Auto Arena is a two-player auto battler on Rovian. You recruit champions from a five-slot shop, merge three copies of the same champion to power it up and deploy your army on your half of an 8×8 board. The server plays out the battle while you watch. Practice against a bot, or step into a video duel.
In chess, every move is yours, and the next one can often fix the last. Auto Arena flips that order: you make all your decisions before the fight, then you can only watch. You find out a champion was on the wrong square once the battle starts. If your camera is on, your opponent sees the exact moment you realise it.
How do you play Auto Arena?
A game is played in rounds, and every round has two phases: Preparation, then Battle. Here’s how a round goes:
1. Recruit champions from the shop. The shop offers five champions each round, and a slot empties once you buy from it. New champions wait in your eight reserve slots.
2. Deploy your army. Your half of the 8×8 board is 4 rows by 8 columns. Champions left in reserve don’t fight.
3. Press “Army ready”. Preparation lasts 30 seconds and ends early when both players are ready.
4. Watch the battle. Champions pick their own targets, move, attack and use their ability when their mana fills. Clicking a champion shows its details; it doesn’t order an attack. The server resolves every battle, and none lasts longer than 60 seconds.
You can follow the fight on the “3D board” or the “Flat board”. You can keep shopping during the battle too; those purchases shape your next army and leave the current fight untouched.
How do the shop, levels and merging work?
Both players start with 100 health, at level 1, with 1 gold. The shop refreshes for free at the start of every round. If you don’t want to wait, “Refresh” rolls new offers for 2 gold. “Lock shop” carries offers you like into the next round, and locking is free.
Your level sets how many champions you can field at once: at level 3, you can have up to 3 champions on the board. The highest level is 10. You gain 1 XP every new round, and if you’re in a hurry, “Buy XP” gives you 4 XP for 5 gold. Higher levels bring pricier champions into the shop: a 4-gold champion can appear from level 5, a 5-gold champion from level 8.
You earn income at the end of each round. You get 1 gold of interest for every 10 gold you hold, up to 5. A winning or losing streak adds up to 3 more gold, and winning a duel pays an extra 1 gold. Your balance tops out at 100 gold.
Collect three copies of the same champion and they merge automatically: three 1-star champions become one 2-star, and three 2-stars become a 3-star. Each star doubles health, attack and ability power. Copies on the board and in reserve count together. Selling a champion refunds every gold you spent on it.
One detail makes this a true two-player game: both players draw from the same champion pool. Each champion has a limited number of copies based on its cost, from 45 for 1-gold champions down to 10 for 5-gold ones. If your opponent is collecting the champion you need, your odds of finding it drop.
What do alliances and equipment do?
Auto Arena has 24 champions, and each one has a faction and a class. The six factions are Ember, Tide, Root, Star, Iron and Shadow; the six classes are Guardian, Ranger, Arcanist, Mender, Assassin and Vanguard. You’ll find them all under “Alliances”. For now, champion and item names appear in Turkish in every language.
An alliance bonus switches on with 2 different champions of that alliance on the board and grows stronger at 4. Two Ember champions give Ember units +15% attack, for example, and four give +30%. With the Assassin bonus active, Assassins leap to the enemy back line as the battle begins; the Mender bonus raises the health of every ally. Champions in reserve and second copies of the same champion don’t count, as the reminder on screen puts it: “Different champions count once.”
Equipment comes from creature rounds. Rounds 1, 2, 3 and 10, then every fifth round, are a “Creature round”: each player fights the same neutral army separately, and the winner takes one of five basic components. Every other round is a head-to-head “Duel”. Each champion carries up to 3 pieces of equipment, and you can combine two compatible components into something stronger, such as two +15 attack shards into one +40 attack blade.
How do you lose health, and how does a game end?
Lose a duel and you lose health. How much depends on the champions still standing on your opponent’s side when the fight ends: each survivor deals its star count plus one. If three 2-star champions survive, you lose 9 health. Lose a creature round and the same sum is counted for the creatures.
If time runs out with champions left on both sides, the round is a draw and nobody loses health. The player whose health hits zero loses the game; if both reach zero in the same round, it’s a draw. If both players are still standing after round 50, the game is also a draw, and remaining health doesn’t pick a winner. You can leave at any time with “Concede”. Auto Arena is unrated, so the result never touches your rating.
Start with the bot, or a video duel?
For your first game, “Practice with a bot” is a good place to start. The bot is labelled “Training bot”, is never presented as a person and has no camera. In your first round against it there’s no timer; the screen says “Your first battle starts when you are ready”. You can’t ready up without at least one champion on the board, either. From round two, the usual 30-second preparation applies.
For a real opponent, tick the box agreeing to join a two-person room, then press “Find an opponent”. Once an opponent is found, the duel screen opens, and the game starts once you both press “Accept the duel”. Camera and microphone are optional, stay off until you turn them on and, when you do, reach only that opponent. You can mute your opponent, hide their video, or report and block them if needed; we explain how in report, block and moderation.
This is where the mode comes alive: once the battle begins, you’re both watching the same scene. Maybe your Assassins land in the back line, maybe your opponent’s front line folds in the first seconds. Chess gives you a quiet moment to hide your face while you think; here the decision is made and all that’s left is your reaction. The face-to-face feeling we described in how the camera game screen works arrives in Auto Arena while you watch your army fight.
Who can play, and where do you find it?
You need to sign in with a member account to play Auto Arena; the mode isn’t open to guest accounts or to accounts under 18. You’ll find it in the “More” menu at the top or in the game modes catalogue. Auto Arena was added in October 2026 and, like the rest of Rovian, keeps growing in open beta.
Curious about Rovian’s other games? Read the game modes guide, or if you’d rather face a knockout competition on camera, the Last One story. But if tonight is for building an army: Open your camera. Make your move. This time, your move is the army you build before the fight. Open Auto Arena.
Frequently asked questions
Do I make moves in Auto Arena?
No. During preparation you recruit, merge and position champions; the server plays out the battle. Champions choose their own targets, move and attack.
How many players is Auto Arena for?
Two. You can take on a real opponent in a video duel or practice against the training bot, which has no camera.
Does Auto Arena affect my rating?
No. Auto Arena is an unrated mode, so results don’t change your rating.
Is the camera required in Auto Arena?
No. Camera and microphone are optional, stay off until you turn them on and are shared only with that opponent.
How do you win Auto Arena?
Bring your opponent’s health to zero. Each player starts with 100 health; if both are still standing after round 50, the game ends in a draw.