Greetings Community, We're very happy to tell you that we worked on a lot of goodies for Christmas for our players that will make this holiday all the sweeter :) Just a few highlights, we have completely overhauled our matchmaking, that means getting rid of lots of technical issues, matching players more fairly (now also with improved CR). Further, we spiced up the actual combat with all new flanking which will allow you to bypass your opponents defenses. On top of that, the AI has had major brain surgery, be prepared for fun and challenging matches as it will now actively sidestep and react faster than before. For all the goodies check the change logs below. The game will be in maintenance from 2:00PM (CET) today for about 2 hrs after which you will be able to resume playing. Game Changes:

• New Defense Flanking (side stepping an opponent in defense allows you to bypass his defense if he doesn’t react fast enough)
• New AI: AI is much more fun and challenging, reacting faster and also actively sidestepping to avoid your attacks and skills)
• New Equipment & Stat Combat Rating: Equipment and Major stats now impact CR, so with better gear you will be matched with stronger players and if you focus only on strong stats (e.g. damage or HP) your CR will go up faster then if you choose a weaker / secondary traits, making matchmaking more fair.
• New Matchmaking: Faster matching with AI and players and fixed stuck in searching. Matchmaking now favours same house tier for the first 15 seconds of searching to avoid ganking of new players by experienced high level players. MM also starts with smaller CR difference (+/-10 in CR) and over time opens up to allow you to find an opponent. In the extreme case this can mean that a very well trained / equipped level 3 can be matched with a weak level 4 guy as they can be pretty close in CR.
• New Premium Mode: Allowing you to earn more XP, Fans and Silver so you can level faster and also renaming your gladiators (much requested feature). Available for 1 week or 1 month, none auto renewing.
• Improved Camera (increased default zoom and smoothing animations)
• New Premium Equipment as League Rewards
• Redesigned & Improved Match Result Screen
• Added filtering for item levels in workshop

Balancing Changes:

• No League Points for fighting AI
• No League Points for None Deadly Contracts
• Reduced Prices Premium Equipment
• Out of Endurance now also reduces primary defenses by 50%
• No virtus points for hitting opponent in defensive stance (virtus gain was OP)
• Increased premium gladiator bonuses by 20% for silver, xp & fans on each level
• Reduced XP on contract 3+ from 60XP to 40 XP

Let us know your feedback after the update via the discussion boards :) // Your Gladiators Online Team