Bloodgrounds 1.0 - Out Now!

Ave Patronus.

Today, we are celebrating the full release of Bloodgrounds with version 1.0.

This update, concluding the Early Access phase, adds several new game systems and mechanics, tons of bug fixes and quality of life improvements, as well as numerous balancing adjustments.

However, our journey is far from over – after all, a Gladiator’s career only starts when they graduate from the Ludus and advance past the training grounds.

These are the highlights of what we prepared for you:

1) Item Crafting

Off-the-shelf weapons are not your style?

Then this offer is what you have been waiting for! Engineer Lecidia is looking forward to lending her expertise to those who desire bespoke equipment. Visit her in the Tactical Vault to place your order.

No matter the coin you can spare – a piece will be tailored to your requirements. However, master craftsmanship comes at a price.

This system allows players to craft custom equipment to meet all needs for a perfect Gladiator outfit.

The properties that can be set include the exact item type, Weapon Ability (attack bonus) for weapons and Armor Category (class) for armor as well as a priority for the type of stat points it will grant.

The smith’s selected Artisan Level increases the chance of getting higher quality (rarity) items.

2) Gambling

Low on cash? No problem!

Visit the Arbiter in the Dark Alley and beat him in a game of dice to fill your purse and inventory.
In case Lady Luck is not smiling on you, we made sure to put some aces up your sleeve – but they don't come for free.

Take a seat at the table – the starting bet is only 200 Gold!

In this Gambling minigame, players can spend Gold to test their proficiency in a game of dice.

One game can last up to five rounds and will end after a single loss. However, a selection of “Tricks” can be utilized to improve the rolled result for a small price.

After each win, players can choose to collect their booty – or wager all previous gains plus an increasing fee to take their shot at higher level rewards.

3) Audience Entertainment System

What is bloodsport about, if not entertainment?

To adequately reflect this, we added the Audience Entertainment System. At the beginning of each Challenge, ten event types are selected at random from a pool. Five of which gain the audience’s favor, while the other five detract from it. Doing a good job at entertaining the audience will yield additional rewards, while doing badly will reduce the rewards and may even result in punishment.

For more info on these systems, other features we added and the swath of balancing changes we made, please read the detailed changelog below.

Spend your coin wisely, win the audience’s favor and take your rightful position atop the Empire!

Vale, Patronus!

Daedalic Entertainment & Exordium Games

Detailed Change Log [ENG]

Features

Audience Entertainment

At the beginning of each Challenge 10 Audience Entertainment Events are chosen at random.  
5 to increase Audience Entertainment, 5 to decrease Audience Entertainment.
Additionally, certain fixed Events are added, depending on the Challenge.

Audience Entertainment is limited to Challenges. In Colosseum Battles, Audience Entertainment is not activated. At the end of the Challenge, each positive level of Audience Entertainment grants additional rewards. Each negative level will diminish rewards and may apply negative effects.

Added Audience Entertainment Meter

• displayed on the left side in Battle view

Battle Event Log

• added Audience Entertainment Events

Battle End Screen

• added Audience Entertainment report section
  

Armor Set Bonuses

Armor pieces now have types: Light, Medium and Heavy

Equipping a Gladiator with multiple Armor pieces of the same type now grants them bonus stats.
Additional pieces grant additional stats.

To see a Gladiator's current Armor Set Bonus, inspect them in the detail view and hover over the mannequin icon left of the head item slot.

Light Armor
2 pieces: +2% Evade chance
3 pieces: +3% Evade chance
4 pieces: +1 Move Point

Medium Armor
2 pieces: +2% Crit Chance
3 pieces: +3% Crit Chance
4 pieces: +10% Max Health

Heavy Armor
2 pieces: +2 Block
3 pieces: +3 Block
4 pieces: +10% Max Armor

New Enemies

Enemy: Owling

• A friendly little support unit that wants to cleanse and heal their allies. // Ever obedient owlings swoop in to aid their masters, even amid the bloodbath of the arena.
• Appears from Age 1 onward

Enemy: Sepulcrius

• Sacran necromancers, adepts of forbidden magic, who can raise the dead from the arena sands.

• Appears from Age 3 onward

Enemy: Broughtback

• The reanimated skeletal remains of brave gladiators who met their fate in the arena.
• Summoned by Enemy Sepulcrius
• Appears from Age 3 onward

Boss: Broodmother

• A particularly dangerous Arachnii matron who defends her brood with relentless ferocity, turning her lair into a death trap for the unwary.
• Appears in Age 1 boss battles

Boss: Nymph Queen

• The nameless leader of the wild nymphs, as mysterious and elusive as her kin, channels nature’s fury through raging insect swarms.
• Appears in Age 2 boss battles

Boss: Saint Ustus

• Burned at the stake by the Empire, he is bound to this plane in eternal punishment, his smoldering rage erupting as an all-consuming flame.
• Appears in Age 3 boss battles

Boss: The Warden

• A fusion of technology and cryo-magic, this towering colossus serves as the Spine’s relentless warden, freezing all who dare to escape its cold stone walls.
• Appears in Age 4 boss battles

Weapon Abilities

Weapons can now have different Weapon Abilities (attack types) which grant different bonus effects in addition to the attack pattern and damage. Each Weapon Type has a fixed set of associated Weapon Abilities. 

Weapons obtained as rewards, or bought in the shop, always have the default Weapon Ability.

The new Weapon Abilities can be selected when crafting a weapon in the Tactical Vault. 

New Weapon Abilities 

Weapon Ability: Chilling (Sword, Greatsword, Scepter, Staff)

• Chance to apply 1 stack of Status Frost to Targets

Weapon Ability: Crippling (Mace, Hammer, Pilum, Shortbow, Longbow)

• Chance to apply 1 stack of Status Slow to Target

Weapon Ability: Debilitating (Mace, Hammer, Pilum)

• Chance to apply 1 stack of Status Weak to Target

Weapon Ability: Impactful (Mace, Hammer)

• Chance to apply 1 stack of Status Stun to Targets

Weapon Ability: Incendiary (Sword, Greatsword, Focus, Scepter, Staff)

• Chance to apply 1 stack of Status Burn to Targets

Weapon Ability: Obscuring (Dagger, Focus, Crossbow)

• Chance to apply 1 stack of Status Shrouded to self

Weapon Ability: Pestilent (Spear, Scepter, Staff)

• Chance to apply 1 stack of Status Malady to Targets

Weapon Ability: Precise (Dagger, Spear, Focus, Crossbow)

• Chance to apply 1 stack of Status Precision to self

Weapon Ability: Quick (Dagger, Focus, Crossbow, Pilum)

• Chance to apply 1 stack of Status Haste to self

Weapon Ability: Sharp (Sword, Spear, Greatsword, Pilum, Shortbow, Longbow)

• Chance to apply 1 stack of Status Bleed to Targets

Weapon Ability: Snaring (Spear)

• Chance to apply 1 stack of Status Snare to Targets

Weapon Ability: Terrifying (Mace, Hammer)

• Chance to apply 1 stack of Status Fear to target

Weapon Ability: Toxic (Sword, Greatsword, Crossbow, Shortbow, Longbow)

• Chance to apply 1 stack of Status Poison to targets

Balancing

Default Weapon Abilities

Ranged Weapon Abilities now have a minimum Range and have been adjusted accordingly.

Weapon Ability: Arrow Shot (Shortbow)

• Now has a minimum Range
• Can no longer target directly adjacent Tiles
• Adjusted Range

Weapon Ability: Blast (Focus)

• Now has a minimum Range
• Can no longer target directly adjacent Tiles
• Adjusted Range

Weapon Ability: Cast (Scepter)

• Now has a minimum Range
• Can no longer target directly adjacent Tiles
• Adjusted Range

Weapon Ability: Fire (Crossbow weapon type)

• Now has a minimum Range
• Can no longer target directly adjacent Tiles
• Adjusted Range

Weapon Ability: Impale (Pilum weapon type)

• Now has a minimum Range
• Can no longer target directly adjacent Tiles
• Increased Range

Weapon Ability: Long Shot (Longbow)

• Now has a minimum Range
• Can no longer target directly adjacent Tiles
• Adjusted Range

Weapon Ability: Throw (Throwing Knives weapon type)

• Now has a minimum Range
• Can no longer target directly adjacent Tiles
• Adjusted Range

Weapon ability: Weave (Staff)

• Now has a minimum Range
• Can no longer target directly adjacent Tiles
• Adjusted Range
  

Gladiator Abilities

Ability: Water Flows (Magus Class)

• Now removes all stacks of Burn from all affected units 

Ability: Submerge (Magus Class) 

• No longer applies Slow to self 
• Now removes all stacks of Burn from self

Ability: Fire Wall (Magus Class) 

• Increased amount of Grid Tiles affected
• Decreased the amount of stacks of Ember on affected Grid Tiles
• Decreased base Damage
• Increased Range (level 3)

Ability: Tempest (Magus Class)

• Increased casting Range
• Increased area of effect (levels 2 and 3)

Ability: Entangle (Retarius Class)

• Changed Ability Type to Melee
• Increased Damage (previously 0 on all levels)

Ability: Pilum Dei (Retarius Class)

• Reduced Range
• Reduced Chance to apply Vulnerable

Ability: Barricade (Retarius Class)

• Changed area of effect pattern (levels 2 and 3)

Ability: Rope Rush (Secutor Class) 

• Increased Range (level 3)

Ability: Vindicta (Secutor Class) 

• Increased Range (level 3)

Ability: Dreadstrike (Secutor Class) 

• Increased number of secondary Targets to apply Fear to (levels 2 and 3) 

Ability: Venom Spit (Serpens Class)

• Now has a minimum Range
• Adjusted Range

Ability: Toxic Bloom (Serpens Class)

• Adjusted Pattern (now diagonal, previously square)
• Increased Damage (level 1)
• Reduced Damage (levels 2 and 3)
• Increased area of effect (level 3)

Ability: Plague Syphon (Serpens Class)

• Increased cast Range (levels 2 and 3)

Ability: Shadow Step (Serpens Class)

• Increased Range (levels 2 and 3)

Ability: Double Barrage (Arcum Class)

• Adjusted area of effect: No longer hits Tiles directly adjacent to Gladiator
• Increased area of effect (levels 2 and 3)

Ability: Switch Hit (Arcum Class)

• Now has a minimum Range: No longer hits Targets directly adjacent to Gladiator
• Increased Range (all levels)

Ability: Crippling Shot (Arcum Class)

• Now has a minimum Range: No longer hits Targets directly adjacent to Gladiator
• Increased Range (all levels)

Ability: Bomb (Arcum Class)

• Increased Range (all levels)

Ability: Volley(Arcum Class)

• Now has a minimum Range: No longer hits Targets directly adjacent to Gladiator
• Increased Range (all levels)

Ability: Escape Artist (Agilis Class)

• No longer applies Weak to self
• Applies Shrouded to self (levels 2 and 3)

Ability: Caltrops (Agilis Class)

• Increased Range (level 3)

Ability: Holy Aura (Deriva Class)

• Increased area of effect (level 3)

Ability: Unphased (Caligo Class)

• Increased Range (levels 2 and 3)

Ability: Porta Occulta (Caligo Class)

• Increased Range (levels 2 and 3)

Ability: Umbra Mea (Caligo Class)

• Increased Range (level 3)

Ability: Gift of the River (Summoned Unit Spirit of the River – Vespis Class)

• Now removes all stacks of Burn from the units affected

Ability: Hornet Swarm (Obstacle: Hornet Nest)

• Now applies 1 stack of Swarmed (previously 3 stacks of Bleed)

Ability: Jungle's Grasp (Obstacle: Entangler)

• Now automatically adjusts cooldown to the number of units to prevent permanent Snare Status

Enemies

Enemy: Gold Golem 

• Adjusted spawn probability 
• Now spawns earlier to prevent artificial extension of the Battle

Enemy: Overseer

• Units spawned with the ability Tyrant's Call no longer reward Experience or Gold.

Enemy: Clay Soldier

• Clay Soldiers revived with the Reassemble ability no longer reward Experience or Gold.

Ability: Stormsong (Boss Dammas II)

• now limited to 6 simultaneous Storm Rifts (previously unlimited)

Ability: Voidsong (Boss Dammas II)

• now limited to 6 simultaneous Void Rifts (previously unlimited)

Status Effects

Status: Burn

• Now removes all stacks of Frost from the affected unit

Status: Frost

• Now removes all stacks of Burn from the affected unit

Status: Swarmed 

• New
• At end of turn of the affected unit: Deals damage equal to 5% of its Maximum Health (ignores Armor and Block) and removes 1 stack.
• Removes one stack, when the affected unit takes damage. 
• Stackable.

Status effect: Isolation

• reduced extra damage to 25% (from 50%)

Miscellaneous

Forum Quests: 

Reduced required amount for boss defeating Quests to 1 (from 3):

Cyclops Slayer, Bad Doctrine, Wraith Hunter, Torture The Torturers

Building: Inn 

• Base chance of success now increases with each Inn level.

Tactical Machines

• can no longer be used in Boss battles

Fixes and Improvements

Ability: Rope Them In (Secutor Class)

• Now correctly calculates a chance to stun the target.

Achievement: Collector 

• adjusted required amount to match new enemy type count (40)

Achievement: Stonemason

• Now is awarded as intended

Achievement: Urban Planning

• Fixed an error that could result in the achievement not being awarded correctly.

Building: Town Hall

• Now displays cost for upgrading buildings directly in the left hand list
• Now indicates when current upgrade limit is reached

City Event: Visiting Master 

• No longer appears in situations where upgrading abilities is not possible. (e.g. due to being at current maximum levels)

City QOL

• A Gladiator losing a Trait (e.g. through a special event) now adds a notification to the City Event Log
• A Tactical Machine being upgraded now adds a notification to the City Event Log
• A Sabotage being upgraded now adds a notification to the City Event Log
• Items rewarded from City Events, Estate Quests and Forum Quests now have an entry in the City Event Log