Painted cards for every rarity
Every card now sits in a painted frame. One frame is recoloured for each rarity, from iron and bronze through blued steel, violet and gold to pearl, so every card shares exactly the same layout. Epic cards gain painted corner pieces, and legendary and mythic cards a crest as well.
- Class abilities wear their class's colour on the edge, name banner and text box, with a pennant naming the class.
- Frames and card backs catch a slowly drifting light, and a card leans toward your pointer as you read it.
- On your turn, cards you can't play darken and their cost gets a red ring, while playable cards glow green.
Packs you tear open
Opening a pack is now a sealed foil wrapper that swoops in, strains and rips open. The cards slide out and are dealt in an even arc, with their rarity banners above them.
- Armour packs open the same way and always hold five items: gear, ore and runes, each revealed as its own card.
- A My Packs shelf lists every pack you're holding, card packs and armour packs together.
Gold Coins and Gold Dust
Oathforge now has two currencies. Gold Dust is earned from matches, levels, daily rewards, quests and bosses. Gold Coins open card packs, and 10 Gold Dust converts into 1 Gold Coin. New players start with 500 Gold Dust.
At the anvil
Forging a piece of gear is now a ceremony: the materials fly into the anvil, the piece takes shape dark, is struck three times as it glows hotter, then cools to its colours.
- Gear patterns are learned rather than free. You start with 20 basic patterns and learn more with Gold Dust or from Pattern packs.
- Head, chest and leg armour now wears down from the damage your hero takes, and is repaired with ore.
- The Forge shows each recipe's card, stats and costs, and explains every material: where it comes from and what it makes.
Heavier battles
Battles have had two animation passes. Attacks lunge, slash and knock the target back. Cards arc up from the deck as you draw, and slam onto the board when played. The final blow plays in slow motion, and a fallen hero now explodes in fire and smoke.
- Painted battle boards: each Adventure boss has its own.
- Painted hero frames, an End Turn plaque, an energy tray of blue crystals, and Victory and Defeat crests.
The Tempering ladder
Ranked play is open. Tempering takes you through Iron, Steel, Starsilver and Emberite, each with grades III to I. Wins add heat, streaks stoke extra heat, and above Emberite you're ranked by rating as Oathbound. Seasons end with a reward in Gold Dust and unlock rank card backs.
Before each ranked match you swear an oath: Valour doubles the heat won or lost, Patience halves your wins but costs nothing on a loss, and Fury builds heat with every win in a streak but loses it all on a defeat. Opponents are AI players matched to your grade for now.
Levels and heroes
Levels are now about rewards. Every hero fights at the same strength whatever their level, every class ability is known from level 1, and gear has no level requirement.
Around the forge
- The Oathforge emblem is now the game's logo, and the wordmark burns with small flames and rising embers.
- A hero card beside PLAY shows who you're playing as and switches between your heroes.
- Esc opens Settings anywhere, including in battle.
- Tutorial tips are smaller, point at exactly what to use, and can be hidden.
- Painted backgrounds no longer drift with your cursor, and reduced-motion settings now calm particles and flicker.