V 1.1.0 - BOSS RUSH MODE , the ultimate post-endgame challenge arrives!

Hey mighty gladiators, version 1.1.0.A is here, and it's a big patch!

Woah, where to start. Boss Rush Mode, at last - I always wanted to have some endgame content for those who defeated the Starbound Gladiator, and here it is. Once one of your gladiators has faced the final boss in the game (win or lose) that mode will unlock for you. If you've done this already, simply go to the Load Campaign screen, and click back and the Boss Rush will unlock - it just needs to check your saves.

This is an endless mode where you can face off all of the champions, one after the other in either linear or random order. They progressively get tougher and you will ultimately fall, the challenge is lasting as many rounds as you can. A bit of fun for those who have beaten everything else.

Also by popular demand, you can now bring (some) of your solo campaign gladiators into multiplayer. This is a one-way conversion but should be a fun addition for those wanting to test their great heroes against other real gladiators.

So, this update represents the end of the major post-launch updates. I've basically put everything in the game that I had intended to now. Of course, with a game like this you could add stuff forever, but the time eventually comes when (especially as a solo developer) you need to start moving onto new projects to keep the business going, to ensure you can keep making games and supporting the family.

Now and again a developer has a hit like Vampire Survivor and can work on it forever ( or never work again if they wish!) but when you're in that middle space of 'successful enough to do this fulltime' but 'not successful enough to not keep releasing games often' , like I am, you have to keep agile.

That of course does not mean I will be abandoning this game at all, it just means that I'll slow down the updates and probably do weekly maintenance updates for the next while. I do plan on doing a proper DLC update with more content down the track too, possibly end of the year - so this is far from the end of the road.

Here are the patch notes, enjoy!|

Cheers, Oliver Joyce
Whiskeybarrel Studios

V 1.1.0.A (March 24 2023):

--- NEW FEATURES ---
• Boss Rush Mode! This is a new game mode unlocked when any gladiator completes the game ( all you have to do is have fought the Starbound Gladiator , whether you won or not does not matter - either way the Boss Rush will unlock.) The game will scan your saved gladiators when you first click "Load Gladiator" to check and see if one qualifies.
• Boss Rush Mode allows you to select any gladiator and take part in a challenge where they face every arena in the game, one after the other in combat. Much like the "Survival Round" arena rules, you cannot regain armour or heal between battles. This game mode never ends, the challenge is seeing just how far you can get!
• You can now load Single Player campaign gladiators to Multiplayer gladiators ( Full Launch version or later, no Early Access gladiators can be converted unfortunately ). This is a *ONE WAY* conversion that can be done at any time after creating your gladiator, so you can then use them to fight in multiplayer battles.

--- BALANCE CHANGES / STAT FIXES ---
• Removed 999 essence cap on skills ( no maximum cost now )
• Increased all essence regeneration by 30%
• Hardy talent increased to 60% ( up from 30% )
• Salute of honour enrage removed
• Fixed a bug where Virtuoso did could potentially do less damage than intended on bosses
• Sword , Axe, Bow, Club and Polearm Mastery are now 3% per point up from 2%
• Increased damage done by two handed melee weapons
• Slightly increased the damage done by bows
• Leap of Lions move distance is now tied to your strength
• Reduced cooldown on Ghost Strike to 4 turns
• Reduced essence cost of default attacks slightly
• Adjusted skill essence costs across the board

--- BATTLE CHANGES / FIXES ---
• Laser gun is now treated as a two handed weapon
• Better randomization on which limb is lost in battle
• Fixed a bug where Combat Ready talent did not work in Single Player campaign
• Overload talent now functions as designed

--- SHOP FIXES CHANGES ---
• Fixed a bug where learning a skill on multiplayer mode would take you back to shop selection and not the Training Dummy

--- MISC FIXES AND CHANGES ---
• Fixed a bug with XP percent showing 0%
• Fixed an bug where characters could select subclasses not allowed by their species
• Fixed a bug where you could keep fighting even past the final hours of the day at camp.
• Adventures will no longer spawn on the overworld map from day 298 onward.
• Switched the positions of Observatories 2 and 3 on the map
• Alignment now shows on Load Character panel
• Undead can now select hair/beards in character creation