Rune Coliseum news & patch notes

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After Sacrifice Mode ends, there is a chance base characters are replaced, or base characters may die after Sacrifice Mode ends

Base healing, training, and other facilities not working

Coliseum flow softlock; cannot continue from the Lounge

Valor / Super Valor effects behaving abnormally

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Item Bottled Lightning has been nerfed; it now counts this item's kills instead of global kills

Reforge equipment quests no longer affect Champion affixes and Transformations

Coliseum level cap raised to 30+

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Sacrifice Mode (classic roguelike mode) is now directly unlocked for veteran players; eligibility is determined by earning the "Arena Builder" achievement before July 19

Some buildings spawned duplicate characters (fixed the duplication issue; abnormal duplicates are now automatically cleared when entering the Base)

Veteran players receive a full set of Karmic weapons, plus the Karmic Lightning and Karmic Laser items

Added Spear Mastery series

Added new character General; weapon mastery type is Spear

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Abnormal final unlock item in the Workshop

Adjusted equipment repair prices at the Base Blacksmith

Level 30 talents not taking effect

Item consumption in the character inventory sometimes produced empty items

Stealthy Pursuit and related affixes not working

Could not continue fighting in the Prison Tournament under certain conditions

Prison Tournament did not award Points

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Sacrifice Mode performance optimization

Changed weapon affix reroll method; Tournament Champion-type affixes are now preserved

Adjusted Holy Spear weapons and similar all-attribute boost equipment; effects now stack

Hello everyone, I'm RWB, developer of Rune Coliseum.

We have always been paying attention to your feedback. This major update has run into some issues, and we are working hard to address them. We will take action to resolve these problems, but while we fix them I want to have an honest conversation with you.

1. V4 Legacy Mode

(1) The legacy mode still exists in the game. It is called ""Sacrifice Mode."" It was designed to unlock for new players after they clear the main campaign, and for returning players when a save file is detected. However, due to some issues with the legacy mode over the past few days, we have temporarily disabled it. We will open this feature as soon as possible.

(2) From a technical standpoint, the new combat system fully includes the old system. We include the complete content from the previous version, such as the roguelike mode, Inscriptions, all cards, characters, and so on.

(3) The legacy mode will continue to receive updates. We will also add newly introduced weapon types to the legacy mode. The current system includes the V4 system—this was already taken into account during V5 development.

(4) For now, you can also switch to the legacy branch on Steam. There is a V4 Commemorative Version branch that is more stable.

2. BUGs

(1) The new version does indeed have many bugs, and we are fixing them step by step.

(2) Was the game released without testing? Why so many bugs? In fact, we conducted two months of player testing in April–May and June–July, and fixed many issues. However, looking at the results, our testing scope was still insufficient, and the version contains too much content, which caused many problems to surface only after release. The current version still needs substantial improvement to meet our expectations.

3. Why has there been no update for so long?

(1) V5 is massive—comparable to developing an entirely new game. Its size is approximately 3–5 times larger than the previous Early Access (EA) version , We have been developing continuously over the past year without interruption. We simply weren't sure what to announce, and kept waiting to publish an update notice. But because development milestones were often delayed, we ended up in a period of silence.

4. Localization and Text

(1) In the early and mid stages of this version, we did carefully handle text and worked with a professional localization team. However, as the version kept iterating and the release date drew closer, later changes did not receive the same text polish.

5. V5 Experience and Design

(1) In V5's early game, progression is slow, character growth is low, and resource acquisition is limited—these are not intentional design choices, and we will keep adjusting them.

(2) The systems are overly complex. As we move from V5 toward 1.0, we will focus development on streamlining.

(3) Your previous V4 and EA versions went through DEMO → Prologue → EA → V4 iterations. V5 still needs time to polish various aspects of the experience. This time we built on top of V4, so polishing will be faster than that earlier pipeline—but it still takes time.

Rune Coliseum will continue to be developed. Development is not over. Bugs will be fixed, the experience will be adjusted, and V4 mode will remain. Please give me a little more time to handle these issues.

Thank you for your attention.

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Added a new feature: when a player loots an enemy weapon and replaces their own, the replaced weapon is automatically moved to the backup backpack. If there is no room and the original weapon would be discarded, the player is asked to confirm.

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Reduced enemy difficulty in the Market Tournament and lowered how often enemies play Attack Cards consecutively

Crash when clicking Continue Battle under certain conditions

Crash caused by the Slave Master's Taunt skill

Powerful Attack wind-up was skipped by Trigger Cards

Specialization reminder icon displayed incorrectly (still clickable when no Specializations were available)

Manual UI displayed incorrectly at resolutions above 3000

Nobles Tournament did not award items

Could not continue the tournament after the Coliseum ran out of NPCs

Champion healed too much after switching Stance

Technique DMG boost cards stacked their values when placed by the Monk

Injuries accumulated after save/load

Character dialogue obscured the onscreen move list in certain situations

Ultimate repeated twice during a Reaction Moment

Coliseum mode became locked after starting Sacrifice Mode at the end of a Coliseum tournament and returning

Surrendering a tournament caused negative Reputation

Quests that remove a negative Trait could sometimes remove a positive Trait

Further investigated the issue causing incorrect Attribute display after Infirmary treatment

Some old save files started a new game

Repair costs for weapons and equipment were too high

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Reduced weapon wear rate

Added class names next to character names when purchasing characters

Incorrect retirement tutorial video in the Manual

Forward Roll could not pass through enemies

Adjusted tournament reward Material distribution. The Materials for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place are now the same within each tournament, and Stone and Parchment are now assigned to the Prison and Nobles Tournaments respectively

Nerfed the Thief's Ultimate \

Audio stuttered during OP playback

Weapon levels could still be increased after a character reached level 30

Highlights: Optimized load/runtime performance; reduced crash chance

• Bug Fixes:

Thank you for your patience. We’ve been working hard on development. This update is so large that it’s basically a brand-new game. Let’s take a look at what’s included!

City Map

Buy gladiators, choose tournaments, and unlock 30 playable characters

Base System

Gather resources to build your Base—Blacksmith, Pantheon, Training Ground, and more

Spear

New polearm—Spear: switch grip positions, tip-hit detection, Penetration damage, and more

Item System

New Item System with ~130 items; items replace the old potions and offer more functions

New Weapon System

Weapons now have different Attribute scaling and skill tags; same-type weapons can have different effects

Multi-Weapon Switching

New combat lets you carry multiple weapons and switch mid-fight—block with a shield then counter with a greatsword, or dual blades plus sword & shield; mix freely

Combo Skill System

Slot system: customize Combo Skills—more flexible than V4, covering attack pursuit and block counters

Ultimates & Stamina

New energy design: Stamina and Ultimate energy; gain Ultimate energy by successfully playing cards, forming a Stamina–Ultimate resource loop

Dialogue Interaction

Seek crowd support, surrender, and more mid-battle

Gladiator Interaction

Complete interaction tasks with gladiators and NPCs to raise affinity; reach the threshold to unlock hidden tasks—each gladiator has unique interactions

Lounge

Each tournament has a Lounge with different characters; win more Honor in tournaments to unlock them gradually

Sacrifice Mode

The V4 mode returns, remade and optimized with customizable difficulty; further tuning planned

Movement System Overhaul

Movement fully remade with accurate rulers and positioning; freely control attack start, hit, and end positions for more precise hit detection

Critical Moment System

Critical Moment: click a queue card to slow-mo its performance animation

Defeat Execution

After defeating an enemy, choose to execute or spare them; executed characters die permanently

New Battle Arenas & Rendering Improvements

New Market and Noble maps, plus a refined render pipeline with finer lighting

Beast Enemies

New beast foes: elephant, rhino, hippo, crocodile, bison, boar, leopard—each with exclusive drop gear

Pantheon & Ancient Gods

Eligible gladiators can challenge the Pantheon for Ancient God cards that greatly empower them

Character Level-Up & Traits

Characters can now level up and allocate Attributes, and gain Traits and titles in battle

New Reaction Moment

Reaction Moment reinforced with Perfect Block, Double Overpower, and other common triggers—now a core card-play mechanic

Retirement & Legacy

Retirement: eligible characters retire and merge their cards with a disciple's to train stronger fighters—even fuse special abilities

(The V4 version has been preserved as a commemorative version and is now available in a public branch on Steam.)

Over the next month, we will continue refining this version. We also have some plans for the older version (V4), which will be announced later. We now have a solid foundation, and with V6 we will welcome a stable release! We hope to receive even more of your support while polishing V5. Let’s work together to make Rune Coliseum even better! Contact us!

Hi everyone,

Thank you all for your patience. We have been continuously working on Version 5, and you can learn more about its current status in the video. This update is very large in scale, and the good news is that development is finally nearing completion. However, we’d like to spend a little more time making further adjustments so that it can be released in a better state.

This polishing time is very valuable to us, so let’s wait a little longer together.

Thank you for your support!

If you’d like to learn more about the development details, feel free to reach out to us anytime on the Steam Community or Discord. We’re always online.

Hello everyone. We had originally planned to release version V5 in the near future. We’ve been working hard to launch quickly, but as the scope expanded, the workload became much larger than expected. To ensure quality, we have to postpone the release.

This is not a routine update—it includes a massive amount of content beyond the original plan, with the scope now several times larger. When we first announced V5, we planned to create 100 cards; now the number has reached 800. In addition, it implements many ideas we couldn’t realize before due to time constraints, and it also folds in some content that was originally planned for later versions. Examples include: a complete remake of all in-game cards, a rework of the displacement system, new enemies and playable characters, spear and greataxe weapon categories, a UI and localization overhaul, a new tutorial, more event types, a redo of existing localizations and the addition of a Russian version, among others. There’s much more new content that we’ll detail at release.

The core functionality development is now complete, and we are in the testing and tuning phase.

Let’s be patient a little longer and make this version even better!

Thank you all for your understanding and support! If you have any questions, feel free to leave a message in the community to contact us.

Below are some recent development screenshots.

Hi everyone,

Here’s a regular update on our development progress.

Over the past few months, we’ve been building Version EAv5. This is a major milestone we’ve centered our 2025 development around. After the Fighting Deck update, we’ve devoted ourselves fully to it. V5 brings together many of Rune Coliseum original ideas, along with content we’ve been working on for years but couldn’t include at EA launch.

In V5, every part of the game has been remade, including brand‑new game modes, the combat system, decks, enemy behaviors, UI, and more. The old modes have also been reworked and integrated into the new framework.

We expect to release the new mode in a little over one month.

For now, here’s a brief preview of what’s coming in the V5 update:

World Map and City:

We’ve rebuilt portions of ancient Roman architecture. Here you can choose to enter different events and quests, and also play modes from before V5 (the V5 combat system has been fully overhauled, but we’re preserving V4 content as a special mode).

Base System:

Players will have their own gladiator base. You can train and develop gladiators, craft weapons and equipment, and upgrade base facilities.

Event Rules:

Battles progress in a knockout (elimination) format, and you can interact with other gladiators.

Interactions and Quests:

In tournaments, a gladiator’s fate isn’t decided by combat alone. Honor (managed by the Honor system), relationships between gladiators, personal quest progression, and out‑of‑combat interactions all play a role.

Beast Enemies:

No gladiator’s career is complete without facing beasts. Multiple beast-type enemies will appear in the new version.

All‑New Combat System:

Drawing on everything we’ve learned since EA and returning to the arena’s original vision, we’ve comprehensively refined and improved the combat system. The new system emphasizes the unique character of the arena and offers richer gameplay. More details about the new combat system will be revealed in future updates!

Thank you to all our players. Your support enables us to keep developing and improving the Coliseum!

• New Content Knock-up System: Each weapon category includes some knock-up capability. When enemies are launched, they enter an airborne state; following up can keep them airborne.

• New Content Ancient Card — Humming Transmutation: While carried, players can obtain cards for all weapon types. After a card is played, the weapon in hand automatically transforms into the corresponding weapon type.

• Content Optimization New Enemy Strategy System: Enemy behavior now uses a new algorithm, allowing more precise control over actions and damage

• New Content New Difficulty — Advanced 8: A higher difficulty added after adopting the new enemy strategy system.

• Next step: This is a routine maintenance update. Over the past month, our main focus has been developing the EAV5 version, which is an important release. We will open a test branch in the coming weeks.

Update Details

Bug Fixes

●Fixed an issue where text would disappear from the game settings menu under certain circumstances. ●Fixed an issue where one side reviving after both sides died caused the game to become unplayable. ●Some known bugs have been fixed, primarily based on community feedback.

Content Adjustments

1.Character Unlock Adjustments:

●After completing a game with the current character, experience will automatically accumulate to unlock the next skill phase. No need to manually inject offerings.

●New characters no longer require offerings to unlock. Instead, they will be unlocked based on meeting specific conditions.

Players with save data that already meets these conditions will automatically unlock the respective characters

(for future characters, they will also be unlocked automatically if the conditions are met)(For unlocks where more than 30% of the unlock points were invested in the previous version, they will be automatically unlocked after this update.) .

●Weapon category training levels have been adjusted: training will only be unlocked if the corresponding weapon character is unlocked.

3.Monk Adjustment:

●The Monk card "Hit seven times to kill an enemy" has been changed to a single attack animation (previously multi-hit).

Localization

●Text optimization: Improvements were made based on feedback from the Discord and Steam communities. Thanks for your input!

UI Adjustments

●Improved the display positions of health bars and buffs.

●Enhanced the description tags for magic element entry labels. Optimized the font for the Master's appearance.

Thank you for your continued support! If you encounter any issues, feel free to share your feedback through the official community!

New Content: Added image introductions to the game manual (beta version)

Bug Fix: Fixed an issue with abnormal behavior after knocking back enemies

Bug Fix: Fixed an issue where players with revival potions experienced abnormal behavior after both sides died simultaneously