Blacksmith 2.0, new trader and difficulties!!

Sit down and join me while we go through new changes.

Since the last update, I was working mostly on the QoL changes and a few concepts and reworks :)

I don't remember the exact order of what I have reworked first, but I think it was a trader. I got rid of the old trader - I liked the filters though :D.. And the trader is now used for changing essences and selling and purchasing the event tickets :). It makes more sense to me.

As I was playing the game, it usually happened that I ended up with a full inventory and then I went to the blacksmith to upgrade the items to +15 - most of them broke .... but I hated the repeated clicking on the upgrade button - so we have now an auto upgrade to +12 and +15 :))) a single click and item will satisfyingly reach the demanded numeber in a second :).

Blacksmith has been then completely reworked with the UI closer to the inventory layout and the other features. Blacksmith now has a rank (shared between all characters) which will unlock advanced gear modifications like augmenting special effects (I have not yet tested it :D but I hope you will unlock it later than me :D) and +16 and +17 item upgrades.

Trolls now drop their own (pretty OP) unique items.

As I was playing and farming pretty comfortably, trolls and minotaurs .. I was thinking that the game is no longer challenging (wait until you get the new uniques .....) so I have added a new difficulty :) (they are unlocked and shown once you have L6+ char). The motivation or reason to play on higher diff is better gear :) it is still the gear you know, but it is 30 % better :) or 60 on the greatest difficulty.

I could write about every single change below, but this is not what is wanted :) So enjoy the full list of changes.

BTW: if you have any suggestions, go to our Discord and write to me :) or comment here :) I am always listening, and I am open to your suggestions (as long as they are not completely off the course of the game and my own capabilities/possibilities :D)

One more thing - I have to remove the archer range bonus from ascended heroes as the range has been enormous (I am shooting outside of my monitor :D) with the Aetheron's Triel T4 helmet with range (and you have not yet seen the T16 helmet .....)

NEW

Blacksmith 2.0: account-wide smith skill with XP, better success odds, destroy protection milestones, five scrap tiers, a Salvage tab, +16/+17 upgrades, augments learned from salvaging, an Augment tab to apply effects for scrap, and a Smith info tab; item tooltips show augment lines; clearer badge colors for +16/+17 gear. T16 Troll uniques: a full super-tier drop set — new weapons, jewelry, and armor with art; standout items include a slow heavy axe with big weapon damage, a staff with a triple echo proc, a scythe that grows stronger at night, a ring with huge loot pickup radius, and a longbow with extra attack range; tier 16 weapons and gear requirements; some unique armor can add spell damage to your totals. Aetheron's Judgment: third session difficulty after Trial — much tougher enemies and a stricter defense gate than Trial; ancestral-style loot with stronger baked stats and a big XP bonus; unlocks with the same Legacy requirement as Trial; in multiplayer the host picks Normal, Trial, or Judgment. Iron Gauntlet: arena mode with 15 waves and a 5-minute timer, free entry, scaling that matches enemy tiers then mixes types at high levels; score, star rating for a full clear, personal bests, and prestige totals saved per character; UI to pick Massacre vs Gauntlet, level, in-run HUD, and results. Rebirth Milestones: each rebirth cycle offers three random goals from several types (kills across tiers, exploration, bosses, skill variety, quests, map discoveries, gold, speed to the rebirth gate); each completed goal adds to your rebirth bonus stat points; tracker on the HUD; progress saved per character. Blacksmith: AUTO +12 and AUTO +15 repeat upgrades until that level, with the same costs, odds, and risks as doing it by hand, and a short pause between attempts. Aetheron's Trial: optional harder session — tougher enemies and defense gate, bonus XP, and Ancestral gear with stronger baked stats and a clear tooltip line; unlocks when account Legacy reaches the required threshold; works in solo from character select and in multiplayer from the host lobby. Combat Flow: playing actively (moving, casting, clicking) builds stacks that boost HP, mana, damage, defense, XP, and luck; stacks fall off after idle time; HUD icon shows when the next stack will drop. Design doc: endgame and progression systems documented for Combat Flow, XP stacking rules, Rebirth Milestones, Legacy gating, and Aetheron's Trial.

REMOVED

Hall of Ancestors: Archer no longer gets flat bonus attack range from Ancestral Blessings; other class bonuses there are unchanged.

IMPROVED

Multiplayer lobby: difficulty row no longer overlaps the Steam host invite hint. Archer: auto-attack no longer waits on the same target between shots; multishot uses spare arrows on other valid targets in range; dead enemies are not targeted. Blacksmith: Rank tab shows smith level; numbers for gold, essence, scrap, and costs use grouped digits; rank XP requirements per smith level are steeper for clearer progression. Blacksmith UI: wider two-column layout like inventory, tabs on top, clearer milestone text and spacing; paper doll sizing and position; shield slot hidden for Mage and Archer where it does not apply; upgrade panel groups cost and risk more readably; Smith tab focuses on milestones without repeating the currency strip; Rank tab has a mastery-style summary and a clean milestone table; Rank tab label stays correct in English and Czech even with old translation data. Difficulty choice: modal has better margins and wrapping so descriptions are not clipped. Quest board: tiered mob quests from T1–T16 with graduated difficulties and scaled rewards; Annihilator-style luck bonus against that mob type; Daily Grind unchanged; Available tab shows daily plus tier quests on one screen. Aetheron's Trial: baseline enemy toughness and defense gate raised to match the intended challenge; HUD shows the full difficulty name without clipping; first time after unlock you pick Normal or Trial in a popup, then your choice is remembered; small label on the selected hero card shows and changes difficulty. Rebirth Milestones: Diverse Hunter needs fewer kills per tier with a clearer HUD; Questmaster needs fewer quests; Speed Demon has a tighter time limit; Wanderer/Pathfinder goals read old save data formats reliably. Iron Gauntlet: faster wave pacing and a shorter countdown before the run starts. Spell Surge (Scholar's Robe): buff icon uses the robe art instead of placeholder text. Rebirth Milestones HUD: uses the same panel style as other status popups. Blacksmith auto-upgrade: much faster stepping between AUTO +12 / +15 attempts. Chaos Rift: world announcements are less noisy; on the world map, active rifts always show zone and variant; upcoming rifts show that detail when you are nearby. Buff bar: buff icons sort by remaining time so short buffs do not shuffle the row. XP bonuses: event XP from things like shrines, happy hour, superboss zones, and Combat Flow stack additively; Legacy XP bonus stays on its own rule. Ancestral Image (Archer): no cooldown; only one copy at a time — recasting replaces the old one at your aim point, in solo and multiplayer.

FIXED

Multiplayer lobby: difficulty updates for everyone as soon as the host changes it; duplicate connection errors when leaving the lobby are gone; difficulty buttons respond on the first click and sit above friend invites; Steam hint and friends list layout no longer block difficulty. Multiplayer Iron Gauntlet: joining clients see the same score as the host; bests and saves run correctly when a client starts the run. Character select: difficulty label no longer shows a double colon. Blacksmith: translation and formatting issues on the Smith tab; panel and save/load no longer break on augments or strict typing; script indentation error that blocked the panel is fixed. Stash: weapons, armor, and shields load cleanly with augment data. Falcon's Eye (Eagle Vision): at +15, attack range bonus doubles as intended and shows correctly on the tooltip. Aetheron's Trial gear: trial-forged uniques keep their boosted stats after sync and load; tooltip percentages scale consistently; code-driven unique effects get the same +30% style boost as other trial stats where applicable. Arena / Iron Gauntlet: retry and restart revive dead players before the next run; leaving the arena revives you if you died; Arena Master can send you back to town mid-run with a confirm prompt and clean reset. XP bar: no errors if XP arrives after the bar is gone. Iron Gauntlet dialog: unlock checks use the correct character stats. Chaos Rift: zone label under the player uses the correct map coordinates. Combat numbers: floating damage matches real damage after defense, trial rules, marks, and caps.