Heroes of the Anvil,

The last few updates (2.3.2 → 2.3.7) had one goal: make every second you spend in Anvil Life feel smooth. We hunted down hitches, rebuilt slow screens from the ground up and listened to every report you sent. Here is what's waiting for you.

⚡ Smooth play, everywhere

• The game now uses your graphics card again. Older builds drew everything on the processor to help stream capture. That was the main cause of the stutter. If OBS ever shows a black window, one switch fixes it: Settings › Window › Streaming compatibility.
• Dungeon runs at 1×–4× are much smoother. Hit effects no longer force the fighters to be redrawn, and monsters are prepared before they step in.
• A run timer that never stutters. Whole seconds now roll over like an odometer, driven by your graphics card, and stay perfectly in step with the fight at every speed. Prefer the classic 12.3 s look? Switch it on in Settings. Want to watch your frame rate? Turn on the new FPS counter in Settings.
• Far less work for your graphics card. The game now redraws less than half the screen area it used to during a run, and decorations outside the arena fully rest while you fight or have a window open.
• The loot screen is fast now. Selling, melting and keeping items no longer redraws the whole game behind it, and Sell All is much quicker.
• The Stat Points screen answers every click instantly. Every point also feels like a point: the button presses in, the row glows softly and the number pops with a short sound. +1, +5 and +25 each get a stronger glow.
• A full bag no longer slows you down. Your bag, gear and portraits are only redrawn when something actually changes.
• Open windows now truly pause the animations behind them, and the Wheel of Fortune runs lighter on auto-spin.

❤ A fresh look for the arena

• New health and mana bars: slim glass bars with clear HP / MP labels, tick marks and a trail that shows exactly how much a hit just took.
• The arena comes alive while you wait: your hero breathes, your companion hops around beside you, a soft glowing ring sits under their feet and light motes drift through the air. Step into a dungeon and your hero grows to full size.

🚀 New: Ultra FPS Mode

Settings › Ultra FPS mode gives you the highest frame rate your PC can reach. It switches off glows, sparkles, flashes, coin showers, fighter shadows and idle animations, and a clear notice tells you exactly what you are trading away. It never touches your save. Turn it off whenever you like and everything comes back.

💾 New Save & Load

• 5 save slots, each showing your hero, level, gold, dust and the time you saved.
• Every important action asks for a second click, so you can't overwrite or delete a slot by accident.
• Moving to another PC is now just Copy and Paste.
• Automatic backups sit in a fold-out section with one-click restore.

🗡 Dungeons got serious

• Higher entry fees for the deeper dungeons (4× and 10×). The Psycho dungeons now cost 1M / 2M / 5M gold.
• The Enter button shows the fee, and a card with a dungeon-gate icon tells you exactly what you paid.
• Rescuing gear after a fall costs more dust, and worn gear costs the most. Every run counts.

✨ A warmer welcome

• New players are greeted by Sarah, pick one of four colour themes on the spot and start with Vaneth and Sylra, each shown with their bonuses.
• Played before? Load your save code right from the welcome screen.

🃏 Card Duel

• New card-back artwork, a redesigned Duel Hall with a proper DUEL button, and new attack and health badges.
• The Collection opens instantly and no longer freezes while you craft, upgrade or edit decks.

🔎 Clearer than ever

• XP notices show how much XP you gained and where it came from: runs, chests or squire missions.
• Potion tooltips show what a potion does, how strong it is right now and its cooldown.
• If you lose a level, a note explains exactly which 3 stat points were taken back. It is never random, and you get them back when you level up again.
• Holdings now lists Materials and Runes in their own sections.
• Runes get a clear red ✕ Remove Rune button, and the loot screen's "Bag II" is now Keep in bag.
• The companion picker has new cards with each companion's colour, bonuses and level.
• Stat reset now costs more, so your build choices matter. The stat system also guards your points: they can never be lost or duplicated.

Thank you for playing and for every report you send us. Your feedback shaped this update. If you enjoy the forge, a review helps more than you'd think. ⚒

— The Anvil Life team