In this update, bosses now READ what you do and respond with real tactics.
The Spider Queen got more lethal, and the Dark Knight was almost completely overhauled around a new AI pattern: dodgeable setup -> debuff -> devastating follow-up on the affected target.

⚔️ Dark Knight — Overhauled

• Dark Oath (NEW): a shadow beam cuts through the ENTIRE arena, from the boss to the opposite edge. TOTAL damage is DIVIDED among all players hit — in co-op, allies can stand between the boss and the target to mitigate (classic MMO raid "share damage" mechanic). In the FINAL PHASE, the strike becomes LETHAL: only dodging saves you.
• Shadow Seals (NEW): the Knight scatters purple seals on the ground — 1 on each player + perpendicular seals to cut strafe + 1 back seal in the final phase. Step on one? You take STUN.
• Execution Combo (NEW — Smart AI): the coolest part. The boss READS who got hit by Shadow Seals and prioritizes Dark Oath on that target, guaranteeing the execution. Dodged the seals? Boss looks for other tactics. Got caught? Brace yourself.
• Curse (NEW — Smart DoT): INSTANT cast. Marks 1 player with CURSE (purple DoT, 5s, ~5% HP/s = ~25% HP total without dispel). But the boss is clever: it only uses this skill if there's a Healer in the party — because it knows that without a dispeller the mechanic has no counter. No healer in the comp, no curse. Healer died? Tough luck: curse keeps firing till the end.
• Removed: "Soak Circle" mechanic (enter to absorb) — redundant with the rest of the kit.

🩺 Healer — New Counter

• Heal now CLEANSES Curse from any healed ally. Curse cooldown (~22s) matches Heal cooldown (26s), creating a tight window: heal off-timing = next curse arrives before heal returns, and the victim has to rely on potions until reset.
• Heal skill description updated to reflect the new cleanse role.

🕷️ Spider Queen — Adjustments

• Pulling Web: slow during escape increased from 30% to 55%. Getting out of the circle is real work now.
• Geysers: VFX now fits inside the damage area (was rendering ~2.7x larger than the actual circle). Visual read finally matches the hitbox.
• Shadow Pounce: fixed — in solo, all 3-4 jumps now land on the player with small jitter. Before, only 1 targeted the player and the rest hit random arena points.
• Increased density on arena-covering skills: ground circles, web rain, geysers, web carpet, and poison pool all got more instances per cast.

⚙️ Systems

• New CURSE status: distinct DoT type with pulsing purple sprite tint — visually identifiable from across the arena.
• StatusEffectManager processes CURSE with the same logic as Burn / Poison / Bleed (server-authoritative, replicated to clients).

As always, thanks for playing SoulBound! Let us know what you think about the Dark Knight's new combos. 🗡️