Bellrush: a fast draft mode next to Crownfall

Hi, Jonas again. Last time, I showed you how Path of Orren grew from a first build into the game it is today. This time I want to talk about the Arena, and about Bellrush, the new mode we added to it.

One thing first: Path of Orren is still being built. Everything in this post, from the screens to the numbers, can change before launch.

Where the road ends: Crownfall

Every run follows the road through three acts, each its own world, and at the end of it lies Crownfall. The heroes still standing there become a company, with the gear, banners, relics and Wards they gathered on the way.

Crownfall is also the name of the Arena's main ladder. Your companies fight other players' companies there, and while you're away, other players fight yours. Every Monday, whoever stands at the top is crowned the Orren. It's the long game: everything a company carries comes from a whole run, so each one tells the story of one journey.

Why a second mode

We love Crownfall, but it asks a lot. Before you can enter, you need a finished run, and a good run takes time. Some days you just want a few fights with a party you put together on the spot.

There was a second reason. With more than a hundred heroes, a single run only shows you a few of them. We wanted a place where any hero can turn up, and where you can try a pairing you would never risk on the road.

That's Bellrush. Like the quick modes we love in other games, it's short, it starts at once, and it sits right next to Crownfall in the Arena.

How a Bellrush run works

A run costs a ticket, and then comes the draft: you're shown a few heroes, you take one, and you keep going until your party is built. Any hero in the game can come up, even one you haven't unlocked yet. If a hero you already have shows up again, picking it a second time levels it up. We like that this turns every pick into a small question: spread out over a full party, or go in with fewer, stronger heroes?

Next come the chests. Each one opens on a handful of items, and you keep a few for your heroes. After them comes a chest of banners, and last, a single relic for the whole party.

Then you place your heroes, as before any fight, and Bellrush puts you up against parties other players drafted. Win, and a reward waits before the next fight: a new hero, an item or a relic. The run lasts until your first loss, or until you've cleared every fight it holds.

Why one loss ends it

At first, a Bellrush run allowed a few losses. When we played it ourselves, carrying on after a defeat felt strange: the party had lost, yet the run went on as if nothing had happened. So we made it simple: your first loss ends the run, which means every fight counts.

We cut the draft down the same way. A tap picks a hero, the chests open on their own, and the whole draft sits in a track at the top of the screen, so you always know how far along you are.

Bellrush has its own ladder, apart from Crownfall, but the crown of the Orren stays in Crownfall.

Same game, a shorter road

Bellrush has no heroes, items or rules of its own. The fights are the same as on the road and in Crownfall, and only the way you build your party changes. That mattered to us: whatever you learn in one mode helps you in the others, and a pairing you find in a draft might change how you play the road.

Thanks for reading. If there is something you want us to write about here, tell us at hello@pathoforren.com.