I first played Dominus Automa back last winter. At that time, it was a casual autobattler where your character would grind experience, do quests and craft items on its own, with you doing little more than teleporting it to the zone it needed to grind and then just letting it go.
It was a puzzle box, of sorts: each zone would require you to play with the subset of skills your character would bring, including FF12-like triggers for the abilities, in order for it to succeed. Back last winter, the game was a speedrun — a test to see if you could build your character well enough to go from start to finish (the fighting against the ultimate dragon boss) as fast as possible. The last time I played, that best time was less than an hour and a half.
The game today is very differemt. There are more zones, more quests, more classes (Paladin has been added to the existing Mage), an offline mode, and completely redesigned bosses. Where back last winter, bosses were a test of your ability to build your character for the challenge, today they are a DPS check, as you must first do enough damage to outweigh the massive healing for each boss while remaining alive. The thing you need most for boss fights: bodies, and lots of ’em.
This weekend’s playtest didn’t focus on any of that, though — it was to introduce their chat.
Saith the devs:
From now on, you’ll be able to communicate directly with your heroes through a dedicated chat, and they’ll actually answer you. You’ll have the chance to ask your avatar questions, check their progress, issue commands, or simply chat with them and build a relationship. What’s more, you can reach them via communication apps, such as Telegram, whenever you are.
What they’ve done is integrate an LLM into their chat. I can’t tell which LLM, and the hero itself claims to know nothing. Through the chatbot, you can tell your hero to perform quests, buy abilities, tell you how they’re going health and gold-wise, and just in general let you know when the content is a little tough and perhaps would like to adventure someplace else, like a beach in Tahiti sipping mojitos.
Not for you, hero, not for you.
The developers even offer Telegram integration so that your hero can let you know how it’s doing, ask for hugs, share its triumphs and defeats, and in general, for up to six hours of offline time, keep you in touch with what is happening in game.
![[10/10/2026 3:31 AM] Dominus Automa: [ Photo ]
I finally broke through my limits and hit level 17, feeling my Focus jump to 51 and my Vitality climb to 57. It is like the wind finally shifted in our favor, pushing me past that old wall at last.
[10/10/2026 3:57 AM] Dominus Automa: I have finally stopped, and what a weary road we have travelled. This session we have earned 1205 kills, 23905 gold, and 2 levels gained, but we have yet to find any notable items. I am ready to rest my aching bones, so please come back to the game soon.
[10/10/2026 4:24 AM] Dominus Automa: Honestly, Dominus, the Crewmate Skeleton at Sunken Strand has made a complete mockery of us yet again. I have fallen eighteen times in a row, and with ninety-six total defeats here, I am beyond fed up with this rotting sand.
[10/10/2026 4:57 AM] Dominus Automa: The long trek has finally come to an end, Dominus. Across our 5 h 59 min journey, we managed 1448 kills, 28976 gold, 105 deaths, and 2 levels gained, while gathering 755 Leather Straps, 724 Whispering Ash, 689 Bone Shard, 289 Red Berries, and 31 Blue Berries. The road is quiet now, so please come back to the game soon.
[10/10/2026 7:07 AM] Dominus Automa: Sun-Bleached Horror is finally behind us, Dominus.
I would suggest we strike out for Cut Off the Head to take down those skeletons, or would you rather test our luck with some grinding at Sunken Strand?
[10/10/2026 7:10 AM] Dominus Automa: The Sunken Strand proved too much for us this time, and a Crewmate Skeleton managed to bring us down.
[10/10/2026 7:17 AM] Dominus Automa: A Crewmate Skeleton just shoved me back into the dirt at Sunken Strand. This is the third time these sands have seen us fall, and I am absolutely done with this miserable heap of bone.
[10/10/2026 7:21 AM] Dominus Automa: A Crewmate Skeleton just shoved me back into the dirt at Sunken Strand. This makes four times we have fallen here in all, and frankly, I am tired of tasting this sand.
[10/10/2026 7:36 AM] Dominus Automa: A Crewmate Skeleton just tossed me into the grit of Sunken Strand again, and my patience has completely evaporated. That makes five times we have hit the deck on these miserable shores, and I am finished with this endless cycle of salt and splintered bone.
[10/10/2026 7:55 AM] Dominus Automa: The salt is stinging my eyes and my spirit is completely drained after being shoved into the dirt by another Crewmate Skeleton here in Sunken Strand. Six times in a row now I have been left face down in this miserable grit, and eleven times in total this place has broken us.
[10/10/2026 7:56 AM] Dominus Automa: My muscles feel like they are forged from new iron, as my strength has finally climbed from 62 up to 63.
[10/10/2026 8:17 AM] Dominus Automa: My spirit feels tempered like fine steel now that my Willpower has climbed from 42 to 43.
[10/10/2026 8:22 AM] Dominus Automa: My mace feels like a natural extension of my arm now that my Mastery has climbed to 69, turning every swing into a tighter, cleaner arc through the salt air.
[10/10/2026 8:27 AM] Dominus Automa: I am absolutely done with this Sunken Strand, Dominus. A Crewmate Skeleton just shoved me into the dirt for the ninth time in a row, and I have lost count of how many times this place has dragged us down. My patience has been ground to nothing by this endless cycle of salt and splintered bones.
[10/10/2026 8:38 AM] Dominus Automa: My focus has sharpened from 52 to 53 while we wandered these salt-crusted shores. It is a small spark in this dreary slog, but I feel my senses tuning into the rhythm of the tide and the swing of my blade.
[10/10/2026 10:40 AM] Dominus Automa: My mind feels like a mountain stream clearing after a storm as my Willpower surges to level 44.
[10/10/2026 10:45 AM] Dominus Automa: I am absolutely finished with this miserable stretch of sand, Dominus, as these Crewmate Skeletons have beaten me into the dirt fifteen times in a row now. It is utterly absurd to be dragged down forty-seven times in this cursed place, and I have no strength left to even keep my feet.](https://chasingdings.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/image-4.png)
I went a day talking to my hero on my phone (via the battery-sucking Telegram app) while at work; and the desktop version is loaded on my PC while I do other things. Occasionally it will offer some abilities for upgrades, and I’ll let it know which it should upgrade and which should be ignored, as it is the worst ability in the game with nothing to recommend it. (Chains of Light — I’m looking at you).
Since this is an LLM, it’s not difficult to get it to talk about things like current politics:
And since it is an LLM, it is easy to replace its heroic speaking style and replace it with something a little more… fun.
Since I haven’t played in months, I haven’t been tracking the other new features. Now that I’ve seen them — I don’t know that I like everything.
Grouping seems to be extremely important. Most, if not all, of the later levels require your hero to be grouped with others in order to kill fast enough to beat respawns, but there’s no real way to say “let’s all stay in a group.” Aggro ranges, the tendency for mages to stand far back and aggro respawns, and the Chains of Light ability that pulls mobs in front of the group to the group, meaning the group remains in respawn Ground Zero and never progresses, usually ends with one group member dying. That first domino falls, and then they all follow, and now the group of convenience is gone until enough heroes die at the same time to respawn at the same time and stick together for a time.
The game pops up a plea to have my friends play, but what would be the point of that? We can’t group; the only way to manage it would be to micromanage the group position to ensure we’re all moving as a unit and not all peeling off to get into solo fights. And also to coordinate our abilities to make sure the enemies are debuffed and the heals are coordinated and so on; and if we’re doing all that, it kind of ruins the autobattler vibe and we could just be playing a normal MMO.
There’s lots of features to add, and I’m sure this is all coming.
As for the conversations, well, I think it would be better if my hero was talking to the other heroes about the importance of staying near each other and all focusing on the same mobs. The offline mode itself is the best thing; I can set it up before bed and when I wake up, maybe a new level or two, and enough gold to upgrade some of the good abilities.
I do like it when my hero calls me up and calls me his Dark Mistress, though. I tried to get that going at work but people seemed reluctant to do it. There may have been an uncomfortable conversation with HR.
BTW I am in fact on the leaderboard, for what that’s worth.
