v0.53.8 - Combat Clarity, Quest Overhaul & QoL

Combat Damage Clarity

Combat output now shows a [X damage vs Y defense] calculation line for every attack, making it clear how much damage is absorbed by armor. The final damage message now reads "X damage gets through defenses!" instead of the ambiguous "hits for X damage!" that was easily confused with the raw attack power line.

Applies to all damage paths: regular attacks, monster special abilities, companion damage, and spells.

Class Ability & Spell Audit (40+ bugs fixed)

Every class in the game has been audited -- all 200+ spells and abilities across 17 classes.

Assassin (8 bugs)

• Backstab never dealt bonus damage -- was printing text instead of applying 2x crit
• Vanish promised stealth crit but Hidden status had no crit mechanic -- now guarantees auto-crit on next attack
• Death Blossom damage was split among targets instead of per-target, and did nothing above 30% HP in single combat
• Blade Dance buffed from 38 to 110 base (was weaker than Whirlwind despite being 23 levels higher)
• Assassinate, Shadow Step, Poison Blade, Death Mark descriptions corrected and localized

Magician (5 bugs)

• Lightning spells auto-stunned every target for free, making CC spells redundant -- stun removed from damage spells
• Arcane Immunity never applied status immunity -- only gave AC bonus
• Manwe's Creation and Pillar of Fire special effects had no handlers -- silently did nothing
• Time Stop and Wish had double-buff bugs giving 2x intended bonuses

Sage (4 bugs)

• Giant Form, Soul Rend, Temporal Paradox special effects had no handlers
• Steal Life healed double (two separate heal sources stacking)

Jester (5 bugs)

• Vicious Mockery penalty was flat -5 regardless of level -- now scales with level and CHA
• Grand Finale buffed from 60 to 120 base with proper AoE handler and party inspire
• Carnival of Chaos confusion was missing in single-monster combat

Bard (3 bugs)

• Party songs overwrote existing buffs instead of stacking
• Grand Finale only buffed the player, not teammates, in single combat

Cleric -- All 25 spell descriptions corrected (values were from v1.0, never updated) and combat messages localized.

Mystic Shaman (4 bugs) -- Chain Lightning double damage, weapon enchants permanent in PvP, Ancestral Guidance only healed player (not party), zero HP growth per level.

Wavecaller -- Symphony of the Depths gave permanent +999 ATK. Resonance Cascade executed wrong ability's code.

Prestige Classes -- Cyclebreaker Paradox Collapse bonus never implemented. Abysswarden lifesteal spells silently dropped healing. Voidreaver Blood Pact permanent +999 ATK.

No bugs found: Alchemist, Ranger, Warrior, Tidesworn, Paladin, Barbarian (after Primal Scream fix).

Hidden Status Stealth Crit

New mechanic: the Hidden status (from Vanish, Noctura's Embrace, Shadow abilities) now guarantees a critical hit on the next basic attack, consumed on use. Stealth-based builds are now genuinely rewarding.

Quest System Overhaul (27 issues fixed)

• FindArtifact quests were impossible to complete -- no tracking code existed
• Seduce and Assassin quests auto-completed based on lifetime stats instead of quest-specific tracking
• ClearBoss quests had boss name mismatches preventing kill tracking
• NPC bounties used wrong quest type, falling back to broken validation
• Quest failure now has consequences (news announcement, penalty logging)
• 67 new localization keys across all 5 languages (crimes, bounties, starter quests, reward types)
• ~150 lines of dead equipment quest code removed

Combat Loot Party Switching (by Xykier)

Cycle through party members with on the equipment drop screen to preview stats and equip loot to any party member. Three bugs on the original PR fixed: stale party index, class restrictions not recalculated on switch, solo guard.

Loot Drop Improvements

• Level requirement display -- Items now show "Requires Level: 30 (Lyris is level 22)" in red when too high level, before you try to equip
• Party message fixes -- Cursed item equip, ability warnings, and spell warnings now show the correct character's name instead of "You/Your"
• Teammate auto-pickup weapon check -- Teammates no longer grab weapons that break their ability requirements (Assassin won't pick up swords when they need daggers)

Team XP Redistribution on Teammate Death

When NPC teammates died during combat, their XP share was silently lost. If you had a 25/25/25/25 split and one NPC died, 25% of all XP went nowhere. Now automatically detected and redistributed among the player and surviving teammates.

Monster Self-Heal Companion Damage Fix

Six monster self-healing abilities (Heal, Phylactery, Phoenix Rebirth, Cocoon, SelfRepair, Sanctuary) were dealing phantom melee damage to companions alongside the self-heal. Fixed.

Troll Regeneration Scaling

Troll racial regeneration was capped at 3 HP/round regardless of level -- meaningless at higher levels. Now scales at 2% of max HP per round.

Date Format Preference

New option in preferences to choose MM/DD/YYYY, DD/MM/YYYY, or YYYY-MM-DD. Applied to all player-facing dates throughout the game. Saved per-character.

Preferences Menu Reorganization

The flat list of 12+ options is now organized into four categories: Gameplay, Display, Accessibility, and Character. Same keybindings, easier to navigate.

Other Fixes

• Companion mana potions: companions now drink multiple potions per turn; new [G] Give option in dungeon potion menu
• Harmonic Shield (Wavecaller) now applies DEF and damage reflection to entire party
• Two-handed weapon companions no longer auto-pickup shields (which broke their weapon)
• ATK/DEF buff overwrite fix -- weaker buffs no longer replace stronger ones
• AoE ability skip list corrected -- 5 abilities were dealing zero damage after v0.53.7
• God Slayer buff now force-saves after Old God encounters (was lost on disconnect in online mode)
• Combat status display no longer shows raw "{0}" format placeholder
• Companion Precise Shot says "Lyris's aim is true!" instead of "Your aim is true!"