'Raven 2' kicked off a flurry of events on August 13th. You can now get your hands on Elite Special Forces Tokens, Union Pattern Shards, and a mountain of summon scrolls. Everything wraps up on August 27th at 04:59, so with today being August 15th, you have exactly 11 days to get your act together. Let us break down how much time you need and what boxes you should be ticking.

August: A Prime Month for Heroic Gear

In the world of Raven 2, you can never have too much Heroic gear. It is the golden ticket for casual players to boost their specs, and for those who have already cleared that hurdle, it serves as excellent material for tempering. The Elite Special Forces series is particularly tailored for the casual crowd; it is low-stress since it does not burn through Heroic patterns. Plus, the developer has been generous enough to hand out the essential Elite Special Forces Tokens and even a few selection boxes for the finished gear this year.

The current trend is all about helping players grow and craft gear. If you are a veteran or part of an active guild, focus on the 'Union Growth Support Mission'. The first part ended on August 13th and the second has just begun; completing both grants you a guaranteed Heroic Crafting Pattern. Miss one, and you miss the pattern—a rather deflating prospect. Still, I recommend doing what you can. Snatching up the Union Treasure Chest, Glory Coins, and Oath Medals is standard operating procedure. Grab everything you can.

You should pay special attention to 'Equipment Special Growth Support' and 'Elite Special Forces Growth Mission'. The former provides Elite Special Forces Accessory Tokens and Special Coupons: Equipment, while the latter rewards you with Elite Special Forces Armor Tokens.

Both missions end on August 27th at 04:59. As of August 15th, that leaves you with 12 days. Remember, Raven 2 resets its daily schedule at 05:00, so August 26th and 27th count as the same day. Assuming your Special Forces level is sufficient, you can complete 8 missions per day. It takes about 7 days to clear all the Elite Special Forces Growth Missions, so you need to start by August 19th or 20th at the very latest. The Soul Coins you pick up along the way are just a nice bonus.

The Equipment Special Growth Support is a different beast since it started back on July 30th. Calculating from August 15th, there are 96 missions left to complete. If you have been chipping away at them, you should be able to clear the lot before the deadline.

A quick tip: you can snag 10 Union Treasure Chests via the 'Union Training Course'. They are packed with summon scrolls, Rare Hevenstone Abrasives, and enhancement stones. Using these stones to enhance and then dismantle Rare gear is a smart play to pad your stash of Elite Special Forces Tokens.

Union Gift Boxes: Time to Play the Waiting Game

Keep a close eye on the 'Union Key Attendance' event during this second week of August. You get 5 Union Keys—the event crafting material—every day for 14 days. The deadline is August 27th at 04:59, so you must log in daily from the start to collect them all. Spend these in the in-game 'Craft - Event - Union' menu. Check the images for the reward breakdown; you can craft three times per server, costing 30, 20, and 10 keys respectively.

The Gold Gift Box is the obvious priority. It contains one 11x pull of Premium Classes/Familiars or four 1x pulls of Blessed Stella. The real draw is the Stella summon scroll, which nets you a Rare or Heroic Stella.

Let us crunch the numbers. To craft all the Gold Gift Boxes, you need 90 Union Keys. Silver takes 60, and Bronze takes 30—totaling 180. You get 15 from the 'Update Commemorative Special Attendance 1' and 70 from the daily login. You are nowhere near enough for the full set, let alone three Gold boxes.

I checked the in-game data, and it looks like more keys are coming soon. The evidence lies in the source for the Union Keys; they are also listed under 'Update Commemorative Special Gift Box II'. However, as of August 15th, there is no way to obtain that box. Given the weekly Wednesday updates, we might see a follow-up event on August 20th. Raven 2 also has a habit of handing out event currency for weekend logins or developer notes, so stay hopeful.

Granted, whether that additional event happens and how many keys it offers remains to be seen. This is just an educated guess based on the usual Raven 2 routine. Fortunately, the Union Keys are valid until September 3rd, so there is plenty of time. My advice? Hold off on crafting until the developer notes or update notices drop. It is a good time to sit back and watch.

Union Training Course: What to Craft?

Let us revisit the Union Training Course. It essentially formalizes your daily chores. Clear the lot, and you get 10 Union Treasure Chests. It should take you 2 to 5 days, mainly because of the requirement to challenge the Tower of Chaos 15 times and defeat Rift bosses 10 times. Since Rift bosses spawn up to 6 times a day, if you use your extra Tower of Chaos entry tickets, you could wrap this up in as little as 2 days.

Once those are out of the way, nothing else is particularly taxing. The only real headache is the 'attempt 100 crafts' objective. The easiest way to handle this is by crafting Stella Scrapers, crafting materials, or Imprint Essences. These are staples for bulk crafting and tie into the event. If you are using Blessed Stella summon scrolls to boost your Stella amplification, you will need those Stella Scrapers to tweak your options anyway. If you are lost, just craft Imprint Essences and dump them into your Stigma.