Seventeen handcrafted gems sit on the manifest this season. Each one runs on the server-only cchelper SDK, was authored for the duel-first player, and was balanced stop-watch in hand. The sequel rewrites the meta.
Every figure below is read from a live server-side counter, not a marketing slide. The map and the SDK are the two numbers we are most willing to be held to.
100 × 100
10,000 blocks of hand-tuned arena - ramps, ledges, sightlines.
9,000+
Hand-rolled combat, abilities, and packet layer. Read the SDK notes below.
18+
Three featured below. The rest in the codex further down.
20Hz
Twice vanilla parity. Hitreg is 50ms / 1-tick.
cchelper
Server-only library. Boot memory: 34 MB. AOT-compiled.
99.97%
Frankfurt primary node, hot spare in Helsinki.
No Bukkit, no Spigot, no plugin stack. The combat layer is one jar, and it depends on exactly two libraries. Both are server-only. Both are written in this codebase.
§5 · Server library
The modding library that lets the server-author write a gem the same way they would write a custom recipe.
Hook surface
| PlayerInteractEvent | Pre-cancel for parry window |
| EntityDamageByEntityEvent | Last-mile modifier resolution |
| ProjectileHitEvent | Block-on-arrival hooks |
| PlayerMoveEvent (sampled) | Motion vectors, ghost-clone sync |
| TickBoundaryEvent | Deterministic 20Hz step barrier |
§5 · Server library
Encodes the Vanish state per-frame. Reads the motion-vector buffer the server already maintains.
Vanish state fields
| Field | Type | Behaviour |
|---|---|---|
| vanish_alpha | f32 | Held for 0.6s after Phase Shift start. Per-frame lerp. |
| vestige | Vec3 | Last broadcast position of the decoy; resync every tick. |
| footstep_pitch | f32 | Mute to 0 while vanished. Reset on i-frame end. |
| particle_scale | u8 | 0 while vanished; smoothly returns to 100 over 12 ticks. |
§6 · Backstab vector math
Resolution per server tick. The dot product of caster-forward against the offset to the target gives the multiplier - perfect rear strikes double, perpendicular strikes do not.
Formula
damage = BASE * (1 + max(0, dot(F, -D̂)))
BASE = 8
F = caster.forward (unit vec3)
D̂ = (target.pos - caster.pos) / |Δ| (unit vec3)
i-frames = 4s internal lockperpendicular
8.0 dmg
45° offset
13.6 dmg
perfect rear
16.0 dmg
Diagram
Top-down · F is caster-facing, D̂ points to target
Each featured gem is shown the way it would appear in your inventory tooltip - tier, role, two abilities, an ultimate, and a closing line of lore. Read it like a quest log entry.
BRAWLER
Once worn by the Jade Citadel's champion. The bearer becomes the duel center of gravity.
Window: 1.2s after parry. Reflects the next melee hit back to the attacker with 1.6x damage. Stacks with Haste II.
14sCharge for up to 4 blocks vertical. On landing, deals 14 damage in a 4-block radius with knockback IV. Holding extends airtime by 0.6s.
9sPaladin's Verdict
Single-target strike that ignores 50% of the target's defense.
24 (50% armor pierce)Forged in the spires of Jade Citadel. The bearer does not retreat.
BULWARK
Imbued with the memory of stone. Each blocked strike compounds toward the unblockable.
On every successful block, generate a 1.5s slow (35%) on attackers within 3 blocks. Stacks to 70% on consecutive blocks.
Passive 1.5s11 damage in a 5-block radius; disables jump for 2s. Useful as disruption.
12sHundredfold Crush
The next strike ignores armor entirely and lifts the target 4 blocks. Unblockable at 100% charge.
60 (full armor pierce, lift IV)Earth remembers every blow.
SUMMONER
A pact of nine minds, each animating a clone in formation. Distributed damage, distributed attention.
Spawn a tier-1 clone (8 HP, deals 4 melee damage per swing) at the target block inside a 6-block radius. Up to 3 alive at once. Each clone despawns at 90s.
Spawn 8sWhenever 3 clones are simultaneously alive, the bearer gains Haste I and Speed I. Clones inherit all auras; they receive no ultimates.
PassiveNinefold Mandate
Each clone teleports to a chosen target and detonates for 8 flat damage.
8 hit per cloneNine citizens, one mind. They ask the same questions.
Listed by season. Each row opens a compact item-tooltip - the same one you would see when hovering the gem slot in the lobby. Damage numbers are in italics.
BURST MAGE
Stores the lattice of storm-light. Charges resonate louder with each crit.
Listen for the lattice.
SENTINEL
Once sat at the throat of a storm surge. Now it just pulls.
What the ocean takes, it gives back.
STALKER
Bears a sliver of a place that does not exist. Most players guess where.
Do not turn around.
BERSERKER
Embers remember. So, somehow, do you.
Burned once, hot twice.
BUFF
Worn by the first regent. Allegedly still.
Heavy is the weight, heavy is the price.
UTILITY
Holds a rainbow in a single facet. Each refraction is louder than the last.
Don't aim it at the sun. Don't aim it at me.
CONTROL
Keeps the lungs slower than they should be.
Long way down.
WEAVE
Spun by hands that never rested. Whoever holds the loom never sits.
Look at the weave carefully, you will not see it again.
BURST
Each stalagmite is someone else's last day.
Bones are just older jade.
DEFENSE
Cold enough to fog a window. Cold enough to slow a thought.
Hold the prism against the wind for as long as you can.
DEFLECT
Reflection is its own kind of armor.
Look once. Then don't.
CONTROL
Sings one note that nothing can answer.
Listeners are not required to obey.
SUSTAIN
Patient. Reaches out only when needed.
It does not mind the wait.
MOBILITY
Closes distance as quickly as it opens it.
A storm is faster than it looks.
UTILITY
Used to season things for the long ride.
Some nights are longer. Some shorter.
No launcher. No download. No required Discord. The server accepts vanilla clients from 1.20.4 onward.
Any official Java Edition client from 1.20.4 onward. Bedrock is not supported - the SDK talks to the JVM protocol only.
Multiplayer → Add Server. Name it anything. The IP goes in the address field.
Type /gem starter in the lobby. You get one free pick. Subsequent rerolls cost 5 match wins or 1 cycle token.
/play ranked 1v1 queues a skill-matched opponent. The waiting room is in the lobby - run /duel for a public match.
Server IP
gemfights.yeknam.studio
Most ranked matches resolve within 45 to 90 seconds. Maelstrom-channel games push to 3 minutes. Stormcaller Tempest can chain 4 ports in 4 seconds.
Ranked is strict 1v1. Tournaments run Friday. 8 and 16-player single-elimination brackets. Cchelper carries the same broadcast layer for both.
The cchelper SDK ships in binary form. The protocol spec is published on the docs site - the implementation is not, by design.
Discord is the only off-server hangout. No required sign-ups. Read the rules once and you are in.