Unlock: reach the arena milestone
The current demo ties the Black Market Arena to level 5. If you are below that point and cannot enter, keep progressing the shop rather than searching for a hidden door interaction.
Night only, one run per day
The demo explains two constraints: the arena opens at night, and you receive one run per day. That makes timing part of the system. Finish your daytime sales/crafting plan, choose the weapon you want to learn from, then spend the night run deliberately.
What the arena is for
Official store messaging says crafted weapons can be put to the test, while the demo calls the arena a place for lethal combat. This is the bridge between workshop stats and outcomes—use it to see how the weapon behaves, not as a replacement for the shop economy.
Do not over-read one fight
Because the demo limits attempts, one arena result is not enough to declare a universal “best weapon.” Part rolls, attributes and crafting quality all vary. Track what you brought in before you change your build.
Four rounds, and a pool you can lose
The arena is closer to a small autobattler than a single duel. You pick a fighter, hand them a weapon, then watch them fight another fighter holding a randomly generated weapon — and the developer says those generated weapons are built from combinations you could actually craft yourself.
A run is four rounds, each one harder than the last and paying better. Rewards collect in a pool as you advance and you claim that pool when you leave, which is the only moment it becomes yours. Lose a round at any point and the whole pool is gone.
Run planning: the money is in the deeper rounds, which is exactly why durability matters. A blade that dies in round two takes the entire run down with it.
What your stats actually do in combat
Fighters carry three stats: Health, Block Chance and Dodge Chance. A block cuts the incoming hit to 25% damage; a dodge takes no damage at all.
Durability does not reset between rounds, so treat it as a whole-run resource rather than a per-fight one. The devlog’s own example is blunt about it: a weapon rated “brittle” lands around 15 hits before going dull, which is not enough for four rounds. Hold Alt while looking at a weapon to see its characteristics spelled out — fast, brittle, weightless and so on — instead of raw numbers.
The attributes you already match to customer demand become combat effects: neutral damage deals 1 damage per point, fire damage adds a burn chance on top of the same damage, slashing and staggering roll a chance to inflict their status per point, and piercing only pays off against a blocker — when a hit is blocked it can deal 75% damage instead of 25%.