Patch notes

Class rework

v0.51.0

Darkvale Online — Six Classes & Combat Overhaul (v0.51.0)

Darkvale Online v0.51.0 introduces a major overhaul of character classes, combat abilities, weapon proficiencies, and competitive leaderboards. This update establishes six distinct class identities and a new foundation for character progression.

Six Playable Classes

Players can now choose from six classes, each with its own weapon specialization, armor category, and unique abilities.

• 🛡️ Guardian — One-Handed Sword + Shield | Heavy Armor
• ⚔️ Berserker — Two-Handed Sword | Heavy Armor
• 🏹 Marksman — Bow | Medium Armor
• 🗡️ Assassin — Dual Daggers | Medium Armor
• 🔮 Mage — Staff | Light Armor
• ✨ Priest — Wand + Tome | Light Armor

Weapons are now restricted by class, while armor categories are shared between class pairs. Shields and tomes remain equipment items rather than trainable weapon proficiencies.

Class Ability Overhaul

Weapon-specific abilities have been completely replaced with class-specific ability kits.

• Each class has six unique abilities.
• Abilities unlock automatically at designated character levels.
• Abilities no longer require individual upgrades.
• The ability book now focuses entirely on class abilities.

This system makes class progression more straightforward while giving every class its own combat identity.

Weapon Proficiency Rework

Weapon proficiency now contributes to both damage and accuracy, making weapon mastery an important part of combat progression.

• Proficiency provides its full benefits against enemies at or below your character level.
• Each level an enemy is above you reduces accuracy by 4 points.
• Higher-level enemies reduce proficiency-based damage bonuses.
• Character-level damage remains unaffected by proficiency scaling.
• Shield and Tome proficiencies have been removed.

Character level and weapon proficiency now work together, rewarding both overall progression and dedication to your class's primary weapon.

Class Leaderboards

Six new class-specific leaderboards have been introduced, allowing players to compete within their chosen class.

• Separate leaderboards for all six classes.
• Rankings display character name, level, and weapon proficiency.
• Sort by highest character level or highest weapon proficiency.
• The global level leaderboard now displays each character's class.
• Optimized database queries and caching improve performance.

Whether you're competing to become the highest-level Assassin or the most proficient Marksman, your achievements now have a dedicated ranking.

Existing Characters & Equipment

Existing characters and their progression are preserved.

Characters created before this update are automatically assigned a class based on their highest trained weapon proficiency. Armor compatibility has been maintained through shared armor weight categories.

Character creation and equipment restrictions have also been updated to support the new six-class system.

Character Artwork

Some classes temporarily use substitute character and weapon animations while additional artwork is developed.

• Assassin dagger attacks currently use one-handed sword animations.
• Staff, wand, and tome animations use existing magic animation frames.
• Marksman and Assassin use the bandit character sheet.
• Mage and Priest use the priestess character sheet.

These are temporary visual solutions and do not affect class functionality.

Looking Ahead

This updat