The Reaper
He picks one of you and marks you. From that moment he's not interested in anyone else — until you go down. Then he breaks off, walks to your body, calls up four guards to stand watch, and starts taking your soul.
You have thirty seconds. Hurt him enough and he'll drop it. Hit him hard enough to move him and he'll lose the thread entirely. Do nothing, and he finishes — and what stands up afterward is faster, red, and no longer needs to steal life from anyone.
Enemies that fight back
Most of this month went into making enemies feel like they're making decisions instead of walking at you.
Melee enemies now charge — they wind up, commit, and can be read
Ranged enemies hold their distance, reposition when their line is blocked, and stop shooting through walls
Enemies react to being hit instead of soaking it silently
Some ignore you entirely and go for your pylons — you can't just fight the crowd anymore
Bosses change behaviour as the fight turns against you
Blocked enemies now break through cover instead of shuffling in place
Crusader: Sovereign's Sunder
A new Solenne boon. Ground Smash now throws enemies backward instead of just hurting them. Take it more than once and it hits harder.
It's also the answer to a certain thirty-second problem.
The arenas
Solenne and Ashfold got proper skies, lighting, and atmosphere — they should read as places now rather than test levels.
Under the hood
Large performance pass on death effects — killing a crowd shouldn't hitch anymore
Health now carries properly between trials
Fixed enemies getting stuck at the end of their patrol routes
Fixed enemy damage and behaviour values not applying correctly
What we'd love to hear
This is still a playtest and feedback is the whole point.
Does the Reaper read clearly, or is it unclear what's happening to you?
Do you notice enemies going for the pylons while you're busy?
How does performance feel when a big wave dies at once?
Anything that felt unfair rather than hard
Known issue: the pylon counter on the HUD can show the wrong number. Fix is in progress.
Thanks for playing.