V0.680 – Arena Tiers, Freedom System & QoL Update

New Systems & Features

• Introduced Arena Tier System:

  • Grand Arena

  • Regional Arena

  • Local Arena

  

• Players can now fight lower combat rating opponents, allowing newly recruited gladiators to gain experience from combat

• Added combat rating restriction (100) to prevent high-level farming while still allowing creative matchups (e.g. 1v3 scenarios)

• Betting system added to tournaments for enhanced spectator engagement

  

• Added ability to free gladiators with 3+ victories:

  • Join the Hall of Fame

  • Provide permanent daily bonuses and morale boosts to the roster

Progression & Balance

• Bosses are no longer random (previously 10%) and now appear as separate, structured encounters

• Lower arena tiers do not grant prestige allowing players to progress at their own pace (after hitting 30 prestige and unlocking all 3 tiers)

• Removed prestige rewards from kill streaks and tournaments to better control progression pacing

• Reworked death system:

  • No longer flat 10% chance

  • Now influenced by crowd support meter

  • More loot opportunities during playthroughs

• Improved staff (Scout/Medic) scaling:

  • Costs and effectiveness now scale properly with progression

  • Early access to top-tier staff has been corrected

Economy & Financials

• Added Upkeep and Sell Value display to the Gladiator Details screen

• Added financial tooltip breakdown showing total gladiator upkeep breakdown

UI & Quality of Life

• Added new sorting options:

  • Base stats

  • Sell value

• End Day button moved to far right and styled in red to prevent accidental clicks

• Roster view expanded from 10 to 12 gladiators and now displays win/loss records

• Improved clarity of auto-equip systems with updated text and guidance

• Tutorial updated to include combat camera zoom and follow options

Combat & Gameplay

• Increased team fight frequency from 10% → 30%

• Added combat effects for kills

Technical & Fixes

• Added Steam Cloud support

• Save files remain compatible

  • AddedNotedefeat records require a new save to track correctly

• Numerous minor bug fixes and general quality of life improvements

Developer Note

Streamers Nookrium and Dastactics have been incredibly helpful in highlighting real player pain points. As the developer, I know these systems inside and out, and many long-time players from the Itch.io days do as well. Watching fresh players interact with the game has been invaluable in improving onboarding and overall flow.

While I know many of you are eager for deeper systems, this phase has been focused on strengthening the foundation. These improvements have already increased retention and average playtime, and the game is now in a much stronger position going forward.

Work will now begin on the next core feature: Gladiator Classes.

A huge thank you to everyone on Discord and Steam Discussions for your continued feedback and support. It genuinely means a lot.

Credits Update

The following players will be added to the credits for completing the game in next update:

• Sidarous

• Sir Sup

• Ginge

Also, great to see Norker77 win a 1v5 fight, very impressive. That was achieved against the odds. The new systems make moments like this more possible, but that one stands out.

As always, my door is open. I will always make time for players who reach out. Let us create something special.