Patch Preview · 10 min

NTE 1.4 Livestream Summary: Release Date, Banners, Codes and Everything Announced

The Version 1.4 Preview Special Program ran long and dropped dates in odd places. This is the sorted version: what is actually dated, what is only shown, and what any of it costs you in pulls.

Written by

Beware the Raddish

Livestream coverage and screenshots by Raddish, published here with permission

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By Beware the Raddish·Published September 16, 2026·Updated September 16, 2026

Video by Beware the Raddish

NTE Version 1.4, "For Whom the Verses Mourn", launches on September 30, 2026. Two limited S-rank characters arrive with it: Blackbird, a Psyche Main DPS who transforms mid-fight, in the first half next to a Lacrimosa rerun; and Akane Rin, a Lakshana Main DPS built around rhythm and area damage, in the second half. Three redeem codes went live with the program — WITCHHOUSE, THEWHOOTS and PUKALANDGOGO — and all three expire on September 20.

Below is the whole program sorted the way a player actually needs it: dated versus undated, new versus returning, and what each thing costs. Every claim carries a label, because the program was generous with content and stingy with dates.

TL;DR — What Matters

• Version 1.4 "For Whom the Verses Mourn" launches September 30, 2026 — confirmed by Perfect World Games and carried by Gematsu.
• The version runs to November 11, 2026 at 05:59 (UTC+8), the end date printed on the Pukaland Travelogue slide.
• Blackbird (Psyche, Main DPS) headlines the first half next to a Lacrimosa rerun. Akane Rin (Lakshana, Main DPS) takes the second half.
• No banner start or end dates were announced. October 21 is the date to plan around: it is when the Arc Research Programs change over and when the second half of the Pukaland Fest gift pack unlocks.
• Three codes are live — WITCHHOUSE, THEWHOOTS, PUKALANDGOGO — and they expire September 20, 2026 at 23:59 (UTC+8).
• Pukaland opens as a full new area, and its City Tycoon "Puka Membership Program" pays out two S-Class Standard Character Selection Boxes at membership levels 15 and 40.
• Porsche collab part 2 adds the 911 Turbo (930) and the Taycan Turbo GT; the 918 Spyder returns with your old Mystery Box count intact.
• Hunter's Crucible is sitting version 1.4 out. A 1,000-floor tower climb with stacking buffs takes its place as the team-testing sandbox.

Release Date

The version's end date was never said out loud, but it is printed on screen. The Pukaland Travelogue event card reads September 30, 2026 05:00 to November 11, 2026 05:59 (UTC+8), and every other dated event in 1.4 also ends on or before November 11. That makes 1.4 a six-week version, same length as 1.3.

Current banner cut-offs and the running schedule live on our banners page.

The Three Codes

Raddish pinned the codes under his video; the reward contents below come from Sportskeeda's write-up of the same broadcast rather than from the pinned comment, which lists the codes alone.

Across all three that is 300 Annulith and 22,000 Beetle Coins, plus the guides and dyes. Not a pull's worth of Annulith between them, but free.

Redeem fast. All three expire September 20, 2026 at 23:59 (UTC+8), four days after the broadcast. That is in line with 1.3, where the livestream codes were published on August 8 and dead by August 10 — roughly two days. Livestream codes in NTE are not the month-long kind.

To redeem, open Settings in game and use the redemption field, or use the official web redemption page with your UID. You do not need to wait for the 1.4 update.

Every currently working code, with rewards and the date each was last re-tested in game, is on our codes page.

Blackbird — First Half

Blackbird is a Psyche Main DPS with two combat forms. Her Ultimate, Requies Animarum, turns her into the Witch of Deliverance: the in-game description shown during the program says she deals massive Psyche damage, becomes immune to Control effects and gains Movement Speed for the duration, that the timer pauses while she is off-field, and that casting the Ultimate also raises the whole team's ATK.

Her three skins

One is free if you were pulling anyway, one is free if you were already going to max her Bond, and one costs money. That is the same shape 1.3 used.

Her kit, best Arc, module sets and team pairings go on our Blackbird build page as they are confirmed.

Akane Rin — Second Half

Akane Rin is a Lakshana Main DPS who fights with music and rhythm, dealing area damage through an Ultimate called Sonic Boom. Where Blackbird's slide lists three roles, Akane Rin's lists one. On its own that is not a power statement, but it does say the kit is pointed: she is there to clear rooms.

Her five skins — one of them free

The free one is the important one, and it is dated. House Special comes from the Pukaland Fest Special Gift Pack, and the pack pays out in two instalments: after the September 30 update you get 10 Solid Dice and the "Like Clockwork" avatar frame; after the October 21 update you get 2,000,000 Fons and the House Special outfit. Both are delivered by in-game mail.

Her board is Akane Rin: Dazzling Star. Build notes land on our Akane Rin page.

Story — A Witch Hunt and a Band Reunion

Both halves get story. The first half brings the new Main Episode, "The Witch", which takes you into a new Location Anomaly called St. Arbor alongside Blackbird. It is a medieval village mid witch-burning — timber houses, a huge burning tree at the centre, fire everywhere. Tonally it is the furthest NTE has gone from Hethereau's neon.

The second half brings the spinoff storyline "To Us, Back Then", a sequel to the music band arc that goes into Akane Rin and Aurelia's shared past. A new collab song performed by The Whoots is teased near the end of the program.

Four new Anomaly Commissions come with the version — Night of the Last Bus, Lilliput in the Looking Glass, Perfectly Ordinary Dreams, and No Rest for the Cookies. Raddish singles these out as the most distinctly NTE thing in the game, and more of them is the quiet win of 1.4.

The New Accessory System

Version 1.4 adds accessories as a separate layer from outfits. The point is that one accessory works across different outfits and can be equipped by different characters, so unlike a skin it is not spent on one unit.

Seven were named, and the split matters more than the names: Tomorrow's Star, Position Zero and Neon Nights are bought with Fons; Moonless Night and Grand Prize come from the Puka Membership Program; Big Brains is exchanged at Pukaland; and Knockingbird unlocks from an achievement. Four of the seven are earned rather than bought.

Porsche Collab Part 2

Two new cars: the Porsche 911 Turbo (930) and the Taycan Turbo GT with Weissach Package, both from new Mystery Boxes, which open with Fons or Annulith. The 918 Spyder returns too, and crucially your box count from the last run carries over — so an unfinished 918 chase is not wasted.

Collect all three and the Porsche Club unlocks: the classic "Salzburg" livery, free liveries and performance parts, plus Badge of Honor furniture, the Horizon Spectre namecard, the No Substitute phone case, the Relentless Drive wallpaper and the Porsche Club title. Existing liveries and vehicle skins are catalogued on our skins page.

Pukaland Opens

The park that has been sitting locked behind its gates finally opens. It is large, it has rides, a haunted house and fair games, and a lot of the minigames are played in first person — a first for NTE at this scale. Pukaland Travelogue is the event wrapped around it, and the Wonder Stamps it hands out are the collection track.

The reason to care beyond sightseeing is City Tycoon's Puka Membership Program. It unlocks once you reach City Tycoon level 16, then runs its own reward track.

Abbreviated — the preview also lists avatar frames, dice skins and a namecard at levels 30, 35, 38 and 44.

The track also hands out outfits for three existing characters: Classroom Hijinks for Haniel, Master Slacker for Baicang, and Gingerbear Biscuit for Sakiri.

Events and Game Modes

Three genuinely new modes, and a returning rotation that is mostly unchanged. The biggest structural news is an absence: Hunter's Crucible is not in version 1.4, which removes the usual place to measure a new team's damage.

• A time-limited tower climb with 1,000 floors, where you pick buffs as you ascend. Anyone who played Tower of Fantasy will recognise the format immediately, and with Hunter's Crucible gone it becomes the de facto meta testing ground.
• A 1v1 PvP shooting mode: one player aims, the other has to break line of sight and dodge. It is the first competitive mode in NTE that is not a race.
• A single-player tower defence minigame with its own progression economy and power-ups.

The official event list gives dates for almost everything. Windows are UTC+8.

The battle pass is getting a real upgrade, free and paid. The Hunter Supplies level cap moves to 80 with boosted rewards past level 50. Standard Hunter Supplies gains 100,000 Beetle Coin; Elite gains 240,000 Beetle Coin, 250,000 Fons and 360 Gold Carrota. The Arc selection box is upgraded from Arc-Light Trove to Arc-Light Trove II, and on the paid track you can now take 2,000,000 Fons instead of an Arc — which, next to the Mystery Box numbers above, is not a small option.

The 7-day login returns with another 10 Solid Dice. Dated windows for everything currently running are on our events calendar.

Quality of Life

A long list, and several of these have been asked for since launch.

• Volley Star now supports online multiplayer, which turns a solo diversion into something you can actually play with people.
• Photo Mode's Drone Mode gets a follow-cam option.
• Going, Going, Gone! gains new collectible types, and Blackbird joins as an Auction Assistant.
• Bond Gifts gets a one-tap button, and you can now buy "A Handwritten Letter" directly from that menu to max a companion's Bond without leaving the screen.
• Lingering on a character in the Character interface replays their gacha unlock animation.
• The Friends interface gains a recommendation tab that suggests new players to add — this one is on the official list but not in Raddish's summary.

The Bond change is the one with real value attached. Every character's liked gifts, their exact Affection values and the full Fons cost to reach Bond Level 10 are listed on each character page — and since two of the eight new banner-character outfits in 1.4 are locked behind Bond Level 10, that maths is suddenly load-bearing.

The Witch Letters

Given that 1.4's Main Episode is called "The Witch" and its headline character transforms into the Witch of Deliverance, the safe assumption is that the letters feed the story rather than the reward economy. That is an assumption, not a report.

Frequently Asked Questions