Update Notes For Aug 10

Arcane Idle · published 11 Aug 2026, 01:00 UTC

Two new areas, a new boss, a whole new weapon type, and enemies that finally know how to keep their distance.

Rustwake Gate (levels 18–20) four rooms of Armored Drones guarding the way in.
Rustwake Foundry (levels 18–24) five rooms ending in a boss fight.

Both are marked on the world map.

A level 24 machine that fights at range and never lets you settle.

Rail Volley: sweeps the entire room with rail fire and stuns everything it touches.
Overdrive: at 40% HP the servos stop pacing themselves. Permanent +50% attack speed for the rest of the fight, and it runs visibly hot.
Immune to stun: you will not be crowd-controlling your way out of this one.
Drops 11 unique pieces, including the Apex Railfang, Apex Bulwark Plating and the Apex Targeting Rune.

Killing it unlocks a new achievement.

Armored Drone MK1: (18–20) heavily armored ranged unit that backs away when you close in.
Steel-Joint Stalker: (19–22) fast, long-reaching, and the source of most of the Foundry's gear.

Fast, Agility-scaling weapons with their own art, available from level 1 all the way to endgame.

32 new items in total: 27 equipment pieces, 2 runes, and 3 new sellables.
A full Rustwake set built out of scrapped machines, Rustplate Carapace, Sinewire Jerkin, Static-Weave Shroud, Arc Coil Rod, Piston-Head Maul, Stalker's Optic Visor, Tension Coil Band and more.
A barrow line of gear with its own Grave Rot and Barrow Momentum effects, Barrow-Iron Longsword, Gravewarden's Bulwark, Shroudweave Cowl, Widow's Vigil Staff, Ossuary Reliquary, Pallbearer's Signet, Cairn-Marked Plate and the Gravecaller's Sigil Rune.
Castle Kitten now drops real loot instead of just coins: the Sinir Watch Blade, Watcher's Iron Sallet, Sinir Sentry Hood, Tower Guard's Buckler, Watchfire Cedar Staff and Kitten Claw Charm.

Ranged units no longer stand still while a melee attacker chews on them.

Kiting: a ranged unit steps out of melee reach during the gap between its own attacks. It never costs a shot, it never runs forever, and after a few steps the unit plants its feet and fights.
Orba now kites. So do the Darkstinger and the Armored Drone MK1 expect those fights to move around a lot more.

Enemies can now be immune to specific kinds of effects: stun, poison, bleed, curse, or everything at once.
Broodmother, Gromm and the Steel-Joint Apex are now immune to stun. Perma-stunning a boss is over.
Blocked effects show a clear IMMUNE popup over the target and a line in the combat log, so you always know why something didn't land.
Consumables are no longer wasted on a target that's immune to them, the item stays in your bag.

On-hit effects now trigger from every equipment slot, not just your weapon. Helmets, chests, rings and shields with a proc were silently doing nothing before, they work now.
Stun duration increased from 1s to 3s. Stuns are worth landing.
Orba Lifebound Orb: now targets your lowest-health ally instead of a random one. Healing reduced from 200% to 130% of damage taken.
Early-game gear pass. Low-level equipment had bloated stat lines and inflated vendor value; stat budgets and sell prices have been tightened across swords, maces, shields, chests and helmets. A few pieces lost a third stat they had no business carrying.

Area level ranges on the world map showed the wrong values (and sometimes 0) for areas that don't override enemy levels. They now report the real levels you'll face.
Enemies now play their own death sound instead of the generic one.