Gladiators, welcome to patch 0.5! I've bumped the game version up a whole percentage point as this build is now using Godot 3.5 and should improve performance and reduce crashes for some users, especially those on Windows 11. (Fingers crossed).

The other major addition to this patch is the introduction of the Simulcrum battles , available now at the training dummy. Once you have defeated a regional or grand champion, you can test your luck against a holographic replica of them at the Training Dummy to try out different tactics and so on. You won't gain XP a second time from fighting them, but you also won't die - and you'll gain valuable experience against fighting the heavy hitters of the game.

There are a few other additions, balance changes and so on new to this build, but as always, this game is very much a work in progress so be prepared for some weirdness in balancing - some builds and tactics will be more powerful now, some less so. That's the nature of the game until we launch in full late this year.

I hope you enjoy this patch and as always, thanks so much for your great feedback and reviews on the game!

Cheers, Oliver Joyce
Whiskeybarrel Studios

V 0.5.0.A ( June 19 2022 , includes changes rolled from 0.4.10.A)

---- NOTEABLE NEW FEATURES ----

• The Simulcrum Panel is now available at the Training Dummy! This panel allows you to do battle against holographic simulations of arena champions you have defeated in the past. You will gain no XP for defeating these champions, but they will allow you to improve your battle tactics and practice strategies without suffering the penalty of losing a battle.
  
• Updated game engine to Godot 3.5. This should hopefully fix some of the crashing issues on Win 11 due to large font problems. Should also improve performance on some machines.
  
• Added a loading screen to certain sections of the game where new gladiators spawn - most commonly when the player visits the campfire, the overworld or enters a town. This will help prevent crashing.
  

---- BALANCE CHANGES / STAT FIXES ---

• Defence stat now boosts your defence vs all skills by + 2 per point (up from 1)
  
• Vitality now increases your health by 6 per point (up from 4)
  
• Whirlwind now only takes 2 turns to activate (down from 3) but costs essence to use during both phases of activation
  
• Greatly reduced the forward movement distance on Whirlwind
  
• Increased the essence cost of walking
  
• Training Dummy's stats per level have been nerfed significantly
  

--- BATTLE CHANGES / FIXES --

• Melee critical hits (from regular power/medium/quick attacks) no longer cause knockback, only grievous hits will
  
• Gladiators now replenish a small amount of essence at the start of each turn no matter what ( 20 % of what they would regain by doing a 'rest'). This is to help minimize the amount of resting in the game.
  
• Fixed a bug where enemies could keep chugging potions even after they had zero left
  
• Enemy will now select the highest available healing / essence potions they have available rather than the first they find at random
  

---- MISC FIXES AND CHANGES --------

• Linked to the new loading screens above, improved gladiator generation routine to hopefully prevent game softlocks and crashes on older machines. Loading time will be a second or two slower but we should get less crashes.
  
• Restored the outline text on the 'Days remaining' big text at the campfire ( had to remove it because of the above Win 11 crashing issues on earlier versions )
  
• Fixed a bug where higher level items appeared as lower level on game reload and had lower armour values etc.