Somehow, it’s already April 2026, and the cherry blossoms are starting to bloom. They’re in full bloom along the streets of Hendon Myre in DNF Mobile, too, of course.

▲2026 cherry blossom season

This year’s crossover is with The Kingdom of the Winds, which happens to be celebrating its 30th anniversary, so 왈숙네 has come to visit. Apparently, 성황 할머니 will be here next week, followed by the blacksmith 떡쇠 the week after.

Taking a moment to enjoy the scenery for the first time in a while also got me looking back at my recent character progress. A lot has happened in just a month.

Reinforcement and Honing Updates

My Spitfire became my 7th character with a +20 weapon on March 17. Then, when the 4th anniversary update arrived on March 26, I went through all the reinforcement materials I’d been saving for months.

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The reason? An event offering a 10% discount on reinforcement costs at +15 and below. While I was at it, I worked on weapon reinforcement and honing, too.

The final tally was 1 at +16, 4 at +17, 2 at +18, 3 at +19, 1 at +20, 2 at honing level 4, and 1 at honing level 5. I also raised my armor reinforcement levels across the board.

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My Crusader had especially good luck, going straight from +18 to +20 without a single failure. That was the complete opposite of my Spitfire, who hit pity a few times and went through plenty of ups and downs. You really never know how your luck will turn.

Still, my Crusader’s weapon from the previous season is too good to replace, and putting together an Exceed setup specifically for synergy is very difficult. That leaves my Crusader’s overall Exorcism on the low side. I haven’t been able to give honing much attention either, so it’s sitting at around 173,000.

Meanwhile, I have my second character at 200,000 Exorcism: my Spectre. I’ve been playing this character since Sword Master first launched, though I eventually switched classes to Spectre. I was lucky enough to get an Exceed Legacy bracelet and complete the set, which made me even more attached and keen to keep building her.

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A character with a +20 weapon, a full set of light-infused Epic gear (an upgrade over regular Epics), and 3 Exceed pieces lands right around 200,000. That setup is strong enough to take down Sirocco solo, too.

I’ve also been growing more attached to my Inquisitor lately. My Spectre’s weapon is still at honing level 3, but I got my Inquisitor’s weapon to honing level 5 this time. Combined with the buffs to melee damage dealers across the board, her damage is now at a pretty satisfying level.

Sealed Lock Results

The 4th anniversary update changed the monthly item from Sealed Locks to weapon avatars, so I used up all the Keys of Liberation I’d been saving as well.

Those catalysts are a nice treat, too

Sweet, so sweet

I’d been saving keys for so long that opening everything took quite a while. Maybe it was the sheer number of openings, but I saw double drops of the monthly item twice.

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I ended up with 8 weapon avatar boxes—and a dopamine boost to rival my reinforcement session.

I handed them out to my farming alts, who had been fighting without weapon avatars all this time. The Male Mage weapon avatar turned out really cute.

Sirocco Raid

I cleared the Sirocco raid introduced in the 4th anniversary update on 27 characters in the first week. I’m not sure I can keep that up every week, but for now, I’m having enough fun to lose track of time.

For me, running it on a character at minimum Exorcism (just enough to meet the entry requirement) is satisfying because you have to play well to earn the clear. With high Exorcism, there’s a different kind of fun in powering through with raw damage for a quick clear.

A few bosses do feel a little rough for melee damage dealers. Still, I remember struggling with those enormous boss HP pools when Anton first launched, and I think they’ve struck a good balance this time.

The drop rates are better than I expected, too. The biggest rewards are card albums and Exceed weapons, and I saw them fairly often across my 27 runs. I even got an Exceed weapon pot myself.

No luck, as expected

Of course, getting a weapon for your own class is very difficult. Still, disassembling it gives you a few materials for crafting an Exceed weapon, shaving a little time off the grind toward a guaranteed one.

Items that fetch high auction prices, including Epic Equipment Selection Boxes, card albums, and Ryan Cokes, also dropped often enough to bring in some nice extra income. I even picked up an Exceed special equipment piece I needed.

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After 27 runs, some people started recognizing my character names. We exchanged greetings, and a static group naturally came together. Public groups are nice too, but filling the party takes time. The longer you play, the more you find yourself considering a static.

Wrapping Up

만개의 라라아 wins the week 1 character popularity poll

That’s my progress since the DNF Mobile 4th anniversary update. There’s something about spring and cherry blossoms that gives you a little flutter of excitement, and lately, I’ve been getting that same feeling every time I log into DNF Mobile. I’ll be savoring it for a while yet.