Hey, it’s Dominik - the solo developer behind Arms of God.
Steam Next Fest starts today, and I’ve got a surprise for you. For SNF only, I’m adding not one, but two brand-new features to the demo:
Endless Mode unlocks after you finish Act II (the last wave) - so you’ll need to clear the full demo first.
Enemies spawn randomly and grow stronger every second. Kills increase your final score.
During Endless Mode you can earn extra Ashes, and find one Chest - the longer you wait to pick it up, the bigger the loot inside. You also earn extra Vows for killing bosses.
Your score is now saved in the Global Leaderboard (at the top of the in-game menu).
The leaderboard will be wiped when Steam Next Fest ends, so this is a one-time chance to jump in and show the world what kind of monster player you are.
After the event ends, I’ll publish the final leaderboard here - so if you want your name carved into the Order’s records, enter the demo now.
Endless Mode and the Global Leaderboard are available only during Steam Next Fest (Feb 23 - Mar 2).
Alongside the SNF features, the demo also gets a big content drop - 20 new weapons, new music for the main menu, and Tier 3 weapons can now be created by merging Tier 2 weapons, plus a bunch of fixes and tweaks.
20 NEW TIER 3 WEAPONS
After unlocking the passive Ascension Protocol, merging Tier 2 weapons can now create powerful Tier 3 variants:
Hellblade
Sanctum Pike
Stormbreaker
Super Shotgun
Aegis Cycler
Trinity Blast
Light Beam
Annihilator
Heavenfall Incinerator
Solar Rifle
Overdetonator
Infernothrower
Super Blaster
Infernal Crossbow
Stormbringer
Stormfall
Ion Rail
Shockstring
Teslabringer
Ubercharger
Each newly transformed weapon unlocks its own Codex entry.
14 NEW PASSIVE UPGRADES
Ascension Protocol - Weapon merges can create Tier 3 weapons.
Divine Requisition - Once per wave, refresh Prayers without spending Souls.
Arsenal Doctrine I - Each refresh increases the chance to offer a weapon you already carry by +30%.
Arsenal Doctrine II - Each refresh increases the chance to offer a weapon you already carry by +60%.
Merciful Liturgy I - All Prayers cost 4% fewer Souls.
Merciful Liturgy II - All Prayers cost 8% fewer Souls.
Order’s Reserve I - Start each Crusade with +10 Souls.
Order’s Reserve II - Start each Crusade with +20 Souls.
Order’s Reserve III - Start each Crusade with +30 Souls.
Consecrated Armament - Your Main Weapon starts consecrated with an Enhancer, granting +30% Damage and Range.
Lazarus Protocol - Upon fatal damage, you are restored once per run.
Defy Death - Once per wave, a killing strike will not end you and grants brief invulnerability.
Fervent Devotion I - Each purchased Prayer reduces the next Refresh cost by 5%.
Fervent Devotion II - Each purchased Prayer reduces the next Refresh cost by 10%.
NEW PERKS
Overkill - Excess damage causes an explosion that injures nearby enemies.
Double Attack - 50% chance to perform a second attack. All melee weapons have unique animations for this perk.
Burning Ground - Projectile explosions can create burning ground. Works with all elemental types.
BALANCE CHANGES
Range stat nerfed in mods and upgrades
Melee Tier 3 weapons adjusted
Overdetonator explosion radius reduced
Rebalanced damage, attack speed, explosive radius, regeneration rate and stat conversion
Rebalanced upgrade stat transfer between weapons
Reimplemented and adjusted HP-steal values
Nerfed and fixed upgrades like "on skill use add X" and "permanent damage"
Critical damage on kill perk can now transfer its % bonus to other weapons
GAMEPLAY IMPROVEMENTS
Massive performance improvements (spawning, enemies, projectiles, new system for ragdolls) - the game should now run at 50/60 FPS on Steam Deck most of the time
Melee VFX updated - faster, cleaner, now fully compatible with elemental change module
Dodge now knocks back smaller enemies
Improved Spectre skill ragdolls
HP regen/steal popups are now combined into a single value
New tutorial added in Act 1, Wave 6
Wave intro cinematic can now be skipped with ESC
Gamepad direction arrow added for melee, grenade launcher and mine launcher in Manual Aim mode
Refresh has a chance to offer a weapon you already carry
Changed metaprogression resources names and icons
New visual layout for Pause Menu. Includes a static Photo Mode view (camera control will be added later).
Added settings: disable damage numbers, change cursor color
Added Codex to the Main Menu view.
AUDIO
New SFX for weapons and UI
Sound volume normalized across the entire game
The Crusade now begins with a brand-new main theme (made by Adam Dzieżyk)
FIXES
Cooldown icons on weapons fixed
Manual aim rotation bug fixed
Permanent damage and crit properly saved and loaded
Fixed weapons shooting invisible enemies
Enemy grenade projectiles no longer hit walls incorrectly
Fixed pause menu ESC exit
Fixed manual aim when main weapon is melee
Fixed boss camera behavior on death
Tutorial no longer overlaps Codex
Cross Slam brightness reduced
Codex button changed to icon
A lot of small fixes that I forgot to a make note :)
If you haven’t tried the demo yet - this is the best time. And if you already played it before, I really encourage you to jump back in and experience this limited-time SNF edition.
If you like it, please consider sharing the demo with your Steam friends - it helps a ton during Next Fest! Also, feel free to join my Discord: share your screenshots, drop feedback, and if you’re a content creator, we have a dedicated channel where you can post links to your videos and streams.
Thanks for the constant support, bug reports, and all the kind words - it genuinely keeps me going.
Dominik