Gloomvex

Gloomvex is a dark sci-fi arena roguelite about surviving increasingly difficult enemy waves, corrupted Vex entities and powerful bosses. You dodge attacks, collect experience and gold, upgrade weapons and fight for as long as possible in a ruined arena surrounded by wreckage, smoke and damaged machinery.

Survive the waves

Weapons target enemies automatically, while enemies vary in their roles and movement patterns. Difficulty rises with each wave, bringing elite enemies, mini-bosses and major boss fights. The HUD tracks your live DPS, Max DPS and run statistics.

Weapons and builds

Gloomvex has 20 weapons: 10 base weapons and 10 Epic hybrid weapons. You upgrade weapons during a run, and Vex Synthesis lets you fuse two Rare weapons into a new Epic hybrid. Examples include Lightning Chain, Flamethrower, Homing Missile, Boomerang, Orbit Blades, Shredder Cannon, Storm Rifle, Inferno Scatter, Cryo Pulse Core, Arc Beam, Thermal Rift and Refractor Disc.

You also choose upgrades as you level up and can find augments, capsules and other run modifiers. The combination of character, weapons, upgrades, chips and decisions shapes each run.

Characters

Choose from 10 playable characters, each with their own stats, starting weapon and playstyle:

• Ironclad: a balanced starting point.
• Buckshot: high damage at close range.
• Vortex: specializes in chain lightning.
• Prism: an energy weapon expert.
• Stormrage: a defensive orbital strike fighter.
• Ember: specializes in fire and critical hits.
• Glacius: focuses on frost control and survivability.
• Seeker: uses homing projectiles and has XP advantages.
• Ricochet: focuses on critical hits and high damage potential.
• Reaper: offers a high-risk, high-reward playstyle.

You can unlock characters, try their starting weapons and find a build that suits you.

Boss encounters

There are 11 bosses, each with distinct attack patterns and dangerous mechanics. A boss appears every 10 waves, and becomes more aggressive below 33% HP. Defeating bosses rewards you with chips and boss cores; boss cores unlock characters.

Progression systems

Collect and equip upgrade chips, spend currency on permanent upgrades in the Upgrade Shop, and use boss cores to unlock characters. Permanent upgrades improve damage, health, movement speed, XP gain, gold gain, critical chance, critical damage and armor.

Capsules and the Compendium

Destructible Capsules can appear during a run, containing random effects that may help or put you in danger. Their effects include:

• XP bursts
• Plasma explosions
• Healing fields
• Stasis fields
• Hazard fields
• Chain lightning effects
• Temporary drones
• Free level-up menus

The Compendium records information about characters, weapons, Vex Synthesis, chips, enemies, bosses, capsules, augments and game mechanics. The game also includes a highscore screen with expanded run data and Steam achievements.