Arena Mode

After hitting "Arena" on the main menu screen, players will be able to choose between starting a new game or entering Practice Mode, separate game modes that have nothing to do with the main story.

## Arena Mode

Arena Mode allows the player to create a character and make that character the **manager** of a guild of gladiators. The members will partake in different types of **matches** against AI human opponents most of the time (except The Beast mode) for gold. The manager is tasked with "recruiting" and "hiring" fighters for the guild, fighting in matches, and **purchasing weapons and armour** for the guild's members, as well as outfitting them and **managing their skills**. There are different **rankings** each member can have, based on their combat experience. All recruited members begin at Inept rank - the lowest - and through combat build their experience towards Master rank, similarly to the manager. Hired fighters can be hired based on their class and rank, such as **Example**: Novice Combatant (Combatant is the only class as of 6.5.4) and level up as other members. Higher ranking matches are worth more gold.

**FIGHTERS ONLY DIE IF THEIR ENTIRE HEALTH BAR GOES RED.**

##### Fighters:

Manager: the leader of the guild. If they die, the entire game is lost. Controlled by the player, they are the only fighter the guild has at the beginning of a game. They start with inept equipment and rank, and 1 silver, 7 bronze.

Recruits: player created fighters identical to the manager, hired for the sum of 1 silver and disposable (game continues if they die). They level up similarly to the manager.

Hirelings: act as helpers and can be hired for a sum. Needed for skirmishes, doubles, and The Beast. They are AI controlled, randomized characters, but can be outfitted by the player. They level up similarly to the manager.

##### Tiers:

There are 6 ranks. A fighter rises in tier every two level ups as follows:

Level 1-2: Inept.

Level 3-4: Aspirant.

Level 4-5: Novice.

Level 5-6: Adept.

Level 7-8: Expert.

Level 9-10: Master.

##### Merchants:

The merchant allows you to buy items, but unlike the shopkeeper, you can choose what kinds of items that the merchant will "look for", ranging from Clothing & Armour to Weapons and their select Ranks/Tiers. You can only have one merchant in your hub area at a time, and switching merchants does not have any effect on the items they will find. The merchant cannot fight for you in matches.

##### Physicians:

Added in 0.8.3, the physician provides a chance to prevent your combatants from dying when they receive otherwise lethal harm. Combatants saved in this manner will show an entirely red filled bar in the management screens. They can be hired from the hireling screen, and will appear in the hub area behind a previously locked door by the fireplace. The physician cannot fight for you in matches.

##### Trainers:

Added in 0.8.3, Trainers increase the rate at which your combatants level up their skills. They have a variety of skills already trained, and will grant experience passively to any combatants that are attempting to level a skill that the trainer has. Combatants will gain experience even if they are not fighting - as an example, a manager that has never participated in a match may level as long as the skill that they are set to train is one that the trainer has in their skill tree (though at a very slow rate).

Trainers will appear in the hub area behind a previously locked door by the fireplace, similar to the Physician. The Trainer cannot fight for you in matches.

## Matches:

There are seven different types of matches, each with their own rules, and as of version 6.5.2, 7 arenas. For each **tier**, there are 2 different matches at any given cycle (cycle refreshes every time a match is entered), and each match has a required rank for entry. The higher the tier, the higher the payout. If a fighter's rank is lower than the match's tier, they can still enter if they meet the rank requirement, as it only determines **equipment tier** and **skill level** of the AI opponents. Here they are from least paying to highest paying:

##### Pugilism:

Bare-knuckle fights with one fighter against another AI fighter. Inept rank only, regardless of tier.

##### Duel:

One fighter against another AI fighter based on the rank of the match. Available to all ranks and tiers.

##### Challenger:

One fighter against another AI fighter whose rank is unspecified. Available to all ranks and tiers.

##### Doubles:

One fighter and hireling team against two AI fighters team. Available to all ranks and tiers.

##### Fray:

One fighter and 5 AI fighters in a free for all. Available to all ranks and tiers.

##### Skirmish:

one fighter and 2 hirelings team against 3 AI fighters team. Available to all ranks and tiers.

##### Elimination:

A tournament of 5 consecutive rounds for 1 fighter. Available to all ranks and tiers.

N.B.: Red damage doesn't reduce like in practice mode between each fight.

##### The Beast:

One fighter and 2 hirelings team to take down an Ogre. Available to Novice tier and rank and upwards.

N.B.: At higher tiers, the Ogre gains armour.

## Tips & Notes

* You can Hire and Recruit up to 9 fighters **total.**
* Elimination: pick up your opponent's gear if it's better than yours, as it stays with you until the end of the match, even though you can't permanently keep the gear.
* If you feel your fighter will die, you can always forfeit.
* Fray: The best way to win at fray is to let the AI fight each other and stand on the sidelines. Attack the weakened last man standing for a near guaranteed victory.(Reduced xp)
* Friendly-fire is active at all times.
* The beast will ragdoll you at nearly every hit, so be well equipped. Long thrust weapons such as Spears and Pitchforks work particularly well.
* Pugilism is a viable fighting option even against armed opponents.
* You only have to buy equipment once as you keep fighters' equipment when they die.

* Pugilism is good for recuperating since it usually deals no red damage.
* AI fighters do very well with shield+thrust weapons.

## Weapons & Armour

#### Weapons:

Weapons are split into 2 categories: Blunt (Impact/ Crush) and Sharp (Thrust/Pierce/Slash). Here are the weapons available in each category for Arena Mode:

###### Blunt:

Inept: Broom, Hammer, Quarterstaff (+Iron Shod variant), Metal Bar, Torch, Cudgel

Aspirant: Sledgehammer, Spiked Club, Mace

Novice: Maul, Two handed War Hammer, Morning Star, War Hammer, Bar Mace

Adept: Flanged Mace, Two Handed Mace, Flail

Expert: Pole Hammer

###### Sharp:

Inept: Rusted Cleaver, Cleaver Hand Saw, Machete, Hook, Hatchet

Aspirant: Dagger, Bill, Pitchfork, Polearm

Novice: Two Handed Axe, Spear, Battle Axe, Sword (+Rusted variant), Bardiche

Adept: Two Handed Falchion, Two Handed Battle Axe, Voulge, Sword, Falchion

Expert: Halberd, Greatsword