Combat

How a round resolves

1. Initiative. AGI + DEX/2 + weapon speed. The higher total swings first each round.
2. The swing. Damage rolls between the weapon minimum and maximum, plus STR × 0.3 and flat mastery damage, scaled by damage %.
3. Critical. Attacker crit chance minus the target INT/6 and crit resistance. A crit multiplies the roll by 2.0 + DEX/200 (+ skill crit damage).
4. Dodge. Target AGI/4 + dodge bonuses, minus attacker DEX/5 and INT/8. A dodge zeroes the hit.
5. Mirror Ward and block. A ward can negate one hit per fight. A shield block subtracts the shield armour from the hit (never below 1).
6. Counter. Target AGI/8 + counter bonuses (cap 30%) answers with a strike of its own.
7. Armour. Percentage reduction with diminishing returns, capped at 70%. Then the post-armour mitigation budget: Stoneskin, Last Stand, damage reduction and Tortoise together can never cut more than half of what is left.
8. On hit. Lifesteal, bleed, stun, execute, reflect, curse effects and god procs fire here.
9. Round 20. All healing stops. Lifesteal, regeneration, Vampiric Fang: nothing heals past round 20, so no duel lasts forever.

Derived stats

What the character sheet shows is exactly what the engine uses. Base attributes here already include gear, skills, sets and mastery.

Hard caps and overflow

Three stats have a hard ceiling, and anything you push past it is not wasted: every 3 points of overflow become +1 of the attribute that feeds the stat. The bonus only flows downstream (to crit multiplier, initiative, HP), never back into the capped stat, so there is no loop.

Armour and mitigation

Armour is a percentage, not a flat number: reduction = armour / (armour + 80 + 6 × attacker level), capped at 70%. The same armour value cuts a smaller share against higher-level foes. Armour pierce (curses, traits, Dimachaerus crits) removes a percentage of the target armour before this step; Mars and Jupiter procs remove it entirely.

After armour comes the mitigation budget. Stoneskin, Last Stand, the damage-reduction channel (capped at 30%) and Tortoise Aegis multiply together, but the whole stack can never remove more than 50% of the post-armour hit. With the 70% armour cap that leaves a hard floor of 15% of the raw hit. A tank cannot be immortal; a duel always ends.

Proc effects and their caps

Procs come from skills, item traits, curses and uniques. The cap is applied to the sum of all sources.

Class passives

Class	Passive	STR	DEX	AGI	END	INT	CHA
Murmillo	The Wall: +10 block	14	8	6	14	8	6
Retiarius	The Eel: +8 dodge	8	12	14	8	10	6
Dimachaerus	Twin Blades: +8 crit	12	14	10	10	8	8
Bestiarius	Beast Blood: +12% max HP, beast companion	8	8	8	10	10	14

Base attributes at level 1. Tortoise Aegis and Bleeding Crown set crit to 0; Vampiric Fang cuts max HP by 15%; Swiftblade Sigil guarantees the extra attack. See uniques.

PvP arena

Duels against other players cost one arena point (5 in the pool, one back every 15 minutes). Opponents come from a ±2 level window. The winner takes 5% of the loser's carried gold, so spend or bank before you log off.

Elo uses K = 32 with the standard expected-score formula, so farming much weaker opponents barely moves it and losing a defence costs real points. Beating a sparring partner from your own ludus is worth half Elo; losing to one costs the full amount.

Tactics: aggressive hits harder, defensive dodges more, cunning balances. Your defence tactic is used when others attack you.

From the in-game handbookPvP Arena

Fight other gladiators for gold, exp, Elo and glory.

⚔ Arena points (X/5) - each fight costs one; they regenerate 1 every 15 minutes. You cannot fight while your gladiator is busy elsewhere.

Matchmaking - opponents come from a ±2 level window around you (at least 5 to choose from; if the window is thin, the closest levels fill in). Click any opponent's name to inspect their full profile before committing - scouting is free, losing is not.

Winner steals 5% of the loser's carried gold. Spend before you sleep, or park gold in the guild treasury / your vault.

Tactics - aggressive hits harder, defensive dodges more, cunning balances. Your defense tactic is used when others attack you - set it and the game remembers.

🐺 Your Nemesis - a rival named Rutilus the Jackal hunts you. Answer his challenge from the Arena to fight him; each win escalates him and he returns tougher after licking his wounds. Break him five times to earn the title Jackal's Bane.

🏆 Tournament - free signup all week; everything resolves automatically Saturday 20:00 using your stats at that moment, so keep training until the bell. Everyone fights three rounds against opponents on a similar record, then the best eight fight a knockout bracket for the title. Three divisions by level (Novices 1-9, Veterans 10-25, Masters 26+), each with its own champion: 50 gems, a lead tablet and a unique title; runner-up and semifinalists get rewards too. Last week's podium hangs in the arena for all to see.

Colosseum tournament

Sign-up is free all week. On Saturday 20:00 server time the bracket resolves automatically with your character as it stands at that moment: equipment, skills, class passive and province perks. The champion takes a lead tablet (the only source of tier V curses), 50 gems, 100 glory and the Champion title; the runner-up a silver tablet and 20 gems; third place 10 gems. Last week's podium hangs in the arena.

Nemesis

Lose to the same opponent often enough and the game names him your Nemesis. He challenges you from the arena, escalates every time you beat him and comes back tougher after licking his wounds.