presentation were also still being balanced.
So don’t start planning builds around every number shown on screen during the livestream.
The final update notice should give us the numbers that actually matter.
Reruns Are Being Prepared, But the Schedule Isn’t Final
The developers also talked about character reruns.
Reruns are being prepared, and the team wants to coordinate them with the upcoming balance changes.
That makes a lot of sense.
If an older character is about to receive a significant buff, players should ideally know about those changes when deciding whether to spend resources on that character.
However, I wouldn’t call any specific Version 1.4 rerun confirmed yet.
The developers said they are considering reruns around Version 1.4, but also made it clear that the schedule could still change.
We should get a much clearer picture when the new roadmap arrives on September 3.
For now:
Reruns are being worked on.
The exact characters and timing are still to be announced.
September 3 Could Be Even More Important Than August 19
Version 1.3 launches on August 19, but players should probably circle September 3 on their calendars as well.
That’s when the developers plan to hold another Developer Lounge presentation focused on the roadmap.
That presentation is expected to give us:
- More information about Vivian
- Her element and combat role
- More details about Version 1.4
- Additional character balance information
- Rerun plans
- Future costume plans
- A broader roadmap for the game
Version 1.3 gives us the immediate changes.
September 3 should tell us much more about where MONGIL: STAR DIVE is actually heading.
Version 1.3 Feels Like the Setup for Something Bigger
Overall, Version 1.3 is a strange update to evaluate.
If you’re looking exclusively for a huge amount of new endgame or story content, this probably isn’t going to feel massive.
Episode 7 has moved to Version 1.4.
The large character balance overhaul has moved to Version 1.4.
Some of the larger progression and combat additions have moved to Version 1.4.
The developers themselves acknowledged that there were things they wanted to have ready for this update that simply weren’t finished.
But I don’t think that makes Version 1.3 a bad update.
We’re getting Brishell, new character stories, five-star equipment, swimsuit costumes, better onboarding, an improved reroll system, Rift Quick Battle, better subscription benefits, less tedious Requests, expanded Monsterling management and several other quality-of-life changes.
The easiest way I can describe it is this:
Version 1.3 looks like the cleanup and setup patch.
Version 1.4 is supposed to be the overhaul.
And perhaps the most encouraging thing from the developer talk wasn’t any individual new character or feature.
It was the willingness to acknowledge where MONGIL: STAR DIVE hasn’t been working as well as it should.
The story direction hasn’t always been clear.
Character balance needs improvement.
Players need more meaningful content.
Some of the game’s daily systems are more tedious than they need to be.
Acknowledging those problems is a good start.
Of course, acknowledging a problem and actually fixing it are two different things.
Version 1.4 now has quite a few expectations riding on it.
But if the developers can deliver on the larger story, balance, progression and content changes they’ve discussed, it could end up being one of MONGIL: STAR DIVE’s most important updates yet.
For now, Version 1.3 arrives on August 19.
And I’ll definitely be watching the September 3 Developer Lounge to see what comes next.
What do you think about the changes?
Are you planning to pull for Brishell? Are you happy to see Cloud officially become the main protagonist? And which of the Version 1.3 quality-of-life improvements are you looking forward to the most?