An opponent is always found: AI fighters on the arena

The usual trouble of any arena with a small online is an empty queue. Over the summer the Aurora Arena received system opponents: first a single archer, now fighters of all ten classes. They adjust to your rating, train themselves and step in when no live opponent joined the queue.

How it works

• An opponent is always found. If no live player joins the queue, a prepared system opponent comes out against you (23 July).
• Strength follows your rating. The lower your rating, the weaker the opponent you get: it reacts slower, keeps distance worse and uses expensive chains and healing later. At the top of the ladder opponents stay at full strength (1 August).
• Honest points. The scoring rule is the same for fights against live players and against system ones (1 August).
• Variety. The system remembers the classes of your last 5 fights and does not let the same class come up twice in a row. Warriors, werebeasts and guardians no longer meet opponents in their own armour type: such fights used to run into the time limit (26 August).

Who steps onto the arena

• Alyosha came first, an archer (22 July).
• Then Valera and Dimon, archers as well (23 July).
• The mage Akakiy replaced Valera (1 August).
• Six more: three for solo sign up in 3v3 and three as a ready team for the group arena (4 August).
• All ten classes. A system opponent of any class can now come out against you (24 August).

How they got smarter

• Fighting under control. The opponent keeps moving and defending while sealed, no longer skips the starting buffs, notices stealth faster, answers with a detection potion more reliably and stopped wasting jumps and shields on every hit taken (23 July).
• Playing to win. In 1v1 opponents aim to kill you instead of running and turtling. In 3v3 a bot switches to the same aggressive mode once it is left without allies (5 August).
• An answer to the exact skill. Actions are picked in response to what you used (15 August).
• Training. Opponents keep training themselves, and the results are reviewed by hand before they reach the live server (1 August, 24 August, 29 August).

Details you notice in a fight

• Less waiting. The general timer went down from 54 to 30 seconds: 15 seconds to confirm entry and 15 to prepare (23 July).
• The arena clears fast. System opponents leave the map within seconds instead of a minute and a half, so the next fight starts sooner (7 August).
• 3v3 teams rebuild themselves, so the search for group arena opponents works without your help (7 August).
• No pointless actions. Opponents resurrect after death and instantly decline trade offers (24 July).

Write your impressions of these fights in the comments: that is what shapes the opponents next.

The dates in brackets are the updates the change shipped in. These news posts come out later than the changes themselves: there was simply no time to write them.