Usurper Reborn v0.47.4 — Playtest Fixes & Onboarding Polish

Arena Portal: Real Interactive Combat

The dungeon arena portal encounter previously used simulated combat — three rounds resolved instantly with "VICTORY!" or "DEFEAT!" and no player input. Now the arena portal generates a real arena champion monster (scaled to dungeon floor level, mini-boss tier) and runs full interactive combat through CombatEngine. Players get their full action set: attacks, spells, abilities, items, fleeing — exactly like regular dungeon combat. Winning awards a Chivalry bonus (+25) on top of normal combat rewards.

Weapon Shop: Dual-Wield Works from Category View

The [D] Dual-Wield Setup option in the Weapon Shop only worked from the main shop menu. If you were browsing a weapon category (One-Handed, Two-Handed, or Shields), pressing 'D' did nothing. Now 'D' and 'S' (Sell) work from any weapon shop sub-menu.

Day Tick No Longer Interrupts Shop Interactions

The daily reset message ("ENDLESS ADVENTURE CONTINUES!") could fire between inputs while browsing shops or mid-interaction, disrupting the UI flow. The daily reset logic still runs on schedule (restoring stats, processing events), but the banner display is now deferred to the next clean location-display boundary — typically when you return to a location's main screen. Manually triggered daily resets (from the settings menu) still display immediately.

Expanded Onboarding Hints

Five new contextual hints help new players discover game systems:

• Tax Info: Explains the King's Tax (5%) and City Tax (2%) on your first shop purchase
• Training Available: After your first level-up, explains the Level Master and training points
• Magic Tip: If your class has mana but you haven't learned any spells yet, suggests visiting the Magic Shop
• Quests Available: After your first monster kill, points you to the Quest Hall for bounties
• Getting Started: A one-time summary after character creation showing the core gameplay loop (shops, dungeons, quests, training, healer)

All hints appear once per character and are stored in saves.

Magician Spell Damage Scaling

Spell damage from Intelligence previously hit a hard cap at 4.0x (around INT 85 / level 15), after which additional INT had zero effect. Warriors with uncapped STR scaling would outpace Magicians in raw damage at higher levels, undermining the glass cannon identity.

Now uses a soft cap with diminishing returns:

• Below INT 85: Full scaling at 0.04 per point (unchanged, reaches 4.0x)
• Above INT 85: Diminished scaling at 0.015 per point (keeps growing, just slower)
• Hard ceiling at 8.0x (prevents truly extreme values)

This means a level 50 Magician now hits ~6.1x instead of being stuck at 4.0x, while mana constraints still limit total burst output. Magicians are the highest single-hit damage class; Warriors win on sustained DPS.

Files Changed

• GameConfig.cs — Version 0.47.4
• Scripts/Systems/RareEncounters.cs — Arena portal rewritten: generates arena champion monster via MonsterGenerator, runs real CombatEngine.PlayerVsMonster combat, awards +25 Chivalry on victory, prevents permadeath (HP floored at 1)
• Scripts/Locations/WeaponShopLocation.cs — Added case "D" (DualWieldSetup) and case "S" (SellWeapon) to ProcessCategoryChoice so they work from any sub-menu; added tax hint trigger after first purchase
• Scripts/Systems/DailySystemManager.cs — Added PendingDailyResetDisplay flag; PerformDailyReset() now defers display for automatic resets (sets flag) while forced resets still display immediately; DisplayDailyResetMessage() made public
• Scripts/Locations/BaseLocation.cs — Added pending daily reset check at top of LocationLoop (before display); shows deferred banner then clears flag; added Level Master hint after auto-level-up
• Scripts/Systems/HintSystem.cs — Added 5 new hints: HINT_FIRST_PURCHASE_TAX, HINT_LEVEL_MASTER, HINT_MANA_SPELLS, HINT_QUEST_SYSTEM, HINT_GETTING_STARTED with definitions
• Scripts/Locations/MainStreetLocation.cs — Added mana/spell hint trigger (mana > 0, no spells learned) and quest hint trigger (level 1-3, has kills) in DisplayLocation
• Scripts/Locations/ArmorShopLocation.cs — Added tax hint trigger after first purchase
• Scripts/Core/GameEngine.cs — Added Getting Started hint display after opening story sequence for new characters (0 kills)
• Scripts/Systems/StatEffectsSystem.cs — Spell damage multiplier: replaced hard 4.0x cap with soft cap (full scaling to INT 85, diminished 0.015/point above, hard ceiling 8.0x)
• usurper-reloaded.csproj — Added ApplicationIcon property for Windows exe icon
• app.ico — Windows application icon (embedded in exe at build time)