Blue Archive: Main Story Act 2 is open, and the event exchange closes September 8

Blue Archive is a mobile RPG from Nexon Games in which you organize students into squads and fight real-time gunfights across an academy city called Kivotos; students are acquired through a gacha the game calls recruitment. On August 17, 2026, the global English service board on Nexon’s official forum posted “8/18 (Tue) Patch Notes,” the rundown for the following day’s maintenance. That maintenance opened Main Story Act 2.[1]

The main story is the longest-running thread in the game. Act 1 accumulated over several years, and this is where the next act begins, which makes the patch closer to a hinge than to a routine version. As of September 3, 2026, Act 2 remains open, while the timed items attached to the same maintenance have either passed their deadline or are approaching one. Every time in the notice is UTC. Student, story and system names below follow the spelling used in the global English notice.[1]

Crossing into Act 2 cannot be undone

Three stories arrived after the maintenance: the Prologue, “0. General Student Council Chapter 1: A Spring Day Full of Almond Blossoms,” and “Ex. Lore Pursuit Chapter 1: High Noon Haze.” The General Student Council chapter unlocks once Episode 4 of the Prologue is cleared.[1]

You enter by swapping the Act 1 banner on the Story screen for the Act 2 banner, or by pressing the “Move to Act 2” button at the top left of Act 1. The notice attaches a warning to that step: entering Act 2 changes some in-game elements, the changes cannot be reverted, and what changes may give away how Act 1 ends. Act 1 progress itself is preserved and can be revisited at any point. Even so, if Act 1 is unfinished, the order is worth settling before the banner is swapped.[1]

Clearing Episode 10 of General Student Council Chapter 1 adds FruLink to the lower left of the Act 2 screen, a feed of in-universe social media posts that grows as further episodes are cleared. The same maintenance added a permanent Korean dub to Chapter 2 of Act 1 Vol. 2.[1]

The window on all three new students has already shut

The patch introduced Niko (3★), Kurumi (3★) and Otogi (1★). The first two arrived on Unique Pick-Up Recruitment banners that ran from the end of the August 18 maintenance to September 1 at 1:59 AM.[1]

Recruitment is Blue Archive’s word for its gacha. You spend a currency called Pyroxene for a random student, and Pyroxene is either earned through play or bought with a payment. While a Pick-Up banner is live, Recruitment Points accumulate and can be traded for the pick-up student of your choice; when the banner ends, leftover points convert to Keystone Pieces at a 1:1 ratio and arrive in the mailbox.[1]

Otogi was not a pull at all but an event quest reward, granted for clearing the Aburacho Central Road quest inside the “Special Mission: Lore Pursuit” event, and that event’s quest period also ended on September 1 at 1:59 AM. The maintenance compensation of 840 plus 120 Pyroxene had to be claimed by August 25 at 2:59 PM, and the second day of the Act 2 pre-release login gift closed on August 24 at 2:59 PM. For the record, maintenance ran from 2:00 AM to 10:00 AM; the original 9:00 remains in the notice with a strikethrough through it, marking the hour it was extended.[1][3]

Two things close together at 1:59 AM on September 8

Two deadlines are still actionable, and they land at the same minute: September 8, 1:59 AM.

The first is the cleanup on “Special Mission: Lore Pursuit.” Its battles and quests ended on September 1, but the Shop, the Clue Hunt, and reward claiming and exchange stay open until September 8. After that, unspent event currency converts to Credit Points at a 1:1 ratio and lands in the mailbox. If there is furniture or an item you meant to buy with it, this is the last stretch.[1]

The second is the rerun Pick-Up Recruitment that opened September 1 at 2:00 AM, carrying five students on a single banner: Sumire (Part-Timer), Rei, Akari (New Year), Izumi (New Year) and Haruka (New Year).[1]

The rest of the calendar expires at staggered times. The Joint Firing Drill’s Defense Drill ends September 7 at 6:59 PM, and Final Restriction Release: Chokmah ends September 14 at 6:59 PM. The returning event “Pray-Ball! Swing for the Grand Slam!” ends September 15 at 1:59 AM, with only its shop and reward exchange continuing to September 22 at 1:59 AM. Rewards from Total Assault: KAITEN FX Mk.0, which finished on August 31, must also be claimed by September 22 at 1:59 AM.[1]

For the September schedule in one view, the official roadmap page is the faster route. It opened August 18 at 10:00 AM and collects the August and September pick-up schedules, the new stories, student details, special content on the official YouTube channel, and digital merch.[2]

What stays once the timers run out

Mock Total Assault is new to the game. It runs practice fights against Total Assault bosses with the boss, terrain and difficulty chosen freely and no currency spent. In exchange there are no rewards, and Total Assault achievements and tasks do not progress there. Clearing Mission (Normal) 4-3 unlocks it.[1]

Nine General Blueprint items are also new. They are substitute materials that get consumed automatically when you lack the specific blueprint an equipment tier upgrade calls for, and the count scales with the tier: 1 at T1, 7 at T5, 50 at T10. They drop from Normal and Hard missions. The main lobby UI changed as well, and the default lobby gained a night version that appears from 7:00 PM to 6:59 AM by in-game lobby time.[1]

One line in the notice was taken back out. An August 18 revision removed everything about the 7th PV title video and left a sentence promising a separate notice later. When that notice arrives is not stated.[1]

Sources

[1] Nexon Games. (Updated on 8/20) 8/18 (Tue) Patch Notes. Blue Archive Official Forum, August 17, 2026.

[2] Nexon Games. A Spring Day Full of Almond Blossoms Roadmap Update Page Release!. Blue Archive Official Forum, August 18, 2026.

[3] Nexon Games. Main Story Act 2 Pre-Release Special On-Time Gift Notice!. Blue Archive Official Forum, August 16, 2026.