Illuvium Arena 1.18.3 brings back class-based Hyper scaling

In Brief:

• Illuvium pushed Arena update 1.18.3, which makes Hyper scale differently for the Fighter, Bulwark, Empath/Psion and Rogue classes.
• The patch ties Earth to Physical Resist and Air to Energy Resist, and Bulwark’s Hyper now scales Max Health.
• Composites are capped at three and Composite chips are gone from the game, partly undoing the one-size-fits-all Hyper design that reached mainnet in 1.8.0.

Illuvium’s Arena 1.18.3 update is live, and Hyper once again works differently depending on a unit’s class.

“Hyper finally carries class identity,” Illuvium said in a post on X announcing the release. The studio said Fighter, Bulwark, Empath/Psion and Rogue “each scale differently” under the new system.

What changed

The patch assigns defensive stats along affinity and class lines. Earth maps to Physical Resist and Air maps to Energy Resist. Bulwark’s scaling goes to Max Health.

Illuvium didn’t give per-class numbers in the announcement. The full notes are posted to the patch notes section of the Illuvium Portal, which lists the update as published Sept. 16, 2026.

The update also changes Composites. They’re now capped at three, and Composite chips have been removed.

A partial reversal

The change walks back one of the larger design decisions in Arena’s recent history.

Hyper first shipped as a class-driven mechanic. In the 0.3.6 Ascendant Arena build, Hyper bonuses scaled as a unit filled its hyperactive bar, with effects based on the dominant class. A fully charged unit turned hyperactive and got an extra boost.

Illuvium dropped that approach in a Hyper rework that appeared in the 1.6.0 patch notes. “Class-specific Hyper bonuses have been removed and replaced with a single, impactful effect,” the notes said. The studio framed the move as a way to make the experience more consistent.

Under that design, the charge-up range went from 70 to 150 hex-radius. Charging units gained 0.5% attack speed for every 1% of Hyper charge, capped at a 50% attack speed bonus. At full Hyper, every unit got +10% Damage Amplification and +10% Damage Reduction, whatever its class.

The 1.6.0 notes said more varied effects would come in future updates. The rework then reached mainnet in 1.8.0, which Illuvium described as a build fine-tuned after extensive testnet play.

Bulwark and Rogue history

Two of the classes named in 1.18.3 have been balance targets before. Patch 1.8.0 reduced Rogue Crit Chance and Crit Amp and fine-tuned Bulwark’s damage output on its max threshold effect.

That same patch changed the bonus stats Leviathans get from traits and level. It also rebalanced the Revenant, Phantom, Predator and Vanguard synergies for what the notes called “More controlled scaling.”

Release cadence

The 1.18 branch has moved quickly. Update 1.18 came out Aug. 26, followed by 1.18.1 on Sept. 1. No 1.18.2 appears in the portal’s patch list; 1.18.3 came out three weeks after 1.18.

The last update before the 1.18 line was 1.17.12, published Aug. 3.

In the X post, Illuvium closed its list of changes with a single line: “Composite chips gone.”