combat system update

Hello Anathema!!

We were so excited to test out the Great Hunt system with two awesome hunts last month! It was so exciting to see the corruption mechanic at work, and we were absolutely blown away by the time, skill, and love poured into every hunt submission. We can only offer humble, heartfelt thanks to everyone who participated in these events and stayed with us as we made some mid-event changes.

As a staff team, we learned a lot from these hunts, and saw a need to find a new direction for the future. After lots of staff discussion, we have landed on a system we are very excited to try! We can't promise this new combat system won't be tweaked in the future, but it tested well and we believe it better represents the laid-back, story-driven spirit of the game, and incentivizes the collaborative elements we think make Anathema special.

Click here to view the new Great Hunt system, and read on below to see why we think it's just the thing Anathema needs!

✨ magic-based damage

The primary focus of the new system is damage that is based on a character's magic stats. Having Gold-based attacks was simple to count, but was at odds with the central focus of Anathema's progression systems, which are all geared toward developing your character's magic and leading them on the path toward corruption. Now, Hunts reward those who have used story prompts, quests, and items to power up their characters, and honors every stat-based decision players have made to customize their characters.

The new system also allows for characters to be boosted by collaboration and cooperation, without sharing an actual "damage total".

These changes will result in reduced damage done to monsters (which is good, because y'all killed the first one ten times over), and battles that are affected by narrative, in-world factors rather than gold count. Additionally, we are now offering double gold on all Great Hunt related work, including attacks, so that players can continue to use hunts as an opportunity to reap rewards and power their mages.

🥇 new killing blow and master hunter rewards

Since the new system favors mages who are already powerful, we decided it was redundant to offer stat-based rewards for the top three performing hunt mages. Now the reward for Killing Blow as well as the Silver and Bronze Hunters (other than bragging rights 😉) will be a rare Badge, a small sum of gold, and +1 Corruption. Since Corruption provides a competitive edge under the new system, this is a tempting reward, but also prevents mages from placing in the top three too many times, lest they become monsters themselves.

All mages who participate still receive +2 stat points to be distributed between Power and Discipline. With this reward and the boosted Gold, we hope Hunts give ALL mages an opportunity to power up and show off!

🤝 cooperation, incentivized!

Our new combat system gives major mechanical rewards for working together. Individual mages are capable of more when they are part of a team, because teammates reduce Cost and raise the cap of damage done per attack.

Additionally, hunts can now be a group activity! A set of characters can give themselves a team name, and the damage of every collab they create as a group will be tracked. Named teams can compete against each other, and the team that does the most damage will win an exclusive badge!

🧾 narrative freedom, and room to improve

The new system feature we may be most proud of is the narrative freedom it gives. Individual hunt bonuses provide the opportunity to make each hunt memorable and mechanically unique, and gives different kinds of mages times to shine. Item bonuses bonuses for using Scrolls, Amulets, Handmade Idols and more allow additional perks to those who have spent gold in the Shop.

Most exciting of all is the room it gives the game to grow. Swarm hunts will be updated to the new system soon, and we are already discussing fun features such as combat-specific items, and other avenues for playing with stats, buffs/debuffs, etc. We are so very excited to give this system a try, and hope you are too!!!!!!!!

👹 a monster on the horizon...

And of course, we couldn't release a new combat system without having a hunt in the works. After we launch an exciting narrative event this weekend, the next hunt will not be far away! Get your mages ready for the fray, and don't be afraid to ask any questions you may have about the new system. Feel free to comment on this bulletin with questions, or hit us up in #ask-staff in the Discord server if you need assistance!

Click here to view the new Great Hunt system!