Big week. Here's what landed:
Combat got deeper
Two new skills: Melee & Archery. Fighting trains them — every level adds damage, up to +30%. Same use-to-improve system as mining.
Leg shots. An arrow to the legs cripples the target for a couple of seconds. Headshots still crit — now flanks and low shots matter too.
Weapon identity. A sword crit opens a bleed. An axe crit sunders armor. Pick your tool for the fight, not just the tier.
New stagger effects.
Gems & Jewelry
Mining stone and ore can now turn up raw rubies, sapphires, emeralds and diamonds — better odds deep underground. Cut them at the anvil, set them in gold, and wear rings and amulets with real bonuses: ruby = damage, sapphire = stamina, emerald = carry weight, diamond = a bit of everything. Gold finally has a job besides coins.
Alchemy
Forage mushrooms in the forest and brew health, stamina and swiftness potions at the workbench.
Two new biomes + a better desert
Jungle — dense palm groves, and coconuts that both feed you and quench thirst.
Swamp — willows, murky pools, reeds to gather, and mud that slows you down.
The desert got dunes and rare hidden oases.
Quality of life
Prospecting — hold a pick, press E on rock, and get a rough read of what the region holds ("Iron — RICH"). No exact spots.
Tutorial — new players get a short objective chain from first tree to first copper ingot.
Lifetime stats — kills, deaths, blocks mined, playtime and more, on your character panel. /inspect another player to size them up.
Steam achievements are wired up — 15 to start, from your first tree to breaching a gate.
Under the hood
New music: a low-health danger sting and fresh night tracks, plus ambient sound for the new biomes.
Anti-cheat hardening: spam rate limits and an automatic item-duplication audit on the server.
More next week.